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@Sultanknish — Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately"

Posted - December 12, 2024 at 5:57 PM

Saved - May 3, 2025 at 5:41 PM

reSee.it AI Summary

A significant autism welfare scam involving Somali providers has emerged in Minnesota, with the number of autism service providers skyrocketing from 41 to 328 in five years and spending increasing from $6 million to $192 million. The FBI is currently conducting raids. This situation follows a previous $250 million scam related to child nutrition, with connections between the two cases. A study indicated that Somali children are seven times more likely to receive autism services, leading to the establishment of centers offering culturally appropriate programming and flexible hours.

@Sultanknish - Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately"

BREAKING: A massive Somali autism welfare scam just exploded in Minnesota. The number of Autism providers went up 700% from 41 to 328 in the past five years Autism spending shot up from $6M to $192M Somalis are 7X more likely to get autism services FBI raids happening now

@Sultanknish - Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately"

This follows the $250M 'Feeding Our Future' scam in which Somalis claimed to be feeding hundreds of thousands of kids who didn't exist The autism scam looks like it might be almost as big and it crosses over from the 'Feeding Our Future' Somali scam "Authorities say at least a dozen defendants charged in the Feeding Our Future child nutrition fraud case also owned or received money from autism clinics."

@Sultanknish - Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately"

"A 2009 Minnesota Department of Health study found the proportion of 3- to 4-year-old Somali kids receiving autism services was as much as seven times higher than non-Somali children. More recent data show the disparity has only grown." Somalis set up their own 'centers' to provide 'culturally appropriate programming' "Newer providers that better represent diverse communities are more flexible, offering services beyond the traditional 9-5 work day, some of them advertising that they’re open seven days a week."

@Sultanknish - Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately"

sources: Minnesota Reformer https://minnesotareformer.com/2024/09/17/a-former-autism-center-employee-tried-to-report-fraud-to-the-state-nobody-responded/ https://minnesotareformer.com/2024/12/12/feds-serve-search-warrants-in-autism-fraud-investigation/ https://minnesotareformer.com/2024/09/17/a-former-autism-center-employee-tried-to-report-fraud-to-the-state-nobody-responded/

A former autism center employee tried to report fraud to the state. Nobody responded. • Minnesota Reformer Even as the FBI investigates Minnesota autism centers, a former autism center employee says nobody followed up on her fraud report. minnesotareformer.com

Feds serve search warrants in autism fraud investigation • Minnesota Reformer It's shaping up to be another instance of state government struggling to stop a wave of fraud that has beset a number of safety net programs in the past decade. minnesotareformer.com

@Sultanknish — Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately"

Posted - December 15, 2024 at 11:14 PM

Saved - December 17, 2024 at 4:12 PM

reSee.it AI Summary

Biden commuted the sentences of numerous high-profile scammers, including Paul Burks, James Fry, and Nevin Shapiro, who were involved in massive Ponzi schemes and defrauded thousands of victims. Many victims, like those in North Carolina, continue to suffer long-term consequences from these scams. Despite Biden's claims that "no one is above the law," his actions have raised concerns about his sympathy for the perpetrators over the victims. This unprecedented mass commutation has left many questioning the administration's priorities.

@Sultanknish - Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately"

Biden commuted sentences for scammers who defrauded $5 billion from over 1 million victims It's the single mass jailbreak of scammer in history Here are some of the names and stories Zeek CEO Paul Burks' $900 million Ponzi scam claimed over 1 million working-class victims. https://t.co/VJODK1ylix

@Sultanknish - Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately"

A decade later, victims of the scam in a town in North Carolina are still suffering. People took out mortgages on their homes and cashed out their life savings. Biden had no sympathy for them. Only for the CEO. https://t.co/MngkOCPVJv

Video Transcript AI Summary

Ten years ago, a Ponzi scheme known as Zeekler and its advertising division, Zeek Rewards, targeted many in a small North Carolina city. Promising unrealistic returns, victims invested thousands, believing they were making a sound investment. When the scheme collapsed in August 2012, it was revealed to be the largest Ponzi scheme by number of victims in history. Paul Burks, the founder, was sentenced to nearly 15 years in prison for fraud. Despite the hardships faced by victims, including families like the Chavezes, who lost their savings while seeking medical treatment for their daughter, the community is moving forward. The former Zeekler building now serves as a nonprofit supporting children. Recently, $371 million was returned to victims, but Burks remains incarcerated, with a possible release date in 2028.

