Subject: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

• Founder of Benihana Japanese Steakhouse Dead at 69

  July 14, 2008

• A Stock Market Carol

  October 6, 2008

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

  June 4, 2009

• Fort Lauderdale Philanthropist Tied To Epic Swindler Madoff -- UPDATED

  Michael Bienes doesn't make a lot of news and hasn't been involved much in local politics, but if you look around you'll see the tall and seemingly kindly Fort Lauderdale multi-millionaire's name all over the place. At Holy Cross Hospital, there's the Michael and Dianne Bienes Comprehensive Cancer Center. At the Broward County Library in downtown there's the  Bienes Museum of the Modern Book, a wing stocked with rare book collections. He's deeply inv

  December 17, 2008

• Other People's Money

  September 17, 1998

• Madoff Crony Abruptly Resigns From Broward Arts Center

  Michael Bienes, the fabulously wealthy Fort Lauderdale benefactor, abruptly resigned from the Performing Arts Center Authority board Wednesday with a one-sentence letter, according to a center spokeswoman.   "We received the letter yesterday which said he was resigning, effective immediately," said Broward Center of The Arts spokeswoman Jan Goodheart. There's very clearly trouble in paradise -- and rumors are swirling among the county's elite that Bienes, who has poured more than&

  January 8, 2009

• To Catch A Thief, Would You Trust An Ex-Thief?

  Last Friday, a part-time Floridian named Barry Minkow (right) made a post on a website, Lenn-ron.com, that contained explosive allegations against Lennar Homes, a publicly-owned, Miami-based corporation that is one of the biggest homebuilders in the state. Minkow held back nothing, saying that Lennar "treats their joint ventures exactly like a Ponzi scheme"; that the developer took part in "commercially repugnant tactics" when it backed out of plans to build a mortuary; and that the company enga

  January 16, 2009

• Bienes, Avellino, Madoff and The Church

  Bienes Knighted By Catholic Church Well, the Sun-Sentinel, apparently in a panic over the New York Times beating it to the story, finally reported on the connection between Fort Lauderdale philanthropist Michael Bienes and his partner, Frank Avellino, to Bernie Madoff, the $50 billion Ponzi schemer. I've rarely seen one newspaper so derelict in reporting a major story in its own back yard -- and its offering today is nothing but a small pile of dung. More on that late

  January 18, 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

• GlobeTel Sanswire Will Protect America With Its Luck Dragon

  Falcor may soon be the last line of defense in the War Against TerrorGlobeTel is a Pembroke Pines company that first appeared on the local radar a few years ago, when it was promising to fill South Florida airspace with sci-fi machines called "stratellites" -- a clunky combination of a light airship and satellite that looked like a blimp. These vessels would float at low altitude in the stratosphere and provide wireless internet service even in remote reaches of the planet.  This little com

  February 3, 2009

• Palm Beach Mayoral Candidate Has Corrupt Past In Bahamas

  Even by Florida's loose ethical standards, Palm Beach mayoral contender C. Gerald Goldsmith has a corrupt past that should make his candidacy a joke. Goldsmith, who served on the Palm Beach town council back in the mid-1990s, survived the Feb. 3 election and is now in a runoff with incumbent Jack McDonald. The showdown vote comes next Tuesday, February 17.  Goldsmith, who is now chairman of the First Bank of the Palm Beaches, rece

  February 10, 2009

• Palm Beach Post Embarrasses Self, Re-Endorses Corrupt Goldsmith

  In a rather subversive answer to my recent blog post that exposed Palm Beach mayoral candidate C. Gerald "Gerry" Goldsmith's corrupt history, the Palm Beach Post re-endorsed Goldsmith, saying he's "still the choice." The paper, in one of the most pathetic excuses for journalism the Pulp has ever witnessed, cited a flyer that had been passed around by Goldsmith's opponent, Jack McDonald, about the allegations. Here's the crux of it:   The accusations are that Mr. Goldsmith's

  February 16, 2009

• Local Financial Analyst Packages Stanford Case for SEC

  As we reported on this blog Friday, speculation has been flying through the financial community that Stanford et al could be operating an enormous Ponzi scheme a la Bernie Madoff. Now it's official: The US Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit in Dallas Monday against Stanford Group Co., seeking to halt what it describes as a "massive, ongoing fraud" perpetrated by billionaire R. Allen Stanford (pictured at the right) and his minions. The SEC has identified roughly $8

  February 17, 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

• 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

• Boca-Based Office Depot: More Screwed Up Than Dunder Mifflin?

