{"id":21512,"date":"2016-03-18T22:05:45","date_gmt":"2016-03-19T05:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=21512"},"modified":"2016-03-18T23:24:49","modified_gmt":"2016-03-19T06:24:49","slug":"just-saying-land-con-job-fool-proof-bernie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=21512","title":{"rendered":"Just Saying: The Land of the Con Job, Being Fool Proof and Bernie"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Raul Hernandez<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Notebookventura@gmail.com<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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America \u2014 The Land of the Con Job<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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The feds this week convicted a 65-year-old former Marine in Nevada who came up with a tale about drilling for Nigerian oil and ripped off a lot of people.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anton Paul Drago<\/strong>, a.k.a. Evan Fogarty, convinced his “investors” that he\u00a0was the grandson of a Shell Oil founder and heir to a $500 million trust. He told them that his money had already been spent on a Nigerian oil investment deal.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"VeteransIn addition to put folks at ease, he assured them that he was an engineer and an expert in the oil industry with over 30 years of experience working worldwide.<\/span><\/p>\n

All lies, but apparently nobody bothered to check none of this.<\/span><\/p>\n

So Drago convinced a lot of people to invest their money to find oil in Nigeria. \u00a0People gave him more than $2 million. \u00a0He didn’t use any of that money to drill for oil.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, he used it to\u00a0pay rent, buy groceries,\u00a0memberships at the Tournament Players Club Summerlin golf course and an exclusive activity club in Turnberry Towers, both in Las Vegas, maintenance on his Mercedes Benz, jewelry, travel and luxury purchases at stores such as Louis Vuitton, Nordstrom and Sharper Image.<\/span><\/p>\n

Also he transferred nearly $1 million to unknown bank accounts in China.<\/span><\/p>\n

Drago also never bothered to file his 2007 federal income tax return despite all this income.<\/span><\/p>\n

Click here to read\u00a0U.S. Department of Justice press release<\/strong>:<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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Fool Proof and Streetwise<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Three decades ago, I thought I was Drago proof. \u00a0Streetwise, and nobody could bamboozle me. They could try but it would be like trying to crack open a safe inside the Bank of America.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Some of the coins I bought from a con man<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I got snookered. But I never saw this con coming because like most people I was expecting a guy like Drago to show up in a three-piece suit flashing a smile that could have been lifted off the face of a weasel.<\/span><\/p>\n

But this con came by\u00a0way of a disheveled man who looked like he had slept in one park bench too many.<\/span><\/p>\n

It happened at a small restaurant in a poor section of Central El Paso where I sometimes stopped to grab a bite to eat after working as a social worker for the American Red Cross where I was sometimes assigned to the organization’s national disaster relief efforts.<\/span><\/p>\n

So I thought that by constantly sizing up people at work I could spot a con from a mile away.<\/span><\/p>\n

After I ordered the chicken tacos and started reading the newspaper, a scraggly man came in and sat in the booth next to mine. I glanced at him and noticed his shoes had a lot of mileage on them, and his jeans looked like they were used to clean up an oil spill.<\/span><\/p>\n

The guy ordered soup and after it arrived, he started slurping it, long, loud slurps. \u00a0Magnified even more by the moaning sounds he was making. It was annoying.<\/span><\/p>\n

It finally stopped. The man got his check and went to the cash register to pay. I was happy to hear him leaving. But as he walked out the door, he stopped beside my booth. \u00a0I ignored him, hoping he’d go away. \u00a0But I could feel his eyes.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Excuse me, sir, can I show you something?” He said.<\/span><\/p>\n

“What?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“I was doing some yard work for an old lady the other day and found these coins. \u00a0Some really old coins,” he said, and slid into my booth and sat down.<\/span><\/p>\n

I wasn’t happy and glared at him.<\/span><\/p>\n

He reached into his pocket, pulled out a handkerchief that was wrapped around something the size of a lemon. He opened the handkerchief. Coins – old coins.<\/span><\/p>\n

