Stanford Financial Group Executives and Former Chairman of Antiguan Bank Regulator Indicted for Fraud and Obstruction
Charges Related to $7 Billion Dollar Scheme to Defraud Investors
WASHINGTON, June 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Robert Allen Stanford, 59, chairman of the Houston-based Stanford Financial Group (SFG), three SFG executives and the former chief executive officer of the Antiguan bank regulatory agency have been indicted on fraud and obstruction charges related to a $7 billion scheme to defraud investors, announced Lanny A. Breuer, Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division; Tim Johnson, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas; Kevin Perkins, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; Eileen Mayer, Chief of Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation; and Greg Campbell, Deputy Chief Inspector, U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Also charged in an indictment returned in Houston yesterday and unsealed today was Laura Pendergest-Holt, 35, SFG’s chief investment officer; Gilberto Lopez, 66, SFG’s chief accounting officer; Mark Kuhrt, 37, SFG’s global controller; and Leroy King, 63, the former administrator and CEO of Antigua’s Financial Services Regulatory Commission. Stanford was arrested in Virginia last night, and is scheduled to make an initial appearance today in Richmond. Lopez and Kuhrt were arrested this morning and will make initial appearances in Houston this afternoon. Pendergest-Holt, who previously was indicted on obstruction-related charges, will make her initial appearance on the charges unsealed today in Houston in the near future.
“The Department of Justice will vigorously root out and expose financial crimes that wreak havoc on innocent investors,” said Lanny A. Breuer, Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division. “Investors need access to accurate and truthful financial information in order to make decisions about how to invest their hard-earned savings. Their savings, and indeed the integrity of our capital markets, are jeopardized when investors are deceived. These difficult economic times make the mission of the Department all the more important.”
“The investing public needs to be assured that it is protected from those who would corruptly deprive them of their financial security,” said U.S. Attorney Tim Johnson of the Southern District of Texas. “When individuals or business entities engage in fraudulent activity designed to deprive investors of their assets, we will devote whatever resources necessary to bring them to justice.”
“Economic crime schemes such as those alleged here today are unfortunately all too commonplace,” said Assistant Director Kevin Perkins, FBI Criminal Investigative Division. “These crimes strike at the heart of our economy and our quality of life.”
“The IRS is united with the federal law enforcement community in our resolve to put out of business those financial schemes that defraud investors and the U.S. government,” said Eileen Mayer, Chief, IRS Criminal Investigation. “This is particularly true as it relates to international financial fraud, and we will continue to follow the money in order to bring those responsible to justice.”
“Robert Stanford’s investors trusted him and his associates, in many instances, with their life savings,” said Gregory Campbell, Deputy Chief Inspector, U.S. Postal Inspection Service. “When allegations are made that the U.S. Mail has been used to violate such a trust, it’s our job as Postal Inspectors to restore America’s confidence in the integrity of its postal system and help to bring the violators to justice.”
According to the indictment, Stanford and his co-defendants engaged in a scheme to defraud investors who purchased approximately $7 billion in certificates of deposit administered by Stanford International Bank Ltd. (SIBL), an offshore bank controlled by Stanford and located on the island of Antigua. Stanford and his co-defendants allegedly misused and misappropriated most of those investor assets, including diverting more than $1.6 billion into undisclosed personal loans to Stanford himself, while misrepresenting to investors SIBL’s financial condition, its investment strategy and the extent of its regulatory oversight by Antiguan authorities. For example, the indictment alleges the following:
* That the defendants allegedly falsely claimed that SIBL’s assets grew from approximately $1.2 billion in 2001 to approximately $8.5 billion in December of 2008. The indictment alleges that, in fact, approximately $5 billion of SIBL’s reported assets consisted of notes on loans to Stanford and grossly overstated interests in “island properties,” including more than $2 billion added to the books in 2008 from an allegedly artificial real estate deal that Stanford and his co-conspirators conceived to inflate the bank’s reported assets; * That Stanford and his co-defendants allegedly falsely represented to investors that SIBL’s investment strategy was to “minimize risk and achieve liquidity” and promised rates of return on CDs that in the end were simply too good to be true in light of the bank’s actual investments and assets; and * That Stanford and his co-defendants allegedly made false and misleading representations about the regulatory scrutiny of the bank by Antiguan authorities, when, in fact, Stanford was making corrupt payments of more than $100,000 to King to ensure that the Antiguan bank regulatory authority that he headed did not accurately audit, or verify the assets reported in the bank’s financial statements.
