Litigation

What does another expert say about mortgage acceleration programs like United First Financial?

Posted on August 23, 2008
Don’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, 2008
The 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, 2008
Back 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, 2008
For 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...

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United First Financial Lies: You can pay of your mortgage faster with no change in spending

Posted on August 20, 2008
Probably 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, 2008
Welcome 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, 2008
How 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, 2008
Usana 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, 2008
Things 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, 2008
An 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, 2008
This 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, 2008
The 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, 2008
I’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, 2008
A 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, 2008
Today 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, 2008
While 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, 2008
If 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, 2008
My 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, 2008
Earlier 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, 2008
These 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, 2008
Yesterday 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, 2008
You 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, 2008
You 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, 2008
This 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, 2008
Welcome 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, 2008
With 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, 2008
Information 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, 2008
This 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, 2008
Here 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 [...

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