Archive | Apr 2008
Manipulation of earnings in Overstock.com press release (Are you surprised?)
Today convicted felon Sam Antar has an exciting piece on his blog about Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) and how it fudged its earnings figures in Friday’s press release, caused a short squeeze right before options expired, and continued on Patrick Byrne’s path of misleading investors. It all began with a press release reporting 2008 earnings, saying that total [...]
Continue reading...Usana’s secret new product
20 Apr 2008
Usana Health Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:USNA) is preparing for a big launch of a new product at this year’s convention, and I thought I’d give you a sneak peek at what it is. The new product is an energy drink. Apparently, studies by Usana show that you could get a bigger kick from a cup of coffee, [...]
Continue reading...Getting dressed up to go to Wal-Mart
20 Apr 2008
Compliments of Dvorak Uncensored:
Continue reading...Milwaukee teachers crying about having to teach children to read
20 Apr 2008
Today the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran a typical story about the poor teachers and the poor students in Milwaukee. How dare they be required to teach things like reading and mathematics, and how dare the students actually be tested to see if they’ve learned these skills! The story reports on a meeting of 100 Milwaukee Public [...]
Continue reading...Alexa ranking system changed
17 Apr 2008
Today Alexa has announced that it has made big changes to the algorithm it uses to rank websites. I don’t know if this is good news, bad news, or simply neutral. Most people have known for a long time that Alexa rankings are practically worthless. In spite of that, many advertising services do rely on [...]
Continue reading...Creating a fraudulent criminal history
16 Apr 2008
I’ve heard of plenty of people fabricating their pasts in order to make themselves look better. Fake degrees, false work histories, and phony certifications aren’t all that uncommon these days. Changing one’s name or otherwise trying to hide one’s criminal past isn’t out of the question today either. But fabricating your past by creating a fraudulent [...]
Continue reading...A bit of irony from Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com
16 Apr 2008
Recently a countersuit was filed by Gradient Analytics against Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) and Patrick Byrne, claiming that the company and Byrne engaged in a smear campaign after negative reports on Overstock were issued by Gradient. The suit includes allegations that Overstock and Byrne committed acts of defamation, tortuous interference with prospective business relations, and unfair business [...]
Continue reading...City of Milwaukee buys silence of soon-to-be former employee for $30k - What are they hiding?
15 Apr 2008
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that Dr. Vivian Chen, second in command at the Health Department is being fired. But she’s being given about $30k to keep quiet. About what? Chen worked until February 1, 2008, but will be considered an employee until May 8, 2008, giving her extra pension credits. This date of May [...]
Continue reading...MPS student enrollment will decline, budget will grow (Surprise!)
15 Apr 2008
Of course no one is surprised by this. Milwaukee Public Schools, one of the worst and most wasteful school districts in the United States will have a decline in enrollment, but has proposed an increased budget. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that enrollment will decline next school year by 4.7%. Yet the budget for MPS is [...]
Continue reading...Timmay as Fraudbuster?
14 Apr 2008
Penny stock trader, author, entrepreneur Timothy Sykes (aka Timmay) has put on his little detective hat and found a fraud in progress. Being promoted by none other than CNBC “reporter” Sri Jegarajah. Timmay makes an excellent point…. Networks like CNBC aren’t about serious news or reporting. They’re about entertainment and advertising dollars. And by not being [...]
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
- The Sarah Palin pregnancy cover-up that wasn't (updated)
- Why can't I pee on my neighbor's lawn?
- $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.
21 Apr 2008
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