There’s a huge pool of individuals who deserve to be inducted to the Hall of Infamy. To help us keep up with these crooks, and share information with others interested in con artistry, send in your nominations by adding a comment here.
We have a few criteria for nominations to the Hall of Infamy:
Please include as much information as you’ve learned about the individual and his or her case, and links to any news articles or SEC filings.
I nominate the Kovals – Ron and Loren:
Koval Vanishes
“In October Koval and his wife disappeared and Kings Medical Centre collapsed. It was unable to pay its staff. When the books were examined Kings had never made any profit, not even enough to support Koval’s life style. A US $10 million fraud was immediately apparent. As the books were explored this has grown to more than $100 million.
Interpol and Koval
Interpol and Scotland Yard were called in and there was a world wide search for the Kovals. It was thought that they were hiding up in a country that did not have extradition treaties – possibly Panama. All this was decidedly embarrassing for the Canadian politicians who are dismantling medicare and replacing it with facilities built by entrepreneurs like Koval!
Koval’s arrested
The Canadian police threatened to arrest the Kovals daughter and charge her. This brought the Kovals out of hiding in an obscure Myrtle Beach, South Carolina motel. They gave themselves up and pleaded guilty. They were sentenced to 7 years but will get parole in 14 months.”
“The final press reports are remarkably revealing. The Kovals almost emerge as unfortunate heroes. The judge praises them. I have included large sections of the press reports. It seems that the Kovals had a dream of themselves and the sort of health care empire which would realise this. They simply set out and lived that dream doing whatever was necessary to maintain it. They systematically defrauded a series of large financiers in order to maintain their health clinic, support their doctors and maintain their flamboyant life style. The criminality of their actions and the fact that the clinic was not making money does not seem to have gone past the eyebrows.
They were clearly charismatic in an odd way and very persuasive. They created their own world and no one doubted it. The lived illusionary roles which others found credible. Corporations and doctors never questioned their conduct.
Their odd charisma is revealed in the court action. They present themselves as an endearing and loving couple who were school sweethearts.
The judge is so persuaded that he pays tribute to their loving relationship.
This was a couple which had systematically carried out a $95 million fraud, yet had “committed no breech of trust”. The judge did not consider that his statement was contradictory and that he was also being duped.
Everyone was duped.
They were variously described:
Ron Koval, a college dropout and self-made equipment leasing financier, was hailed as a visionary, along with Loren, his high school sweetheart.
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Loren was a warm and well-liked former psychiatric nurse. Only Ron knew she alone was keeping track, in her head, of all the fraudulent leases, which were being repaid on schedule to keep up appearances.
Meanwhile, Ron wanted nothing but the best. “He had carpeting at King’s that was specially manufactured to have the King’s (crown) logo in it,” Bronfman said.
“And (there were) other furnishings and statues and artwork and large computer installations.”
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“He was a bit of a buffoon,” Bronfman recalls, a man who substituted image for knowledge. — Ron Koval managed to fool some pretty high-powered doctors, however.
But Ron Koval had charm. “I always found him very pleasant, personable,” Walker recalled. “He was a rough diamond.”
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Toronto Police Detective Steve Burnham has a different view. “Those Kovals thought they were kings,” he told reporters. “They boasted to people that they were not millionaires but billionaires.”
(end of excerpt)
http://www.uow.edu.au/~bmartin/dissent/documents/health/koval.html
Add: Marc S. Dreier, lawyer and founder of the Dreier law firm
Dear CAHOI,
I think you may be missing the boat, or half the boat, by focusing mainly on the con-man or -woman.
We know there are dishonest people seeking to take advantage. How they do so is an art form designed to build or take advantage of the human need or emotion to place confidence in someone who, we’re confident, KNOWS better than us how to do something, such as handling money or things of value.
As a prosecuting attorney years ago, I became acquainted with cons such as the famous Pigeon Drop and the Jamaican Switch. As a criminal defense attorney since 1974, I’ve learned about other cons.
