...Summary of Tim Durham’s Ponzi scheme The alleged fraud is over $200 million. Durham’s main holdings were his leveraged buyout firm Obsidian Enterprises, Inc. and Fair Financial Services, both headquartered in Indianapolis, IN. When Durham acquired Fair in a 2002 leveraged buyout, it was a factoring company that purchased accounts receivable from businesses at a discount, profiting when the accounts were paid in full. It financed its operations by selling “investment certificates” to individual investors. According to the indictment, Durham and his cohorts immediately changed Fair’s business. Rather than using the $200 million they raised from investors to purchase receivables, they instead loaned the funds to themselves and their various business entities. When the loans went unpaid, Fair turned into a Ponzi scheme—taking money from new investors to pay certificates that came due. Now that the merry-go-round has stopped, it is estimated that over 5,400 parties—many of them small mom-and-pop investors—have lost over $200 million. The legal battles began with claims from disgruntled investors. In November 2009, the FBI raided the Obsidian offices in Indianapolis and seized its records. On February 8, 2010, the unpaid investors forced Fair into an involuntary bankruptcy proceeding. Shortly after his appointment, the bankruptcy trustee filed suit seeking to recover the money that had been improperly diverted from Fair. The lawsuit language promised to prove a “fraud of...
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...Grandma dies 11-Aug-92 Bad Boy gives forged mandate to bank Bad Boy comes to Canada 18-Aug-92 Bad Boy withdraws $26k payable too cash Grandma = Stephania Wojcicka Bad Boy = nephew Tadeusz Wojcicki Niece (Margaret Wojcicka) is executor of will Facts | * Three mandates: 1. Gma goes on extended trip, gives power of attorney for banking matters to Bad Boy 2. Niece has mandate as executor of the will (mandate only kicks in when Gma dies) 3. Bank has mandate for Gma’s finances * Grandma’s bank account summary: $5 membership, $1k term deposit, $26k term deposit (can’t take out until 26-Oct-92 or wil receive no interest) * Bank didn’t k6now Gma was dead when Bad Boy removed funds | Question | 1. Was bank guilty of not [2138] exercising prudence and diligence for its [2130] mandate? 2. Does the valid mandate authorize the bank to give the term deposits (no) 3. What effect should be given to the letter of july 1st (none) 4. Did the bank owe obligation to grandma, and not rely on the letter (yes, 2138) | Ratio | 1. Argument: Bank is a special type of agent, v. strong fiduciary duties; if they’ve been defrauded they are 100% liable. Answer: Bank should have been more [2138] prudent and diligent; it wasn’t prudent cash out the account, and the bank wasn’t diligent in its duty as agent to let funds be taken out before interest accrued. | Decision | Bank guilty, has to pay missing funds to estate | Bank did not act with reasonable care ...
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...Secrets, Lies and Bernie Madoff It seems like they all start the same – with Secrets and Lies. With secrets and all the don’t tell anyone because it is exclusive talk - that’s the stuff that makes soap operas, scandals and the greatest ponzi schemes. Everyone likes feeling like they have a great opportunity that not everyone gets to have and that it is exclusive, especially when it feeds their financial greed. Those are the ingredients that helped Bernie Madoff build the biggest Ponzi investment scheme in history. Madoff maintains that he never meant for it to be anything more than him investing for close friends and family however the secrecy and not accepting just anyone are part of what made so many people want to be a part, thereby becoming one of the best marketing tactics ever. The first question I wanted to know was who is this man that earned the respect of some of the biggest names on Wall Street, the trust of friends, family and strangers and where did he come from? • Start of firm senior in college The firm that Madoff started in 1960 with the $5,000 he saved was a trading business that specialized in the trading of penny stocks – Continued to earn money as a life guard and landscaper until his business took off • Bernard Madoff is a former financier, American hedge-fund investment manager, chairman of the NASDAQ (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) stock exchange, and chairman of the firm Bernard...
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...Buss Law: Lindgren vs. GDT, LLC (96-98) Plaintiff: Lindgren/GDT, LLC Defendant: GDT, LLC/ Lindgren Facts: Lindgren came-up with an accessory concept, which she sold online and in a store in Iowa. She patented it in 2000. GDT started selling a product quite similar to hers at much higher prices through all of its distribution channels. When Lindgren found out she filed a lawsuit in the federal district court in Iowa against GDT for infringement. GDT, claiming that it has no affiliation with the State, expressed its right to exercise its in personam jurisdiction and filed a motion to dismiss the case in Iowa. Yet, Lindgren countered by stipulating that online the company gave the option of delivering its products to Iowa (with FedEx). Ruling: Lindgren failed to make a prima facie case of personal jurisdiction. Yet, the court found that Lindgren’s claim could continue in the central district of California. GDT’s motion to dismiss was denied. Judicial Opinion: Due process requires that in order to subject a non-resident to the jurisdiction of a state’s court, the latter should have a certain minimum contact with it. The contacts with the state should be more than ‘random’, ‘fortuitous’ or ‘attenuated’. Use of a precedent: Zippo manufacturing case. The Zippo court observed that the likelihood that the personal jurisdiction can be constitutionally exercised is directly proportionate to the nature and the quality of the commercial activity that an entity conducts over the...
