Archive | Apr 2006
Legitimate business or patent trolls?
Burst.com is a California company co-founded 18 years ago by Richard Lang. Exactly what is the core business of the company? It holds 10 U.S. patents and asks big companies to license its technology. If they don’t, Burst sues them. In March 2005, the company won a $60 million settlement from Microsoft. Its current target is Apple. [...]
Continue reading...Former Illinois governor George Ryan convicted of fraud and racketeering
17 Apr 2006
A jury trial ended in conviction for former Illinois governor George Ryan. He was found guilty of all charges, including fraud, obstructing the Internal Revenue Service and lying to the FBI. The charges against Ryan were related to accusations of funneling large state contracts to friends and political insiders. In return for those contracts, Ryan [...]
Continue reading...Illegal immigrant studying at Princeton University
16 Apr 2006
Dan-el Padilla Peralta is an illegal immigrant and a student at Princeton University. He turned himself in two weeks ago. He has won a scholarship to Oxford University in the United Kingdom, but if he leaves the United States he won’t be allowed to return. Princeton knew that Dan-el was in the country illegally, but [...]
Continue reading...Frank Jude Jr’s reaction to not guilty verdict
15 Apr 2006
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Frank Jude Jr. is “devastated and disgusted” at the news that three former Milwaukee police officers were acquitted of charges of beating him in October 2004. Jude is currently at the Oshkosh Correctional Institution as a result of a parole violation following a physical altercation with his mother. His attorney [...]
Continue reading...Former Milwaukee police officers not guilty
14 Apr 2006
I just listened to the reading of the verdicts in the trial of the three former Milwaukee police officers charged with beating Frank Jude Jr in October 2004. On 4 of the 5 counts the defendants were charged with, the verdict was “not guilty”. The jury was hung on the last count. Daniel [...]
Continue reading...BOOK: The Snowball
12 Apr 2006
Enron was running at full tilt. Enron Global Power and Pipelines, a company formed to purchase assets from Enron, was doing bad deals. One of my favorite accounting problems was this company’s failure to immediately record expenses related to project bids they lost. Instead of booking the costs right away (as they [...]
Continue reading...BOOK: Enteron???
12 Apr 2006
Two existing companies came together to form the company that would later be known as Enron. The original companies were Houston Natural Gas (HNG) and InterNorth. The new company was called HNG/InterNorth, but constant power struggles between the two sides lead management to believe they needed one name to help unify the company. The [...]
Continue reading...Pen thief?
11 Apr 2006
Maruicio Aguirre-Orcutt is currently serving a 57 month sentence in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining a $4,200 pen. Over three years, Aguirre-Orcutt collected dozens of limited-edition fountain pens by telling people that the pens would be given to celebrities or political leaders. Pen collecting is a hobby in which collectors gather to show of their special [...]
Continue reading...Jeffrey Skilling declares his innocence
11 Apr 2006
The former president of Enron Corp, Jeffrey Skilling, has taken the witness stand in his own defense Monday. He said, “I am absolutely innocent.” His testimony included a narrative on the company’s growth and quality of employees, and he declared that he never told any subordinates to lie or manipulate the financial statements. Skilling is facing [...]
Continue reading...Ancient book may be covered in human skin
09 Apr 2006
From Yahoo and the Associated Press: LONDON - A 300-year-old book that appears to be bound in human skin has been found in northern England, police said Saturday.The macabre discovery was made on a central street in Leeds, and officers said the ledger may have been dumped following a burglary. Detectives were trying to trace its rightful [...]
Continue reading...- Is Shop to Earn a scam or a legitimate business?
- More on why ShopToEarn sucks (and so do MyPowerMall and TeamNational)
- MonaVie: Scam or not?
- Mary Kay Cosmetics: Destroying half a million women a year
- Primerica Financial Services a scam?
- Shop To Earn lawyer bullying bloggers
- The Pyramid Scheme aspect of Primerica Financial Services
- The Sarah Palin pregnancy cover-up that wasn't (updated)
- What does Dave Ramsey think about United First Financial
- A new pyramid scheme: United First Financial
- quixtarisacult: Dave… Obviously this IbendOverFORbuddies fellow can not...
- Teresa Botial: who cares if the customer likes the products and it fits their...
- quixtarisacult: Thomas… I am sure you are the kind of reader that Tracy...
- Tabitha: Pet owners are responsible for their pets, just like parents are...
- Duped: Thank you for researching Ms. Palin, a larger than life individual who...
- Thomas: A friend of mine recently got involved with UFF. He gave me a quick...
- David Brear: Since the original police investigation of Amway in Andhra...
- Tracy Coenen: Sorry, Charlie. You still don’t get it. All you have to...
- Mercedes: All I was saying Tracy (I think I understand your sarcasm) is that...
- Charlie: you know, I was following some of the links posted here and some of...
- Searching for Shop to Earn scam
- Debunking Sarah Palin rumors and lies
- Check out the pork in the bailout bill
- The $700 billion bailout should fail on its own merits
- Criminal charges against Amway in India
- The lure of multi-level marketing
- The UFF Money Merge Account money shuffle explained
- Mark Cuban’s idea on a private bailout of the financial sector
- Somebody please check Henry Paulson
- Bailout to include consumer debt?
About the Author
Tracy Coenen is a forensic accountant and fraud examiner who investigates white collar crimes, including cases of financial statement fraud, embezzlement, tax fraud, and insurance fraud. She is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud and more than 100 articles on fraud featured in industry publications.
19 Apr 2006
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