YAHOO BOYS, ONLINE DATING, AND MONEY LAUNDERING

Online dating sites always see an influx of new users. Unfortunately, not all of  these new  users are  actually looking for  love, and an alarming amount of them are not who they claim to be. Although social media and dating websites are full of misrepresentation, a group of Nigerian scammers known as the “Yahoo Boys” are notorious for creating fake dating profiles to exploit the vulnerability of lonely people.

Despite the elementary nature of their con, the Yahoo Boys know how to pick a victim and sustain the scam. First, the scammers will flood dating websites with bare, generic profiles littered with broken English, despite identifying as American. These “Americans” claim to be working offshore on oil rigs, or they’ll introduce themselves as members of the armed forces. The typical victims  of  romance  scams are middle-aged women; however, this statistic is skewed because men tend to  report less. Once the  scammer finds a good mark, he will begin an intense romantic relationship with her, beckoning his victim off the dating site to communicate.

This relationship continues, with the suitor always evading a meeting with his victim. After intense grooming, a supposed catastrophe befalls the male suitor, and he needs funds immediately. The the victim must decide if she trusts her suitor enough to lend him money that could remedy the situation. If the victim decides to proceed, the suitor repeatedly requests more and more money, draining the victim’s income and savings. When the victim can no longer send her suitor money, he mysteriously vanishes.

A recent Wired article by Brendon I. Koerner details what was perhaps one  of  the Yahoo  Boys’ most callous efforts. Audrey Elrod was charmed by an  English gentleman named “Duke McGregor,”  and  as the relationship progressed, she became increasingly involved without suspecting any deception. Audrey even got to know Duke’s son, Kevin, on a personal level, and considered him her stepson.

The scam ran its course: the quick, intense relationship, the departure from the dating site’s messaging system, and eventually the catastrophe that necessitated wiring money overseas. Before Audrey realized her relationship with Duke was all a sham, she had unwittingly laundered multiple sums of money, totaling over $400,000. Since each transaction was under $10,000.00, she  was  charged with structuring, and  is currently serving a 52-month prison sentence.  1

Before the scam gets to this point, there are options. The FBI recommends reporting instances of fraudulent dating profiles to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (www.ic3.gov). Although these crimes are very emotional in nature, the FBI warns against “scam baiting,” a  type of digital vigilantism, where the victim attempts to extract evidence from the scammer in the same manner the scammer has extracted money from them. Chances are, the scammer is far more experienced than the victim, and a professional investigation is more likely to   produce results.

(1) Koerner, Brett I. “Online Dating Made This Woman a Pawn in a Global Crime Plot.” Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 15 Oct. 2015. Web. 5 Jan. 2016. <http://www.wired.com/2015/10/online- dating-made-woman-pawn-global-crime-plot/>.

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LEARNING TO LOVE

Is life not full of opportunities for learning love?  Every man and woman every day has a thousand of them.  The world is not a playground; it is a schoolroom.  Life is not a holiday, but an education.  And the one eternal lesson for us all is how better we can love.

What makes a person a good artist, a good sculptor or a good musician?  Practice.  What makes one a good person?  Practice.  Love is not a thing of enthusiastic emotion.  It is a rich, strong, vigorous expression of the whole Christian Character – the Christ like nature in its fullest development.  And the constituents of this great character are only to be built up by ceaseless practice.

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INVENTOR’S QUOTES

Here are a few words of wisdom from innovators
who have shaped our everyday lives with
their ideas and inventions.

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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!

Copyright © 2021 Financial Forensic Services, All rights reserved.

PRIME BANK NOTE FRAUD IS BACK AGAIN

Unfortunately, prime bank note fraud looks like it’s coming back into prominence. “Prime Bank Note” frauds often include statements such as “Approved by the International Chamber of Commerce!” They also often feature mandatory “noncircumvention provisions” and “strict nondisclosure confidentiality” provisions. You may be told that if you disclose any information about the investment opportunity to anyone, the offer is immediately and permanently withdrawn.

The international fraud artist’s scheme supposedly offers high yields in a short period of time, buying “bank guarantees” at a discount and selling them at      a premium. By reselling “bank guarantees” repeatedly, fraudsters claim to produce exceptional returns on investment. For example, if $10 million worth of “bank guarantees” can be sold at a two percent profit on 10 separate occasions — or “traunches” — the seller would receive a 20 percent profit.

The con artists often refer to the “guarantees” as being issued by the world’s “prime banks,” hence the term “prime bank guarantees.” Other official sounding terms are also used, such as “prime bank notes” and “prime bank debentures,” all based on forms supposedly required by the International Chamber of Commerce. The ICC has issued a warning to all potential investors that no such investments exist.

