HOW QUICKLY THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS CHANGING
Our lead article: Vehicle Location and Tracking Information Available for Nearly Anywhere in the World, Sent August 2nd, 2021, covered the use of Artificial Intelligence to track vehicles nearly anywhere in the world. The following article shows how quickly current concerns are being raised about that application of technology. We at FFS hope you enjoy reading this update.
Google, Microsoft, and IBM have blocked the development of several AI products and services after internal boards deemed them unethical. With AI an increasingly commonplace component, these tech giants hope to avoid the most harmful potential futures. But critics warn that to leave such important ethical decisions to the goodwill of a handful of companies is far from secure.
AI’s Great Potential
Investment by companies into artificial intelligence has grown by 530% since 2015 with $68 billion of investment in 2020 alone. Now employed by almost every major company and piece of modern technology, AI has the potential to radically change our society for the better. The Deep Mind Al, for instance, is on track to map the structures of 130 million proteins by year’s end – a task that humans have tried and failed at for fifty years.
AI’s Terrifying Potential
No disruptive technology comes without drawbacks though. Google, Microsoft, and IBM, which each have their own internal review boards, have rejected or limited AI projects such as credit assessment, voice mimicry, and facial recognition for fears of their misuse. But even as IBM discontinues work on facial recognition, Companies like Clearview Al already provide these services to over 600 law enforcement agencies. This proves that public agencies will have the final say over when and where AI can be “ethically” deployed.
By getting up earlier you will have time to enjoy peace and tranquility of the morning without all the rushing . It sets the tone for the rest of the week and puts you ahead of schedule.
2. Put your phone or alarm clock out of reach
When your alarm goes off you have to get out of bed to switch it off. Once you’re out of bed, there’s no point of getting back in.
3. Take a shower
Get moving, you are leaving sleep behind and waking up.
4. Indulge in a great breakfast
Breakfast is a great time to feel your soul and your body. Sit down with a healthy meal and make breakfast substantial. This is the most important meal of the day.
5. Be Present
Stop and listen to the birds singing. Stand outside and appreciate the sounds and smells, smile at nature. Most of the time we miss it because we are too busy.
Diagnostic & Prescriptive Judgment Enforcement By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE
$24.95 + FREE S&H
Please place your book orders by calling 303.974.5610 during normal business hours Mon-Fri 9am-5pm CDT. or email joe@financialforensicservices.comand make an appointment for a FREE initial review of your judgment. Thank you!
Profits need protection. There is always a great deal of anxiety about prices.
“Should I raise my prices?” “Are my prices too high?” “What should I price my services at?”
Many businesses surrender to their own fears, pressures from competition, conversation with peers, and other influences and begin slashing prices, trumpeting discounts, and sacrificing their profits. They think desperate times call for desperate measures.
I am here to tell you: STOP. Just because you might feel like these are desperate times does not mean YOU must be a desperate discounter! THERE ARE BETTER WAYS. If you follow the advice, you CAN SAVE YOUR PROFITABILITY.
There is, as an example, a famous clothing store chain that has, in short time, gone from promoting “buy one, get a 2nd suit for 50% off” to “buy one, get a 2nd suit free” to “buy one, get a 2nd suit free AND a 3rd suit free.” Many try the same process with their service. Where will that end? Bankruptcy, that’s where.
This can help you STOP SUCH MISTAKES – or to rescue you and reverse such behavior if you’re already engaged in it.
SO, LET ME SHARE SOME AMAZING-BUT-TRUE STORIES:
In a mostly blue-collar town, a young woman operates a gourmet pizzeria, selling pizzas at $22 to $38…and she doubled the size of her business.
In a suburb of New Orleans, a martial arts school is surrounded by 7 competitors; his prices are more than double those of his closest competitors; in the midst of the 2010 recession and summer doldrums, his school had consecutive “best months ever.”
In Iowa, a commercial real estate broker controls over 70% of all transactions in his market, never cuts commissions, and charges every buyer a fee just for access to his services.
Starting in Cleveland, Ohio, a chiropractor took his three clinics and turned them into a national chain of over 280 clinics in just 36 months – and in virtually every market, his offices’ fees are higher than all other area chiropractors.
In the financial services field, an advisor has tripled attendance at his seminars (while most other advisors are suffering low attendance), has imposed a new fee for follow-up appointments (rather than doing them for free and begging people to take them), and increased his personal income by over $400,000 this year.
What all these Amazing Stories have in common is:
THEY’RE NOT AMAZING AT ALL, IF YOU KNOW HOW TO ADVERTISE AND MARKET EFFECTIVELY TO ATTRACT CUSTOMERS, CLIENTS, OR PATIENTS FOR WHOM LOW, LOWER, AND LOWEST PRICE IS NOT A CHIEF MOTIVATOR OR CONCERN, AND TO POSITION AND PRESENT WHATEVER YOU SELL OR DO IN A WAY THAT NATURALLY MAKES IT’S PRICE ELASTIC.
But do you instantly want to tell me that all customers or clients available to you buy based on low price…demand lowest prices…are cheapskates…and that the way you must cope is to slash prices and sacrifice profits just to stay afloat? If you weren’t thinking that, congratulations. But most businesspeople think this way. And, man, are they wrong-headed! Ironclad, extensive research shows that even in recession, fewer than 20% of customers in any product/service category make their buying decisions with price as determining factor – except when nobody offers any other criteria for their decisions, 80% of the buyers available to you are NOT “price buyers,” unless you let them be, by your own false beliefs, poor marketing and salesmanship, and foolish surrender!
You CAN sell successfully at prices substantially higher than your competition or that you imagine possible, if you know how. Yes, YOU. Yes, NOW.
People using this system…our Members…are very often very skeptical and doubtful but then pleasantly surprised at how much “price elasticity” exists in their business.
What is “price elasticity?” It is YOUR opportunities, probably missed by you now, to charge higher prices and boost profits, to sell at prices higher than your direct competitors, to attract clientele for whom many factors matter more than price. It’s rarely as simple as just raising prices. That may get you slaughtered. There are many creative, clever strategies for increasing the average transaction size, the initial new customer value, and the reoccurring customer value and for inching up price and offering tiered price-value options…so that you make more money per customer or client. And listen carefully to this: at a time when each customer may be harder to come by, it is all the more important to achieve the maximum possible income from them.
