Year-end tax planning

The end of the year is fast approaching, and its’ a good time to remind everyone of a few basic things they ought to do before December 31. I appeared last year on CNBC’s On the Money to talk about my five best tips for taxpayers.

Video Professor doesn’t want you to know how their scam works

Have you seen the Video Professor on television? Nice infomercial type advertisements where you’re offered all sorts of computer software for free.. just pay shipping and handling.
If you’re like most people, you probably thought the company made its money on the shipping and handling fees. They gave out cheap CDs of software that cost them [...]

Grant Thornton to SEC: Overstock.com is lying

UPDATE: Overstock.com just issued a press release in which Patrick Byrne calls Grant Thornton a bunch of liars. Add them to his list of “miscreants.”
No longer can Patrick Byrne, wacky CEO of Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) claim that those pointing out his lies and materially misleading financial statements are just “miscreants,” operatives of an imaginary “Sith [...]

A review of Expert Fraud Investigation: A Step-by-Step Guide

My second book, Expert Fraud Investigation: A Step-by-Step Guide, was recently reviewed by my colleague Michael Goldman for The Value Examiner, the magazine published for the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts. It’s read by consultants who work in the areas of business and asset valuation, business fraud deterrence, detection, and investigation, litigation consulting, and [...]

Trouble keeping the books at TheStreet.com?

It’s interesting to note that TheStreet.com (NASDAQ:TSCM) is apparently having trouble keeping its books, especially since Jim Cramer is one who loves to rant about companies with shoddy bookkeeping. It’s troubling, of course, because Cramer suggests that you should sell the stocks of companies that don’t keep up with their regulatory filings, and TheStreet.com is [...]

FTC taking action against Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc.

Much to my surprise, the Federal Trade Commission appears to be taking action against Pre-Paid Legal Services (NYSE:PPD) for making misleading representations in connection with its Identity Theft Shield and Affirmative Defense Response System products.

Overstock.com: The circus continues

Sam Antar has often referred to Overstock.com and CEO Patrick Byrne as the gifts that keep on giving. And he sure is right! There is never a dull moment when it comes to wacky conspiracy theories and accounting woes that never end.
Last week, Overstock (NASDAQ:OSTK) announced that it wouldn’t be filing its 10-Q for the [...]

Overstock.com admits they’re clueless about the accounting rules

This week Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) notified the public that they wouldn’t file their third quarter 10-Q on time. The reason:
The registrant has been unable to complete its financial statements for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, as it is continuing to analyze the proper accounting treatment for $785,000 the registrant received during the first quarter of [...]

Consumers looking for the “good” MLM

Robert FitzPatrick of Pyramid Scheme Alert is bombarded every week by consumers who want to ask him, “What about this MLM?”
You see, the marketers of multi-level marketing companies have gotten very savvy. They know that plenty of us have figured out their con game. They now have consumers convinced that theirs is “one of the [...]

More lies about “job creation” with stimulus money

I wrote last week about my opinion of the fraud that is our federal government’s stimulus programs. Our government has a vested interest in making us think these programs are successful. How else can an agenda of “wealth redistribution” and socialism be promoted? They must have “success” on their side to justify continuing on this [...]

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