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Full Transcript

Speaker 0: Came under fire. Families who fell victim are still trying to get by. Speaker 1: You never know what I'm gonna pull on you when you come in, do you? Speaker 0: 10 years ago, in a small city partially known for pulled pork with a side of southern hospitality Speaker 1: Dollar Tree. Speaker 0: The largest Ponzi scheme in history in terms of victims was almost pulled off. Speaker 1: Everybody was coming in here talking about it. Everybody. Speaker 0: Carla Kerns couldn't cut out the memory if she wanted to. Speaker 1: My customers were coming in saying, oh, I got this thing you need to get into. You can make a lot of money. Speaker 0: Customers, some affluent, some not, sitting in her chair with claims of elevating their bank accounts through a company called Zeekler and its advertising division Zeek Rewards being run out of this unassuming building on West Center Street. Speaker 1: Since you sit here doing hair all day, you've got the opportunity to get all these people involved. Speaker 0: Until August 2012. Speaker 2: Most mornings, there there were cars just all around the building. People lined up. Speaker 0: When all of it Speaker 1: It's too good to be true. It usually is. Speaker 0: Came crashing down. Speaker 3: It's something as we all see in the news that happens in California, New York, Florida, and the Speaker 4: big metropolitan cities, Charlotte. Speaker 3: But in Lexington, North Carolina, it's, a little strange. Speaker 0: It was advertised as an international penny auction site paired with a reward system for recruiting even more people who then put in even more money for bids. Promising a bogus 125% return on investment, some of them put 1,000 of dollars in it. Speaker 5: And everything is hers. Speaker 0: Including the Chavez', whose daughter, Sere, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2009. Speaker 5: The most important is that we could have Speaker 2: money, you know, whenever we need it for her. Speaker 0: A month after pouring their entire savings into Ziegler, $7,000, Sarah Chavez was out doing what she thought was completely legal. Speaker 5: I was trying to invite somebody else to do the same, and then that person is the one that told me, oh, you haven't seen the news? Speaker 0: She was far from alone. The population of her city at the time was less than 20,000. To equal the total amount of people who fell for Ziegler, you'd have to multiply that figure by 50. Speaker 6: That that's staggering. To my knowledge, it's by far the largest Ponzi scheme by number of victims in history. Speaker 0: As the victim who put up this sign on the Ziegler headquarters started to lose hope that it wasn't too good to be true. Speaker 1: And I just saw the yellow sign. So we forgive you. Who who would write that? That doesn't make any sense. Speaker 0: The items others across the globe had hoped would build their fortune Speaker 7: It truly becomes, a worldwide event, when you have, something like this. Speaker 0: Were laid down and auctioned away. All part of the receivership looking to return Speaker 3: No. Speaker 0: I do for some of what the near 1000000 people had lost. Speaker 1: Yeah. You took people's money. And if they're not gonna get it back, then, you know, that's something you should pay for. Speaker 0: About four and a half years after the line surrounding Ziegler came to a halt Speaker 3: I couldn't believe it was going on with Lexington. Speaker 0: Its founder, Paul Burks, who lived just minutes away, was sentenced to nearly 15 years on 4 felony fraud charges. Speaker 6: That's a long time, especially for a 70 year old man. Speaker 0: In May of this year, he penned this letter as part of his latest effort to get out of federal prison in Butner, North Carolina, the same place infamous Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff died last year. Speaker 7: He was denied. Everywhere was secure, and there was no way in here. So I don't know if that's almost like a fortress. Speaker 0: It's how they kinda had it. Although remnants remain Speaker 7: Josh only knows what they had stored. I assume cash or something valuable. Speaker 0: The building Ziegler used to occupy has new, honorable life, the home of nonprofit Smart Start of Davidson County, providing opportunities for young children and helping them reach their potential. Speaker 7: It's rock and roll time for us. August is always busy. So, yeah, we don't I don't really give it a second thought anymore. Speaker 0: Meanwhile, the Sanchez's still have their challenges with a 5 year old on the autism spectrum. Speaker 5: Life is still tough because we're learning with him. Speaker 0: Yesterday, Sarree included, marched forward despite the man who set them back a decade ago. Speaker 5: I can't really say I'm happy that a person is being, like, put in jail, no freedom, credit, I guess, get what he deserves. Speaker 0: A week before Burks wrote that letter from prison, which is right here, the Zeke Rewards Receivership website posted saying it had returned $371,000,000 to the scheme's victims. The first line of the statement reads, the final distribution has been completed. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Burks could be released on the day after Valentine's Day 2028. Katie?

@Sultanknish - Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately"

Biden also commuted the sentence of James Fry, a hedge fund manager convicted in the Petters Group $1.9 billion Ponzi scheme described as “one of the largest and most complex Ponzi schemes in U.S. history” https://t.co/kW8eq5A5zh

@Sultanknish - Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately"

Biden commuted the sentence of Timothy McGinn accused of defrauding 900 investors of $136 million, who had been sentenced to 15 years in prison. Victims included a father of two wounded veterans who had been putting aside the money for their expenses. https://t.co/wElkRCNGx5

@Sultanknish - Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately"

Former CEO Eric Bloom, accused of committing the "biggest fraud in Chicago court history" in what was described as a $665 million fraud scheme also got a pass from Biden. https://t.co/9683qV9XDS

@Sultanknish - Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately"

Gregory McKnight, who ran a $72 million Ponzi scheme that targeted at least 3,000 investors in every state in the country, got bailed out by Biden. https://t.co/hCMIoYMfHH

@Sultanknish - Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately"

Biden also sprang Nevin Shapiro, sentenced to 20 years in prison for a $930 million Ponzi scheme. https://t.co/gF1HoBx4EF

@Sultanknish - Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately"

Biden also intervened on behalf of former CEO Gregory J. Podlucky, who ran a bottled water company and had been accused of a $685 million pyramid fraud loan scheme in which the money was spent on jewels and toy trains. https://t.co/dfALS80F9d

@Sultanknish - Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately"

Marc Dreier, had been sentenced to 20 years in prison for a $740 million Ponzi scheme with losses to investors estimated at $400 million, also got a helping hand from the White House. https://t.co/mTVWKD2y5r

@Sultanknish - Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately"

The full list includes 18 names involved in multi-million dollar scams. There were also other notorious figures including Paul Daugerdas : a lawyer accused of manufacturing $7 billion in fake tax deductions in what was described as “the biggest tax fraud prosecution ever." https://t.co/kdGS7BvtKC

@Sultanknish - Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately"

“No one is above the law,” Biden told us, before pardoning his son and executing a mass jailbreak of some of the worst financial scammers and fraudsters in the United States. No president has ever left office bailing out individuals who did so much harm to so many. https://t.co/B5ZegFW6Ej