Last week, Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute announced that James Peterson, the CEO of Microsemi Corp (NASDAQ:MSCC) had neither the bachelor’s degree nor the master’s degree he claimed in numerous SEC filings.
That revelation was followed with more lies by Peterson, as well as a statement by Microsemi’s board of directors that they did not care if Peterson lied.
Corporate Governance 101: You need ethical people running your company. And that means ethical in all regards. Microsemi Corp. (NASDAQ:MSCC) doesn’t think honest executives are necessary.
On Wednesday, news stories broke about the fact that James J. Peterson, CEO of Microsemi lied about his credentials. Specifically, Peterson claimed he had a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s of business administration, both from Brigham Young University. The school has confirmed that Peterson did take classes from 1978 to 1980, but he never received either degree.
Read moreJames Peterson expands the lie; Microsemi board doesn’t care
From the Wall Street Journal:
The University of California, Irvine, says a Broadcom Corp. [NASDAQ:BRCM] executive didn’t earn two academic degrees listed in his corporate biography.
Read moreMore public company executives with falsified credentials
Utah Business magazine should be ashamed of itself. Its first ever “CFO of the Year” award went to Gil Fuller, the CFO of Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) who lied about being a CPA. The lies were repeated over and over in SEC filings until Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute revealed that in fact, Fuller was not a licensed CPA as he had represented.
Details about the award were reported in a Usana press release:
Another top executive is caught lying about his credentials, but we’re supposed to think it’s no big deal. First it was Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) board member Denis Waitley lying about his college degrees. Then it was Usana CFO Gil Fuller lying about being a CPA. Then it was Usana exeuctive Timothy Wood lying about his college degree.
Now it’s the Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) president, Gregory Probert, lying about having an MBA from Cal State. But in typical multi-level marketing company (product-based pyramid scheme) fashion, you are urged to “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain,” in Wizard of Oz fashion.
As reported in today’s Wall Street Journal, the MBA degree was listed in at least 19 Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Probert’s excuse? Vanity. (No, we call that fraud, not vanity.) According to the article:
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
A public company which shall remain nameless is currently searching for new independent auditors. Is your auditing firm interested? Here are some notable facts about the company. Please email me if you’d like information on this new potential client!!!
This public company boasts that it is a leader in its industry, and has had 19 consecutive quarters of record earnings.
Additional details about this fabulous auditing client opportunity:
Okay, this commentary is just silly. Integrity at Usana Health Sciences is non-existent. At the very least, the executives and board members lie about their credentials. Then we have the information that is never provided to distributors/recruits and investing community. At the worst, this rises to the level of fraud in a public company.
Here are an analyst’s comments:
Did you think I meant today’s earnings conference call? Well that deception will be discussed later.
Today I am pointing out the lack of a PhD on the part of Denis Waitley. The Wall Street Journal broke the story today:
Usana Health Sciences Inc., a multilevel marketer of vitamins and mineral supplements, says it has been unable to confirm that one of its directors, Denis Waitley, received a doctoral degree that he had claimed.
In a stunning release of previously undisclosed information, the ]Fraud Discovery Institute (FDI) released today documented evidence that the entire Usana Health Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:USNA) Medical Advisory Board secretly owns large independent Usana multi-level marketing distributorships.
“The company presents their advisory board as an independent medical body of experts that have affirmed the quality and effectiveness of Usana products. But the reality is that the entire board have vested financial interests in Usana’s success as multi-level marketing distributorships,” said Barry Minkow.