http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060527/unlicensed_financier.html?.v=2

News that makes you go Hmmmmm ... why didnt i get this idea earlier.. why care to do research when you can round up 1600 investors and manage to defraud them of 100,000 each.. who are these people anyway? is it really Mr Average Joe and Plane Jane who hand over coffers of dollar bills to somebody they dont even know? what were they thinking? Human stupidity and greed know no boundaries.

I guess next time someone promises returns in the range of 18 to 40% per year, be sceptical and run away.. certainly dont hand over your hard earned money in person in a las vegas convention hotel or other crappy venue.

i seem to hear about these type of frauds all the time.. and these guys seem to be running away with tons of money..

not seldomly these folks target folks who hide their money in offshore accounts. this way, i presume, the victims of these schemes are less likely to go to police and seek help.. after all they have been cheating on taxes with their offshore accounts..

in the press, Associated Press, et al only can write how a lifetime of savings disappeared, how this grandaughters downpayment for house didnt come true, how this grandchild,s endowment fund imploded.

steal from someone who shouldnt complain, and it takes 19 year for the theft to be uncovered.

Of course there are also some real victims among this mass. and there are some real winners. those who get paid from the investments stolen from others.

sad that we have to read all these lengthy court documents before we learn what the guy really did......

so 30 years prison for 150 million stolen.. how much should the enron gang get?