Fools' Gold: The Making of a Global Market Fraud

Robert W. Sexty is a professor of commerce and business administration
at Memorial University of Newfoundland and the author of Canadian
Business: Issues and Stakeholders.

Despite what its title might suggest, this is really another book about
the Bre–X scandal, the biggest mining fraud in history. The author’s
claim that bogus mining stunts are as Canadian as hockey sticks is
supported by his review of the history of mining frauds in Canada. One
of the astonishing facts about the Bre–X fraud is that no one appears
to have anticipated it. Among those blindsided were the media, stock
promoters, analysts, geologists, stockbrokers, stock exchanges, and
regulators, plus the 13,000 individual investors and most mutual- and
pension-fund managers. Today, the victims are helpless. Governments,
police, and industry regulators all say that nothing can be done: the
guilty parties are either dead or living in other jurisdictions and/or
not admitting their involvement.

The author, a business journalist, does not provide many significant
insights into the affair, but he does make the excellent point that
there is little to prevent such a fraud from happening again.