U.S. Financial - Major Fraud of the 1970's

Beautifully engraved certificate from the U.S. Financial issued in 1971. This historic document was printed by the American Banknote Company and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of three men standing over a building. This item has the printed signatures of the Company’s President ( R.H. Walter ) and Secretary and is over 31 years old.






Certificate Vignette



In 1973, the real-estate wonder story of U.S. Financial Corporation started to unravel as auditors and government agencies began following the money, often in complicated circles within subsidiaries and affiliates. The ebullient head of the firm, R.H. Walter, vowed “to make housing happen,” and he did. But a 900-page confidential report soon burst its bubble and catalogued alleged sham transactions designed to create millions of dollars of phony profits and inflate earnings per share and the stock price.

The approach gained international attention when it was featured in a book, Unaccountable Accounting: Games Accountants Play, by Abraham Briloff, professor of accounting at City University of New York. Excerpts also appeared in Barron’s weekly financial newspaper. When USF filed for Chapter 11 in January 1974, it was the largest Chapter 11 bankruptcy in U.S. history.