Also according to the indictment, Stanford, Pendergest-Holt and King conspired to conceal the fraud from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in order to fend off an SEC investigation. King allegedly provided Stanford and others with confidential information that he had received from an official SEC inquiry into a possible fraud on investors by SIBL so that additional false representations concerning SIBL’s financial health and Antiguan regulatory oversight could be made. In addition, Stanford, Pendergest-Holt and others allegedly agreed that Pendergest-Holt would provide false information to the SEC about the true value of SIBL’s investment portfolio.
The defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail, wire and securities fraud; seven counts of wire fraud; ten counts of mail fraud; and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. The indictment also charges Stanford, Pendergest-Holt, and King with conspiracy to obstruct an SEC proceeding. The indictment seeks forfeiture of the proceeds of the fraud from all defendants, including forfeiture of specific foreign bank accounts controlled by Stanford, Davis and Pendergest-Holt.
Also unsealed today was a criminal information charging James M. Davis, 60, SFG’s chief financial officer, with conspiracy to commit mail, wire and securities fraud; mail fraud; and conspiracy to obstruct an SEC investigation. The information seeks forfeiture of up to $1 billion in fraud proceeds. Davis will make his initial appearance on these charges in Houston in the near future.
Additionally, also unsealed today was an indictment returned in the Southern District of Florida charging Bruce Perraud, 42, a former SFG Global Security Specialist, with destruction of records related to a federal investigation. Perraud allegedly ordered and supervised the destruction of numerous SFG documents housed at SFG’s Fort Lauderdale, Fla., office after he was put on notice that a federal court had ordered the preservation of SFG documents in connection with an SEC investigation and lawsuit. Perraud was arrested in the area of Naples, Fla., this morning and will make his initial appearance in the near future.
An indictment is merely an accusation and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty at trial beyond a reasonable doubt.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Houston Field Office, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The case is being prosecuted by individuals from the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, including Paul E. Pelletier, Principal Deputy Chief; Jack Patrick, Senior Litigation Counsel; Matthew Klecka, Trial Attorney; and Allan Medina, Law Clerk of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, as well as Gregg Costa, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Texas.
The Criminal Division’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section assisted the trial team by working with our foreign counterparts to facilitate the freezing of more than $300 million of Stanford’s assets in the United Kingdom, Canada and other countries. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida also provided assistance in this matter.
SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice
Congress Passes Cash For Clunkers Bill, Offers $4,500 Stimulus Vouchers to Car Owners
NEW YORK, June 19 /PRNewswire/ — Congress passed the Automotive Stimulus bill “Cash For Clunkers” on Thursday, marking the first real legislative stride towards an auto industry recovery, announced CashForClunkersHeadquarters.com, an organization that is leading the campaign to educate the public about the bill. Cash For Clunkers provides up to $4,500 to car owners who trade in their present car for a more fuel efficient and environmentally-friendly alternative. The bill is being called a legislative “trifecta” because its passage stands to ignite a much-needed recovery in the auto industry, save car-owning households money, and improve the environment on a national scale.
Cash For Clunkers works by providing a $4,500 voucher for car owners whose present car gets less than 18 miles per gallon in fuel efficiency. Drivers who buy a car with a 10 MPG improvement over their previous car qualify for the entire $4,500 voucher, while those who choose a car with a 4 MPG improvement qualify for a $3,500 voucher. SUV and truck owners also qualify for the program but fall under slightly different qualifications. CashForClunkersHeadquarters.com provides all of the information regarding the program on its website. Spanish speakers can find this information translated on dineroporsucarcacha.com.
The official name of the program is C.A.R.S. – “Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Program” (www.ConsumerAssistanceToRecycleAndSaveProgram.org) – and is Title XIII of Bill H.R. 2346. The program will receive an initial allocation of $1B funded by the US government as a part of a War appropriations bill. The program time length is 7/1-11/1 and will be implemented by the NHTSA which has 30 days from the approval of the bill to post all program details online.
