Top Stories
It looks like people are finally getting serious about Scam Compounds in Southeast Asia. Premier Xi recently announced a crack down on these operations, and Thailand recently cut power and cell phones into Myanmar. And most recently this piece of good news:
Militias in Myanmar to deport 10,000 people from scam compounds to Thailand, 500 at a time
Want to know why fraud victims get the blame? (By Anthony Pratkanis) The media exalt and excuse con criminals with little questioning of their claims. Case in point: Elizabeth Holmes Breaks Her Silence in First Interview from Prison: ‘It’s Been Hell and Torture’ (Exclusive)
Her troubles — brought on by her choices — are detailed with sympathy. The impact on victims: briefly touched on in an easily missed middle paragraph with little detail on the financial, emotional, and trust toll on victims (and on whistleblowers). Her claim that failure is not fraud is not challenged with the details of her scheme to defraud investors for which a jury found Holmes guilty on multiple counts of fraud.
Her claim that she is working while in prison on new health care advances is taken at face value. How? She has no lab, and the knowledge of biochem, medical devices, medical sensors, or anything else that might lead to a breakthrough never manifested itself at Theranos. The media often portray fraudulent organizations, con criminals, and those accused of fraud as heroes: Enron, Theranos, FTX, Wirecard, uBiome, Barry Minkow, Sam Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, Martin Shkreli, Charlie Javice, Joanna Smith-Griffin, Jessica Richman (among others) were all featured for their “business” acumen in Forbes, Fortune, Fast Company, Business Insider, and similar media. Even AARP has featured in their magazine the good Michael Milken is doing. No wonder we are awash in fraud. It is a virtue not a crime — at least for some in the media.
