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Discussion of news stories, regulations, legal cases, fraud examination, and other practical litigations and fraud-related topics.
Post Frequency: 2.2/day Last Entry: November 20, 2009 at 15:13:17 Recent Entries: 680
By Tracy Coenen
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Trouble keeping the books at TheStreet.com?
Posted on November 20, 2009It’s interesting to note that TheStreet.com (NASDAQ:TSCM) is apparently having trouble keeping its books, especially since Jim Cramer is one who loves to rant about companies with shoddy bookkeeping. It’s troubling, of course, because Cramer suggests that you should sell the stocks of companies that don’t keep up with their regulatory filings, and TheStreet...
FTC taking action against Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc.
Posted on November 19, 2009Much to my surprise, the Federal Trade Commission appears to be taking action against Pre-Paid Legal Services (NYSE:PPD) for making misleading representations in connection with its Identity Theft Shield and Affirmative Defense Response System products...
Overstock.com: The circus continues
Posted on November 17, 2009Sam Antar has often referred to Overstock.com and CEO Patrick Byrne as the gifts that keep on giving. And he sure is right! There is never a dull moment when it comes to wacky conspiracy theories and accounting woes that never end. Last week, Overstock (NASDAQ:OSTK) announced that it wouldn’t be filing its 10-Q for the [...
Overstock.com admits they?re clueless about the accounting rules
Posted on November 13, 2009This week Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) notified the public that they wouldn’t file their third quarter 10-Q on time. The reason: The registrant has been unable to complete its financial statements for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, as it is continuing to analyze the proper accounting treatment for $785,000 the registrant received during the first quarter of [...
Consumers looking for the ?good? MLM
Posted on November 09, 2009Robert FitzPatrick of Pyramid Scheme Alert is bombarded every week by consumers who want to ask him, “What about this MLM?” You see, the marketers of multi-level marketing companies have gotten very savvy. They know that plenty of us have figured out their con game...
More lies about ?job creation? with stimulus money
Posted on November 05, 2009I wrote last week about my opinion of the fraud that is our federal government’s stimulus programs. Our government has a vested interest in making us think these programs are successful. How else can an agenda of “wealth redistribution” and socialism be promoted? They must have “success” on their side to justify continuing on this [...
Calling all accounting and finance bloggers (and those who want to be bloggers!)
Posted on November 03, 2009You feel obligated to blog. You think it would be a good way to “get your name out there” and market your professional services firm. Your boss has been bothering you about “that social media stuff.” But you feel lost. In steps Blogging Suits...
A review of Genesis Rocket, a tool used to grow your Twitter Followers
Posted on November 03, 2009People have many different reasons for participating on Twitter and other social media sites. They range from recreational purposes, making professional connections, and selling products or services. Whatever your goal with Twitter, you’re probably wondering how you can attract more followers...
Our government defrauds us: Cash For Clunkers
Posted on November 01, 2009People who support our government engaging in “stimulus” activities are fools. While it sounds good to “stimulate” the economy and there are supposedly jobs created and saved with stimulus dollars, the truth is that these government programs are at best very wasteful, and at the worst downright fraudulent...
UFF Agents don?t understand basic math and concepts related to debt
Posted on October 28, 2009We have discussed at length all of the reasons why the United First Financial Money Merge Account (UFF MMA) program is a waste of $3,500. In fact, we’ve even proven how even if the software was FREE, consumers are better off not using it. The evidence which supports these assertions is based in simple math...
Conservatism is no excuse for false financial statements, Overstock.com
Posted on October 27, 2009I?ve written extensively in the past about the train wreck that is Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) and its nutty CEO, Patrick Byrne. Just when I think there couldn?t possibly be more to write about the horrible company and Byrne?s crazy antics, I?m proven wrong...
Milwaukee County: We?re broke, but let?s spend more!
Posted on October 25, 2009For years, Milwaukee County has been a bloated government entity. Spending has been out of control as the politicians continued to expand what the government controlled, and they didn’t seem to care since it was “only” taxpayer money...
United First Financial: Don?t believe the hype
Posted on October 20, 2009More than a year after I started to write about the evils of United First Financial, its representatives are still trying to dazzle the crowds with bogus claims of factorial math. It’s become clear that the primary method for selling consumers on this ridiculously expensive software that the consumer doesn’t even own ($3,500) is by confusing [...
Allegations that the arbitration process is rigged against consumers
Posted on October 15, 2009If you’re in the U.S. and you have a credit card, you may be very familiar with arbitration clauses. Most of the credit card companies, and plenty of other companies you do business with, have these clauses in their contracts. What they generally say is that you the consumer give up your right to ever [...
Does this describe your MLM?
Posted on October 14, 2009Kevin Thompson hires himself out to multi-level marketing companies to give them legal counsel. Supposedly he knows his way around the legality of MLMs, just like my buddy Gerry Nehra supposedly does. So I was perusing Kevin’s website and came across this interesting diatribe about what separates “legitimate” MLMs from illegal pyramid schemes...
From criminal to credible?
Posted on October 08, 2009Yes, it can happen. And that’s exactly what happened to Sam Antar, former CFO of Crazy Eddie… a massive fraud for which he’s now a convicted felon. He’s had his eye on Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) for a couple of years, and despite stalking and harassment paid for by Overstock’s wacky CEO Patrick Byrne, Sam keeps on [...
Evidence of massive naked short selling. Or not.
Posted on October 05, 2009Today Matt Taibbi posted a “shocking” article and video purporting to show a day trader engaging in massive naked short selling of a stock. And the firm that clears his trades, Penson Financial Services, goes along with it all. Taibbi says that day traders can have a huge impact on stocks when they engage in lots [...
Buyer Beware: Fraud committed by Bagshop.com and Petticoat Lane scammers
Posted on October 01, 2009As a fraud investigator, I take honesty and fair dealings very seriously. When I make a mistake, I own up to it. When someone I’m doing business with makes a mistake, I expect them to also take responsibility and make things right. I have been defrauded by Bagshop...
Government stealing more money from citizens (digital download sales tax)
Posted on September 30, 2009I am at a point where I feel that our government is stealing from the citizens. Taxes are out of control. Once upon a time, there were no taxes in the United States. Then little by little, the government started enacting tax laws. At first the taxes were just meant to pay for services that [...
The secret to recruiting for ShopToEarn
Posted on September 29, 2009Recruiting for multi-level marketing companies has become a game of strategy. How many times have you been invited to hear about “an opportunity,” but the person inviting wouldn’t tell you the name of the company? We’ve all heard about this tactic… The recruiters don’t want anyone to “pre-judge” or show up with opinions before they’ve [...
Oh the cruel, cruel internets!
Posted on September 21, 2009The world of mommyblogging is all aflutter. Bloggers have been criticized and those responsible for dishing out the criticism must be shamed or sued or both!!! For those of you who aren’t hip to what mommyblogging is… it’s blogging done by moms...
I?m glad I?m not the only one who hates Intuit, Quicken, and Quickbooks
Posted on September 15, 2009A few months ago, I posted a rant here about my hate for everything Quickbooks and Intuit. The problem is, however, that a lot of people use it (so that means I have to use it in many of my investigations) and there aren’t many good alternatives...
Medifast and Take Shape For Life: Weight loss pyramid scheme?
Posted on September 14, 2009Earlier this year, Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute railed on Medifast, a company with a weight-loss plan being marketed with a multi-level marketing plan. The company was built primarily through marketing of the weight loss program through physicians...
September 11 Tribute: Karen Lynn Seymour Dietrich
Posted on September 11, 2009Eight years later, and the emotion of September 11 doesn’t go away. I remember how I felt that day. How friends and I leaned on each other as we tried to understand the terrible act that was carried out. Today I pay tribute to Karen Lynn Seymour Dietrich, one of the 2,996 lives lost on that [...
Mona Vie: Don?t use our name in your URL, unless you?re Wikipedia (and we?re doing the editing)
Posted on September 03, 2009Earlier this week I wrote about the MonaVie lawyers going after bloggers who do unflattering critiques of the company. Their premise was silly: You can’t use our name in a URL. Here’s exactly what they said in their threatening letter to blogger “Lazy Man”: As a network marketing company MonaVie does not permit its name to [...
Here come the MonaVie lawyers?
Posted on September 01, 2009When will companies learn? Trying to silence critics of them with bogus threats of legal action just isn’t effective. We have something called “freedom of speech” here which guarantees us the right to speak our minds, so long as we’re being truthful...
ObamaCare contradictions
Posted on August 21, 2009This whole “healthcare reform” debate is making me crazy. Mainly because of all the disinformation provided, as well as the alarming sound bites played by the media. The truth is that our healthcare system in America does NOT need “reform...
Another dishonest public company executive uncovered by Barry Minkow
Posted on August 13, 2009According to Barry Minkow, co-founder of the Fraud Discovery Institute, Terrell Herring, President and COO of inVentiv Health Inc. (NASDAQ: VTIV) “claims to have an MBA degree from Pacific Western University, a well known ‘diploma mill’ that ceased to exist by that name in 2007...
Haverhill Home Staging posting on blogs?
Posted on August 11, 2009This afternoon I found 9 comments waiting to be posted on my blog, all for the post Buying a job with Haverhill Home Staging? Questionable. All 9 comments were done this morning over a period of about three hours, and all were from the same IP address...
The Pink Truth about Direct Selling and the economy
Posted on August 06, 2009All year long we’ve been seeing news story after news story about how “direct selling” (the name meant to disguise multi-level marketing and confuse consumers about the true intent of the companies) is a great option for making money during difficult economic times...
Federal tax revenues down dramatically
Posted on August 05, 2009Yes, it’s true. When the government does more to penalize taxpayers more (make them pay “more” in taxes), the taxpayers alter their behavior to mitigate things. In the case of Americans who are paying most of the income taxes (remember that 1% of taxpayers pay more income tax than 95% of taxpayer in total) they: change [...
Inside ShopToEarn?s ?customer service department?
Posted on July 30, 2009A reader of Fraud Files recently contacted me to offer some information on the inner workings of ShopToEarn. Readers of this blog have had plenty of questions about the company and its founder, Patrick Welsh. One reader did a bunch of research, and came away with more questions than answers...
How we?ll get screwed under the proposed health plan for America
Posted on July 26, 2009Forget about the massive cost. Forget about the millions that will still be “uninsured.” Forget about the fact that healthcare will be rationed. Forget that those over 65 will be considered more expendable and therefore be denied some care...
Mary Kay Cosmetics is suing another product liquidator
Posted on July 23, 2009Times must be tough over at Mary Kay. Instead of focusing on ?enriching women’s lives? as the company is so fond of saying, they’re instead busy running around suing all kinds of people . A couple of weeks ago, Mary Kay filed suit against Yahoo for including advertisements with Mary Kay keywords in their email [...
Reports of financial crimes growing
Posted on July 21, 2009I’m not a believer that a bad economy means more fraud is occurring. Those who say this is happening simply have no basis for that opinion. Because so much financial fraud goes undetected, it is impossible to determine if it’s growing or not...
Australian scam sounds exactly like U1st Financial!
Posted on July 21, 2009One of the credibilty builders (i.e. smokescreens) that United First Financial agents use when trying to sell their Money Merge Account is… “It’s based on the Australian banking system!” The claim is that this “system” has been used successfully in Australia for years, and so we should believe in it too! However, the truth is that [...
Who pays all the income taxes?
Posted on July 20, 2009Obamanomics has made it popular to call on the “rich” to pay “their fair share” of taxes. Lets increase taxes to pay for ineffective, unnecessary, wasteful government spending, but lets make sure the “rich” are the ones who pay those increased taxes...
Usana Health Sciences misrepresenting distributor earnings
Posted on July 19, 2009written by: terminatedramp USANA publishes a distributor average earnings chart to be used to recruit new distributors into their business opportunity. See the following USANA website that provides their earnings chart: http://www.usana.com/dotCom/opportunity/payplan/index...
PCAOB reports on BDO Seidman and Grant Thornton
Posted on July 14, 2009Auditing firms are in a world of trouble. Their audit procedures haven’t really kept up with the changing business environment, and the expectations of the users of financial statements are practically impossible for auditors to fulfill. Regardless of the many disclaimers auditors provide about their work (that they don’t provide absolute assurance on the numbers, [...
Privacy over regulation
Posted on July 13, 2009Today I was in a class on overseas banking and reporting requirements for individuals and businesses. I wanted to learn about the latest regulations and their enforcement. We discussed the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program, through which taxpayers can “tell on themselves” to the IRS regarding their previously secret foreign bank accounts...
The UFF Money Merge Account fraud
Posted on July 10, 2009Today a seller of the United First Financial Money Merge Account product threw out a challenge: Show him how a simple spreadsheet can pay off a mortgage faster than MMA. He said that his client owed $200,000 on a mortgage, and with only $200 “extra” cash left each month after regular living expenses, the MMA [...
Interesting stories
Posted on July 07, 2009My faithful readers have likely noticed my conspicuous absence over the last month or more. The simple truth is that I have been swamped with work, and for that I am thankful. Not everyone in my industry is doing so well. Fraud investigation and contract litigation are “extras” that not every company can afford these [...
Conflict of interest for Medifast auditors?
Posted on June 24, 2009Last week Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute released a report regarding the independence of the auditors of Medifast Inc. (NYSE:MED). The company is audited by Bagell, Josephs, Levine & Company. The audit partner happens to also be a part of BJL Wealth Management, an investment firm with the same address as the audit firm...
False disclosures to the SEC by Interoil (NYSE:IOC)
Posted on June 23, 2009Last week, white collar crime fighter Sam Antar reported on interesting false disclosures to the Securities and Exchange Commission by Interoil (NYSE:IOC). The situation is amusing, to say the least, and here’s the heart of it… Interoil has a history of lots of stock and debt offerings...
Will United First Financial refund your money?
Posted on June 16, 2009There is plenty of criticism here of United First Financial, Ufirst Financial, UFF, Money Merge Account, MMA, or whatever Google likes… One of the arguments UFF supporters always seem to throw out is the “money back guarantee” that UFF gives...
Wisconsin politicians screwing taxpayers one dollar at a time
Posted on June 08, 2009Wisconsin has been drunk on taxing and spending for a long time. We easily rank in the top ten (or higher) states when it comes to the tax burden. There is no tax our politicians don’t love. There are three reasons why it’s so easy to increase taxes and create new taxes here: Portray those who [...
Milwaukee Public Schools spending more next year
Posted on June 05, 2009Despite the misleading, fraudulent headling in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel today, the truth is that Milwaukee Public Schools will be spending more taxpayer money next school year. JSOnline reported: “MPS cuts spending, spends stimulus.” The truth is that MPS is not cutting spending, it’s increasing spending...
Buying a job with Haverhill Home Staging? Questionable.
Posted on June 03, 2009Do-it-yourself home renovation projects are still all the rage, years after shows like TLC’s Trading Spaces became popular. No doubt the economy has also influenced people to try to increase the value of their real estate for little or no cost. People are decorating and selling their homes themselves...
Lennar Corp conspiracy headed up by CEO Stuart Miller
Posted on May 29, 2009This week the Fraud Discovery Institute and Barry Minkow released a new (and yes, shocking!) report about a conspiracy involving Lennar Corp. (NYSE:LEN), and spearheded by CEO Stuart Miller and two of the company’s top executives. Check this out… Lennar has been involved in litigation with Nicolas Marsch, the guy who spend ten years helping Lennar make [...
United First Financial made simple
Posted on May 26, 2009What a simple, yet eloquent explanation from one of our readers on the read deal behind UFF’s Money Merge Account (MMA). UFF is a SCAM. Borrowing at 8% to cover 6% loan will make you less money. Paying down your mortgage directly (instead of using HELOC) will put you ahead...
5 Points of Similarity Between Medifast and YTB (YourTravelBiz.com)
Posted on May 21, 20091. Both Medifast (NYSE:MED) and YTB International have 10 levels of commission payouts. That means on any given sale of actual products or services, the person selling it will receive a small commission, while 9 other levels will receive a total commission exceeding the seller?s commission...
Fraud Discovery Institute blasts Medifast
Posted on May 21, 2009In a surprise move, the company known for its outspoken criticism of the direct selling industry, the Fraud Discovery Institute, Inc today released a report portraying direct seller Avon Corporation in a positive light (www.frauddiscovery.net). To prove that Medifast, Inc (NYSE:MED) is a ?scheme pyramid? business opportunity as evidenced by its record breaking first quarter earnings [...
Note to SEC: Doesn?t this violate Regulation FD?
Posted on May 15, 2009The SEC?s Regulation FD is one of those pesky little rules public companies are supposed to abide by. The basic idea behind this rule, called ?FD? for ?Fair Disclosure,? is to make sure that some parties don?t have an unfair advantage in buying and selling stock...
Note to SEC: Does InterOil (NYSE:IOC) violate Regulation FD?
Posted on May 15, 2009The SEC?s Regulation FD is one of those pesky little rules public companies are supposed to abide by. The basic idea behind this rule, called ?FD? for ?Fair Disclosure,? is to make sure that some parties don?t have an unfair advantage in buying and selling stock...
Update on Quickbooks Sucks
Posted on May 14, 2009A few weeks ago, I posted my opinion on Intuit and QuickBooks on this blog. Essentially the company created a program to get people to sign up for a monthly technical support plan costing $39, and then when that plan was canceled, still billed for the service...
USANA?s sneaky disclosure
Posted on May 12, 2009In the Usanan Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) most recent 10-Q filed with the SEC, the company makes reference to restated financial statements: During 2008, the Internal Revenue Service (?IRS?) commenced an audit of the Company?s tax returns. In January 2009, the IRS communicated its intent to disallow deductions claimed by the Company under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code [...
Milwaukee Public Schools teachers admit they suck?
Posted on May 11, 2009The idea being proposed is simple: Pay Milwaukee Public Schools teachers more to teach a longer school day so children can learn more. The response from the teachers union: “We’ve taken a consistent view that doing the same thing longer is going to produce the same results...
The low-down on Brute Force Twitter
Posted on May 05, 2009Is Brute Force Twitter a true scam? I don’t know. I suppose you get the materials you pay for. Just that the techniques they’re selling aren’t all that revolutionary and don’t really add any value to anyone. But the Brute Force Twitter “method” was exposed a few days ago on Upstart Blogger, and as expected, the [...
More financial statement fraud at Overstock.com
Posted on May 05, 2009White collar crime fighter and reformed felon Sam Antar has done it again. He has exposed the most recent financial statement fraud being perpetrated by Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) and wacky CEO Patrick Byrne. Of course, this doesn’t come as any surprise to anyone who has been following the company...
More Milwaukee Public Schools budget nonsense
Posted on April 28, 2009The clowns running Milwaukee Public Schools never fail to provide ample fodder for articles at the Fraud Files. I have written several articles here on how taxpayers are being cheated out of their hard earned money. We?ve made it too easy for MPS to do this to us...
Evidence of Naked Short Selling? Hardly.
Posted on April 27, 2009The tinfoil hat-wearing crew over at Deep Capture thinks they’ve finally demonstrated an actual case of Naked Short Selling damaging a company. (They’ve been asked repeatedly to prove that naked short selling has ever severely damaged a company, and have yet to produce proof that any such thing has happened...
Why I hate Intuit and Quickbooks
Posted on April 21, 2009I hate Intuit, the makers of Quickbooks and Quicken software. The reason is simple: Instead of relying on value to sell their products, they use trickery, deceit, and strongarm tactics. Any accounting professional who uses Quickbooks in their work knows what I’m going to say without even saying it...
MLM Scheme, Mannatech, Pays Millions to Victims for Making False Claims of Cures and Health Benefits
Posted on April 21, 2009News from Pyramid Scheme Alert: Mannatech, a long time MLM company, member of the Direct Selling Association and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, has agreed to pay millions of dollars to consumers who were deceived by its false health claims about its products...
There is no need for government-run health care
Posted on April 16, 2009More words of wisdom from DownsizeDC.org: Sadly, the politicians now want to create a new dragnet program that will once again fail as a safety net. And they’re once again using fraudulent claims to con us. The politicians tell us that more than 45 million Americans lack health insurance...
Government-sanctioned violence
Posted on April 15, 2009Our government forces us to paytaxes, giving an ever-increasing amount of money earned for our hard work, rather than end up in jail. Pay. Pay as much as we demand. Or we will use violence (imprisonment and more) against you…. Today DownsizeDC.org offers a great piece about this: If not for the threat of government violence — [...
What?s wrong with the U.S. healthcare system?
Posted on April 13, 2009The problem with healthcare is not the “uninsured” or that people aren’t getting the care that they need. On the contrary, people are getting care whether they’re insured or not. They are getting some of the best care in the world...
Distributor failure rates in Amway (Quixtar)
Posted on April 06, 2009Former high level Amway distributor Eric Scheibeler, author of Merchants of Deception, offers this perspective on the Amway “business” and whether it can really be considered a good opportunity: Amway Global: Fact, Fiction or Business Opportunity Fraud? Perhaps you have seen the television commercials for Amway global promoting that Amway operates in ?50 different countries and helps [...
Challenging property tax assessments
Posted on April 03, 2009I recently got a very nice note from a gentleman who works in a city assessor’s office (not local to me). I thought I’d share it with you, and below is the video that he’s referring to. I stumbled across your interview on CNBC with Carmen Wong Ulrich...
A math lesson for MPS board candidate Annie Woodward
Posted on April 02, 2009I have no idea who Annie Woodward is. I never heard of her before last week. All I know is that she’s running for a seat on the Milwaukee School Board. Today I had the pleasure of getting one of her fliers. And was immediately saddened at how obviously clueless she is...
Fraud Discovery Institute issues report on Speedway Motorsports (NYSE:TRK)
Posted on April 01, 2009Barry Minkow and his team at Fraud Discovery Institute has issued a new report on Speedway Motorsports Inc. (NYSE:TRK) This report is a follow-up to the report on the company’s president, Marcus Smith, who lied about having a college degree. Why was this report done? On the day that news hit about the president lying about [...
Selling your soul to Usana Health Sciences for $27,000 a year
Posted on March 29, 2009If you were going to join a multi-level marketing company like Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA), what would your goal be? Would you aspire to be one of their million dollar earners? That sounds awfully prestigious, doesn’t it? Well check out this excerpt from a recent press release by the company, and then catch my comments at [...
The latest bailout scam
Posted on March 25, 2009Yesterday Obama announced his plan for buying so-called “toxic” assets from banks. The stock market responded positively. Why? The taxpayers are footing the bill for the bailout (taking all the risk), while investors can get all the rewards...
Naked Short Selling: A complete waste of resources
Posted on March 24, 2009The issue of Naked Short Selling stocks (NSS) is getting some airtime, thanks to the likes of loony Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) CEO Patrick Byrne. He’s a crusader for NSS, claiming over and over that the practice almost destroyed his company. The sad truth is that NSS didn’t really do anything to Overstock...
Spotting a Ponzi scheme or investment scam
Posted on March 23, 2009All the talk about Bernie Madoff and others has everyone thinking about Ponzi schemes. Have you invested with a potential Ponzi? It’s only natural to be worried, and in my opinion, investors haven’t been skeptical enough. How would you spot a Ponzi scheme? My latest book, Expert Fraud Investigation: A Step-by-Step Guide details some questions you [...
Jurors tweeting?
Posted on March 22, 2009Our laws have not kept up with technology. Social media like Twitter (with users posting “tweets” for others to read) and Facebook are having a big impact on life, and the impact on the legal system is yet to be determined. The one thing I’ve observed related to the legal system and social media is [...
Does a down economy cause an increase in fraud?
Posted on March 17, 2009Two weeks ago the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners sent out a survey to members, attempting to determine whether a bad economy makes fraud rise. I’ve written about this topic before, and the truth is that there is no way for us to know. People suspect that a poor economy causes more fraud, but it’s absolutely [...
The idiots in Milwaukee government have finally won
Posted on March 14, 2009Wisconsin is one of the highest taxed states in the nation. If you live in Milwaukee, you’ve got it even worse. All taxes are through the roof… highest sales tax rate, highest property taxes, most “fees” that are nothing more than disguised taxes… Every time we turn around, a politician is looking for new ways to [...
In agreement: Overstock.com sucks and Patrick Byrne is wacky
Posted on March 11, 2009I’ve written plenty here about perpetual money-loser Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) and its wacky CEO Patrick Byrne. Unfortunately, I’ve mostly lost interest in the topic. Why? It’s the same old, same old. Overstock.com continuously loses money for shareholders...
Thank Obama for the stock market freefall
Posted on March 06, 2009From The Wall Street Journal: It?s hard not to see the continued sell-off on Wall Street and the growing fear on Main Street as a product, at least in part, of the realization that our new president?s policies are designed to radically re-engineer the market-based U...
Interesting develoments in case of Mary Kay Cosmetics trying to stop liquidators from buying and selling their products
Posted on March 04, 2009Fraud Discovery Institute releases Top 10 Red Flags for Fraud at Pre-Paid Legal
Posted on March 02, 2009Stick a fork in it: GM is done
Posted on February 26, 2009Today Reuters is reporting that General Motors Corp is going to be announcing a massive loss for 2008, and that their auditors (Deloitte) will be issuing a “going concern” warning. Essentially, that means that the auditors doubt GM is a viable business that can keep running for much longer...
Fraud Discovery Institute releases new report about Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.
