Earlier this week I showed you how Fortune Hi Tech Marketing appears to be a pyramid scheme, rather than a legitimate “direct sales” company or multi-level marketing opportunity. Today we are taking a look at the recruiting aspect, which is […]
Cary Spivak – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Forensic accountant Tracy Coenen has been dismissed from a $270 million defamation lawsuit filed against her, convicted fraudster Barry Minkow and others. Coenen hails her victory on her Fraud Files blog. Minkow, you may […]
More than a year ago, Medifast Inc. (NYSE:MED) sued me, my company Sequence Inc, Barry Minkow, his company Fraud Discovery Institute, Robert FitzPatrick, William Lobdell, and an anonymous message board poster for defamation. Barry Minkow and FDI initiated an investigation […]
Fortune Hi Tech Marketing is one of hundreds of multilevel marketing companies that operate in the U.S through a combination of clever lawyering (“Let me show you how to set up your MLM so it appears to abide by the […]
In February, I wrote about China MediaExpress Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:CCME) and several fraud allegations that had surfaced via researchers at Muddy Waters and Citron Research. After looking at the allegations and the support (or lack thereof), my conclusion was that […]
Cary Spivak – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Ex-con Barry Minkow who in recent years billed himself as a fraud buster may be heading back to prison. Minkow was charged with conspiracy today. Earlier the Wall Street Journal reported the one-time teenage […]
By Robert FitzPatrick of Pyramid Scheme Alert Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in the province of Manitoba in central Canada have brought criminal fraud charges against a multi-level marketing company that had been large, very visible and quite popular in […]
My original article on Nova Benefit Plans and the IRS’s actions relating to welfare benefit plans it believes are abusive was posted on March 14, 2011. On April 14, 2011, I was contacted by a lawyer representing Dan Carpenter in […]
UPDATE: In March 2011, CFO Jacky Lam of China Media Express and the auditors (Deloitte) resigned. Deloitte said they could no longer rely on the representations of management, and they suggested an investigation was in order. Ping Luo, the analyst […]
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is aimed at preventing bribery of foreign officials. One key part of the FCPA is the books and records provision, which includes the following from 15 U.S.C. § 78m: (2) Every issuer which has […]
