International Law

A Statement You Must Read

Posted on February 10, 2009
Image by Renegade98 via FlickrA reader writes to me about the pain being a victim of the Frank Castaldi Ponzi scheme.  Read this throughly to understand what it means to be the victim of a confidence criminal.I know someone will tell you about this. Just in case you thought that we are "getting use to" what you have done to us let me assure you that we ARE NOT! Because of you we have lost everything, our cars, ours homes, our security, our lives, our souls...

Bernard L. Madoff Settles with SEC

Posted on February 10, 2009
Image via WikipediaFrom the SEC Press Release on the Madoff SettlementThe United States Securities and Exchange Commission announced that on February 9, 2009, it submitted to the Honorable Judge Louis L. Stanton, a federal judge in the Southern District of New York, the consent of Bernard L...

10 Con Artist Tricks to build the New Bull Market

Posted on February 10, 2009
Image by Getty Images via DaylifePaul Farrell, writing at MarketWatch, has a nice skeptical view about whose ox is going to get gored."Wall Street wants a new bull more than you do. Why? Bulls breed megapayoffs. Yes, Wall Street's running a handicap race on a bad playing field, a rotten economy...

Tim Hortons Jumping the Shark?

Posted on February 10, 2009
Image via WikipediaBloomberg News reports on Tim Hortons and Cold Stone Creamery"Tim Hortons Inc., Canada's largest restaurant company, and ice-cream chain Cold Stone Creamery will create 100 co-branded stores in the U.S. to expand sales throughout the day...

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Craig T. Jolly and Quest Holdings Ponzi

Posted on February 09, 2009
Image via WikipediaFrom the SEC Press Release on the Jolly and Quest Holding Ponzi scheme.The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed securities fraud and other charges against Quest Holdings, Inc. and its principal, Craig T. Jolly, of Spokane, Washington, for operating an internet-based Ponzi scheme promising monthly returns of up to 19...

13 Services Your Independent Franchisee Association Blog Must Contain?

Posted on February 09, 2009
Image via WikipediaLes Stewart has 13 functions that an Independent Franchisee Association's blog should contain.  Here are the first five ideas."[The IndFA's Blog] will:offer apprenticeship positions for candidate investors (assume training function),post anonymously, if they like,never ban anyone (for any reason),list each executive's name and rate them,arrange and profit from their own financial suppliers, ...

Dr. Doom and the Black Swan Give Advice

Posted on February 09, 2009
Image by Getty Images via DaylifeDr. Doom & the Black Swan, Nouriel Roubini, RGE Monitor and Nassim Taleb, discuss what we need to do to get out of our financial crisis.Interesting to see how the talking heads at CNN have simply no clue what Taleb's foundational point about risk taking...

Adsense and Affliate Scams

Posted on February 09, 2009
Image via WikipediaJeremey Shoemaker puts his finger on one of the problems with having a consumer site running Google Adsense.Shoemoney's site is a commercial site, with some useful tips on affliate marketing - the role of selling other people's stuff by internet promotion...

The Truth about Frank Castaldi

Posted on February 07, 2009
Image by Getty Images via DaylifeA reader comments about Frank Castaldi and his ponzi scheme.  This is important enough to be on the front page."THE TRUTH ABOUT FRANK CASTALDI AND HIS VICTIMS You can call us stupid, DO NOT call us greedy. Let me tell you about the people who have been affected by this horrible, evil monster, the REAL story...

CBC Marketplace Investigates Business In Motion

Posted on February 06, 2009
Image via WikipediaCBC Marketplace had a nice piece on BIM (Business in Motion)"Marketplace investigates a company called BIM (Business in Motion) that claims big returns once you buy in. BIM's main product is the UltraLife Club, a travel package that promises vacation deals...

The Miracle Ponzi

Posted on February 06, 2009
Image via WikipediaFrom the FBI Press Release about the Robert Miracle ponziA grand jury in Seattle, Washington, has indicted ROBERT MIRACLE, MUKHTAR KECHIK, and FAHIMI FISAL in a twenty-three count Indictment charging Conspiracy, Mail Fraud, Wire Fraud, Money Laundering, and Tax Evasion...

Hanson on Mind as Control versus Cheerleading

Posted on February 06, 2009
Image by Getty Images via DaylifeOne of the views I try to stress here is how easy it is for a fraud to mimic truth, reputation, or credibility signals.  The fraud's ability to mimic these signals, and avoid the usual necessary commitment, confounds the neo-classical theory of rationality which sees the mind/market as deliberative mechanism...

Worldwide Equity Corporation Prime Bank Fraud

Posted on February 06, 2009
Image via WikipediaFrom the SEC Press Release on a Prime Bank FraudThe Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission") charged Brian V. Prendergast of Castle Rock, Colorado, and his entity Enterprises, LLC, a Colorado limited liability company, with conducting a fraudulent prime bank offering scheme in coordination with Donald R...

Fighting Fat and Fraud

Posted on February 05, 2009
How is obesity similar to being defrauded? Well, just as nobody deliberates that their food or drink is so good that they want to weigh a 265 lbs to accommodate their taste buds, so nobody deliberately writes a cheque to a fraud criminal.But in both cases, the prevention of obesity and the prevention of fraud, rely upon an appeal to the deliberative process - dieting and due diligence respectively...

