Subject: Joel Steinger

• Joel Steinger and Mutual Benefits Corp. Stole a Billion Dollars by Peddling Bogus Life Insurance Policies

  June 4, 2009

• Russ Klenet and Stacy Ritter Mutually Benefited From Fraud

  Scott Wyman writes this morning of a lawsuit filed against lobbyist Russ Klenet, the husband of Broward Mayor Stacy Ritter, by a former vice president of viatical company Mutual Benefits Corp. You might remember the name of the company -- it is, after all, accused of ripping off investors of about $1 billion in a Ponzi scheme described as the largest fraud in Florida history.  Klenet was the company's lobbyist beginning in 2003 -- and man did he jump in to help the compa

  January 22, 2009

• Stacy Ritter Voted For Company That Renovated Her Home

  While serving as a state representative in 2004, Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter voted on legislation that benefited the fraudulent company that paid her husband $20,000 a month, renovated her Parkland home at a cost of $100,000, docked her family's boat, and provided a house in Maine for vacations. Records show that Ritter voted yes on a bill in April 2004 that limited the state's regulatory control of husband Russ Klenet's employer, Mutual Benefits Co

  January 22, 2009

• Obama's BFF (Best Florida Friend) Embroiled In Home Renovation Scandal

  Sun-SentinelBroward County Mayor Stacy Ritter's involvement with a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme should finally wise Barack Obama up about his supporter, friend, and possible White House hire (that's the two of them pictured above at an Obama rally at the BankAtlantic Center last year). It's already an embarassment for the new Administration here in South Florida.  Just to update on what we know: A fraudulent viatical company, Mutual Benefits Corp., hired R

  January 23, 2009

• Newsflash: Ritter Invited "Creepy" Joel Steinger To Her New Year's Party

  A Sun-Sentinel article this morning details the luxury items the fraudulent Mutual Benefits Corp. purchased for the Parkland home of Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter and her husband Russ Klenet. That's fine, but what's really interesting is that Ritter speaks out on what she really thinks of Mutual Benefits president Joel Steinger and his brothers. "I only met them briefly, once or twice, on a social basis and, candidly, didn't like them very

  February 10, 2009

• Did Drug Money Fund Renovation of Mayor's Home?

  The answer: Maybe, maybe not. But it's a fair question. Mutual Benefits, the fraud-filled firm that employed Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter's husband and paid $117,000 to renovate her Parkland home, was just a moderately successful (and moderately dirty) firm in 2001. Then it made its big push into Central and South America, where it started raking in tens of millions of dollars with investors. That's when Mutual Benefits went to a new level -- and started pouring mi

  February 11, 2009

• Mutual Benefits' Joel Steinger: Stacy Ritter 'Can't Seem To Tell The Truth'

  So I got former Mutual Benefits czar and current federal indictee Joel Steinger on the phone this afternoon. I didn't know what to expect from a guy with a past like his, but the Brooklyn-bred Steinger seemed ... laid-back and funny. He said he couldn't answer questions directly, but when I brought up Stacy Ritter and Russ Klenet, he couldn't help but making a play on Ritter's recent crack about him. "So tell me, does Stacy Ritter give you the creeps?" asked Steinger,

  February 11, 2009

• The Line To Lansky: Steinger Linked To Ben-Veniste, Jewish Mafia

  We know that Joel Steinger, the mastermind of the billion-dollar Mutual Benefits Ponzi scheme with ties to several Broward politicians (Steve Geller, Stacy Ritter, Ellyn Bogdanoff, and others), had connections to Colombian drug cartels. Now we have evidence of another intriguing connection, this one to the so-called Jewish Mafia in Miami, including business mogul and The Forge owner Alvin Malnik and infamous gangster Meyer Lansky. Another old Steinger chum: Wh

  February 19, 2009

• Some Mutual Benefits Boys Pose In Colombia

  For those of you following the Mutual Benefits story, here's a photograph to bring some visuals to the table. It was taken in Bogota, Colombia, in 2001, as Mutual Benefits was trying to round up South American investors in what feds say was a billion dollar Ponzi scheme. The rather heavyset dark-haired fellow in the center of the photo is Joel Steinger, who is now under federal indictment on fraud and money laundering charges. Steinger, of course, is the fell

  February 18, 2009

• Charlie Crist Adviser Mendelsohn Tied to Ponzi Scheme

     Hollywood ophthalmologist Alan Mendelsohn is one of Charlie Crist's closest political allies, a leader on the governor's transition team who helped raise Crist and other Republicans huge amounts of cash for their campaigns during the past decade. Mendelsohn may be the most politically influential physician in Florida. He has served as treasurer and chief fundraiser of the Florida Medical Association, held leadership roles with the Browar

  February 21, 2009

• Sun-Sentinel Insults Joel Steinger

  In the lead story on this morning's local section, the Sun-Sentinel took off its little white glove and slapped Mutual Benefits' mastermind in the face with it. The newspaper reports that the Ponzi scheme called Mutual Benefits poured $1.4 million into political coffers to help keep state regulators from knocking down its doors. Reporter Scott Wyman did some good decent digging and, in a true kettle meets pot moment, quotes former legislator Skip Campbell getting all indigna

  February 23, 2009

• The Steingers: Like Father, Like Son?