In addition to advocacy groups like these, Cash for Clunkers drew support from local car dealers who see the program as an opportunity to boost not just their own businesses but regional economies which are heavily dependent on car sales. In addition, parts of the private sector have stepped up to promote the bill (www.ConsumerAssistanceToRecycleAndSaveProgram.org). One of the innovators of the Cash For Clunker voucher is Paragon Cars, one of the largest dealers in the country. “While Paragon’s own Cash For Clunker program has a local or even regional effect on the economy and environment, the country on a whole needs a congressional initiative like this bill to make both the serious economic and environmental impact we need,” said Brian Benstock, one of the partners at Paragon. New York’s Paragon Cars (www.ParagonCars.com) took a lead in educating the public about the bill by creating an information site for New York residents (www.CashForClunkersNY.com) but also designed and implemented a program to offer their own vouchers to car buyers who trade up in fuel efficiency at Paragon’s New Yorked-based Honda-Acura dealership. Paragon declared that it will continue to offer its own vouchers to buyers, in addition to the vouchers provided by the bill.
CashForClunkerHeadquarters.com is leading a national effort to certify eligible car dealers and equip them with the right communication plan and campaigns to reach and help qualifying consumers in their market. CashForClunkersHeadquarters.com also received an important push from Hispanic American celebrities like Dancing With The Stars’ Cristian de la Fuente and Ugly Betty star Angelica Vale. Both stars expressed their support for Cash For Clunkers as a way to boost the economy and help the environment but also as a way to make an important financial impact on the hundreds of Hispanic American communities whose livelihoods are tied to the auto industry.
New car dealers are seeking to attain certification from www.CashForClunkersHeadquarters.com to distinguish themselves from other retailers. In addition, select retailers sign on to become exclusive “Certified Cash For Clunkers Headquarters” whereby they receive and implement the recommended communication plan to educate consumers in their local market. As a part of being certified “Cash for Clunkers Headquarters,” the dealer agrees to augment the government vouchers with dealer funded stimulus programs.
Related Articles:
Huffington Post:
Is Congress Driving Drunk? (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ashley-rindsberg/is-congress-driving-drunk_b_216012.html)
Univision: http://www.univision.com/content/content.jhtml?chid=4781&schid=8881&secid=8890&cid=1984425&pagenum=1
SOURCE CashForClunkerHeadquarters.com
MIT Report Analyzes Best Paths to Cut Carbon Emissions at Existing Coal Plants
Entergy CEO Leonard: Report Provides Policy Makers a Clear Roadmap
WASHINGTON, June 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — An MIT Energy Initiative report outlines clear steps the nation must take to develop cost-effective options for cutting carbon emissions at existing coal-fired power plants, Entergy Corporation Chairman and Chief Executive Officer J. Wayne Leonard said Friday.
There is “no credible pathway” toward stringent cuts in greenhouse gas emissions worldwide without addressing coal-fired plants, according to the report released Friday at a press conference here.
Any proposal must pass the “China test,” meaning its cost must be low enough “that China and other emerging economies can afford to implement it,” said the report, which is based on the March 23 MIT symposium “Retrofitting of Coal-fired Power Plants for CO2 Emissions Reductions.”
Entergy, the New Orleans-based utility company, provided funding for the symposium, although less than 10 percent of Entergy’s generating capacity is coal fired. The importance of developing a viable method of cutting carbon emissions at existing coal plants is critical, Leonard said.
“The reason for this is simple: We cannot have an effective, sustainable response to climate change without finding a way to clean up emissions from existing coal plants,” he said at the press conference.
The report provides three key findings, Leonard said. The report:
* Reinforces the need to quickly start a cap-and-trade program; * Concludes retrofit technology is feasible but not enough is being done to implement it on a large scale; and * Provides action steps for policy makers.
U.S. coal-fired power plants are responsible for one-third of the nation’s carbon emissions, and the number of China’s coal plants continues growing and may reach double the size of the U.S. fleet in the coming years. China and other developing countries also have resisted talk of imposing hard limits on its carbon emissions.
“China’s logic is understandable – most of the CO2 in the atmosphere did come from the developed world, and we do emit more per capita than they do,” Leonard said. At the same time, many in this country ask why we should go to all this effort and spend all this money on capping our emissions before China agrees to act.
“And in fact if we cannot find common ground on an agreement to control their rapidly growing emissions, unilateral action on our part to address climate change may turn out to have been money better spent on adaptation. We are at an impasse, but the fact is that we haven’t yet done enough to break the impasse,” Leonard said. Retrofitting existing plants has the potential to break the stalemate, he said.