The purpose of these frauds is generally to encourage the victim to send money to a foreign bank. The funds are transferred to the fraudster’s off-shore account and are used for personal gain.

We had a new client referred to us by an outside corporate attorney who represents a multistate, wholesale kitchen-appliance dealer that had invested in a “wonderful prime bank note opportunity.” This new client voluntarily retained us to look at his investment deal at the insistence of his attorney, although he “knew there was no problem, because he had been making good money on this deal for several months.”

Through our research, we learned the two men the client had invested with were from London, England, and had fled to the U.S. after being charged with 18 counts of security fraud. They were currently under investigation by the State Securities Division for “securities” they had sold to six police officers who had withdrawn all their funds from the police department retirement program and bought “securities.” They were also under investigation for taking all the money a retired minister and his wife had and “investing” it in prime bank notes. When I met them, they were both applying to be greeters at Wal-Mart!

I reported the findings to our client, and he was outraged — at me! He explained that before investing $300,000 of their two sons’ college funds, he and his wife had met with the “securities salesmen” over breakfast at Denny’s. He pointed out that these men had never been convicted of anything and he and his wife received monthly computer print outs showing their monthly income and profit — which they were reinvesting for their boys. I was discharged from the engagement and asked to leave his office.

We took the case pro-bono for the minister and his wife and worked with the State Securities Division staff to recover their “investment.” I’m happy to say that we were able to present the retired minister and his wife with a check for 100 percent of their lost retirement funds.

Some good people deserve help — others choose to lose their money rather than admit their mistakes. Who doesn’t make a mistake sometimes? It’s not the
mistake that matters — it’s how we handle it!

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This Seaworthy Site
www.MarineTraffic.com 
Will Keep You in Ship-Shape

When we are looking for assets, it’s not unusual to find that they are floating. Whether it is the actual vessel like a yacht, or fuel being transported by tanker, or merchandise in cargo, Marine Traffic has approximately 580,000 vessels in their database. Marine Traffic allows for quick (and free) searching by vessel name, port, or location. The filter enables the user to narrow the search by vessel type such as passenger, yachts, fishing, etc. Once the search is completed, you will see a photo of the vessel and if it’s voyaging or anchored. With the click of the mouse you can bring up a world map plotting the vessel’s course. If you would like to see how it works, try entering this yacht name: Seven Seas. Choose Seven Seas [KY]; this is Steven Spielberg’s $200 million yacht.

If you would rather take it for a spin instead of looking at it on a vessel plot map, you can rent it for $1.3 million per week.

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INVENTOR’S QUOTES

Here are a few words of wisdom from innovators
who have shaped our everyday lives with
their ideas and inventions.

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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!

Copyright © 2021 Financial Forensic Services, All rights reserved.

THE WHEN AND WHAT OF PROBATE BONDS

If the term “probate bond” sounds a little intimidating, don’t worry. Once you’re comfortable with what probate is and what a bond is, the idea of a probate bond will fall into place. Fortunately, we’re here to help you navigate the confusion, as among the variety of improprieties Financial Forensic Services researches, probate disputes are common. Allow us to shed a little light on the subject of probate bonds …

First of all, probate is the process of administering a deceased individual’s estate through court proceedings. If the deceased had a will, the probate court will grant probate to an executor, whose job is to carry out the last will and testament of the individual who passed away. One of the executor’s main duties is to distribute the property and assets of the deceased’s estate.

If there’s no will, the court will appoint an administrator instead of an executor. The administrator oversees distribution of property and assets. Instead of doing so in accordance with the wishes of the person who has passed away, however, the administrator will do so in accordance with the laws in that area’s jurisdiction because the wishes of the deceased are unknown.

So, that’s a little bit about what probate is and how it works. Now, let’s take a look at what a bond is. A surety bond is essentially a fiduciary promise in which one party agrees to meet an obligation but is on the hook financially if he or she fails to meet the obligation.

In the case of probate, say you’re an executor of a will. The judge might require you to get a probate bond, which means there will be money to compensate heirs and creditors if you are negligent or fraudulent in your dealings with the estate such as taking some of the money to pay for your own expenses. For an estate that’s worth $1 million, it might require $5,000 to acquire a bond for $1 million in coverage. If something goes wrong, the bond company is responsible for paying out the full value of the estate to heirs and creditors.

Needless to say, it’s a pretty risky situation for any company to put up the money for a probate bond, which is why they’re as stringent about it as any other lender would be about loaning money to a private party. Probate judges won’t always require a probate bond, but it can be a challenge when they do. This is due to the money required to obtain the bond in the first place, but you can’t access the estate as executor or administrator until the bond is issued.

