Editorial & Research Methodology

The Corporate Fraud Library is constructed upon strict evidentiary standards. This page details our data extraction protocols, entity resolution rules, scheme classification taxonomies, and legal attribution standards.

METHODOLOGY STANDARDS

Primary Source Discipline: Every case, scheme tag, and penalty figure is cited to an official regulatory order, docket, or statutory filing.
Strict Editorial Neutrality: Factual findings are quoted verbatim from regulator orders; unresolved complaints are designated as 'Alleged'.
Zero Em Dash Standard: In compliance with site style guidelines, all copy avoids em dashes.
Currency Normalization: International penalties and overstatements are converted to USD at the action date using historical ECB reference rates while preserving original currency amounts.

1. Primary Source Extraction

We do not rely on secondary media reporting or encyclopedia summaries. Every action recorded in our database originates from primary government records: SEC Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Releases (AAERs), SEC Litigation Releases, DOJ Criminal Division press statements, federal court dockets retrieved via CourtListener/RECAP, PCAOB settled disciplinary orders, and foreign regulatory tribunal decisions (such as the UK FRC, German BaFin, and Japanese SESC).

2. Entity Resolution & Relational Architecture

Entities (companies, audit firms, individual officers, and regulators) are matched deterministically in a multi-tier hierarchy: first on Central Index Key (CIK) numbers, then Legal Entity Identifiers (LEI), followed by normalized legal name matching, and alias lookup tables. Machine-assisted disambiguation is logged in an audit trail table before publication.

3. Scheme Taxonomy Classification

Cases are classified into our 32-scheme taxonomy using deterministic rule matchers from data/scheme_rules.yaml joined with automated model extraction. Every tag requires an extracted evidence quote from the primary document.

4. Legal Status Badging

In accordance with strict legal standards, templates dynamically badge actions based on their procedural posture:

Alleged: Used for civil complaints or pending criminal indictments prior to final adjudication or settlement.
Settled, neither admitted nor denied: Used for administrative consent orders where the respondent agreed to sanctions without acknowledging culpability.
Adjudicated: Used after a jury verdict, court bench ruling, or formal tribunal finding of guilt.