2007

2007

   Charitable Taking (Retired generals received undisclosed payments for promoting charities within operation run by San Diego businessman Roger Chapin, which includes Help Hospitalized Veterans, Coalition to Salute America’s Foundation and Help Wounded Heroes), Forbes.com, December 21, 2007.
   Sneak Peak on Philanthropy (Predictions for what 2008 holds for nonprofits), Forbes.com, December 18, 2007.
   Stay Out of Jail for $52 million? (Forbes 400 member Igor M. Olenicoff pleads guilty to a felony tax charge, pays $52 million to settle civil charges and may stay out of jail) (with co-author), Forbes.com, December 12, 2007.
   Gold Standard (Gold Resource Corp. shares have risen 350% in barely two years despite no gold sales) (Informer) Forbes, December 24, 2007, p. 36.
   Your Inner Cheat (Study project led by Giorgio Coricelli says tax evaders display bigger emotional reactions) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, December 24, 2007, p. 36.
   Stock Markets Are Scary Enough (“Terror-free” investment products are being marketed) (Informer), Forbes, December 24, 2007, p. 36.
   On the Lam, Some for All of Eternity (Table lists what U.S. government says are eight oldest fraud warrants, including fugitive financier Robert Vesco (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, December 24, 2007, p. 36.
   Stay Out of Jail for $52 million? (Forbes 400 member Igor M. Olenicoff pleads guilty to a felony tax charge, pays $52 million to settle civil charges and may stay out of jail) (with co-author), Forbes.com, December 12, 2007.
   Your Charity Dollars at Work (Brother’s Brother Foundation, Pittsburgh, epitomizes charitable efficiency), Forbes, December 10, 2007, p. 180.
   Rating Nonprofits (Annual table lists and examines financial efficiencies of nation’s 200 largest nonprofits), Forbes.com and Forbes, December 10, 2007, p. 182.
   Biggest Blot of All (Judge’s $80 million award against Mesa Air Group recalls previous baggage of CEO Jonathan Ornstein) (Informer), Forbes, December 10, 2007, p. 38.
   Long-Term View (Nile Therapeutics shares have risen sharply despite nil revenue and losses) (Informer), Forbes, December 10, 2007, p. 38.
   This Is Charity? (Table lists tiny youth-focused nonprofits with poor efficiencies) (Informer), Forbes, December 10, 2007, p. 38.
   Stock on a Hot Tin Roof (Shares of House of Taylor Jewelry have dropped 90% since Elizabeth Taylor and Kathy Ireland took control) (Informer), Forbes, November 26, 2007, p. 32.
   The Laugher Curve? (Academic study by Christina D. Romer and David H. Romer says lower taxes do not curb government spending) (Informer), Forbes, November 26, 2007, p. 32.
   Practicing Criminal Law (Table lists corporate general counsels convicted of crimes) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, November 26, 2007, p. 32.
   Copycatting (Lance Armstrong Foundation has 83% drop in sales of its yellow Livestrong wristbands) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, November 12, 2007, p. 30.
   Stock With a Kick (ProElite shares have risen 480% in a year despite accumulated deficit and losses) (Informer), Forbes, November 12, 2007, p. 30.
   Matters of Grave Concern Table lists recent crime cases in funeral services industry) (Informer), Forbes, November 12, 2007, p. 30.
   Open Sewer (Shares of Bioshaft Water Technology, f/k/a PointStar Entertainment, has jumped 90,000% in three months despite no revenues and few employees) (Informer), Forbes, October 29, 2007, p. 38.
   Billionaire as a Job Title (Donald J Trump says being known as a billionaire is “critical” to his business) (Informer), Forbes, October 29, 2007, p. 38.
   Near the Casinos? (Uranium 308 Corp. shares have risen 141,000% since mid-January despite no revenues, no discoveries, no employees and just $16,000 in shareholder equity (Informer), Forbes, October 15, 2007, p. 30.
   Benefactors with Convictions (Table lists presidential campaign donors with criminal convictions) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, October 15, 2007, p. 30.
   Inside Dope (Survey finds most U.S. finance professors feel stock market is more or less efficient but can be beaten with private, nonpublic information) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, October 1, 2007, p. 26.  
   Striking It Rich on Wall Street (Cellcyte Genetics shares have risen 35,000% in 11 months despite no revenues and a CEO who led two biotechs that failed after he left) (Informer), Forbes, October 1, 2007, p. 28.
