When we think of crime the movies scarface, blow and the godfather come to mind. Drugs, violence and murder are ten times more likely to be on the news than white collar crime; yet white collar crime statistically is more common than violent crimes. Petty crimes such as credit card fraud are a hassle and cause some personal stress. But what about larger crimes like “Florida Ponzi Scheme”? These people lost their retirement money thinking they were gaining much more in return. Besides theses retirees being easy targets, many people are not informed about the financial world and will make poor judgment on managing their money. If white collar crime is more common then why are people not more aware of it and taught how to avoid being a victim to white collar crime. The new stations like CNN make more profit off violent crimes than white collar. If the victims of the Florida Ponzi Scheme knew more about finances and sought seconds opinions would yet still have been victims?
This is amazing to me how people continue to fall for the outrageous numbers that people "say" they can put up for you in an investment. These two guys made a short run in their white collar crime ring and it sounds like they got quite a bit of "fools" to fall for their plan. One of the biggest things that SHOULD HAVE BEEN A KEY IDENTIFIER was the fact that they claimed they could get a 124:1 turnaround on an investment!!! Hahaha... That is absolutely absurd I cant believe that one company in the DOW has even close to those returns with the economy in the status she's sitting in today. The Brokers that fell for this as well.... Well that kinda just say's something about investing with them now doesn't it??
Before taking White Collar Crime, I never really even thought about the different crimes that occur besides murder, rape, theft, etc. The fact that Risher and Sebastian cheated TEACHERS and the elderly out of $22 million is absolutely ridiculous and most definitely considered a crime. It is true that maybe people should be smarter with who they trust and yada yada yada but the article makes a very good point that these men weren't targeting younger individuals that "should know better", but were targeting clients between the ages of 65 and 90, clearly a more vulnerable group that were more likely to put trust in these guys. I definitely believe that these men deserve a harsh sentence for what they did, even though that is highly unlikely considering our system hardly recognizes the damage white collar criminals cause, nor hold them accountable for their actions.
People are dumb. I think that is 150 words enough! You always see things on the news about people scamming other people out of their money and you would think the elder people are harder to convince since they have lived through a lot of crime and could experience scamming, you would also think that they were a little more controlling of their money. But obviously I am wrong. How does someone have the conscience to rip off teachers and old people? REALLY? And then to trust an ex-criminal. I am sorry but I can usually see a "bad apple" on a first glance. These guys must have been good to obviously do this but just dumb for getting caught. I hope they serve a lot of time in jail and hope their cell mates are over the age of 65 so that way these guys could "maybe" feel guilty about their actions or better yet have their grandparents visit them. LOL :)
Priceless!! You couldn’t have selected a better photo to accompany this article. Their avarice got the better of them in this situation, as it does in most cases. This was the reverse of “Taking Candy from a Baby”. These guys weren’t even trying to be slick about this, they were total buffoons. Charles Ponzi, for whom the term “Ponzi scheme” was named, set it up by paying early investors out of the funds from later investors. He promised a 50% profit within 45days or 100% profit within 90 days, thereby allowing him enough time to purchase discounted postal coupons in other countries and redeeming them at face value in the United States. Their targeted investors would prove to be no match for the witless Sebastian and Risher as they maneuvered through the steps of their treasure building. The elderly need an advocate to ensure their assets against falling prey to players like this, they have worked too hard and deserve to be able to retire and enjoy their golden years. I am glad they got caught and charges levied against them so heavily. I love it when justice can be served.
Yikes! How could someone knowingly harden their heart and go after someone who obviously can not work to regain any money that they might loose in an investment? That is just rough! The names of the private funds does make me laugh a bit though. It never ceases to amazing me how a bunch of reassurances can convince someone to willingly hand over their money to you."That they would never lose their principal investments in the fund." Wow, bold faced lies. People are loosing all forms of a conscience. The results are very frightening and disheartening. Where should we draw the line on being able to trust people verses not trusting anyone? This is a question that we will be facing as these situations continue to grow and become more numerous.