Among the report’s specific findings and recommendations:
* Some $12 to $15 billion should be spent over the next decade to “dramatically expand” federal government programs to demonstrate large-scale, sustained CO2 capture-and-sequestration technology for existing plants. * At least $1 billion in federal funds should be invested annually for roughly 10 years while creating more flexibility and improved certainty for robust research into advanced technology, efficiency, and repowering or rebuilding options.
“We should be leading the world in investments in this technology for cleaning up conventional coal plants, and we are not,” Leonard said.
The U.S. and China should be working together, he added. “In fact, our shared mission to manage the issue of coal and climate change could be one of the building blocks of a new, cooperative relationship between the two giants of the climate problem, the U.S. and China,” Leonard said.
Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $13 billion and approximately 14,700 employees.
Use the following link to find Leonard’s full remarks from Friday: Speeches
The full report can be found at the MIT Energy Initiative Web site.
Entergy’s Web site is entergy.com
SOURCE Entergy Corporation
Employers Holdings, Inc. to be Added to S&P 600
RENO, Nev., June 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: EIG) announced Standard & Poor’s will add it to the prestigious S&P 600 SmallCap Index. The S&P 600 is widely considered the preferred small capitalization-market index in the United States and is comprised of 600 leading publicly-held companies in the most important industries in the U.S. economy.
According to Standard & Poor’s, the S&P SmallCap 600 is a core component of the U.S. indices that could be used as building blocks for portfolio construction.
Index constituents exhibit the following characteristics:
* Market Coverage – 3%-4% of the U.S. equities market * Weighting – Market capitalization * Market Capitalization – US$ 200 million to US$ 1.0 billion * Public Float – At least 50% * Reconstitution – As needed basis
Employers Holdings will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) Property & Casualty Insurance Sub-Industry index after the close of trading on Tuesday, June 23.
About Employers Holdings, Inc.
Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: EIG) is a holding company with subsidiaries that are specialty providers of workers’ compensation insurance and services focused on select, small and medium-sized businesses engaged in low to medium hazard industries. The company, through its subsidiaries, operates in 30 states. Insurance is offered by Employers Insurance Company of Nevada, Employers Compensation Insurance Company, Employers Preferred Insurance Company, and Employers Assurance Company, all rated A- (Excellent) by A.M. Best Company. Employers Preferred Insurance Company and Employers Assurance Company are also known as AmCOMP Preferred Insurance Company and AmCOMP Assurance Corporation, respectively. Additional information can be found at: http://www.employers.com.
All rights reserved. EMPLOYERS(R) and America’s small business insurance specialist.(R) are registered trademarks of Employers Insurance Company of Nevada.
SOURCE Employers Holdings, Inc.
Overture Films and Paramount Vantage Set Release of New Film by Michael Moore
Oscar-winning filmmaker to explore ‘the wonders of capitalism’
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., May 21 /PRNewswire/ — Overture Films and Paramount Vantage have announced that Oscar-winner Michael Moore’s new documentary feature will be released domestically on October 2, 2009. The as-yet-untitled film will explore the root causes of the global economic meltdown and take a comical look at the corporate and political shenanigans that culminated in what Moore has described as “the biggest robbery in the history of this country” – the massive transfer of U.S. taxpayer money to private financial institutions.
On this, the 20-year anniversary of his masterpiece Roger & Me, Moore returns to the issue that began his career: the disastrous impact that corporate dominance and out-of-control profit motives have on the lives of Americans and citizens of the world. But this time the culprit is much bigger than General Motors, and the crime scene far wider than Flint, Michigan.
Says Moore: “The wealthy, at some point, decided they didn’t have enough wealth. They wanted more — a lot more. So they systematically set about to fleece the American people out of their hard-earned money. Now, why would they do this? That is what I seek to discover in this movie.”
Moore’s new documentary, his first since 2007’s widely-praised Sicko, was first announced by Overture and Paramount Vantage International in May 2008 at the Cannes Film Festival and production began shortly afterward.
Chris McGurk and Danny Rosett, Overture’s CEO and COO respectively, previously worked with Moore when they oversaw the release of Bowling for Columbine at MGM/United Artists.
“Everyone can relate to this subject matter and all have been affected,” said McGurk and Rosett. “We think there should be plenty of people interested in hearing Michael’s take on how exactly we got here and what we can do to move forward.”
John Lesher, President of Paramount Film Group, added, “Michael is a master at capturing the most timely and critical issues shaping our world today. His unique, thought-provoking method of filmmaking is sure to bring dynamic insights into the state of the global economy that will have mass appeal to audiences worldwide.”