   Mud Wrestling on Wall Street (Wexford Capital and Insight Venture Partners fight in court over who gets stuck with heavier tax bill) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, September 17, 2007, p. 32.
   Long Skilled in Transformations (Global Resource Corp. shares have risen 1,525% in a year despite zero revenues, an accumulated deficit and a going-concern warning) (Informer), Forbes, September 17, 2007, p. 32.
   Shell Game (Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes Foundation, led by Roger Chapin, had bad financials efficiencies hidden by its dealings with affiliates) (Informer), Forbes, September 3, 2007, p. 34.
   No Rest for a Weary Startup (Eos Airlines faces challenges), Forbes.com, August 21, 2007.
   Does Age Take a Toll? (Cubic Corp. shares are way up amid speculation of possible sale by Walter J. Zable, 91-year-old CEO and 40% owner) (Informer), Forbes, August 13, 2007, p. 34.
   Those Meanies at the SEC (Shares of Seabridge Gold have jumped 1,250% in two years even though it has never sold any gold) (Informer), Forbes, August 13, 2007, p. 34.
   Dutch Treat (U.S. has trade surplus with majority of world’s countries, led by the Netherlands) (Informer), Forbes, August 13, 2007, p. 34.
   Radioactive Future (Uranerz Energy shares are up 283% in nine months despite no revenue since 1999) (Informer), Forbes, July 23, 2007, p. 36.
   Aliens Must Have Come from NYC (Roswell Incident researchers can’t agree on location or date) (Informer), Forbes, July 23, 2007, p. 36.
   Those Aliens Dropped in Everywhere (book review of Witness to Roswell: Unmasking the 60-Year Cover-Up, by Thomas J. Carey and Donald R. Schmitt), Forbes.com, July 10, 2007.
   A Taxing Situation (Loretta Fredy Bush, head of Xinhua Finance Media, admits understating her personal U.S. tax liability by 97% (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, July 2, 2007, p. 32.
   Going Postal (U.S. Postal Service tries quietly to wean customers off dirt-cheap bound printer matter rates) (Informer), Forbes, June 18, 2007, p. 28.
   Truth in Publishing (Destin, Fla. developer Jerry L. Wallace, author of Dealmaker: A Billionaire’s Blueprint for Success, deletes net worth reference in title of reprinted book) (Informer), Forbes, June 18, 2007, p. 28.  
   And Starting to Bark (Convicted financier David Blech mounts a comeback) (Informer), Forbes, June 4, 2007, p. 42.
   Not Very Charitable (Table lists recent cases of embezzlement from charities) (Informer), Forbes, June 4, 2007, p. 42.
   An Affinity for Fraud (Pitch by Brazilian-Americans to other Brazilian-Americans is classic case of affinity fraud), Forbes.com, June 1, 2007.
   Seven Ways to Avoid Affinity Fraud (Slide show lists pointers to avoid scmasters), Forbes.com, June 1, 2007.
   My Old Kentucky Home (Compress Technologies has quadrupled despite no revenue or cash flow) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, May 21, 2007, p. 36.
   But Not Canadian Sellers (Laws in prairie province sin canada restrict foreign land ownership), Forbes, May 21, 2007, p. 36.
   The Smoke Had Barely Cleared (Table lists outfits seeking publicity from Virginia Tech shootings) (Informer), Forbes, May 21, 2007, p. 36.
   Fix Those Fund Fees (revising governance structure of mutual funds might cut fees), Forbes.com, April 24, 2007.  
   Wrestling Isn’t for Real? (World Wrestling Entertainment can’t back up its claim that Chairman Vince McMahon is worth $1 billion) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, April 23, 2007, p. 28.
   Blame Canada (McGill University website suggests Jack the Ripper and the killer of Harry Houdini were alums) (Informer), Forbes, April 23, 2007, p. 28.
   Security Clearance for Hannibal (U.S. Army field manual covers use of pack animals) (Informer), Forbes, April 23, 2007, p. 28.
   Twilight Orezone? (Orezone Resources price is up 63% in three months despite no mining in a decade) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, April 23, 2007, p. 28.
   A Whole Lot of Wind (Federal judge says lawyer Michael D. Spadaccini, who offers quick turnaround on Rule 144 opinion letter allowing unregistered-stock sale, improperly sold such shares himself) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, April 16, 2007, p. 48.
   All Follow the Money (Academic paper by Michael J. Cooper, Husseyin Gulen and Alexei V. Ovtchinnikov says it pays for public companies to give to political campaigns) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, April 16, 2007, p. 48.
