The Ponz is everywhere! Seriously, was anyone doing any real investing over the past several years? John M. Donnelly of Charlottesville, Virginia, was arrested earlier this week and “indicted for fraudulently taking at least $11 million from as many as 31 investors in an alleged Ponzi scheme,” says their local paper the Hook. He was promising investors returns of up to 22% annually, but naturally had failed to make any investments with his clients’ money since 2002. One anonymous person—who may or may not have been a client, we don’t know—told the paper, “I visited his office once. He had a bunch of computers. It seemed like a very sophisticated operation.”
Government Policy
By 3.12.09
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Our food safety problems have been solved! [The Onion]
SEC Orders Cali Ponzi Scheme To "Disgorge" "Ill-Gotten Gains"
By 3.12.09
The SEC has busted another Ponzi scheme and ordered its operators to “disgorge their ill-gotten gains.” In this one, Anthony Vassallo of “Equity Investment Management and Trading” recruited investors through his church by saying he had a computer program that would guarantee a 3.5% return on stocks. Eventually he stopped trading and paid off investors using other investor’s money, while shoveling the rest of the funds into other schemes and scams. Vassallo was eventually busted when his investors ganged up on him and said his reports were phony-baloney.
Madoff Pleads Guilty, Could Get 150 Years
By 3.12.09
Well, it’s official. Bernie Madoff has plead guilty to 11 counts of fraud, money laundering, perjury and theft. The maximum amount of prison time for these crimes is 150 years.
By 3.11.09
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Missouri’s Attorney General has won a $300,000 judgment against a telemarketer that violated the state’s do-not-call list. It is the third-largest award so far.
Man Sues American Airlines For Revoking Lifetime Pass
By 3.11.09
A man who paid nearly $400,000 in the late 80s for two lifetime passes from American Airlines is now suing the company, claiming they illegally revoked the passes after a supposed rule violation. The passes allowed him and a companion to travel anywhere they wanted in first class for the rest of his life, but AA canceled them after claiming he made “‘speculative reservations’ for companions.”
Evil, Evil Person Steals $800 From Cookie-Selling Girl Scouts
By 3.11.09
The news just keeps getting worse for the Girl Scouts. First some jerk started paying for cookies with fake money — now some guy in a ski mask robbed some Girl Scouts who were selling cookies outside of a grocery store in Alaska.
Yale Student Files $1 Million Lawsuit After US Airways "Loses" His XBOX
By 3.11.09
A 21-year-old film studies major at Yale University is really annoyed that his XBOX 360 went missing from his luggage on a US Airways flight, so he decided to sue them. For a million dollars.
Scrizzle: New Homeowners Can Get Up To $8000
By 3.11.09
First-time home buyers can get a tax credit of up to $8,000 thanks to the stimulus bill Obama signed back in February. You qualify if you bought between April 9, 2008, and November 30, 2009. To get the credit, use IRS Form 5405, “First-Time Homebuyer Credit.” Since house prices are going down, the credit isn’t anything to go and sign for a new crib this afternoon. But if you already got a home or were planning to, it’s extra jingle in your coin-purse.
Help! This Email Says Various Cold Medicines Will Kill Me!
By 3.10.09
A friend of ours recently got an email forward about the cold medicine ingredient phenylpropanolamine (and its unpleasant tendency to increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke in women), so she sent it to us for a little “mythbusting.” The email (and its accompanying list of cold medicines and weight loss aids) is alarming, but outdated.
By 3.10.09
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Don’t eat Queso Fresco Fresh Cheese Mexican style soft cheese and Queso Cotija Molido Mexican style grated cheese manufactured and distributed by Peregrina Cheese Corp. It might be full of Listeria monocytogenes, which can cause severe headaches, nausea, diarrhea, or miscarriages.
By 3.10.09
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The Caylee Anthony “tribute” dolls are back up for sale, according to the company’s “tribute” website. So far, we can’t find a way to actually buy them. We’re loaded up with “Caylee Sunshine” bracelets and tees, however. That should creep out all the parents in Park Slope. [CayleeDoll.com] (Thanks to Craig!)
By 3.9.09
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Worried about toxic makeup? The Environmental Working Group has a database with safety ratings on more than 25,000 personal-care products. [Skin Deep]
Toys R Us Bathroom Stall Falls On Child Safety Advocate
By 3.9.09
In 2006, Jennifer—the co-founder of popular parenting/consumer advocacy site Z Recommends—took her two-and-a-half-year-old to the bathroom at the local Toys R Us store. What she didn’t know was that this particular store featured the awesome striking power of the Action Toilet Stall with Collapsible Mom Trap! As she closed the door, the entire partition fell over on top of her and her daughter. Jennifer managed to protect her daughter from harm, but in the two years since the event, she’s developed chronic pain from the accident—and the response from Toys R Us has been “don’t call us, we’ll call you.”
IRS Fires Private Debt Collectors, Plans To Pursue Deadbeats On Its Own
By 3.7.09
The IRS has ended a controversial program that allowed private debt collectors to pursue individual debts owed to the government. The private debt collectors, described as “bounty hunters who collect taxes from vulnerable people for profit,” were allowed to keep 25% of any collected debts for themselves. Before we celebrate, let’s all take a moment to join Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa in thinking about those poor private debt collectors who no longer have jobs harassing and abusing people…
Beat An IRS Audit
By 3.6.09
Like a worst-case-scenario guide for taxes, tax attorney Fred Daly‘s Stand Up To The IRS helps you prepare for an IRS audit. Best of all, he’s released all the chapters online for free.
NYC Police Commish Says TD Bank Is Too Easy To Rob
By 3.6.09
The NYC police commissioner, Ray Kelly, is super annoyed at TD Bank because he says they’re just too easy to rob. In one example of this phenomenon, a robber was thwarted by three Chase branches before successfully robbing a TD Bank. And get this, 17% of this New York City’s bank robberies occurred at TD Bank branches.
