Litigation

PCAOB reports on BDO Seidman and Grant Thornton

Posted on July 14, 2009
Auditing 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, 2009
Today 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, 2009
Today 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, 2009
My 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 [...

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Conflict of interest for Medifast auditors?

Posted on June 24, 2009
Last 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, 2009
Last 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, 2009
There 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, 2009
Wisconsin 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, 2009
Despite 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, 2009
Do-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, 2009
This 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, 2009
What 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, 2009
1. 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, 2009
In 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
A 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, 2009
In 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
Is 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, 2009
White 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
I 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, 2009
News 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, 2009
More 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, 2009
Our 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
Former 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, 2009
I 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...

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