I presume that your site exists to inform people how to avoid being conned, yet I don’t see this subject addressed, not that I think the news would be well-received, for just as there are Cons, there are Victims, people who seem to be asking to be fleeced, or who seem wide open to it. Did the people hoping to invest with Bernie want to be told that he was a con? I doubt it. They joined country clubs for a chance to golf with him and perchance to invest.
When I was a kid, there would be radio programs featuring detectives from the bunko squad, as it was called, advising that you can’t be conned if you aren’t trying to get something for nothing, or by crook. That’s often why they’re too embarrassed to testify. Despite the warnings, some folks didn’t get the message, apparently.
What message are you trying to get across? That there are convicted crooks? Okay, got that. Saw the list on your site. Now what?
I don’t see much focus on the dance; that it takes two to tango, on your site.
The question you ask, basically, is why and how we believe some of the false things we do, that are fatal.
Perhaps you would consider broadening your approach a bit, focusing on the con but exploring some of the fascinating human traits that cause them to be so successful, at least for awhile, Hitler Germany, for example, or WMD/Iraq.
This might make for a much more interesting, and pertinent site, and attract knowledgeable commentators. I should think that this would make your site more useful to a wide spectrum of people who need to know how a con works.
Thank you.
rs
Spongetech Delivery Systems, Inc, now symbol SPNGQ is one of the most indepth con games I’ve ever seen run in the OTC/OTCBB world of Penny Stocks. And trust me there is an endless supply of Con Artists in that cesspool, from the so-called company management teams, to the Third Party Promotional players who litter the message boards in support of their Pump & Dump Schemes.
Anyways, Spongetech was truly a well orchestrated scheme from what I saw, which consisted of an actual albeit limited product line. They engaged in an elaborate marketing campaign, which included numerous billboard space within major league baseball stadiums, to logos on NASCAR vehicles. They even went as far as conducting a television ad campaign and ran their infomercials on CNBC during off market hours.
The scheme started coming unraveled in 2009, when a Wall Street reporter started looking into the actual money trail.
The following provides the current legal proceedings:
Pacer update 14 May 10 SEC v Spongetech CIVIL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 1:10-cv-02031-DLI -JMA
Date Filed # Docket Text