Under pressure, most noncreative businesspeople follow the crowd and cut, cut, cut prices, winding up working more for less, and even dangerously weakening quality of service or starving their advertising and marketing as profits evaporate. THIS IS VERY BAD MEDICINE. A PRESCRIPTION FOR DISASTER!
We will take you to the road less traveled, much less crowded, and much, much profitable.
With this issue of the Financial Forensic Report we are starting a new column “Marketing Your Services for Greater Profits.” We will offer our suggestions, recommendations, and experience, as well as that from others, for your consideration. The above was sourced from Dan Kennedy “NOB.S.Special Report: the Secrets of Our Most Successful Members.” We welcome your comments, suggestions, and success stories for consideration for future publication. All contributions are subject to editing. By making a contribution, you are granting Financial Forensic Services the right and authority to publicize your contributions.
Contributions may be made to joe@financialforensicservices.com.
“Let the wise listen and add to their learning.” Pr 1:5 NIV
As you examine your mistakes, you realize it was your thinking at the time that caused them, and that’s why you need to keep challenging your own thinking. “Let the wise listen and add to their learning.” How do you do that? By learning to appreciate how others think and by continually exposing yourself to people who are different from you. You will think like the people you spend the most time with. When you spend time with people who think outside of the box, you’re more likely to break new ground. Let’s face it, any time we find a way of thinking that works, our greatest temptation is to rely on it repeatedly – even if it doesn’t work in new situations.
When your goal is to protect the success you already enjoy, you put the brakes on the process that can lead you to even greater success. Holding on to a good tradition is a good thing. But you need to remember that every tradition was originally a good idea, perhaps even a revolutionary idea, but every tradition may not be a good idea for the future. When you cling to what’s already in place, you resist change – even change for the better. That’s why it’s important to challenge your own thinking. If you’re too attached to how things are done now, nothing will change for the better.
John Maxwell writes: “In your early years you won’t be as wrong as people think you are. In your later years you won’t be as right as people think you are. And all through the years you will be better than you thought you could be.”
Diagnostic & Prescriptive Judgment Enforcement By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE
$24.95 + FREE S&H
Please place your book orders by calling 303.974.5610 during normal business hours Mon-Fri 9am-5pm CDT. or email joe@financialforensicservices.comand make an appointment for a FREE initial review of your judgment. Thank you!
The United States is known as the land of the free, and this is hardly more apparent than in the freedom with which vast sums of money flow into the country. Foreign wealth has found a comfortable home in the elite real estate of America’s biggest financial center: New York City.
That doesn’t sound so bad until you find out that many of the owners of these luxury Manhattan condos are actually shell corporations. Basically, shell corporations are facilitators of transactions that in and of themselves don’t participate in any significant business operations. They’re popular because they can hide the true identities of the property owners. Their popularity is growing, as is apparent in one real estate complex in which last year, more than 80 percent of owners were shell companies. And who are the true owners? Often, it’s super-rich foreigners looking to discreetly park ill-gotten money. Corruption, ties to organized crime, regulatory violations, and financial fraud are the ties that bind these foreigners who choose to invest in U.S. real estate. The wealthy international elite is taking advantage of the fact that the United States doesn’t really require a lot of vetting before allowing untraceable money through shell companies to purchase high-end estate on U.S. soil.
Actually finding out who really owns a condo is frequently a Herculean task. It involves a search through business and court records, interviews with any cooperation. People who could be connected to the mysterious owner, examinations of property records, and looking into possible associations with lawyers and relatives.
In fact, because purchasers of real estate can register shell companies in the names of relatives, attorneys, accountants, or groups of investors, it can be practically impossible to nail down with certainty who the owners are. What’s more, ownership in shell companies can shift without notice or indication in property records, so even if you do track down an owner; it’s not always apparent if this is the one were looking for.
Elite attorneys and real estate agents are less than helpful. As long as a buyer has the money, signs the contract, and pays with no contingency, the deal will close. It’s gotten to the point where total privacy is expected, so contacting attorneys associated with mysterious real estate buyers don’t get much cooperation.
Even more worrisome is the fact that officials are addicted to this influx of capital from outside the country. Foreign investors who want to keep their assets anonymous have been flooding the high-end real estate market. Thinking about it from the perspective of city officials, how easy is it to turn away all that money, even if a lot of it is illegally obtained? Calls for greater transparency from shell companies have consistently failed.
One New York luxury real estate development isn’t just opaque metaphorically -t’s also opaque in a literal sense. The complex has dark glass that obscures the people living within, and there’s no indication of the residents’ identities inside or out. The condos are referred to as cryptic numbers like 52B, and reportedly, only about a third of the units are occupied at any given time. Many of the wealthy owners don’t live in the U.S. full time and count these condos as a second or third home.
The reason for the secrecy is rarely good. One buyer had ties to organized crime, while another was under investigation for owning a company that was polluting the environment. In all cases, the foreign rich are increasingly keeping their money tucked away snugly in an expensive piece of real estate that’s largely shielded from public scrutiny through shell corporations.
Ironically, the U.S. government has been trying to crack down on foreign countries that serve as destinations for offshore funds to avoid domestic taxes, but until our own laws start requiring greater transparency in shell corporations and high-end real estate transactions, the United States will continue to be a haven for corrupt, illicit, and fraudulent foreign funds.
Part of the reason our country thrives is because it attracts immense talent and investment from all over the world. While we naturally want to encourage more of the world’s resources to come to our shores, this effort can go too far. Officials in big shining cities like New York practically beg for foreign investment. In fact, New York offers tax breaks for condominium developments that represent a second or even third residence for ultra-wealthy buyers.
The ultra-wealthy tend to use shell companies to purchase and hold ownership in elite real estate. If you look at the situation closely, you’ll start to see that New York actually courts these types of individuals through favorable tax treatment while turning a blind eye to where the money comes from.
It’s true that many wealthy owners are simply celebrities or successful professionals like doctors, lawyers, and entrepreneurs, but there are also dozens of ultra-wealthy foreign investors who take full advantage of the lack of oversight in these high-ticket transactions.
