International Law

What Do You Know About White Collar Crime?

Sam E. Antar is written up by Fortune last month, Takes one to know one

"Sam E. Antar is a convicted felon, and he will not let anyone forget it for a minute.

Whenever you find yourself starting to think of him as merely a fast-talking yet charming New York character, he'll come out with something like:

"I had no remorse whatsoever as a criminal. I had no concern about any other human being. I enjoyed being a criminal."

Antar is a cousin of "Crazy Eddie" Antar, the eponymous founder of the notorious New York City-area consumer electronics chain of the '70s and '80s. The business was a forerunner of Best Buy and famous for TV spots featuring a manic, turtleneck-wearing pitchman promising that Crazy Eddie's "prices are insaaaane!"

I want you to listen to that: "I had no concern about any other human being."

That is what a con criminal excels at: having no concern, but a great understanding about what buttons he can push.

Here is some more revealing looks into the soul of a mind killer:

"All too often we give the white-collar criminal a pass.

If I were a serial killer, a child molester, a rapist, you wouldn't applaud me.

You'd be throwing eggs - am I right?"

And then he's off to the races, talking about Crazy Eddie and the "artful liars" responsible for the "brutality of white-collar crime."

Brutality of white-collar criminals.

The crime destroys our innate social bonding - nothing else comes close for its brutality.

Full post as published by Misleading Advertising Law on February 20, 2008 (boomark / email).