Those Who Couldn't Wait To Win the Lotto - Part 5

I thought I'd post a few of the latest embezzlers in a continuation of my Those Who Couldn't Wait to Win the Lotto multi-part series. For some reason Fraud Talk Blog where I obtain this information seems to have a pattern of blond female embezzlers.  This is all so shocking, these were once professional career women who just lost it.  As fits the pattern, guys are also posted below who stole larger amounts of cash.


New York Woman Sentenced For Embezzling $350K From Medical Practice

Kathleen L. Heller, 54, formerly of West Seneca, New York, was sentenced to one to three years in prison for embezzling more than $350,000 from Western New York Pediatrics where she had served as chief financial officer. According to authorities, Heller misappropriated a total of $355,262 from the practice by manipulating payroll accounts and making unauthorized credit card charges for her own benefit. She is also alleged to have misappropriated $33,524 from the New York State Tax Department. According to reports, Heller fled in 2005 after suspicions arose and was captured as a fugitive in Florida in June 2009. Heller blamed her actions on an addiction to pain killers. At her sentencing, Heller is apologized and is quoted as saying that she was "very, very sorry with my whole heart and soul" for her actions.

Read the story  here.

Iowa Woman Charged With Embezzling Nearly $175K From Dental Practice

Michelle Lynne Allen, 38, of Marshalltown, Iowa, has been charged with embezzling $173,552 from the Plaza Family Dental Practice where she had been employed as office manager. Specifically, Allen has been charged with one count of ongoing criminal conduct, two counts of first degree theft, three counts of forgery and one count of identity theft. According to authorities, Allen wrote Practice checks and transferred funds to herself or her benefit, among other methods of embezzlement, over a period of about 4 years, from 2006 until 2010.

Read the story here.

Former Finance Director of Red Cross in New York Charged With Embezzling $275K

Deborah A. Leggio, 47, currently of Tracy, California and formerly of Long Island, New York, has been arrested and charged with grand larceny in connection with her alleged embezzlement of $274,301 from the Suffolk County chapter of the American Red Cross in Long Island, New York where she had served as finance director. According to prosecutors, Leggio used a Red Cross debit card, issued in her name, to make numerous unauthorized cash withdrawals over a period of more than four years between August 2005 and November 2009.

Read the story here.

2 Former Finance Officers of California Company Sentenced In $1.5 Million Embezzlement  


Eric Wayne Helgemo, 50, of Vista, California and Maria Lorena Vega Yarrish, 40, of Buena Park, California, CFO and Controller, respectively of Pacific Polymers Inc., were sentenced yesterday for their role in an embezzlement conspiracy that bilked the company out of more than $1.5 million. Helgemo (left) was sentenced to 10 years in prison and Yarrish (right) was sentenced to 8 years in prison. They were each also ordered to pay a fine of $3 million. According to authorities, the pair issued more than 800 fraudulent paychecks to themselves over a period of about 5 years, from 2003 until 2008. Specifically, Helgemo received 593 fraudulent payments for more than $1.1 million and Yarrish received 229 fraudulent payments for more than $340,000. The embezzlement was discovered after the company was sold and Helgemo and Yarrish were let go and an audit of the company's books was conducted. Cor Claus, Pacific Polymers former owner, claimed that the company suffered a loss of as much as $7.5 million as a result of Helgemo's and Yarrish's thefts. The pair were originally charged last October with numerous counts of computer access and fraud.

Read the story here, here and here.

Read the original Orange County DA's announcement here.

2 Accused In Kickback Scheme That Bilked Missouri Company Out Of $1 Million

Jason Paul Mitchell, 34, of Jackson, Missouri and Rajiv M. Toprani, 30, of Clarksville, Tennessee, have been accused of conspiring to bilk nearly $1 million from The DeWitt Company of Sikeston, Missouri. According to authorities, Mitchell (left), who was employed as purchasing manager at DeWitt, colluded with Toprani (right), owner of KT America, a DeWitt supplier, who agreed to make kickback payments in exchange for exclusivity. The scheme reportedly spanned about 7 years from 2003 until 2010 where Mitchell and another employee netted some $950,000. The unnamed employee is believed to be DeWitt former CFO, Richard Potter, who has not been criminally charged at this time. Potter reportedly admitted to doctoring company financials to make the kickbacks appear legitimate.