Posted on February 23, 2009The Fraud Discovery Institute Inc. (FDI) launched PonziPlusPyramidEqualsPrepaid http://www.ponzipluspyramidequalsprepaid.com, a Web site containing the results of a multi-month investigation of Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc. (NYSE:PPD), a New York Stock Exchange, publicly traded company...
Amazon is promoting my new book
Posted on February 21, 2009How cool is this? Amazon sends out email newsletters to its customers based on their prior purchases. Those who have purchased books on fraud and corruption in the past are getting this newsletter, featuring my new book Expert Fraud Investigation: A Step-by-Step Guide...
New Lennar Analysis: 72% chance of bankruptcy
Posted on February 20, 2009Barry Minkow and the Fraud Discover Institute have just released a new report on Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) by a Wall Street expert. Their press release summarizes the opinions of the expert: The Fraud Discovery Institute, Inc. released late this afternoon a new 16 page report completed by Wall Street analyst Reggie Middleton...
Obama?s promises of transparency were lies
Posted on February 18, 2009I suspect this comes as no surprise to most of my readers. In fact, Barack Obama was lying when he said that his administration would be transparent with consumers… offering them the chance to see exactly how bailout dollars were being spent. The site recovery...
See me @ CNBC?s On the Money site
Posted on February 17, 2009I’m still working with CNBC’s personal finance show On the Money, contributing content for their website. I’ve been answering tax questions from viewers, and I’ll also be writing occasional articles on fraud and consumers scams...
Steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from Wisconsin, and all they?ll do is politely ask you to give it back
Posted on February 16, 2009No, that headline isn’t created for any sort of shock value. It’s the simple truth. If you steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from the State of Wisconsin through a (welfare) child care program, all they’ll do is ask you politely (three times) to give the money back...
A reader researches Shop To Earn
Posted on February 11, 2009Do you know who you’re doing business with? What’s the real story behind Shop To Earn and Shop To Earth? Why does this background information look so sketchy? Here’s what a reader of this blog found… I?ve been approached over the past couple of months about shoptoearn, primarily by people in the real estate industry...
Expert Fraud Investigation released this week
Posted on February 11, 2009My second book, Expert Fraud Investigation: A Step-by-Step Guide was released this week. It is published by John Wiley & Sons, as was my first book, Essentials of Corporate Fraud. My goal with the book was to offer readers a practical tool to help them investigate fraud...
More accounting mistreatment by Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) and CEO Patrick Byrne
Posted on February 09, 2009Last week, Sam Antar exposed yet another set of accounting manipulations by Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) and CEO Patrick Byrne. Those who have carefully followed the Overstock saga are no doubt unsurprised at company’s use of a little accouting “presto chango” to make the fourth quarter of 2008 look better...
A reader?s thoughts on the high failure rates in MonaVie
Posted on February 07, 2009The reader wrote this after attending a MonaVie meeting and researching the company online: [xxx] invited me to a meeting he had at his house last night. Most of the people there were members of the church. All of the attendees were distributors except for me...
Bailout ?party watch? catches Wells Fargo bank
Posted on February 04, 2009Originally posted on WalletPop… Several banks are getting their fair share of negative publicity for engaging in questionable spending after accepting bailout money (compliments of the taxpayers). The bailout money was theoretically meant to help financial institutions stay in business and to help loosen up tight credit markets...
Barry Minkow was right about Microsemi CEO (big surprise)
Posted on January 30, 2009Another successful fraud investigation has been logged by ex-con Barry Minkow. In addition to the more than $1.8 billion in fraud Minkow is responsible for uncovering, he also proactively discovered faked credentials by several public company executives...
Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) confirms fraud allegations; debunks own lies
Posted on January 29, 2009In an interesting twist in the case of the Barry Minkow (Fraud Discovery Institute) fraud investigation of Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN)… it appears that Lennar itself has debunked the company’s own lies. In a new report released today, FDI lays out the original fraud allegations, the lies Lennar used to cover up, and the new admissions which [...
DownsizeDC.org: Can public works stimulate the economy?
Posted on January 28, 2009An article courtesy of DownsizeDC.org: John Maynard Keynes originated the idea that government spending could reverse an economic downturn, but even he was skeptical of using government construction projects for this purpose. Nevertheless, Congress, and people like Paul Krugman, want to spend hundreds of billions on public works...
Milwaukee event for entrepreneurs interested in social media
Posted on January 28, 2009You don’t have to be a social media guru to attend this event. You can start learning about how social media can benefit you and your company, and participate in a great networking event too… When: February 6th, 2009 Where: The Luxurious Iron Horse Hotel - 500 S...
Scamming Wisconsin?s welfare system
Posted on January 26, 2009Oops. We’re not really allowed to call it “welfare” anymore. That might hurt someone’s feelings. Back in the 90’s Wisconsin changed the name from “welfare” to “W2″ (which stands for Wisconsin Works - ha ha ha…...
Brilliant revelation by PCAOB: CFOs are in charge of the numbers
Posted on January 26, 2009It?s no secret that I feel that audits are almost completely ineffective when it comes to verifying the validity of financial statements. Sure, an audit checks the math and some of the obvious applications of the accounting rules. But audits don?t guard against fraud and usually don?t find fraud...
More proof of Lennar lies
Posted on January 24, 2009Could things get much worse for Lennar (NYSE:LEN)? Of course they could. Especially as long as the company continues to lie in order to cover up for the red flags of fraud that Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute released in a report two weeks ago...
SOHObiztube.com? Like LinkedIn on Steroids
Posted on January 23, 2009Have you heard of Sohobiztube.com? Maybe not, but you will be hearing a lot about it in the coming months. It?s a social networking site that is focused on business-to-business connections. It?s kind of liked LinkedIn, only much, much better. How is it different? Your company has its own profile, and you (the employee) have a [...
Employee theft and the economy
Posted on January 22, 2009It’s popular to say that because of the economy, employee theft will go up. While that may happen, there’s actually no way of proving it one way or another. ABC News quoted me in this story: Stealing a Slice of the Company Pie. I elaborate on these comments in an article I wrote for the Wisconsin [...
Best legal disclaimer ever
Posted on January 19, 2009The Valorem Law Group has created the best disclaimer I’ve ever seen on a law firm’s website. Check it out: (Normally we would put this in really small print, but several leading eye physicians have advised us to stick to larger fonts). We?re lawyers...
The frauds investigated and exposed by Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute
Posted on January 19, 2009I’ve had enough of critics calling Barry Minkow a “self-professed” fraud investigator. These critics act as if there is no evidence that Minkow has successfully investigated fraud… thus he is a “self-professed” fraud uncoverer...
Unwanted, unneeded, (to be) unused rail line still being pushed? And lies to help push it
Posted on January 17, 2009I really don’t understand why politicians continue to push for a “commuter rail line” between Kenosha and Milwaukee. What’s in it for them? Why lie in order to get it constructed? This rail line is being pushed as something that will increase commerce and be heavily used by people commuting to work...
Happy to have avoided U1stFinancial
Posted on January 16, 2009This week I got an encouraging email from someone doing research on United First Financial and their Money Merge Account. I’m glad the facts and opinions posted here are being read by people considering paying $3,500 for this product. Here’s what she had to say: Thank You Tracy - Your Research on U1stFinancial Thank you so much Tracy [...
More lies from Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN)
Posted on January 14, 2009Yesterday Barry Minkow and the Fraud Discovery Institute released a report with another five lies told by Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN). This pattern of fraud and deception is being illustrated quite nicely. You can see the details of the five lies on a new website: www...
Carnival of Fraud - January 12, 2009
Posted on January 13, 2009Welcome to the January 12, 2009 edition of carnival of fraud. Silicon Valley Blogger presents Ponzi Scheme, The Madoff Scandal: Tips To Avoid Becoming A Scam Victim posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Thank you!” The Smarter Wallet presents Avoid Scams: Watch Out For False Advertising and Skip The Snake Oil! posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, [...
Lennar CEO lies about losses in joint venture
Posted on January 12, 2009Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) CEO Stuart Miller was on CNBC on Friday to “respond” to allegations made by Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute about the company’s propensity for fraud. In the process of trying to diminish the impact of the serious allegations, Miller got caught in a blatant lie...
Lennar CEO Stuart Miller: Transparency? Or lies?
Posted on January 11, 2009On Friday, Stuart Miller, the CEO of Lennar (NYSE:LEN) went on CNBC to respond to fraud allegations made by Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute. But did he really respond? Do you feel he is being transparent? Or is he creating more lies in response to the damaging report? You be the judget...
Lennar CEO responds to Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute
Posted on January 09, 2009Early today, Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute released a report on Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN), highlighting what the authors believe to be ten red flags of fraud at the company. Lennar’s stock was hit hard by the news. It didn’t take long for Lennar’s CEO Stuart Miller to speak out against the allegations...
Lennar Corporation: Fraud in progress?
Posted on January 09, 2009Today Barry Minkow and the Fraud Discovery Institute released a lengthy report about Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN), the nation’s second largest homebuilder. It’s apparent that the company has a certain way of doing business, and it’s not pretty...
Increased government spending won?t fix the economy
Posted on January 08, 2009Using government money (our money!) to “create jobs” sounds great, doesn’t it? When you hear about massive layoffs, a proposal that create jobs sounds appealing. But this really isn’t the way to stimulate our economy. The government will spend far too much money creating far too few jobs, when the real way to get ourselves [...
Commit one of the largest financial crimes in history, continue to live in your $7 million apartment
Posted on January 07, 2009As our friend Bernard Madoff waits around for the wheels of justice to move in his “alleged” $50 billion Ponzi scheme… he’s been a busy boy. No, he’s not sitting in jail, where a fraudster of his magnitude deserves to be...
?Climate change?: Just another fraud on consumers
Posted on January 05, 2009I sometimes wonder how all this “global warming” and “climate change” stuff got started. Who decided that it was some major catastrophe in process, for which we should spend billions of dollars in a meaningless fashion? And how did so many people get duped into believing this lie? Well, one person we can thank, is “internet [...
SEC employees more worried about future careers than actual enforcement?
Posted on January 05, 2009It can’t be! It’s being alleged that Securities and Exchange Commission employees cared more about their careers than actually doing their jobs. One might think that a strong enforcement record might be career enhancing, but what do I know...
Latest numbers: MPS still sucks
Posted on January 02, 2009If you’re new here, I should tell you that I’m a fan of writing about Milwaukee Public Schools. Not a fan of MPS, but a fan of writing about it. There’s just so much material to work with! We’ve got one of the worst school districts in the nation, hands down...
Carnival of Fraud
Posted on December 31, 2008Welcome to the December 29, 2008 edition of carnival of fraud. Wenchypoo presents Update With Bonus: The “Con” in Lexicon posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket, saying, “An explanation of how mere words can rob us blind if we let them...
Carnival of Personal Finance #185: Cheesehead Edition
Posted on December 28, 2008Welcome to the last Carnival of Personal Finance for 2008, The Cheesehead Edition. I’m located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and I send greetings from fellow Cheeseheads. We’ve had an interesting winter so far, with record-level snowfalls in December, followed by record high temperatures on Saturday, and now back to freezing temperatures...
Property tax sticker shock
Posted on December 26, 2008The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes today about the sticker shock property owners are having when they open their property tax bills. The taxes have gone up in general, but property owners are frosted because their assessments no longer match the real market value of their houses...
Wondering why frauds at public companies aren?t being pursued by the Feds?
Posted on December 24, 2008Consumers are often left wondering why the Securities and Exchange Commission doesn?t heavily pursue allegations of fraud against public companies like Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK), Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA), Herbalife (NYSE:HLF), and the like...
How to make social media a total waste of time
Posted on December 23, 2008I admit it: I’m not a lover of all things social media. I am participating in the Facebook and Twitter discussions a bit begrudgingly. It’s not that I don’t think these tools work to grow businesses and create interesting discourse. They do...
$65 million fraud via a shell company scheme
Posted on December 23, 2008The IRS is accusing Ausaf Umar Siddiqui, vice president of Fry’s Electronics Inc., of embezzling more than $65 million from the company via a shell company scheme. They say he used the money to pay gambling debts in Las Vegas A textbook shell company scheme would go like this: Set up a company that sources goods [...
For students and job seekers: Becoming a fraud investigator
Posted on December 21, 2008I routinely get emails from students, job seekers, or the gainfully employed who want to make a career change#8230; all asking me for advice on getting into the field of forensic accounting and fraud investigation. Here are my top three tips for getting into this field: Get a solid background in general business and finance/accounting...
Big Three bankruptcy impact distorted
Posted on December 18, 2008Last week at the 2008 Inforum Outlook Conference, a presentation was given about the impact of potential bankruptcy filings of the Big Three automakers, GM, Ford, and Chrysler. The media has cited figures ranging from 2 million to 3 million jobs lost...
More TARP secrecy
Posted on December 17, 2008Remember when the leaders of this whole Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) promised us that the spending of our 20 gajillion taxpayer dollars would be #8220;transparent#8221;???? Transparent apparently is synonymous with the word #8220;secret#8221; in their world...
Who is making money as a United First Financial agent?
Posted on December 17, 2008Not many people, that#8217;s for sure. As with any multi-level marketing company, a tiny fraction of people at the very top of the recruiting pyramid make some money, and everyone else makes little to nothing. Here are the numbers posted on a UFF agent#8217;s website in August 2008 (click to see full size): What, exactly, do these [...
United First Financial memo about blogs and forums
Posted on December 17, 2008United First Financial management has asked its agents to not participate on discussion forums, message boards, and blogs. Why? Because they#8217;re having their hats handed to them. Simple math outdoes the UFF #8220;factorial math#8221; any time. Save the $3,500 and simply put your extra cash each month toward your debt with the highest interest rate...
Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme investor losses: Recovery?
Posted on December 16, 2008If you watch television, read the newspaper, or surf new sites, you’re sure to have hears about the $50 billion Ponzi scheme masterminded by Bernard Madoff. The $50 billion in losses is merely an estimate. Some experts (like me) think that the actual losses will be much higher...
Mannatech results: Brain damage and more
Posted on December 16, 2008A child suffered for two weeks with a heart condition, while her father gave her large doses of Mannatech products in an attempt to #8220;cure#8221; her. The result? Her mouth was damaged, she#8217;s confined to a wheelchair, and has cognitive (brain damage) problems...
Friday?s appearance on CNBC?s On the Money
Posted on December 15, 2008In case you missed it, I was on CNBC’s personal finance show On The Money on Friday. You can watch the second Web Extra video here. I offered the following year-end tax tips to help consumers: Update your name with the Social Security Administration so that your name matches on all documents...
Carnival of Fraud - December 15, 2008
Posted on December 14, 2008Welcome to the December 15, 2008 edition of carnival of fraud. Credit Card Assist presents Who Here Hates the Junk Mail and Why it Can Be Dangerous posted at Credit Cards Blog | CreditCardAssist.com. Jim presents Mona Vie Scam? The Magical Acai Berry Juice Product on Blueprint for Financial Prosperity posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity...
Fraud who leads the Milwaukee County Board wants to let other fraudsters off the hook
Posted on December 10, 2008Lee Holloway, Chairman of the Milwaukee County Board, has a wonderful idea: Let’s let an organization that defrauded taxpayers off the hook, to the tune of about $50,000. Now… We really need to put this in perspective first. Lee Holloway is a complete fraud...
Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute release proof of James Peterson?s (Microsemi Corp) lies
Posted on December 09, 2008Last week, Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute announced that James Peterson, the CEO of Microsemi Corp (NASDAQ:MSCC) had neither the bachelor’s degree nor the master’s degree he claimed in numerous SEC filings. That revelation was followed with more lies by Peterson, as well as a statement by Microsemi’s board of directors that they did not [...
Still questioning Sarah Palin?s pregnancy
Posted on December 08, 2008Oddly enough, conspiracy theorists are still blathering on about what they believe to be Governor Sarah Palin’s faked pregnancy with Trig Palin. They continue to believe that Sarah faked a pregnancy while her teenage daughter Bristol was pregnant with Trig...
Dozier Internet Law on illegal use of a competitor?s name
Posted on December 08, 2008Yesterday Dozier Internet Law, experts in litigation related to intellectual property and protection of reputations online , published a list of common issues in the battle over using a competitor’s name to get traffic to your website. This area of law is certainly contentious...
James Peterson expands the lie; Microsemi board doesn?t care
Posted on December 06, 2008Corporate Governance 101: You need ethical people running your company. And that means ethical in all regards. Microsemi Corp. (NASDAQ:MSCC) doesn’t think honest executives are necessary. On Wednesday, news stories broke about the fact that James J...
Planned Parenthood violating Indiana?s sexual abuse laws
Posted on December 05, 2008Press release from Live Action Films ? a new media movement for life: BLOOMINGTON, IN, December 3 ?- New footage released today from an undercover camera inside an abortion clinic in Bloomington shows Planned Parenthood staff deliberately violating the state?s mandatory reporting laws for sexual abuse...
The Journal of Accountancy recommends Sam Antar?s blog
Posted on December 05, 2008For the Journal of Accountancy’s “Smart Stops on the Web” column: IT TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE www.whitecollarfraud.blogspot.com Who knows fraud better than a fraudster? Sam E. Antar, former Crazy Eddie Inc. CFO and convicted felon, shares his views and advice on white collar crime, securities fraud, internal controls, Sarbanes-Oxley and more on his blog...
Should Big 4 audit firms release their financial statements?
Posted on December 05, 2008A few months ago, a committee advising Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on the “state of auditing” recommended that Big 4 audit firms be required to submit audited financial statements to the Public Company Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB)...
Theft of taxpayer funds not a crime in Milwaukee
Posted on December 04, 2008Milwaukee Assistant District Attorney David Feiss says that school board member Charlene Hardin’s theft of taxpayer funds isn’t a crime. Hardin and school secretary Lolita Peterson used $2,400 of taxpayer money to travel to Philadelphia for 3 days under the guise of attending a school-related conference, but then didn’t attend the event...
More public company executives with falsified credentials
Posted on December 03, 2008From the Wall Street Journal: The University of California, Irvine, says a Broadcom Corp. [NASDAQ:BRCM] executive didn’t earn two academic degrees listed in his corporate biography. The Irvine, Calif., chip maker’s proxy statements say Vahid Manian, senior vice president of global manufacturing operations, earned a bachelor of science in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in business [...
Social media in the hands of irresponsible employees can be dangerous
Posted on December 02, 2008A couple of weeks ago I had an interesting encounter with a PR firm in Florida. The Buyer Group is owned by Lisa Buyer. They were retained by Shop To Earn (STE) to do an online PR campaign, including a lame blog that is supposed to counteract the “negative” information found on the internet about [...
Zac Bissonette?. on his way to star status!
Posted on December 01, 2008Huge congratulations go out to my dear friend, Zac Bissonnette. Zac is one of my editors at WalletPop.com, and sophomore at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He just signed a huge book deal with Portfolio after a bidding war between 3 publishers...
Lehman collapse looming in June: When did auditors know?
Posted on December 01, 2008The current issue of New York Magazine has a lengthy story about the collapse of Lehman Brothers. To cut to the chase: Management knew in June that the company was in serious, serious trouble. Which leads me to ask when their auditors knew? This question is significant because if the auditors knew about serious problems at [...
Zac Bissonnette?. on his way to star status!
Posted on December 01, 2008Huge congratulations go out to my dear friend, Zac Bissonnette. Zac is one of my editors at WalletPop.com, and sophomore at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He just signed a huge book deal with Portfolio after a bidding war between 3 publishers...
Taxing more in Wisconsin
Posted on November 29, 2008Wisconsin consistently ranks in the top 10 states for the tax burden on individuals. Our property taxes are sky-high, especially if you live in the metro-Milwaukee area. Personal income taxes are very high. And we have lots of “fees” that are really just taxes in disguise...
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff: More suspect campaign contributions
Posted on November 26, 2008This isn’t the first time (and won’t be the last time) that a contribution to Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff’s campaign fund is followed by questionable activity. The latest allegations of impropriety involve a computer consulting company called DigitalBridge...
Hank Paulsen?s plan called ?truly idiotic.? Ya think?
Posted on November 25, 2008It takes no college degree and very little common sense to come to the conclusion that spending $7.4 trillion of taxpayer money on these “bailout” efforts is idiotic. It was easy to see what a slippery slope all of this bailout nonsense could easily become...
MPS spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on consultants who will tell them they suck
Posted on November 25, 2008It’s amazing what several hundred thousand dollars will buy you these days. Get ready for an opinion from McKinsey & Co. that says Milwaukee Public Schools suck. (And I’ve been telling you that for free!) Between extremely poor results with the students, wasteful spending, and massive property tax increases, MPS has got to be one of [...
Louisiana lawyers prohibited from blogging and other online activities
Posted on November 25, 2008Lawyers are restricted in their advertising efforts. That’s not new. But what is new is a law that was passed in Louisiana. Starting early next year, lawyers in Louisiana will be prohibited from blogging, tweeting, participating in online message boards, and engaging in other online activities...
Hank Paulson?s plan called ?truly idiotic.? Ya think?
Posted on November 25, 2008It takes no college degree and very little common sense to come to the conclusion that spending $7.4 trillion of taxpayer money on these “bailout” efforts is idiotic. It was easy to see what a slippery slope all of this bailout nonsense could easily become...
Say bye bye to your 401(k)?
Posted on November 24, 2008A month ago, I wrote on AOL’s WalletPop about the money grab being done by the government of Argentina. Essentially, the government needed money, saw $30 billion sitting in privately-owned retirement accounts, and decided to take the money away from the rightful owners...
Carnival of Fraud - November 24, 2008
Posted on November 24, 2008Welcome to the November 24, 2008 edition of carnival of fraud. Jim presents Five Check Fraud Tips by Frank Abagnale on Blueprint for Financial Prosperity posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. debergerac78 presents How to Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams posted at Creating With Impact, saying, “This short, simple video tells you how to keep criminals from [...
What happened to all that CHANGE?
Posted on November 23, 2008©2008Sequence Inc. All Rights Reserved..
My recent articles at AOL?s WalletPop
Posted on November 23, 2008Here are a few of the more interesting articles I’ve written at AOL’s personal finance site WalletPop recently. An uglier side to the AIG story - Employees being harassed and intimidated by consumers. Hey Big Three : No bailout for you! - Why the automakers shouldn’t get bailout funds...
Milwaukee Public Schools wasteful spending exposed
Posted on November 22, 2008It has long been a mystery how a school system as bad as Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) can spend over $14,000 per year per child.On a daily basis, the school district is spending $3,287,671.23 a day, 365 days a year. At that rate of spending, you’d think they would have something to show for it...
The Overstock.com train wreck continues
Posted on November 20, 2008For almost two years, Sam Antar (convicted felon and former CFO of Crazy Eddie) has been writing about Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) and his questions about their financial reporting and disclosures. I became interested in the company’s financial statements and SEC filings a few months later and began blogging about Overstock and nutty CEO Patrick Byrne as [...
United First Financial broker numbers
Posted on November 18, 2008Today I received some interesting information on United First Financial, the company selling the $3,500 Money Merge Account. Here is a listing of all UFF agents (warning: large file download), showing that there are 59,703 agents on the rolls. The fee to sign up as an agent is $175...
Interested in having The Buyer Group do PR for you?
Posted on November 17, 2008What kind of public relations firm do you want working for your company? Do you want one that represents you well? Do you want one that is professional in everything they do? If so, you might want to avoid The Buyer Group. The Buyer Group is a PR firm that is working on behalf of Shop To [...
Richard Davis and Trademark Properties win Flip This House lawsuit against A&E
Posted on November 14, 2008The 2006 lawsuit against A&E by Richard Davis and Trademark Properties of the “Flip This House” reality show has concluded with a jury verdict. After five hours of deliberation, the jury awarded Davis $4 million. David alleged that he and A&E had a verbal agreement to split all revenue from Flip This House 50/50...
Shop to Earn: Please get my web address right
Posted on November 14, 2008In a lame, half-hearted attempt to counteract the truths posted here about Shop To Earn and Shop To Earth, the company has started an “official” blog. The blog tells readers next to nothing, but is a place for STE brokers to high-five each other about the company...
No Surprise: The ?bailout bill? is falling apart
Posted on November 14, 2008Whether from dishonesty, incompetence, or a bit of both, the big $700 billion “bailout bill” that Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson begged lawmakers to approve is falling apart. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Michelle Malkin writes: And now? The pulled-out-of-the-posterior ?$700 billion? price tag has ballooned into the trillions...
More gifts from the government for the financially irresponsible
Posted on November 13, 2008From Loren Steffy at the Houston Chronicle: The plan calls for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, now under government control, to modify loans for its customers, which include more than 30 million mortgage holders. Beginning Dec. 15, the government would reduce interest rates for homeowners who are at least three months behind on their mortgage payments and owe [...
There?s a deficit in a budget we haven?t even created yet!
Posted on November 12, 2008I have plenty of gripes about politicians. Probably my biggest issue is their widespread inability to live within their means… that is, create a budget that works based upon the tax dollars coming in. Less money coming in means that less money should be spent...
Credit card company bailout next?
Posted on November 10, 2008Earlier today I wrote an article on WalletPop.com about the ever-growing bailouts being handed out by the federal government. Specifically, I’m a little ticked off by the AIG bailout, which was at $85 million about a month ago, and now sits at $150 billion...