The release date is a year and a day after the United States Senate voted to hand Wall Street a $700 billion bailout.
Moore has made three of the top six highest-grossing documentaries of all time including Cannes Palme d’Or winner Fahrenheit 9/11, 2008 Academy Award(R) nominee Sicko, and Bowling for Columbine, the Academy Award(R) winner for Best Documentary in 2003. His debut film was 1989’s groundbreaking Roger and Me. Moore also created the Emmy-winning TV show, “TV Nation,” and the Emmy-nominated show, “The Awful Truth,” both of which featured his trademark style of presenting serious documentaries in humorous and engaging ways.
ABOUT OVERTURE FILMS
Overture Films (www.overturefilms.net) develops, produces, acquires, and distributes feature length, theatrical motion pictures worldwide. The studio is a wholly owned unit of Starz Media, a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation attributed to the Liberty Capital Group. Its affiliated companies, Anchor Bay Entertainment and Starz Entertainment, make the films available domestically to viewers via home video, premium television, Internet and other outlets.
About Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. The company’s labels include Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studio Group, and Worldwide Television Distribution.
SOURCE Overture Films
GM Bondholders Unite Invites Individual GM Bondholders to Fight for Their Legal Rights
SAN DIEGO, May 30 /PRNewswire/ — Regardless of the outcome of the General Motors and the government’s “offer” to GM bondholders, GM Bondholders Unite (www.gmbondholdersunite.com) says that its members are more committed than ever to stand up for their legal rights. Bondholders are not asking for a handout or a bailout; GM’s bondholders just want a fair and equitable deal.
With few details and extremely limited public information necessary for making an informed decision, GM bondholders were given an arbitrary deadline of 5 PM (EDT) today to make an extraordinarily important financial decision: whether to accept or reject the exchange offer.
Individual investors helped build GM and this country. However individual investors have been systematically excluded from the negotiating table in the restructuring of one of America’s storied icons.
As announced yesterday, Thomas E. Lauria, Esq., the attorney who represented the rights of dissident bondholder in the Chrysler Chapter 11 filing, has agreed to work with GM Bondholders Unite in representing the thousands of individual GM bondholders who have been systematically excluded from the negotiating table.
Mr. Lauria heads the financial restructuring and insolvency group at White & Case, one of the nation’s top law firms. He has led efforts to restructure more than $100 billion of debt in some of the largest and most complex restructurings in history.
Thousands of small bondholders — many of them retirees — rely on their investments to meet day-to-day expenses and could face economic ruin.
We encourage all individual GM bondholders to join us in giving voice to their legitimate claims by visiting our web page at www.gmbondholdersunite.com and signing up.
GM Bondholders Unite is a group of small and large holders of General Motors debt determined to protect its members’ legal rights. It is a non-partisan, non-ideological coalition of investors fearful that current proposals will wipe out the hard-earned savings of tens of thousands of people who made what they thought were conservative investments in a storied American brand.
For more information, go to: www.gmbondholdersunite.com
SOURCE GM Bondholders Unite
The Latest GM ‘Offer’ Discriminates Against Individual Bondholders, Says GM Bondholders Unite (GMBHU)
SAN DIEGO, May 28 /PRNewswire/ — “The latest GM ‘offer’ sends a chilling message to all individual bondholders, not just those, like us, holding GM bonds: contracts in America are no longer worth the paper they are written on,” said GM Bondholders Unite (www.gmbondholdersunite.com), a grassroots organization representing individual GM bondholders across the country.
The “offer” to individual GM bond investors is ridiculously lopsided because it arbitrarily favors other groups, at the expense of the legal rights, under the U.S. Constitution, of hundreds of thousands of individual GM bond investors.
Bonds are popular “conservative” investments because of the protections outlined in their covenants, which show where bondholders stand in the event of a restructuring or bankruptcy. In return for this security — as outlined in the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and protected by the U.S. Constitution — bond investors agree to receive a lower rate of return than they would have otherwise.
The biggest buyers of bonds — individually, or through mutual funds and pensions — are the elderly, the retired and families saving to buy a house or send their kids to college. The latest “offer” tramples upon the rights of all of these people.
We aren’t asking for a bailout or a handout, just a fair deal. So we have no plans to back down.