   Grabbing Their Chunk of the Pie (Table lists salaries of heads of large nonprofit trade, business or professional groups) (Informer), Forbes, April 16, 2007, p. 48.
   Is Your Planner an F-Word (Fiduciary)? (Financial planners still debate their duty to clients), Forbes.com, April 9, 2007.
   In Pictures: Ten Tough Questions to Ask Your Planner (Checklist can aid in selection process), Forbes.com, April 9, 2007.
   High Flyer (V. Cheryl Womack, longtime head of Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World, had no taxable income in 2001 and 2002) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, April 9, 2007, p. 28.
   Now That’s a Fast Metabolism (Celsius Holdings shares have zoomed despite problems with fundamentals) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, April 9, 2007, p. 28.
   CondoFlop.com Is More Like It (CondoFlip.com of Miami has shut down for lack of deals) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, April 9, 2007, p. 28.
   Blame Short-Sellers (The SEC stopped trading in antispam hardware maker Espion International due to excessive spam) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, April 9, 2007, p. 28.
   Judicial Standards Aren’t What They Used to Be (Table lists federal judges who cite Wikipedia as authority) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, April 9, 2007, p. 28.
   Speed Traps: the Proof (Academic study by Michael Makowsky and Thomas Stratmann says out-of-town motorists pay higher speeding ticket fines) (Informer), Forbes, March 26, 2007, p. 38.
   Handicapping the Handicapped (Golf handicaps of billionaires are online) (Informer), Forbes, March 26, 2007, p. 38.
   You Get What You Pay For (Wi-Fi fraud targets unsuspecting air passengers) (Informer), Forbes, March 26, 2007, p. 38.
   Billions—But Largely on Paper (Table lists billionaire-related trademarks) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, March 26, 2007, p. 38.
   Pig Factor at Work? (New study led by Lucian Bebchuk says public companies led with CEOs who get the highest cut of the total pay given their company’s top five executives underperform) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, March 12, 2007, p. 34.
   So Send All of Them to School (Sotheby’s complains about proposed IRS regulations setting for the first time a bare-bones educational level for appraisers) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, March 12, 2007, p. 34.
   Charitable Watchdog (Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance criticizes PetSmart Charities) (Informer), Forbes. March 12, 2007, p. 34.
   The Going Rate for Removing Curses (Table list recent criminal cases against fortune-tellers) (Informer), Forbes, March 12, 2007, p. 34.
   Is Your Independent Adviser a Player? (SEC sues lawyer/CPA/investment adviser Ravi V. Kothare claiming he fraudulently transferred $1.75 million of client funds to prop up his faltering Players Choice Club), Forbes.com, February 26, 2007.
   What’s That Smell? (Parlux Fragrances sues Quality King Distributors and cites Informer item on alleged abusive tax shelters of QKD’s Nussdorf family) (Informer), Forbes, February 26, 2007, p. 34.
   Just a Bunch of Zeros (Donald J. Trump, suing for libel over a less-than-$250 million net worth estimate by TrumpNation author Timothy L. O’Brien, paid $38 million in taxes) (Informer), Forbes, February 26, 2007, p. 34.
   How Did You Pay for That Smoke? (Table lists what accused embezzlers do with their proceeds) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, February 26, 2007, p. 34.
   Glamour on the Cheap (Hollywood Foreign Press Association operates on a pittance compared with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences) (Informer), Forbes, February 12, 2007, p. 28.
   One Flew Over the Pundit’s Nest (Table on leading media talkers shows far more Web postings call them “crazy” rather than “thoughtful”) (Informer), Forbes, February 12, 2007, p. 28.
   The AMT Is Just So Hard (IRA ordered to pay legal fees of taxpayers Robert McKee and Valery McKee, whose returns was ineptly processed) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, January 29, 2007, p. 30.
   So Hit the Road (Academic study by Adam Lichenstein says venture capitalists 34% worse investing in their home states) (Informer), Forbes, January 29, 2007, p. 30.
   Odometer Odor (Table lists recent cases of mileage fraud) (Informer), Forbes, January 29, 2007, p. 30
   Election Winner$: Lawyer$ (Covington & Burling touts its “congressional investigations practice”) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, January 8, 2007, p. 30.
   Ignore Informer at Your Peril (Most of the Time) (Table shows subsequent underperformance of 14 of 16 high-flying public companies that the Informer page identified as having a flaw) (Informer, with co-author), Forbes, January 8, 2007, p. 30.