ShopToEarn broker earnings watch
Posted on November 10, 2008ShopToEarn reports that it has 45,000 “members.” I am interpreting that to include website owners, business builders, and brokers. Of those members, 10,000 of them, or 22% will be paid a commission on November 21st for October activity. That means 78% of people have earned no commission (despite claims that everyone can make money in [...
ShopToEarn: Don?t talk about actual money!
Posted on November 10, 2008ShopToEarn and ShopToEarth recently communicated the following to its members: Talk about how many times you?ve SCORED! and not about how much you?ve earned! Based on advice from Counsel, it is very important that we focus on how many times we?ve SCORED! as opposed to the money that thousands are earning...
Carnival of Fraud - November 10, 2008
Posted on November 10, 2008Welcome to the November 10, 2008 edition of carnival of fraud. Moneywalks presents Credit Report and How It All Works posted at moneywalks. Kirby presents Are you stupid for paying your mortgage? | Kirby on Finance posted at Kirby on Finance. Leon Gettler presents Financial ethics and the meltdown posted at Sox First, saying, ?What does the implosion [...
Shop To Earn - How to Build Most Effectively
Posted on November 08, 2008The information reproduced here is from the back office available to ShopToEarn brokers. It is being posted here for educational and critique purposes, as permitted under fair use principles. How To Build Most Effectively when you click on Graphic Entry There are 2 ways to enroll new Website Owners, Business Builders, and Brokers (Website Owner + [...
We fight.
Posted on November 05, 2008What do we (conservatives and Republicans) do now that the election is over? We fight. From Michelle Malkin: There is no time to lick wounds, point fingers, and wallow in post-election mud. I?m getting a lot of moan-y, sad-face ?What do we do now, Michelle?? e-mails...
Election fraud and the future of America
Posted on November 05, 2008One of my big fears about yesterday’s election was that fraud would play a big part in the results. I know that fraud was at work, but I don’t know how much of an impact it had. It is incomprehensible to me that so many things in this world require picture identification - - getting [...
ShopToEarn Business Builder Commission Rules as of 7/26/08
Posted on November 03, 2008The information reproduced here is from a ShopToEarn communication to brokers. It is being posted here for educational and critique purposes, as permitted under fair use principles. There are two qualifications that a Business Builder must maintain to receive SCORE! Commissions: A...
Gross incompetence at Overstock.com
Posted on November 03, 2008Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) and its “colorful” CEO Patrick Byrne have a history of something…. At worst, it’s a history of misleading investors with false information, incomplete and inaccurate disclosures, and phony accounting measures...
Why audits are near worthless (yes, internal audit too)
Posted on November 02, 2008Francine McKenna at re: The Auditors has an interesting post and set of comments about internal audit functions at public companies and the importance of internal auditors. External auditors look at a company’s financial statements and a small amount of underlying transactions in order to issue a report that the financial statements are properly presented...
Bailout head Neel Kashkari wants transparency (except when he doesn?t)
Posted on October 31, 2008It’s been widely reported that Neel Kashkari, Goldman Sachs alum and head of the $700 billion bailout, has said he wants transparency in administering the whole process. He is quoted as saying: “Consistent with Congress’ intent, we are committed to transparency and oversight in all aspects of the program and have already taken several important steps [...
MonaVie: Scared of Amway
Posted on October 31, 2008The MonaVie Distributor Application is very interesting. It has an entire section devoted to Amway. Check it out: CERTIFICATION In connection with my application and agreement to become a distributor for MonaVie LLC (?MonaVie?), I hereby certify that: 1...
Auditor liability in market meltdown?
Posted on October 30, 2008It should come as no shock to anyone that lots of fingers are being pointed related to Wall Street’s meltdown, and specifically related to the banking industry. And auditors are likely to find themselves the targets of lawsuits. Auditor malpractice is often hard to prove, but in this case, I think there will be several [...
Massive MonaVie distributors losses demonstrated with the company?s own numbers
Posted on October 29, 2008Multi-level marketing expert Robert Fitzpatrick discusses the phenomenon of high-level MLM distributors going from company to company. He also explains some distributor numbers released by MonaVie, which show that 91% of distributors receive no commissions from the company, and that the bottom 99% of distributors receive an average of $3...
Joe the Plumber: It?s really about the dream
Posted on October 28, 2008The American Dream of Joe the Plumber Whether you consider him a plumber, a contractor, a political plant or just a guy who’s behind on his taxes, Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher — a.k.a. “Joe the Plumber” — has a point, says WalletPop contributor Tracy Coenen...
Only at Overstock.com
Posted on October 28, 2008Executives at Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) announced last week that they’d be restating financial statements for 2003 through 2008. (And a few of those years were already restated once, so this makes it the third set of financial statements that will be issued for those years...
ShopToEarn: How Much, How Fast
Posted on October 27, 2008Shop To Earn representatives frequently promote the idea of earning $4,100 in commissions your first 30 days after signing up? How can you do it? The details are below, and it’s not as easy as it seems. It starts with “just recruiting” some people...
Overstock.com executives subject to clawback provision in Sarbanes-Oxley?
Posted on October 26, 2008This past week, our good friends at Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) - - CEO Patrick Byrne, President Johnathan Johnson, and SVP of Finance David Chidester - - made an announcement about how they have screwed up the company’s financial statements again...
Overstock.com: What?s $10 million more in losses?
Posted on October 24, 2008You can be sure of two things when looking at Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) financial statements: They’re wrong There are massive losses (which will be even bigger when #1 comes to light) Since 2000, Overstock.com has never had a profitable year...
Milwauke Public Schools: Obscene property tax increase
Posted on October 23, 2008Tonight the Milwaukee Public Schools board is going to vote in favor of increasing city property taxes 14.6% for the school portion. That is the largest portion of the property tax bill, so overall taxpayers will see a sharp increase in their bills. Student enrollment has been steadily declining, while spending has been increasing...
When the government can?t investigate fraud
Posted on October 22, 2008Government agencies are limited by their resources, both money and people. It came as no surprise to me that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is struggling to investigate cases of financial fraud. They simply don?t have enough investigators. I see the same problem with the SEC and FTC? not enough people to investigate all the [...
But there?s no evidence of voter fraud!
Posted on October 22, 2008Check out this bit of circular reasoning: The Wauwatosa Common Council has rejected a request for officials to verify voter registrations because “There is no historical evidence to show (voter fraud) is a problem in Wauwatosa.? (Alderman Craig Maher) Except there is “no evidence” of voter fraud because the voter rolls have never been checked...
Shop To Earn FAQs: Commissions, signing up brokers, SCORE flush, SCORE deduction and more
Posted on October 21, 2008The information reproduced here is from the Frequently Asked Questions section of the back office available to STE brokers. It is being posted for educational and critique purposes, as permitted under fair use principles. Commission Rules & Periods Q...
Fox Guarding the Henhouse: Big 4 auditors chosen to oversee Bailout Bill
Posted on October 21, 2008PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) and Ernst & Young (E&Y) have been chosen by the United States Treasury to help oversee the $700 billion bailout plan. CFO.com reports: The government agency said the firms will provide Treasury with the accounting and internal controls services needed to administer the complex portfolio of troubled assets that the department will purchase...
Shop To Earn FAQs: Commissions, signing up brokers, SCORE and more
Posted on October 21, 2008The information reproduced here is from the Frequently Asked Questions section of the back office available to STE brokers. It is being posted for educational and critique purposes, as permitted under fair use principles. Commission Rules & Periods Q...
Fraud and the Wall Street Financial Bailout
Posted on October 20, 2008My take on fraud and the bailout, from today’s edition of the Wisconsin Law Journal. ©2008Sequence Inc. All Rights Reserved..
Shop To Earn Commission Rules
Posted on October 19, 2008The information reproduced here is from the Commission Rules section of the back office available to STE brokers. It is being posted for educational and critique purposes, as permitted under fair use principles. Commission Rules for Website Owners, Business Builders, and Brokers...
Book publishing insights from Alan Rinzler
Posted on October 17, 2008Last month I was in San Francisco on business, and was granted the opportunity to meet with Alan Rinzler, an editor with John Wiley & Sons. Though my book is published by Wiley, Alan’s not in my division so I don’t get access to him through the company...
A ShopToEarn broker?s opinion on the program
Posted on October 17, 2008A Shop To Earn broker left this as a comment last night on one of our ShopToEarn / ShopToEarth threads. I think she has some important insights, so I’m republishing it as an article so more people will see it. Are you thinking about getting involved with STE? Are you wondering if ShopToEarn is a [...
The fallout from a Democratic win in November
Posted on October 17, 2008An opinion piece in today’s Wall Street Journal paints a very grim, but realistic, picture of where our country will be headed if Barack Obama wins the White House and Democrat majorities in Congress get stronger. (The Senate is expected to be filibuster-proof...
Barack Obama lies lies lies?
Posted on October 16, 2008This letter regarding Barack Obama is currently being circulated via email. I have not had the time to verify the assertions in this email, but present them to readers for their analysis. I encourage anyone and everyone to verify or debunk any claims in this letter...
The Sith Lord has penetrated Google!
Posted on October 15, 2008Thanks to Sam Antar for these interesting searches, the results of which are no doubt generated based upon special intervention from the Sith Lord. Google search: despicable behavior by ceo http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=despicable+behavior+by+ceo Google search: ceo deceptions http://www...
The job of government is not to employ as many people as possible
Posted on October 15, 2008In Wisconsin, we’ve got big government. And I mean big. We have one of the highest tax burdens in the country. Milwaukee was run by Socialists for a long time. Hence big taxes, big government, and big spending that have held on for a long time. Government jobs here pay pretty well, have fairly low quality [...
Overstock.com and Gradient settle lawsuit
Posted on October 15, 2008On Monday, a press release announced that the long legal battle between Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK), its nutty CEO Patrick Byrne, and Gradient Analytics was over. It was somewhat disappointing, when it seemed that the heart of the lawsuit was an attempt to silence critics...
Barack Obama?s plan for redistribution of wealth
Posted on October 15, 2008Getting closer to Socialism and Communism, Barack Obama wants higher taxes on the “wealthy,” and the money will essentially be redistributed to the not-so-wealthy. Obama says: “It?s not that I want to punish your success; I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you that they?ve got a chance at success, too...
Patrick Byrne, the omniscient
Posted on October 14, 2008I’ve been contemplating this topic for a couple of weeks, but just didn’t have the stomach to write about it. Fortunately, Gary Weiss has mentioned it and given me the courage to suck it up and write about it. What’s the topic? The ever-nauseating Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock...
Palin Troopergate: The timeline, the truth
Posted on October 13, 2008The media just can’t get enough of Alaska’s governor Sarah Palin. The report released on Friday concluded that Palin “abused her power.” But I think it’s important to take an objective look at what really happened and when it happened...
Carnival of Fraud - October 13, 2008
Posted on October 13, 2008Welcome to the October 13, 2008 edition of carnival of fraud. The Smarter Wallet presents Don’t Get Ripped Off! Watch Out For These Consumer Dangers posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, “Thanks!” Silicon Valley Blogger presents 10 Reasons Why Buying Penny Stocks Is Nothing But A Mistake posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “I discuss penny [...
My new hero - James T. Harris
Posted on October 11, 2008Conservative talk radio host James T. Harris has stood up and voiced what many of us want to say. He’s now been the target of many threats and racial slurs. James, thank you for standing up for your beliefs and for doing what is right. I am praying for you and your family...
Newly designated ?racist? things
Posted on October 10, 2008Reality is so much better than fantasy. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried. Here are the things the Barack Obama campaign and Obama supporters are now claiming signify racism: Sarah Palin wearing a white blouse The phrase “that one” - John McCain mentioned an energy bill in on of the debates and said, “You [...
Joe Taxpayer?s five part Money Merge Analysis
Posted on October 10, 2008Haven’t gotten enough of the cold hard reality that United First Financial’s MMA is inferior to a very simple (and free!) do-it-yourself prepayment of your mortgage (which only requires you to pay extra on your mortgage once a month)? Joe Taxpayer did a five-part series on the UFF MMA, and here’s a summary: Part One - Do [...
Recent articles from WalletPop Personal Finance
Posted on October 09, 2008It’s been a while since I’ve highlighted any of my articles from AOL’s personal finance site WalletPop.com. That’s mainly because I’ve been so busy that I haven’t written a whole lot for them over the past two months...
Chicago mayor promises action against city employees stealing from taxpayers
Posted on October 09, 2008Today it was revealed that trash collectors (City of Chicago employees) are cheating taxpayers. An inspector’s report of an investigation revealed that about 25% of trash collectors’ time is spent doing absolutely nothing. Ten weeks of surveillance showed: Laborers and truck drivers whose movements were eyeballed and tracked by undercover investigators were found to be in [...
Consumers easier to scam during tough economic times
Posted on October 08, 2008The Los Angeles Times did an article this week on consumer scams thriving during difficult economic times. I think their observations and comments were right on the money! If the searches consumers are using to get to my site are any indication, they’re researching scams more than ever...
Either Soledad O?Brien can?t count or she?s a liar
Posted on October 06, 2008You gotta love it every time “liberal media bias” plays itself out right in front of your eyes. On debate night, CNN’s Soledad O’Brien had a group of voters that were supposedly evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, plus a group of undecided voters...
Searching for Shop to Earn scam
Posted on October 06, 2008There are still plenty of people searching for “Shop to Earn scam,” ShopToEarn fraud, “is Shop to Earn legitimate,” Shop To Earth scam, and the like. The company has, for the most part, avoided negative commentary on the internet...
Debunking Sarah Palin rumors and lies
Posted on October 05, 2008Someone has put together a list of the lies and rumors being promoted by the left about soon-to-be Vice President Sarah Palin. It’s quite remarkable when you read the whole list… All these rumors in one place really show how horrible and hateful the left has been in smearing her and her family to no [...
Tonight I was on ?On the Money? on CNBC
Posted on October 03, 2008Tonight I called in as an expert on CNBC’s “On the Money.” The show is all about consumer finance issues, and tonight we were (of course) talking about the bailout bill that the House passed today and President Bush signed into law. One of the provisions of the bill included a “fix” for 2008 for the [...
Criminal charges against Amway in India
Posted on October 02, 2008Guest post by Pyramid Scheme Alert In a letter to a Director of Pyramid Scheme Alert, the chief of police in one of India’s largest states, Andhra Pradesh, wrote that a criminal case has been booked by the government’s Criminal Investigation Division against Amway India for promoting a “Money Circulation Scheme” in the disguise of Direct [...
Check out the pork in the bailout bill
Posted on October 02, 2008Oh, I know we’re not supposed to call it “pork.” It’s now “sweeteners.” And it’s not a “bailout.” It’s now a “recovery” bill. I get it. It’s all about marketing, and to properly market it to Americans (i...
Obama: Poised, eloquent, and intelligent
Posted on October 02, 2008Get Obama off a teleprompter, and he’s a disaster. 57 states. Massatoosets. George Bush’s fourth term. You get the picture. (Now I have to go find a couple of clips of Michelle Obama talking about going to a birFday party and referring to the middow class people...
Milwaukee school board member Charlene Hardin screwing taxpayers again
Posted on October 02, 2008As if it wasn’t bad enough to go on a trip to Philadelphia paid for by taxpayers, but not attend the conference and instead make it a vacation…. Milwaukee Public Schools board member Charlene Hardin is now caught wasting more taxpayer money...
The $700 billion bailout should fail on its own merits
Posted on October 02, 2008..not be passed through because of other legislation that the taxpayers deserve to have regardless of whether it’s attached to to bailout. This $700 billion (probably more like $1 trillion or $2 trillion) bailout that was passed by the Senate last night is really no better than what the House voted against just a couple of [...
The lure of multi-level marketing
Posted on September 30, 2008I constantly marvel at how multi-level marketing (MLM) can continue to lure in millions of people a year, who collectively pump billions of dollars into these losers. Time and again, industry experts calculate a failure rate of 99% (failure = losing money on the deal) … And still consumers line up to sign up for [...
Carnival of Fraud - September 29, 2008
Posted on September 29, 2008Welcome to the September 29, 2008 edition of carnival of fraud. We’re a little skinny on submissions this week, as I messed up the posting dates… Allen in Fort Worth presents Have you paid off your Subprime Mortgages? posted at The Whited Sepulchre, saying, “why are taxpayers having to co-sign for fraudulent mortgages?” Sara Goldstein presents Bargain [...
The UFF Money Merge Account money shuffle explained
Posted on September 29, 2008Guest post by Joe Taxpayer As I looked at multiple United First Financial agents? sites, I found the common thread was the claim that one simply can’t do this on their own, that the shifting of funds from a checking account, to a HELOC, and then to a primary mortgage somehow needed such a [...
Cookies and coffee now mean ?Come join our church.?
Posted on September 27, 2008From the “how many ways can we waste taxpayer dollars” file… Daniel B. Kapustin has filed a complaint with the state’s Government Accountability board about the September 9 elections held at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Delafield...
Obama to McCain: You?re absolutely right.
Posted on September 27, 2008©2008Sequence Inc. All Rights Reserved..
Mark Cuban?s idea on a private bailout of the financial sector
Posted on September 26, 2008Mark Cuban has an idea: Let’s scrap this government bailout of the financial sector and instead make it private. Create an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) that buys the distressed securities these companies want to get rid of, as well as all warrants and shares of stock in the companies themselves...
Jones Day lawsuit against Blockshopper contradictory argument
Posted on September 25, 2008Recently, law firm Jones Day filed a lawsuit against Blockshopper.com, alleging service mark infringement, service mark dilution, false designation of origin and deceptive trade practices. What did the website owners do to merit the filing of this lawsuit? Blockshopper publishes publicly available information on real estate transactions...
The problem is not the funding formula!
Posted on September 25, 2008Tonight the Milwaukee Public Schools board met to discuss the possibility of dissolving the district. The consensus is that they can’t do it. But the sheer ignorance is stunning. The sound bytes from board members went like this: “The problem is the funding formula...
Bailout to include consumer debt?
Posted on September 24, 2008The Wall Street bailout, publicly estimated to cost taxpayers somewhere between $700 billion and $1 trillion or more, could end up to be bigger than we ever imagined. Now added to the bailout plan: student loans, auto loans, credit card debt, and other “troubled” debt...
Would you sleep on a wet mattress for 59 days for $295,000?
Posted on September 24, 2008How much money would it take for you to agree to sleep on a wet matress for 59 days? The mattress keeps getting wet over the 59 days, so it gets a little moldy and a little smelly. But would you do it for $295,000? A Wisconsin prisoner was just awarded $295,000 by a jury for [...
Somebody please check Henry Paulson
Posted on September 24, 2008This whole “bailout” of the financial sector bothers me. It bothers me that as a taxpayer, I will be on the hook for a nice chunk of the $500 billion to $1 trillion that this will cost. (And the way things are looking, the cost looks to be closer to $2 trillion...
Carnival of Fraud - September 22, 2008
Posted on September 22, 2008Welcome to the (late) Carnival of Fraud.. Wenchypoo presents Word of the Day: Decadence posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket. Sam E. Antar (former Crazy Eddie CFO and a convicted felon) presents Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) CEO Patrick Byrne Pays Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff to Defame a Blogger posted at White Collar Fraud...
The end of life as we know it
Posted on September 20, 2008We now have a Socialist marketplace. I thought that the Democrats were the ones who would lead us there, but I was wrong. It is a Republican administration that has taken us down this road to ruin. N o longer does capitalism mean what it used to… that people worked hard to succeed, and determined their [...
Dissolve MPS? Yes, please!
Posted on September 20, 2008Late this past week, the Milwaukee Public Schools board voted 6 to 3 in favor of “examining” the possibility of dissolving the district. This would be a sort of bankruptcy situation, and basically that is where the district is headed eventually...
The financial crisis: No downside for executives who have been paid millions
Posted on September 18, 2008It?s easy to blame short sellers for troubles in the stock market. After all, they make money when a stock?s price goes down. That?s bad, right? No, not really. It?s no worse than the longs holding stock and hoping a company has good news so they can profit from stock prices going up...
Laptop computer searches: Homeland Security good, foreign governments bad
Posted on September 18, 2008Mike Masnick at Tech Dirt alerts us to a very important development in the U.S. Government’s continued searching of laptop computers at the borders. (They might even take away your computer or Blackberry or other computerized device!) Travelers have had to watch officials literally go through data on their computers, or in other cases, have [...
John W. Dozier, Jr., Esq. of Dozier Internet Law, P.C. threatens to sue me
Posted on September 15, 2008Attorney John Dozier is threatening to sue me over two articles posted here that referenced him. I really don’t like people making threats against bloggers who are exercising their constitutional rights. Yet I have better things to do than argue with Dozier...
Wauwatosa teachers doing less because they got a raise
Posted on September 14, 2008You read that correctly. Wauwatosa, WI teachers are upset that they got an across the board 3.8% increase, so they’re doing less around the schools. Did you get a raise this year? How much was it? I’d put money on it that it was something less than 3...
The editing of the ABC Sarah Palin interview
Posted on September 14, 2008I watched Charles Gibson interview Governor Sarah Palin with great interest. Yes, I thought he was hard on her, and I wondered how hard he has been on other candidates. (Turns out not hard at all, when you compare the questions from a recent interview Gibson had with Barack Obama...
You are not being constitutional!
Posted on September 13, 2008This email I received does not really need any commentary from me: Info-Sequence, We have found that your shoptoearn blog operator is erasing 90% of all positive information in defense of Shoptoearn supporters. Their is a large group of people who belive in Shoptoearn and they recently were exposed to your business practices...
Charles Gibson and the media trying to make Governor Sarah Palin look foolish? but end up looking foolish themselves
Posted on September 13, 2008As I watched a few segments of the interviews Charles Gibson of ABC had with Alaska’s Governor Sarah Palin (soon-to-be VP of the United States), I had this nagging feeling that Gibson was being condescending to her. I brushed it off, thinking that I was being too sensitive to the issue...
Usana Health Sciences distributor figures for September 2008
Posted on September 12, 2008The 624,588 USANA (NASDAQ:USNA) distributors are ranked as follows: 383,124 unranked 84,413 Sharer 102,761 Believer 34,064 Builder 9,195 Achiever 4,277 Director 870 Bronze Director 4,487 Silver Director 902 Gold Director 268 Ruby Director 94 Emerald Director 133 Diamond Director & up What this means: 624,588 USANA Distributors Signed A Business Contract To Make Money 241,464 USANA Distributors received a commission check 383,124 USANA Distributors have never received a commission [...
Midwest Airlines pilots hold rally? Why?
Posted on September 11, 2008I certainly respect the right of the Midwest Airlines pilots and their union to hold a rally. I respect their right to strike or otherwise express their displeasure with Midwest Airlines. But I have to ask… To what end is this being done? Like every other U...
Amway executives make Top 5 Scam Artists list
Posted on September 11, 2008Published by Vue Weekly, a news source in Edmonton, the Top 5 Scam Artists list included Amway (Quixtar): Dick DeVos and Steve Van Andel are the inheritors of Quixtar, the company left to them by their billionaire fathers. Call it a pyramid scheme, call it multi-level marketing, or, better yet, call it by its original brand [...
Mannatech receives Wells Notice from SEC
Posted on September 10, 2008In July of last year, the Attorney General of Texas filed a lawsuit against multi-level marketing company Mannatech (NASDAQ:MTEX), alleging the company used illegal sales and marketing practices. Then in August, the company’s CEO, Sam Caster, stepped down...
The United First Financial limited guarantee
Posted on September 10, 2008A comment today by one of our readers on this thread prompted me to take a look at the United First Financial money back guarantee. If you’re a customer of UFF, good luck trying to get your money back. Sure, it sounds nice that they offer your money back...
FACTS about Sarah Palin (something the left seems awfully interested in ignoring)
Posted on September 09, 2008I’ve been asked: Is this a political site? I’ve been told: Politics have no place on your business site. No, this is not a political blog. And yes, politics have a place on this site. The blog is about fraud, and fraud isn’t limited to the business world...
Milwaukee: Piling on the taxes
Posted on September 07, 2008If you live in MIlwaukee, get ready for even higher taxes and fees. Everyone in the area knows that if you live in Milwaukee, you’re paying some of the highest taxes around. Property taxes are sky high, we have the highest sales tax of any county in the state, and our fees are obnoxious...
Sarah Palin church speech: The truth
Posted on September 06, 2008It’s no secret that the Left is busy misrepresenting Sarah Palin and spreading vicious lies about her family. The latest is a video of Sarah Palin speaking at her church in Wassilla. Yes, her family’s church.The church at which she was baptized and her children were baptized...
Selling the Money Merge Acount from UFF
Posted on September 06, 2008One of our readers posted this, and it’s brilliant. It is the simplest possible way to break down what United First Financial is selling with its Money Merge Account. Question for the consumer: Would you rather pay $0 to save $110,000, or would you like to pay $3500 to save $100,000? It gets to the truth of what [...
United First Financial: Sell them with deceit
Posted on September 05, 2008I?ve been critical of the United First Financial Money Merge Account for a few months now. My critique is simple: The program is not worth $3,500. It?s worth less than $100. All the MMA does is direct you to use all available cash each month to pay down more of your mortgage...
Sarah Palin, mayor of a small town
Posted on September 04, 2008I’m just wondering why the media keeps referring to Sarah Palin’s experience as “mayor of a small town,” and not as governor of Alaska. Calling her a mayor diminishes her importance and experience. She’s a governor. Get it right...
