One of the earliest recorded instances of fraud took place in 300 B.C. Two Greek merchants, Hegestratos and Zenosthemis, took out an insurance policy and borrowed money on a cargo ship that was allegedly going to be filled with corn, but their plan was to sink the boat, keep the money, and sell the corn elsewhere. As Hegestratos was attempting to chop a hole in the hull of the boat with an axe, one of the crew members discovered him. Hegestratos attempted to escape by jumping off the boat and trying to swim to shore, but he drown at sea; Zenosthemis was tried in an Athenian court.
(www.investopedia.com/articles/financial-theory/09/history-of-fraud.asp)
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