“They were buried near a wall inside an old, rusty can,”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Nice.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“I really need the money. \u00a0I will sell you all these coins for $50. It’s a good deal.”<\/span><\/p>\n

He had my complete attention after I picked up and looked at the coins that included a 1906 five cent coin; 1900 one cent penny;\u00a01905 five cent; 1899 one cent; 1905 one cent; 1895 one cent and 1906 one cent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wow, I thought. These coins must be valuable. I got greedy but calmly made an offer.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I only have $35. I’ll give you $20.”<\/span><\/p>\n

He countered, and we settled for $25. \u00a0He left with a smile, thanking me for helping out. \u00a0Old coins. They were worth a small fortune, and the guy’s story seemed plausible.<\/span><\/p>\n

Later, I found out that all these coins were worth about six dollars. \u00a0I got conned. I kept the coins as a reminder of how con proof I am.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The King of the Con Supreme<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Bernie Madhoff<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Think about conmen, and the King of this Malevolent Mind Magic always comes to the surface – Bernie Madhoff. The former stockbroker, investment advisor and financier stole billions from a lot of trusting souls who never saw through the charm and BS.<\/span><\/p>\n

This guy was so smooth and had no conscience when he stole people’s life savings and sent many of them to the poor house. \u00a0But on the flip side much of it had to do with those who allowed their greed and blind trust to get in the way of making sound and intelligent decisions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Albert Einstein once said: “Three great forces rule the world, stupidity, fear and greed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Madhoff was a master in exploiting all three of these three forces.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Don’t Stand on the Top Step of the Ladder<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Ions ago, I stopped wondering why there is a warning label on a ladder that states: “Do Not Stand on the Top Step.” Or, cautionary tag on a blow-dryer that states: “Do Not Use This Appliance While Taking a Bath” or my favorite that reads something like this: “Pouring a Cup of Bleach Down Your Throat is Not a Good Idea.”<\/span><\/p>\n

America is full of stupid and gullible people, and unfortunately for the rest of us, many of them vote, serve on juries or correspond with Nigerians by email about large bank accounts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cons keep law enforcement busy. The feds arrest and prosecute hundreds of con men that hoodwink people out of billions of dollars every year. But it is like trying to empty a lake with a bucket of water.<\/span><\/p>\n

In almost every successful prosecution of a con man, however, the feds always seem to add their customary “send a strong message” quote to their press releases like they did in the Drago case.<\/span><\/p>\n

Check it out:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s verdict sends a strong message to would-be fraudsters that the Tax Division is committed to not only pursuing defendants who seek to steal from the U.S. Treasury, but also those who take advantage of their fellow citizens through the use of schemes like the one perpetrated by Mr. Drago,\u201d said Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline Ciraolo<\/strong>.\u00a0 \u201cMr. Drago lied to investors and to a government agency and he now faces prison and substantial monetary penalties.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Nigerians must wallpaper their houses with these “strong message” quotes because they have, for decades, seen U.S. citizens as suckers and treated America like an ATM machine and it works. But what is incredible is that they continue to do this from thousands of miles away using emails.<\/span><\/p>\n

Almost everyone with a computer has been sent the Nigerian email that sounds something like this: “I am a prince or an official of some African country. I have tens of millions of dollars, and need your help because you have a bank account and I want to transfer this money to your bank to keep the officials in my country happy. I will give you a cut of this money if you can help me.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Sunday Morning Con Men<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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The list of cons is endless, including one of my favorites, the religious cons where snake oil salesmen go behind a lectern on Sundays or buy airtime\u00a0and tell their congregation or listeners to send money.<\/span><\/p>\n

On a grandiose and disgusting scale, some convinced some of these poor souls that they need private jets to travel around the country to preach the word of God.<\/span><\/p>\n

I recently published the HBO video below but it is worth repeating because it punctuates what I am writing about \u2014 this country has reached new heights in stupidity, and John Oliver is brilliant in shining light on this.<\/span>
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