Finance Professor Exposes "Deeds of Darkness"

A recent article in Bloomberg Businessweek highlighted the work of UT-Austin finance professor John Griffin, and his work in exposing the Bitcoin—Tether cryptocurrency connection. He found that when “Bitcoin fell to certain levels, purchases using Tether would flood in to stabilize prices” and this “fit a pattern consistent with someone, or a group of people, trying to manipulate Bitcoin prices.” Griffin also published a paper last year alleging a favorite benchmark of volatility in the finance industry, the XIV, was rigged. His work has drawn an “eager readership” among watchdogs, including the Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Chinese Spies Infiltrate almost 30 U.S. Companies

On October 4^th, Bloomberg published an article detailing how Chinese spies placed microchips on motherboards produced for Super Micro Computer Inc., one of the biggest supplies of motherboards in the world.  Supermicro products are used by large tech companies such as Amazon and Apple. These microchips allow the servers they have been inserted into to be accessed remotely by those that put them there, and gather all the information they want. According to the article, "one government official says China’s goal was long-term access to high-value corporate secrets and sensitive government networks. No consumer data is known to have been stolen.”   A link to the full article is provided below.

China infiltrated U.S. tech companies

NY Times Investigation digs into possible President Trump tax fraud

On October 2^nd, the New York Times published a recent investigation into the President's taxes in the 1990s. The investigation states that "President Trump participated in dubious tax schemes during the 1990s, including instances of outright fraud, that greatly increased the fortune he received from his parents..." The investigation also concludes that, contrary to the President's claim that he is a "self-made billionaire," Trump owes his fortune to his father, who repeatedly bailed his son out of failed businesses. The article alleges that the President and his family engaged in tax fraud to avoid inheritance taxes as the father of the president passed his fortune on to his posterity. 

Links to a summary article and the full investigation are included below.

11 Key Takeaways from Trump Investigation

Full Investigation