Even after you’ve obtained a bond, you may feel pressure to wrap things up quickly so that you don’t have to pay new premiums on the bond when it comes up for renewal after the first year. Another challenge is the time it takes to actually obtain the bond, even if you qualify. While that process is underway, the estate is just sitting there.

Fortunately, most wills that are drafted by an attorney can include clauses that waive the requirement of a probate bond. As long as the will names the executor, and that executor is the one submitting the will to probate, there won’t be a bond requirement. In any other case, it depends on the judge, the heirs, and whether there is any unsecured debt that the creditors are eyeing. 

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LOVE

Love is the one treasure that multiplies by division: it is the one gift that grows bigger the more you take from it. It is the one business in which it pays to be an absolute spendthrift; give it away, throw it away, splash it over, empty your pockets, shake the basket, turn the glasses upside down, and tomorrow you will have more than ever!

The Scriptures tell us that the very essence of God is love…always reaching out to touch the needs of people. But love fulfilled must be received. Loving and caring for one another is part of His plan. 

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REAL COURT CASE NAMES

United States  v.  Vampire Nation

United States v.  2,507 Live Canary Winged Parakeets

Fortner  v.  ATF Agents Dog 1, Cat 2, and Horse 3

The Smelly Bee  v.  Dees

United States  v.  Fifty-Three Eclectus Parrots

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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!

Copyright © 2021 Financial Forensic Services, All rights reserved.

DON’T MESS WITH THE SUBWAY STORE OWNER!

A Florida real estate developer named Anthony Pugliese III is facing at least six months in prison under a plea deal. The deal resolves longstanding fraud charges associated with a  building venture in Florida that Pugliese started with a Subway restaurant chain co-founder named Frederick DeLuca. 

Pugliese, 68, chose not to stand trial and will instead be sentenced November 25 for his part in a complicated scheme to defraud DeLuca through fake companies and phony billings, to the tune of more than $1 million. Pugliese orchestrated the fraud along with his business manager, Joseph Reamer, 57. 

The three men planned to construct a 41,000-acre green community project just south of Orlando. Dubbed “Destiny,” the environmentally friendly development began in 2009 as a collaboration between Pugliese and DeLuca. The community was planned for 64 square  miles  of  Osceola and Indian River counties, but unfortunately, the arrangement fell apart — and so did the business relationship between Pugliese and DeLuca. 

Pugliese and Reamer used bogus companies  and phony vendor invoices to funnel money from DeLuca for a range of personal luxury expenses, including an outrageous $11,000 “moat-chilling machine” to cool the   pond of Pugliese’s oceanfront mansion in Gulf Stream and keep its fish alive. As the  relationship broke down, Pugliese and DeLuca started  suing each other for more than $5 billion in civil court. State prosecutors got involved as well.

Reamer has pleaded no contest to a single felony charge of conspiracy   to commit organized scheme to defraud over $50,000 — he hasn’t admitted to guilt, technically, but Judge Kelley formally declared Reamer guilty and sentenced him to four years’ probation. Pugliese also pleaded no contest to the same charge of conspiracy, along with one count of grand theft of over $20,000.

All told, there were 18 charges dropped against Reamer and 17 charges dropped against Pugliese. If  the  cases against Reamer and  Pugliese had gone to trial and they’d been convicted of all charges, the two men could have faced up to 290 years in prison. Pugliese is also required to pay more than $1 million in restitution to DeLuca.

Over the course of the extensive civil litigation battle, DeLuca’s attorneys won civil sanctions against Pugliese at least five times and exceeding $500,000, to  cover legal fees and  a host of other expenses. Between the jail time and the huge bills, this is one case where it’s clear that crime doesn’t pay.

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CHUCKLE WITH US…

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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!

Copyright © 2021 Financial Forensic Services, All rights reserved.

5 FRAUD TIPS EVERY BUSINESS LEADER SHOULD ACT ON

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OpenCorporates

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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!

Copyright © 2021 Financial Forensic Services, All rights reserved.

TAKING THE MISSED

POT OF GOLD

Can even the worst case judgment be collected? Maybe.  We’ve  all seen judgments that at first glance appear to be uncollectable. We had  a judgment that involved three debtors, but our research found that two had filed bankruptcy and our debt had been discharged from both of them, leaving only one debtor to look for recovery. Further research showed that the remaining debtor had over $2,000,000 in Federal and state tax liens, numerous civil judgments, he had lost all his real estate holdings, and had a credit report filled with debt, charge-offs and collections. A search of the DMV found that his car was over ten years old and had little or no equity. We even found that the debtor had recently been garnished at his part- time job at an office supply store by the IRS, but he quit before his next paycheck could be garnished. Bottom line: we were at the end of a long line of creditors that were after a hardened debtor that had no known assets, making this kind of case the very definition of uncollectable.