Read the story here

For more info visit Fraud Talk Blog 

eBook Sales Makes Millionaires of Self-Published Authors

The days of dusty old books on shelves seem to be gradually coming to an end as bookstores all over America close their doors while Borders and others file for bankruptcy.  If San Francisco's any indicator, book stores are a thing of the past.  As resident of 16 years I've noted most all the major and even smaller book stores in San Francisco have closed or are in the process of closing.  The reason for the closures is clear.  While many people now prefer to purchase books on Amazon, many others are switching over to the Kindle, Nook and other eBook devices to download books and magazines. In fact, the eBook industry now consists of 20% of all book sales and is steadily growing.

This new eBook industry is allowing writers an easier avenue to self-publish and sell their eBooks to a mass audience making book authors very happy and even rich.  New talent is being unleashed unrestricted by the questionable restraints of snobby publishing houses.  It's clear that new technology has paved the way for a writing and reading revolution now taking place.

Take Amanda Hocking for example, a woman who was living paycheck to paycheck.  Amanda had tried to get her book published and things were starting to look bleak until she decided a new way of doing things:

Amanda Hocking had been rejected by publishers all over New York and decided to self-publish on the eBooks platform alone.  In 10 months, Hocking has since sold 900,000 eBooks enabling her to quit her day job to become a full-time writer.  Hocking is now a millionaire.  - Self-Published Author Amanda Hocking Makes Millions from eBook Sales - HuffPost.com

eBook author Amanda Hocking Shares Her Story to Independence and Wealth

Prior to the eBook revolution, writers didn't have much of a chance of making much money because publishers got a huge cut and production costs were high.  Today much of the expense has been removed enabling writers to become millionaires if their work's considered worthy by a mass audience.

So dust off those old writing books in your attic, put on your thinking cap and see what you can come up with to become the next eBooks millionaire.  Even if you don't become a millionaire you may be able to make supplemental income.

Self-Published Author Amanda Hocking Makes Millions from eBook Sales - HuffPost.com

Googling People To Death Isn't Cool

I'll never forget that historic day back in 2001  when the high powered law firm of Pillsbury Winthrop LLP asked me what Google was. "What's Google?" asked someone from human resources at a meeting.  The lady had asked because I brought up the firm's first Google search case after I discovered one of my coworkers who shared my desk was featured on a psychotherapy site The Company Therapist.

Back in those days it was very strange and shocking to find such strange info on a coworker on the Internet.  Alan had given me a hard time in the office since we shared desks having even complained to top gun Mary Cranston about how he was allegedly being discriminated against.  I thought his behavior was eccentric so I Googled him to find a web site had documented someone in San Francisco with his name.  I figured someone had fictionalized the stories but some of the elements of truth remained about a narcissistic personality I had encountered in the office.

To make a long story short, back in the old days there was no procedural protocol on how to deal with such information on Google so I thought nothing of reporting the coworker search to my supervisor.  The supervisor didn't appreciate the information at all and it's easy to see why with all the legal issues it presented. It's interesting to note what happened years later when a coworker Googled me in 2008 at Chapman & Cutler LLP.   By then things had changed significantly to where Google information was accepted as part of an employee's image,  quite unfairly I might add.  The Google junk had so affected the other employees' behavior towards me that I quit my $64K a year 35 hour per week job. That's what Google did to my life in 2008 and it hasn't stopped since.

So last night I had yet another experience with some obnoxious man Googling my name for no just cause or reason.  He just saw my name on a professional forum and decided to Google it.  Voila!  He wrote back to the others on the thread to Google my name and they responded with "interesting reading" and posted a URL to a particular page.  When I protested, they all laughed at me on the forum saying "give me a break" as if they had every right to do this kind of thing.

