Archive | Oct 2007
How the Modern Pyramid Scheme Stays Barely Legal
Modern pyramid schemes hide behind names like multi-level marketing and network marketing. How do they stay legal? By hiding behind a “product” or “service,” that is usually nothing more than overpriced junk. They’re not selling the product or service, they’re really selling the recruiting opportunity. read more | digg story
Continue reading...Siemens bribery investigation ends with a fine
05 Oct 2007
The investigation into bribery allegations at Siemens AG ends with a fine and a charge for illegal profits. The company is paying the equivalent of $284 million in a case that prosecutors have referred to as Europe’s largest bribery investigation ever. This part of the investigation is related to the company’s telecommunications-equipment unit. A former manager [...]
Continue reading...New charges against Terry Gaouette regarding Milwaukee Public Museum
04 Oct 2007
Today, two new charges were filed against the former CFO of the Milwaukee Public Museum. Terry Gaouette was originally charged with four felonies, including one count of theft by officer and three counts of fraudulent writings. The new misdemeanor charges relate to making false or fraudulent reports as a certified public accountant. The criminal charges came [...]
Continue reading...Bank of America cheating 80-year-old woman out of her money
03 Oct 2007
When I first saw headlines about this case, I was sure there must be a whole lot to the story and that the bank would have laws and documentation on their side. Wrong! Below is a narrative written by Greg Miller, the son of Bette Miller, the woman being fleeced. He wrote the narrative for [...]
Continue reading...Smearing Rush Limbaugh
03 Oct 2007
What’s the easiest way to smear someone like Rush Limbaugh? Lie and misrepresent. Take his words out of context. Don’t give anyone the context. And they just might believe you. (Especially if you do this lie and misrepresent thing over and over.) The facts: On September 26, Rush Limbaugh made a comment about “phony soldiers,” in [...]
Continue reading...Morgan Stanley fined for faking lost emails due to September 11
02 Oct 2007
Morgan Stanley will pay a $12.5 million fine to settle claims that the company improperly withheld emails in arbitration cases by saying that they were lost in the September 11 attacks. 12 of the company’s email servers in New York were destroyed in the attacks, but data was also stored on networks and personal [...]
Continue reading...Larger student loans a concern for U.S. economy?
01 Oct 2007
Experts are concerned by the growing level of student loan debt, and its potential impact on our future economy. Especially concerning are the “private loans” students use for college, which can have variable interest rates as high as 20%. These differ from traditional “student loans” which are backed by the federal government and have controlled [...]
Continue reading...- A new pyramid scheme: United First Financial
- Mary Kay Cosmetics: Destroying half a million women a year
- Ufirst Money Merge Account: Resistance is futile
- Vendor talks, Usana squawks
- United First Financial agent compensation plan
- Why can't I pee on my neighbor's lawn?
- The Sarah Palin pregnancy cover-up that wasn't (updated)
- $3,500 wasted with United First Financial, per Dave Ramsey
- What does Dave Ramsey think about United First Financial
- Searching for Shop to Earn scam
- Tracy Coenen: Detecting fraud is not an objective of audits. In fact, the...
- Craig Hansen: Joe beat me to it. If you really can cut your mortgage from 24...
- JoeTaxpayer: How’s that? Without even looking at a calculator, I can...
- Charles: Tracy - detecting fraud is one objective of an audit. I agree it is...
- Howard: You have no idea what u are talking about. I signed up for UFF and...
- Tracy Coenen: Charles - You may not go so far as to say that, but I will and...
- Charles: Tracy - I would not go as far as saying audits do “little to...
- Tracy Coenen: Here’s a good sample engagement letter:...
- Tracy Coenen: Thanks for your insightful comments Charles. The peer reviews...
- Tracy Coenen: No, they are not. I will post a letter or two.
- Planned Parenthood violating Indiana’s sexual abuse laws
- More public company executives with falsified credentials
- MPS spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on consultants who will tell them they suck
- Milwaukee Public Schools wasteful spending exposed
- The Overstock.com train wreck continues
- United First Financial broker numbers and earnings
- No Surprise: The “bailout bill” is falling apart
- More gifts from the government for the financially irresponsible
- Credit card company bailout next?
- Election fraud and the future of America
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.
06 Oct 2007
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