However we checked further and performed an online search of the state’s Unclaimed Funds Division (Colorado) where we found funds listed in the debtor’s name. The problem we had was our debtor had a very common name (think ‘John Smith’ type of name) so it was difficult to discern which of the funds, if any, belonged to our specific party. The state’s free search results only gave us the claimant’s name and the town where their address was located. Not even the amount of the unclaimed funds was shown. Based on what we saw, we felt we had lots of possibilities and nothing to lose, so we had our legal counsel send off a Writ of Garnishment with Notice of Exemption and Pending Levy to the Office of the State Treasurer and crossed our fingers.

Shortly thereafter we received a return of the writ stating that the debtor had only $3.20 being held by the state. Obviously this experiment appeared to be a bust, but upon further review of the situation we realized we had made the mistake of providing the state with just the debtor’s name, personal identifiers, and his most recent address. We discovered that the funds are actually organized in Colorado by the claimant’s NAME and ADDRESS, and they are not generally associated with any dates of birth or other identifiers. The state can only research and find funds with what you provide, so we sent back the writ to the Treasurer with a detailed list of sixteen known addresses where the debtor/claimant had lived. This time we received back a list of several thousand dollars in unclaimed funds which we recovered toward the satisfaction of the judgment. Persistence pays off!

The takeaway here is that we were able to recover funds from the debtor when there was more than $2,000,000 in liens from creditors that where recorded ahead of us. Obviously you’ll have to keep in mind that each state is going to have their own way of organizing claims for searching, but with a little digging, you may just find your own pot of gold.

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REAL COURT CASE NAMES

Schmuck  v.  United States

United States  v. 
Ninety-five Barrels (More or Less) Alleged Apple Cider Vinegar

South Dakota  v.  Fifteen Impounded Cats

United States  v. 
11 1/4 Dozen Packages of Articles Labeled in Part
Mrs. Moffat’s Shoo-Fly Powders for Drunkenness

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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!

Copyright © 2021 Financial Forensic Services, All rights reserved.

CHASED BY A STRANGER 

WOMEN FEARS IPHONE SETTING MAY HAVE LEFT HER VULNERABLE 

Becca Blackman Wilcox couldn’t drive fast enough.

She floored the accelerator of her 2016 Dodge Charger up to 91 mph, rushing to the safety of a police station in Brady, Texas.

A few feet behind the 45-year-old’s car, headlights trailed, flashing in her rearview mirror.

At 7:37 p.m. Feb. 24 the mother of nine had called 911 thinking the driver of the paper-tagged maroon Ford Explorer was intoxicated.

But 20 minutes later, Wilcox was fearing for her life.

Earlier that day Wilcox stopped at a San Angelo convenience store on her drive from New Mexico to Copperas Cove.

“There was nobody else in the store except the clerk and there was only one man getting gas,” Wilcox said. “I don’t know exactly when it all started.”

After buying fuel, Wilcox traveled east on Highway 87 toward Eden.

About 15 miles outside Eden the Ford Explorer got on her tail.

“I was only doing 74 mph. There were four lanes of traffic and I was in the slow lane, and I couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t passing me.”
 

She changed lanes. The Explorer changed lanes. The Explorer passed Wilcox, then slowed below the speed limit and again got behind her car.

Then “he got up right along beside me … turned his dome light on and looked at me,” Wilcox said.

When the Explorer began moving into her lane, Wilcox called Concho County 911 and described the vehicle and its driver — white male, early to mid-20s, dark hair, scraggly goatee.

At 7:57 p.m. Wilcox’s iPhone 7 rang. She didn’t recognize the number.
 

“I answered. … The voice on the other end was real crackly. (He) said, ‘Becca? It’s Jason. I’m behind you. Pull over.’”

Wilcox hung up and hit the accelerator.

The distance between Eden and Brady is 32 miles — a short trip by Texas standards — and the remaining 22 miles was the longest ride of her life, Wilcox said.

Feeling alone and vulnerable, she called her two teenage daughters, explained the situation as calmly as she could, and asked them to monitor her location using the iPhone’s GPS.

“We all have iPhones, and I wanted them to track my location,” said Wilcox, “just in case something happened.”
 

Wilcox’s daughters guided her to the Brady police station.

“They stayed with me on the phone the entire time,” Wilcox said.

And the Explorer kept pace until both vehicles reached town.