Soon-to-be former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pleads guilty
Posted on September 04, 2008From mlive.com news site: “I lied under oath in the case of Gary Brown and Harold Nelthrope versus the city of Detroit, Case No. 03317557NZ, regarding information that was relevant to claims made by Gary Brown and Harold Nelthrope. I did so with an intent to mislead the court and jury and to impede and obstruct [...
Cuppy?s Coffee & John Dozier: What Franchise Times Won?t Tell You
Posted on September 04, 2008Guest post by Paul Steinberg How a Company and Its Lawyers Tried to Control and Stop Information They Didn’t Like on the Internet. An Eyewitness Account of What REALLY Happened. In the September issue of Franchise Times, there is a lengthy article by Julie Bennett: Attacks From The Blogosphere: What Cuppy’s learned the hard way...
Carnival of Fraud - September 2, 2008
Posted on September 03, 2008Welcome to the September 2, 2008 edition of carnival of fraud. Airborne Settlement Increased to $30M on Blueprint for Financial Prosperity - Get your piece of a $30 million settlement if you bought Airborne after seeing advertisements that falsely claimed the product prevented colds...
Look for more media bias like this
Posted on September 03, 2008Don’t worry… I don’t consider the people of Us Weekly to be journalists with any ethics or common decency. However, it is just sickening that they would blast the words “lies” and “scandal” on their cover, when nothing of the sort has been proven...
Giving up your rights with Google (updated)
Posted on September 03, 2008Google has some really great products on the market, so when I heard about their new web browser Chrome, I was interested in trying it. Until I had a look at the terms and conditions I have to agree to before I can use it. One part says: 11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights [...
What if the Sarah Palin pregnancy rumors are true? (I don?t believe they are.)
Posted on September 03, 2008I don’t believe all the horrible rumors about Sarah Palin’s pregnancy and the birth of her son are true. I don’t believe that it was some grand cover-up, initiated to hide the fact that minor daughter Bristol was pregnant. All the left has on their side are some photos that indicate Sarah didn’t show much until [...
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick should spend time in jail
Posted on September 03, 2008The prosecution and defense in the “Kwame Kilpatrick matter” are still trying to negotiate a plea deal regarding the pending felony charges. Prosecutor Kym Worthy has been standing firm on including jail time in any plea agreement. Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is facing 8 felony charges related to his alleged purjury and obstruction of justice...
Vendor talks, Usana squawks
Posted on September 03, 2008Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) had their convention last week, and as predicted, the new “energy drink” REV3 was a big hit! Those fully indoctrinated into the “cult” of Usana believe it is the greatest thing ever! But not everyone at the convention was in the Usana fog...
Dozier Internet Law and internet connectivity provider censor protected speech
Posted on September 02, 2008According to a press release, www.InventorEd.org and other members of the inventor community received cease and desist letters from Dozier Internet Law about nine months ago on behalf of invention promotion firm Inventor-Link, LLC. InventorEd proceeded to register about twenty domain names, and created www...
Review of Essentials of Corporate Fraud
Posted on September 01, 2008A big thanks to Lee Distad for his kind review of Essentials of Corporate Fraud at his blog, Lee Distad’s Professional Opinion. Lee is a regular commenter here, and writes a great blog of his own on business issues. He’s always presenting something interesting...
Need ShopToEarn contract information
Posted on September 01, 2008If you’ve signed up for ShopToEarn and have a contract from the company, I need your help! I am looking for the contract, any training materials produced by the company or your upline, and any communications from ShopToEarn that outline the rules and regulations of doing business with them...
The Sarah Palin pregnancy cover-up that wasn?t
Posted on August 31, 2008I’m predicting that the dust-up concerning Sarah Palin’s youngest child, Trig, is all fabricated. Bloggers are going so far as to declare that he is definitely the child of her 16 year-old daughter, Bristol. But they don’t let silly little things like concrete evidence deter them...
Sarah Palin: I?m insulted
Posted on August 30, 2008No, it’s not what you think. I’m not insulted that she chose to bring into this world the precious life that God was kind enough to give to her and her husband. No, an abortion (baby killing) wasn’t preferable. I’m not insulted that Sarah returned to work 3 days after having her baby...
Shop to Earn member says the company won?t refund his money
Posted on August 30, 2008This isn’t the first reader commenting here about their ability to get a refund from ShopToEarn (aka ShopToEarth). If you sign up as a member, there is apparently a clause which offers refunds, but members seem to have a hard time actually getting their money back...
United First Financial?s new math (It?s still not worth $3,500.)
Posted on August 30, 2008Guest post by Craig Hansen The fine folks at United First Financial (UFF) have come out with a new version of their Money Merge Account (MMA). It’s version 4, and it’s marketed as something that uses… factorial math! And promoters are saying the software does over 3 million calculations each time you use it to analyze [...
Mutual funds suck!
Posted on August 29, 2008I hate mutual funds. Check this out: Out of almost 2,100 diversified retail U.S. stock mutual funds that are open to new investors, just 17 have positive returns for both the past 12 months and year-to-date, according to investment researcher Morningstar Inc...
Let the bashing of Sarah Palin begin!
Posted on August 29, 2008This is priceless. CNN.com has a commentary by Paul Begala on John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin for his running mate. He says in part: Palin a first-term governor of a state with more reindeer than people, will have to put on a few pounds just to be a lightweight...
Barack Obama?s experience (or lack thereof)
Posted on August 29, 2008“You know, I am a believer in ? in knowing what you?re doing when you apply for a job. Uh, and I think that ? if I were seriously to consider running on a national ticket, I would essentially have to start now, before having served a day in the Senate...
Len Clements: Usana distributor with ?seasoned? associate number
Posted on August 27, 2008Well, well, well. Leonard Clements, defender of Usana to his death, former “executive” of multi-level marketing company Zenza, failed business owner… is now a Usana distributor. But he’s not just any distributor. No, any distributor number would not do for Len...
United First Financial scam: You?re using the bank?s money to pay down your mortgage
Posted on August 27, 2008Banking 101 - If you’re “using the bank’s money” it means you’ve borrowed it from the bank and you’re going to pay interest to “use” it. You don’t get to use it for free. The United First Financial Money Merge Account supposedly uses “the bank’s money” to help you pay off your mortgage faster...
Ufirst Money Merge Account: Resistance is futile
Posted on August 26, 2008One of the most common forms of “training” offered to members of multi-level marketing companies (also known as direct sales, pyramid schemes, dual marketing, networking marketing, etc) is Overcoming Objections. Why is that such a key? Because all of the ones that I’ve seen have overpriced, underperforming products, and consumers are usually pretty quick to [...
Wasting more taxpayer money at MPS
Posted on August 25, 2008I know you’re not surprised anymore. I’m not surprised. Milwaukee Public Schools officials spent district money to go to a conference in Philadelphia, and the employees didn’t even attend the conference. The problem is that when you’re wasting thousands of dollars of taxpayer money to do it, someone needs to be held accountable...
Failure rates in YTB and other MLMs
Posted on August 24, 2008Noted MLM expert Robert FitzPatrick did a recent blog post on the YourTravelBiz.com lawsuit filed by the California Attorney General. He has a nice analysis of how and why YTB is nothing more than a pyramid. These multi-level marketing companies are almost always the same, they each just have a different “hook...
What Joe Biden says about his running mate
Posted on August 23, 2008©2008Sequence Inc. All Rights Reserved..
Expert Fraud Investigation hits Amazon.com
Posted on August 23, 2008My next book, Expert Fraud Investigation: A Step-by-Step Guide won’t be out until February 9, 2009, but it’s already on Amazon.com and available for pre-order. From the product description: A fraud investigation is aimed at examining evidence to determine if a fraud occurred, how it happened, who was involved, and how much money was lost...
What does another expert say about mortgage acceleration programs like United First Financial?
Posted on August 23, 2008Don’t just take it from me and from Dave Ramsey. We think the mortgage accelerator program sold by United First Financial for $3,500 is a waste of money. We’re pretty smart, but are there other smart people who agree with us? YES! Jack M. Guttentag is Professor of Finance Emeritus and former Jacob Safra Professor [...
More wasting of taxpayer money by MPS (surprise!)
Posted on August 21, 2008The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran this story a few days ago, and it’s just so indicative of the mismanagement of the district from a financial standpoint. No one in the private sector would get away with wasting billions of dollars and not be held accountable...
Usana?s new REV3 Energy Drink
Posted on August 21, 2008Back in April I told you that Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) would be rolling out a new “energy drink” at their annual convention: The new product is an energy drink. Apparently, studies by Usana show that you could get a bigger kick from a cup of coffee, but they are counting on the cult mentality to [...
Only in Eugene Kane?s world
Posted on August 21, 2008For those who aren’t local to Milwaukee, Eugene Kane is a columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel who writes about racism. No matter what happens, it’s always motivated by racism. The debate about light rail has been going on for years...
United First Financial Lies: You can pay of your mortgage faster with no change in spending
Posted on August 20, 2008Probably the biggest single lie told by United First Financial “agents” is that you can pay off your mortgage faster than scheduled, with no change in your spending or lifestlye. That sounds too good to be true, because it is. Simple math debunks this claim...
Carnival of Fraud - August 18, 2008
Posted on August 18, 2008Welcome to the August 18, 2008 edition of carnival of fraud. Helen Anderson presents Protect Yourself When Shopping Online posted at Savings Accounts. Jeremy presents Criminal Charges: Volume I posted at blogs.creditcards.com. Tracy Coenen presents When money talks, Mark Shurtleff listens posted at Fraud Files Blog...
When money talks, Mark Shurtleff listens
Posted on August 18, 2008How much does it cost to get Mark Shurtleff, Utah’s Attorney General, to lie for you? Apparently only $5,000. What a bargain! Today Sam Antar has an enlightening piece on his blog, entitled “Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) CEO Patrick Byrne Pays Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff to Defame a Blogger...
Nice profit for Wentz family from sale of Usana stock
Posted on August 17, 2008Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA), the company that founder Myron Wentz wanted to take private for $26 or $28 per share, just provided a tidy little profit to the Wentz Family. And not at $26 or $28 per share, mind you. They ran off with between $35 and and $36...
Update on Essentials of Corporate Fraud and book publishing in general
Posted on August 17, 2008Things are going swimmingly with Essentials of Corporate Fraud, but I find myself not knowing how to answer a common question. “How are book sales going?” Well, I don’t know. What is your frame of reference? Professional books like this aren’t ever going to be New York Times best sellers, so if that’s what your definition [...
Overstock.com and naked short selling
Posted on August 16, 2008An article on the Industry Standard by managing editor Ian Lamont, “Overstock.com CEO: I’m not vindictive.”, explores a recent blog post made by Patrick Byrne on his site that attempts to expose corruption on Wall Street. Byrne is the completely inept CEO of Overstock...
Usana?s rich distributors get richer
Posted on August 15, 2008This month, Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) is revealing a plan to help the rich distributors get richer. Rich distributors, you say? I thought no one made any money in Usana or any other multi-level marketing company? Well, that’s almost true...
Age of Chinese gymnasts must be investigated
Posted on August 15, 2008The Olympic rules are simple: Gymnasts must be at least 16 years old to compete in the Olympics. There have been plenty of accusations about underage Chinese gymnasts on the ladies team, and it seems there’s evidence as well! One only has to look at these girls to know they’re not 16 years old...
The Legal Perils of Social Networking
Posted on August 15, 2008I’m quoted today in E-Commerce Times about some of the threats of participating in social networking sites. The article cites the obvious risks of being fired for blogging on company time or blogging about happenings at work. These issues are typically viewed from the angle that you’re wasting your employers time (which they’re paying you for) [...
Details on the Overstock.com cyberstalking and spyware campaign
Posted on August 14, 2008A couple of weeks ago, I commented on a post that Judd Bagley, chief Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) stalker and “Deep Capture reporter” made on the InvestorVillage message board for Overstock. He stated there: “…my first master stroke was getting a tracking cookie placed on the laptop computer of Dan Schoenherr…” I thought it might be important to [...
Review from student assigned to read Essentials of Corporate Fraud
Posted on August 13, 2008“My name is xxxx xxxxxx, and I am a student at Utica College undertaking a Masters degree in Economic Crime Management. This is my first semester and have been assigned to read your book ? Essentials of Corporate Fraud. I just wanted to mention what a great reading experiencing I have had [...
Red Flags of Fraud at Pre-Paid Legal
Posted on August 12, 2008Today Fraud Discovery Institute and Barry Minkow released their Top Ten Red Flags for Fraud at Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc. (NYSE:PPD). The company is clearly on a decline, with recruitment numbers suffering and overall memberships. Here are some of the more interesting points in the FDI report: The company admits that recruiting is the lifeblood of Pre-Paid [...
Do you worship at the Altar of Dooce?
Posted on August 10, 2008While cruising around the internet the other day, I came upon a story I had been completely oblivious to…. And it raises some interesting issues about personal boundaries on blogs, worship of bloggers in general, and worship of one blogger in particular...
Usana Health Sciences and recruiting distributors in churches
Posted on August 10, 2008If you’ve ever been involved in a multi-level marketing (MLM) company of any kind, you know that one of the favorite recruiting grounds is churches. Especially with companies that supposedly promote “Christian” values (like Mary Kay), the church is the logical place to find recruits...
But Sarbanes-Oxley hasn?t actually reduced fraud?
Posted on August 09, 2008My friend Francine McKenna wrote yesterday on her blog, re:The Auditors, about what Sarbanes-Oxley has accomplished: My contention is that Sarbanes-Oxley has at least raised the tone and tenor of the conversation about internal controls and about common sense, tried and true, reasonable practices for financial reporting to shareholders and other stakeholders...
Update on YourTravelBiz.com legal proceedings
Posted on August 09, 2008Earlier this week I wrote about the California Attorney General filing a lawsuit against YourTravelBiz.com (YTB) and calling the company a “gigantic pyramid scheme.” Of course, the company has published a response to the lawsuit that tends to seriously downplay the charges against them...
Fifteen frightening facts about Usana Health Sciences
Posted on August 08, 2008These 15 interesting (and yes, frightening) facts about Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) were posted on Yahoo message board. I thought they nicely summed up this multi-level marketing company, and wanted to share them here. Of course, I’m providing links to evidence which corroborates these facts about Usana...
YTB called ?gigantic pyramid scheme? by California Attorney General (and sued, too)
Posted on August 07, 2008Yesterday on WalletPop, I wrote about how California’s Attorney General announced a lawsuit against YourTravelBiz.com (YTB) and called it a “gigantic pyramid scheme.” The evidence that it is a pyramid scheme is based upon the fact that the company theoretically offers members a chance to sell travel services to customers, yet that’s only a small [...
State looks for more ways to spend our money
Posted on August 07, 2008You can?t open a newspaper or watch the evening news without hearing how poor our state is. Someone is always lamenting the fact that Governor Jim Doyle just doesn?t have enough taxpayer money to spend. And of course, the only answer the politicians ever come up with is to tax us more...
Why inflexible billing policies are good
Posted on August 06, 2008You will find plenty of consultants, marketers, and entrepreneurs who will tell you it’s a good thing to have flexible billing and payment policies for clients. They say that as a small business owner, you can attract and retain customers this way, and so you should be flexible to meet the needs of clients...
Why can?t I pee on my neighbor?s lawn?
Posted on August 05, 2008This has bothered me for a long time, so I’m finally venting about it. Why is it okay for my neighbors to let their dogs pee on my lawn, but I can’t pee on their lawns? I estimate that 20 to 30 dogs pee on my lawn daily. And their owners think it’s soooooo cute [...
Carnival of Fraud - August 4, 2008
Posted on August 04, 2008Welcome to the August 4, 2008 edition of carnival of fraud. Allen in Fort Worth presents Do You Feel Motivated Yet? posted at The Whited Sepulchre, saying, “here’s a post on the biggest fraud you’ll see in the next ten years. And it will be 100% legal...
Usana insider Gil Fuller makes over $1.2 million on recent stock sales
Posted on August 04, 2008With the recent settlement of the lawsuit Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) filed against Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute, the company’s stock price got a nice little boost. And just in time for retiring CFO Gil Fuller to cash in some of his stock options for a tidy little profit of more than $1...
Items related to Usana Health Sciences
Posted on August 04, 2008Information on Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) and the investigation by Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute: A summary of posts from the “Usana Insider,” an alleged employee of Usana who was posting interest information and allegations Usana Insider declares that Usana CFO Gil Fuller has no CPA license, as claimed in SEC filings The Insider says that Kroll [...
A day in the life of a multi-level marketer
Posted on August 04, 2008This little piece is compliments of TerminatedRamp, a frequent poster on a Yahoo message board for Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA). This analysis is right on the money! This man ?Prescott? is trying to sell USANA’s 4.5 oz Fluoride Free Toothpaste, which costs $7...
Continuation of information on Usana Health Sciences
Posted on August 03, 2008Here are additional items of interest for those who are looking for information on Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA). My report on accounting issues, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), materiality, and disclosures. Misleading distributor claims about income and tax issues A Tale of Two Usanas - An analysis of the contradictions in information put out by Usana Usana’s definition of [...
A teacher?s perspective on the problems in Milwaukee Public Schools
Posted on August 01, 2008This was posted as a comment on one of my articles on the budget problems at Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). Although I believe most of what this person says, I do know from looking at the database myself that there are plenty of teachers making $80k to $100k a year when you add the [...
Paralegal sues over being asked to perform sex acts on lawyer and clients
Posted on August 01, 2008If there is ever a reason to file a lawsuit over sexual harassment, this definitely fits the bill. Angela Robinson has filed suit against Richard Laminack and his firms Laminack Pirtle & Martines LLP, The O?Quinn Law firm, and O?Quinn Laminack & Pirtle...
This is what happens when you let women get an education.
Posted on August 01, 2008A couple of days ago on WalletPop I did a post on a Canadian lottery winner who waited almost a year to cash in his ticket. I surmised that his C$3.6 million winnings could have netted him C$100k even in a simple savings account or certificate of deposit...
It seems we had a mole on the AOL Blogger conference call
Posted on July 31, 2008Late today there was a conference call for AOL Bloggers affected by the recent budget situation. Senior VP of Programming, Marty Moe, did most of the talking. For the most part, it was a warm fuzzy call that was clearly aimed at calming the fears of bloggers and bringing more clarity to budget situation...
Material related to Usana Health Sciences
Posted on July 30, 2008For those looking for information on Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA), I have compiled this list of resources. I will be adding more items over the next week. The original report on Usana by Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute (March 2007) The Wall Street Journal article on the investigation, Usana Sales Plan Draws Fire From Felon [...
The Real Obama, courtesy of John McCain
Posted on July 30, 2008Wake up America! Obama has no substance! ©2008Sequence Inc. All Rights Reserved..
If Patrick Byrne leaves Overstock.com, what excuse will the company have?
Posted on July 29, 2008With today’s announcement that Jonathan E. Johnson III has been appointed president of Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK), it got me to thinking about the future of the company. I don’t think many people would argue with the suggestion that Patrick Byrne is one of the worst CEOs in the country...
The dismissal of the Usana Health Sciences case against Fraud Discovery Institute
Posted on July 29, 2008This week, it was announced that Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) and Fraud Discovery Institute had reached a settlement in their legal battle. Usana basically had most of its case thrown out by a federal judge, but still could have pursued allegations of illegal manipulation of the stock...
Examining LifeLock testimonials
Posted on July 29, 2008I’ve written a lot about what I think about LifeLock: That it’s not worth it and consumers shouldn’t waste their money. Even at only $10 per month, consumers are getting next to nothing. They certainly aren’t getting any meaningful protection above what is already available to them for free...
Patrick Byrne, child CEO of Overstock.com
Posted on July 29, 2008At least Patrick Byrne, nutty and incompetent CEO of Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) can admit that he’s nothing more than a child who is playing grown-up with the shareholders’ money. From today’s press release: “Jonathan has developed into a tremendous asset for our team,” said Patrick Byrne, chairman and CEO of Overstock...
AOL management is upset with me?
Posted on July 28, 2008Rumor has it that the powers-that-be at AOL are upset because last week I published an article about the budget cuts. Well, I guess we’re not supposed to call them budget cuts. Depending on who you believe, the emergency budget cuts might not be emergency and they might not be cuts at all...
Newsflash: Overstock.com paid stalker Judd Bagley admits to use of spyware
Posted on July 25, 2008Judd Bagley, paid Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) cyberstalker (and now “Deep Capture reporter”) has openly admitted to using spyware against third parties. It has long been believed that he maliciously and inappropriately placed spyware on people’s computers, but this appears to be the first time he’s actually admitting to it...
No secret about AOL budget cuts
Posted on July 24, 2008I’ve been writing for AOL on WalletPop (consumer finance site) and BloggingStocks (public company analysis and news site) since December and it’s been fun. Word came down today that there are big (hopefully temporary) budget cuts and everyone is to stop blogging immediately...
Shop To Earn attorney Gerald Nehra forfeits his chance to retract his inappropriate threats
Posted on July 23, 2008Ronald J. Riley, a consumer advocate who has historically worked on behalf of inventors, became aware of the ShopToEarn situation last week. He was very adamant that the threats made by attorney Gerald Nehra on behalf of Shop To Earn and Shop To Earth were inappropriate and amounted to nothing more than corporate bullying of [...
The Blog Net News controversy
Posted on July 23, 2008Several months ago, I stumbled on Blog Net News (BNN) and liked what I saw. The site has different ?channels? that focus on geographic areas or certain topics. Each channel aggregates the RSS feeds of various bloggers. For those who aren?t tech types, an ?RSS feed? is basically an automated tool that sends out the title [...
Workplace discrimination against women largely a myth
Posted on July 23, 2008This morning someone sent me a link to this article on the mythical discrimination against women via corporate pay, thinking I’d be outraged. Except I agree with Steve Chapman: There’s no evidence supporting that claim, but it sure sounds great to say women are paid less for the same jobs...
Overstock.com?s mounting accumulated losses
Posted on July 22, 2008Today Patrick Byrne, CEO of the ever-flailing internet retailer Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) went on Fox Business to talk about naked short selling and conspiracy theories. And to whine about CNBC and the fact that he thinks people at CNBC take orders from Hedge funds: “They won’t let me on to talk about it...
Women in the workforce: Incompetence versus discrimination
Posted on July 22, 2008Women have been discriminated against in the workplace. I’m not pretending it doesn’t happen, because it does. There are “good old boys networks” and those can have a negative impact on women at work. But women need to get with the program and figure out when there’s discrimination and when they’re just incompetent (or at the [...
Deloitte & Touche: It?s good to be partner.
Posted on July 22, 2008There are many things wrong with the Big 4 accounting firms, and I predict that within 3 years (probably less) they will all be gone. But the partners are going to stay on the gravy train as long as they can. Make no mistake: Being partner at a Big 4 isn’t easy...
How NOT to handle criticism: Shop To Earn and Shop To Earth
Posted on July 21, 2008Ben W. Glass, editor at Clarislaw.com and attorney, did a nice write-up last week of the ShopToEarn situation. He thinks attorney Gerald Nehra made a boo-boo when he wrongly threatened Everyday Finance and me because of our negative reviews of Shop To Earn and Shop To Earth...
The paid sick leave scam
Posted on July 21, 2008On the November ballots, City of Milwaukee residents may have to vote on whether private employers should be required to provide paid sick leave for all employees. Here’s what the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says about it: A coalition led by 9to5, the National Association of Working Women, has mounted a petition drive demanding an ordinance to require [...
Carnival of Fraud - July 21, 2008
Posted on July 21, 2008Welcome to the July 21, 2008 edition of carnival of fraud. otherdeb (Deb Wunder) presents How my roommate accidentally blew this month?s rent posted at The Dangling Conversation. Leon Gettler presents No more corporate crime hardball posted at Sox First, saying, “In another sign that the administration is easing up on its fight against corporate crime, [...
Amway sucks! Quixtar sucks! Alticor sucks!
Posted on July 21, 2008I’m no fan of multi-level marketing companies (MLMs), and Amway - Quixtar - Alticor is the mother of all MLMs. Amway Corporation was founded in 1959 by Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel. It was originally called Ja-Ri Corporation, and the name was changed to Amway in 1963...
Ever been pursued by someone recruiting for Amway or Quixtar?
Posted on July 19, 2008I’m willing to bet it went something like this! Copyright © 2008 Sequence Inc. All rights reserved. The use of this feed on other websites breaches copyright. If this content is not in your news reader, it makes the page you are viewing an infringement of the copyright...
The Real Michelle Obama: Mistress Of Gloom & Doom
Posted on July 19, 2008Michelle Obama has never been proud of her country until recently. Someone has always been keeping her down. Someone always kept raising the bar. Life is harder than ever for everyone. America is just plain mean! What happened to the fact that America provided an opportunity for Michelle and Barack to become rich? They both struggled [...
Name one accomplishment by Barack Obama
Posted on July 19, 2008Anyone with an ounce of brains is well aware that Barack Obama has not one accomplishment to his name, not one thing that qualifies him to be President of the United States. These voters help demonstrate it… Copyright © 2008 Sequence Inc. All rights reserved...
Obama?s 57 states
Posted on July 19, 2008Copyright © 2008 Sequence Inc. All rights reserved. The use of this feed on other websites breaches copyright. If this content is not in your news reader, it makes the page you are viewing an infringement of the copyright. (Digital Fingerprint: d8e155abd66dfea6417f56f6831614fa)
Milwaukee County Supervisors want to stick it to the taxpayers again
Posted on July 19, 2008Career politician Elizabeth Coggs (what happened to the Coggs-Jones?), who apparently has never had a real job, is crying about the compensation at her part-time job… Milwaukee County Supervisor. I’m not kidding… These are part-time jobs...