05/14/2010 6 MOTION for Preliminary Injunction EXHIBITS FOR NEAL DECLARATION – PART 2 by U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Neal Exhibit AA, # 2 Exhibit Neal Exhibit BB, # 3 Exhibit Neal Exhibit CC, # 4 Exhibit Neal Exhibit DD, # 5 Exhibit Neal Exhibit EE, # 6 Exhibit Neal Exhibit FF, # 7 Exhibit Neal Exhibit GG, # 8 Exhibit Neal Exhibit HH, # 9 Exhibit Neal Exhibit II, # 10 Exhibit Neal Exhibit JJ, # 11 Exhibit Neal Exhibit KK, # 12 Exhibit Neal Exhibit LL, # 13 Exhibit Neal Exhibit MM, # 14 Exhibit Neal Exhibit NN, # 15 Exhibit Neal Exhibit OO, # 16 Exhibit Neal Exhibit PP, # 17 Exhibit Neal Exhibit QQ, # 18 Exhibit Neal Exhibit RR, # 19 Exhibit Neal Exhibit SS – Moskowitz, # 20 Exhibit Neal Exhibit SS – Metter, # 21 Exhibit Neal Exhibit SS – Lazauskas, # 22 Exhibit Neal Exhibit SS – Speranza) (Simpson, Richard) (Entered: 05/14/2010)
05/14/2010 5 MOTION for Preliminary Injunction EXHIBITS FOR NEAL DECLARATION – PART 1 by U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Neal Exhibit List, # 2 Exhibit Neal Exhibit A, # 3 Exhibit Neal Exhibit B, # 4 Exhibit Neal Exhibit C, # 5 Exhibit Neal Exhibit D, # 6 Exhibit Neal Exhibit E, # 7 Exhibit Neal Exhibit F, # 8 Exhibit Neal Exhibit G, # 9 Exhibit Neal Exhibit H, # 10 Exhibit Neal Exhibit I, # 11 Exhibit Neal Exhibit J, # 12 Exhibit Neal Exhibit K, # 13 Exhibit Neal Exhibit L, # 14 Exhibit Neal Exhibit M – Pages 1-30, # 15 Exhibit Neal Exhibit M – Pages 31-64, # 16 Exhibit Neal Exhibit N, # 17 Exhibit Neal Exhibit O, # 18 Exhibit Neal Exhibit P, # 19 Exhibit Neal Exhibit Q, # 20 Exhibit Neal Exhibit R, # 21 Exhibit Neal Exhibit S, # 22 Exhibit Neal Exhibit T, # 23 Exhibit Neal Exhibit U, # 24 Exhibit Neal Exhibit V, # 25 Exhibit Neal Exhibit W, # 26 Exhibit Neal Exhibit X, # 27 Exhibit Neal Exhibit Y, # 28 Exhibit Neal Exhibit Z) (Simpson, Richard) (Entered: 05/14/2010)
05/14/2010 4 MOTION for Preliminary Injunction EXHIBITS FOR DAVIS DECLARATION – PART 2 by U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Davis Exhibit Z, # 2 Exhibit Davis Exhibit AA, # 3 Exhibit Davis Exhibit BB, # 4 Exhibit Davis Exhibit CC, # 5 Exhibit Davis Exhibit DD, # 6 Exhibit Davis Exhibit EE, # 7 Exhibit Davis Exhibit FF, # 8 Exhibit Davis Exhibit GG, # 9 Exhibit Davis Exhibit HH, # 10 Exhibit Davis Exhibit II, # 11 Exhibit Davis Exhibit JJ, # 12 Exhibit Davis Exhibit KK, # 13 Exhibit Davis Exhibit LL, # 14 Exhibit Davis Exhibit MM, # 15 Exhibit Davis Exhibit NN, # 16 Exhibit Davis Exhibit OO, # 17 Exhibit Davis Exhibit PP, # 18 Exhibit Davis Exhibit QQ, # 19 Exhibit Davis Exhibit RR, # 20 Exhibit Davis Exhibit SS, # 21 Exhibit Davis Exhibit TT, # 22 Exhibit Davis Exhibit UU, # 23 Exhibit Davis Exhibit VV) (Simpson, Richard) (Entered: 05/14/2010)
05/14/2010 3 MOTION for Preliminary Injunction EXHIBITS TO DAVIS DECLARATION – PART 1 by U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. (Simpson, Richard) (Entered: 05/14/2010)
05/14/2010 2 MOTION for Preliminary Injunction , Asset Freeze, and Other Relief by U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. (Attachments: # 1 Memorandum in Support Memo in Support, # 2 Proposed Order Proposed Order, # 3 Declaration Declaration of Stephen Glascoe, # 4 Declaration Declaration of Charles Davis, # 5 Declaration Declaration of Christine Neal) (Simpson, Richard) (Entered: 05/14/2010)
Defendant Spongetech Delivery Systems, Inc.
Defendant RM Enterprises International, Inc.
