Australian Marcus Einfeld (a prominent lawyer, federal judge and Jewish community leader) was once so revered, one organization named him a “living treasure,” but he fell into total disrepute in 2006 by deciding to fight a simple speeding ticket. By March 2009, Einfeld had been sentenced to two years in prison for perjury and obstructing justice for lying in four elaborate detailed schemes to “prove” he wasn’t driving that day. His original defense (that he’d lent the car to a friend who then passed away) was accepted by the judge, but dogged reporting by Sydney’s Daily Telegraph revealed Einfeld lied, and lied to cover up each successive lie. Encouraged, reporters went on to uncover Einfeld’s bogus college degrees and awards and a double-billing fraud against the government. (The speeding ticket would have cost about $80.)
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