Overstock continues to mislead investors with phony EBITDA calculation
Posted on July 18, 2008In the past, I’ve discussed the improper EBITDA numbers reported by Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK). It comes as no surprise that the con game continues with Overstock’s latest reported numbers. The SEC rules are very simple. “EBITDA” refers to a specific calculation, which is “earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization...
Book signing in Boston
Posted on July 18, 2008I just got back from the annual Fraud Conference put on by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. We were in Boston, and as usual, the sessions were fabulous. In terms of the sessions I had, this was the best conference yet. So much value provided by really excellent speakers...
No, book publishing is not going away
Posted on July 18, 2008Yesterday Fox Business interviewed Joe Wikert, a blogger and Vice President and Executive Publisher at John Wiley & Sons (the company that published my book!) Take a look at what Joe has to say below. I agree with him - Book publishing is not going away...
Dirty Little Secrets of Their Little Quixtar Cult
Posted on July 18, 2008Written by QuixtarIsACult Have you ever had an invite from a friend, associate, or a stranger that left you in the lurch wondering just what the invite was all about? Maybe, just out of the blue, an old acquaintance that you have not seen since high school calls you up and invites you to see something [...
Another reason for Gerald Nehra to dislike the FTC Business Opportunity Rule: Lots of companies will have to comply!
Posted on July 17, 2008Another letter opposing the FTC’s Business Opportunity Rule was submitted by MLM attorney Gerry Nehra. His problem in this letter? The fact that there are many companies that would have to comply with the rule and the FTC cited the wrong number! Why would it matter if there are 150 or 1,500 companies that are [...
MLM attorney Gerald Nehra and the FTC?s proposed Business Opportunity Rule
Posted on July 17, 2008I thought it might be some fun to do a little research on Gerald Nehra, the attorney for Shop To Earn, who likes to intimidate bloggers who write negative reviews of MLMs. I found this item from Nehra, in response to the FTC’s proposed Business Opportunity Rule...
A commentary on Usana Health Sciences
Posted on July 17, 2008This was written by TerminatedRamp, of Usana (NASDAQ:USNA) stock message board infamy: Understanding USANA’s Pyramid Scheme is Key To Financial Freedom If you want financial freedom, then understanding how USANA is a pyramid scheme can help you avoid losing thousands of dollars...
Word is getting out about ShopToEarn lawyer Gerald Nehra?s threats to bloggers
Posted on July 16, 2008Blatant acts of consumerism are occurring all over the internet. Far and wide, bloggers are banding together to spread the word about multi-level marketing attorney Gerald Nehra threatening bloggers on behalf of his client, Shop To Earn. It all started a few weeks ago when blogger Everyday Finance wrote a post about the ShopToEarn and ShopToEarth [...
Shop To Earn lawyer ups the ante with financial blogger
Posted on July 15, 2008ShopToEarn is a multi-level marketing company recruiting new members who can receive a small percentage of cash back on their internet purchases. If they recruit enough new people into the scheme, who pay the $450 fee and do some shopping of their own, they can make a little more money...
An opinion on limiting auditor liability
Posted on July 14, 2008Jack Cieslieski at Accounting Observer wrote a piece auditor liability. Auditing firms have been seeks caps on their liability for failed audits. Large firms are afraid that they might end up in the same trouble Arthur Andersen found themselves in post-Enron: Huge liability put them out of business...
Shop To Earn lawyer bullying bloggers
Posted on July 14, 2008As expected, Gerald Nehra, the attorney for ShopToEarn sent me an email intended to bully me into not writing about Shop To Earn. Here’s his letter: I represent ShopToEarn and advise them on direct selling legal matters. You are on notice to CEASE & DESIST your disparaging and potential libelous references to ShopToEarn and the unapproved use [...
More bullying of bloggers by Shop To Earn attorney Gerald Nehra
Posted on July 14, 2008Earlier today I reported that I had been threatened by Gerald Nehra, attorney for multi-level marketing company ShopToEarn for writing about my opinions on the company here. I am not the first blogger that he and Shop To Earn have threatened, and the threats continue...
Bloggers have rights
Posted on July 13, 2008Bloggers have rights, and it’s important for them to know about them. It’s becoming more common for companies to issue cease and desist letters to bloggers who print negative reviews of their products or services. But bloggers don’t have to be bullied! There is a right of free speech in America, and that gives bloggers [...
Recent posts from WalletPop.com @ AOL
Posted on July 12, 2008Reunion.com lawsuit may be on the horizon - Did Reunion.com send an email to everyone in your address book without your permission? You may have legal recourse! Government tries to protect bad borrowers from themselves - New regulations for mortgages have been proposed...
More on why ShopToEarn sucks (and so do MyPowerMall and TeamNational)
Posted on July 12, 2008Online shopping multi-level marketing companies (MLMs) aren?t new. My Power Mall (MPM) has been around for a while, Team National has been in the mix too, and now Shop to Earn has popped up and is being aggressively marketed by its members. My bottom line on all of these companies: Don’t waste your time or money...
The ?tools scam? run by Quixtar (Amway) kingpins
Posted on July 11, 2008The following is basically an expose on Amway/Quixtar corruption centering around the kingpin sellers of business service materials and the problem a Quixtar distributor believes goes the the heart of the entire Amway/Quixtar problem. This post is compliments of Quixtar is a Cult...
Take your press release and shove it
Posted on July 11, 2008Somehow I got on some spam lists that public relations firms use to promote their clients. Apparently, blogging about scams and ripoffs means that they think I want a zillion emails about their clients who are most definitely not peddling ripoffs and scams...
State supreme court rules in favor of taxpayers
Posted on July 11, 2008It’s rare these days that taxpayers get any relief from the clutches of governments, led by politicians who love to spend, spend, spend. In Wisconsin, the taxpayers got a small victory. The state supreme court ruled that the state was improperly collecting sales taxes on customized computer software...
Overstock.com finds one more way to sell less
Posted on July 11, 2008Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK), the perpetual money-loser run by trust fund baby Patrick Byrne (who doesn’t really have to care if the company’s investors lose all their money), has found another way to sell less. The latest big announcement is that they’ll stop selling anything with fur: However, Overstock...
$3,500 wasted with United First Financial, per Dave Ramsey
Posted on July 10, 2008I’ve had lots of comments on my thread here about United First Financial and Dave Ramsey. Dave is an absolute expert on credit issues, and he hates UFF. He says it’s a complete waste of money. (Of course, I agree.) As usual, he’s accused of not knowing what he’s talking about because he hasn’t been to [...
Gradient scores huge victory in court against Overstock.com
Posted on July 10, 2008COURT RULES THAT GRADIENT ANALYTICS’ CROSS-COMPLAINT MAY PROCEED AGAINST OVERSTOCK.COM, INC. ON ALL COUNTS AMENDED CLAIMS TO BE FILED AGAINST OVERSTOCK CEO PATRICK BYRNE Scottsdale, July 10, 2008 Gradient Analytics, Inc. announced today that the Marin County Superior Court has ruled in the case of Overstock...
Only in Wisconsin
Posted on July 09, 2008Security personnel in the Milwaukee airport have put up a sign for a “Recombobulation Area.” Translation: The area in which you put on your shoes, stuff your junk back into your suitcase, put your belt on, etc. Copyright © 2008 Sequence Inc...
The history of Patrick Byrne?s Sith Lord
Posted on July 09, 2008If you like to read about delusional rantings and paranoid conspiracy theories, you can’t help but follow full-time message board poster Patrick Byrne. He moonlights as the CEO of failing online retailer Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK), but his real purpose in life is uncovering conspiracies...
Your Wisconsin law license was just devalued by the Supreme Court of Wisconsin
Posted on July 08, 2008I can’t say I’m shocked. Disgusted, of course. But not shocked. Hazel J. Washington, two-time felon, had her Wisconsin law license reinstated by a June 20, 2008 order of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. The most hilarious part of their decision is their reference to her morals: Although the referee’s report discussed a number of concerns raised [...
Bradford Richardson, president of Shaklee International
Posted on July 08, 2008As I predicted in this November 14 post, Bradford Richardson has gone to work for Shaklee. He left Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) to become Shaklee’s new president of international operations. I have a theory that once the Cheating in China information was revealed by Barry Minkow, that Usana needed someone to take the fall for [...
How to destroy every single opportunity you get?
Posted on July 08, 2008I love reality television. Sunday night I was watching “The Two Coreys” on A&E, a reality show about Corey Haim and Corey Feldman. They were the two young actors who starred together in Lost Boys back in the 1980’s. They both did a fair amount of film work in the 80s and 90s, but both [...
The end of Sarbanes-Oxley?
Posted on July 08, 2008Auditors and consultants around the country would like to string me up for my vocal dislike of Sarbanes-Oxley. I frequently moan that the cost is too high, the results are too poor, and consumers are fooled into thinking there’s been a solution to the fraud problem when there hasn’t...
The cost (and risks) of becoming an audit partner
Posted on July 08, 2008Ever since my days as a staff auditor at Arthur Andersen, I’ve wondered what it costs to become a partner at a large firm. It’s obviously not something that is widely discussed with staff, so the youngsters all remain clueless. But Francine McKenna of re: The Auditors has finally answered my question...
Reality TV: I?m not here to make friends
Posted on July 07, 2008Copyright © 2008 Sequence Inc. All rights reserved. The use of this feed on other websites breaches copyright. If this content is not in your news reader, it makes the page you are viewing an infringement of the copyright. (Digital Fingerprint: d8e155abd66dfea6417f56f6831614fa)
You ask Google, I answer
Posted on July 06, 2008Question: What happens if skip an IRS audit? Answer: The IRS will pick a number and tax you based upon that. The number they pick is designed to be painful, in the hope that you will be “encouraged” to cooperate. It’s never a good idea to skip an audit...
Carnival of Fraud - July 7, 2008
Posted on July 06, 2008Welcome to the July 7, 2008 edition of carnival of fraud. Tracy Coenen presents Can you make money with Mary Kay? posted at The Fraud Files Blog. terry dean presents Internet Scams posted at Integrity Business Blog by Terry Dean. Bozidar Spirovski presents Citibank PIN Heist - Sources of Security Breach posted at Information Security Short Takes...
Are school teachers overpaid?
Posted on July 05, 2008I found a very interesting study on the pay of school teachers, and I think it’s relevant because I’ve been discussing the high pay of the Milwaukee Public School teachers, but the low performance of the district. Take a look at this study: How Much Are Public School Teachers Paid? by Jay P...
Facts and figures on Milwaukee Public Schools
Posted on July 05, 2008In the game of “where does our money go,” I think these numbers are very important. I wonder if other school districts waste money as well as Milwaukee Public Schools? For the 2007-2008 school year, MPS reports the following: 87,360 students Budget = Almost $1...
MPS board members don?t understand basic business principles
Posted on July 04, 2008Today the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran another story about the Milwaukee Public Schools budget for next year. I’ve pointed out recently that MPS expects a drop in enrollment of almost 5%. Yet spending is going up 1.5%. That’s a gap of 6...
Barack Obama wants change?
Posted on July 03, 2008Then I suggest he start right in his own home. Barack Obama was the recipient of one of those “sweetheart” home mortgages that we’ve heard about. An extra good deal on the mortgage with a below market interest rate and no discount points or origination fee paid to legitimately reduce the rate...
Red Cross rip-off
Posted on July 02, 2008The American Red Cross says this man, who identified himself as James H. Williams, stole $12,000 of debit cards which were meant to go to people who were victims of the June floods in Wisconsin. This picture is him using the debit cards at ATMs to get the cash off them...
Can you make money with Mary Kay?
Posted on July 02, 2008Over on my public awareness site Pink Truth, we’re often asked about whether someone can make money with Mary Kay Cosmetics. After all, they’ve got a product that you can retail, and you don’t really have to recruit, do you? In theory, you can make money with Mary Kay...
Identity theft a huge problem for small businesses
Posted on July 02, 2008I’m quoted in an article on TheStreet.com about identity theft and the risks to small businesses. The bottom line? Most small businesses don’t take the threat of a data compromise seriously enough. They forget that their reputation is on the line, and they could lose customers with a data breach...
Where is Bradford Richardson?
Posted on July 01, 2008I feel like I’m playing Where’s Waldo… Does anyone know where Bradford Richardson went? He is the former VP of Asia Pacific for Usana Health Sciences, and he recently resigned. Rumor has it that he “went to work for a competitor...
One accountant?s argument against IFRS
Posted on June 30, 2008Al Rosen, a forensic accountant and principal of Rosen & Associates in Toronto wrote about his opinion on IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) in Canadian Business magazine. The U.S. might be moving from GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) to IFRS, although there isn’t hasn’t been a final decision or a timeline for doing so...
MonaVie: Scam or not?
Posted on June 30, 2008The scheme: Typical multi-level marketing company, using the guise of “direct sales” to make the business look like a legitimate retail venture. The reality is that it’s nothing more than a recruiting scheme like Usana, Mary Kay, Arbonne, PrePaid Legal, Primerica, Herbalife, United First Financial, and so many other companies that make big promises to [...
IRS audit red flags
Posted on June 30, 2008I wrote a couple of posts on some common IRS audit red flags shortly after tax season ended and never finished the list. So here are a few more items that might cause the IRS to want to look at your tax returns a little more closely. Large or unusual changes in income from year to [...
The SEC investigation of Overstock was because Patrick Byrne is trying to expose corruption on Wall Street?
Posted on June 30, 2008That appears to be what Patrick Byrne is suggesting in this interview. The story keeps changing. At one point, Patrick said he and Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) weren’t really the target of the SEC investigation. Rather, the investigation was focused on others (hence the “celebration” of subpoenas)...
Short selling, miscreants ball, and conspiracies? OH MY!
Posted on June 28, 2008On August 12, 2005, Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) had a conference call he said was going to give information about the “August 11 lawsuit.” The transcript is 17 glorious pages of Byrne rambling about his conspiracy theories...
The IFRS impact on accounting education in the U.S.
Posted on June 28, 2008A fellow AOL blogger, Victoria Erhart, wrote a fantastic piece on Bloggingstocks, GAAP vs. IFRS: New accounting rules could mean trouble.She looks at the problems that will surely come up if the U.S. switches to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)...
Obama?s 57 states, with one left to go?
Posted on June 27, 2008Obama on the 57 states he’s been to, with one left to go… And Miss Teen USA South Carolina 2007 (genius-in-the-making): Copyright © 2008 Sequence Inc. All rights reserved. The use of this feed on other websites breaches copyright. If this content is not in your news reader, it makes the page you are viewing an infringement [...
Is Shop to Earn a scam or a legitimate business?
Posted on June 27, 2008A fellow financial blogger recently went down the road of examining a new multi-level marketing company called Shop to Earn. He was considering signing up, and did a review based on the information he had up to that point. He asked readers to chime in with their views...
Patrick Byrne: Do as I say, not as I do.
Posted on June 27, 2008Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) has been on a crusade against naked short selling for a couple of years (or more?). It is currently his position that naked short selling is bad. He confirms his belief in this statement on Overstock.com: Patrick Byrne is waging a fight with Wall Street over naked short selling...
One of the most hilarous (fake?) voicemails ever
Posted on June 26, 2008Dmitri the stud… quite “a catch” in his own opinion. I don’t know if this is a hoax or not, but I don’t care. Too bad I can’t meet him. No matter… I’m hoping to marry Len Clements instead. Listen to Dmitri...
Patrick Byrne & Co. up to dirty message board tricks again
Posted on June 26, 2008I occasionally take a peek at stock message boards like the Investor Village Overstock.com board when I need a bit of entertainment. It’s especially interesting when the poster “Hannibal” makes statements about the financials and operations of Overstock...
Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com, thinks he is a fool
Posted on June 26, 2008I love transcripts. August 11, 2005, Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK): I agree that CEO?s who spend time worrying about shorts or obsessing about shorts are fools. And that most of the CEOs who tangle with shorts are crooks.” Copyright © 2008 Sequence Inc...
McGee ?potential??. For what?
Posted on June 26, 2008Racist Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Eugene Kane weighed in today on the conviction of former Milwaukee alderman Michael McGee (who sometimes used the name Michael Jackson when skirting laws). His reaction is not much of a surprise. McGee was set up...
Michael McGee guilty on all charges
Posted on June 24, 2008The verdict in former alderman Michael McGee’s federal trial just came down, and he has been found guilty on all nine charges against him. He could get up to 30 years in federal prison.One down, one to go. State trial up next. Copyright © 2008 Sequence Inc...
Fantastic article about MLMs and moms
Posted on June 24, 2008The publication Brain, Child has a wonderful story written by Stacey Schultz, about the devastating effects multi-level marketing companies can have on women. She’s included specific comments about Herbalife, Arbonne, and Mary Kay, but also has a lot of general information on MLMs...
A little thing called ?intent?
Posted on June 24, 2008Last week the federal trial of former Milwaukee Alderman Michael McGee (also known as Michael Jackson, depending upon which agency is looking for him) began. He’s up on felony charges of extortion, bribery, and failing to file financial transaction forms that could get him 30 years in prison, and it doesn’t seem like there’s a [...
UPS rats out FedEx
Posted on June 24, 2008Interesting story from Bloomberg: A secret report from a lobbyist who represents United Parcel Service Inc. prompted an Ohio state investigation into employment practices of FedEx Corp., leading to a finding that FedEx owed back taxes and interest. Kenneth Kies, a Washington tax lawyer and lobbyist whose firm has been paid $540,000 by UPS since 2002, sent [...
Pressing questions for MLM supporter Len Clements
Posted on June 23, 2008Today I got an email from Len Clements, the multi-level marketing evangelist and career college graduate who has been a vocal supporter of Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA). He published five disjointed ?rebuttals? to the various reports, videos, and press releases put out by Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute about Usana...
Carnival of Fraud - June 23, 2008
Posted on June 23, 2008Welcome to the June 23, 2008 edition of carnival of fraud. We had a lot of really good submissions this week, so thank you everyone for participatng! A link back to this post from those participating would be much appreciated. Tracy Coenen presents The Lifelock ?guarantee?: Talking out of both sides of their mouth posted at [...
Al Gore cares about conserving energy
Posted on June 22, 2008…unless if he’s supposed to participate effectively. The Tennessee Center for Policy Research reports: In the year since Al Gore took steps to make his home more energy-efficient, the former Vice President?s home energy use surged more than 10%, according to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research...
Proof that MPS sucks
Posted on June 22, 2008I recently wrote a couple of articles here about the Milwaukee Public Schools budget situation (students down by almost 5%, but spending up AGAIN) and my opinion that MPS teachers are grossly overpaid. Of course, teacher advocates have fired back with comments that not every school district pays as well as MPS, that we should [...
LifeLock is watching me!
Posted on June 21, 2008The people at LifeLock are on a serious mission to keep the company’s critics quiet. They even called me this week in an effort to “educate me” on the virtues of LifeLock so that I’d quit criticizing them publicly. So imagine my surprise today at being notified that I had someone new “watching” me on Twitter...
The Lifelock ?guarantee?: Talking out of both sides of their mouth
Posted on June 20, 2008Here and on WalletPop.com (AOL’s personal finance site), I’ve been discussing a company called LifeLock. They purport to help people prevent identity theft. They’re slick marketers and they’ve really capitalized on people’s fears of identity theft...
A little ?Deep Capture? cover-up in the works?
Posted on June 20, 2008Gary Weiss has a most excellent post on his blog about an apparent cover-up in progress by Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK). Here’s the deal: For a couple of years now, Patrick has been ranting and raving about conspiracies and Sith Lords and secret fax machines and other oddities related to Naked Short Selling...
Lie about your credentials, win CFO of the Year
Posted on June 19, 2008Utah Business magazine should be ashamed of itself. Its first ever “CFO of the Year” award went to Gil Fuller, the CFO of Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) who lied about being a CPA. The lies were repeated over and over in SEC filings until Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute revealed that in fact, Fuller [...
State audit finds overtime problems
Posted on June 18, 2008No, I’m not surprised. The Journal Sentinel tipped us off about the horrendous overtime situation with state employees several weeks ago. Now an internal audit confirms abuse of the overtime system, along with pure mismanagement of our tax dollars...
Does this sound legitimate to you?
Posted on June 18, 2008Today I got an email from a marketing firm that specializes in helping CPA firms market their services. The sender of the email was inquiring about whether I charge hourly or fixed fees, and what my hourly rates are. He said his client, a CPA firm didn’t want him to mention their name...
Preserving some Overstock.com history again
Posted on June 18, 2008From time-to-time, I like to cut and paste from the ever-entertaining stock message boards about Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK). I admit to being a casual observer. I don’t post on those message boards, but do read on occasion. And this exchange was too good to ignore...
Anatomy of a fraud investigation gone wrong
Posted on June 17, 2008I recently wrote an article for White Collar Crime Fighter, detailing my experience with a company that tried to do a fraud investigation on its own. The investigation was headed up by the president of the small manufacturer, who should have been spending his time on his real job duties, in order to help the [...
Suspect in title company fraud to be charged with felonies
Posted on June 17, 2008In March I wrote about a case involving Parkview Title Service and a mom and daughter team that allegedly stole huge sums of money from it. In mid-2006, Bill Molkenthen (the owner of Parkview) believed that Bobbi Moths and her daughter Jamie Wilson were stealing from him, using the money to pay personal bills like [...
Tomatoes and Cheap Labor: A commentary on immigration reform
Posted on June 16, 2008CHEAP TOMATOES? This should make everyone think, be you Democrat, Republican or Independent The following is from a Southern California, LA area school teacher… As you listen to the news about the student protests over illegal immigration, there are some things that you should be aware of: I am in charge of the English-as-a-second-language department [...
Thousands of victims of Naked Short Selling, but I?m not naming names!
Posted on June 16, 2008I’m not an expert on Naked Short Selling. Frankly, I’ve just never really been interested in the topic. Does it appear to exist? Yes. Does it appear to be the reason Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) is doing so poorly and its stock is far below where it was a few years ago? No...
You thought the MMAC was supposed to help businesses? Wrong!
Posted on June 16, 2008I used to be a member of the MMAC (Metro Milwaukee Association of Commerce). It’s our chamber of commerce, just with a funny name. I quit paying the toll a few years ago because the organization is worthless. By virtue of its name (COMMERCE), its goal is supposed to be helping businesses...
Fixed Fees: I?m not a fast food joint
Posted on June 14, 2008Recently I’ve had a bunch of conversations about fixed fees (also called flat fees) in the context of providing professional services: lawyers, auditors, accountants, fraud investigators… And I get a lot of pushback on the idea. Professional service providers have been billing by the hour forever...
R. Kelly acquitted: Will he ever get his reputation back?
Posted on June 14, 2008This week singer/producer R. Kelly (Robert Kelly) was acquitted by a jury of all 14 criminal charges related to child pornography. It took six years, but only 8 hours of jury deliberations, to reach this verdict. He was accused of first having sex with the alleged victim when she was 13...
Perspectives on the SEC?s no action letter to Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK)
Posted on June 11, 2008The discussion of the Securities & Exchange Commission’s “no action” letter to Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) continues around the blogosphere. On the one side we have the supporters of the company and wacky CEO Patrick Byrne (whos says “yipikaye” in response to the situation), who see this as a complete vindication of the company...
This week?s blog carnivals including Fraud Files
Posted on June 11, 2008I’m a regular participant in blog carnivals, an organized way to promote blogs with similar topics. Each week, a host posts links to some of the most interesting posts on their topic from the last week. This week, Fraud Files is included in the following carnivals: Carnival of Money Stories Carnival of Real Estate Festival of Stocks Carnival of [...
Carnival of Fraud - June 10, 2008
Posted on June 10, 2008Welcome to the June 10, 2008 edition of carnival of fraud. Tracy Coenen presents From whistleblower to charges of financial fraud posted at The Fraud Files Blog. Leon Gettler presents Dell’s mixed report card posted at Sox First, saying, “Dell has been found guilty of false advertising and fraud...
From whistleblower to charges of financial fraud
Posted on June 09, 2008The New York Times published a very interesting story about Joseph Ripp, the former AOL CFO who went from being a whistleblower, to finding himself with civil charges of financial fraud. Ripp became a whistleblower in May 2001 when he faxed a letter to auditing firm Arthur Andersen about one of AOL’s business partners...
State stopping payments to 3 voucher schools
Posted on June 09, 2008Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction is indefinitely suspending payments to three voucher schools that are not in compliance with regulations: Bessie M. Gray Preparatory Academy (211 voucher students), Agape Center of Academic Excellence (115 voucher students), Victory Preparatory Academy (48 voucher students)...
Herbalife ?responds,? media doesn?t verify
Posted on June 08, 2008Today Herbalife Ltd (NYSE:HLF) “responded” to the allegations of lead content in Herbalife products brought by Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute. Barry’s allegations were supported by test results from an independent laboratory...
Note to executives prone to spin and deflect
Posted on June 06, 2008Ethisphere has published its 2008 list of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. One of the guiding principles in putting this list together: The World?s Most Ethical Companies are the businesses that respond not with a PR campaign, but with real action, such as complete transparency for the public and significant effort given to fixing the core [...