One elite building in particular is home to at least 17 billionaires from Forbes’ annual list of the world’s richest people. The tower originally had 26 percent of its sales go to people from other countries, but that number has recently jumped to more than 50 percent. The whole scheme seems designed to help these individuals shield their identities from the public record, to the point where the owners can choose someone else’s name to list for them to get access to their own building.
Many deeds are now signed by a representative, signed illegibly, or even left blank. The registered phone numbers are under the owners’ lawyers’ names. The tax statements are addressed to their companies rather than to themselves. Even the transaction itself is designed to keep names out of it — because these deals are done in cash, there’s no mortgage statement or other public document to identify the true owner.
Privacy has become so important in these types of deals that high-end real estate agents and lawyers may actually go through an entire transaction without ever knowing the actual identity of the buyer. This trend toward opacity in high-end real estate deals is already the status quo, with many brokers insisting that commitment to anonymity is the only way to actually get these types of clients.
Part of the reason for this change is that newer luxury towers are condo developments, rather than cooperative boards where each resident jointly owns the building. In co-op boards, there’s bound to be extreme scrutiny to make sure you don’t let in the wrong person; for condo developments, each resident is wholly responsible for their own unit, so it’s a lot less relevant who your neighbors are. What’s more, the condo board requires residents to chip in and buy a unit if the board rejects a buyer, which creates further incentive for them to let in anyone with the financial capacity to buy.
As much as high-end brokers and city officials love the influx of foreign funds, they may not be so happy to learn where the money comes from in these deals.
The New York Times successfully tracked down the elusive owners of some of these shell corporations, and what they found was pretty horrific.
One owner was accused of using a commercial loan for personal expenditures, and another faced a fraud investigation involving an estimated 30,000 victims whom he profited from. One business magnate based in India moved money into the United States that he earned from industrial activities that harmed more than a hundred indigenous families — not to mention the employees who beat up residents and essentially held them as prisoners.
These stories will continue until something changes. Due to limited transparency and an unquenchable thirst for foreign investment, the United States has cemented its role as a safe haven for ill-earned wealth by shady members of the international ultra-rich community. It’s up to us to decide if we want this to be America’s legacy.
Diagnostic & Prescriptive Judgment Enforcement By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE
$24.95 + FREE S&H
Please place your book orders by calling 303.974.5610 during normal business hours Mon-Fri 9am-5pm CDT. or email joe@financialforensicservices.comand make an appointment for a FREE initial review of your judgment. Thank you!
Bitcoin is the world’s first decentralized cryptocurrency – a type of digital asset that uses public-key cryptography to record, sign and send transactions over the Bitcoin blockchain.
Launched on Jan 3, 2009, by an anonymous computer programmer (or group of programmers) under the pseudonym “Satoshi Nakamoto,” the Bitcoin network is a peer-to-peer electronic payment system that uses a native cryptocurrency called bitcoin to transfer value over the internet or act as of value like gold and silver.
Each bitcoin is made up of 100,000,000 satoshis (the smallest unites of bitcoin), making individual bitcoin divisible up to 8 decimal places. This allows people to purchase fractions of a bitcoin with as little as one U.S. dollar.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are like the email of the financial world. The currency does not exist in physical form, value is transacted directly between the sender and the receiver, and there is no need for banking intermediaries to facilitate the transaction. Everything is done publicly through a transparent, immutable, distributed ledger technology called blockchain.
Here are the main features of blockchain technology.
Bitcoin transactions are recorded on a public, distributed ledger known as a “blockchain” that anyone can download and help maintain.
Transactions are sent directly from the sender to the receiver without any intermediaries.
Holders who store their own bitcoins have complete control over them – they cannot be accessed without the holder’s cryptographic key.
Bitcoin does not exist in physical form.
Bitcoin has a fixed supply of 21 million bitcoin. No more bitcoin can be created and units of bitcoin cannot be destroyed.
How Does Bitcoin Work?
Bitcoin users send and receive coins over the network by inputting the public-key information attached to each person’s digital wallet.
In order to incentivize the distributed network of people verifying bitcoin transactions (miners), a fee is attached to each transaction. The fee is awarded to whichever miner adds the transaction to a new block. Fees work on a first-price auction system, where the higher the fee attached to the transaction, the more likely a miner will process that transaction first.
Bitcoin Mining
Every single bitcoin transaction that takes place has to be permanently committed to the Bitcoin blockchain ledger through a process called “mining.” Bitcoin mining refers to the process where miners compete using specialized computer equipment known as Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) chips to unlock the next block in the chain.
Locking blocks works as follows;
Crypto mining uses a system called cryptographic hashing. This function simply takes any input (messages, words or data of any kind) and turns it into a fixed length alphanumeric code known as a “hash.”
Each input creates a completely unique hash and it’s nigh on impossible to predict what inputs will create certain hashes. Even changing one character of the input will result in a totally different fixed-length code.
Each new block has a value called a “target hash.” In order to win the right to fill the next block, miners need to produce a hash that is lower than or equal to the numeric value of the “target” hash. Since hashes are completely random, it’s just a matter of trial and error until one miner is successful.
This method of requiring miners to use machines and spend time and energy trying to achieve something is known as a Proof-of-Work system and is designed to deter malicious agents from spamming or disrupting the network.
Whoever successfully unlocks the next block is rewarded with set amount of bitcoin known as “bloc rewards” and gets to add a number of transactions to the new block. They also earn any transaction fees attached to the transactions they add to the new block. A new block is discovered roughly once every ten minutes.
Bitcoin block rewards decrease over time. Every 210,000 blocks (or roughly four years), the number of bitcoins in each block reward is halved to gradually reduce the number of bitcoins entering the space over time. As of 2021, miners receive 6.25 bitcoins each time they mine a new block. The next bitcoin halving is expected to occur in 2024 and will see bitcoin block rewards drop tp 3.125 bitcoins per block. As the supply of new bitcoin entering the market gets smaller it will make buying bitcoin more competitive – assuming demand for bitcoin remains high.
Predictions
1. More mainstream acceptance
Bitcoin’s use in everyday life has always had a chicken-egg problem: Very few use or accept it because…for one thing, very few use or accept it.
