Subject: Mutual Benefits Corporation

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

  June 4, 2009

• Vice Mayor Keechl Mum About Fraud Case, Former Partner's Arrest

  I've always thought of Broward Commission newcomer Ken Keechl, who now holds the position of Vice Mayor, as a benign force. Sure, he's subject to the wiles and temptations of Broward's ruling class like anyone else, and he's fallen prey at times to special interests. But he's sort of a goofy fun sort with a huge swath of Blago-like hair, and it's easy to assume that our first openly gay commissioner is a decent fellow. And I'm not saying he isn't. I'm just saying that r

  January 15, 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

• Ellyn Bogdanoff Mutually Benefited From Fraud Too

  One thing about the $1 billion Ponzi scheme that was Mutual Benefits Corp.: It loved to throw money at politicians. And boy did our fearless leaders lap up the cash. It gave hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to elected officials, but nobody benefitted more from Mutual's generosity than state Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff. When she ran against Oliver Parker to win her seat in 2004, a federal 527 political non-profit called  Alliance for Florida's Future poured&nbs

  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

• Stacy Ritter Misleads Herald, Public About Vote Scandal -- UPDATED

  Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter should have just kept her mouth shut. The Miami Herald got a few words out of Ritter regarding her and her husband Russ Klenet's Ponzi scheme/home renovation/voting scandal. And what does Ritter offer? Obfuscation and lies. From the article: Ritter, a Democratic lawmaker at the time, disputes media reports suggesting that her votes benefited Mutual Benefits. She said she had no conflict. ''It was an amendment that wasn't written by Mutual Benefi

  January 27, 2009

• The Stacy Ritter Corruption Compendium

  After the Miami Herald over the weekend broke a story on yet another Stacy Ritter vote that benefitted the lobbying business of her husband, Russ Klenet, I think it's time we had a one-stop shopping spot for all the alleged misdeeds of the Ritter-Klenets. Because of its length, the post jumps. I will update as the saga unfolds. 2007 -- It begins in the summer of 2007 with a notebook left behind at a commission meeting by a supervisor working for URS, the company that has bee

  February 2, 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

• The Spoils of Ponzi

  Want an 8,500 square foot home on the New River near Las Olas with eight bathrooms and a two-story pool house? Have $9 million? Buy Joel Steinger's house! The owner of scandal-ridden Mutual Benefits Corp. has his house (pictured above) listed for sale. The link offers several photographs of the estate, including the beautiful pool and two-story guesthouse. Of course, I doubt Steinger would ever sell it --because any procee

  February 12, 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 used dirty money to pay its legal defense

  February 12, 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