Securities & Exchange Commission closes inquiry into Overstock.com
Posted on June 06, 2008Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) announced today that the Salt Lake City office of the SEC notified them that it is not recommending any enforcement action against the company. The following was reported: “I know that the SEC has an obligation to look into allegations it receives about any company — even when those allegations are false,” said Patrick Byrne, [...
Milwaukee Public Schools budget time: Fun to be had by all
Posted on June 05, 2008If you live in the Milwaukee area, you’re well aware that the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) is easily one of the worst school systems in the country. The answer always seems to be MONEY. But the money isn’t really “for the children” as they would have you believe...
Antoin ?Tony? Rezko convicted of 16 corruption charges
Posted on June 04, 2008This afternoon, Tony Rezko was convicted on 16 counts of corruption. He was convicted of working with Stuart Levine to extort millions of dollars from companies that wanted to do business with the state or that needed regulatory approval. The convictions include 12 counts of wire and mail fraud, 2 counts of money laundering, and 2 [...
Headhunters desperate: Now using auto-dialers
Posted on June 04, 2008I just got a call from a headhunter. Yahoo. But here’s the best part: The number was blocked so it came up private and they were using an auto-dialer. You know… the things telemarketers use to dial, dial, dial, and then connect the call to a person after you’ve said hello? The things you [...
Fund manager being sued for libel
Posted on June 04, 2008Timminco Limited is suing fund manager Ravi Sood and his firm Lawrence Asset Management because of the following statement made by Sood on Business News Network in April: There is no evidence that they have any sort of proprietary technology. There is no evidence that they can actually deliver on their claims...
Hotel Coenen in Mönchengladbach, Germany
Posted on June 03, 2008Hotel Coenen in Mönchengladbach, Germany Copyright © 2008 Sequence Inc. All rights reserved. The use of this feed on other websites breaches copyright. If this content is not in your news reader, it makes the page you are viewing an infringement of the copyright...
Are You Ready for Future Labor Shortages?
Posted on June 03, 2008By Barb Bartlein, CSP People are getting old. Not just in the US but all over the world. The elder population, 65 and older, is the largest growing sector in all developed countries. According to Census Bureau projections, the US elderly population will more than double between now and the year 2050, to [...
?Redemption? trailer - Drama series about the life of Barry Minkow
Posted on June 03, 2008Disclaimer: I don’t know if Barry can really act! “Redemption” is a drama series based on the life and the crimes of Barry MInkow of Fraud Discovery Institute. As the founder of ZZZZ Best Carpet Cleaning, Barry was responsible for millions of dollars of fraud and went to prison for his crimes...
Article on Barry Minkow?s Herbalife investigation
Posted on June 03, 2008Yesterday the Los Angeles Business Journal did a feature article on Barry Minkow and his investigation of Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) and other multi-level marketing companies. A few snippets from the article, Minkow Targeting Supplement Maker: Former fraudster hectors Herbalife: Five years ago [actually 13], former ZZZZ Best carpet cleaning charlatan Barry Minkow was released from prison after [...
No profitability to ?maintain? at Overstock.com
Posted on June 02, 2008Sam Antar pointed out this hilarious directive that Patrick Byrne and Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) received in 2002 from the SEC. (Note that the company has still never had a profitable year. Ever.) From Overstock.com S-1 filed on 03/05/02: “We have grown quickly and if we fail to manage our growth, our ability to generate new revenues and maintain [...
Overstock.com is doing better if EBITDA is worse than they reported?
Posted on June 02, 2008This level of logic from the supporters of Patrick Byrne and his supporters is pathetic. Sam Antar has brought up the issue of Overstock.com’s (NASDAQ:OSTK) violation of SEC regulations in reporting EBITDA. The result of that improper reporting? EBITDA is materially overstated by Overstock...
Last week?s articles from WalletPop on AOL
Posted on June 01, 2008Business tip: Turn your competitor into a collaborator - The story of DHL using UPS to transport some of their packages has a valuable lesson for business owners. Cautionary tale: Even a gansta rapper needs homeowner’s insurance - Baby momma in living home (against homeowner baby daddy’s wishes) when suspicious fire starts...
Auditor reveals how risky mortgages were allowed to go through
Posted on June 01, 2008NPR featured a story on Tracy Warren, an auditor at Watterson-Prime, a quality control contractor who reviewed subprime loans for investment banks before they were sold on Wall Street. (The biggest client of Watterson-Prime? Bear Stearns.) She has over 25 years of experience in mortgage lending and her job was to find bad loans and [...
Dennis Troha?s fools
Posted on May 31, 2008Dennis Troha has to be laughing at all the idiots involved in his schemes. Troha is the wealthy businessman who was a financial backer for a Menominee Indian casino project through his entity, Kenesah Gaming Development. He was indicted in early 2007 for illegally giving Governor Jim Doyle $100,000 via his company Johnson Houston Partners [...
Do tattoos and professional jobs mix?
Posted on May 31, 2008This past week, AOL Small Business featured my post on tattoos in the workplace. My verdict as the proud owner of 3 tattoos and as an entrepreneur who works with stuffy suit-and-tie types? There’s a time and place for tattoos, so choose wisely before you get them...
Data security article featured on AllBusiness.com
Posted on May 31, 2008My article on data security problems is being featured on AllBusiness.com, as the site focuses on business security this week. It should come as no surprise that online security concerns are expected to rise this year as the number of attempted and successful online frauds will undoubtedly increase...
Body Worlds exhibit controversy
Posted on May 30, 2008This week, I finally went to see the Body Worlds exhibit at the Milwaukee Public Museum. The exhibit has been here since January, but I procrastinated. This is the last weekend it’s running, and the museum is staying open 24 hours a day to accommodate the last-minute visitors...
Debunking United First Financial myths and deceptions
Posted on May 30, 2008“The UFF program is the ONLY program on the market with these exact features and benefits.” Of course it is. If it could be compared to anything else, consumers would quickly see that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. It needs to be some secret, special, super-duper, can’t get it anywhere else program or [...
Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com is a crook, according to himself
Posted on May 30, 2008According to a transcript of an interview that Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) CEO Patrick Byrne did with CNBC in 2004, he is a crook. Here’s the relevant portion: Interview: Patrick Byrne, chairman and CEO of Overstock.com, discusses the company?s revenues and earnings 23 April 2004 CNBC: Kudlow & Cramer Mr...
Four key pieces to an effective corporate fraud investigation
Posted on May 29, 2008There are four critical pieces to a corporate investigative puzzle. With the proliferation of stories of corporate fraud, managers and executives would be wise to familiarize themselves with the workings of a corporate fraud investigation. A corporate investigative policy is necessary because it is important to have guidelines in place for the start of an investigation...
Herbalife products offer lead supplements for children too!
Posted on May 28, 2008Last week, Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute release a report that showed that Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) products contain unsafe levels of lead. The reason why people can be poisoned with Herbalife products is simple: Although each pill might contain only a tiny amount of lead, the recommended dosages of the products add up to a [...
More interesting Mark Shurtleff news
Posted on May 28, 2008Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff keeps providing interesting material for bloggers. Two weeks ago I wrote about the campaign contributions Shurtleff receives from multi-level marketing companies (MLMs) like Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) and Pre-Paid Legal (NYSE:PPD), and his support for weakening laws against pyramid schemes in Utah...
Overstock.com materially overstates EBITDA
Posted on May 28, 2008Sam Antar has a great article today on Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) continuing to overstate EBITDA. Specifically, Sam says: In Overstock.com?s Q1 2008 earnings release and 10-Q report the company continued to improperly remove from its EBITDA calculation, certain stock-based expenses in violation of Regulation G...
Milwaukee Mayor wants to raise property taxes 26%
Posted on May 27, 2008Milwaukee politicians are crying “woe is me” like they do every year. This year rising fuel costs probably pay a big part in budget difficulties, but I’m immune to their crying. Every year they keep raising property taxes, and every year I’m left feeling that they’re wasting my money...
LifeLock CEO: Our service kinda works
Posted on May 27, 2008Todd Davis, the CEO of LifeLock, is trying to get the word out that the LifeLock identity theft service works sometimes! In the below video, Davis tells Matt Lauer on the Today Show that his identity has only been stolen once, darnit! I’ve been reporting what the lawyers are saying about LifeLock, and it’s not good...
Misleading consumers in the marketing of United First Financial Money Merge Account
Posted on May 27, 2008Over the last few weeks, I’ve been researching and reporting on the United First Financial Money Merge Account. UFF’s “agents” are poorly trained multi-level marketing pawns who spout company propaganda about how the MMA is the greatest thing since sliced bread...
Carnival of Fraud - May 26, 2008
Posted on May 26, 2008Welcome to the May 26, 2008 edition of carnival of fraud. Tracy Coenen presents Getting into even more credit card trouble with United First Financial posted at Fraud Files. Paul Wilcox presents 3 Steps To Preventing Identity Theft posted at Security Manor...
Another reason to hate LinkedIn
Posted on May 26, 2008I didn’t really need another reason to hate LinkedIn. I hate it sufficiently. So much so, that LinkedIn employees are checking this blog all day long to see if I’ve posted anything else about the service or if readers have left new comments… either of which would likely warrant another comment to the effect of: [...
You ask Google, I answer!
Posted on May 25, 2008Question posed to Google: proof usana won against barry minkow Answer: Usana didn’t win against Barry. Despite all the grandstanding by executives about the alleged “lies” told by Barry and the rest of us who worked with Fraud Discovery Institute on the Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) case, Barry actually won...
Getting into even more credit card trouble with United First Financial
Posted on May 25, 2008I’ve outlined all the reasons why United First Financial’s Money Merge Account is a scam. Although it technically offers something to the buyer, it’s not worth anywhere near the $3,500 fee that’s charged for it. Consumers can pay off their mortgages faster and for free without this program...
Mainstream media recognizes Mary Kay Cosmetics as a product based pyramid scheme
Posted on May 24, 2008The success of multi-level marketing companies and pyramid schemes has been based partly upon favorable media coverage of the industry. The MLMs put out plenty of positive press releases, resulting in numerous fluff pieces in newspapers and magazines over the years...
This week on WalletPop @ AOL
Posted on May 23, 2008Put away the Blackberry! - No, we don’t want to see how fast you can type with your thumbs. More on LifeLock’s failure to protect identities (and its claim that it isn’t so!) - LifeLock is still a waste of money. Don’t fall for their empty promises! Tattoos and professional jobs: Do they mix? - You can [...
Analyzing the details of the United First Financial program
Posted on May 22, 2008If you owed a bank money under a loan that had an interest rate of 6%… And I came along and said to you “Here, take this loan with an interest rate of 8% and use the money to pay off the loan you already have…” What would you say? Anyone with remedial math skills would [...
Would you work with a company that is deliberately misleading blog readers?
Posted on May 21, 2008Recently I’ve posted a couple of articles about my disappointment with LinkedIn. It’s my opinion that for most professionals it’s a complete waste of time. Actual benefits from it are few and far between, unless you’re looking for a job or you’re a headhunter...
Las Vegas: Recession or no?
Posted on May 21, 2008I love Las Vegas. And when my fellow WalletPopper Zac Bissonnette decided to write a story about how recession-like times (no, we’re not really in a recession) have hit Vegas hard, I was saddened. I said to him, “Are you sure there’s really a recession there? Cuz I just tried to book a room and [...
Church fraud article live
Posted on May 20, 2008As promised, my article on church fraud is live here: Let the Faithful Pray There’s No Fraud. I’ve been investigating a couple of cases of church fraud lately, and it makes me sad to think that people will steal from churches, of all places...
At least the Business Journal agrees with me about LinkedIn
Posted on May 20, 2008Much to my dismay, the Business Journal of Milwaukee ran a piece raving about the usefulness about LinkedIn, the modern day version of a chain letter. Last week I talked about how it’s nothing more than an annoying tool ultimately used by headhunters and sales people...
Deception in the sale of the United First Financial product?
Posted on May 20, 2008I found this interesting description of the deception involved in selling the United First Financial program to unsuspecting consumers for $3,500: These programs are sold *very* aggressively in the US as part of a multi-level marketing scheme by people who do not really understand what they are selling, but are highly motivated by a $1400 commission [...
Another outrageous overtime situation in Wisconsin
Posted on May 19, 2008Lately there have been several stories about government employees and overtime pay. I covered the gaming of the overtime/sick leave system by jail guards, and recently there was also a report on excessive overtime with nurses and other state employees...
Shut up about the economy already!
Posted on May 19, 2008My friend Tim Sykes (author, entrepreneur, reality TV star, mildly obnoxious stock trader) said this today far better than I could hope to say it: Ask just about anyone how our economy is doing and you?re likely to hear one or more of the following: We?re in a recession! The stock market is crashing! Oil?s never gonna [...
Herbalife products contain unsafe levels of lead
Posted on May 19, 2008?The Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) products that were analyzed contain levels of lead that are in excess of what the law allows under California’s Safe Drinking and Toxic Environment Act of 1994 more commonly known as Prop. 65,? says lawyer and dietary supplement and Prop...
Running a profitable franchise
Posted on May 18, 2008Owning a franchise can be the best and the worst of times. Franchises are successful because the parent company has a proven business model, excellent training and business development guidelines, a brand that has a lot of goodwill with customers, and advertising leverage that a single owner could never have...
This week?s WalletPop personal finance articles
Posted on May 18, 2008You’re not going to miss $5,000 - Politicians spending your money again! Don’t spend my tax dollars to prove the Patriots are cheaters! - Yes, we know they’re cheaters. Get over it! More discounts at Wal-Mart benefit consumers across the board - Wal-Mart haters take note: They’ve helped keep prices low, wherever you shop...
The United First Financial system is based on the Australian banking system!
Posted on May 18, 2008I have had a ton of fun researching the United First Financial “program” being sold for $3,500 by multi-level marketing people. The more I read, the more it’s clear that this is a bad way to spend $3,500. Apparently, telling consumers that it was based on the “Australian banking system” is intended to give it some [...
Maybe auditors aren?t as smart as they want you to think they are
Posted on May 17, 2008Francine McKenna over at re: The Auditors has a nice piece about Dan Stulac, a former Arthur Andersen partner who was in charge of the Peregrine Systems audit. Dan used the “I was duped” defense in his criminal case (charges of conspiracy, securities fraud, and wire fraud)...
United First Financial agent compensation plan
Posted on May 17, 2008In researching United First Financial and the Money Merge Account, there weren’t many sources of information on the compensation structure for agents. What I do know is this: The official corporate website does not mention “the opportunity” or “business opportunity,” as most other multi-level marketing companies do...
I can save you $68,504 (without United First Financial)
Posted on May 16, 2008I promise this will be my last post for today on United First Financial. The more research I do, the more I think this company’s program sucks. Those who promote it suck. And those who participate… they’re suckers. So here’s how my plan works, and I’m giving you this for free! I’m using a $200,000 [...
What does Dave Ramsey think about United First Financial
Posted on May 16, 2008In my book, Dave Ramsey is hands down one of the best and most credible experts on getting out of debt. While I disagree with him on a few technicalities, we’re on the same page for most of what he preaches. The guy talks sense. So when United First Financial representatives scammers began emailing me, calling [...
Fun with numbers: I can save you $19,714 (without United First Financial)
Posted on May 16, 2008Yesterday I wrote about my research on a multi-level marketing company called United First Financial. My problem with the company is not that what they’re selling isn’t good or doesn’t help people. The plan can help people pay down their debt faster...
Great comments on The Fair Tax proposal
Posted on May 15, 2008This comment was left on WalletPop, AOL’s personal finance blog. He was responding to a thread on hidden taxes and an ongoing discussion there. Our current tax system is so complex that many of the taxes we pay are in fact, hidden from us. Consumers often rant about how big naughty corporations should pay their fair [...
A new pyramid scheme: United First Financial
Posted on May 15, 2008Recently, someone on my consumer awareness site Pink Truth asked about United First Financial. I did some quick research and came to the conclusion that it was a typical multi-level marketing scheme… basically a pyramid scheme that relies on the continuous recruitment of new members...
Supporting pyramid schemes is lucrative for politicians
Posted on May 14, 2008As Barry Minkow (Fraud Discovery Institute), Dr. Jon Taylor, Robert FitzPatrick, Eric Scheibeler and others (including me) continue the unpopular fight against multi-level marketing companies (which are nothing more than disguised pyramid schemes), I occasionally come across items of interest… Like this one...
LinkedIn: Like a bad chain letter
Posted on May 14, 2008A couple of years ago, I got sucked into LinkedIn, thanks to my friend Ben. It was supposed to be a way to share your professional contacts with other professionals of your choosing. You set up your profile, and you start linking to others. They can see your list of links (unless you hide it, which [...
Irresponsible reporting about Usana by The Associated Press
Posted on May 13, 2008In an article today about the Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) buyout offer by Myron Wentz (Gull Holdings), the following inaccurate statement was made: The Securities and Exchange Commission concluded during the first quarter USANA’s marketing model is not a pyramid scheme, but the stock has a short interest about 34 percent, meaning many investors are [...
Nominee for Mother of the Year
Posted on May 13, 2008The Milwaukee NBC affiliate is reporting that Corinna Kuhnke allowed her 2-year-old to smoke a cigarette at a restaurant. Witnesses say that a woman with Kuhnke and her son lit the cigarette that the boy put in his mouth. Kuhnke denies it all, and says that her son just got his hands on her cigarettes [...
Usana Health Sciences buyout news
Posted on May 13, 2008This morning, it was announced that Usana founder and current chairman and CEO Myron Wentz offered to buy all outstanding stock of Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) at $26.00 per share. The closing price of the stock on May 12 was $20.83, so this represented almost a 25% premium...
You ask Google, I answer
Posted on May 12, 2008Question: Did Enron have good cash flow? Answer: No. That was one of the signs that a fraud was occurring. In spite of financial statements that showed increasing revenue and profits, the company was constantly in a poor cash position. This is one common red flag of fraud discussed in my book, Essentials of Corporate Fraud.
Fraud at local church likely
Posted on May 12, 2008One of Milwaukee’s largest Catholic churches is likely the victim of financial fraud at the hands of a now dismissed priest. Leaders at St. John Vianney in Brookfield are urging people not to rush to judgment and to wait until the forensic examination is over and we have all the facts...
Carnival of Fraud - May 12, 2008
Posted on May 12, 2008Welcome to the May 12, 2008 edition of carnival of fraud. Tracy Coenen presents Mary Kay Cosmetics suing little company for daring to make money off Pink posted at The Fraud Files Blog, saying “Mary Kay Inc. is trying to shut down a small company that helps consultants get rid of excess inventory...
How does one get headhunters to leave her alone?
Posted on May 12, 2008Have I ever mentioned how sick of headhunters I am? Well I am. I don’t want their phone calls. I don’t want their emails. I don’t want the crappy job they’re offering, and I don’t know anyone who is qualified to apply for the crappy job they’re offering...
This week?s articles from AOL?s blog WalletPop
Posted on May 10, 2008Still writing a lot for AOL but having a good time doing it! Win some spending money at Comic Wonder - A very cool site started by local serial entrepreneurs. And you think YOUR kids are expensive? - The Duggars are at it again. Child #18 on the way. What would a gas tax holiday really do for [...
Mary Kay Cosmetics suing little company for daring to make money off Pink
Posted on May 09, 2008This is outrageous! Touch of Pink Cosmetics is a company that buys excess inventory from current and former Mary Kay consultants and then resells it to their customers. They basically help these people who were frontloaded with tons of product, purchasing it from them at a discount and then passing those savings on to consumers...
Former Herbalife Director of Venezuela and Columbia comes forward with Fraud Claims, Reports Fraud Discovery Institute
Posted on May 09, 2008Herbalife (NYSE: HLF) whistleblower says illegal acts likely responsible for region’s dramatic supervisor growth Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) executives identified Venezuela as a Top 10 market for the company in their May 2, 2008, conference call, and indeed, triple digit new supervisor growth was reported there in the first quarter...
eBay going PayPal only?
Posted on May 09, 2008eBay is considering going “PayPal only” and is starting the policy in Australia in June. How do you suppose eBay users will react to this? I suspect not well. Not well at all. When eBay bought PayPal a couple of years ago, buyers and sellers recognized that eBay was going to be getting greater profits off [...
Usana insiders unloading stock prior to the release of Barry Minkow?s report
Posted on May 08, 2008This message was posted today on the Yahoo stock board. I sometimes forget about this. About the fact that Kroll tipped off Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) about Barry Minkow’s investigation of the company and how these insiders unloaded a ton of stock right before the release of the report...
Essentials of Corporate Fraud featured on Networking Today
Posted on May 08, 2008Barb Bartlein’s article about my book, Essentials of Corporate Fraud, was featured on Networking Today last week. A big thank you to Barb for creating such great buzz about my book, and for help getting the word out about what executives need to know about employee fraud.
Usana Health Sciences ordered to pay Barry Minkow?s legal fees
Posted on May 07, 2008Judge Alba just ruled that Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ: USNA) must pay the legal fees of Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute for its bogus lawsuit. $142,510 to be paid by Usana!
Could it be my lucky day?
Posted on May 06, 2008It could… Upstart Blogger is giving away more cool stuff. This time it’s a great domain name with an established blog with a stream of advertising revenue. Not a bad giveaway, if I might say so myself. So here I am, throwing my name in the hat and maybe (just maybe) I will win...
Huffington Post writes about Tim Sykes and his new website
Posted on May 06, 2008The Huffington Post ran a really nice story about the one and only Timothy Sykes today. Tim just rolled out a new website, which is kind of a portal for everything related to stock trading. Of course he peddles his book and DVD set there, but he also details his stock trades and teaches others [...
LifeLock sucks?
Posted on May 06, 2008I did a post yesterday on WalletPop about LifeLock. They basically advertise services to protect you from identity thieves. When the service first was unveiled, I was intrigued. So much so, that I signed up to be an affiliate. (I never actually marketed the services as an affiliate, sold any products, or received any compensation, though...
Nominee for Mother of the Year
Posted on May 05, 2008Mother: Angelique R. Vandeburg of Sheboygan Act: Shooting her daughter with a BB gun to win a $1 bet with her boyfriend Last week, Vandeburg’s 8-year-old daughter reported the incident to a school counselor. She said that her mom had 10 to 12 beers with her boyfriend, and the boyfriend offered Vandeburg $1 to shoot the girl [...
Gradient issues negative report on UTStarcom in 2003; SEC files fraud charges against UTSI in 2008
Posted on May 05, 2008SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - (Business Wire) Five years after Gradient Analytics first reported on UTStarcom (UTSI), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has announced accounting fraud charges and a settlement fine against two UTSI executives for ?false financial filings...
Lying in business is not compartmentalized (Herbalife, NYSE:HLF)
Posted on May 05, 2008Reformed white collar criminal Barry Minkow has been investigating multi-level marketing schemes such as Usana Health Sciences, Herbalife Ltd., and PrePaid Legal. One of the most recent revelations by Minkow and his Fraud Discovery Institute was that the president of Herbalife, Gregory Probert, did not have the MBA he and the company claimed in SEC [...
Another tax proposed for Milwaukee County
Posted on May 04, 2008Chalk another one up for the tax hell. Someone is suggesting another tax for Milwaukee County, this time a $10 per car registration fee. I can hear it now… “But it’s only $10!” Soon we will be paying more than half of our incomes to taxes...
Proposed budget fix to help Governor Jim Doyle
Posted on May 04, 2008Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle is upset. The budget is out of whack. (Go figure!) The government is spending money faster than it is coming in, and Doyle wants someone to fix it. (And remember… he’s already raided funds set aside for certain purposes to pay for the general budget...
Wisconsin prison guards scam overtime and sick leave system
Posted on May 04, 2008The scam is simple: Call in sick to get a day off, but then pick the next shift which puts you into overtime status. You still have your day off, but your next day is at time-and-a half. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel uncovered this clever scam run by Wisconsin prison guards...
An average company wasted $1.7 million on SOX 404 Compliance last year
Posted on May 04, 2008Financial Executives International polled companies for the 7th year in a row to determine how much it costs to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. This year, they talked to 185 companies with average annual revenues of $4.7 billion. The total average cost of compliance was $1...
My articles from AOL?s personal finance blog WalletPop
Posted on May 03, 2008A few of my masterpieces from this past week included… Are you lying to yourself about money? - Quit making excuses to spend money. You don’t have to lie about needing it. You don’t have to make up a reason to “treat” yourself...
Mary Kay Cosmetics: Destroying half a million women a year
Posted on May 03, 2008To many, my fight against Mary Kay Cosmetics is puzzling. Why would I want to waste my time with it? After all, they’re only selling lipstick. It’s a harmless company started by a little old lady 45 years ago who wanted to give women an opportunity...
Goldman Sachs says lying by executives is trivial
Posted on May 03, 2008This week, Gregory Probert, Herbalife’s (NYSE:HLF) president and COO, resigned after being outed for lying about his credentials. Here’s what an analyst at Goldman Sachs had to say about the company after the resignation was announced: IMPLICATIONS: We believe that this significant EPS outperformance will largely overshadow the disappointing resignation of Greg Probert and would expect the [...
I really want to win a Mac Book Air
Posted on May 02, 2008I don’t need to go out and buy one, because I don’t really need one. But if blogger wants to give me a chance to win one just for linking to their site, I’ll play along! Upstart Blogger likes to blog about starting blogs. Imagine that! It’s actually a pretty decent blog, so check [...