But 2020 saw a striking evolution in bitcoin adaptation. Prominent fintech companies, from Square’s investment of $50 million in bitcoin to PayPal allowing it’s users to buy and sell bitcoin, gave it a stamp of approval.
In 2021, we’ll likely see an extension of this mainstream embrace. Look for at least one major U.S. or European bank to announce some kind of system where they either enable bitcoin purchases or agree to hold digital assets for their clients.
2. Competition from Big Tech
Whatever bitcoin may or not have accomplished in it’s decade of existence, it has forced a lot of big, global entities to think about offering an international digital currency.
Every company involved in the payment space understands not only that there is a market for digital payments still up for grabs, but that payments involving different currency markets have the most potential. That’s because currently such transactions can take days to resolve, and often involve hefty fees.
Bitcoin has demonstrated, if embryonically, that a global digital currency can dramatically streamline that process. In 2020, both Facebook and Google – companies with a massive global reach that bitcoin can only dream of – moved forward with big digital currency plans.
Tech offerings like Facebook’s Diem aren’t exactly the same as bitcoin, but if they start to catch on in 2021, they may eat a little into bitcoin’s growth.
3. Competition from central banks
This year, the Bank for International Settlements issued a report and survey indicating that 80% of the world’s central banks are working on some form of digital currency.
China has taken the digital currency experimentation much further than any other nation. Recently, in the eastern Chinese city Suzhou, just west of Shanghai, a lottery was held in which 100,000 residents each received 200 renminbi (about $30) via a digital wallet. They were encouraged to link their digital cash to their bank accounts, and if they didn’t spend their digital cash within a few weeks, it disappeared – both great techniques to advance the experiment.
As China moves toward nationwide adaptation of the digital yuan, it is likely to undercut demand for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Next year may see similar experiments in other countries.
4. A new regulatory playing field
President Joe Biden’s administration will have higher priorities in it’s first 90 days than regulating cryptocurrency, and of course Congress’ mood and expertise on the subject is hard to read.
The natural assumption is that a Democratic administration will regulate more stringently than a Republic administration, yet some have asserted that Biden will be “good for cryptocurrency.”
Maybe, but bitcoin enthusiasts tend to overlook issued like anonymity and it’s potential use for fraud; for regulators, those are very serious concerns.
Biden’s team might well come up with a more comprehensive and rational way of regulating cryptocurrency, but I would not bet on any favoritism toward bitcoin in particular.
5. Continued volatility
Because of the value of bitcoin is not directly tied to any obvious real-world phenomenon (such as fiscal or monetary policy), it can appreciate or depreciate in ways that are hard to predict or even explain.
As an investment, this makes it hard to recommend for anyone hoping to avoid big losses. Some say bitcoin could reach as high as $50,000 next year, and although that seems extreme, it is not out of the question if investors move money from other assets into bitcoin.
Of course, it is just as possible that the price will head in the opposite direction in 2021. The one thing that seems certain is that the wild ride of 2020 will be repeated.
Is Bitcoin Too Risky for the Average Investor?
Compared to most investments, bitcoin “is a highly volatile, highly risky investment,” James Ledbetter, editor of fintech newsletter FIN and CNBC contributor, tells CNBC Make It. “If you look historically at the price of bitcoin, there have been a number of occasions where it’s really spiked and then comes crashing down really quickly.”
While that can mean big returns, it can also mean big losses.
That’s why some, like investor Mark Cuban, liken bitcoin to gambling and advise investing only as much money as you can afford to lose.
“You have to at least be mentally prepared and financially prepared that (a crash) could happen again. It could happen tomorrow,” Ledbetter says.
(1) You’re greatest reward will be be in heaven, not on earth. Gid reserves His greatest blessings for the day when “each man’s work will become evident” and “he will receive a reward” (1 Co 3:13-14 NAS). It’s your service now that determines your status then, so always give God your best. (2) Your reward will be based on quality, not quantity. God is moved by sincerity. When He rewards you it will be based on what you did with what you had, and the “heart” you put into it. That means we all have equal opportunity when it comes to rewards.
(3) Your reward may be delayed, but it will never be denied. Think about that. When you’ve done what was needed yet you were ignored and misunderstood, remember, “Your labor is not in vain.” When you’ve done the right thing but received neither credit nor acknowledgement, remember, “Your labor is not in vain.” When you’ve served, given, and sacrificed, then willingly stepped aside so God would get all the glory, remember, “Your labor is not in vain.” In the words of Jesus: “Your father, who sees everything, will reward you.” (Mt 6:4 NLT).
Diagnostic & Prescriptive Judgment Enforcement By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE
$24.95 + FREE S&H
Please place your book orders by calling 303.974.5610 during normal business hours Mon-Fri 9am-5pm MT. or email joe@financialforensicservices.comand make an appointment for a FREE initial review of your judgment. Thank you!
80 percent of the civil money judgments in the United States are never collected. This begs the question: Why? People or businesses file civil lawsuits because they’ve been damaged, and they’re entitled to recover their losses, plus interest, legal fees, and often are entitled to recover other costs of collection. Note: when drafting the judgment language for the judge’s signature, many attorneys stop with “legal fees.” Be sure to have the attorney include “plus the cost of collections.” That way forensic researchers and experts such as forensic accountants, digital (computer and telephonic) experts, offshore attorneys, and investigators, etc. will be included, and all their fees and costs can be recovered.
Everyone knows or believes that if you have to file a civil suit to recover your losses and your costs, etc., when you win, the court awards you the money judgment and the defendant has to pay. You get back everything you lost, plus your costs in legal fees, until you recover everything that was awarded to you.
Sorry. I’ve got bad news for you. Perhaps your attorney failed to warn you beforehand, but that’s just not the way it works. The court does not make the bad guys pay. The court merely applies the law to the facts as presented by the plaintiff ’s attorney and the defendant’s attorney, then renders an opinion
If the facts prove your claim, then you win. But the courts in the United States do not make the guilty party pay in civil cases. You receive a piece of paper from the court, as I like to say, “suitable for framing,” called a Judgment.
