Month: January 2008

Will it ever stop at Overstock.com?

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To hear Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) CEO Patrick Byrne tell it, everyone is gunning for them. The company is fantastic. Patrick is fantastic. Everything is above board and everyone is forthcoming with everything.

However, another issue has come up. It’s now clear that there were shenanigans with the resignation of President Jason Lindsey and the statements made and documents filed in the days around the resignation.

Sam Antar has discovered proof that Jason Lindsey’s resignation from Overstock.com was backdated.

Here’ the 8-K that Overstock.com filed on January 2, 2008 with the SEC (click on it to see it full-size):

Read moreWill it ever stop at Overstock.com?

SEC Drops Informal Investigation into Usana Health Sciences

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Last week the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) informed Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ: USNA) that it was closing its informal investigation into the company and taking no further action at this time. The pro-MLM camp has trumpeted this as a complete victory for Usana, proclaiming that the SEC basically said their business structure was completely legal and all was rosy at the company.

What does the letter from the SEC to Usana really mean? It means that the SEC is closing their investigation for now. Nothing more, and nothing less.

Read moreSEC Drops Informal Investigation into Usana Health Sciences

More on the auditor change at Catapult

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Last week I wrote about Catapult Communications (NASDAQ: CATT) switching from Deloitte & Touche to a much smaller local firm, in a post called Big Four = Big Fees. In that post I referenced the CFO.com article from which I got my information. The article focused on the difference in fees between the firms: $985,000 … Read more More on the auditor change at Catapult

Pyramid Scheme Alert Reflects on 2007

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Multi-level marketing will go down in history as one of the great frauds of our times. It deceptively wraps its harmful scam with the real needs and desires of people today – additional income, stay home with the family, independence, entrepreneurship, high income without high investment or training, and a group that will help you succeed. MLM is an Enron story, glossy and exciting to those who invest. But in the end, it causes massive harm, employs sophisticated deception, and it is corrupting our government.

MLM is an American-based “sales ” scam, and has spread to more than 70 other countries, just as Nigeria has spread its famous “bank account” scam worldwide.

Read morePyramid Scheme Alert Reflects on 2007

Usana executives aren’t the only ones lying about their credentials

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See! Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ: USNA) CFO Gill Fuller was right when he said that everyone was lying about their credentials (including him!).

The CEO of CellCyte (Public, OTC:CCYG) was recently busted for embellishing his resume, and the stockholders have paid dearly. Gary Reys, the co-founder and CEO of CellCyte Genetics was busted by The Seattle Times, who challenged the accuracy of statements in his biography on the company website.

The original biography on the website says, in part:

Read moreUsana executives aren’t the only ones lying about their credentials

Test Your Scam Alert Skills

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The Colorado Division of Securities has a little quiz to help you see if you know anything about investment fraud, or if you’re a scam victim waiting to be taken advantage of. In addition to the quiz which helps you see if you can spot an investment scam, there’s also a checklist to help you evaluate these investment “opportunities” in the future.

The checklist and my comments:

Read moreTest Your Scam Alert Skills

New site ranking tool takes on Google

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Bloggers have been infuriated by Google’s changes to their PageRank system. In particular, Google is not ranking blogs and sites that participate in PayPerPost. Some site owners depend upon their page rank for advertising revenue… that is, some advertisers rely heavily on page rank, and if a site does not have one, they’re less likely … Read more New site ranking tool takes on Google

40 days of Frivolous Tax Arguments: Federal Reserve Notes are not income

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Here the jokers are saying that our money isn’t legit, so it’s not really money, so it can’t be taxed. Really? Well I wonder what they do when they go to the grocery store? Do they use *gasp* money???? The truth is that Congress can call something money if they want to. The Constitution says … Read more 40 days of Frivolous Tax Arguments: Federal Reserve Notes are not income

Book Publishing: Essentials of Corporate Fraud is done!

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It’s official! My first book, Essentials of Corporate Fraud is done. It is on its way to the printer, to be ready for shipment by March 14, if not sooner.

The hard work was in writing it, the stuff that came after that was a relative breeze. Although when people ask me if it was hard to write, the honest answer is no. It really wasn’t hard to write because the book is full of the core fraud prevention and detection material that I teach about and write about all the time. So it was more a matter of finding the time to sit down and do the writing.

Read moreBook Publishing: Essentials of Corporate Fraud is done!

40 days of Frivolous Tax Arguments: Only foreign-source income is taxable.

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The argument that there is no law that allows the government to impose a tax on income from within the United States is plain wrong. The tax rules say that all people in the United States, have to pay tax on income inside and outside the United States. There are provisions to prevent double taxation, … Read more 40 days of Frivolous Tax Arguments: Only foreign-source income is taxable.