Litigation

A math lesson for MPS board candidate Annie Woodward

Posted on April 02, 2009
I 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, 2009
Barry 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, 2009
If 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, 2009
Yesterday 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...

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Naked Short Selling: A complete waste of resources

Posted on March 24, 2009
The 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, 2009
All 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, 2009
Our 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, 2009
Two 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, 2009
Wisconsin 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, 2009
I’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, 2009
From 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...

EchoStar executive didn?t earn college degree

Posted on March 05, 2009

Interesting develoments in case of Mary Kay Cosmetics trying to stop liquidators from buying and selling their products

Posted on March 04, 2009

Fraud Discovery Institute releases Top 10 Red Flags for Fraud at Pre-Paid Legal

Posted on March 02, 2009

CNBC Ask the Experts: Bankruptcy or debt settlement?

Posted on February 28, 2009

A politician finally talking sense about bailouts and stimulus funds

Posted on February 28, 2009

Stick a fork in it: GM is done

Posted on February 26, 2009
Today 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
How 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, 2009
Barry 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, 2009
I 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, 2009
I’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, 2009
No, 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, 2009
Do 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, 2009
My 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, 2009
Last 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
Originally 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, 2009
Another 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, 2009
In 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 [...

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