5) Barings

A lethal mix of massive fraud and malfeasance led to the collapse of Barings PLC in February १९९५. In February, the oldest merchant bank in Britain collapsed because of massive trading losses run up by Nicholas Leeson, २८, a trader whose bosses believed was running a riskless yet highly profitable arbitrage operation in Singapore.

Rather than the large profits the management of Barings thought were being posted in Singapore, the Bank of England's report showed that Leeson's operation lost money almost from the beginning. By the end of १९९३, those losses totaled थ२० million, rising to more than २०० million by the end of १९९४ and escalating to ८२७ million ($१.३ billion) by the end of February.

6) Alves dos Reis

Alves dos Reis was a Portuguese criminal who perpetrated one of the largest frauds in history, against Banco de Portugal in १९२५, often called the Portuguese Bank Note Crisis. Reisङs fraud had enormous repercussions on the economy and politics of Portugal. By the end of १९२५, Reis had managed to introduce escudo banknotes worth १,००७,९६३ at १९२५ exchange rates into the Portuguese economy, which was equivalent to ०.८८% of Portugalङs nominal GDP at the time.

The Portuguese currency, escudo, was fiscally disturbed and lost much of his credibility. After the scheme was found out, the Bank of Portugal ordered the withdrawal of all ५०० escudo banknotes. When Reis's fraud became public knowledge in December १९२५, it brought about a crisis of confidence in the Portuguese government. Reis was finally tried in May १९३०. He was convicted and sentenced to २० years in prison.

7) Hedge fund Amaranth

Branded as the biggest hedge fund collapse in history, Amaranth lost $6 billion of investor's money in one week alone. Amaranth Advisors, the US-based hedge fund whose investments were hit by a misplaced bet on gas prices, saw its losses reach about $6bn in 2006. The firm sold its portfolio of energy trades and off-loaded other assets in a bid to stave off collapse. Amaranth invested most of its funds on trades that bet the longstanding trend in rising natural gas prices would continue.

However, natural gas prices dropped sharply. According to media reports, the firm and its former head trader Brian Hunter's poor bets on the price of natural gas triggered those losses. As Amaranth's losses mounted, the fund's bankers called in their loans, forcing the fund to sell more assets to avoid defaulting. The collapse in the fund's value raised major questions over the lack of adequate risk management controls at Amaranth, and wider concerns over lax control of hedge fund managers.

8) Jerome Kerviel

The French trader blew billions in catastrophic gambles on the stock market. Jerome Kerviel, ३१, began his reckless dealings after a succession of personal tragedies. The trader was left devastated by the sudden death of his father Charles a year ago and then, while still grieving, his wife of two years walked out on him.

The double heartbreak sparked the beginning of a chain of events which allegedly culminated in one of the world's largest frauds in the beginning of २००८, with monumental losses of ३.६ billion for France's second largest bank Societe Generale.

9) Bernard Ebbers

Bernard Ebbers, the former CEO of WorldCom, was found guilty in March 2005 for his role in the huge accounting scandal that led to the largest bankruptcy in US history at that time. A federal jury in New York, on its eighth day of deliberations, convicted Ebbers on all nine counts that he helped mastermind a $11-billion accounting fraud at WorldCom, now known as MCI.

Ebbers, 63, had been charged with one count of conspiracy, one count of securities fraud and seven counts of filing false statements with securities regulators.