Megan, I believe I read about the bank fraud in a book about finances, and I can't remember what the book was. I read a lot.

What happened was, inflation in Japan was very severe, and the government put a limit on how much one could pay for real estate in Tokyo. One bank wanted to buy a building from another, but the seller wanted more money than the law permitted. The banks got around the limit by agreeing that Bank B (the buyer) would purchase the building for the legal amount, then also buy Bank S's painting for a huge sum of money.

I could have some details wrong. The main point is that things in the news may not be what they seem.