Defendant Steven Moskowitz
Defendant George Sperenza
Defendant Joel Pensley
Defendant Jack Halperin
https://ecf.nyed.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/iquery.pl
Doc 2 PDF file
http://viewer.zoho.com/docs/nxPbad
Doc 2-1 PDF file
http://viewer.zoho.com/docs/nqhib
3 Declaration Declaration of Stephen Glascoe 4 pages
Doc 2-3 PDF file
http://viewer.zoho.com/docs/gCdbacf
4 Declaration Declaration of Charles Davis 19 pages
Doc 2-4 PDF file
http://viewer.zoho.com/docs/kCdFc
5 Declaration Declaration of Christine Neal 38 pages
Doc 2-5 PDF file
http://viewer.zoho.com/docs/dCcQl
Doc 3 PDF file
http://viewer.zoho.com/docs/sLad6c
Doc 4 PDF file
http://viewer.zoho.com/docs/vObhB
Doc 5 PDF file
http://viewer.zoho.com/docs/zRAdk
Doc 6 PDF file
http://viewer.zoho.com/docs/rUdNcc
Pacer update 14 May 10 SEC v Spongetech CIVIL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 1:10-cv-02031-DLI -JMA
http://www.laweekly.com/2010-10-14/news/barry-minkow-2-0/
Hi,
Erin Broadley from LA Weekly here. I wanted to share our current cover story with you in hopes it’s of interest to your readers. The story reveals that LA’s most famous fraud, Barry Minkow, is back in action and that major news organizations are unwittingly helping his cause, just as they did a quarter century ago.
Minkow’s redemption has been a media feel good story since his release from prison on the original fraud 15 years ago. The Weekly discloses that
contrary to that image, Minkow has been making unproven allegations against major American companies, driving down their stock prices and profiting by doing so.
The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, 60 Minutes and other news organizations have reported his allegations against companies while ignoring tens of
thousands of pages of court documents that show he cannot support his charges.
The disclosures raise doubts about the future of a film now in post production that tells the story of his purported redemption. “Minkow” stars
Talia Shire, James Caan, Armand Assante and Mark Hamill.
Dear All,
Troy Stratos is now facing Fraud and criminal charges. Nicole Murphy, ex-wife of Eddie Murphy finally filed crimal charges in California on 9-17-2010 against Troy Stratos, Bank of America for 20m USD. Please see California Court Records. Rumor has it China is seeking international arrest warrant for the 90m USD he stole from them as well. please see http://www.imettroy.com FBI is Sacramento is also active. See website.
Dear Hall of Infamy,
Hope all is well with you!
My friend and I were chatting about my book that I’m currently writing about my international con artist mother, and she said that there was actually a website dedicated to the con artists of the world.
I’m laughed a little bit when I found that no women have made it to your list. That is, until now-I’m pretty sure her story will be your favorite. I think most women just marry the men with the money, spend his money, or take half later- it’s easier that way.
My mother has borderline personality disorder and a sharp knack for crime. In the 1980’s, before computers were linked, she took us on a wild ride in a Winnebago all over the United States, and then later abroad to Europe and Australia (along with a furry menagerie of our animals). We lived in over 28 houses.
She has done time in Federal prison for the things she did, but some of the things she did, she got away with.
She got caught a day before her episode of “America’s Most Wanted” aired in 1991.
“The Traveling Roadshow Of The Countess Maritsa” by Morgain McGovern-It’s a cross between “The Glass Castle” and “Catch Me If You Can”.
Her name is Maureen McGovern, and no, she’s not the singer, but I’m pretty sure she ripped her off back in the 70’s.
She is smarter than the boys on your site and had a humanitarian streak that redeemed her, in some ways.
Anyway, watch out for my book that’s coming out. She ripped of people, insurance companies, credit card companies and some crazy things when we were in Europe and Australia.
Whatever other scam you can think of, she’s probably already done it, and laws were changed because of the things she’s thought up.
Take care,
Morgain McGovern
Vive La Femme!!!
“…Bank-fraud cases are usually dry, tedious affairs. Not this one. Nothing in the history of modern financial scandals rivals the unfolding saga of the Bank of Credit & Commerce International, the $20 billion rogue empire that regulators in 62 countries shut down early this month in a stunning global sweep. Never has a single scandal involved so much money, so many nations or so many prominent people.
