the vigilant investor - pat huddleston

[...]... Whether because of their bad eyesight or the spelling of the German word for policy (p-o-l-i-c-e), the kidnappers did not notice Amburn’s ploy They faxed the phony instructions to Credit Suisse Amburn had no money there, but he prayed that someone would see his message Someone did Convinced that their captive had finally seen the futility of denying that he could return their money, the gang allowed... gather the facts he needs to test the “investment fraud theory.” By becoming a vigilant investor, Tim increases his chances of completing enough profitable passes to take him across the retirement goal line Due Diligence for the Vigilant The vigilant investor: Understands that all healthy humans are vulnerable to investor fraud Discounts the effect of gullibility and resists the temptation to blame the. .. would not deter the characters we’ll describe in this chapter A vigilant investor thinks of the investment cops as homicide detectives It’s after midnight They get a call about a crime committed in an upper-middle-class suburb They park on the curb, duck under the crime scene tape, flash their credentials, and approach the sheet-covered lump on the living room floor Under the sheet, they find a pile... little work on the part of the scam artist; the mark does all of the heavy lifting Whether the amount of the investment is $1 million or $10,000, the scam artist will feign an assumption that you have the education and experience to know the definition of all the terms she uses and to understand how all the moving parts of the investment work together to generate an attractive return The scamster knows... begin by introducing the investment cops and the limits of their power We then perform a harsh light-ofday examination of the usual suspects (stockbrokers, registered investment advisers, and insurance agents), the duties they owe to investors, and how they often use investors as tools for their own enrichment We also look at brokers who target the most vulnerable of investors, the elderly, and provide... themselves with the idea that their situation was the perfect storm,” that there was nothing that they could have done differently to avoid the scam, such is not the case To be fair to those investors, avoiding these life-altering financial collisions is not nearly as easy as those who view it from the sidelines think as they comfort themselves with the thought, “I’d never have fallen for that.” The truth... recognition They follow the leads and, in almost all cases, bring someone to justice The perpetrator might go to prison, or she might get off with a civil penalty But, like all the king’s horses and all the king’s men, the investment cops cannot put the nest eggs together again They chalk the case up as a win because they solved it, called the bad guys to account for their crimes, and stopped them from... 2001, telling investors that their investments were secured by South African diamond operations Rather than seek yet another don’t-do-it-again order, the SEC pursued a contempt of court order for violation of the Marada order Whether because of a lack of resources, the prospect of having to gather evidence from South Africa, or an assessment that they could not prove criminal intent, the criminal authorities... successful scam, watch The Sting (winner of the Oscar for Best Picture in 1973) or The Spanish Prisoner, written by David Mamet There are offices to rent, equipment to buy, employees to hire, web sites to design, phone lines to staff, documents to create, and enough boring paperwork to put a meth addict to sleep The Career Criminal is not a fast-talking, fly-by -the- seat-of -the- pants type He is exceptionally... helped them buy it When the Koenigs and their friends traveled there, Amburn made the two-hour drive across Alligator Alley to pay them a visit It seemed only natural that they would say yes when Amburn proposed helping them invest their retirement savings According to testimony in the trial that sent Roland Koenig to prison, Amburn told the Koenigs and their friends that he could earn them 18 percent per . Cataloging-in-Publication Data Huddleston, Pat. The vigilant investor : a former SEC enforcer reveals how to fraud-proof your investments / Pat Huddleston. —1st ed. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN-13: 97 8-0 -8 14 4-1 75 0-8 ISBN-10:. the written instructions. Whether because of their bad eyesight or the spelling of the German word for policy (p-o-l-i-c-e), the kidnappers did not notice Amburn’s ploy. They faxed the phony instructions. 1 Contents Introduction PART 1: The Wide World of Fraud: First Steps and Advanced Tactics on the Path to Vigilant Investing 1. Vigilant or Vigilante? Protecting Your Investments in the Age of Fraud 2. The Posse and the