Let's face it, this  Googling behavior is getting out of hand.  I did nothing whatsoever to cause my name to be Googled.  People don't respect each other's privacy any longer and it seems everyone's fair game.  I'm not saying I'm a Googling angel, but I don't go around Googling strangers for no valid reason.  It used to be someone asked for your phone number, today they hold you hostage over what they find on Google or write about you for not giving your number to them.

In another example, two weeks ago I was trying to sell a DVD burner copier tower on Craigslist only for the guy to Google me and write "ha ha ha ha ha" in an email after I wouldn't sell it to him.  It freaked me out.  Why this obnoxious behavior?  I tried to sell it to him for cheap but he expected me to wait 7 days without a down payment?  Then he harassed me when it didn't work out?  After I got his email, I left a voice mail:

"I wasn't quite sure why you felt it necessary to Google me or send me that rude email, that it's probably some symptom perhaps of your mother not breast feeding you at a young age or whatever, but I didn't do anything wrong to you.  Move on and let it go."

Google Gang Bangers 

I've never partaken in this kind of behavior to gang up on weak or vulnerable people as these people have towards myself, at least not since junior high school.  I can't imagine what it would be like to behave this way ganging up on on someone. I had the misfortune of a couple of crazy men latching onto me a few years ago I sued.  It seems to be entertainment for many people to witness my torment.  Take for instance Susan Fischer of www.OrCoastNotary.com in  Lincoln City Oregon. Here was one of Susan's comments to my complaint of being ganged up on a professional notary forum today:

(chortle) "[h]arassment?" "[give you a try?]" heh heh heh 

- Susan Fischer, Mobile Notary & Signing Agent

Susan's profile on the site claims she's "mature".  Anyone who writes a stranger whose clearly annoyed "heh heh heh" has some kind of lack of maturity in my humble opinion.  What did I do to her? Absolutely nothing.  It seems that certain people personalize things that clearly aren't directed towards them. Why try to fan the flames when the issue isn't directed at you personally?  Why join the fray? My message had clearly been directed towards one trouble maker I couldn't email because they were anonymous.

Thou Shalt Not Google Recklessly

I counter this Googling craze and violation of privacy by only Googling whenever it is absolutely relevant or necessary.  Did someone rip me off?  If yes, I'll Google them.  What did that person do to cause something bad to happen to me?  Yes, I'll Google them.  But just pulling strangers' names off of a forum and Googling them for no reason, then discussing them on a forum, that's bad manners looking for trouble. 

The forum thread was coincidentally about how some nice person hoped Signing Agents could find supplemental income during the coming hard times for the industry.  Maybe these guys can get a job at Google googling to their little heart's content because they clearly have too much time on their hands.

Today my personal morals prohibit me from Googling someone for no just cause.  Somebody needs to write a Google Book of Karma perhaps for those who abuse the medium.  There's something wrong about strangers Googling people without their permission for no just cause. My life's not public, I'm a private citizen. I reveal what I want to reveal and no one has a right to broadcast every painful detail of any tragedy or someone's lies all over the Internet as if they're the National Enquirer and I'm a multi-million dollar celebrity.

Dusty The Klepto Cat's On The Loose!

I'm chillin today with a fun story about a kleptomaniac cat in San Mateo, California.  Animal Planet installed a hidden camera for its program Must Love Cats revealing the feline's nightly catches of neighbors' items.  It's a pretty amazing story you don't read about every day.

It seems kleptomaniacs aren't limited to the human species as this amazing cat burglar video demonstrates.

"Dusty has a long history of scouting the neighborhood for loot. Over the course of the last three years his owners claim that he has stolen more than 600 items.

As the sun sets in San Mateo, the question becomes, which house will Dusty hit tonight? It is the purr-fect night for a heist." - ABCNews.com

Kleptomaniac Feline Gives New Meaning to 'Cat' Burglar - ABCNews.com

AeroGarden Taking America By Storm - Year Round Indoor Fresh Herbs & Veggies

A few years ago I learned about a new way of growing plants with only water and nutrients called hydroponic gardening. I even asked if our building in San Francisco would possibly open up a hydroponic garden for tenants on the roof.  Unfortunately, as in most buildings, we're not allowed to put out planters on the fire escape because it's in violation of the city safety codes.  As with most requests of such unique tenant ideas, including a satellite dish to enable cheaper cable television, solar panels, etc., apparently the roof garden idea never took root to initiate any action.