The judgment basically says, “Congratulations, you’re the winner. Because you’ve been damaged, you’re entitled to recover from the judgment debtor’s X-million dollars, whatever that amount is, plus Y amount of legal fees and costs. And, oh yeah, you may also be entitled to post judgment interest, and (in most cases, if your attorney remembered to ask for it) you may also be entitled to recover the cost of collecting the judgment you just won (which is usually not requested by the attorney). Have a nice day.”
The judgment debtor is free to walk out of court (if having bothered to show up) and go about life as the debtor sees fit. You walk out of court knowing you’re the winner, and your attorney really showed the bad guys who’s right. After a month or six weeks, checking your mailbox every day, you decide that you better call your attorney and explain to him or her that the check for your judgment never arrived. Unfortunately, that’s the first time many victims learn that, although they won, they may never get the money that the court said is due to them. Your attorney failed to tell you, when you win a lawsuit and are awarded a money judgment, whether it’s $5,000 or $50,000,000, that doesn’t mean you get the money. It just means you have the right to get the money, if you can find it and successfully take it. 80 percent of the time, the judgments granted by the courts to the plaintiffs, also known as the victims, are never paid. That’s right, 80 percent of the civil judgments in the United States are never collected. Usually, there was no due diligence done to determine collectability before the lawsuit was filed.
Since you won the lawsuit, that leaves you with only two things to do. Using the power of the court and a good asset-recovery/judgment- enforcement team, you can do the following:
Locate and document the debtor’s money or other assets anywhere in the world.
Recover the money or assets that can be turned into money. It can be done—we have made such recoveries for several decades.
Typically, the victim of a Ponzi scheme, fraud, embezzlement, contract dispute, or other wrong will take the complaint to an attorney. The attorney will then review the facts of the case, and if convinced there is a good chance the case might be a winner, that attorney will advise the client to file suit. A few weeks after a successful trial, judgment is entered; when the check does not arrive, the client calls the attorney to find out just when to expect arrival of that money. And that’s when the shocking truth is revealed: The “winner” may never get paid.
The court does not make the bad guys pay. The court just applies the law to the fact-situation. Often, you’re awarded the judgment plus the post judgment cost, but you have to find it to collect the money. That’s up to you. Unfortunately, attorneys are seldom taught the intricate details and boring mechanics of the art and science of forensic research to locate and document the hidden and diverted assets needed to satisfy that judgment. There are many good reasons why 80 percent of the civil judgments in the United States are never collected.
It’s Dirty Work
For many years, collection work was considered beneath many attorneys. It was the dirty work that most respected firms did not want to get involved in. That’s beginning to change, particularly since the economy got tough in the mid-eighties and again around 2008. Therefore, many attorneys have thought more about being willing to take that kind of work, due to the significant change in the economy and recognizing there is a lot more legal work to be had.
There’s still a significant shortage of professionals who have the training and experience to successfully enforce judgments. This is not a skill set that’s taught in any detail in most of the law schools, and it’s not an area of law where trial and error is in the best interest of the clients.
The best results are obtained using combined skills of an experienced attorney who specializes in judgment enforcement or creditors’ rights and an experienced team of financial forensic researchers, digital computer experts, questioned-document examiners, forensic accountants, and experienced analysts, who can and will dig several layers deeper, even offshore, until they locate and help recover their client’s money.
Many courts are now pushing for the parties to settle their cases before proceeding to trial. There’s often mandatory mediation or arbitration processes ordered by the court. Even with an award, stipulated or confessed judgment from such processes, the odds are still 80 to 20 that you’re never going to recover your money. It’s still up to the judgment creditor and the retained team of experts to make that happen. Neither successful forensic research nor great legal work will succeed alone. It takes a team made up of the right professionals for each unique case and its specific facts.
The above is an excerpt from the International Best Seller Book, “Diagnostic & Prescriptive Judgment Enforcement” by Joe H. Dickerson, CFE, the nation’s leading expert on financial forensic judgment enforcement.
Diagnostic & Prescriptive Judgment Enforcement By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE
$24.95 + FREE S&H
Please place your book orders by calling 303.974.5610 during normal business hours Mon-Fri 9am-5pm CDT. or email joe@financialforensicservices.comand make an appointment for a FREE initial review of your judgment. Thank you!
ou’ve won a significant civil case and have been awarded a significant amount of money by the court and it’s been months, or perhaps years, you have paid your attorneys a lot of money and you have never recovered a single dollar, you look in the mirror every day and ask yourself, “What am I doing wrong?”
I would suggest to you that you’re probably not doing anything wrong. You are, in all likelihood, just not doing most of the right things to get the job done correctly. Don’t be too hard on yourself – because 80% of the people or businesses that win judgments in the United States never get their money.
That’s right – 80% of the judgments entered in the US are never enforced or collected.
There are many reasons and even more excuses for this sad and unnecessary fact. It’s not your fault – that’s not the business you are in – but it’s your responsibility to Row Your Own Canoe, and you don’t have to do it yourself. It’s much like owning your own yacht – in all probability, you are not the captain of your yacht. You hire a qualified expert – A seasoned expert to be your captain and he hires managers and supervisors, the crew that all work together to get you safely to your destination.
Unless you are in the business of buying and collecting your own judgments, you do not need a yacht or a captain. Even if your fishing for trophies you will probably do just fine with a reasonable sized fishing boat or canoe.
When I say, “Row Your Own Canoe”, I am of course speaking metaphorically. You must take the responsibility as the owner of the judgment, to see that either you or your trusted consultant and advisor, take charge and ensure that the right team of judgment enforcement experts are on the team and managed properly.
The team should consist of: a Financial Forensic Research Expert; perhaps a Digital Forensic Expert; perhaps a Forensic Accountant; and an experienced, aggressive, no non-sense attorney.
Let’s quickly review the major reasons that 80% of the judgments in the US are never enforced:
Only three of the top 50 law schools ever mention judgment enforcement – those three, according to the Dean of the Law School, discuss judgment enforcement for two or three hours in their Creditor’s Rights course.
