by Brian Mahany American ingenuity – it can be used for good purposes or evil. Frederic Gladle of Austin, Texas is behind bars tonight because he chose the latter. The story of his crime is quite fascinating. Everyone knows someone who has lost their home to a foreclosure or is dangerously close to one. The […]
Stockbroker Arrested After Elder Fraud, Stealing From Church
by Brian Mahany There are bad stockbrokers who always seem to lose money and then there are BAD stockbrokers – those that are nothing more than common thieves. According to an article in InvestmentNews, one of those really bad brokers was charged with four counts of aggravated theft after cops say he stole money from […]
Adopting Your Girlfriend To Avoid Wrongful Death Claim? Epic Fail
by Brian Mahany Who says creativity and ingenuity are dead? Don’t tell John Goodman of Palm Beach, Florida. In what has to be one of the most bizarre and brazen attempts to avoid creditors, Goodman adopted his 42 year old girlfriend making her his daughter. Why? Ah, that’s the best part of the story. While […]
The Bully Behind the Curtain
by Joe Bird Like many of you, at Mahany & Ertl we routinely encounter bullies and trash talkers. So often in the world of fraud, those who protest and threaten the loudest are the biggest frauds and bullies. As in the Wizard of Oz, they just need a determined canine of modest proportions to pull […]
NFL QB Sues Law Firm Over Bad Tax Advice
Phony Tax Credits Wind Up with Jail, Legal Malpractice Lawsuit [Post Updated] Taxes are complicated. During a recent trial we asked all of the IRS agents in attendance if any of them had ever read the entire tax code. Not one had. With thousands of forms and tens of thousands of pages of statutes, rules […]
Occupy Wall Street – What Should Be There Next Move?
By Brian Mahany There are no signs that the Occupy Wall Street movement is slowing. Cold temperatures might be keep some people indoors but their message grows louder by the day. People are pissed off, although most of the movement’s members don’t have a plan as to how to fix the underlying problems that plague […]
$200 Million Ponzi Scheme Targeted Orthodox Jewish Community
by Brian Mahany Readers of this blog know that we frequently report on religious affinity fraud. Catholics, the Black faith community, and even the Amish have seen multimillion dollar Ponzi schemes and frauds this year. Orthodox Jews are unfortunately no exception. According to a recent press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the feds have […]
Violence Vanquished? Fraud On The Rise!
by Brian Mahany I couldn’t help but smile when I read the full page headline on page C1 of the Weekend Edition of the Wall Street Journal – “Violence Vanquished.” The author of that piece, Steven Pinker, is actually correct; we don’t kill and maim our brother man nearly as much as we did in […]