Sequence Inc. Fraud Files Blog

Scam Busting: Charles Ponzi and the early days of his pyramid scheme

21 Sep 2006

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Charles Ponzi was born Carlo Ponzi, the only child of a family that lived comfortably in Italy. Although they had a comfortable life, they never lived up to the affluence Ponzi later bragged about. His family did have enough to send him to college, but he squandered the money and never received a [...]

Barry Minkow on CBS’s 60 Minutes

20 Sep 2006

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A few weeks ago, famed fraudster Barry Minkow was on 60 Minutes on CBS. Barry was a mere 22 years old when he was sent to prison for 57 counts of fraud, convicted of defrauding banks and investors with his company ZZZZ Best Carpet cleaning. At age 20, ZZZZ Best was a $300 million [...]

Dog the Bounty Hunter arrested

19 Sep 2006

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Famed bounty hunter Duane “Dog” Chapman was arrested last week on federal charges of illegal detention and conspiracy in an alleged kidnapping three years ago. Also arrested were his son Leland Chapman and his brother Tim Chapman. The Chapmans are well-known for their A&E show, “Dog the Bounty Hunter“. The arrest is related to [...]

The Carnival of Fraud is back for another week!

18 Sep 2006

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Welcome to this week’s Carnival of Fraud, the place for the discussion of all things scammy, criminal, and fraudulent. The state of violent crime in Milwaukee, unfortunately, has gotten very scary. But our elected officials don’t think that we have a violent crime crisis on our hands. And our criminal justice system doesn’t [...]

The Carnival of Business is here!

18 Sep 2006

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Welcome to this week’s Carnival of Business. Hopefully, you’re viewing this entry in your Firefox browser. Businesses are always looking for ways to improve: how to have purpose, how to be more profitable, how to be better corporate citizens, and how to stay in contact with customers. Philanthropy is one way for companies to be more [...]

Agreement between Ken Lay’s Estate and Department of Labor

17 Sep 2006

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The Department of Labor reached a settlement with the estate of Kenneth Lay, former Enron executive. Lay was convicted on fraud and conspiracy charges earlier this year, and died on July 5th. The settlement gives DOL a $12 million claim against Lay’s estate on behalf of participants in Enron’s pension plans. The actual amount [...]

Scam Busting: Business opportunities that appeal to women

16 Sep 2006

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In my investigation of pyramid schemes and business opportunities, I had one particular interest. That interest was multi-level marketing (MLM) companies that sell skin care and cosmetics. These companies naturally appeal to women more so than to men. Quite a few years ago, I became involved in one of the most well-known cosmetic MLMs, [...]

Reggie Bush accused of accepting substantial gifts while in college

15 Sep 2006

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Yahoo! Sports writers Charles Robinson and Jason Cole have been investigating Heisman Trophy-winning running back Reggie Bush and the allegations that he received improper financial benefits from sports agents while still in college. In the article entitled Cash and Carry, the writers detail the gifts (money and otherwise) that Bush and his family [...]

This week’s Carnival of the Badger

14 Sep 2006

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This week I participated in the 2,996 Tribute, to honor the 2,996 victims of 9/11 with one tribute per blogger. Please read my tribute to John Patrick Tierney. The focus for this week’s carnival seems to either politics or crime and punishment. We start off with a post about George Bush cutting funding for [...]

Tyco owes IRS $50 million in back taxes

14 Sep 2006

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Tyco International Ltd. still owes the Internal Revenue Service $50 million in income taxes related to capital gains that were not reported in its 1999 federal tax return. The company’s former vice president of taxation, Raymond Scott Stevenson has been charged with filing a false corporate tax return, which underreported capital gains by $170 million. The [...]

Archive | Sep 2006

Scam Busting: Charles Ponzi and the early days of his pyramid scheme

Barry Minkow on CBS’s 60 Minutes

Dog the Bounty Hunter arrested

The Carnival of Fraud is back for another week!

The Carnival of Business is here!

Agreement between Ken Lay’s Estate and Department of Labor

Scam Busting: Business opportunities that appeal to women

Reggie Bush accused of accepting substantial gifts while in college

This week’s Carnival of the Badger

Tyco owes IRS $50 million in back taxes

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