One of the most intriguing American literary frauds of the 20th century was The Autobiography of Howard Hughes. In 1971, publishing giant McGraw-Hill announced the purchase of Hughes' memoirs, as narrated to writer Clifford Irving. Irving had produced a stack of personal correspondence from the legendary billionaire recluse in which Hughes expressed his approval for the project. On that basis, H.R. Hughes was paid an advance of $750,000 for what was considered the publishing coup of thecentury. Hughes, after all, had built Trans-World Airlines, had himself set many speed records as a pilot, had been awarded a rare Presidential Medal of Honor, had run a major movie studio, had owned virtually every big hotel-casino in Las Vegas, had been linked romantically with some of the most glamorous women in the world, andif all that were not enoughhe was widely believed to be insane. The finished product was a detailed first-person account of Hughes' extraordinary business career, as well as his remarkable personal escapades. The problem was that Hughes had not dictated his life story, had never met Irving, and had not even known of the book until McGraw-Hill's announcement. Irving, a meticulous researcher, had created a fantastic literary hoax. He had endorsed the publisher's checks by forging "H.R. Hughes," and his wife had deposited them in a Swiss bank under the name Helga Renate Hughes. The fraud was exposed dramatically when Hughes, who had not been seen or heard in public in years, held a press conference (via speaker phone) to denounce the mendacious memoirs. Many observers still doubt that the vigorous and rational-sounding voice on the speaker was actually HowardHughes. They believe it was more likely an imposter hired by Hughes or his business associates to expose Irving's brazen hoax. Clifford Irving was convicted of grand larceny in federal court and was sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment.⁷³ Although Irving became a successful novelist after his parole, his fictional masterpiece, The Autobiography of Howard Hughes, has never been published.⁷⁴

The other case In 2007 alone, there were more than 20 Roman Catholic churches in 17 states dealing with embezzlement cases.¹²⁴ Just as the Catholic Church in the United States was beginning to recover from the sordid sexual abuse and molestation scandals of recent years, it appears to have entered a new kind of moral crisis. The increasing number of Catholic clergy getting caught with their hands in the collection baskets has prompted questions about priestly arrogance. The accountant for the aforementioned Delray Beach, Florida, church, from which nearly $9 million had been embezzled by two older priests, notes that some priests still carry "an Old-World attitude that what's in the collection basket is theirs personally to do with as they wish."¹²⁵

Other analysts have suggested that some priests resent seeing how comparatively well their Episcopal or Jewish counterparts live, in contrast to their own parsimonious and celibate lifestyles.¹²⁶

Whatever the reason for the embezzlement scandals, the solution no doubt rests in better financial controls. Embezzlement is a plague afflicting almost all nonprofit organizations, given their typically lax accounting practices. The operator of a watchdog site, Churchsecurity.info, notes that America's 19,000 Roman Catholic churches, which gather about $6 billion a year from parishioners, "are still often medieval in the way they secure or don't secure Sunday collections."¹²⁷ The executive director of a Roman Catholic church management roundtable insists: "It is true that the church is not a company ... but it is comprised of people, finances, and facilities. Catholic theology demands that those are managed welland not just well, but to the highest, exemplary degrees of stewardship."¹²⁸

To thwart embezzlement, parishes and dioceses clearly need to be more vigilant, more transparent in the way they handle money and more accountable for what happens to it.¹²⁹ "They need rigorous systems of internal controlsways to make sure everything is accounted for."¹³⁰ The co-author of the Villanova study, mentioned earlier, says that "parish-finance councilswhich are required by canon law but are too often as ornamental as stained glass'have to stop acting like rubber stamps for priests.

1. Discuss the details of both the cases such as: what happened? Who was punished? Who was not punished?