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 The goal of this e-newsletter is to provide you critical, inside information that will help you prevail when defending an IRS criminal case. We will do this by sharing the knowledge we have from our 25+ years of experience as an IRS Special Agent. We are grateful to have the opportunity to provide you this valuable information via our monthly e-newsletter and our unparalleled forensic accounting and investigative services. We take special care to ensure the information we provide you in "The Beacon" is the latest and most current information available. In this edition, we have addressed why we continue to see Ponzi schemes in the news. We want to write about topics that will assist you in prevailing with criminal IRS cases. Please e-mail us your topics of interest to Thebeacon@sageinvestigations.com. We encourage you to share our e-newsletter with others in your sphere of influence. Sincerely, Edmond J. Martin
Principal, Chief Investigator
Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)Texas Certified Investigator (TCI) |
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Why Do We Continue to See Ponzi Schemes In the News?
 Even after the highly-publicized fall of Bernard L Madoff and the largest Ponzi scheme in US History, the schemes continue to proliferate. Today we see more Oil and Gas Ponzi schemes because of low interest rates and low returns on investments. People looking for safe harbors for their money are prey for Ponzi scheme promoters who fill the gap with promises of "big money." These investors are not necessarily greedy, but concerned enough about the future to be willing to risk some of his/her investable funds (1) with an investment of money, (2) due to an expectation of profits, (3) arising from a common enterprise, which (4) depends on the efforts of others. This is the definition of an "investment contract" as defined by the Supreme Courts W.J. Howey case, 328 US 293. Investors should consider this four-pronged test before making an investment and should consider the old adage, "if it is too good to be true, then it generally is!"
The Ponzi scheme received its name from Charles Ponzi who, in the 1920's, hoodwinked thousands of New Englander's into investing their money into an arbitrage with international postal reply coupons used to purchase postage stamps. He promised a 50% return on investment (ROI) in 90 days. When he could not produce the 50% return he used incoming funds from new investors to pay other investors until the scheme failed. (http://www.sec.gov/answers/ponzi.htm) How do we protect friends and clients from being lulled into a false sense of security? We can teach them to recognize the difference between a legitimate investment and something pimped by a promoter. Promoters are "Pied Pipers" who attract individual investors who honestly are trying to better their financial position and provide for their family. Promoters are generally well spoken, give the appearance of wealth, may try to appear "godly" by quoting scripture, and usually offer to pay for the lunch or dinner over which the deal is discussed. The promoter today is
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About Us
Serving your needs is our priority.  At Sage Investigations we are dedicated to serving our clients nationally, to help them navigate the difficulties of dealing with the IRS, and other complex (forensic) financial fraud investigations both civil and criminal. By narrowing our focus to our primary strength of following the money, we steer our knowledge, efforts, and experience to financial issues. We help our clients propel their cases forward by assisting in the review, acquisition, and organization of financial records, evaluating the elements of their cases, and helping create winning strategies. Through the use of our proprietary advanced financial investigative technology we analyze complex financial data quickly, easily and efficiently, saving our client's time and money. Sage handles all cases with altruism, professionalism, honesty, integrity, passion and respect. When you hire Sage, you hire a team of professionals with skill and knowledge that helps you have more effective solutions. We are innovative with our DIO cutting edge technology, and perform every investigation in an orderly and organized manner to develop a clear investigative roadmap and deliver a quality work product. The compass that guides us is strong leadership and accountability. Learn more... Contact Us
P.O. Box 160161
Austin, TX 78716 Phone: 512-659-3179 Fax: 512-328-6878 Email: info@SageInvestigations.com www.sageinvestigations.com Texas License #A10803 |
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