By Robert FitzPatrick of Pyramid Scheme Alert In a feature report, a major metropolitan newspaper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, examined the MLM scheme, Stream Energy/Ignite, focusing on the question of whether the company is operating a disguised pyramid scheme. Stream is […]
Bruce Carton of Securities Docket wrote a very interesting article called Who’s Checking Your Channel? The article highlights the practice of “channel checking” which has been something investment analysts have done for a long time. Now it appears that our […]
Written by Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, CFF Starting Dec. 1, there was a significant change to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for expert witness reports. With this change, Rule 26 dictates that the draft reports of experts will no […]
UPDATE: On February 17, 2010, Medifast Inc. filed suit in US District Court, Southern District of California, alleging defamation, violation of California Corporations Code, and unfair business practices. On March 29, 2011, Judge Janis Sammartino dismissed all of Medifast’s claims […]
On December 15, I am doing a webcast for Securities Docket. Sign up here. Financial investigations with high volumes of documentation are difficult, time-consuming, and not always effective. Traditional forensic accounting techniques rely primarily on a manual analysis of the […]
I read a very interesting article yesterday on NYTimes.com, by John Kinnucan of Broadband Research. The FBI “invited” him to wear a wire and essentially entrap clients. He said no, and he told his clients about the FBI’s request. Of […]
I’ve recently been looking more closely at the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) as I consider the types of services companies will need from independent forensic accountants. This is an area in which government enforcement is skyrocketing, and so there […]
From Pyramid Scheme Alert newsletter, by Robert FitzPatrick The largest of all multi-level marketing companies, Amway, just agreed to pay $150 million in restitution and reform to settle consumer charges of fraud. The heart of the consumers’ complaints is that […]
Yesterday’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had an article on the concept of merit pay for teachers. The idea has been floated many times, but not tried very often. Teachers are against it for the most part. Wouldn’t you be? Why give […]
Yesterday, Sue Sachdeva was sentenced to 11 years in prison for her $34 million theft from her employer, Koss Corp. I predicted a little slap on the wrist of 5 to 7 years, so she got two little slaps instead. […]
