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 "trusts" ...

  • Mercury News: Loss of Trust

    The San Jose Mercury News IRE contest entry "Loss of Trust" consists of an original two-part series published July 1 and July 2, 2012, and the series' remarkable aftermath. The series exposed the eye-popping fees charged by private professionals working as court-appointed conservators and trustees for dependent adults in Silicon Valley - exorbitant rates that together with attorneys' fees threaten to force their vulnerable clients onto government assistance to survive. Within days of publication, the Santa Clara County Superior Court launched an overhaul of its local rules, and state legislation was pledged for the coming year to rein in the abuses.

    Tags: Conservators; Trustees; attorneys; overcharged fees

    By Karen de Sá, Pat Tehan, Dai Sugano, Mike Frankel, Ken McLaughlin; Graphic artists, Karl Kahler, Doug Griswold, Paiching Wei

    Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)

    2012

  • Shattered Trust

    The public assumes sterile alcohol wipes are sterile or at least clean enough not to be dangerous. But an ongoing investigation in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that wipes -- sterile and nonsterile -- can be dangerously contaminated, and federal regulators are not doing much to protect the public. When there are recalls, the public is not finding out because of lax communication and weak tools for regulators.

    Tags: alcohol wipes; public safety; bacteria; public health

    By Racquel Rutledge; Rick Barrett; John Diedrich; Ben Poston

    Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

    2011

  • Betrayal of Trust

    The Orange County Register detailed the culture of exploitation that surrounded young female gymnasts who have fueled the sport's success since the early 1980's. Specifically, the Register investigation revealed the coach of the 1984 U.S. Olympic team had sexual relations with three young gymnasts he coached.

    Tags: Olympics; U.S. Gymnastics; 1984; Coach; Sexual Abuse

    By Scott M. Reid

    Orange County Register (Santa Ana

    2011

  • Shattered Trust

    The public assumes sterile alcohol wipes are sterile or at least clean enough to not be dangerous. But an ongoing investigation in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that wipes--sterile and nonsterile--can be dangerously contaminated, and federal regulators are not doing much to protect the public. When there are recalls, the public is not finding out because of lax communication and weak tools for regulators.

    Tags: alcohol wipes; contamination; federal regulators

    By Raquel Rutledge; John Diedrich; Rick Barrett; Ben Poston

    Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

    2011

  • The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust

    "This book was an effort to craft as definitive an account as possible of Madoff's scandal, the larges Ponzi scheme in history."

    Tags: Bernie Madoff; Wall Street; Ponzi scheme

    By Diana B. Henriques

    Times Books

    2011

  • 20/20 Peace Corps: A Trust Betrayed

    An ABC News 10-month investigation into the murder of a young Peace Corps volunteer that led to the discovery of severe flaws in the way abuse is reported within the Peace Corps. ABC's report led to President Obama signing a law that is aimed at protecting the volunteers better.

    Tags: Peace Corps; murder; abuse; broadcast

    By Brian Ross; Anna Schecter; Angela M. Hill; Rhonda Schwartz; Mark Schone

    ABC News 20/20

    2011

  • Florida's Insurance Nightmare

    Six years after eight hurricanes ripped across Florida, state residents still struggle to recover from the storms' legacy - a wrecked property insurance market. Exorbitant premiums, the highest in the world, have soured the state's struggling economy, killed real estate sales and forced families from their homes. Homeowners were told that unless they paid even more, no insurance company would take their hurricane risk. The Herald-Tribune showed that is a lie. Floridians have been lied to about why there is a crisis, where their money is going, and whether they're even protected against storm losses. Public policy has been corrupted by fiction spun by the insurance industry and its supposed regulators. Billions of dollars desperately needed for the next disaster have been siphoned offshore. And millions of homeowners are left to entrust their financial security on a system rigged to extort profit. To expose the hidden truth of Florida's insurance crisis, St. John cultivated key sources deep within every aspect of the insurance industry and sought massive amounts of financial and policy data from multiple state and national entities. When it became obvious Florida's crisis was manipulated from afar, she traveled to Bermuda and Monte Carlo to discover the hidden players truly in charge.

    Tags: home insurance; property insurance; Florida; hurricane; real estate; insurance premiums; homeowners; Bermuda; Monte Carlo; state regulators; anti-trust law; State Farm

    By Paige St. John

    Herald-Tribune (Sarasota, Fla.)

    2010

  • "Looting the Public Trust"

    In three different investigations, Jennifer Dixon reveals a single consistency: "piercing government bureaucracies." Bribes, questionable wire transfers and hundreds of millions lost in "bad deals" are all part of the investigative reports that reveal startling government misconduct in Detroit.

    Tags: Synagro Technologies; Detroit Public Schools; pension; bribes; U.S. Attorney; Detroit City Council

    By Jennifer Dixon

    Detroit Free Press

    2010

  • "FBI Data, Scholars: As Illegal Immigration Rose, Crime Rate Fell"

    According to "widely trusted" crime reporting data, reports that crime is rising along the southern border of the U.S. in incorrect. Reporter Cristina Rayas wanted to find out if there was a correlation between crime and immigration. She found that the crime rate is actually down in the U.S. and that immigrants might actually be making "communities safer."

    Tags: Unified Crime Reports; Department of Homeland Security; Pinal County Sheriff's Department; Mexico; Arizona; Council on Foreign Relations; Pew Hispanic Center; Border Patrol

    By Cristina Rayas; Rick Rodriguez; Jason Manning

    News 21 (Phoenix, Ariz.)

    2010

  • "Breach of Trust"

    Soldiers on all levels of the U.S. Armed Forces used fake college diplomas to increase chances of "promotions and pay raises." WHNT-TV revealed that several AMCOM employees had also presented "fake degrees" to the "Department of the Army." The investigation spurred a reconstruction of HR Specialist training, as the command's "ability to detect" to false diplomas was severely flawed.

    Tags: U.S. Army; National Guard; Army Reserve; Department of the Army; U.S. Army and Department of Defense; General David Grange; Major General Jim Pillsbury; Army Aviation and Missile Command; U.S. Army Human Resource Command

    By Wendy Halloran; Denise Vickers; Shane Hays; Joe Glotzbach; Jacob Greene

    WHNT-TV (Huntsville, Ala.)

    2009