As she turned right off Highway 87 to the police station, Wilcox said the Ford Explorer turned left and disappeared.

At 8:15 p.m. Wilcox walked into the Brady Police Department. After relaying the incident, a Brady police officer speculated Wilcox’s iPhone may have been compromised, and law enforcement escorted her to the county line.
 

Since the incident, Wilcox said other strange things have happened. Phone numbers appear on her family’s call log during hours when they were sleeping, calls have been made to the phone’s own number, and two Facebook accounts linked to her family have been hacked. Once home, Wilcox said she called “Jason’s” number and it rang a publisher’s clearing house in Jamaica, a situation long been connected to scammers.

“I’ve never felt so vulnerable,” said Wilcox.

A representative with AT&T told Wilcox she may have been hacked by someone exploiting a file-sharing feature on her phone called AirDrop.

“I keep my phone in my back pocket — always,” said Wilcox. “I just never, ever would’ve realized that I had an open window in my pocket that anybody could see into.”

HOW DID IT HAPPEN?

The Standard-Times and USA Today network reached out to representatives with Apple and other experts in the tech industry.

Here’s what they had to say:

“One possibility might have been that Wilcox and the man who accessed her phone had at one point exchanged contacts,” said Paul Bischoff, a privacy advocate at Comparitech.com, a security and privacy advice and comparison website.

Had that happened, if he got within Bluetooth range of her phone – generally about 300 feet – her name and photo could have popped up in his phone as a known contact via AirDrop.
 

Even if they hadn’t, her name might have been visible.

Wilcox told the Standard-Times her AirDrop had accidentally been left on in such a way, anyone could see that her phone was in the vicinity.

While AirDrop’s function is to receive photos and other files, it would allow anyone running AirDrop near her to see whatever device name she had set for her phone, which might have included her name.

For example, if someone named John had listed his phone as “John’s iPhone,” then everyone with Airdrop nearby would see that “John’s iPhone” was near them and could guess that its owner might be named John.
 

“On the other hand, finding someone’s phone number from AirDrop is extremely difficult,” said Bischof.

AirDrop tells other Apple devices in its vicinity that it’s available by broadcasting what’s known as a “hash,” “a sequence of letters and numbers derived from the owner of the device’s email address and phone number,” said Bischoff

To decrypt the hash and get the person’s email address or phone number if they hadn’t given you access to it would be “nearly impossible; it would require U.S. military levels of decryption power,” said Bischoff. “Otherwise the hash system shields phone numbers from strangers.”

Security experts were not able to find any other examples of a phone number being accessed via AirDrop.

HOW TO CHECK YOUR AIRDROP SETTINGS

iPhone users can check their phone’s AirDrop settings by opening the device’s homepage and clicking Settings, General, then AirDrop. Some iPhones allow users to check their AirDrop settings by swiping up on their phone’s home screen.

Your AirDrop will be set to one of three settings:

• Receiving Off (no sharing can take place)
• Contacts only (only contacts can share files with you)
• Everyone (anyone can see your device and send you a file)

Tufts, John, “Chased by a stranger, women fears iPhone setting may have left her vulnerable,” San Angelo, 2 March 2018, https://www.gosanangelo.com/story/news/2018/03/02/chased-stranger-woman-fears-iphone-setting-may-have-left-her-vulnerable/390942002/

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REAL COURT CASE NAMES

Batman  v.  Commissioner


United States  v.  Forty Barrels and Twenty Kegs of Coca Cola


The California Coalition of Undressed Performers
 v.  Spearmint Rhino


United States  v.  Forty-three Gallons of Whiskey


One 1958 Plymouth Sedan  v.  Pennsylvania


United States  v.  12 200-Foot Reels of Super 8mm Film

Death  v.  Graves

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EMERGENCY NUMBERS

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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!

Copyright © 2021 Financial Forensic Services, All rights reserved.

7 INDICTED IN
MODIFICATION FRAUD CASE

In a 14-count indictment based on conspiracy and fraud offenses, seven individuals were charged for a scheme designed to defraud homeowners across the United States who were trying to get mortgage loan modifications. Law enforcement seized more than $1 million in assets, including $350,000 from various bank accounts, approximately $362,000 from a Bitcoin account, a $100,000 cashier’s check, and a 2013 Ferrari 458 Italia.

The defendants jointly operated a series of companies based in California that pretended to provide home mortgage loan modification services to homeowners in exchange for upfront fees. Over the time frame of their fraudulent activities, the defendants cold-called homeowners and said they’d already been approved for loan modifications with favorable terms.

