Warren Buffett Allegedly Swindled Out of $703M

German manufacturing company has been ordered to pay it back
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted May 20, 2020 12:46 AM CDT
Updated May 23, 2020 3:00 PM CDT
Warren Buffett Allegedly Swindled Out of $703M
In this May 5, 2019, file photo Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, speaks following the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha, Neb.   (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

Even the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway is apparently not immune to losing millions due to fraud. A German manufacturing company allegedly swindled Warren Buffett out of more than $703 million, the Guardian reports. A unit of Berkshire Hathaway paid more than $875 million for the family-run company, Wilhelm Schulz, in 2017. But a whistleblower tipped Buffett's company off to the fact that company orders and invoices had allegedly been doctored in order to make the business look like it was worth more than it actually was. In truth, a court ruled last month, it was in danger of going bankrupt and was worth $171 million at most; it has been ordered to reimburse the difference. A state prosecutor in Germany is also now probing the stainless steel pipe maker, which insists it did not defraud anyone and is appealing the court's ruling. (More Warren Buffett stories.)

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