Subject: Russ Klenet

• Reporter Accused of Stealing Notebook

  July 26, 2007

• Inside Baseball

  August 2, 2007

• The Pulp Wishes Ritter Good Rittance

  September 4, 2007

• The School Board Mafia Backs New Soldier

  December 6, 2007

• SA Satz Back To Old Tricks

  April 17, 2008

• Judy Stern: All Clear For Profits

  August 6, 2008

• Stacy Ritter Gets Her Mouth On

  September 16, 2008

• Note To Obama: Ritter Is All Yours

  There's a lot of talk about Broward County Commissioner Stacy Ritter going to work in Washington for the Barack Obama administration. I know this is simple politics, a payback, and I have a plea for the president-elect: Take her. Please. Let's face it, Ritter can't do nearly as much damage in Washington, where's she'll be a tiny little fish, as she can here in Broward. She has, after all, been an absolute disaster as a county commissioner. Ritter has steered county dollars to former and curr

  November 17, 2008

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

  June 4, 2009

• Letters for February 13, 2003

  February 13, 2003

• 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

• 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

• Stacy Ritter Hits Back At New Times

  Stacy Ritter was interviewed on WFTL 850-AM this morning about the Mutual Benefits scandal -- and she took the time to take a shot at the Pulp host. (Quotes were typed fast, so forgive a typo or two).   "The newspapers are in business to sell ink and if they don't have anything to write about, they'll make it up," she said. "In this case I gotta tell you I've been disturbed by the Sun-Sentinel, Miami Herald and the New Times. Bob Norman from New Times has been on my

  January 28, 2009

• Letters for August 9-15, 2007

  The Sameness of It All

  August 9, 2007

• 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

• Mayor Of Broward Says 'Stop Reading New Times'

  Last week, Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter said she would be happy to field questions about the Mutual Benefits scandal on her weekend AM radio show on 850-WFTL. But Ritter wasn't very pleased when a caller named John brought up the scandal involving both the mayor and her lobbyist husband Russ Klenet on the air Saturday morning. Ritter's voice rose with anger, she cut the caller off repeatedly, accused him of being, uh, me, and then terminated the call.  Here's a rou

  February 9, 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

• 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 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• The Man Beneath Charlie Crist's Wings

  The Sun-Sentinel's report on Charlie Crist's air travel (along with a parallel investigation by the Times/Herald Tally bureau) supports my image of the man who is our governor. He's a politician who wants to hobnob with the elite while trying keep his own hands clean. A man who believes his destiny is to be a benevolent king. A fellow who wants to (apparently literally) fly above it all.   Steven ScottThe problem for Crist is that we

  March 25, 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 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

• The Dirty Dozen of 2007

  Rush, Naugle, Loria... and, hey, what's going on in the criminal justice system?

  December 27, 2007

• Terrible Trio

  The Wasserstrom conviction should have at least a few pols shaking in fear — but, hey, this is Broward

  October 4, 2007

• Return to Sender

  When it comes to the specter of corruption, the Ritter-Klenet-URS connection has it all

  August 30, 2007

• Letters for August 16-22, 2007

  It's a Freakin' Show

  August 16, 2007

• Family Ties

  Broward Commission, lobbyists ooze coziness

  August 9, 2007

• The Stacy 'n' Russ Show

  Ritter & Klenet sounds like a lobbying firm

  August 2, 2007

• Marital Law

  Does Stacy Ritter's lobbyist husband swing her vote?

  July 26, 2007

• If Waldman's a Dem, What's With the GOP Cash?

  Another in the long tradition of Broward elephants posing as donkeys.

  March 30, 2006

• Lobbyist- Lovin' Lori

  How cash-fueled politics and a grudge could cause another election fiasco

  July 1, 2004

• Burn, Oliphant, Burn

  Listen up, lady; your attackers know whereof they speak

  February 13, 2003

• The Plot To Depose King Jenne

  Democrats and Republicans, blacks and whites, have banded together for one simple reason: to stop Ken Jenne from becoming Broward's first strong mayor.

  January 27, 2000

• Broward's Royalty Talk About Feds, Gifts

      You must listen to this (courtesy of Scott Wyman). It's simply not getting enough views (75 after two days? Who says Broward County is apathetic about local politics?). And while listening remember that both Stacy Ritter and Ken Keechl are both at least tangentially subjects of the FBI investigation of Mutual Benefits, one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history. Ritter's husband, Russ Klenet, is knee-deep in that mess. Keechl defended the scam in court against victim who

  April 20, 2009

• UPDATED: Sunrise Mayor Roger Wishner Hides From The Pulp

  [Well, it's official: Roger Wishner is a man-whore. As predicted below, Roger Wishner and his do-boy Rosen voted tonight for the zoning change to allow Everglades Corporate Park to build a bigger development on the Everglades west of the Sawgrass. The stinking thing was passed 4-1, with only Sheila Alu dissenting. Sunrise is now officially the most rotten elected body in Broward County. You pretty much expect it from the three other yahoos, but Wishner, well, he's just a disgrace

  April 28, 2009

• Rubio Fundraiser Mendelsohn Resigns from Medical PAC

  Alan Mendelson, a former close Charlie Crist aide and fundraiser, has resigned his post as treasurer of the Florida Medical Association PAC, a powerful political fund that has raised about $10 million in the past 12 years. MendelsohnWhile the Hollywood ophthalmologist -- who is probably the top political fundraiser in Florida medical circles -- claimed he made the abrupt move to spend more time with his family, there is rampant speculation the step-down was precipitat

  May 13, 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

• Awards Dinner Illuminates Ties Among Rothstein, Lamberti, and the ADL

  Lamberti received an award at the ADL dinner.​On November 4, the day after alleged Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein returned from his trip to Morocco, a special party was held at the Westin Fort Lauderdale. Its attendance list reads like a who's who of political heavy-hitters in Broward.The local chapter of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an organization that fights anti-Semitism, was hosting the Broward County Community of Respect Awards Dinner. Two people were scheduled to be honored at the

  November 17, 2009