In addition to misleading homeowners about pre-approval, the defendants told homeowners that they would receive financial assistance under government mortgage relief programs — and if the mortgage loan fell through, homeowners would be entitled to a full refund of their fees. The upfront fees they charged were usually between $2,500 and $4,300.

Unfortunately, most homeowners hadn’t been pre-approved, didn’t have a legitimate mortgage loan modification through a reputable lender, and never received a refund when they requested one. To make matters even
worse, the defendants used numerous pseudonyms and changed both their business and operating names to make it virtually impossible for their victims to find them.

Here are just a few of the many business names they adopted to perpetuate their fraud:

• First Choice Financial Group, Inc.
• First Choice Debt
• Legal Modification Firm
• Home Care Alliance Group
• Best Rate Financial Solutions
• Green Tree Financial

If convicted, these defendants face a maximum term of 20 years for each count, which includes charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. They will also face an additional 10 years for participating in a crime involving telemarketing fraud that victimized 10 people who were over 55 years old. Depending on the defendant, they could be looking at 50 years for their crimes.

These individuals were opportunists, plain and simple. They took full advantage of the national mortgage crisis by targeting vulnerable homeowners who were facing economic hardship. If you’re thinking these criminals didn’t know that what they were doing was wrong, think again. The defendants ignored cease and desist orders directed at them for years, including one on December 17, 2013, from the State of Connecticut Department of Banking.

The good news is that the defendants involved in this scam failed to evade the watchful eye of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and a number of other agencies and organizations. In spite of their attempts to evade law enforcement by changing their names and the name of their fraudulent enterprise, the defendants are now being prosecuted by the U.S. District of Connecticut Federal Court.

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We wanted to commemorate the occasion by profiling an amazing woman from history named Stephanie Kwolek. You may not have heard of her before, but you’ve probably heard of the invention she helped make possible: Kevlar.

After Kwolek graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, she was hired on at chemical company DuPont for a temporary position. However, she liked the work so much, she decided to stay — and she remained there for 40 years!

Her first position was formulating new synthetic fibers. She started in 1960, working with long molecule chains at low temperatures. In 1965, she made a huge discovery while working with a liquid crystal solution of large molecules called polymers. Her work resulted in a fiber that was unusually lightweight but extremely durable.

Eventually, this material was later developed by DuPont into Kevlar, a versatile synthetic material that has since found its way into military helmets, work gloves, bulletproof vests, sports equipment, fiber-optic cables, and building materials. For her contributions and her research on synthetic fibers, Kwolek was awarded the National Medal of Technology, and she was also inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1994.

Over her career, Kwolek’s research efforts earned her 17 U.S. patents, and she also received other prestigious awards like the Kilby International Award and the 1999 Lemelson–MIT Lifetime Achievement Award. She was a prolific inventor, scientist, and researcher.

So what makes this material so special and Kwolek so deserving of her recognition? Kevlar is five times as strong as steel, resistant to everything from corrosion to flames, and flexible enough to wear on the human body. Thousands of law enforcement officers and soldiers rely on Kevlar every day.

It’s also significant to note that Kwolek graduated from college and started working at a time when most women didn’t get a degree or participate in the workforce. She served as an inspiration to women, especially women intimidated by science and technology. In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re proud to remember the inimitable Stephanie Kwolek!

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REAL COURT CASE NAMES

Terrible v. Terrible 

Nebraska v. One 1970 2-Door Sedan Rambler (Gremlin)

United States v. Approximately 64,695 Pounds of Shark Fins

United States v. Article Consisting of 50,000 Cardboard Boxes More or Less, Each Containing One Pair of Clacker Balls

Juicy Whip v. Orange Bang

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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!

Copyright all rights reserved. Financial Forensic Services, LLC 2020 Brief quotation with attribution permitted. 

SIGTARP CRACKS DOWN ON TREASURY’S MISDEEDS

The Treasury’s approval to reward the top 25 executives at GM and Ally Financial with excessive pay including pay of at least $1 million each, with average pay at $3 million while the Treasury was simultaneously writing off billions in losses for each company in its formal TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) accounting and records, has received special attention from its Office of the Special Inspector General. Over the past two years, it has practically doubled the number of defendants charged with crimes to bring accountability and justice.

 These TARP crimes are typically designed to be concealed. SIGTARP special agents, investigators, and analysts use classic law enforcement techniques, such as analyzing thousands of documents, interviewing witnesses, talking to cooperative witnesses, and conducting surveillance, combined with significant forensic analysis to detect and unravel sophisticated complex financial crimes that were intentionally designed to be hidden. 