A few days ago I came upon information about the AeroGarden by Aerogrow.  I read through the rave reviews and decided to purchase a couple of them to create an indoor vegetable garden.  As was my initial concern, the wattage used by the AeroGarden is similar to that of an average wattage light bulb and the lights are automatically controlled by the machine so as not to waste electricity.  Aerogrow claims it costs under $3.00 a month in electricity to use its AeroGarden system.  Since tomatoes in San Francisco most always run $3.99 per pound, and the cherry tomatoes even more at Trader Joes, it's well worth it. I love tomatoes and basil. Basil is even more expensive and tends to go to waste in a few days of sitting in the refrigerator. I also know I'll eat healthier foods if I have fresh lettuce on hand to make salads. 

I decided I needed an AeroGarden because I can grow my own cherry tomatoes, various lettuce, basil and herbs that would provide and endless amount of healthy easily accessible food at my fingertips.  If I want flowers, I can grow roses and lavender to infuse in honey that is one of the projects I plan of small promotional jars for my notary public business.

Because you can't combine growing some of the types of vegetables like the salad with the herbs or the flowers with the herbs, and tomatoes require a special system, I actually purchased two AeroGardens. Now I don't have to worry about insecticides, genetically modified and other dangers associated with crops.  I won't be using tap water, only purified water, to ensure my plants aren't polluted with chemicals.

This AeroGarden owner explains how many feel about their indoor garden that brings them endless happiness, freedom and satisfaction.

Now I know when there's a food shortage of vegetables I won't have to worry as long as I have seeds on hand and the electricity and water available to grow the plants.  People in the dead of winter can now have their own lovely fragrant garden anywhere in the world.  


I would have loved to have been a distributor for the AeroGarden but I'm afraid AeroGrow isn't using network marketing to sell their product.  As soon as I have my first crop in a few weeks I may also put up a video sharing my experience.  

www.AeroGrow.com for more information.

Funny Pet Missing Signs

I'll start out by writing that yesterday was extremely stressful.  The day began innocently enough with birds chirping, the sun crystal clear and the sky as blue as can be only to quickly degenerate into all kinds of unusual chaos. 

Today I needed something to lighten up my mood so here goes.

LOL, medicated dog missing. Link

What breed of cat is this?  Link

 

 Likes to sing "The Andy Griffith Show" - What?  Link

 This sign was posted on Seattle's "Tangletown" neighborhood. Reminds me of when I had a pet crawdad from Lake Tahoe that didn't last long in the tupperware home.  Link 

As I've continually stated in this blog, a majority of married men feel this way about their wives and probably visa versa.

 

This poor emu probably ran away because of the geeky name and haircut its owner gave it. Link

Unhappy chicken?   Link

 LOL, probably taken for someone's fly leg eyelashes I posted a few days ago. Link

103 Year Old Woman Credits Longevity to No Men In Her Life

Want to stay healthy and live a long life?  There's a woman claiming the reason she's lived to be 103 is partly due to not having men in her life. Other claims for her longevity include never drinking, taking prescription drugs or smoking.  Gladys Gough of Conventry in the UK said:

"I never got married or had a boyfriend. That probably had something to do with it, I just couldn't be bothered with men.

I always eat my dinner. I've always made sure that I've eaten well.  Men have never been a part of my life."

The Sun article I Am 103 Because I've Never Had Sex continued:

Gladys said she dedicated her life to seeing the world with her sister Edna who died in 1996 at the age of 85, adding:

"We were always being approached by men but preferred to travel and talk to each other instead."

Here are a few interesting comments posted under the article:

You are so right - Men just aren't worth it! Live, Love and enjoy life in your own way...There are no rules to follow, no 2 people are alike and you should just be free to do whatever you want - as long as it makes you happy, Who cares? 

***

You go girl! sex is overrated anyway.. same with alcohol. 

