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Wed Fraud Stories

John R. Emshwiller, writing at the WSJ, has a great story about high life fraud:

"Federal prosecutors charged Raffaello Follieri, an Italian entrepreneur and former business partner of California billionaire Ron Burkle, with funding a lavish lifestyle by using money from a real-estate venture that was supposed to capitalize on his alleged Vatican ties to redevelop surplus Catholic Church properties.

The charges mark a startling fall for a charming 29-year-old Italian who not long ago appeared to be on a swift ascent at the intersection of U.S. business, politics and entertainment."

Also at the WSJ, Conrad Black's loses his appeal of his conviction for fraud and obstruction of justice:

"A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld Conrad Black's convictions for fraud and obstruction of justice, brushing aside his claim that he and three other former Hollinger International media executives did no harm to the company he once headed."

Finally, over at PSA, Robert FitzPatrick wonders why nothing was done in Canada about the $1 billion Ponzi,, known as Pigeon King.

"An official from the Competition Bureau, Canada's equivalent to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), wrote, " the business practices of Pigeon King International do not appear to meet the definition of a "scheme of pyramid selling" which must first and foremost meet the definition of a "multi-level marketing plan" as stated in section 55. (1) of the Act. I have taken the liberty to forward your concerns to the Ontario Provincial Police Anti Rackets Section."

In other words, Canada's Competition Bureau claimed it only recognizes a Ponzi scheme as a fraud if it meets the technical definition of a multi-level marketing scam.

Other types of Ponzi frauds are ignored!

The Competition Bureau passed the "hot potato" to the Ontario Provincial Police, which did nothing. Some police officials told consumer advocates they were "too busy investigating murders and home invasions."

Others explained that such investigations were expensive, time consuming and complex and were beyond their capabilities. This same argument is frequently used by do-nothing regulators in the USA."

Related articles

• U.S. court rejects Black appeal [via Zemanta]
• Appeals court uphold Conrad Black's convictions [via Zemanta]
• Conrad Black loses appeal [via Zemanta]
• Black's final appeal denied [via Zemanta]
• Conrad Black loses appeal [via Zemanta]
• Actor Anne Hathaway's ex charged with fraud [via Zemanta]

Full post as published by Misleading Advertising Law on June 25, 2008 (boomark / email).