Litigation

DownsizeDC.org: Can public works stimulate the economy?

Posted on January 28, 2009
An article courtesy of DownsizeDC.org: John Maynard Keynes originated the idea that government spending could reverse an economic downturn, but even he was skeptical of using government construction projects for this purpose. Nevertheless, Congress, and people like Paul Krugman, want to spend hundreds of billions on public works...

Milwaukee event for entrepreneurs interested in social media

Posted on January 28, 2009
You don’t have to be a social media guru to attend this event. You can start learning about how social media can benefit you and your company, and participate in a great networking event too… When: February 6th, 2009 Where: The Luxurious Iron Horse Hotel - 500 S...

Scamming Wisconsin?s welfare system

Posted on January 26, 2009
Oops. We’re not really allowed to call it “welfare” anymore. That might hurt someone’s feelings.  Back in the 90’s Wisconsin changed the name from “welfare” to “W2″ (which stands for Wisconsin Works - ha ha ha…...

Brilliant revelation by PCAOB: CFOs are in charge of the numbers

Posted on January 26, 2009
It?s no secret that I feel that audits are almost completely ineffective when it comes to verifying the validity of financial statements. Sure, an audit checks the math and some of the obvious applications of the accounting rules. But audits don?t guard against fraud and usually don?t find fraud...

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More proof of Lennar lies

Posted on January 24, 2009
Could things get much worse for Lennar (NYSE:LEN)? Of course they could. Especially as long as the company continues to lie in order to cover up for the red flags of fraud that Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute released in a report two weeks ago...

SOHObiztube.com? Like LinkedIn on Steroids

Posted on January 23, 2009
Have you heard of Sohobiztube.com? Maybe not, but you will be hearing a lot about it in the coming months. It?s a social networking site that is focused on business-to-business connections. It?s kind of liked LinkedIn, only much, much better. How is it different? Your company has its own profile, and you (the employee) have a [...

Employee theft and the economy

Posted on January 22, 2009
It’s popular to say that because of the economy, employee theft will go up. While that may happen, there’s actually no way of proving it one way or another. ABC News quoted me in this story: Stealing a Slice of the Company Pie. I elaborate on these comments in an article I wrote for the Wisconsin [...

Best legal disclaimer ever

Posted on January 19, 2009
The Valorem Law Group has created the best disclaimer I’ve ever seen on a law firm’s website. Check it out: (Normally we would put this in really small print, but several leading eye physicians have advised us to stick to larger fonts). We?re lawyers...

The frauds investigated and exposed by Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute

Posted on January 19, 2009
I’ve had enough of critics calling Barry Minkow a “self-professed” fraud investigator. These critics act as if there is no evidence that Minkow has successfully investigated fraud… thus he is a “self-professed” fraud uncoverer...

Unwanted, unneeded, (to be) unused rail line still being pushed? And lies to help push it

Posted on January 17, 2009
I really don’t understand why  politicians continue to push for a “commuter rail line” between Kenosha and Milwaukee. What’s in it for them? Why lie in order to get it constructed? This rail line is being pushed as something that will increase commerce and be heavily used by people commuting to work...

Happy to have avoided U1stFinancial

Posted on January 16, 2009
This week I got an encouraging email from someone doing research on United First Financial and their Money Merge Account. I’m glad the facts and opinions posted here are being read by people considering paying $3,500 for this product. Here’s what she had to say: Thank You Tracy - Your Research on U1stFinancial Thank you so much Tracy [...

More lies from Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN)

Posted on January 14, 2009
Yesterday Barry Minkow and the Fraud Discovery Institute released a report with another five lies told by Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN). This pattern of fraud and deception is being illustrated quite nicely. You can see the details of the five lies on a new website: www...

Carnival of Fraud - January 12, 2009

Posted on January 13, 2009
Welcome to the January 12, 2009 edition of carnival of fraud. Silicon Valley Blogger presents Ponzi Scheme, The Madoff Scandal: Tips To Avoid Becoming A Scam Victim posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Thank you!” The Smarter Wallet presents Avoid Scams: Watch Out For False Advertising and Skip The Snake Oil! posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, [...

Lennar CEO lies about losses in joint venture

Posted on January 12, 2009
Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) CEO Stuart Miller was on CNBC on Friday to “respond” to allegations made by Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute about the company’s propensity for fraud. In the process of trying to diminish the impact of the serious allegations, Miller got caught in a blatant lie...

Lennar CEO Stuart Miller: Transparency? Or lies?