How to Get Money from AdSurf

Posted on February 05, 2009
Image by _Blaster_ via FlickrA number of people have asked about how to contact the US District Attorney for return of money invested in AdSurfDaily/ASDCashgenerator/Golden Panda.Here is the link to a form to fill out for recovery of fund invested with any of the AdSurfDaily/ASDCashgenerator/Golden Panda (ASD) programs...

Rate Search Ponzi

Posted on February 05, 2009
Image via WikipediaFrom the FBI Press Release on the Rate Search PonziSt. Louis, MO: Scott Luster, President of Rate Search, Inc., pled guilty to fraud and tax charges involving his scheme to divert customer funds, United States Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway announced today...

Markopolos Testimony

Posted on February 04, 2009
Markopolos Says He Will Turn In A Mini-Madoff from AlleyInsider on Vimeo.

Markopolos on SEC Oversight

Posted on February 04, 2009
Image via WikipediaFelix Salmon, writing at Portfolio, is impressed with Markopolos' testimony and accepts it as evidence that the SEC failed because of the Madoff fraud.(Mark Cuban, writing at his blog the blogmaverick, has similar praise for Harry Markopolos...

SEC Stops Catholic Affinity Fraud

Posted on February 04, 2009
Image via WikipediaFrom the SEC Press Release about the Gen-See ponzi scheme.On January 28, 2009, the Honorable William M. Skretny, United States District Judge for the Western District of New York, entered an order granting the Securities and Exchange Commission's motion for preliminary injunction and other relief against defendants, Gen-See Capital Corporation a/k/a Gen Unlimited ("Gen-See") and its owner and president, Richard S...

FTC Obtains $250,000 Settlement?

Posted on February 04, 2009
Image via WikipediaFrom the FTC Press Release about a Vending fraud.The Federal Trade Commission obtained a $250,000 settlement against a participant in a vending machine scheme, concluding its case against the defendants in this operation, all of whom were charged in 2002 as part of the Project Busted Opportunity law enforcement sweep...

What does a 18th Century Philosopher have to Offer the 21st?

Posted on February 03, 2009
Image via WikipediaIt is common to believe that our generation, has a monopoly of all the wisdom that is worth acquiring. But one of the great advances in social networking is the potential for rapid delivery of wisdom lost, from previous generations...

Franchising as a Corporate Form

Posted on February 03, 2009
Image via WikipediaOne of the interesting facets of franchising, generally not recognized, is its value as a different corporate form.Consider the recent problems that Deloitte Touche is having because of the Parmalat fraud.From the Judicial Opinion, which refused summary judgment, is some background on the Parmalat lawsuit...

Agape Merchant Advance Ponzi Alleged

Posted on February 03, 2009
Image via WikipediaFrom the FBI Press Release about the Agape ponzi scheme.Nicholas Cosmo, the owner and president of Agape World, Inc. ("Agape") and Agape Merchant Advance, LLC ("AMA"), was arrested last night pursuant to a federal complaint charging him with mail fraud...

New Money for Fraud Investigations

Posted on February 03, 2009
Image by Still Burning via FlickrThe US Senate has approved new money for fraud investigations."In recent months, amid the financial crisis that has roiled the U.S. economy, a rising number of securities and accounting fraud cases have surfaced, accounting for billions of dollars in losses for investors...

Franchise Non Disparagement Clauses

Posted on February 02, 2009
Image by MotherPie via FlickrOne of the odder clauses that franchisors demand in a settlement agreement is the non disparagement clause - that the franchisee agree not to disparage, discredit, defame, or say mean things about the franchisor.I have never understood the content of such a clause - I get defamation, but you don't have to demand that someone not defame you in advance...

Business's Evil Twin : The Ponzi

Posted on February 02, 2009
Image by Renegade98 via FlickrRobert FitzPatrick, of Pyramid Scam Alert, has a nice observation about the relationship between ordinary business and ponzi schemes, in the Times.The US, though, is the centre of the Ponzi renaissance. "These schemes by definition survive by bringing in new money...

SEC Officials Grilled on Madoff Shortcomings

Posted on February 02, 2009
Image via WikipediaWhat can we reasonably expect from our regulators? Cristina McEachern, writing at Advanced Trading, writes about the recent Senate hearings about the Madoff fraud."While the risk assessment process is a key area to deter and catch potential fraud, following up on tips and complaints received by the Commission was also a big topic seeing as many complaints were filed with the SEC regarding Madoff's operations...

Ex-Merrill Executives Got Burned by Madoff

Posted on February 02, 2009
Image via WikipediaYet another example of why rich people need the same protection against fraud as anyone else."Former Merrill chief executives Daniel Tully and David Komansky, along with former Merrill investment-banking chief Barry Friedberg, personally invested in hedge funds with Madoff exposure run by former Merrill brokerage chief John "Launny" Steffens, according to people familiar with the matter...

Capitalism on Stimulants

Posted on February 01, 2009

A mere $43 million Ponzi

Posted on January 30, 2009
Image via WikipediaFrom the FBI Press Release on the Roberts PonziUnited States Attorney Jane Duke, and Tom Brown, Special Agent-In-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), announced that James Blackman Roberts 71, of Heber Springs, Arkansas, was sentenced Friday, January 23, 2009, to serve 180 months in federal prison for wire fraud...

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