During his incarceration Minkow converted to Christianity and studied for a Divinity Degree. Currently Minkow is a pastor of a Church. I find it rather amusing when convicted felons turn to God.
[Policing Wall Street]
In the 1980s there was one great stock fraud, which captured the imagination of the American public.
That stock fraud involved a chain of electronics stores, which went by the name of “Crazy Eddie.” These stores were founded by Eddie Antar (“Crazy Eddie”) of Brooklyn. “Crazy Eddie” used radio advertising to hype his stores. In the end the retail chain of “Crazy Eddie” went bankrupt; a $300 million fraud.
At the center of this fraud was Sam E. Antar, a cousin of “Crazy Eddie” Antar and the Chief Financial Officer of the “Crazy Eddie” retail chain.
Currently Sam E. Antar has publicly stated that he has reformed and is now lecturing, without charge, on the “dangers” of crime. It is strange that Sam E. can afford this largesse because he filed for bankruptcy several years ago. He claims to be supported by the real estate interests of his wife’s family.
Recently he was the focus of an article, “Crazy like a fox,” by Aaron Elstein, which appeared in the October 4, 2009 issue of Crain’s New York Business. Once a felon, always a felon. Yet Elstein referred to Sam Antar as “a former felon.” That alone shows his bias and makes the reader believe that rather than an article the piece is meant to rehabilitate Antar.
A felon is someone convicted of a felony. There is no such thing as a former felon.
Elstein also reported: “Mr. Antar admits working for a short-seller before. He did research for Barry Minkow, an investor who served prison time in the 1990s for running a fraudulent carpet cleaning service.” This is like saying “The titanic ran into an ice cube.” There are several understatements in the “article.”
Sam Antar not only worked for Barry Minkow but contributed $250,000 to Minkow’s Fraud Discovery Unit, which supposedly ferrets out false information in filings by publicly listed companies. Antar claims that this $250,000 was his wife’s money. Antar’s wife must be the most generous woman in the world- doling out $250,000 as a gift to her husband’s friend.
Here’s what happened: Minkow finds false information in SEC filings. Minkow then sells the stock short, in hopes that the stock price declines. Minkow then releases his findings. Minkow then buys back the stock after the price has declined. By that very fact alone, Minkow is not an “investor.” Minkow is a short seller.
As the reader can readily determine someone is making money from this arrangement. What’s not stated in the article is that Minkow did not just run “a fraudulent carpet cleaning service.” Minkow’s carpet cleaning business was called ZZZZ Best, a stock fraud that defrauded the American public of hundreds of millions of dollars. Minkow served seven years in federal prison for fraud among other charges.
The article is a “white wash,” a “fix.”
Minkow owes the government approximately $16 million and his salary is garnished to pay the amount owed. That is why the payment could not be
made out personally to Minkow but to the Fraud Discovery Unit- the money would have been seized.
During his incarceration Minkow converted to Christianity and studied for a Divinity Degree. Currently Minkow is a pastor of a Church. I find it rather amusing when convicted felons turn to God.
It has been my experience that once a stock fraud artist- always a stock fraud artist. The money is too good and too easy. That is why the members of Aish Kodesh in Long Island participated in the stock frauds of Maier Lehmann.
Sam E. Antar is a fraudster; as is Barry Minkow.
Both have now found God. Perhaps they have monetarized God.
Manfredonia who was a trader and whistleblower on Wall Street in the 1980s is now on a campaign to expose corruption on the Street. Please e-mail him tips to [email protected]
“Speaking Truth To Empower.”
