A friend forwarded me this link yesterday - his former roommate in bid'ness school got pinched by one of the mini-Madoffs, Nicholas Cosmo. It is rumored that he had ties to the mafia, and that a lot of the documents used in the financial transactions were fake or forged.
NYT article on Ponzi schemes (http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/106500/How-Real-People-Grow-Their-Wealth)
It is a sad situaiton - apparently the roommate was an otherwise smart guy that got a little greedy and did something dumb.
We were doing some internet forensics and came across some threads on Fatwallet.com before the Ponzi scheme crumbled. As you can guess, there was a lot of toldyasos being passed out, but people were posting up what they could find on this guy. After Cosmo was arrested he sent out an email to his investors:
From the desk of Nicholas Cosmo:
It is Saturday evening on the 24th of January and I wanted to update my client base on the activity of Agape World Inc.
There has been many rumors and speculation about me being arrested in which case I was not. I was escorted to my car by Suffolk County Police because I was physically assaulted in my office.
I have been succesfully underwriting the loans of Agape World Inc. for the last nine years in a similar format that the 2009 contracts recently showed. In recent months, due to financial banking crisis, we have been hit with numerous defaults and extensions which has led to decreased liquidity of our loans.
As I have stated this entire week our law firm will be assisting us in sending out the liens on all of our loans that are still outstanding. These UCC liens show the legitimacy and existance of all of our loans. This paperwork will be mailed directly to you next week.
For safety concerns and operational concerns I will not be seeing any clients until further notice. I need time to meet these deadlines. We are no longer accepting any new investors into Agape World Inc. This will further disprove the theory that this is a ponzi.
My faith and the future daily operation of this firm that I have created in 2000 is paramount. I need to be able to concentrate on returning all principal back to our entire client base.
I thank you for your continued patience.
Nicholas Cosmo
President
Agape World Inc.
Aaaaand, here (http://www.newsday.com/media/photo/2009-01/44719492.jpg)is a picutre of you handcuffed and being escorted to jail
And a picture of a sad, broke (http://www.newsday.com/media/photo/2009-01/44734608.jpg)guy with your paperwork
The *balls* on this guy.
Original Story with gallery (http://www.newsday.com/iphone/ny-bzprof2812403148jan28,0,4355029.story)
Fatwallet Thread (http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/865655/?start=0)
Also, you read that right. The name of his company was "Agape World", leading me to wonder what he thought the word agape means. Or, if he knows *exactly* what it means.
Careful with your money y'all....
anybody running anything named Agape such and such, should be stoned to death
I look at that guy, his last name, and the ridiculous name of his "company", and I can't help but think about "Boiler Room", an excellent movie about a sham brokerage firm. It came out about 9 years ago - very prescient.
Why is it every time I see that phrase immediately a picture of my social security statement pops in my head?
Quote from: Drjones on January 29, 2009, 05:08:03 PM
Why is it every time I see that phrase immediately a picture of my social security statement pops in my head?
[laugh]
Quote from: il d00d on January 29, 2009, 12:33:11 PM
A friend forwarded me this link yesterday - his former roommate in bid'ness school got pinched by one of the mini-Madoffs, Nicholas Cosmo. It is rumored that he had ties to the mafia, and that a lot of the documents used in the financial transactions were fake or forged.
NYT article on Ponzi schemes (http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/106500/How-Real-People-Grow-Their-Wealth)
It is a sad situaiton - apparently the roommate was an otherwise smart guy that got a little greedy and did something dumb.
We were doing some internet forensics and came across some threads on Fatwallet.com before the Ponzi scheme crumbled. As you can guess, there was a lot of toldyasos being passed out, but people were posting up what they could find on this guy. After Cosmo was arrested he sent out an email to his investors:
From the desk of Nicholas Cosmo:
It is Saturday evening on the 24th of January and I wanted to update my client base on the activity of Agape World Inc.
There has been many rumors and speculation about me being arrested in which case I was not. I was escorted to my car by Suffolk County Police because I was physically assaulted in my office.
I have been succesfully underwriting the loans of Agape World Inc. for the last nine years in a similar format that the 2009 contracts recently showed. In recent months, due to financial banking crisis, we have been hit with numerous defaults and extensions which has led to decreased liquidity of our loans.
As I have stated this entire week our law firm will be assisting us in sending out the liens on all of our loans that are still outstanding. These UCC liens show the legitimacy and existance of all of our loans. This paperwork will be mailed directly to you next week.
For safety concerns and operational concerns I will not be seeing any clients until further notice. I need time to meet these deadlines. We are no longer accepting any new investors into Agape World Inc. This will further disprove the theory that this is a ponzi.
My faith and the future daily operation of this firm that I have created in 2000 is paramount. I need to be able to concentrate on returning all principal back to our entire client base.
I thank you for your continued patience.
Nicholas Cosmo
President
Agape World Inc.
Aaaaand, here (http://www.newsday.com/media/photo/2009-01/44719492.jpg)is a picutre of you handcuffed and being escorted to jail
And a picture of a sad, broke (http://www.newsday.com/media/photo/2009-01/44734608.jpg)guy with your paperwork
The *balls* on this guy.
Original Story with gallery (http://www.newsday.com/iphone/ny-bzprof2812403148jan28,0,4355029.story)
Fatwallet Thread (http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/865655/?start=0)
Also, you read that right. The name of his company was "Agape World", leading me to wonder what he thought the word agape means. Or, if he knows *exactly* what it means.
Careful with your money y'all....
detective on the suspects right....
looks like one of the detectives from Hill Street Blues.
(all time best cop show, for you young-uns)