Superlatives are quickly exhausted: it is the largest corporate criminal enterprise ever, the biggest Ponzi scheme, the most pervasive money-laundering operation and financial supermarket ever created for the likes of Manuel Noriega, Ferdinand Marcos, Saddam Hussein and the Colombian drug barons. B.C.C.I. even accomplished a Stealth-like invasion of the U.S. banking industry by secretly buying First American Bankshares, a Washington-based holding company with offices stretching from Florida to New York, whose chairman is former U.S. Defense Secretary Clark Clifford.”
From a July 29, 1991 article in Time Magazine, “B.C.C.I.: The Dirtiest Bank of All.”
How about India’s Ramalinga Raju (of Satyam Computers, 2009), Harshad Mehta and Ketan Parekh of Dalal Street?
How about the principals of the long-forgotten Washington Public Power Supply System bond sales? I’ve now forgotten a lot of the specifics, but the WPPSS litigation was huge, potentially generational in scope, and probably put paid to further development of nuclear power in the 1980s.
We agree with you about Equity Funding — that con is already in the Hall of Infamy!
http://thehallofinfamy.org/inductees.php?action=detail&artist=equity_funding
Arguably the biggest con of the late 50’s early 60’s was the former truck driver and CEO of EQUITY FUNDING…Stanley Goldblum
lol, Eddie is so crazy! I love him.
I nominate Scott Rothstein, just plead guilty today (1/27/2010) to $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme, sentencing scheduled for May 6. See http://www.miamiherald.com/466/story/1447847.htm.
[...] to get your input on our new inductees, we will be selecting our favorites nominations from the Nomination Post and asking for your votes. There will be a new vote every other week, so check back often to read [...]
Bobby Lowder, the man behind the biggest bank failure 2009
Here is the link to the FBI who set up a tipline in September 2009 and seeking information from more victims:
Appeal from the FBI, Sacramento Office:
If you know of anyone who is willing to share their experiences and contact information with law enforcement please have them e-mail the following requested information to tipline.troystratos@ic.fbi.gov
Your full name:
Telephone number where you can be reached:
Address where you can reached (preferably home address):
When and where did you first meet Troy:
What was your relationship/contact with Troy (ex: employment, friend, business partner):
Did you give any money to Troy? If so, how much:
What were the pretenses that you gave money to Troy (ex: loan, investment, charity, etc):
Have you ever received any money from Troy? If so, how much:
How much money does Troy owe you? (ex: lost wages, defaulted bills, loans, etc):
Thank you.
Special Agent Laura Jones
Sacramento FBI
(916) 481-9110 FBI main line
tipline.troystratos@ic.fbi.gov
TROY STRATOS aka TROY STAFFORD aka DAVID BURTON.
International Con artist
Please check this story out. It was aired Septtember 2009 on 66 minutes in France, international and european parpers have covered the story. TROY STRATOS has taken over 1 billion Doolars and the list includes Eddie Murphy’s ex-wife, Vivve TRUU in Whistler Canada, Dubai Government, China Govenment, Freshfields law offices, HSBC Bank UK, Nancy Miller, Richard Hack the famous writer and counless of mortgage scams. Please can you read the following websites and bring this to more readers? He was released on a 1m Euro bail and ankle tag in Paris last week awaiting trial.
http://www.imettroy.com/
AND
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=139611387832
AND
http://www.fraudsandscams.com/TroyStratos/TroyDavidStratos.htm
James Addison Reavis, the “Baron of Arizona,” who through an incredible career of forgery, hoax and bluff, claimed ownership of 18,750 square miles of Arizona, and almost got away with it. See, for example, http://wesclark.com/jw/baron_az.html
Have you forgotten E.F. Hutton, which implemented a multi-million dollar check kiting scheme? They wrote checks on Bank A and deposited them in Bank B. But they did not have the funds in Bank A to cover the checks; instead, when the checks were about to clear, they’d deposit checks from Bank C in Bank A sufficient to cover the checks. Of course, they didn’t have the funds in Bank C; those would get covered with NSF checks from Bank D on the clearing day, and so on. All this to capture the float, upon which they earned interest. They built up a giant blizzard of bogus checks revolving through many banks. Eventually, they were caught and convicted, and went out of business as a result. The whole thing was summed up in a great phrase which parodied their own highly successful advertising slogan: “When E. F. Hutton talks, everybody loses interest.”