SIGTARP works hand-in-hand with the prosecutors to ensure successful convictions. To the extent that the defendants do not plead guilty, SIGTARP prepares for trial with prosecutors. They also seek corporate accountability for criminal conduct. This comes in the form of holding corporations responsible for criminal conduct or through the conviction of senior management of the corporation.

Bank of America’s “Hustle” resulted in a federal jury trial in New York with the jury finding that Bank of America, through one of its officers, Rebecca Mairone, had engaged in criminal misconduct. The Federal Court’s July 30th, 2014 Order stated, “The essential crime found by the jury was a scheme to induce Fannie Mae and/or Freddie Mac to purchase mortgage loans originated through the High Speed Service Lane by misrepresenting that the loans were of higher quality than they were.” The Court’s Opinion described the bank’s process known as the “Hustle” as, “the vehicle for a brazen fraud by the defendants, driven by hunger for profits and oblivious to the harm thereby visited, not just on the immediate victims, but also on the financial system as a whole.” Penalties of $1.27 billion against Bank of America and $1 million against Defendant Mairone were ordered by the federal court. A Sun Trust fraud related to HAMP Foreclosure Prevention Program resulted in a Sun Trust agreement to pay $320 million to victims and the government with an agreement to the corporate charges.

Edward Woodard, the former Chairman and CEO of the now failed Bank of the Commonwealth, was sentenced to 23 years in fiscal 2014 for fraud on the bank’s books and records, including those used to apply for TARP.

Stephen Fields, former EVP was sentenced to 17 years; Troy Brandon Woodard, former VP of the bank’s subsidiary in September 2013 was sentenced to 8 years; co-conspirator Eric Menders was sentenced to 14 years and co- conspirator Stephen Hranowsky was sentenced to 11 years.

Isaak Khatizov, former owner of American Home Recovery was sentenced to 9 years in fiscal 2014 for defrauding hundreds of homeowners trying to get into the HAMP program.

Christopher Godfrey and Dennis Fisher, owners/controls of HOPE, were sentenced in fiscal 2014 to 7 years each for defrauding struggling homeowners trying to get into HAMP and Lee Farkas. The former chairman of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker, was sentenced to 30 years for his role in a multi-billion dollar fraud scheme that included an attempt by Colonial Bank to get TARP funds.

SIGTARP HAS ESCALATED EFFORTS TO BRING VICTIMS AND THE GOVERNMENT MONEY LOST TO TARP-RELATED CRIME AND OTHER VIOLATIONS OF THE LAW.

The requirements made through a court order or government agreement, stating that a defendant must pay money, brings accountability for law breakers. First, those who break the law should not be allowed to keep the financial windfalls of their crimes or civil violations of the law. Second, SIGTARP plays an important role in the government’s attempt to make victims whole. Third, to bring accountability and deterrence, penalties should be substantial, otherwise the risk is that penalties will become just a cost of doing business.

It is refreshing, at the very least, to see this government agency, the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Assets Relief Program (SIGTARP), working so hard to actually obtain justice rather than just paying lip service and issuing double-talk press releases about success via Cease and Desist Orders and probation for white collar criminals. CONGRATULATIONS SIGTARP— KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

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JUICE JACKING

Don’t get hacked juicing… and I don’t mean carrots. The juicing (and hacking) I want to bring to your attention is from kiosk charging stations, like the ones you might see at the airport or a conference center.

One thing that we can all count on is that if there is something that contains sensitive data, hackers will find a way to jack it. In this case it’s the information on your phone, tablet or other device. The USB cable connection that you use to charge your device contains prongs that have different functions. Only a couple of these are for charging—the others are for data transfer. Plugging in can allow easy access to your data. That’s the bad news; the good news is there are readily available ways to protect your data. One solution is to purchase a “charge-only” USB cable. According to my research, you can pick up one for around $8.

If you are interested in more information about this form of hacking/ jacking, just go to your favorite search engine and type in “juice jacking.” You will find that there are many posts related to this topic. There is even a YouTube video on how to make your own charge-only cable.

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AREAS OF SUCCESS,
AREAS OF STRUGGLE

When we are not operating in our area of giftedness, we struggle. We need to keep that in mind when we see a great achiever, or become a great achiever ourselves. Paul spoke five languages and wrote half the New Testament, but he constantly struggled with what he refers to as a “thorn in the flesh.” When he prayed and asked God to remove it, God said no. “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” So we need grace in the areas of our gifting, and grace for the areas in which we’re not gifted at all. The story’s told of a man who went to hear a great speaker, and ended up seated beside the speaker’s wife. During the speech, the man noticed that the great speaker had monogrammed socks. Intrigued by this, he looked closer and saw that instead of the usual two or three initials were the letters “TGIF.” When the speech was over he complimented the speaker, then turned to the speaker’s wife and said, “How come your husband’s socks say, “TGIF: Thank Goodness It’s Friday?” She replied, “Oh that’s not what those letters mean; the monograms are there to help him get dressed. They stand for Toes Go In First.” As long as you live you will soar in some areas and struggle in others. And you will find that God’s grace is sufficient for any challenge you face. And that’s the word for you today.

