Strollerderby : fraud

Palin's Kids Traveling on the State's Dime, She's Trying to Claim "State Business"

JeanneSager — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:53:00 GMT

Sick of paying full price for an airplane seat your kids never stay in anyway? Become governor of Alaska, and all that will disppear. The state's taxpayers have paid more than $21,000 in travel expenses for Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's kids to travel to spots they weren't even invited.

The Associated Press has reported Palin not only charged the state for her three daughters to accompany her on a trip to watch First Dude Todd Palin in a sled dog race, but she amended expense reports to make it look as though her kids were on official business.

Organizers of a number of the events say the kids were not only not invited, but never took part in the activities. On one report, Palin's daughters' supposed duties were listed as "to draw two separate raffle tickets" at a January gala in Anchorage. Was this because the governor's two hands were too full of BS to pull two separate tickets herself?

Trips across the state were the lesser of the evils. A total of 64 one-way and 12 round-trip airfare tickets have been charged to the state - not for the governor (who sold the state's gubernatorial jet to "save" money), but for her kids. One trip to New York City with eldest daughter Bristol apparently cost the state $1,385 for plane tickets to and from LaGuardia airport for the two Palins plus $707 a night for four nights at a luxury hotel overlooking Central Park. Four nights - and all the governor did was spent five hours at a conference. (In all fairness, she also met with Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg and toured the New York Stock Exchange on the trip, which must have taken up, oh, another day out of the four, at least).

Palin's predecessor, former governor Tony Knowles, had school-aged kids when he was in office too. He says he never found a reason to take them with him on state business and never charged the state for their expenses.

I agree parents should try as much as possible to fit their kids into their work schedules so the kids don't get the short end of the stick. She could have packed their bags and paid the bill, and this wouldn't be a problem. Buthere's a difference between bringing them along and amending reports to make it look like they belonged there.

That's what they call fraud - which Governor Palin apparently doesn't approve of in the ballot box, but doesn't have a problem with in the governor's office.

Image: Policelink

Source: MSNBC

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Woman Makes Up 14 Kids For the Money

JeanneSager — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 20:08:00 GMT

They were shelling out for foster care for 16 kids, but the Scottish government left Catherine Semple alone for four years. When they finally checked in, social services found 14 of the kids didn't even EXIST!

The Glasgow mom of two began telling the government she was caring for five of her sister's kids and five foster kids in 2002. She told them she had a total of six of her own, then loaded a pile of supposed maladies on the kids to qualify for more money. The government gave her more than 69,000 pounds (in today's market about $120,000) no questions asked over a four-year period. Finally, in 2006, someone got suspicous. Wouldn't you?

Her husband claims he knew nothing about the fraud (or his supposed sown seed, apparently), and he hasn't been charged. Semple has offered to sell her house to make restitution.

I'm not sure which is more disturbing, that she bilked the government by making up a bunch of kids or that no one checked in on 10 supposed foster/adopted kids - many with disabilities - to see how they were faring.

Image: Amazon

Source: BBC News

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Rich guy pretends to be gynecologist to see women naked

Brett Singer — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:00:00 GMT

I always thought that if you were rich, you could get dates. I mean, money can't buy you love, but it can buy you sex, right?

Well, maybe not. Zalman Silber, a "wealthy businessman" from Monsey, NY, has been accused of playing doctor, literally. Two women have charged that Silber rented a Park Avenue office and pretended to be a gynecologist. Then he gave the women, um, a full exam. This article at LoHud.com goes into a little bit more detail; let's just say that Silber did a very thorough examination.

He may have worked a similar scheme with a police officer in Rockland County. According to today's Daily News, Silber would tell women that they needed a gynecological exam in order to obtain a certain insurance policy, and that the exam had to be given by this doctor. At his house. Except that the doctor wasn't really a doctor, he was a cop. Then Silber would watch from another room. The officer has been suspended from the force without pay pending a full investigation.

It gets better (well, creepier). Silber's lawyer is Kenneth Gribetz, a former Rockland County District Attorney who resigned in a scandal that included such juicy details as an extra-marital affair and photos of him in women's clothing. So far his defense of Silber is that, "the statute of limitations [has] run out on two of the incidents cited by investigators," and "only two of four victims were able to pick Silber out of a lineup." Oh! Then he must be innocent.

This should be some trial.

Silber, a Hasidic Jew, is married with five children and another on the way. His wife Gila, "declined to comment." Wouldn't you?

Let be the first to say that Silber is not good for the Jews.

If you want to know how he got rich, you can read this article over at Inc.com. Silber created the Skyride, a simulated helicopter ride at the Empire State Building. He then sold the business for almost $10 million. A sample of his business advice: "Take advantage of other people's toil. That's really what everything is about." What a guy. He is described a "well-known philanthropist" who is "known within the Jewish community for helping people pay for medical care and other services." Or offering them a discount if he treats them himself! (Ba-dum-bum.) His ex-wife's brother, Alexander Halpert of Borough Park, Brooklyn, said, "He's a good man. When someone needed a doctor, he would arrange it." Yeah, maybe that's not the best thing to say right now.

