Equity Funding Corporation of America

Equity Funding Corporation of America
Company typePublic company
IndustryInsurance
Founded1960 (1960) in Los Angeles, United States
Defunct1973 (1973)
FateCollapsed after fraud scandal
Headquarters,
Area served
United States
Key people
Stanley Goldblum and Michael Riordan
ProductsMutual funds and life insurance

Equity Funding Corporation of America was a Los Angeles-based U.S. financial conglomerate that marketed a package of mutual funds and life insurance to private individuals in the 1960s and 70s.

It collapsed in scandal in 1973 after former employee Ronald Secrist and securities analyst Ray Dirks blew the whistle on massive accounting fraud, including a computer system dedicated exclusively to creating and maintaining fictitious insurance policies. Investigation found that from 1964 onward, as many as 100 company employees had engaged in organized deception of investors, auditors, reinsurers and regulatory authorities.