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...1 The book Code of the Street is a book about urban city life in Philadelphia, PA, for African Americans and how unwritten laws are vital to abide and obtain in order to survive. In this book, Elijah Anderson captivates the reader’s attention by presenting extensive research on how Philadelphia natives adopt the laws of the code of the street and how and when to use these codes of survival. He provides several interviews with many different people who are either forced to enter the code of the street or who are the enforcers. Nonetheless, all are victims because the code is a factor in everybody’s life. As I read this book, I noticed how the code of the street could be a good thing and also a bad thing. I say a good thing because, first and foremost, no one wants to be disrespected and I saw how many of the characters adopted this role in the street life to gain respect and to not be fearful and to be viewed as a “tough” guy. I also saw adopting the code of the street as a bad thing because I saw that there were decent people who were forced to engage in the negativity that the street produced on a daily basis. I saw how the good turned into bad while the bad either were campaigning to be badder or campaigning to make something of themselves. You would think that trying to better your life, especially coming from the ghetto, would be two thumbs up but in the city of Philadelphia, as Anderson described, was a hard obstacle to overcome. Hate, jealousy and envy were the dominant...
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...Germany. When Hitler came to power he became involved with the Hitler Youth. Alfons grew up on a farm but was a Nazi boy who became a commander at age sixteen. This book truly depicts Hitler's impact and influence on the youth of Germany. Alfons was brainwashed by Hitler's promises, a full pledged Nazi youth is how it is presented in the book he participated in all rallies. He started his training to become the future of Germany and eventually of the world. There he learned discipline and order. He trained to become a soldier and he learned the ways of warfare. He was taught to be a follower of anti-Semitism and was told to hate the Jewish people. He along with millions of Nazi’s believed that they were the reason for Germany's problems. As years went by, Alfons rose through the ranks of the military until the end of the war where realized what atrocities had been committed, he than took off his uniform and went on to help people. On the other side of the spectrum we have Helen Waterford a young Jewish girl who grew up in Frankfurt, Germany. She married Siegfried Wohlfarth and moved to Amsterdam because of tension brewing in Frankfurt. She had a baby girl Doris, whom she gave to friends to protect and guard her so she could going into hiding as a result of the Nazi invasion. She and her husband were found by the Nazis and taken to Birkenau. Birkenau was one of the forty camps at Auschwitz. While at Auschwitz she experienced the horror of the death camps. Eventually she and three...
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...Lee i Meet Harper Lee at the same university. In 1949, however, she withdrew and moved to New York City with the goal of becoming a writer. While working at other jobs, Lee submitted stories and essays to publishers. All were rejected. An agent, however, took an interest in one of her short stories and suggested she expand it into a novel. By 1957 she had finished a draft of To Kill a Mockingbird. A publisher to whom she sent the novel saw its potential but thought it needed reworking. With her editor, Lee spent two and a half more years revising the manuscript. By 1960 the novel was published. In a 1961 interview with Newsweek magazine, Lee commented: Writing is the hardest thing in the world, . . . but writing is the only thing that has made me completely happy. To Kill a Mockingbird was an immediate and widespread success. Within a year, the novel sold half a million copies and received the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Within two years, it was turned into a highly acclaimed film. Readers admire the novel’s sensitive and probing treatment of race relations. But, equally, they enjoy its vivid account of childhood in a small rural town. Summing up the novel’s enduring impact in a 1974 review, R. A. Dave called To Kill a Mockingbird . . . a movingly human drama of the jostling worlds—of children and adults, of innocence and experience, of kindness and cruelty, of love and hatred, of humor and pathos, and above all of appearance and reality—all taking the reader to the root...
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...Sparrow Ostas Densmore October 31, 2013 2nd Block Section Summaries: Pages 14 – 32 Do A Number: This phrase relates to the sport of boxing. Coaches inform their boxer to hit the opponent x amount of times, which can be any number Three Sheets to the Wind: This phrase means “extremely drunk.” This phrase comes from ropes, which all have a different function. The math involved is “sheet” ropes, which control the horizontal movement of the sails. If three sails are loose, then the sailors are extremely drunk. The Third Degree: This phrase means that when people got interrogated for their past crimes, they got highly searched (third degree). This phrase includes the math were the members of an old ritual of Freemasonry, which were graded by degrees. The Fourth Estate: This phrase means the social ranks of the 1789 Estates-General. The first where the clergy, than the nobles, and finally the bourgeoisie (the wealthiest). But the Fourth Estate was the most influential on ordinary French people – newspapers and reporters. Fourth Wall: This phrase is a “wall” that separates a theatrical performance from the audience. But now this term is applies when a character “breaks” the fourth wall and addresses the audience directly. Five by Five: This phrase is a term for a NATO radio speak system. Signals are rated by one – five (five being the clearest and most understood signal). It is usually used to indicate that something is understood. Fifth Columnist: This phrase originally comes...
