Professor Elam

the Tone at the Top is Set by Example, Hello Senator Cruz

Weekend Feb 20, 2021

Senator Ted Cruz went on an ill timed Cancun vacation this past week. He pulled his two daughters age 10 and  122 out of their St John's private school to do so.

But  St. John;s had passed a quarantine rule back in January that anyone  traveling internationally would have to quarantine  7-10 days on return and not be allowed to attend school on line.

And it gets worse, now video of Cruz mocking politicians vacationing elsewhere has surfaced, read about it here.

Like Trump Cruz has been a magnet for those who oppose his views. I wonder if he can recover even with a race five years in the future.

Carlos Uressti' Ex Wife Sues Adult Night Club

Tuesday Febvruary 9 2021

Lleanna Elizondo, ex-wife of Carlos Uresti, the imprisoned former state senator, is suing Capisce Gentlemen’s Club and D’Angelo’s Italian Grill alleging the owner is using a photo of her without her permission on his Facebook page to promote the businesses. She had posted the photo on her own Facebook page.

 

The Four Winds Fraud was the most popular presentation I have done to professional SA accounting groups.

https://www.expressnews.com/business/local/article/Ex-wife-of-jailed-San-Antonio-politician-sues-15927901.php?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=SAEN_TexasInc&utm_content=briefing&utm_term=news&sid=5bbcfeb73f92a45e831e00e8

 

Farias Pleads Guilty to Ponzi Scheme

Tuesday Feb 2 2021

A Fair Oaks Ranch businessman faces up to 20 years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty Wednesday to orchestrating a Ponzi scheme that cost investors more than $7.4 million.

 

https://www.expressnews.com/business/local/article/San-Antonio-area-man-accused-of-defrauding-15903547.php

RSM PCAOB Finds 2018 better than 2017, But is that Saying Much?

Monday Dec 7 2020

The latest on RMS audits

No Jail Time for another KPMG PCAOB Scam Artist

Monday Dec 7 2020

All involved in the KPMG PCAOB Audit Infor fraud are getting no to lite entences.

Dolly Parton Gives Back

Monday Dec 7 2020

In 1990, the high school dropout rate for Dolly Parton's hometown of Sevierville Tennessee was at 34% (Research shows that most kids make up their minds in fifth/sixth grade not to graduate). That year, all fifth and sixth graders from Sevierville were invited by Parton to attend an assembly at Dollywood. They were asked to pick a buddy, and if both students completed high school, Dolly Parton would personally hand them each a $500 check on their graduation day. As a result, the dropout rate for those classes fell to 6%, and has generally retained that average to this day.

Shortly after the success of The Buddy Program, Parton learned in dealing with teachers from the school district that problems in education often begin during first grade when kids are at different developmental levels. That year The Dollywood Foundation paid the salaries for additional teachers assistants in every first grade class for the next 2 years, under the agreement that if the program worked, the school system would effectively adopt and fund the program after the trial period.

During the same period, Parton founded the Imagination Library in 1995: The idea being that children from her rural hometown and low-income families often start school at a disadvantage and as a result, will be unfairly compared to their peers for the rest of their lives, effectively encouraging them not to pursue higher education. The objective of the Imagination library was that every child in Sevier County would receive one book, every month, mailed and addressed to the child, from the day they were born until the day they started kindergarten, 100% free of charge. What began as a hometown initiative now serves children in all 50 states, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, mailing thousands of free books to children around the world monthly.

On March 1, 2018 Parton donated her 100 millionth book at the Library of Congress: a copy of "Coat of Many Colors" dedicated to her father, who never learned to read or write.

Happy 74th Birthday Dolly Parton!

PCAOB Raisess the Stakes for China

Friday Dec 4 2020

1. The House of Representatives passed a bill that has now advanced to the White House related to Chinese companies whose securities trade in US markets (googleàVan Hollen Kennedy Bill). While the bill deals with a number of related issues, it directly addresses the difficulty the PCAOB has had in being allowed to conduct its inspections of CPA firms that perform audits of Chinese companies that sell securities in the US markets. The following link summarizes the PCAOB’s view of the China-related access challenges.

https://pcaobus.org/oversight/international/china-related-access-challenges

Kristi Alfaro Defaults

Wed Nov 18 2020

Kristi Alfaro, wife of a convicted San Antonio oil man, has defaulted on an agreed to repayment deal.

No honor among theives as they say,.

Alfaro Still Scheming

Friday Nov 13 2020

 

Just this week we described the 121 month sentence  to Brian Alfaro. If at first you don't succeed, try again!

 

Alfaro and his wife, while he waits the month before reporting to jail, attmepted to launch ARCA Wildlife.

The State of Texas issued a cease and desist order

as the wording of this scheme sounds just like the oil scheme, working interests, overages, etc.

I never run out of new material for the ethics class.

$13 M Bank Fraud Scheme at Bank of San Antonio

Thursday Nov 12, 2020

Ron Schroeder and others have been arrested in a $13 M factoring fraud scheme.

Schroeder was a bank President. He manufactured invoices and the bank loaned money against them.  He and his conspirators used teh money for their own purposes.

Here is the weak bank response. Does this inspire your confidence that they won't be bilked again?

“This is a ‘one-off,’ isolated event, and we have a $10 million insurance policy to indemnify our bank from this loss,” stated J. Bruce Bugg Jr., chairman of the board of The Bank of San Antonio.