***

She has more respect for herself.

***

ahh bless her :)

***

Bless her heart xx don't need disgusting men to live long being there waitress all your life

An Officer And A Gentleman? Commander Russell Williams' Double Life Exposed

This story is probably too much for many people to handle but I feel it's necessary to post as a continuation of this blog's many "expose these evil bastards who hide behind an image" stories.  On Friday night Dateline NBC aired a special two hour presentation of the tragic story of Canadian air force commander Russell Williams' double life. Williams was a high ranking officer by day and a stalking rapist serial killer by night.

This officer Williams met the Queen of England and many high ranking officials in his line of work.  He was way up in the ranks overseeing an entire Canadian air force base.  Back in 2007, Williams suddenly got the idea to begin breaking into people's homes at night to steal women's lingerie that eventually escalated into full blown rape and murder.  Williams photographed himself in the lingerie and documented all of his activities that were later discovered on his computer, including a video of his raping and murdering his victims.

Instead of writing about the horrid details, I thought I'd just post the 9 part video series from Dateline NBC in this post for those who would like to see just another example of how these zombie men hide behind images in order to conceal their hideous crimes against women in particular.   I thought the most interesting part was the part where they got to Williams' confession during a detective's questioning. 

For the story, you can also visit Canadian Commander By Day; Sexual Killer By Night - MSNBC.com.

Also see my recent post Zombies Among Us.

Growing Trend Of Men Seeking Sex Favors Exposed

Not until lawsuits became accessible to the average woman has it been possible to stand up to outrageous male sexual harassment behavior.  The fact is, sexual harassment and male domination has been happening since the beginning of time being accepted as normal conduct by many women as such.  That is, until women obtained the right to sue their oppressor.

Men are usually smarter then this fellow I'm about to blog about, as they find ways of shielding themselves from exposure holding a woman hostage psychologically by threatening potential danger or punishment, especially if the aggressors are police officers.  However, today even this kind of situation of police brotherhoods are failing thanks to technology and the power of the Internet.

In this next particular case, the outrageous conduct came from a school principle attempting to obtain sexual favors in turn for helping a mother's son in high school.  It's rare a woman is strong enough to stand up to this type of conduct that's likely widespread, for fear of social repercussions.

A mother claims her son's high school principal, "in an outrageous attempt to obtain sexual favors," told her, "if you let me . . . . . .., then I will make sure [your son] is not accused of doing anything wrong and I will help him if he gets into trouble." She claims Clifton H.S. principal Jimmie Warren also exposed himself to her in his office and told her to "just touch it."

The mother, Dawn Colombo, claims those lewd suggestions were just part of "a continuing pattern of extremely inappropriate, unwelcome, harassing and sexually suggestive communications" from Warren. She claims that Warren refused to lift her son's disciplinary suspension after she spurned his sexual advances.

Colombo claims that "members of the Board of Education, administrators within the district and other agents and employees of defendants were aware of Warren's activities and took no action in response thereto despite their legal duty to do so."

At a June 28, 2010 meeting in his office, Colombo says, Warren approached her from behind and . . . . ..  . She says the crude gesture, which she rebuffed, left her unable to sleep.  The next day, she says, she told Warren she was going to report the incident to police. She says Warren told her that if she did, it would leave her son with no one to protect him. - CourtHouseNews

There was also a story back in 2007 of a video tape of evidence state trooper James Randall Moss received sexual favors to disregard illegal painkillers found in a woman's vehicle.  The 2007 article read:

"Moss is accused of stopping females for traffic violations where he would inappropriately approach them in a sexual nature," the release read. "If they complied, he would lessen their punishments." - Third Sex Allegation Made Against ex-Tenn. Trooper

The indictment followed an investigation that began in May 2007, when porn star Justis Ellen Richert, who performs under the name Barbie Cummings, posted a blog recounting sordid details of an alleged escapade with Moss, in which she performed oral sex on the trooper as a thank you for his disregard of narcotics found in her car. - Trooper Indicted for Porn Start Tryst- ABCnews

I'd have to say this kind of police conduct was more widespread prior to easy access of cell phone video cameras, spy cams and small audio recording devices.  Prior to technology's boom, women didn't have much a leg to stand on against this kind of status quo activity.  Even attorney Anita Hill (See Anita Hill Asked to Apologize to Justice Thomas's Wife - NYTimes)  was given a hard time in her accusations of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.  I can affirm there's a tremendous amount of gender discrimination running rampant in the court system regardless of women being added to the Supreme Court bench.  My experience is many women in power participate in aiding and abetting the oppression of other women in agreeing to follow their superior male counterparts political authority over them. 

Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for actor Mel Gibson to be charged for his obvious crimes of domestic violence and abuse in Los Angeles.  We all heard it with our own ears and saw the photos of Gibson's battered girlfriend with real injuries and medical reports.  It was duly noted a story appeared yesterday that Gibson's claims of extortion went to the district attorney's office yesterday.  (See A Look At Secret Negotiations in Mel Gibson's Extortion Case as Detectives Wrap Up Investigation - LA Times)

There's a lot more information in the principal case if you want to read more in the brief (PDF) itself.  Or, you can visit the article on CourtHouseNews.com

Monster Solar Flares to Hit Earth Have Governments On Edge

**UPDATE** February 18, 2011 -  Physicist Michio Kaku tweeted "We dodged the bullet. The bulk of the huge solar flare apparently passed behind the earth, minimizing damage to satellites, power stations."  There was some radio interference and marvelous Auroras reported in Ireland but nothing as extreme as anticipated.

The sun's starting to come alive by sending powerful solar flares towards earth and governments around the world are worried.  The sun's entered a period of extreme activity and just released the largest solar flare headed toward earth since 2006.  This kind of extreme solar storm activity is expected to peak in late 2012 or 2013. The latest blast from Monday night is expected to arrive between February 17-18th.  Many may be saying, whoo hoo, let's have a solar flare party! But wait. . .

A powerful solar eruption that triggered a huge geomagnetic storm has disturbed radio communications and could disrupt electrical power grids, radio and satellite communication in the next days, NASA said. Huge Solar Flare Jams Radio, Satellite Signals

Another solar flare released a few days ago was reported to have disrupted radio communications in Southern China.

The solar flare, a huge explosion on the sun's surface caused by magnetic activity, affected transmissions in southern China on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported, quoting the CMA.  Huge Solar Flare Said to Jam China Communications

Back in 1859, the U.S. was fortunate they didn't have much to worry about over what was the largest solar storm on record.  Unlike today's electricity dependency, the solar storm did little damage only setting telegraph wires and forests on fire.  Many said the sky was lit up so bright in the middle of the night that people were reported to have woken up to start their breakfast thinking it was morning.

Discovery News reported today:

The explosive sun we all know and love is back! And it's packing a punch.  Late on Monday night, when we were all distracted by the Stardust-NExT flyby of comet Tempel 1, the sun unleashed the biggest flare for over four years. The flare, seen above through the high-definition eyes of NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), is classified as one of the most powerful flares the sun can muster.  Solar Boom!  Sun Unleashes Monster Flare - Discovery News

NASA Warns of Once in a Lifetime Solar Storm Coming!

The Sun Could Knock World Governments Out In One Single Blow

In 2009  a study by the National Academy of Sciences outlined grim possibilities on Earth for a worst-case scenario solar storm.  The scientists concluded:

Damage to power grids and other communications systems could be catastrophic, the scientists conclude, with effects leading to a potential loss of governmental control of the situation. - Powerful Solar Storm Could Shut Down U.S. for Months - Fox News

This video features Jesse Ventura's Conspiracy Theory 2012 segment regarding solar flares and scientists warning of an impending once in a lifetime solar storm.

Coincidentally, around the time the sun's solar flare activities are to peak, is in or around 2012 when the Mayans predicted the end of the world.  Scientists say the powerful solar flares could set off many fires on earth and even cause the poles to shift that would cause 400 mph winds on earth.

For more info visit:
www.SolarStormWarning.com
There's a Hole in the Sun! - Discovery News