I nominate the Jacobowitz family who ran Allou Healthcare in New York. They falsified inventory and accounts receivables in order to borrow over $130 million. To cover their shortage, they torched Allou’s warehouse in Brooklyn. Then they offered a fire inspector a $100,000 bribe to say it wasn’t arson. Brothers Herman and Jacob Jacobowitz pleaded guilty and got 10-15 years.
David Alan Smith was operating a nonprofit organization for prison reform in Texas while at the same time orchestrating an extremely sophisticated identity theft by posting false advertisements in newspaper and web job postings for a CFO position of a nonexistent company and gained the most sensitive private data from the seven executives that responded. He used their identifying data to make expensive purchases with false credit and then filed false tax refunds with the IRS posing as the victims and then cashed the checks. He had done similar federal frauds decades before and had even escaped from federal prison in his younger years. In 2005, he was sentenced to nine years in federal prison and is scheduled to be released in 2014.
[...] We’re looking ahead to the next batch of inductees and would love to hear from you. Please nominate a con artist to the Hall of [...]
I like your web site.
Sam E. Antar (convicted felon and former Crazy Eddie CFO)
“Fast Eddie” McBirney Sunbelt Savings Dallas TX Now incarcirated
I would have to nominate Samuel A. Insull (1859-1938), the onetime private secretary to Thomas A. Edison who later began buying up small electric and gas utility companies across the Midwestern states through his Chicago-based Midland Utilities syndicate and pushed for his utility end users to invest in his several utility companies–”buy until it hurts,” as it were–and used creative financing in the guise of “consulting fees” to make the whole appear stable as Gibraltar.
Until the 1929 stock-market meltdown destabilised the Insull holdings, with the final collapse in 1932.
Insull would eventually flee the country to avoid serious charges of defrauding shareholders, but would eventually return to face trial, ending twice in hung juries and eventually being acquitted.
In the end, he died nearly broke on a Paris subway platform after a heart attack.
Dear sir,
Thank you provide us this site.
For swisscash internet scheme,please refer to http://www.sc.com.my/main.asp?pageid=700.
Thank you.
About 580,000 investors were involved in SwissCash Internet Scheme,the total amount was believed at least few billions USD.The site http://www.swisscash.net was closed since Aug 18,07 and many people have suffered the loss of their hard earn money !
Frank William Abagnale, Jr.
I nominate Lou Pearlman. His ponzi scheme netted him 500 million. He is second only to Madoff.
Nomination: Philip F. Musica. Twice-convicted swindler who turned to bootlegging during Prohibition, under the auspices of a front company. The front was successful enough to allow Musica, who had taken on the identity of “Frank Donald Coster,” to merge his firm with McKesson & Robbins, a respected but financially-troubled pharmaceutical corporation. Through a Canadian shell subsidiary, Coster/Musica embezzled millions from the firm, and covered his tracks with phony financial reports. When auditors discovered that nearly $20 million of M&R’s estimated $87M of assets were fictitious inventions by Coster/Musica and his cohorts, he was arrested. Out on bail, his true identity was revealed, and he committed suicide before Federal Marshals could take him back to jail.
Jordon Belfort ran a Boiler Room fraud in the late 1990s and is the inspiration of the actual Boiler Room movie.
Nomination: Courtney Chauncey Julian, founder of the Julian Petroleum Corporation otherwise known asa the Great Los Angeles Bubble. His scheme defrauded the elite of Los Angeles during the 30’s leading to the imprisonment of the L.A. District Attorney and a murder in an L.A. Courtroom.