  Office supplies giant Office Depot, based in Boca Raton, is the latest major American corporation to get itself in trouble with federal regulators. The company, which claims $14.8 billion in annual sales, is being investigated for improper contact with business analysts. Specifically, representatives of the company allegedly phoned analysts, seeking to manage expectations in advance of a disappointing earnings report, in hopes of heading off a stock drop. It didn't work -- and even if it had, it

  February 26, 2009

• Sunday Reading: The Wayne Huizenga Story

  I just happened on this classic written by Steve Almond in 1994 about South Florida's hard-driven, complicated, and sometimes brutal mogul.  Uh, it jumps.   Citizen Wayne - The Unauthorized Biography A college dropout and the product of a broken home, H. Wayne Huizenga rose to become the King Midas of South Florida. His formula for success? A dash of hard work and perseverance, and a lot of hitting below the belt. by Steven AlmondMiami New Times Vol. 9, No. 33 (Decemb

  March 1, 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

• 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

• R. Allen Stanford's story tells how one eccentric billionaire can help bring the global economy to its knees

  April 9, 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

• Madoff's Man

  Fort Lauderdale multimillionaire Michael Bienes never cut ties with Bernie Madoff — even after the SEC shut him down.

  January 22, 2009

• Wall Street in Miami

  January 10, 2008

• Lab Rats

  Most Doctors Agree: Use Caution When Mixing Stocks and Drugs

  August 30, 2007

• Gambino Genes

  What's in a Mafia name?

  May 10, 2007

• Letters for March 1-7, 2007

  March 1, 2007

• Beam Me Up

  February 22, 2007

• The $11 Billion Man

  Meet the world's most castigated spammer — a South Florida man who says he's an innocent victim.

  May 11, 2006

• Mr. Big Shot

  The charismatic lawyer and power broker took one last lap in a New River mansion during his run from the law

  May 26, 2005

• Tailpipe

  Energizer Con Man

  April 21, 2005

• Sex Talk

  The Etiquette of Whoring

  January 13, 2005

• Here's Lookin' at You

  A Delray company implanting people with microchips looks to the bright Orwellian future

  November 25, 2004

• Troubled Endings

  For-profit hospice care provider Vitas Healthcare sacrifices patient needs for the bottom line

  May 22, 2003

• Profile of a Predator

  Tennis pro Paul Edwards hustles both on and off the court

  July 4, 2002

• Pulp Nonfiction, Act 3

  The finale of this flick has it all: deceit, greed, and marquee names

  June 6, 2002

• Pulp Nonfiction, Act 2

  A good, upstanding American family gets mixed up with the mob

  May 30, 2002

• Pulp Nonfiction

  Quentin Tarantino's papa gets down with South Florida organized crime. Now there's a screenplay.

  May 23, 2002

• All About My Mother's Dog

  One animal lover's crusade becomes another's burden

  August 30, 2001

• The Grift of Gab

  Stephen Tashman made a small fortune launching Telecard Dispensing Corporation. If only his investors had been so lucky.

  May 18, 2000

• The Real Boiler Room

  March 9, 2000

• From Schlubs to Sharks

  Boiler Room

  February 17, 2000

• The Doctor Will Sell You Now

  Supplied by Rexall Showcase of Boca Raton, doctors and other distributors are pitching alternative forms of medicine that may not work in ways that may not be legal

  July 29, 1999

• Her Word Is Not Her Bond

  Former Broward County financial adviser Teressa Cawley had a bright career… until the SEC passed judgment on her

  July 22, 1999

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

  May 28, 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

• Accused Fraudster From Michigan Had Lauderdale Condo, Post-Madoff Success

  Flickr: Christopher GosselinThe Nu River Landing, where McQueen and his wife own a condo -- at least until the government snatches it.​If there's any truth to the government's allegations against David McQueen, holding on to his Fort Lauderdale condo would appear to be the least of his concerns. Federal authorities allege that McQueen, whose primary residence is near Grand Rapids, Michigan, defrauded investors by moving millions of dollars among multiple accounts and spending that money on him

  October 12, 2009

• President Obama Fails to Go After Those Responsible for Financial Meltdown

  October 29, 2009