Hendrix Montecastro, Helen Pedrino Convicted in $142 Million Ponzi Scheme in Riverside The Associated Press reported the real estate investment scam to be approximately $142 million in fiscal scope. The defendants used seminars, internet ads, and word of mouth to lure people in Riverside County, California and Arizona to invest in a series of shell [...]
How to Avoid Affinity Fraud Part 3 of 3 Things to keep in mind: - If it sounds too good to be true, it is. - Never allow someone’s rhetoric to overpower your common sense. - Take a few days to think about and examine any investment decision. - A “best practice” procedure is to [...]
How is Affinity Fraud Accomplished? Typically a fraudster embodies or personifies ideals held by the group to be very advantageous. In some situations this could be a member of poor community that shows outward signs of success, such as rolling into the community in a Bentley, or an older individual that boasts great success in [...]
What is Affinity Fraud? I recently stumbled upon a 3-part video on Affinity Fraud, aptly titled Affinity Fraud: Preying on Those Who Pray. Every year, billions of dollars (in the U.S. alone) are stolen from unsuspecting victims of this kind of fraud. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUv4dDavC6U&list=PLDF985F76B59B68E7&index=1 Simply put, although there’s nothing simple about it, affinity fraud occurs when [...]
Municipal Fraud Prevention- West Linn Part 2 of 3 The current West Linn Finance Department (after the 1.42 million dollar scandal), much like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, crafted a new mission statement. The forward moving department proclaims proudly “being good stewards of taxpayers’ monies is the Finance Department’s main focus, but that alone [...]
ZZZ Best superstar Barry Minkow, King of the Ponzi's, became a preacher, a self-appointed fraud detector and finally a stock manipulator. Now he gets 5 years in the clink. for securities fraud. A good friend told me once ... the way someone does something, is the way they do everything. (translation ... Leopards don't often [...]