The fraud of PrePaid Legal, explained by a former US Attorney
Posted on May 02, 2008PrePaid Legal boasts their “legal services plan.” The truth is that very few legal services are ever provided under the plan. If you have a criminal case, contrary to what you’ve been told, the plan is useless. You are told that you have something like 60 to 300 hours of “free” legal services...
Tricks credit card companies play
Posted on May 02, 2008Ken and Daria Dolan had a really good post on WalletPop today about the tricks credit card companies play. Yes, they’re all legal. Yes, they’re all outlined in your credit card agreement. But they are a bit sneaky and can catch you off guard...
Herbalife president Gregory Probert resigns
Posted on May 01, 2008Following last week’s damaging report by Fraud Discovery Institute and Barry Minkow that Herbalife LTD’s (NYSE:HLF) president and COO Gregory Probert lied about his credentials, Probert has resigned from the company, effective today. Media reports are cute...
There?s simply NO MONEY IN THE BUDGET!!!
Posted on April 30, 2008Wisconsin is a tax hell, plain and simple. And if you live in the city of Milwaukee and actually hold a job and try to own a home, you are screwed even more. So naturally it comes as a surprise (sarcasm!) that our politicians might be wasting money on unneeded trips (we call them boondoggles in [...
Google search done by someone at Herbalife?s headquarters
Posted on April 30, 2008When the company’s own employees are doing a Google search like this, it says something, doesn’t it? herbalife greg probert fraud SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "Google search done by someone at Herbalife’s headquarters", url: "http://www...
Overstock.com?s ?unusual? financial statements and disclosures
Posted on April 30, 2008Supporters of Patrick Byrne and Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) can?t seem to get over the fact that the company has never turned a profit and that it is being investigated by the SEC (despite false assertions in the most recent conference call that the SEC has resolved “all the issues” and has sprinkled holy water on the [...
A few articles from AOL?s personal finance blog, WalletPop
Posted on April 28, 2008I’ve been writing quite a bit for WalletPop these days. I love that gig! One bright spot on the horizon for air travelers? - A new configuration for seats in coach that gives the illusion of much more room, and more actual comfort for passengers...
About the SEC ?sprinkling holy water? on Overstock.com
Posted on April 28, 2008Last week in the Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) earnings conference call, the company’s executives had the following to say about the SEC’s investigation of the company: Patrick Byrne So, is it fair to say that all these other issues that the knuckleheads keep on raising as issues, the SEC examiners, looked at and sprinkled holy water on? David Chidester Yeah, I [...
5 steps to driving your tax preparer crazy
Posted on April 28, 2008I wrote this one for WalletPop as tax season was wrapping up, but I liked it so much that I’m reprinting it here! The agony of doing taxes is just about over for another year. I have only five tax returns left to do, and all the extensions have been filed, so we’ve got plenty of [...
The Pyramid Scheme aspect of Primerica Financial Services
Posted on April 27, 2008I ran across a blog that did a series examining Primerica Financial Services, a multi-level marketing company that purports to sell financial products. While the company does offer life insurance, investments, and other financial products, like a typical MLM… they’re really out there selling the opportunity...
Carnival of Fraud - April 28, 2008
Posted on April 27, 2008Welcome to the April 28, 2008 edition of carnival of fraud. Tracy Coenen presents Women upset over cancelled flight they didn?t have tickets for at The Fraud Files Blog, saying “You can’t complain about the cancellation of a flight you didn’t have tickets for!” Nara presents Surviving Marital Infidelity - Signs of Infidelity » FAQ For Those [...
Back at #1 in Auditing on Amazon.com
Posted on April 26, 2008As the Essentials of Corporate Fraud book tour rolls on, we’re back at #1 in the Auditing category on Amazon.com! SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "Back at #1 in Auditing on Amazon.com", url: "http://www.sequence-inc.com/fraudfiles/2008/04/26/back-at-1-in-auditing-on-amazoncom/" } );
Herbalife president: Well it?s ALMOST true?.
Posted on April 25, 2008Another top executive is caught lying about his credentials, but we’re supposed to think it’s no big deal. First it was Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) board member Denis Waitley lying about his college degrees. Then it was Usana CFO Gil Fuller lying about being a CPA...
Video of Patrick Byrne discussing the Sith Lord?s fax machine at CNBC
Posted on April 25, 2008I couldn’t make up stuff this good if I tried. Seriously. The things that Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) says are a journalist’s dream. (Yes, if Byrne can think of himself as a journalist, so can I!) I reported the other day on his comments about the secret fax machine at CNBC...
I came across my name on Amazon.com
Posted on April 25, 2008This afternoon I was cruising Amazon.com, and found my name in the acknowledgments of a book. I HAD NO IDEA! It is so touching to be thanked in this way, by someone who is both a business associate and a friend. Rebecca Ryan, the head of Next Generation Consulting, helps companies attract and retain young talent...
Gradient Analytics Looks Forward to Proving Overstock Wrong
Posted on April 24, 2008Case Essential To Protecting Analysts From Issuer Retaliation SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Gradient Analytics, Inc. said today that a California state court has ruled that discovery may proceed in the Overstock.com vs. Gradient, et al...
What?s your favorite Overstock.com lie?
Posted on April 23, 2008Sam Antar and I have weighed in with our opinions on the lie machine known as Overstock.com, run by the country’s most incompetent CEO, Patrick Byrne. This week has been a treasure trove of new lies and manipulations, as Overstock management tries to cover their lies with new lies and… oh what a tangled web we [...
GAAP being replaced by BOSS
Posted on April 23, 2008It’s official. The Sith Lord and I have concluded our meeting, and public companies in the United States will no longer be required to follow GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). Instead, they will immediately begin following BOSS (Because Overstock Said So)...
Latest Overstock.com Lie: 2007 first quarter numbers were GAAP
Posted on April 22, 2008Yesterday Sam Antar printed a very interesting piece on his blog that sharply criticized the 2008 first quarter earnings release of Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK). I picked up the most damaging part of it, which related to Overstock claiming a 27% increase in revenue over 2007...
Update on working with the Google Ad Review Center
Posted on April 22, 2008A few weeks ago, I wrote about my experience with Google’s new Ad Review Center. This tool enables you to block advertisements from certain advertisers. When you use this feature, advertisers who want to bid on your ad space must be approved first...
Women upset over cancelled flight they didn?t have tickets for
Posted on April 22, 2008I am soooooo not kidding about this. I just saw this on the news. 24 women are upset at Midwest Airlines, which recently canceled/changed a number of flights due to some cost-cutting measures. They’re upset because they were going to take one of those flights, but they hadn’t even booked it! Now they want Midwest Airlines [...
Patrick Byrne?s delusions
Posted on April 22, 2008More delusional talk from Patrick Byrne, CEO of POS Overstock.com. From Herb Greenberg at Marketwatch: Speaking on the Fox Business Channel today to my friend Liz Claman, [Byrne] said: ?I think that there?s been an unhealthy collusion developed between certain short sellers and certain journalists...
Come see me talk about fraud next week!
Posted on April 21, 2008The Essentials of Corporate Fraud book tour is going full steam ahead. Next week I’ll be talking with a group of accountants, attorneys, and bankers in Milwaukee on How To Commit Fraud and Get Away With It… A look at how management can spot the warning signs of corporate fraud...
Manipulation of earnings in Overstock.com press release (Are you surprised?)
Posted on April 21, 2008Today convicted felon Sam Antar has an exciting piece on his blog about Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) and how it fudged its earnings figures in Friday’s press release, caused a short squeeze right before options expired, and continued on Patrick Byrne’s path of misleading investors...
Analyzing the truthfulness of corporate executives
Posted on April 21, 2008The website RealScoop uses voice analysis to analyze statements made by corporate executives (or others), with the result shown on the “Believability Meter”. How cool is this? (UPDATE: Likely all a fraud and/or complete coincidence as voice analysis is unreliable...
Milwaukee teachers crying about having to teach children to read
Posted on April 20, 2008Today the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran a typical story about the poor teachers and the poor students in Milwaukee. How dare they be required to teach things like reading and mathematics, and how dare the students actually be tested to see if they’ve learned these skills! The story reports on a meeting of 100 Milwaukee Public [...
Usana?s secret new product
Posted on April 20, 2008Usana Health Sciences Inc. is preparing for a big launch of a new product at this year’s convention, and I thought I’d give you a sneak peek at what it is. The new product is an energy drink. Apparently, studies by Usana show that you could get a bigger kick from a cup of coffee, but [...
Getting dressed up to go to Wal-Mart
Posted on April 20, 2008Compliments of Dvorak Uncensored: SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "Getting dressed up to go to Wal-Mart", url: "http://www.sequence-inc.com/fraudfiles/2008/04/20/getting-dressed-up-to-go-to-wal-mart/" } );
Alexa ranking system changed
Posted on April 17, 2008Today Alexa has announced that it has made big changes to the algorithm it uses to rank websites. I don’t know if this is good news, bad news, or simply neutral. Most people have known for a long time that Alexa rankings are practically worthless...
A bit of irony from Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com
Posted on April 16, 2008Recently a countersuit was filed by Gradient Analytics against Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) and Patrick Byrne, claiming that the company and Byrne engaged in a smear campaign after negative reports on Overstock were issued by Gradient. The suit includes allegations that Overstock and Byrne committed acts of defamation, tortuous interference with prospective business relations, and unfair business [...
Creating a fraudulent criminal history
Posted on April 16, 2008I’ve heard of plenty of people fabricating their pasts in order to make themselves look better. Fake degrees, false work histories, and phony certifications aren’t all that uncommon these days. Changing one’s name or otherwise trying to hide one’s criminal past isn’t out of the question today either...
City of Milwaukee buys silence of soon-to-be former employee for $30k - What are they hiding?
Posted on April 15, 2008The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that Dr. Vivian Chen, second in command at the Health Department is being fired. But she’s being given about $30k to keep quiet. About what? Chen worked until February 1, 2008, but will be considered an employee until May 8, 2008, giving her extra pension credits...
MPS student enrollment will decline, budget will grow (Surprise!)
Posted on April 15, 2008Of course no one is surprised by this. Milwaukee Public Schools, one of the worst and most wasteful school districts in the United States will have a decline in enrollment, but has proposed an increased budget. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that enrollment will decline next school year by 4...
See my Tax Tips for Procrastinators on AOL
Posted on April 14, 2008For all those waiting until the last minute to do their taxes… SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "See my Tax Tips for Procrastinators on AOL", url: "http://www.sequence-inc.com/fraudfiles/2008/04/14/see-my-tax-tips-for-procrastinators-on-aol/" } );
Timmay as Fraudbuster?
Posted on April 14, 2008Penny stock trader, author, entrepreneur Timothy Sykes (aka Timmay) has put on his little detective hat and found a fraud in progress. Being promoted by none other than CNBC “reporter” Sri Jegarajah. Timmay makes an excellent point…...
Tax Me More Act: An opportunity for those who think taxes should be higher
Posted on April 13, 2008It seems that those who think taxes aren’t high enough are always pushing for increases… so long as the increases are for someone else. Did you know that half of American households pay no income tax? And those are the very same people who are often rallying against “tax breaks for the rich...
Carnival of Fraud - April 14, 2008
Posted on April 13, 2008Welcome to the April 14, 2008 edition of carnival of fraud. Charles H. Green presents Bear Stearns, Enron, and Some Confusion About Trust posted at Trust Matters, saying, “Is it really fair to say that Skilling didn’t know what was happening at Enron? Now is it reasonable to say that Bear Sterns CEO was acting [...
Herbalife Red Flags for Fraud Issued
Posted on April 11, 2008Disclosure: Barry Minkow is currently shorting Herbalife stock, and intends to short any stock he reports on in the future. Details found on page 3 of this document. Today Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute released a list of the Top Ten Red Flags of Fraud at Herbalife, LTD (NYSE:HLF): 1...
Alder-thug collects over $67,000 plus benefits while behind bars
Posted on April 11, 2008Milwaukee Alderman Michael McGee (also known as Micheal Jackson, depending upon which laws he’s trying to skirt) has been sitting in jail since Memorial Day last year. And he’s been paid his full salary the entire time, although he obviously couldn’t attend any council meetings or do much real work for the taxpayers...
More red flags for the IRS
Posted on April 10, 2008Scared of being audited by the Internal Revenue Service or your state taxing authority? That’s what they want! They hope the fear of an audit will keep you honest. And although the average taxpayer has a very low chance of getting audited, the potential is always there...
Back to #1 in Auditing at Amazon.com
Posted on April 10, 2008The product rankings on Amazon are of limited usefulness, basically because they’re updated every hour, and a sale of one or two books can bump you up far. My book, Essentials of Corporate Fraud, just jumped back up to #1 on the list of Auditing books...
Tax Audit Red Flags
Posted on April 09, 2008As tax day nears…. taxpayers around the country are in a panic. Some because they’re not ready for April 15. Others because they’re deathly afraid of being audited. Here are some common audit red flags to ponder. The IRS purposely doesn’t definitively say what things make you more likely to be audited...
Expressing one?s frustrations?
Posted on April 08, 2008SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "Expressing one’s frustrations…", url: "http://www.sequence-inc.com/fraudfiles/2008/04/08/expressing-ones-frustrations/" } );
Why do people fall for these scams?
Posted on April 08, 2008I was just reading on TechCrunch about a scam called Bux.to that looks poised to fold. Members are complaining that they are not being paid the money they’ve earned. The site shows some comments from supposed members who say they’ve been paid, but it’s sketchy whether or not that’s real...
Gradient Analytics? Early Research Identified Same Issues as Charges in SEC Complaint against Biovail
Posted on April 07, 2008SEC Credits Analysts Who Questioned Biovail, But Retaliation Against Independent Researchers Through Lawsuits Continues SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Gradient Analytics said recently its research into Biovail from 2002 to 2003 identified the same issues that are now the centerpiece of the accounting-fraud charges supporting the U...
Till death do I blog
Posted on April 06, 2008Today the New York Times ran a story about people who died from blogging. Sort of. One technology blogger died recently of a heart attack, another tech blogger died of a massive coronary, and a third blogger had a heart attack but survived. And there is also a lengthy list of complaints from professional bloggers, including [...
You ask the search engine, I answer
Posted on April 05, 2008I’m doing another round of interesting search engine queries. Most of these were from Google. Some were from other search engines. But these are the things people are looking for, and it just happens to lead them to this site: Search: sarbanes oxley act positive benefit Answer: Not so much...
My favorite reality television star: Tanisha from Bad Girls Club
Posted on April 05, 2008Tanisha! Email me, girl! SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "My favorite reality television star: Tanisha from Bad Girls Club", url: "http://www.sequence-inc.com/fraudfiles/2008/04/05/my-favorite-reality-television-star-tanisha-from-bad-girls-club/" } );
A sneak peek at the cover of my next book
Posted on April 05, 2008I’m currently writing my second book, and we’re working on the cover. The book is a guide to doing fraud investigations. This isn’t the final draft of the cover, but it’s pretty close. Feel free to leave your comments… SHARETHIS...
Extraordinary Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower, by Cynthia Cooper
Posted on April 05, 2008Cynthia Cooper was a true corporate whistleblower. She became famous, not by choice, but because of the WorldCom financial statement fraud valued at $11 billion. She was the Vice President of Internal Audit at WorldCom, a position that was not easily obtained...
?Whistleblowers? barred from testifying as witnesses in State Farm Insurance Hurricane Katrina case
Posted on April 05, 2008Back in August 2006, I reported on Kerri Rigsby and Cori Rigsby, sisters who worked as independent adjusters for State Farm. The sisters were deemed “whistleblowers,” for their allegations of corruption at State Farm Insurance. The sisters came forward, claiming that there was fraud in the Biloxi and Gulfport field offices related to the processing of [...
Bar Stool Economics (A commentary on the American tax system)
Posted on April 04, 2008Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this: The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. The fifth would pay $1. The sixth would pay $3...
Helmut?s Remodeling: Why consumers hate contractors (Part 2)
Posted on April 04, 2008Last week I posted a rant about Helmut’s Remodeling and my horrible customer service experience with them. Shortly thereafter I removed it, after Helmut asked me to give the company a chance to make things right for me. The chance came and went, so here goes my rant again...
Important political races won by the right people yesterday
Posted on April 02, 2008Mike Gableman - Loophole Louie Butler was knocked off the Wisconsin Supreme Court yesterday. He can take his love of criminals and legal loopholes somewhere else. This is the first time in 40 years that a justice running for re-election has lost. But it was the perfect time…...
Stop taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood
Posted on April 01, 2008The taxpayers don’t need to give money that increases the reserves of Planned Parenthood, and we certainly don’t need to financially support baby killers. Proof that Planned Parenthood doesn’t need tax money, from the American Life League: SHARETHIS...
Carnival of Fraud - March 31, 2008
Posted on March 31, 2008Welcome to the March 31, 2008 edition of carnival of fraud. Note: Welcome back Wenchy! Happy to have you, as I love your blog. And you’re making up for lost time… thanks! Wenchypoo presents Universal Health Care Blues: Patient Stacking posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket, saying, “It’s good to see you back in [...
Some of my articles from last week on AOL?s personal finance blog WalletPop
Posted on March 31, 2008Last week on WalletPop, I was blogging about… Can you get rich by blogging? - You can make money blogging, but the big bucks are reserved for group blogs run as businesses. Condo market questionable for the near future - If you’re in the market for a condo, you might do better with a new condo...
I never, ever want to hear that teachers are underpaid again.
Posted on March 31, 2008Quite by accident, I came across a database listing teacher salaries and benefits for the metro Milwaukee area. The database allows you to enter any teacher or administrator’s last name, and see the value of their salary and benefits for the 2006-07 school year...
One of my articles was cited in a book!
Posted on March 31, 2008My article, Financial Statement Fraud in the Katrina Aftermath: A Whirlwind of Opportunities, was quoted on page 278 of the book Scientific Evidence in Civil and Criminal Cases. That’s kind of cool, especially since I don’t think that’s ever happened before...
Support the Milwaukee Police Department
Posted on March 30, 2008Yesterday there was a shameful protest in support of a man who, while drunk, stepped on the gas pedal of his car and dragged a Milwaukee police officer with the car. That police officer is lucky to be alive. But the Hmong community feels sorry for the criminal, Koua Moua, who got a black and swollen [...
Essentials of Corporate Fraud featured in ?The People Pro? Newsletter
Posted on March 28, 2008Barb Bartlein is known nationally as “The People Pro“… offering advice and strategic assistance in dealing with people issues. She assists clients with management training, professional mentoring, and employee management issues. She’s a nationally syndicated columnist for The Business Journal, a successful author, and one funny lady...
Scott Walker is the clear choice for County Executive
Posted on March 28, 2008Lena Taylor is an embarrassment in her current political job. She wants to raise all sorts of taxes, and wants to spring a bunch of criminals from jail. She wants to waste zillions of dollars on light rail that no one will use. She wants more sales taxes… effectively driving out even more businesses...
Working with the Google Ad Review Center
Posted on March 28, 2008I just got the ?Ad Review Center? option on my Google AdSense account, and I decided to give it a whirl. I have Google ads on two sites: this one, and Pink Truth (my public awareness campaign against Mary Kay Cosmetics and similarly abusive multi-level marketing companies and pyramid schemes)...
More on Lena Taylor?s plans to stick it to the taxpayers if elected as County Executive
Posted on March 28, 2008Hat tip: Badger Blogger. SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "More on Lena Taylor’s plans to stick it to the taxpayers if elected as County Executive", url: "http://www.sequence-inc.com/fraudfiles/2008/03/28/more-on-lena-taylors-plans-to-stick-it-to-the-taxpayers-if-elected-as-county-executive/" } );
Usana insider sales occur (curiously) between the big numbers back then, and the little numbers (the real ones) now
Posted on March 27, 2008From February 6, 2008 Usana Health Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:USNA) conference call, comments by CFO (who lied about being a CPA) Gil Fuller: Now before I turn the time over to Dave, I’ll comment on our guidance. Yesterday in our press release we provided first quarter and full year guidance of 2008...
I thought it was all Barry Minkow?s fault?
Posted on March 27, 2008Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ: USNA) just took a huge dump. We’re a year out from the report by Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute about the company’s failure to disclose material information and data about its business model. Usana executives Gil Fuller (CFO who lied about being a CPA) and Dave Wentz always referred to the [...
Helmut?s Remodeling: Why consumers hate contractors
Posted on March 26, 2008In less than one year, I’ve been screwed by two contractors who were supposed to do work on my home. And they wonder why consumers hate them and cringe every time we have to do business with them? Almost a year ago, I began my escapade with a wayward carpenter who was too busy with his [...
When your business is struggling, should you make it harder for your customers to use your services?
Posted on March 26, 2008Tim Sykes posted about this on his blog (and gave the cool graphic here that I conveniently stole from his site) …. Let’s face it. Yahoo’s business model is failing on many levels. They simply haven’t kept up with web trends and are being pummeled so hard by sites like Google, that there’s a chance their [...
Help rid the blogosphere of bad blogs?
Posted on March 25, 2008Have you ever noticed how many bad blogs there are out there? There are the “splogs” (spam blogs) that are nothing more than sites that want you to visit so they can get advertising dollars. They don’t offer any content… at least not any that they didn’t steal from someone else...
Check out my AOL articles
Posted on March 25, 2008Credit problems aren’t just for consumers - Businesses are filing bankruptcy too, and the impact is wide-reaching Tax Tips: Cashing out your 401(k) early - Why it’s a horrible, horrible idea to cash out a 401(k) early (not that it stops a lot of young consumers from doing it) Debt consolidation might be the worst move you’ve [...
Loophole Louie lying about his record?
Posted on March 25, 2008Judge Louis Butler is running for re-election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. And those who have followed his legal career know him as Loophole Louie, because he is so pro-criminal, looking for any loophole or technicality that will allow the criminal to get off scott free...
Student loan market changing
Posted on March 25, 2008Experts are worried about the future of the student loan market and whether or not enough money will be available in the coming years for all who want to attend college. The Wall Street Journal reports that colleges and universities are shying away from private lenders (which had been utilized pretty aggressively in the last [...
Another big thank you!
Posted on March 22, 2008This one goes out to my friend Andrea who was kind enough to mention my book on her blog. She’s spending eight months in France as part of her International MBA degree program, and has been kind enough to set up the blog to allow family and friends to follow her adventure...
I wanted you to love my book?
Posted on March 22, 2008Michael Good at Goode Value Investing did a review of my book Essentials of Corporate Fraud, but I didn’t realize it until tonight! I admit it - I want everyone to love my book. But everyone won’t. Michael is a great example… his knowledge is way beyond that of the target market for my book...
Wondering why I love Timmay?
Posted on March 20, 2008Okay, I admit it… I love Tim Sykes. I really do. He says some crazy things, but who doesn’t. I think that sometimes he comes awfully close to jeopardizing his long-term career opportunities. But who am I to criticize if Timmay wants to take his life into his own hands? He tells it like [...
Police on the beat, trying to catch?. a blogger
Posted on March 20, 2008The Whitewater, Wisconsin police chief James Coan has sent two police detectives on a mission. They (and several other city employees, including the director of public works, the information technology officer, and the city clerk) are to spend their paid time trying to find out the identity of an anonymous blogger...
Blogging for business
Posted on March 19, 2008Are you interested in blogging to help you grow your client base and promote the online presence of your business? So are lots of people! But the key to actually achieving these goals is doing it right. Blogging is part art and part science, and to make it effective, you’ve got to have both parts [...
Tim said it would happen like this
Posted on March 17, 2008My buddy Tim Sykes promised me that I’d become addicted to watching my Amazon.com page for my book Essentials of Corporate Fraud… checking my rankings to see if I’ve moved up or down. He was right. And I am excited because I have gotten below 10,000 for the overall rank...
Prostitution: It?s not just for governors anymore
Posted on March 17, 2008Move over Eliot Spitzer. There seems to be a few gents lining up behind you to publicly embarrass their families. The latest is Edward Nottingham, the chief federal judge in Denver, Colorado. There is an investigation of a prostitution ring called Denver Sugar/Denver Players, being done by the IRS and Denver police...
AOL features a fraud post today to help promote my book
Posted on March 17, 2008From the AOL Small Business welcome screen: The actual post is on WalletPop today - When employees steal: Five reasons your business could be vulnerable to fraud. And the post links to my book, Essentials of Corporate Fraud. There are already a couple of interesting comments...
Carnival of Fraud - March 17, 2008
Posted on March 17, 2008Tracy Coenen presents Why business owners should NEVER hire family members posted at The Fraud Files Blog. And just for kicks, she also has Charlie Bit Me for you. Robyn J McCleary presents Federal Government posted at GOVERNMENT, saying, “does our government count?” Alanna presents Phone Numbers You Should Never Call posted at BBB Consumer Education...
It?s fun being number one!
Posted on March 14, 2008My book, Essentials of Corporate Fraud, is currently the number one book in the Auditing category on Amazon.com. It’s been floating between number one and number ten all week long. Amazon updates the statistics hourly, so even one book purchase can put you at the top...
Latest picture of Eliot Spitzer
Posted on March 13, 2008I have no idea who did this, but I love it! SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "Latest picture of Eliot Spitzer", url: "http://www.sequence-inc.com/fraudfiles/2008/03/13/latest-picture-of-eliot-spitzer/" } );
Essentials of Corporate Fraud is the Cool Book of the Day
Posted on March 13, 2008Head on over to Dan Janal’s Cool Book of the Day website and check out the information on Essentials of Corporate Fraud. I’m today’s big winner! Dan helps promote books written by his clients by telling readers about teh books, who they’re for, and why the book is soooooo good...
