Two months ago I wrote about the sentencing of Ken Starr, money manager to many top celebrities. Starr is currently cooling his heals in the federal pen after being convicted of defrauding clients of $30 million – clients such as Wesley Snipes, Sly Stallone and Al Pacino. This week, Starr’s lawyer, Jonathan Bristol, pled guilty […]
Allied Home Mortgage TERMINATED From HUD Program
[Ed. Note: When we first posted this article, the Justice Department’s investigation into Allied Home Mortgage and its owner, Jim Hodge, was well under way. A federal court in Houston would later sanction Allied Home Mortgage for over $300 million. That case was a whistleblower case and we are proud to have filed it. Because […]
U.S. Tax Court Disallows 419A Plan, Upholds Penalties
In a recent U.S. Tax Court case, taxpayers suffered a double loss. The taxpayers, consisting of four couples, had purchased welfare benefit plans marketed by Benistar 419 Plan Services. Under the plan, Benistar provided preretirement life insurance to select employees of companies enrolled in the plan. Small employers like the plans because they allow pretax […]
Appeals Court Tosses Foreclosure (Wisconsin Foreclosure Defense)
[With updates] In a case decided March 23rd of this year, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals reversed a judgment of foreclosure issued by a Rock County Circuit Court Judge. Aurora Loan Services obtained a judgment of foreclosure against David and Nancy Carlsen. The dispute in this case wasn’t the money owed, it was whether Aurora […]
CPA Jailed for Misusing Client Funds (What to Do When a CPA Steals)
What to Do When Your Accountant Steals An Oregon CPA pleaded guilty to charges that he conspired to commit wire fraud and money laundering. Brian Stevens of Bend, Oregon entered the guilty at his arraignment. According to the government’s complaint, Stevens misused $44 million of his client’s money. When his business collapsed, 91 customers lost […]
Regulators Gets Tough on Stockbrokers Selling Private Placements
[Post updated through 2021] The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is cracking down on stockbrokers and their broker dealers that sell private placements. For those not familiar with the term “private placement” this is a funding round of securities that are sold before a security goes public. They are not initially traded on an exchange […]
IRS Pays CPA $4.5 Million For "Throwing Client Under The Bus"
For many people, that headline is probably quite disturbing. The IRS paid an in-house corporate accountant $4.5 million for turning in his or her own employer over an unreported tax debt. To add insult to the injury, the accountant’s identity is protected under the whistleblower rules. No one likes tax cheats but many folks are […]
Ponzi Scheme Rocks Miami’s Cuban Community
[Post updated May 2021] Some of the largest Ponzi schemes are those that target a specific religion or ethnic group. These so called affinity frauds work because people in closed communities tend to trust one another more than outsiders. For Gaston and Teresita Cantens, their $135 million fraud scheme targeting Cuban exiles came to a […]
Lose Money in an “Leveraged Exchange Traded Fund”? (Leveraged ETFs)
In recent years many investors have flocked to Exchange Traded Funds’ or ETF. Along came Leveraged ETFs and dramatically increased the risks for investors.Leveraged ETFs are bundles of derivatives. These derivatives are not stand-alone assets such as an ounce of gold. Derivatives includes options, swaps, foreign exchange instruments, and some really exotic instruments. The more […]
IRS Makes Enron Whistleblower a Millionaire – Are You Next?
Long before Enron became a household world, an anonymous whistleblower came forward and tipped off authoritiesThe Internal Revenue Service paid an anonymous whistleblower a $1.1 million dollar reward for information about tax fraud at Enron. The award was paid out under the old IRS whistleblower program and represents the then maximum reward. For the same […]
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