The Six Million Dollar Man

A Case Study of White-Collar Fraud

Randy D. Van Gent, CPA, CFF, and Tim M. Lindquist, PhD, and Gerald Smith, PhD, CIA

A 1970s television series, The Six Million Dollar Man, portrayed the adventures of a former astronaut who, after a nearly fatal crash, was implanted with cybernetic parts that gave him superhuman strength and speed; afterward, he fought crime and injustice as a secret operative. In the 1990s, banker Thomas Adam Dixon became another kind of “six million dollar” man—but rather than fight crime, he committed theft by embezzling nearly $6 million from his bank. Lacking superhuman strength or speed, Dixon used a different set of skills to commit and hide his fraud for nearly 20 years, such as lying, deceiving, manipulating, and—most importantly—abusing the trust of others. This discussion explores an actual criminal investigation by the FBI; only the names have been changed.