Typically, attorneys want to keep on doing what they’ve always done and then they keep on getting what they’ve always got – 80% failure. A. They subpoena the debtor to a deposition and require him, via subpoena, to bring all his financial records, bank statements, brokerage account records, etc. They are surprised when the debtor does not comply – but they do little, if anything, to force compliance. B. They seldom, if ever, checking to verify the lies told by the debtor under oath. C. They act as they actually believe the debtor or his attorney when promises are made to locate and supply the wiring documents.
They continue to bill the client and usually want to repeat the two above.
Surprise, they fail 80% of the time but they got lots of billable hours.
The other 20% of attorneys who work judgment enforcement cases do anywhere from an acceptable to an outstanding job for their clients.
Matthew records, “Then Peter got out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.”
Today, ask yourself these three questions:
1. What’s my boat? It’s whatever gives you your greatest sense of security. It’s what you’re tempted to put your trust in when life gets stormy. To know what your boat is, ask yourself,”What is it that produces the most fear in me, especially when i think of leaving it behind and stepping out in faith?
2. What’s keeping me from getting out of my boat? Fear. Fear of people or failure, fear of criticism, fear of lack. In order to grow, you must go into new territory and each time you do you’ll experience fear, it never goes away. But each time you get out of your boat, you become a little more able to do it next time, and you begin to realize that fear doesn’t have the power to destroy you. So when Jesus says to you, “Come start walking.” He won’t let you down.
3. What will I forfeit by staying in my boat? Your destiny. To achieve what you have not yet achieved you must attempt what you have not yet attempted. Will there be risks? Yes. Baseball’s greatest hitters fail two times out of every three. But they know that if they don’t step up to the plate, they’ll never experience the joy of hitting a home run.
Understand this, if you stay in your boat you’ll eventually die there and end up wondering what your life might have been if only you’d been willing to get out of your boat.
Diagnostic & Prescriptive Judgment Enforcement By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE
$24.95 + FREE S&H
Please place your book orders by calling 303.974.5610 during normal business hours Mon-Fri 9am-5pm CDT. or email joe@financialforensicservices.comand make an appointment for a FREE initial review of your judgment. Thank you!
VEHICLE LOCATION AND TRAFFICKING INFORMATION AVAILABLE FOR NEARLY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD
A former government contractor claims it can locate the real time locations of specific cars in nearly any country on Earth. It says data can be obtained and sent by the car and it’s components.
It claims it can provide clients with the ability to locate vehicles in nearly every country on a near real time basis. It claims the ability to access over 15 billion vehicle locations around the world every month.
The company says it has not sold the product to the U.S. government at this time. The news shows the scale and reach of the car tracking technology. Car location data is of interest to insurance companies, finance companies, and to government contractors who explicitly say they want to source the data for intelligence and surveillance purposes.
Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) often include sensors in vehicle parts that collect information such as their airbag and seatbelt status, engine temperature, and current location, and then transmit that information to the automaker or to third parties. Aggregator companies also purchase or obtain this data, repackage it, and then sell that data or products based on it to their own clients.
Vehicle location data is transmitted on a constant and near real time basis while the vehicle is operating.
The Navy acknowledged a request for comment, but did not answer specific questions on whether the company demoed the vehicle location data product to the Navy or not. The NGA did approve a statement in time for publication.
The president of the company that gathers this data said, “Any propriety promotional material we may have produced is aspirational and developed based on publicly available information about modern telematics equipment. We do not have any contracts with the government or any of it’s agencies related to our work in the field and we have never received any funding whatsoever from the government related to telematics.” However, the website contains the following:
The document does not explain exactly how the company sources it’s data, be that directly from automakers or OEMs, or via an aggregator company. But their are plenty of companies that could be contributing.
This is an example of how the car location data industry functions.
FFS makes no judgment, pro or con on this information but provide it FYI only.
God put us on Earth to do a certain work that only we can do. God created us to do good works and that he planned in advance what we would spend our lives doing. However, he didn’t plan for us to do that work alone. We need people to work with us.
You know the feeling you get when you do too much work on your own. You get exhausted and burned out. Why? Because you’re trying to do your work alone, while God never meant for it to be that way.
In Ecclesiastes 4:9, God tells us, “Two people are better than one, because they get more done by working together” (NCV). When you work as a team, you get so much more done. Plus, having good teammates alongside you is a whole lot more fun and less tiring!
As you walk through life, remember that you’re not supposed to do everything on your own. You need other people to walk alongside you, and other people also need you. As you share the burden of your work with others, you’ll find that you actually accomplish more for the glory of God.
This is an excerpt from www.PastorRick.com. Click the link below to access this article.
By Rick Warren on PastorRick.com https://pastorrick.com/devotional/english/working-together-we-can-accomplish-more
Diagnostic & Prescriptive Judgment Enforcement By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE
$24.95 + FREE S&H
Please place your book orders by calling 303.974.5610 during normal business hours Mon-Fri 9am-5pm MT. or email joe@financialforensicservices.comand make an appointment for a FREE initial review of your judgment. Thank you!
FFS is happy to inform you that we are moving our headquarter office to Texas.
Our business, including website, email and telephones will remain the same after the moving process is completed and you will not experience any changes or delays in our services.
Please temporarily use Joe and Barb’s cell phone numbers for primary contact:
Diagnostic & Prescriptive Judgment Enforcement By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE
$24.95 + FREE S&H
Please place your book orders by calling 303.974.5610 during normal business hours Mon-Fri 9am-5pm MT. or email joe@financialforensicservices.comand make an appointment for a FREE initial review of your judgment. Thank you!
Archived Interview of Joe Barber of the Gazette Telegraph
The other two men in the room lean back in their seats, studying me with lidded stares.
By using a certain device, says the bigger fellow, “I can sit right here and dial up your phone. You don’t even have to answer it. It makes your phone into an open microphone.”
Briefly disconnecting the phone and extensions, he adds, normally severs the contact. Unless someone thinks your comments are worth the price of “Cadillac-type equipment, the kind that will keep a lock on the line.” Truly, such marvels of electronics are to ponder.
Which I do, then the second man warns me about parabolic microphones. Looks like a medal umbrella, picks up sound through glass. Maybe your neighbor has a couple.
His advice: “Don’t have a (confidential) meeting in the exterior room.”