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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!

Copyright all rights reserved. Financial Forensic Services, LLC 2020 Brief quotation with attribution permitted. 

Financial Transparency in the First State

Transparency has become a buzzword in every sector. But, nowhere is it more persistently pursued than in the financial realm and, today, no state in the Union is in such dire need of a substantial helping of transparency than Delaware. Even the New York Times hailed Delaware as a “Den of Thieves” and for good reason—Delaware is known as a hotbed for tax evasion, underground financing and other felonious acts perpetrated by an abundance of anonymous shell companies. In fact, Delaware, Nevada, and Wyoming, and the US itself, has a growing reputation as a haven for corporations seeking nefarious levels of economic secrecy.

Delaware is currently the incorporation locale for more companies than the state’s living residents. Approximately 64 percent of corporations on the Fortune 500 list and a whopping 50 percent of all United States publicly traded companies trace their incorporation back to the tiny state. It’s a well-thought-out decision for both the institutions themselves and the state, as Delaware has very favorable tax arrangements specifically aimed to draw businesses.

While this has worked wonders for the state’s income (roughly one quarter of which has come from taxes and fees in previous years), the appealing nature of incorporation continues to draw in business of a darker nature. From drug dealers to dictators, anonymous shell companies have taken advantage of Delaware’s friendly legislation to secretly launder illegally obtained funds. Most notoriously in recent memory, former Ukrainian president, Pavel Lazarenko was prosecuted for laundering millions through anonymous companies incorporated in the US, specifically in Delaware and California.

Something obviously needs to change. In response, a coalition of 13 state-based organizations, along with the Americans for Democratic Action, distributed a statement which announced to criminals and corporations alike that Delaware is no longer willing to be a playground for dirty deals. The statement called for the legislature to bolster laws on economic transparency and after it was issued, local lawmakers joined the fight as well, calling on the Delaware Congress to take action.

How the legislature itself will move forward is anybody’s guess. Will the lure of dirty money be too strong a siren call for the state, or will the recent outcry push Delaware to join the growing global movement towards economic transparency? While few things are certain, it looks like the First State’s anonymously corrupt days may be numbered.

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Proposed FinCEN Rule Should Help Track Down Perpetrators of Fraud

Federal Trade Commission staff filed a comment on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the U.S. Department of Treasury, in which FinCEN proposed a rule to clarify and strengthen existing customer due diligence requirements for financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act. Among other requirements, the proposed Customer Due Diligence Rule would require financial institutions to collect information on the individuals who are the beneficial owners of a legal entity when the entity opens an account.

The comment of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection and Bureau of Economics notes that the proposed Rule should improve the FTC’s ability to track down those perpetrating fraud against consumers. FTC staff provided examples from FTC enforcement actions in which individuals used legal entities or “shell” companies to disguise their involvement with fraudulent operations and transfer the proceeds of fraud— instances in which information about the individuals behind a legal entity would have helped the FTC’s law enforcement, particularly in its efforts to quickly shut down fraudulent operations.
 The Commission vote to issue the staff comment was 5-0. It was sent to FinCEN Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery. 

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The Future

The story’s told of a clock that spent a great deal of time worrying about it’s future, reasoning that it had to tick twice each second. “How much ticking might that be?” the clock thought. So it began to calculate that it would tick 120 each minute, which is 7,200 times each hour. That meant in a twenty-four hour day it would have to tick 172,800 times, and 63,072,000 times every year. By this time the clock began to get overwhelmed and sweat profusely. Finally, it calculated that in a ten-year period it would have to tick 630,720,000 times – and at that point the clock collapsed with a nervous breakdown. Psychologists reckon that about 95 percent of all we worry about never happens. What about the other 5 percent? Four out of five times things turn out better than we anticipated, including a lot of outright blessings! In the end, only 1 percent of all the bad we think might happen actually does, and of this it’s rarely as bad as we feared. That’s why Jesus said, “Don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time.” The apostle Peter gives us the right perspective to live by in these words: “Casting the whole of your care, all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.” So the word for you today is – don’t obsess over the future.

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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!

Copyright all rights reserved. Financial Forensic Services, LLC 2020 Brief quotation with attribution permitted.