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...20. People v. Relova Facts: 5 Feb 1, 1975 - Police searched the ice plant owned by Opulencia; they discovered electric wiring, devices and contraptions had been installed without necessary authority from city govt 6 Nov 24, 1975 - Asst. City Fixcal filed info against Opulencia for violation of a city ordinance which prohibits unauthorized wiring installations. 7 Opulencia pleaded not guilty and filed motion to dismiss on the ground that the crime had alrdy prescribed (offense charged was a light felony w/c prescribes 2 mos from discovery thereof.) 8 Lower court dismissed the case 9 Acting City Fiscal filed another info for theft of electric power 10 Opulencia filed Motion to Quash upon the ground of double jeopardy 11 Judge Relova granted motion and dismissed the case. 12 Motion for Recon denied, hence this appeal Issue: WON there was double jeopardy Ratio Decidendi: A person who was charged for violating a city ordinance for having installed a metering device to lower his electric bills which was dismissed for prescription of the offense may not be charged again for theft of electric power under the RPC Reasons: 13 The second sentence of Art. IV Sec. 22 embodies an exception to the gen. Proposition: the consti protection, against double jeopardy is available although the prior offense charged under an ordinance be different from the offense charged subsequently under a national statute such as the RPC, provided that both offenses spring from the same act...
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...Part 1 - Weimar Germany 1918-1929 1) The Treaty of Versailles ▪ Kaiser abdicates November 9th 1918, Armistice (cease-fire) signed November 11th ▪ Treaty of Versailles signed June 1919 ▪ It is a DIKTAT – something forced on to Germany. Allies say that they will carry on the war if Germans do not sign. ▪ For many Germans the defeat in WW1, national humiliation, the Treaty of Versailles, the Weimar constitution & democracy are all linked – helps explain why democracy is weak in Germany ▪ Terms of the Treaty – ▪ Germany has to pay REPARATIONS (fixed in 1921 as £6600 million) ▪ Germany loses all its COLONIES (overseas parts of their empire) ▪ German army limited to 100,000 men with no air force & a small navy with only 6 battleships and no submarines ▪ 13% of Germany is now transferred to neighbouring countries as the map is redrawn ▪ Germany loses land to France (Alsace-Lorraine), Belgium, Poland (Posen & West Prussia) & Denmark ▪ 15% of German coal mines are lost in map changes ▪ Many Germans blame the defeat in the war on “the stab in the back” (DOLCHSTOSS) – i.e. the Socialists / Communists / Jews betrayed Germany & the army was never defeated. This myth makes it harder to accept the Treaty ▪ Treaty weakened democracy in Germany and the German economy ▪ Friedrich Ebert appointed Chancellor in October 1918 2) The Weimar Constitution ▪ A National Assembly was elected to write this new constitution ▪ It met in Weimar because Berlin was...
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...«Брестский государственный университет имени А. С. Пушкина» Кафедра английского языка с методикой преподавания М. В. Гуль EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM. COURTS AND TRIALS СИСТЕМЫ ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ И ПРАВОСУДИЯ ВЕЛИКОБРИТАНИИ И США Практикум по английскому языку Для студентов 4-го курса гуманитарных и педагогических специальностей (специальность 1-21 06 01-01, современные иностранные языки специальность 1-02 03 06, иностранные языки (английский, немецкий)) БрГУ имени А. С. Пушкина Брест 2009 4 УДК 372.016 : 811.111(076) ББК 74.268.1(Англ)р Г94 Рецензенты: Кандидат филологических наук, доцент кафедры иностранных языков технических специальностей БГТУ Д. В. Новик Зав. кафедрой кафедрой иностранных языков второй специальности БрГУ имени А. С. Пушкина, доцент В. М. Иванова Практикум направлен на совершенствование навыков и развитие умений диалогической и монологической речи по темам: система образования, система правосудия Великобритании и США, а также на совершенствование письменной компетенции студентов. Каждый раздел содержит тематический словарь, ряд упражнений на закрепление лексики, достаточное количество текстов по теме, упражнения на повторение. Практикум предназначен для аудиторной и самостоятельной работы студентов 4-го курса, изучающих английский язык как основную специальность. 5 Educational System (the USA and the UK) Topical Vocabulary Nursery school, kindergarten, elementary school, high school (junior, senior), secondary school (―grade school‖ or the ―grammar...
