Criminal Minds

Like I said before, I love satirical comic strips and Dilbert is definitely a classic. They can sum up a situation much better (and funnier) than most blogs, articles or news segments. While there is plenty of comedic value in the fact that someone would invest money with Dogbert, its really no different than what is going on in the real world.

During the recent real estate boom, many people were throwing money at any & everyone who could promise huge returns on their investments. Many of these investors did so without doing any kind of background check or asking for references. In essence, this is no better than giving the money to Dogbert. Needless to say, these investors were taken by the myriad of ponzi schemes that were out there.

One recent case stands out was that of Antoinette Hodgson. She defrauded over 20 investors for over $45 million in New Jersey. Of that $45 million, only $6 million was used for residential real estate. Why would these well-endowed citizens be willing to fork over millions of dollars over to Hodgson? The simple answer is because during the peak of the housing bubble, it seemed as if this would be a cash cow forever. But once the bubble burst, it left embarrassing remnants on many of these investors faces.

Hopefully, lawmakers, impose tougher penalties on these types of crimes. These penalties would definitely help to deter these scammers from defrauding others (or at least have to work a little harder for it). Just as fast as these lawmakers were to drop the hammer on mortgage fraud, they need to have just as much zeal protecting people caught up in these scams.

On the other hand, it is up to the investors to do their due diligence when it comes to any opportunity that may come across their table. Even though the general population is much more tight fisted with money, that will not stop fraudulent schemes from being created. As time goes on, more cases similar to that of Hodgson's will come out. If jail time doesn't scare away the scammers, the press releases of the wealthy being "taken" by Dogberts will definitely scare investors into doing their homework before opening their check books.