Even so, there are micro-transmitters that can be hidden in a half-inch-long space. Their best antidote is a physical search and sweeping the room with electronic gadgetry.
So, with a hushed voice, carefully looking away from the window, I ask Joe Dickerson and his colleague to confide in me further. Why do they find Colorado Springs so appealing?
The many high-tech electronics firms, they say. The Consolidated Space Operations Center, the Air Force Academy, Fort Carson, and the North American Aerospace Defense Command and the anticipated Free Foreign-Trade Zone to name a few.
Because the two are computer cops. Bug exterminators. Office sweepers.
They help other protect trade secrets, and ferret out white-collar crime.
As they see it, technological espionage in Colorado Springs is a growth industry.
“We feel like we’re getting in on the ground floor out here,” says Dickerson, smiling.
He reads me a recently published quote by William Gavin, who was in charge of the regional FBI office in Denver.
“White-collar crime heads the list of priorities…all up and down the Front Range where high-tech and defense industries are springing up.”
The quote adds: “In Colorado Springs alone, the building of the Department of Defense’s Consolidated Space Center, from which all (U.S.) manned space flight will be controlled, and the relocation of Ford Aerospace, will make it even more a target for the information thief and the communications saboteur, than it already is.”
Dickerson is stout and courtly, with a deep Texas drawl. Drop a Stetson on his salt-and-pepper hair and he’d probably fir most people’s image of an oil baron or gentleman rancher.
His colleague is deeply tanned, sound like the native New Yorker and he is, and sports a blond goatee and cowboy boots. He worked 380 homicides in his 20 years with the Nassau County, N.Y., Police Department.
Both guys are ex cops.
Dickerson was the youngest detective on the Houston Police Department. He left after 11 years to start his own company, mainly anti-crime and asset recovery consulting to energy companies.
“Generally, we’re called in after there’s been a loss,” Dickerson Says. “But apprehension of crooks, in such cases, is treating the symptom, not the problem.”
He contends “80 to 90 percent” of the criminal losses in the business world can be attributed to insiders – employees, contract employees, or vendors assigned to the company property.
“And the courts have said that you can’t prosecute someone for taking a trade secret unless you can show you had actually treated it as a trade secret, limiting distribution, locking it up.”
Where high-tech goes, high-tech espionage follows. Fact is, no board room or conference room can be kept completely bug-proof, he says.
However, with advance work, “We can tell you that on such and such hours, the room will be clean for your meeting.”
I thank them for sharing their secrets. And I depart, my firm handshake is a bond between us.
It was only a little private talk between friends.
Diagnostic & Prescriptive Judgment Enforcement By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE
$24.95 + FREE S&H
Please place your book orders by calling 303.974.5610 during normal business hours Mon-Fri 9am-5pm MT. or email joe@financialforensicservices.comand make an appointment for a FREE initial review of your judgment. Thank you!
REQUESTS FOR POLICE INTERNAL AFFAIRS RECORDS SO NOT HAVE TO IDENTIFY A SPECIFIC INCIDENT, COLORADO SUPREME COURT RULES
By: Jeffrey A. Roberts, Executive Director Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition
The Colorado Supreme Court recently removed a frustrating barrier for some requesters of police internal affairs records, deciding that criminal justice agencies may not withhold completed IA files from the public simply because the requester has not referenced a “specific, identifiable incident” of alleged misconduct by an officer.
The 5-2 decision upheld a district court ruling against the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office for refusing to provide a criminal defendant with internal investigation files about two deputies who were witnesses in her case. The sheriff’s office had interpreted House Bill 19-1119, enacted in 2019, as allowing it to deny requests for IA files for being too “vague.”
It’s hardly the only law enforcement agency to have done so. As the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition pointed out in a 2020 article, several other police and sheriff’s offices have denied requests for IA records from news organizations, noting that the statute applies to investigations examining the in-uniform or on-duty conduct of a peace officer “related to a specific, identifiable incident of alleged misconduct involving a member of the public.”
In the majority opinion just issued, Justice William Hood wrote that the words “specific, identifiable incident” refer to the types of incidents subject to IA investigations, “not who must identify those incidents as part of a request to inspect investigation files. Therefore, the person requesting access to internal investigation files need not reference a ‘specific, identifiable incident’ of alleged misconduct in the request.”
“The term does not relate to the records request but, rather, to the investigation,” the ruling says. “Thus, when read as a whole, we understand ‘identifiable’ as describing a specific incident of alleged misconduct that is identifiable by the investigating officer so that the investigation could occur.”
The 2019 law “doesn’t require people seeking to inspect the files to know of the specific, identifiable instances of misconduct or that they include such designation in their request.”
The Colorado General Assembly addressed the narrow interpretation of HB 19-1119 by some law enforcement agencies in House Bill 21-1250, which is awaiting Gov. Jared Polis’ signature. In an amendment to the bill, which passed on the last day of the 2021 legislative session, lawmakers removed the phase “specific, identifiable” before the word “incident.” The point of the amendment, said Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, is to “help the public access … files related to potential misconduct.”
Before HB 19-1119 went into effect in April 2019, establishing a statewide standard for the disclosure of IA records, nearly all sheriff’s offices and police departments routinely rejected requests for internal affairs files, either with a blanket policy or a finding under the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act that disclosure would be “contrary to the public interest.” (The Denver Department of Public Safety was an exception, regularly providing the disciplinary records of police officers and sheriff’s deputies in response to requests.)
During hearings on the 2019 bill, the Colorado Supreme Court decision says, lawmakers made it “abundantly clear” they sought to eliminate the discretion of records custodians “to deny access to certain internal affairs records and to make it easier for the public to obtain such records without involving the courts.”
“Nothing in the legislative history suggests that a requester should have to identify a specific incident or that the Amendment makes such broad requests impermissible.”
This information is part of an article by Jeffrey Roberts that originally appeared on the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition website.
To access the original article click the link below: https://coloradofoic.org/requests-for-police-internal-affairs-records-do-not-have-to-identify-a-specific-incident-colorado-supreme-court-rules/
Follow the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition on Twitter @CoFIC.