  When people talk about where Ponzi schemer and Mutual Benefits czar Joel Steinger might have stashed some of his millions, many point at his son, West Palm Beach lawyer Michael Steinger. Steinger, a founding partner of personal injury (ambulance-chaser) firm Steinger, Iscoe & Greene, was never close to his wayward father, according to sources, until recent years. Joel fathered Michael as a teenager and had a brief marriage to his mother. But sources say they made up and are n

  February 25, 2009

• A Blind Date With Stacy Ritter

  Embattled Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter staged a not-for-media-consumption town hall-style meeting Wednesday at a Tamarac condo community, seeking to sway constituents toward believing her explanation of the Mutual Benefits scandal. Not the version in newspapers and blogs. And it actually seemed to work.As Bob Norman first reported in January on Daily Pulp, Ritter cast a vote in 2004 when she was a state legislator to pass a financial services bill that contained an amendment effectively pro

  February 26, 2009

• Ritter's Last Refuge: The Condo Circuit

  When Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter goes out in public, she feels the eyes on her -- and they're telling her she's on her way to jail. So yesterday afternoon she escaped into the last refuge of any corrupt Broward politician -- the retirement condo circuit. There, as the intrepid Thomas Francis reports on the Juice blog, she was embraced by octogenarian enablers at vote-rich Kings Point in Tamarac. Ritter told the crowd she doesn't keep up with her husband's lobbying work and

  February 26, 2009

• Con Man's Lobbying Dream Team Included Will McKinley

  With his fraudulent viatical company Mutual Benefits coming under fire from state regulators, convicted felon Joel Steinger decided he needed to buy the influence of the state legislature. To do that he first purchased the people who had their ears -- the lobbyists. McKinley: A Man For Sale We know that Steinger's right-hand man in his quest to buy influence was Russ Klenet, husband of then-state rep and current Broward County mayor Stacy Ritter. Also hired by Mutual Benefits w

  March 3, 2009

• DeGroot Picks Apart Ron Book, Lobby Racket

  The legislative session, marking the real advent of springtime in Florida, begins in Tallahassee this week. And the busiest bees working the capital are the lobbyists, who are buzzing about, putting their noses in everything they can, spreading their demon seed far and wide.  If you don't care, you should. You're paying for the all that pollination, after all.   John deGroot, bloggerOn his new blog, John deGroot did some digging and found that Broward County and

  March 3, 2009

• Russ Klenet Was Owned By Joel Steinger

  We have the latest on lobbyist Russ Klenet, his wife Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter, his former boss Joel Steinger, and the Mutual Benefits fraud saga.        Sun-SentinelThis brand-spanking new article is based largely on a 2007 deposition taken of Klenet during Steinger's divorce. In it, Miami lawyer Don Hayden, representing Steinger's ex-wife Diana, basically nails Klenet to the wall. Hayden is masterful; Klenet nearly dumbstruck. And it basically show

  March 4, 2009

• John Holland's Swan Song

  -- John Holland this morning gives us a fairly in-depth look at Mutual Benefits' Colombian drug cartel connections. My favorite line: "The court records don't make clear whether Mutual Benefits was an active participant in the money laundering or a pawn."  Joel Steinger is nobody's pawn. He's a pawnmaker. He's a lifetime boiler room man with ties to Meyer Lansky and Al Malnik. Don't think for a minute he didn't know what was going on. Here's more on the Colombian connec

  March 11, 2009

• Joel Steinger's Strange Sense of Priority

  So I've been following this Mutual Benefits scam pretty closely, especially the actions of mastermind Joel Steinger. Following Steinger's divorce, I learned that there was a hearing this morning regarding alleged contempt by his ex-wife, Diana Steinger. I showed up at the hearing this morning in Judge Susan Greenhawt's chambers with hopes of catching up Joel Steinger himself. Alas, he wasn't there, but it still turned out to be pretty interesting. L

  March 16, 2009

• Judge Larry's Wife Attacks Widow's Caretaker on TMZ

  Judge Larry Seidlin is setting up his defense for the elderly abuse complaint lodged against him -- and it appears to be another variation of "I'm the victim here." Seidlin's wife, Belinda, spoke with a staffer at TMZ.com after the national gossip website followed the Pulp report below, saying that "she and Larry don't live with the old lady [and] have nothing to do with her care," according to the website. Perhaps the judge doesn't live with 83-year-old Barbara Kasler, but they

  March 27, 2009

• Steve Geller, You Dog

  Former state Sen. Steven Geller is currently running for a seat on the Broward County Commission against incumbent Sue Gunzburger.           I just want to tell him to save his breath. He should quietly exit local politics stage left. Now. If he doesn't, the county should file a restraining order to keep this guy 1000 yards away from the dais and all public funds.  Geller, you see, sold his soul to one of the greatest con artists and ponzi schemers ever t

  April 1, 2009

• Are The Feds Looking Into The L.I.E.?