When we think of crime the movies scarface, blow and the godfather come to mind. Drugs, violence and murder are ten times more likely to be on the news than white collar crime; yet white collar crime statistically is more common than violent crimes. Petty crimes such as credit card fraud are a hassle and cause some personal stress. But what about larger crimes like “Florida Ponzi Scheme”? These people lost their retirement money thinking they were gaining much more in return. Besides theses retirees being easy targets, many people are not informed about the financial world and will make poor judgment on managing their money. If white collar crime is more common then why are people not more aware of it and taught how to avoid being a victim to white collar crime. The new stations like CNN make more profit off violent crimes than white collar. If the victims of the Florida Ponzi Scheme knew more about finances and sought seconds opinions would yet still have been victims?
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing to me how people continue to fall for the outrageous numbers that people "say" they can put up for you in an investment. These two guys made a short run in their white collar crime ring and it sounds like they got quite a bit of "fools" to fall for their plan. One of the biggest things that SHOULD HAVE BEEN A KEY IDENTIFIER was the fact that they claimed they could get a 124:1 turnaround on an investment!!! Hahaha... That is absolutely absurd I cant believe that one company in the DOW has even close to those returns with the economy in the status she's sitting in today. The Brokers that fell for this as well.... Well that kinda just say's something about investing with them now doesn't it??
ReplyDeleteBefore taking White Collar Crime, I never really even thought about the different crimes that occur besides murder, rape, theft, etc. The fact that Risher and Sebastian cheated TEACHERS and the elderly out of $22 million is absolutely ridiculous and most definitely considered a crime. It is true that maybe people should be smarter with who they trust and yada yada yada but the article makes a very good point that these men weren't targeting younger individuals that "should know better", but were targeting clients between the ages of 65 and 90, clearly a more vulnerable group that were more likely to put trust in these guys. I definitely believe that these men deserve a harsh sentence for what they did, even though that is highly unlikely considering our system hardly recognizes the damage white collar criminals cause, nor hold them accountable for their actions.
ReplyDeletePeople are dumb. I think that is 150 words enough! You always see things on the news about people scamming other people out of their money and you would think the elder people are harder to convince since they have lived through a lot of crime and could experience scamming, you would also think that they were a little more controlling of their money. But obviously I am wrong. How does someone have the conscience to rip off teachers and old people? REALLY? And then to trust an ex-criminal. I am sorry but I can usually see a "bad apple" on a first glance. These guys must have been good to obviously do this but just dumb for getting caught. I hope they serve a lot of time in jail and hope their cell mates are over the age of 65 so that way these guys could "maybe" feel guilty about their actions or better yet have their grandparents visit them. LOL :)
ReplyDeletePriceless!! You couldn’t have selected a better photo to accompany this article. Their avarice got the better of them in this situation, as it does in most cases. This was the reverse of “Taking Candy from a Baby”. These guys weren’t even trying to be slick about this, they were total buffoons. Charles Ponzi, for whom the term “Ponzi scheme” was named, set it up by paying early investors out of the funds from later investors. He promised a 50% profit within 45days or 100% profit within 90 days, thereby allowing him enough time to purchase discounted postal coupons in other countries and redeeming them at face value in the United States. Their targeted investors would prove to be no match for the witless Sebastian and Risher as they maneuvered through the steps of their treasure building. The elderly need an advocate to ensure their assets against falling prey to players like this, they have worked too hard and deserve to be able to retire and enjoy their golden years. I am glad they got caught and charges levied against them so heavily. I love it when justice can be served.
ReplyDeleteYikes! How could someone knowingly harden their heart and go after someone who obviously can not work to regain any money that they might loose in an investment? That is just rough! The names of the private funds does make me laugh a bit though. It never ceases to amazing me how a bunch of reassurances can convince someone to willingly hand over their money to you."That they would never lose their principal investments in the fund." Wow, bold faced lies. People are loosing all forms of a conscience. The results are very frightening and disheartening. Where should we draw the line on being able to trust people verses not trusting anyone? This is a question that we will be facing as these situations continue to grow and become more numerous.
ReplyDelete