Just read " Glenn W Turner: Con Man or Saint?"

...for the 3rd time. Get a copy from your used
book store. It's pure inspiration. Don't used it
as a blueprint for your business, or you'll end
up behind bars. But as an example of what sheer
force of personality can do, its tops.

Hi Joe,

Thanks for the recommendation!

On "con men" - one book I found interesting is "America's Guide to Fraud Prevention"
by Brett Champion.

"Brett Champion" (the pen name of Steven Comisar) is a con man, and he wrote this book as a con man who had "gone clean" and wanted to prevent fraud. He explains exactly how his own scams worked.

After reading this book, my conclusion was that the main difference between a con artist and a legitimate business-person is that in a legitimate business, you have to deliver on your promises.

On the other hand, a con artist can promise the world, but will never deliver - that's the major difference, as I see it. He'll take the money and run.

In Comisar's case, he tried to "reform" himself, and was even on TV as an expert telling people how to prevent fraud. But in the end, he kept on doing it, and I think he's currently in jail. There's more information (for those who are interested) at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/cac/pr/249.htm .

I guess it shows that crime just doesn't pay in the long run! (Batman was right.)

I once attended a Jim Rohn talk, and he said that he studies both those who are financially successful, and those who are bankrupt. He studies the successful people in order to learn what to do, and he studies those who are destitute in order to learn what NOT to do.

I guess we can look at con artists the same way - learn what NOT to do (and that they pretty much all end up doing some jail time in the end).

- Dien Rice

How's this for a story?

A guy in San Diego insured his rare very expensive cigars against... get this... fire.

Then he smoked them all, and made a claim against the insurance company for "a series of small fires"!

The company refused to pay, so he took them to court - and WON!

But there's a twist to the ending of the story.... Read the whole story here....

There are more of these unusual fraud stories at the web site of the The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners....

- Dien Rice

A man named William Penn Patrick started a cosmetics company called Holiday Magic.

It was one of the first MultiLevel Marketing deals.

Here's what happened one evening a long time ago;
One of my AirForce buddies called me at 6pm and told me he was coming by in 30 min to take me to a meeting in downtown Chicago. He told me it would be well worth my time...plus...he was driving.

So....Harry drives up at 6:30...and all the way down to the Bismarck Hotel Harry would NOT say anything about what the meeting was about.

So...we park the car...he leads me into the main ballroom of this big hotel. The room is filled with people about my age. I see a few Chicago Bear players and some other celebs...so I think this is some kind of entertainment deal.

Harry tells me to sit down and watch the movie.

The lights darken and on the screen is the actor Jeffrey Hunter. He tells a story about how this man found a defunct cosmetic factory with a huge warehouse of cosmetics.

This man sees all this cosmetic stuff and devises a marketing plan to sell it. It is a few years after Amway started. The man tells this story of how he started with a handful of people and because of the marketing plan...some of the first people into the program are now millionaires.

The movie ends...lights go up and this guy explains the marketing plan of how you can buy a starter kit for $25 and go out and sell cosmetics at a retail price and you can make some money because you buy wholesale. He explains how much you can make as a "retailer"...then...he explains the "distributor" program.

You buy $5,000 worth of wholesale cosmetics and can sell these to consumers or retailers OR...you can get someone else to become a Distributor. When that person pays out $5,000...the company gets $2500 and YOU get $2500. SO...if you bring in 2 people to be Distributors...you have your money back.

NOW...the guy explaining this REALLY starts jumping up and down...and showing what you can make if you bring in 10 people...20...50...100!

ALL our eyes get bigger....our hearts start beating a little faster....excitement is in the air...I could feel it.

The guy then tells us to find the person who brought us to the meeting. I find Harry and he takes me down the hall to a room where he introduces me to Glenn W Turner...Harry's sponsor.

Turner has an expensive suit on and a BIG PINKIE on his little finger and a diamond tie clasp and what look like diamond cufflinks and...he whips out a HUGE wad of bills.

Needless to say...we were impressed...especially when Turner started to speak. He had a cleft palatte and spoke with a nasal twang.

Turner told us the story of how he was a sharecropper as a boy and decided to do something with his life. He found MLM and the rest, he said, was history.

Anyway...I went home and raised the $5,000. I then started getting people in at the wholesale level...and I was making some BIG money until the Govt shut her down as a Pyramid.

Turner called me a few days after Holiday Magic was shut down. He told me he was relocating to Florida and starting a new deal with MINK OIL.

I felt the Govt would soon be on this one too so I passed.

It was VERY exciting for a while. It was the "Chiefs selling Chiefs"...the GREED factor was running rampant.

Turner went to jail and I haven;t followed him...but in those days...the money was flowing like water. we were all making $10,000 to $20,000 A WEEK...until she crashed. What a FUN time.

Thanks for letting me pull this off my memory hook.

Don Alm


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