    Doesn't this woman look like she's been taken by surprise? Or perhaps that a secret has just been found out? Actually, the woman in the photo, Stacy Schultz, has been flying under the radar just fine. Schultz is the "sole proprietor" of a life settlement company called LIfe Insurance Exchange (yeah, I know, classic acronym). Based in Fort Lauderdale, it has much-coveted licenses to broker life insurance policies in 32 states, including Florida. Here's the kicke

  April 6, 2009

• Broward County’s first man admits deep ties to Mutual Benefits

  March 5, 2009

• Mutual Benefits czar Joel Steinger manipulated local politicians and the state legislature. But divorce court too?

  February 19, 2009

• Mutual Benefits may have collapsed, but the fallout for South Florida politicians is still coming.

  January 29, 2009

• Mutual Benefits Con Man Joel Steinger Spent a Lifetime Getting Mobbed Up

  May 28, 2009

• Ritter Speaks! (Out of Both Sides of Mouth)

  RitterIt's strange to be astonished at the news that this county's mayor actually gave an interview, but so it goes in Broward. Stacy Ritter has been refusing interviews with reporters for much of 2009, in vain hopes that she can keep her associations with con man Joel Steinger out of the news. Impossible, given the interest that New Times' Bob Norman has taken in the subject. His most recent article appeared in last week's print edition.And perhaps Daily Pulp will have a take on Ritter's words

  June 11, 2009

• For Next Federal Prosecutor, a Million-Dollar Question

  For the new U.S. attorney, who will come from among the 16 names on this list, busting financial fraud will be the top priority in South Florida federal courts. And although those cases are endlessly complex, it's fairly simple to get an overview of the region's candidates for criminal prosecution: Just look at what the SEC's been up to.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission polices fraud in the civil courts, where it needs only prove a preponderance of evidence to win its case. A legal sta

  June 12, 2009

• Letters From the Issue of June 18, 2009

  June 18, 2009

• Members of the "Mitch Ceasar Mob" earn a steady paycheck for their political influence

  July 9, 2009

• "Stacie" Ritter -- not Stacy Ritter -- Is Hero of the Health-Care Crisis

  That's Stacie Ritter: The Cindy Sheehan of the health-care crisis, she's known some tough times. But this plucky mom is ready to take her fight for health care to the front door of the Cigna CEO's mansion. Meanwhile, Stacy Ritter has a mansion of her own, courtesy her marriage to mega-lobbyist Russ Klenet. And that home has a redesigned interior paid for by a convicted felon and alleged Ponzi schemer, Joel Steinger. Health-care coverage is far from the mind of Stacy Ritter, the Broward mayor.But

  October 1, 2009

• Morning Juice: Adventures in Bad Parenting

  Time to get your Monday on. But first, a look back on what made news this past weekend.​Tamarac mayoral candidate Ed Portner gave a short interview to WPLG about why he went over to his daughter Stacy Ritter's home with a gun last week: "I wanted to scare the crap out of her." Mission accomplished. [WPLG]Tapes from the FBI investigation of Alan Mendelsohn show him trying to lure $400 grand from accused Ponzi schemer Joel Steinger, in exchange for getting the state to ditch a criminal investiga

  October 12, 2009

• Honey, I Rigged the Vote: Broward Power Couples Screw Each Other; Then They Screw Us

  Can Ritter and Klenet hold on to the top spot on our corruption watch list?​In light of the explosive findings Bob Norman's been posting over at Daily Pulp, it's time we identify a trend in Broward corruption: power-mad married couples, ruling the region like a king and queen, carving up our public money like it's their Thanksgiving turkey. For all the damage these duos inflict on the public trust, I don't feel an ounce of guilt about busting out Tom Ridge's trusty Homeland Security Terrorism

  October 16, 2009

• For Next 10 Months, Rubio-Crist Will Be a National Story; Will Broward Scandals Play Role?

  Flickr: CenFlaPoliticsRubio​It would have been a more fortuitous sign for Marco Rubio if Doug Hoffman hadn't lost his congressional race in upstate New York, but the fact that a Conservative Party candidate won 45 percent of the vote has Rubio more hopeful than ever. The same can be said for the right wing of the Republican Party, which is now treating Florida Senate seat as its biggest priority.The Wall Street Journal is so eager to cover that it treated the New York campaign as a mere underc

  November 4, 2009