Authors on the Net on Finishing Your Book
Posted on March 13, 2008Have you been writing your book for what seems like ages? Some writers get caught in the trap of revising, revising, revising… that they never actually finish the book. Or they just put it off so long that they never have a complete book. One secret to getting a book published is actually finishing it, so [...
Thanks for promoting my book!
Posted on March 12, 2008A huge thank you goes out to everyone who has been purchasing and promoting my book. The generous support of my friends and business associates has been much appreciated. A special thanks to Patrick at Badger Blogger for mentioning Essentials of Corporate Fraud...
Podcast about my book, Essentials of Corporate Fraud
Posted on March 12, 2008Authors on the Net, a site that helps authors promote their books, has published a podcast I recently recorded with the site’s founder, Phil Davis. All you self-publishers need to get on over to Authors on the Net and sign up! Phil has been in the publishing industry for a long time, and has been asked [...
Buzz created by haters is still buzz!
Posted on March 11, 2008A few months ago I agreed to read and review An American Hedge Fund by Timothy Sykes. I’ve been a bit remiss in writing the review, but am finally ready to share my thoughts. The best way I can describe Tim is that he’s a character. He is a young ambitious guy, but he’s [...
More on why I love reality television
Posted on March 11, 2008My girl Tanisha from The Bad Girls Club on Oxygen. I really would love for her to do a guest blog post here. I think she has some good stuff to say. If you know her, can you send her over??? SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "More on why I love reality television", url: "http://www...
Why business owners should NEVER hire family members
Posted on March 10, 2008Under no circumstances should a business ever hire family members of current employees. I don’t care how good the current employee is or how good the potential employee seems. No “wife of the CFO to help with the books.” No “son of a sales guy to help with office work...
Destroy a business relationship in five sentences or less
Posted on March 10, 2008Today I sent out an email to all my business contacts announcing my new book, Essentials of Corporate Fraud. The email included a little bit about the book (what it’s about, who it’s for), a link to purchase it from Amazon.com, and a request for bloggers to mention it on their sites if they were [...
Carnival of Fraud - March 10, 2008
Posted on March 10, 2008Welcome to the March 10, 2008 edition of carnival of fraud. Tracy Coenen presents Want to get out of paying taxes? Don?t try these excuses! posted at Fraud Files Blog. Charles H. Green presents Now Pitching For Watergate: Roger Clemens posted at Trust Matters, saying, “When you’ve been found out, like [...
Charlie bit me!
Posted on March 08, 2008Hilarious video…. SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "Charlie bit me!", url: "http://www.sequence-inc.com/fraudfiles/2008/03/08/charlie-bit-me/" } );
Law 101 for Usana-heads
Posted on March 06, 2008An article in the Salt Lake Tribune about Barry Minkow’s huge court victory over Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) attributed the following statements to the company: But Usana said the parts of the lawsuit it considers the most important remain...
Wikileaks case may soon be over
Posted on March 06, 2008Just a couple of weeks ago, Wikileaks.org was yanked off the internet by its web host Dynadot in response to a lawsuit brought by bank Julius Baer. The bank first went after Wikileaks directly, after someone posted confidential bank documents that allegedly prove the bank participates in money laundering and tax evasion...
Usana?s contradictions
Posted on March 05, 2008Someone on a message board for discussing Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) made some interesting comments about the company. Quite simply, management consistently makes statements that contradict earlier statements. Here’s what she observed: SHARETHIS...
The Sith Lord rears his ugly head again
Posted on March 05, 2008The Sith Lord lives on, according to Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) CEO Patrick Byrne. I am thankful that we have Wacky Patty to look out for the interests of investors. He gave a speech March 3rd at the University of Utah, and the school newspaper wrote about his comments...
Usana Health Sciences loses big in court
Posted on March 04, 2008Consequently, the evidence now indicates only that Defendants engaged in the lawful trading of securities. Because USANA did not meet its burden, the court strikes the second claim for relief under California?s anti-SLAPP statute. A ruling yesterday in the Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) v...
Wisconsin homeowners in danger of losing more rights
Posted on March 04, 2008Do you think the taxing authorities already have too much control over your wallet? Do you agree that they dip into your money whenever they please? Well if you’re a Wisconsin homeowner, there’s a good chance it could be worse. Bill 2007 AB 580 is sitting on Governor Jim Doyle’s desk, and if he signs it, [...
A day of mourning?
Posted on March 04, 2008Brett Favre has decided to retire from football, after an outstanding career with the Green Bay Packers. I know many fans are saddened, but wish him the best. Here is what the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote about it: SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "A day of mourning…", url: "http://www...
I got the first copy of my book!!!
Posted on March 03, 2008It’s official. My book has been printed. I got the first copy in the mail today. The “official” release date isn’t until March 14, but they’re ready to be sold. This is really exciting. The book looks much better in person than it does in any pictures...
Wikileaks is back
Posted on March 02, 2008Wikileaks wasn’t really ever gone, but a very unusual case in which a bank sued the web host of Wikileaks resulted in the U.S. version of the site being pulled offline for a couple of weeks. The controversial site’s domain was wikileaks.org...
Why audits fail to find fraud
Posted on March 02, 2008I am reading Cynthia Cooper’s book, Extraordinary Circumstances, which documents her experiences uncovering the massive fraud at WorldCom. I want to finish reading the book so I can write a proper review here and elsewhere. But I admit I’m having a hard time finishing the book due to all the other demands on my time… Nonetheless, [...
An interview with A Indústria da Decepção? (a Brazilian blog about MLMs)
Posted on February 27, 2008I was recently interviewed for a Brazilian blog dedicated to exposing multi-level marketing companies and pyramid schemes for the scams that they are. Here are their questions and my responses: 1. How did you became involved with MLMs? What attracted your attention, personal experience or otherwise? At the time I got involved in Mary Kay [...
You ask Google? I answer
Posted on February 26, 2008Question: why would companies overstate inventory Answer: There are a couple of reasons why a company might overstate inventory. They both relate to reducing expenses and therefore increasing the company’s profit. If inventory is overstated, it means that cost of goods sold is understated...
Defendants cheat Social Security, but claim it?s the government?s fault
Posted on February 25, 2008If there’s one silver lining to this case, it’s that the defendants are apparently admitting that they cheated Social Security. But now the bigger problem is that they’re saying it’s the government’s fault. Last month 83 people were charged with participating in a $663,000 fraud that spanned 15 years...
Here?s what ?universal health care? will get you
Posted on February 25, 2008The Democrats swear that “universal health care” will be fabulous for all. No one really knows “who” is going to pay for it, but if enough voters think it’s going to be “someone else,” that’s good enough for them...
Want to understand the ?subprime mortgage mess??
Posted on February 25, 2008This slide show explains it nicely. Please don’t look at it if foul language offends you. SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "Want to understand the “subprime mortgage mess”?", url: "http://www.sequence-inc.com/fraudfiles/2008/02/25/want-to-understand-the-subprime-mortgage-mess/" } );
My US3 Report Insider Interview
Posted on February 24, 2008I recently did an interview with Sam Steele (that’s him at the right), the face of The US3 Report. He interviewed me on Corporate Fraud & Embezzlement, and of course, gave me a chance to promote my new book Essentials of Corporate Fraud. The US3 Report calls itself: “The Ultimate Safety & Security Resource for the [...
Want to get out of paying taxes? Don?t try these excuses!
Posted on February 24, 2008Ever met anyone who thought he didn’t have to pay income taxes? Maybe he tried to argue taxes are unconstitutional and there are legitimate ways to avoid paying them.Don’t believe it. Wesley Snipes believed it, and found himself in quite a bit of legal trouble...
Today was a fun work day!
Posted on February 22, 2008I started off my day recording a podcast with Phil Davis from Authors on the Net. The site is geared toward helping authors promote their books. The site was really built with self-publishers in mind, because most of them have no idea where to begin to market their books...
Materiality at Overstock.com Inc.
Posted on February 21, 2008Sam Antar made this nice find in regard to materiality, one of many issues at Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK). You see… materiality is an issue because, in addition to “unusual” material items at Overstock, we’ve seen several immaterial “unusual” items as well...
Secrets to Success: Getting outside your ?comfort zone??
Posted on February 21, 2008How often in your professional life have you been told to “get outside your comfort zone”? What you’re being told is: Do more of what you dislike and Do more of what you’re not good at. How much sense does that make? You are being encouraged to beat your head against a wall, because somehow that [...
In addition to the erosion of morals in our society?
Posted on February 21, 2008Some people wonder why we have a generation of lazy losers coming up in the United States. I don’t wonder at all. We have parents who aren’t involved in their children’s lives. Kids whose bodies have been rotted from the inside out, thanks to junk food and fast food...
Hillary Clinton is completely unqualified to be President, but Barack Obama is even worse off
Posted on February 21, 2008No one can even name one accomplishment of his or anything that remotely qualifies Obama to be President: SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "Hillary Clinton is completely unqualified to be President, but Barack Obama is even worse off", url: "http://www...
Sam Antar?s advice to investors
Posted on February 19, 2008In a recent article in Fortune Magazine about felon turned fraudfighter Sam E. Antar…. Sam gave the following tips to investors about looking for fraud in public companies. I think it’s sound advice! SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "Sam Antar’s advice to investors", url: "http://www...
Whistleblower website forced off the internet
Posted on February 19, 2008Wikileaks.org, a site that allowed people to anonymously leak incriminating documents, has been shut down by its web host, Dynadot. Dynadot, shut it down and locked the domain name so it can’t be transferred to another host, pursuant to an agreement settling a lawsuit against it...
Buying your way to Director at Usana Health Sciences
Posted on February 18, 2008Is it possible to buy your way to the top of the pyramid at Usana (NASDAQ:USNA)? Who would even want to? Well the answer is simple… those who are at the top of the pyramid have a much easier time recruiting new marks into the scheme. So buy your way to the top, and [...
Congratulations Greg Farrell!!!
Posted on February 18, 2008Greg Farrell, investigative reporter for USA Today was selected as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics. Here’s what they said about him: Greg Farrell (Journalist, USA Today, and respected business author) As Lynn Brewer, the self-proclaimed ?Enron Whistleblower? traveled the world, charging upwards of $13,000 per speech and being feted by the Nobel [...
Former CEO of Refco cries his way to a guilty plea
Posted on February 15, 2008Phillip Bennett, the former CEO of Refco Inc. pleaded guilty today while crying… Refco was one of the world’s largest commodities brokerages, but it went down in flames a few weeks after going public in August 2005. The reason? Management concealed the fact that a company controlled by Bennett owed Refco $430 million...
Self-Promotion: If you don?t ask for it, you won?t get it
Posted on February 15, 2008You’re trying to develop your business and increase your name recognition and your professional profile. Do you even know where to begin? One of the most basic steps is asking for the opportunity… asking to be able to promote your company, asking others to promote you, asking to be paid more, asking do to something [...
Reality TV clip: Tanisha on Bad Girls Club, ?Don?t disrespect me.?
Posted on February 14, 2008Not nearly as funny as “Wake the *%@) Up,” but still a fine, fine moment from our girl Tanisha. Tanisha: Don’t disrepect me. Pop off! I suspect Tanisha *might* have an anger management problem. More Tanish on getting up SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "Reality TV clip: Tanisha on Bad Girls Club, “Don’t disrespect me...
From White Collar Crime Fighter: Why would the founder of a successful financial institution steal from it - risking all?
Posted on February 13, 2008The former CEO of the First National Bank of Northern Kentucky was indicted in connection with a $4.5 million fraudulent loan scheme that he allegedly facilitated. Richard Thomas, who founded the bank in 1992, was charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aiding and abetting the submission of false loan applications...
Overstock.com: Pretend accounting measures muddy the waters
Posted on February 13, 2008I present for you today one (just one) example of the accounting shenanigans at Overstock.com Inc. (NASDAQ:OSTK) to demonstrate the deception of management. This accounting concept is quite elementary, and it is called EBITDA. EBITDA = Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization Accountants and investors generally agree on what all of those items (earnings, interest, taxes, [...
Got the blogging blues?
Posted on February 12, 2008Blogging can be great fun when you’ve got something to say and someone to say it to. My friends and family know that I love blogging. I like sharing info in (almost) real time with readers. I blog mostly about fraud and consumer scams, but I also like to write about entrepreneurship and how I [...
More of your Google questions? with my answers
Posted on February 12, 2008Patriots cheat? Yes they do. But justice was served. Dennis Waitely fraud? Yes, at Usana. Denis Waitley lied about having a Master’s degree. And his PhD? Purchased from a diploma mill. He was excused from the board of directors of Usana for this little boo boo...
Overstock.com: Year-end revenues fall far short of Byrne?s hype
Posted on February 12, 2008If Patrick Byrne is good at anything, it’s hyping Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) when the company is not deserving of the hype. To hear him tell it in real time, everything is rosy and the company is doing stellar and investors will surely be impressed...
Is fraud ever immaterial?
Posted on February 11, 2008A search that brought someone to my blog over the weekend gave me the idea for this post. Immateriality is a concept in accounting that amounts to “too small to matter.” Think of a company with $100 million in sales each year. If they made a mistake in recording their sales last year, and the [...
Overstock.com: The ?turnaround? that wasn?t
Posted on February 11, 20082006 was a bad year for Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK). (As if any year isn’t bad for them?) Jason Lindsey even said that the 2006 numbers were “bad on purpose”: “All of the things we have talked about before as far as classifying all of our SKUs as either red and green and 80% of our — excuse [...
You ask Google, I answer you.
Posted on February 11, 2008Here are some recent questions my readers posed to Google, with answers from me for quick reference. Is Eddie Antar still in prison? No. What happened to Flip This House? Richard Davis and TLC had a big fight and now they don’t do the show together anymore...
Overstock.com: What are you hiding?
Posted on February 10, 2008The “Black Ops” train at Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) has been chugging full steam ahead over the last month, so that can only mean one thing… Patrick Byrne and his minions have something to hide. And indeed, the fourth quarter financial results were not so good...
Productivity Tip: Sign up for Stamps.com
Posted on February 10, 2008A couple of years ago, I didn’t understand why a friend of mine used Stamps.com. Who wants to pay $16 a month just for the privilege of printing their own postage, when you can go to the post office for free??? I quickly realized that going to the post office isn’t really free...
He is going to get in so much trouble someday!
Posted on February 09, 2008SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "He is going to get in so much trouble someday!", url: "http://www.sequence-inc.com/fraudfiles/2008/02/09/he-is-going-to-get-in-so-much-trouble-someday/" } );
The Fair Tax explained
Posted on February 08, 2008This comment was posted earlier this week on WalletPop, in response to a discussion about loans from 401(k) plans. I generally advise against taking loans from your 401(k) or other retirement plan, because before you know it, that loan could turn into a distribution...
My incredible book writing journey
Posted on February 07, 2008My first book, Essentials of Corporate Fraud, is not even done printing yet, and I am already starting to write my second book for John Wiley & Sons. How did I do it Well that’s all a bit of a mystery to me. You see, the process was all so easy...
Answering tax questions on WalletPop
Posted on February 06, 2008AOL is featuring me as their tax expert this season, and I’m answering all kinds of questions about income taxes on WalletPop. Below is the promotional piece from the AOL Money tax page. Feel free to run over to WalletPop and ask me a tax question… [...
A Blackerry blackout?
Posted on February 05, 2008Are you sick of seeing people on their BlackBerrys??? Writing emails with their thumbs all day and all night… even during meetings or while they’re having lunch with you? Companies and individuals are trying to do something about it by having Blackouts… periods of times during which you have to turn off the device...
Posts containing information about Mark Shurtleff
Posted on February 04, 2008To make it easier for those of you have been searching for information on Mark Shurtleff, the Utah Attorney General who endorses multi-level marketing company Usana and engages in other sketchy stuff, I provide this list of links: Utah Attorney General improperly endorsing Usana Health Sciences Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff endorses Usana Health Sciences Yesterda’s Press [...
Steal public funds, get a new gig paid for with public funds?
Posted on February 04, 2008I realize that everyone has to make a living somehow. But I’m sorry…. you steal taxpayer money that was supposed to be used to educate children, and you shouldn’t be allowed to get paid with taxpayer money for… educating children...
Talking your way out of a goof
Posted on February 04, 2008This one comes from Alan Weiss, a consultant whom I respect tremendously! He publishes a monthly email newsletter called Balancing Act, and you can subscribe to it on his site. One of my favorite things about Alan is his willingness to be a contrarian...
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says buyout of Yahoo would be great
Posted on February 04, 2008Well of course he’s going to say it would be great… he wants to do the deal! The gist of it is this… Ballmer says the Yahoo buyout would be great because (***drum roll***)… it’s about the only way Microsoft can compete with Google...
Wesley Snipes convicted of 3 misdemeanors, but he mostly still wins
Posted on February 04, 2008The tax world had its eyes on Wesley Snipes last week, who was on trial for tax evasion. I hate cases like this. Snipes didn’t report income of tens of millions of dollars and didn’t pay taxes on it. The rest of us pay our taxes, and most of us aren’t as well-to-do as Snipes...
Justice has been served! (Sorry, Bob?)
Posted on February 04, 2008And the crowd goes wild!!! I never thought I’d be so happy to see a non-Packer team win the Super Bowl. But I was thrilled beyond belief for the New York Giants, and they didn’t even have to cheat to win! So I’ll say it now… the Cheater Patriots suck! (Sorry again, Bob...
Changes?
Posted on February 01, 2008Please be aware that I’m going to be making some changes to the blog and the main site this weekend. So if you stop by and things look crazy, don’t worry. It will all be functional by Monday morning, and the changes are going to be great! SHARETHIS...
And they wonder why I love reality television?
Posted on January 31, 2008It’s because you can’t make this stuff up. Real life is soooo much better than scripts. I promise! This is courtesy of Tanisha, from The Bad Girls Club on Oxygen. Tanisha was upset because her rude roommates were up until all hours of the morning, being loud and disgusting...
Are ?temporary? federal unemployment program extensions really all that temporary?
Posted on January 31, 2008Not so much, according to Michelle Malkin. She’s got some great information that was fed to her by a House Ways & Means staffer, in light of the “economic stimulus” package that politicians are currently arguing about. The Senate is arguing over whether or not to extend the normal 13 week unemployment benefits to add [...
Overstock.com still makes no money
Posted on January 30, 2008Once again, Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) loses money. During the fourth quarter…. you know… the quarter that is supposed to be the best quarter of the whole year? Yep. Still couldn’t pull out any profits there. But don’t worry… it’s a smaller loss than the previous year, only $4...
10 Things Your Reality Show Won?t Tell You
Posted on January 29, 2008AOL and SmartMoney had a feature article this past weekend about reality television, and how realistic (or not) they really are. It’s no surprise that a lot of scripting and planning goes into those “reality” shows. You didn’t know? Where have you been!!!! Here’s a brief rundown of the 10 ways reality shows aren’t so realistic… 1...
Cynthia Cooper?s book - Extraordinary Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower
Posted on January 28, 2008Cynthia Cooper, WorldCom whistleblower, is releasing her book in just few days. Extraordinary Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower is her story. If it is anything like the speech I heard her give a few years ago at the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Fraud Conference, it will be fantastic...
Overstock ?executive? playing on the internet again
Posted on January 28, 2008I put the word executive in quotes because I don’t think anyone in their right mind really considers Judd Bagley an executive at Overstock.com (NASDQ: OSTK). He is the smearmeister for Patrick Byrne. They like to call him an investigative reporter, but his investigation skills lack one critical element: accuracy...
Massive bank fraud found in France
Posted on January 24, 2008Société Générale in France has reported a fraud of over US$10 billion, perpetrated by a trader in European stock futures. The trader accused of the fraud is Jérome Kerviel, who has been with the bank since 2000. He first worked in the back office, and then two years ago he was promoted to the trading [...
MPS losing a good teacher over residency rule
Posted on January 24, 2008Don?t read the title of this and make a mistaken assumption about my opinion on this case. I think the teacher deserves to lose his job…. Dan Bearss teaches science at Custer High School, part of the Milwaukee Public Schools. The City of Milwaukee has a simple rule: City employees must be residents of the city...
Scam email that?s not really from the IRS
Posted on January 24, 2008Oh how I would love the free money this email is seeming to offer, but alas it was not meant to be. SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "Scam email that’s not really from the IRS", url: "http://www.sequence-inc.com/fraudfiles/2008/01/24/scam-email-thats-not-really-from-the-irs/" } );
KMPG associates apparently tired of the firm?s lame technology
Posted on January 23, 2008This one comes from Dennis Howlett’s blog, and to me, it’s hilarious. I’m not sure if you have to be a an auditor or not to think it’s funny. Apparently there are some emails from KPMG associates circulating and here’s an excerpt: The best question is: 4...
Today on WalletPop
Posted on January 22, 2008The day has gotten away from me, so it’s time for one of those cop-out posts where I tell you what I’m writing about elsewhere. I hope to get back here later today or sometime tomorrow with some original content. I’m actually looking forward to addressing a question posed to me last week by Dennis [...
Airlines likely to increase fares due to ?congestion fees?
Posted on January 21, 2008Last week I posted on WalletPop about a proposed “congestion fee” that airlines would have to pay at airports. Right now they pay a landing fee based upon the weight of the plane. With the congestion fee, they would instead pay a fee based upon the day of week, time of day, and congestion at [...
Who said life is fair?
Posted on January 20, 2008I wanted the perfect ending to this fairy tale of a season for the Green Bay Packers. Brett Favre deserved to be in one more Super Bowl. No one expected much of the team this year, but they took it all the way to the NFC championship game. And they just couldn’t finish...
Will it ever stop at Overstock.com?
Posted on January 17, 2008To hear Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) CEO Patrick Byrne tell it, everyone is gunning for them. The company is fantastic. Patrick is fantastic. Everything is above board and everyone is forthcoming with everything. However, another issue has come up. It’s now clear that there were shenanigans with the resignation of President Jason Lindsey and the statements [...
Check out this chart for Usana Health Sciences
Posted on January 16, 2008Last week, Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ: USNA) announced that the SEC dropped its informal investigation into the company. Immediately, there was a nice short squeeze. But since then, the stock has been on a downward trend. My opinion on this? I think that Cheating in China is still a big issue...
SEC drops informal investigation into Usana Health Sciences
Posted on January 14, 2008Last week the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) informed Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ: USNA) that it was closing its informal investigation into the company and taking no further action at this time. The pro-MLM camp has trumpeted this as a complete victory for Usana, proclaiming that the SEC basically said their business structure was completely [...
More on the auditor change at Catapult
Posted on January 14, 2008Last week I wrote about Catapult Communications (NASDAQ: CATT) switching from Deloitte & Touche to a much smaller local firm, in a post called Big Four = Big Fees. In that post I referenced the CFO.com article from which I got my information. The article focused on the difference in fees between the firms: $985,000 [...
Pyramid Scheme Alert reflects on 2007
Posted on January 14, 2008Multi-level marketing will go down in history as one of the great frauds of our times. It deceptively wraps its harmful scam with the real needs and desires of people today - additional income, stay home with the family, independence, entrepreneurship, high income without high investment or training, and a group that will help [...
The road to Glendale is paved in Green and Gold!!!
Posted on January 13, 2008The only thing better than the Dallas Cowboys losing???? Terrell Owens losing!!!!! SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "The road to Glendale is paved in Green and Gold!!!", url: "http://www.sequence-inc.com/fraudfiles/2008/01/13/the-road-to-glendale-is-paved-in-green-and-gold/" } );
Usana executives aren?t the only ones lying about their credentials
Posted on January 13, 2008See! Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ: USNA) CFO Gill Fuller was right when he said that everyone was lying about their credentials (including him!). The CEO of CellCyte (Public, OTC:CCYG) was recently busted for embellishing his resume, and the stockholders have paid dearly...
Test your Scam Alert skills
Posted on January 13, 2008The Colorado Division of Securities has a little quiz to help you see if you know anything about investment fraud, or if you’re a scam victim waiting to be taken advantage of. In addition to the quiz which helps you see if you can spot an investment scam, there’s also a checklist to help you [...
Michelle Malkin on Democrats
Posted on January 11, 2008Read her post about this issue here. SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "Michelle Malkin on Democrats", url: "http://www.sequence-inc.com/fraudfiles/2008/01/11/michelle-malkin-on-democrats/" } );
New site ranking tool takes on Google
Posted on January 10, 2008Bloggers have been infuriated by Google?s changes to their PageRank system. In particular, Google is not ranking blogs and sites that participate in PayPerPost. Some site owners depend upon their page rank for advertising revenue? that is, some advertisers rely heavily on page rank, and if a site does not have one, they?re less likely [...
40 days of Frivolous Tax Arguments: Federal Reserve Notes are not income
Posted on January 10, 2008Here the jokers are saying that our money isn?t legit, so it?s not really money, so it can?t be taxed. Really? Well I wonder what they do when they go to the grocery store? Do they use *gasp* money???? The truth is that Congress can call something money if they want to...
Book Publishing: Essentials of Corporate Fraud is done!
Posted on January 10, 2008It’s official! My first book, Essentials of Corporate Fraud is done. It is on its way to the printer, to be ready for shipment by March 14, if not sooner. The hard work was in writing it, the stuff that came after that was a relative breeze. Although when people ask me if it was hard [...
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