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...Assignment 5: Marketing Strategies MKT 500 – Marketing Management 1. Write an executive summary of your marketing plan. The marketing plan consists of 5C’s, STP and 4P’s. I will elaborate on these points. The 5C’s Consumers: Our customers consist of low to middle income group. Our refurbished products have the most appeal to this group. Because these groups are price sensitive to expensive products such expensive brand new computers, laptops and printers. Company: Our company name is “Silicon Trading.” We trade in the refurbished industry of personal computers and all other I.T. related products. This industry is unique because not only do we sell I.T. products but our service that goes along with our product is critical to sales and retaining customers. Context: Currently there are few competitors in the market right now. However, we expect that in the next ten years competition will increase a lot. Profit margins will get smaller and smaller. Therefore, we at Silicon Trading will concentrate on the regional export market. Because exporting our products in volume has the potential for high profits. If we can establish a first movers advantage in the refurbished export market. Then it will be difficult for our competitors to enter this market because it takes a lot of time to establish close relationships with business partners in export markets. Collaborators: Besides selling our products to individual customers. We also sell to small organizations/businesses as well...
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...jon24565_ch05.qxd 11/2/05 1:22 PM Page 138 C H A P T E R 5 Business Ethics and the Legal Environment of Business Learning Objectives After studying this chapter you should be able to: 1. Understand the relationship between ethics and the law and appreciate why it is important to behave ethically. 2. Differentiate between the claims of the different stakeholder groups affected by a company’s actions. 3. Identify the four main sources of business ethics, and describe four rules that can be used to help companies and their employees behave ethically. 4. Describe some methods companies can use to strengthen their ethical rules and positions. 5. Appreciate the important ways in which a nation’s business laws and regulations affect business commerce, occupations, and organizations. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT ? A friend who is an A-student has offered to write your paper, which is worth 25% of your grade, for $50. You need the course to graduate because you only have a low C average. You hate writing, do it very poorly, and know others have had good results submitting this student’s papers as their own. Will you pay the money and submit the paper or submit your own paper and pray for a good result? This chapter will help you learn how to act ethically when facing dilemmas in your business and personal life. This is important because the decisions you make will affect your own future and those of stakeholders of the organizations that...
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...Common (parliament and courts) v civil (legal code) * Civil actions v criminal actions Origins of Australian Law: * 1865 Colonial Laws Validity Act NSW (AUS) can pass own laws as long as they don’t conflict with England laws * 1901 Federation 6 separate states become 1 Government * 1931 Statute of Westminster legislative independence. * 1986 Australia Act Final court of appeal became the High Court The Westminster System: * A constitutional monarchy * Separation of powers 1) The Parliament Legislative 2) The Executive Government 3) The Judiciary interprets the law Making a law: 1. Draftsman drafts a Bill 2. 1st, 2nd, 3rd reading in HOR 3. 1st, 2nd, 3rd reading in Senate 4. Governor General consent 5. Bill becomes an Act and become law The Judiciary: Rule of law a means of maintaining the balance between personal freedom and legislative power in a modern democracy. Role of the courts: Impose a legally binding decision on the parties to the dispute. Features of the court hierarchy: * Provides a system of appeals * Allows different forms of hearing * Instrumental in building up precedent Courts jurisdiction: 1. Original jurisdiction authority to hear case 2. Appellate jurisdiction authority to hear appeals from decisions of a lower or equal level of hierarchy State court systems: 1. Inferior courts aim to settle disputes quickly and locally (Local courts) 2. Intermediate...
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...Running head: GLOBAL BUSINESS CULTURAL ANALYSIS: JAPAN Global Business Cultural Analysis: Japan Albert G. Rodriguez Liberty University Abstract Japan is very similar and very unlike the US. It was amazing to research so many different aspects of one country. The major elements of this country are its culture and how these affect the country itself. How the people process these elements is very important and this is how the Japanese culture develops. From here we move on to see how this compares to US. We look to see how the US compares in their culture when brought next to Japan. Finally we will see how the US manager can be an international manager in Japan. This is mainly done through sensitivity to the other’s culture. This sometimes includes changing the way we act, and other times it is being sensitive to the other culture that is before us. Global Business Cultural Analysis: Japan Japan is an island cluster off the coasts of Russia, South Korea, and China. It is specifically located to the east of the Sea of Japan. It is composed of four major islands and over six-thousand minor ones. The four major islands are: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. It has thousands of shrines, national parks and even imperial palaces. The country of Japan is often called the Land of the Rising Sun. It has one of the largest populations in the world by country despite being such a small country. It has the highest life expectancy in the world (83.10). The islands are also...
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