Posted on January 11, 2009
On Friday, Stuart Miller, the CEO of Lennar (NYSE:LEN) went on CNBC to respond to fraud allegations made by Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute. But did he really respond? Do you feel he is being transparent? Or is he creating more lies in response to the damaging report? You be the judget...

Lennar CEO responds to Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute

Posted on January 09, 2009
Early today, Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute released a report on Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN), highlighting what the authors believe to be ten red flags of fraud at the company. Lennar’s stock was hit hard by the news. It didn’t take long for Lennar’s CEO Stuart Miller to speak out against the allegations...

Lennar Corporation: Fraud in progress?

Posted on January 09, 2009
Today Barry Minkow and the Fraud Discovery Institute released a lengthy report about Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN), the nation’s second largest homebuilder. It’s apparent that the company has a certain way of doing business, and it’s not pretty...

Increased government spending won?t fix the economy

Posted on January 08, 2009
Using government money (our money!) to “create jobs” sounds great, doesn’t it? When you hear about massive layoffs, a proposal that create jobs sounds appealing. But this really isn’t the way to stimulate our economy. The government will spend far too much money creating far too few jobs, when the real way to get ourselves [...

Commit one of the largest financial crimes in history, continue to live in your $7 million apartment

Posted on January 07, 2009
As our friend Bernard Madoff waits around for the wheels of justice to move in his “alleged” $50 billion Ponzi scheme… he’s been a busy boy. No, he’s not sitting in jail, where a fraudster of his magnitude deserves to be...

?Climate change?: Just another fraud on consumers

Posted on January 05, 2009
I sometimes wonder how all this “global warming” and “climate change” stuff got started. Who decided that it was some major catastrophe in process, for which we should spend billions of dollars in a meaningless fashion? And how did so many people get duped into believing this lie? Well, one person we can thank, is “internet [...

SEC employees more worried about future careers than actual enforcement?

Posted on January 05, 2009
It can’t be! It’s being alleged that Securities and Exchange Commission employees cared more about their careers than actually doing their jobs. One might think that a strong enforcement record might be career enhancing, but what do I know...

Latest numbers: MPS still sucks

Posted on January 02, 2009
If you’re new here, I should tell you that I’m a fan of writing about Milwaukee Public Schools. Not a fan of MPS, but a fan of writing about it. There’s just so much material to work with! We’ve got one of the worst school districts in the nation, hands down...

Carnival of Fraud

Posted on December 31, 2008
Welcome to the December 29, 2008 edition of carnival of fraud. Wenchypoo presents Update With Bonus: The “Con” in Lexicon posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket, saying, “An explanation of how mere words can rob us blind if we let them...

Carnival of Personal Finance #185: Cheesehead Edition

Posted on December 28, 2008
Welcome to the last Carnival of Personal Finance for 2008, The Cheesehead Edition.  I’m located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and I send greetings from fellow Cheeseheads. We’ve had an interesting winter so far, with record-level snowfalls in December, followed by record high temperatures on Saturday, and now back to freezing temperatures...

Property tax sticker shock

Posted on December 26, 2008
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes today about the sticker shock property owners are having when they open their property tax bills. The taxes have gone up in general, but property owners are frosted because their assessments no longer match the real market value of their houses...

Wondering why frauds at public companies aren?t being pursued by the Feds?

Posted on December 24, 2008
Consumers are often left wondering why the Securities and Exchange Commission doesn?t heavily pursue allegations of fraud against public companies like Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK), Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA), Herbalife (NYSE:HLF), and the like...

How to make social media a total waste of time

Posted on December 23, 2008
I admit it: I’m not a lover of all things social media. I am participating in the Facebook and Twitter discussions a bit begrudgingly. It’s not that I don’t think these tools work to grow businesses and create interesting discourse. They do...

$65 million fraud via a shell company scheme

Posted on December 23, 2008
The IRS is accusing Ausaf Umar Siddiqui, vice president of Fry’s Electronics Inc., of embezzling more than $65 million from the company via a shell company scheme. They say he used the money to pay gambling debts in Las Vegas A textbook shell company scheme would go like this: Set up a company that sources goods [...

For students and job seekers: Becoming a fraud investigator

Posted on December 21, 2008
I routinely get emails from students, job seekers, or the gainfully employed who want to make a career change#8230; all asking me for advice on getting into the field of forensic accounting and fraud investigation. Here are my top three tips for getting into this field: Get a solid background in general business and finance/accounting...

Big Three bankruptcy impact distorted

Posted on December 18, 2008
Last week at the 2008 Inforum Outlook Conference, a presentation was given about the impact of potential bankruptcy filings of the Big Three automakers, GM, Ford, and Chrysler. The media has cited figures ranging from 2 million to 3 million jobs lost...

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