The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "brokers" ...
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Selling Saint Louis
Investigation of how the Saint Louis region's power brokers are selling Saint Louis to the world, focusing on the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association and its misappropriation of funds. KMOV-TV also uncovered a $360 million taxpayer funded proposal to create China Hub at Lambert International Airport.
Tags: China Hub
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Power Brokers
The story investigates what lead to the passage of the disastrous electricity deregulation law in Montana.
Tags: Montana Public Service Commission; deregulation; clean coal; records
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Marijuana Inc.
Flying over northern California, you will see row upon row of marijuana fields. These rows are worth multi-millions and are left in plain sight. This is “evidence of a lucrative, but also increasingly violent, underground pot industry”. This industry has become a large part of that county’s economy. Many people in this industry are turning to guns as protection, robberies in search of drug stashes, and arrival of Mexican drug cartels.
Tags: Mendocino County; Emerald Triangle; narcotics; growers; pot brokers; business; trade; Federal Drug Enforcement Administration
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"House of Cards"
In this investigation, CNBC takes a look at the beginnings of the "global economic collapse." After 9/11, the U.S. government "dropped interest rates" in an attempt to breathe new life into the economy. The investigation reveals how Wall Street took on unstable mortgages to "re-package it and sell it to investors." This story includes personal accounts from home buyers, mortgage brokers, bankers and more.
Tags: hedge-fund; housing market; economic collapse; recession; Wall Street; George W. Bush; Alan Greenspan; Henry Paulson; bailouts; bankrupt; credit crisis
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The Toughest Tickets in Town
The Washington Redskins continue to sellout the stadium and thousands of fans are left on a waiting list for general admission tickets. It turns out though, these tickets can be found online through ticket brokers. Further, the Redskins ticket office can be moderately blamed for this happening, which allowed the brokers to buy the general admission tickets. The team did this because it leveraged these tickets and caused fans to buy the more expensive premium seat tickets.
Tags: Washington Redskins; stadium; sellouts; seats; football; games; tickets; online; brokers; secondary market
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Financial Traps
The series explains, after the economy tanked last year, "five different schemes that made life harder for families trying to cope with financial problems." These schemes, which were promoted by financial companies and brokers, assured families help was on the way but actually caused more hardship. Furthermore, this help came at a price for the federal government, who lost "$700 million dollars" from loans.
Tags: Economy; Financial; Families; Mortgage; Mortgage foreclosure companies; Mortgage brokers; Reverse; Federal Government
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To Catch a Baby Broker
The 18-month investigation looked into complaints about international adoption and the people who take advantage of unsuspecting, emotional adoptive parents. It focused on Guatemala's then-private adoption system, which was compared to a baby farm with allegations of fraud, extortion and baby selling.
Tags: adoption; Guatemala; baby; undercover; abduction; children; fraud; extortion
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The Subprime Wolves Are Back
Consumer advocates revealed in interviews that some mortgage lenders and brokers have reinvented themselves as FHA-backed lenders to feed off of the consumer panic following the national financial bailout.
Tags: fraud; Wall Street; paper trail; bankruptcy filing; Federal Housing Administration; stimulus package;
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Broken Markets: The Panic of 2008
How the credit crisis caused by Wall Street giants Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and American International Group brought the financial market to its knees
Tags: stocks; economy; market; financial firms; credit crisis; brokers; traders; real-estate holdings; executive pay
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Kwame Kilpatrick: A Mayor in Crisis
The Free Press's investigation into Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick exposed "public corruption at the highest levels of government in America's 11th largest city. Schaefer and Elrick's reporting revealed that Kilpatrick and his top aide lied under oath during a police whistle-blower trial and sought to cover up those lies by brokering a secret $8.4 million settlement paid for with the taxpayers dollars."
Tags: FOIA; tax corruption; fraud; Philip Meyer Award; 2009 Pulitzer Prize: Local Reporting