Diagnostic & Prescriptive Judgment Enforcement By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE
$24.95 + FREE S&H
Please place your book orders by calling 303.974.5610 during normal business hours Mon-Fri 9am-5pm MT. or email joe@financialforensicservices.comand make an appointment for a FREE initial review of your judgment. Thank you!
Financial Forensic Services, LLC is proud to staff Certified Fraud Examiners
Testimonial
“As an environmental law firm, we use Joe Dickerson to locate prior business owners and do corporate genealogies. He is persistent, that’s the key to a good investigator, and he has a knack for understanding how people move money and do business. That tells him what rocks to look under. Joe is vastly superior to other investigators in two ways: he lets you know what’s going on and he’s honest with you, because he tells you if there’s really anything there worth pursuing. He is unusually thorough and creative finding people. Joe has earned his fee every time.” “If the information is to be found, then I believe that they will find it. Their service enabled me to do a much better job for my client.”
Tim Gabelhouse , Attorney at Law
2014-11-11T18:20:41+00:00
Tim Gabelhouse , Attorney at Law
“As an environmental law firm, we use Joe Dickerson to locate prior business owners and do corporate genealogies. He is persistent, that’s the key to a good investigator, and he has a knack for understanding how people move money and do business. That tells him what rocks to look under. Joe is vastly superior to other investigators in two ways: he lets you know what’s going on and he’s honest with you, because he tells you if there’s really anything there worth pursuing. He is unusually thorough and creative finding people. Joe has earned his fee every time.” “If the information is to be found, then I believe that they will find it. Their service enabled me to do a much better job for my client.”
“Joe spends the time to understand the problem from the client’s perspective and from the legal perspective. He is intelligent, tenacious, willing to work as hard as it takes, thorough, well-informed, and just awfully good at what he does.”
Thomas E. Root, Attorney
2014-11-11T18:20:05+00:00
Thomas E. Root, Attorney
“Joe spends the time to understand the problem from the client’s perspective and from the legal perspective. He is intelligent, tenacious, willing to work as hard as it takes, thorough, well-informed, and just awfully good at what he does.”
“Financial Forensic Services did an excellent job in the way they executed my case. They were very straightforward. They stated what they could do for us and they did it. And, from a personal standpoint, they are excellent. Both my wife and I felt very comfortable working with them.”
Michael Whalen, Businessman
2014-11-11T18:21:13+00:00
Michael Whalen, Businessman
“Financial Forensic Services did an excellent job in the way they executed my case. They were very straightforward. They stated what they could do for us and they did it. And, from a personal standpoint, they are excellent. Both my wife and I felt very comfortable working with them.”
“When I was general counsel for First Interstate Bank, I used Joe Dickerson for locating assets, investigating behavior and asset discovery. He did excellent work and always got the information I needed without compromising the bank in any way. He’s more thorough and kept in better touch with me than other investigators. I’d give him a grade of 96 or 97 out of 100.”
Frank Brainerd, Retired Banker/Attorney
2014-11-11T18:20:20+00:00
Frank Brainerd, Retired Banker/Attorney
“When I was general counsel for First Interstate Bank, I used Joe Dickerson for locating assets, investigating behavior and asset discovery. He did excellent work and always got the information I needed without compromising the bank in any way. He’s more thorough and kept in better touch with me than other investigators. I’d give him a grade of 96 or 97 out of 100.”
“Joe is the most competent investigator I’ve ever found. He has rare ability to find hidden assets. Others claim it, Joe has it. He understands the Rules of Evidence, he knows how to talk to people to develop a fact pattern, and he has a sixth sense for fraud. Joe has unquestioned integrity and delivers value for his services.”
Andrew Quiat , Attorney
2014-11-11T18:12:51+00:00
Andrew Quiat , Attorney
“Joe is the most competent investigator I’ve ever found. He has rare ability to find hidden assets. Others claim it, Joe has it. He understands the Rules of Evidence, he knows how to talk to people to develop a fact pattern, and he has a sixth sense for fraud. Joe has unquestioned integrity and delivers value for his services.”
“They went overboard in providing excellent service. I was very pleased with what they provided for me as their end product. Financial Forensic Services really understands how a case needs to be put together in order to be presented to a jury. Their PowerPoint presentation tied everything together. It was thorough, it was concise, and it got the job done.”
Jim Thomas , Prosecuting Attorney
2014-11-11T18:21:32+00:00
Jim Thomas , Prosecuting Attorney
“They went overboard in providing excellent service. I was very pleased with what they provided for me as their end product. Financial Forensic Services really understands how a case needs to be put together in order to be presented to a jury. Their PowerPoint presentation tied everything together. It was thorough, it was concise, and it got the job done.”
“Joe Dickerson is the industry standard. You can measure the rest by what he does, and I say that without equivocation. Joe has incredible insight into the dark world of fraud. He understands the devious ways in which people perpetrate white-collar crime.”
Jan Schlichtman , Attorney at Law
2014-11-11T18:20:55+00:00
Jan Schlichtman , Attorney at Law
“Joe Dickerson is the industry standard. You can measure the rest by what he does, and I say that without equivocation. Joe has incredible insight into the dark world of fraud. He understands the devious ways in which people perpetrate white-collar crime.”
” I was prepared to dismiss a federal case involving millions of dollars against a local individual who claimed to have no substantial assets. After your staff hit the records and delved into the transactions behind the transactions, you discovered the individual to actually be worth a few million dollars. We continued the case to conclusion. We were also very happy with the financial background examinations you conducted of the former directors of two failed national banks. The heart of any civil case is whether there is a pot at the end of the lawsuit. You were our lucky leprechaun in finding such pots.”
R. Michael Sentel , Former Section Chief Legal Division, FDIC
2014-11-11T18:13:08+00:00
R. Michael Sentel , Former Section Chief Legal Division, FDIC
” I was prepared to dismiss a federal case involving millions of dollars against a local individual who claimed to have no substantial assets. After your staff hit the records and delved into the transactions behind the transactions, you discovered the individual to actually be worth a few million dollars. We continued the case to conclusion. We were also very happy with the financial background examinations you conducted of the former directors of two failed national banks. The heart of any civil case is whether there is a pot at the end of the lawsuit. You were our lucky leprechaun in finding such pots.”
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