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Former Con-man and Ex-felon, Now Fraud-buster, Barry Minkow Launches Online News Operation to Report on Business Corruption, Fraud

Award-winning, former L.A. Times journalist heads investigative team; fully disclosed funding structure eradicates third party/advertiser influence of news, allows for in-depth reporting and consumer protection

As editor of the iBusiness Reporting, Lobdell will write investigative pieces, manage freelance journalists, and aggregate news content about alleged business fraud on the Web site. Lobdell's first story, on InterOil Corporation's (NYSE: IOC) rocketing stock price despite any proven gas or oil reserves, can be found at 'http://www.ibizreporting.com/interoil/2010/2/3/with-no-proven-oil-or-gas-reserves-interoil-strikes-it-rich.html'.

"In an era where investigative journalism and newspapers are in steep decline, it's deeply satisfying to be starting this new venture," Lobdell said. "iBusiness Reporting will help fill the vacuum left by tens of thousands of journalists laid off over the past several years and will provide consumers and investors with another much-needed watchdog on the business world."

iBusiness Reporting is funded by the Fraud Discovery Institute, a for-profit corporation founded by Barry Minkow, who served nearly eight years in prison for bilking investors and lenders as CEO of ZZZZ Best, a publicly traded carpeting cleaning company. (Lobdell's account of how and why he has teamed up with such an unlikely partner can be found at 'http://www.ibizreporting.com/home/2010/2/3/barry-and-me.html'.) Minkow was released from prison in 1995 and now, in addition to his work at the institute, serves as the senior pastor of Community Bible Church in San Diego.

Over the past five years, the Fraud Discovery Institute has uncovered and stopped an estimated $1.8 billion in financial fraud, earning praise from law enforcement and private and public investors.

"We're thrilled to partner with a nationally known and respected journalist to launch iBusiness Reporting," Minkow said. "I know first-hand about the good a single reporter can do by exposing a fraudulent company. We're looking to stop financial crimes in progress."

The Fraud Discovery Institute doesn't charge private investors or law enforcement for its services. Part of the Institute's revenue is generated by short-selling stock in companies that it has investigated and deemed to have a flawed or fraudulent business model. This legal practice, which Minkow discloses prominently on the Fraud Discovery Institute's Web site, has drawn criticism by some.

As standard practice, iBusiness Reporting prominently discloses on its Web site's home page that is funded by the Fraud Discovery Institute, which holds short positions in many of the companies on which iBusiness Reporting investigates. Readers can see a more in-depth discussion on the topic at 'http://www.ibizreporting.com/faqs/' and 'http://www.frauddiscovery.net/disclaimer.html'.

"We want to fully inform readers about any potential bias so they can make their own judgments," said Lobdell, who began talking with Minkow about the possibility of a partnership two years ago before finalizing the deal last fall. "We have to be rock solid in our reporting. There are libel laws, of course, but with our disclosures, our reporting must hold up under intense scrutiny. We arguably have more incentive to get our facts right than traditional media outlets."

Since the decline of old media, journalists have struggled to find business models that would support labor-intensive investigative reporting. Alternatives have included nonprofit organizations such as Voice of San Diego and ProPublica, crowd-funding news sites such as Spot.us where readers pay for the reporting of specific stories, and reader-sponsored independent journalists such as Michael Yon, who reports from Iraq and Afghanistan.

"iBusiness Reporting offers another option to provide the public with investigative journalism," Lobdell said. "The business model may be new, but it will produce the old-fashioned investigative pieces that will serve the public good."

Before he left in 2008, Lobdell, 49, worked at the Los Angeles Times and its sister newspapers for 17 years. From 1998-2006, Lobdell reported on religion for the paper, earning several national awards for his investigative pieces. He also worked as a city editor at The Times.

Last year, Lobdell's critically acclaimed memoir, "Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America - and Found Unexpected Peace" - was published by HarperCollins.

Visit iBusiness Reporting at 'http://www.ibizreporting.com' and Fraud Discovery Institute at 'http://www.frauddiscovery.net'.

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iBusiness Reporting
San Diego, CA
PHONE. 949-887-2541