What’s more, the long-term implications of this “offer” are far greater than the life savings, retirement funds and quality of life we are already likely to lose. By choosing who gets paid more and who gets paid less, instead of adhering to bond covenants and the bankruptcy code, our leaders have chosen the arbitrary rule of man over the established rule of law, a dangerously slippery slope.
We invite all GM bondholders to speak up and be heard by posting a webcam video of how you feel about this end-run around your rights and the law to www.youtube.com with “GMBHU” in the subject line. Send the link (URL) to your video to gm.bondholders.unite@gmail.com, so that we can post your rant to our page (www.gmbondholdersunite.com) and ensure that those responsible for this travesty know exactly how you feel.
www.gmbondholdersunite.com
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/GMBondholdersUnite
Media Inquiries: gm.bondholders.unite@gmail.com
Leading Professionals Gather at Annual Life Spring Meeting Hosted by Society of Actuaries
SCHAUMBURG, Ill., May 26 /PRNewswire/ — With record declines, financial bailouts and equity volatility reaching new highs, it is not surprising that there is a nationwide loss of confidence in the economy. Actuaries and other professionals convened May 18th and 19th in Denver to address making an impact on the financial future and throughout the global markets during a recession.
Sponsored by the Society of Actuaries (SOA), the 2009 Life Spring Meeting’s highlights included sessions on recovering and moving forward during a weak economy, thriving in a chaotic economy, gearing up for prosperity and learning about current industry studies, financial models and new regulatory developments.
“Today’s economic challenges present opportunities for actuaries to position themselves as experts in managing risk with the unique ability to offer real-world solutions to complex problems,” explained Juliet Sandrowicz, chairperson of the Life Spring Meeting and Fellow of the Society of Actuaries.
Additional conference highlights included general sessions, concurrent session tracks, an exhibit area for meeting attendees and networking with fellow practitioners.
The SOA is an educational, research and professional organization dedicated to serving the public and its 20,000 members. The SOA’s vision is for actuaries to be recognized as the leading professionals in the modeling and management of financial risk. The SOA’s mission is to advance actuarial knowledge and to enhance the ability of actuaries to provide expert advice and relevant solutions for financial, business and societal problems involving uncertain future events.
To learn more, visit the SOA’s Web site at www.soa.org.
SOURCE Society of Actuaries
Out-of-Work Poker Players Create ‘Crooked Deal’ Playing Cards for Laughs During Grim Recession
- New Deck of Cards Fingers Big Shots Who Gambled Away the American Economy -
CHICAGO, May 26 /PRNewswire/ — Watch your back, Senator Phil Gramm! Heads up, Congressman Barney Frank! Better duck, George Bush! You’re about to be decked! A friendly poker game turned into a shouting match over who’s responsible for the current economic meltdown. The result is a new deck of cards called “Crooked Deal,” which names names and assigns numbers. Poker players Tommy Littell, Mike Bugera, C.J. Maynard and Mark Sickman have listed the culprits from “Ace of Spades” Uncle Sam all the way down to “Joker” May DeFault, an unqualified loan applicant.
Along the way they take sarcastic shots at fifty-one additional bankers, bureaucrats, congressman and crooks who ruined the economy by creating, selling, legitimizing or encouraging high-risk securities.
“Creating the cards was a great way to blow off steam,” says video technician Bugera, whose retirement fund was devastated by the meltdown. “I get a certain rush of energy every time I slap a Christopher Dodd card on to the table,” claims Maynard. “This guy helped wipe out my investments!”
The four players were in general agreement over the fifty-four names, but argued for days over the descriptions on each of the cards. They finally settled on the captions. Former Vice President Dick Cheney is described as the “White House tough guy who took aim at Saddam Hussein, but was afraid to tackle Fannie Mae.” Economist Larry Summers is described as “the Prince of Panhandlers” who took millions from bankers, taxpayers and universities. Even Sarah Palin has a card–the two of hearts. The caption reads: “The economic meltdown is all her fault because … well … everything is all her fault.”
“The whole thing is a catastrophe,” says Littell, an HVAC contractor who fumes at the bailouts and stimulus programs while his own business has been cut in half during the recession. “We’re trying to laugh our way through it.”
The deck of cards is available for purchase at CrookedDeal.com. A video on the new product, entitled “Out-of-Work Poker Players,” can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMEpWYbHOfs.
Media inquiries: Mark Sickman (619) 972-5663
SOURCE CrookedDeal.com