It should be pointed out that all of these charges are unproven and are merely allegations. Even R. Kelly was found innocent. So who knows. But what a creepy story. It's like I've always said: men are pigs. (And I can say that, because I am one.)

image: New York Daily News

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MySpace Hoax Mom Indicted

Kelly Mills — Fri, 16 May 2008 17:27:00 GMT

Remember Lori Drew? How about Megan Meier? Megan, a thirteen-year-old, hung herself after her MySpace boyfriend, Josh, cruelly dumped her. This itself would be bad enough, but the real ugly part is that Josh didn't exist. He was the creation of Lori Drew, who was Megan's neighbor and the mother of a girl Megan was once friends with. Drew, with the aid of a nineteen-year-old employee of hers, created Josh, maintained a relationship with Megan, laughed abut it and let her daughter and daughter's friend in on the joke, and then had "Josh" tell Megan the world would be better off without her.

Since being a phenomenally evil creep isn't a crime, investigators didn't charge Drew in the case. But now a federal grand jury has indicted her on one count of conspiracy and three counts of using protected computers without authorization to get information used to harass and torment a teenage girl. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The indictment includes the fact that MySpace users agree to terms forbidding users from promoting information they know to be false, soliciting personal information from anyone under eighteen, and using the site to harass others. Drew of course did all of the above. Too bad there isn't really a punishment that can make up for what she did.

Photo: Tom Gannam / AP

Women Fake the Small Death Men Fake the Big One

makeitadouble — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 20:30:00 GMT

Children are born with the innate ability to fake crying as a ploy to get what they want. As natural students of Strasberg these purveyors of crocodile tears use The Method in their quest for things like theatrical truth and a later bedtime. Women, in their own right, have been proven in two separately funded studies to be exceptional counterfeiters of the climax (See: Seinfeld “The Mango”, 1992 & When Harry Met Sally, 1989). A man’s ability to “fake it” though is limited to one act that a majority of men will never get to use and all hope to never have to and that is his own death. (See: Elvis Presley, Tupac Shakur, and Ken Kesey)

Whether it’s because he was already into the local book for 50 large then doubled down on the Patriots in the Super Bowl or whether it’s because he’s an irresponsible self-centered deadbeat of a father and husband who cares nothing about the emotional trauma his death will cause to his wife and children, every man, unlike women and children who can use their spurious gift multiple times, gets one shot at staging his own death.

Yet, whereas the reason, the technique and the success of the mortal subterfuge will vary from man to man the one detail that is constant for each attempt is that once dead a man must change his identity, including his name. In direct violation of this edict a father and husband from New Zealand who faked his own death 5 years ago unwisely applied for a passport under his real name is now in custody for two charges of fraud and one of dishonestly using a document.

Driven by a desire for a fresh start, the man independently staged his death back in 2002 which allowed his wife and family to benefit from over $1 Million dollars in life insurance pay-outs. Though the authorities originally suspected the man’s wife to have been involved in the plot she has since been cleared of any wrongdoing and is believed to have received the money in good faith. It’s also believed the man did not benefit from the insurance settlement since he has had no contact with his family since his disappearance. (I’m sincerely hoping they continue to have no contact with him even now that they know he’s alive. What’s worse? Dealing with the death of a husband and father, or dealing with the painful truth that a husband and father faked his death because he wanted a fresh from you?)

So, remember guys before you fake your death consider how it’s going to affect those you leave behind and ladies before you fake another small death just tell us what we’re doing wrong; we’re pretty much just making it up as we go along.

And kids, as my father used to say “Stop your crying or I’ll give you something to cry about.” (e.g. Doubling down on the Patriots in the Super Bowl)

Man Confesses to Putting His Four-Year-Old On the Massport Payroll

Kelly Mills — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 22:34:00 GMT

A longshoreman confessed in court to adding his 4 year old son to the Massport payroll. Now, what kind of job would a young child be doing for them? Why, heavy equipment operations, of course! I'm sure time spent with Tonka trucks and backhoes making vroom vroom sounds left him more than qualified to operate dangerous equipment. What? This was a fraud case? Ohhhhh, I get it.

Here's what I don't understand though--the guy has five kids, ages 19 months to 9 years old. Um, why send the middle kid to work? I bet the 9 year old has a little more in the way of job skills. Anyhow, authorities had found six children under the age of 10 were on the Massport payroll, and have been moving forward on the case since 2006. I mean, you hear about child labor abuses and all, but sending small children to work on the docks...What?

The Fraudulent Baby Shower

ChagHolland — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 17:30:00 GMT

Like many expectant mothers, Clarissa Linnabary received gifts from friends and members of her community when others found out she was pregnant with quadruplets. But unlike other moms-to-be, there was one little problem with Linnabary's pregnancy: it was a lie.

Police arrested Linnabary on July 24th and charged her with theft by deception. She bilked people and businesses out of several thousand dollars in cash, goods. and services.

Linnabry does deserve some credit for concocting such a tale. She carried an ultrasound picture of two boys and two girls, had names picked out for the children, and even gave an interview with a local newspaper in May where she wondered how she and her husband were going to afford the four new additions to their family. She obviously had done her homework.

But I wonder how she thought she was going to get away with this. You can tell people you need money for brain surgery, hide for a few weeks, and then return and let everyone know you're better. But when you tell others you're pregnant, people expect to see a baby in nine months.