Resource Center

Stories

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 "lure" ...

  • Denticaid: Medicaid Dental Abuse in Texas

    A nearly two-year-long probe of Medicaid dentistry by WFAA’s Byron Harris discovered what authorities now say is a system of corporate fraud, propelled by Wall Street. News 8 found taxpayer money has gone to finance lavish lifestyles of dentists who have billed the government for unnecessary orthodontics and other procedures that, in many instances, harmed children. WFAA also uncovered a network of Medicaid recruiters who, for at least one clinic, lured children into a van with cash and food, had them sign their parents' names on treatment forms, then performed extensive and unnecessary work on their teeth without their parents’ permission. The FBI is currently investigating this and other Medicaid fraud schemes brought to light by WFAA's reporting.

    Tags: Medicaid; dental health; fraud; corruption

    By Byron Harris, investigative reporter; Billy Bryant, photographer and video editor; Jason Trahan, producer; Mark Smith, producer

    WFAA-TV (Dallas)

    2012

  • Walking into Danger

    The unprecedented investigation takes an in-depth look at child abduction in Chicago. The reporters found that every other day a stranger tries to lure or force a child into a building or vehicle. Furthermore, the majority of these predators avoided prison time due to breakdowns in the legal system.

    Tags: child abduction; kidnapping; sex offender; youth; predator

    By David Jackson; Gary Marx

    Chicago Tribune

    2010

  • Colleges Use Cheap Loans to Lure Stars to Faculty

    “Although colleges and universities have often provided housing for officials to live on campuses, in recent years they have also begun to use low-interest or no-interest mortgage loans as a recruiting tool, sometimes from their own endowments”.

    Tags: education; students; faculty members; professors; teachers; money; compensation; perks; tax forms

    By Marc Beja; Paul Fain

    Chronicle of Higher Education (Washington, D.C.)

    2009

  • Fields of Terror-The New Slave Trade in the Heart of Europe

    People from poor countries are becoming modern day slaves as they are lured in on false pretenses and then being held captive. They were promised “good salaries, accommodations, and food”, but instead were beaten and threatened if they asked for these items. These people were becoming slaves and provided many local restaurants with fresh foods from the surrounding fields. Even though this was all happening, many people were continuing to get away with having these modern day slaves and no one was stopping them.

    Tags: Czech Republic; Eastern Europe; illegal immigrants; gangsters; criminals; labor; force; manual labor; work

    By Adrian Mogos; Petru Zoltan; Doru Cobuz; Vitalie Calugareanu; Vlad Lavrov

    n/a

    2009

  • Investigation into the Chinese Sex Mafia

    A series of investigations uncovers a human trafficking ring in Ghana. Chinese girls are lured to the country by being promised singing careers in African operas but are then sold to wealthy individuals for sex.

    Tags: Ghana; Africa; opera; Chinese; human trafficking; sex slavery; molestation; ring; sex mafia; anas aremeya; crusading guide;

    By Anas Aremeyaw

    The Crusading Guide (Ghana)

    2009

  • From senate job to nuclear lobbyist-- twice

    "This story traced how Alex Flint, a protégé of unabashed nuclear industry booster Senator Pete Domenici, parlayed his post as clerk of Domenici's powerful appropriations subcommittee into a lucrative lobbying job for the nuclear power industry. When Domenici ascended to the chairmanship of the Senate's Energy Committee, he lured Flint back at about one-third his lobbyist's salary to spend three years pushing the Energy Policy Act of 2005 through Congress." Afterwards, Flint was "rewarded with the nuclear industry's top lobbying job."

    Tags: nuclear energy; lobbying; congress; Energy Policy Act of 2005; Senate Energy Committee; revolving door

    By Mike Stuckey

    MSNBC.com

    2006

  • Teens and Strangers

    Children are taught to avoid strangers and dangerous situations, and should have these lessons ingrained by the time they are teenagers. The Early Show drove around in a van, attempting to lure teenagers - including students at Princeton University- into the car to find out just how well those lessons are learned, and how easy or difficult it would be to get a teenager to exhibit poor judgment. Using cover stories including being a film crew seeking young people for a commercial, and posing as a police officer, the show lured people into the van.

    Tags: abduction; kidnapping; strangers; lure; The Early Show

    By Susan Koeppen; Robert Powell; Michael Bass; Bob Davis

    CBS The Early Show

    2006

  • The Youngest Profession: Seattle is a Hub for Luring Teens into Lives of Prostitution

    A look into the explosion of child prostitution in Seattle in 2005. Rowe found some girls as young as 11 being prostituted.

    Tags: prostitution; child trafficking; child pornography

    By Claudia Rowe

    Seattle Post-Intelligencer

    2005

  • Sour Grapes

    This story exposes a Dallas wine retailer who uses false health and wine information to lure novice wine enthusiasts into buying large quantities of close-out and spoiled wines at highly inflated prices. False health information used to sell these wines may violate Texas law, which states that advertising for such products may not be false or misleading.

    Tags: alcohol; alcoholic beverages; wine retailers; false advertising

    By Mark Stuertz

    Dallas Observer

    2005

  • Real Time ID Theft / Tracking the Thieves

    The investigation revealed "floating" chat rooms in which identity thieves buy and sell stolen credit card and bank account numbers. It also followed investigators who lured thieves into ordering merchandise with stolen credit cards and then tracked them down using GPS-enabled cell phones.

    Tags: computers; identity theft; chat rooms; stolen information; Internet Relay Chat; credit cards

    By Daniel Sieberg;Alex Walker;Lisa Burton

    CNN (Atlanta)

    2005