Once again, this is not about Russ Whitney personally or the Whitney Companies. It’s about being ACCURATE about reporting facts on this website.
This entire thread started with someone reporting an accurate fact, that the Whitney Company was being investigated. Then, it turned to the “He’s a crook, he deserves what he gets” vein. There’s no evidence he’s being investigated or being charged. You don’t point your finger at the CEO of a company and say he’s guilty without facts. It’s irresponsible and childish.
If it ultimately turns out that Whitney personally did things wrong, then he deserves what he gets. But, until these facts are proven, I am not judging him and neither should you.
Guess who is under SEC investigation - Posted by heather
Posted by heather on December 18, 2006 at 14:39:41:
Russ Whitney and company. Also:
Whitney Information Network, Inc. RUSS announced today that the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia has notified the Company that it has commenced a grand jury investigation into certain of the Company’s marketing activities.
When the market tanks, heads roll - Posted by Doug (ON)
Posted by Doug (ON) on December 18, 2006 at 22:41:57:
It happens everytime a stock market bubble bursts too. So many people lose so much money that the government has to appear to be “doing something” about all the “scumbags” who made a fortune.
Whitney’s company restated their operating financial statements for 2001-2005, and they sold securities during that timeframe. That is sure to draw SEC investigation almost every time, regardless what actually happened. Not that I’m a great Whitney fan, but unless you know something we don’t, this SEC action is predictable and unremarkable.
I don’t really care enough to compare the restated earnings reports with those originally released, so I don’t know how egregious the restatement really is. If any other CFA- or CPA-types want to, what you find might be interesting.
Re: Guess who is under SEC investigation - Posted by Pete CA
Posted by Pete CA on December 18, 2006 at 18:39:15:
FTC and SEC investigations are common when a company makes agressive marketing claims such as “make an extra 10-20 thousand per month working part time” I know of a friend who was fined by the FTC for making these claims. Well, the marketing campaign and the product sales over a 4 year period made the company over $40 million dollars. When they were sued by the FTC they settled for $500,000 and paid $500,000 in legal fees. They settled and moved on. They didnt really do anything wrong their company had just been randomly selected for closer investigation. They settled and that was it.
Re: Guess who is under SEC investigation - Posted by Bill Bronchick
Posted by Bill Bronchick on December 18, 2006 at 15:44:17:
This isn’t necessarily a big deal. Many large companies who do sizeable business get “investigated” for all kinds of things that end up with either nothing or settlement with no admission of guilt and a fine. Whitney Education Group is, the last I heard, an $80M/year company. I would frankly be surprised if a company that size didn’t have some gov’t investigation of some kind into some kind of practices in some jurisdiction. Countrywise, Microsoft and thousands of other companies are investigated, sue and fined for business practices by the SEC, the FTC, the the Attorneys General of many states. Sometimes means the system the working and someone is looking out for us. Sometimes it means some d*ckhead at a governmental agency is going overboard, looking to make a name for himself (Elliot Sptizer ring a bell?).
On that note, you will find on ocassion that investors get investigated by the AG for Deceptive Trade Practices or even the S.E.C. for Securities Fraud. Both sound really bad, but are often just an investor stepping over some technical things or are being a bit too aggressive in their marketing practices.
So, don’t be quick to judge when someone has been “investigated”… someday this may be you!
Re: Guess who is under SEC investigation - Posted by Kristine-CA
Posted by Kristine-CA on December 19, 2006 at 11:57:30:
Pete: what, exactly, did the company do that “wasn’t really anything
wrong” that got them fined $500K? I can understand what seems like a
random investigation, but obviously the FTC had to come up with some
kind of accusation after they investigated, right? Kristine
Posted by Curt Dalton on December 19, 2006 at 16:17:43:
Whitney Information Network, Inc. Announces Departure of Officers
CAPE CORAL, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dec. 19, 2006–Whitney Information Network, Inc. (OTCBB:RUSS) announced today the termination of employment of Nicholas S. Maturo, President and Chief Operating Officer and Rance Masheck, Vice President, Sales and Marketing of EduTrades, Inc. (a subsidiary of the Company).
Re: Guess who is under SEC investigation - Posted by william
Posted by william on December 18, 2006 at 21:20:59:
So are u saying Spitzer is a d*ckhead and done no good at going after legitimate white collar crime? If so, I doubt he would be so popular with NY voters if all of his prosecutions and investigations were bogus and mere grandstanding.
I’ll second Bill’s position and add a bit - Posted by Mike (TN)
Posted by Mike (TN) on December 18, 2006 at 17:07:02:
“Sometimes it means some d*ckhead at a governmental agency is going overboard, looking to make a name for himself (Elliot Sptizer ring a bell?).”
Indeed. Also, these types of things are great fodder for class action litigators. Considering their stock price fall, the class action attorney scumbags will probably have their complaints filed tomorrow despite the fact that they have no idea whether any securities violations have taken place and no idea whether anyone has suffered any damages resulting therefrom.
[As a side note, I completely recognize that most attorneys are not scum and limit my scumbag comment to those who are out to legally extort (for lack of a better word) money from companies and individuals.]
Re: Guess who is under SEC investigation - Posted by Bill Bronchick
Posted by Bill Bronchick on December 18, 2006 at 21:24:06:
Yes, he’s a d*ckhead who abused the legal process to make a name for himself. He won because he was a demagogue who blamed the investment firms for the dumb investment decisions the voters made (and deserved what they got).
I live in NY. He won because of New York city voters.There are so many if all the rest of us voted for the challenger he still would have won.Happens all the time.I agree with Bill
Re: Guess who is under SEC investigation - Posted by Pit Bull
Posted by Pit Bull on December 19, 2006 at 16:49:31:
Bill. It is not what Whitney has done to me which is little if anything. All you have to do is to look at the mirad of sculldugery that is connected with him with several states Attorney Generals cases and the huge amount of claims the are and were on this site and his threatening of the site owners, not to mention the John T. Reed fiasco which clearly shows his shoddy background to at least have an opinion that this guy should be out of the business. I have not seen anything that would indicate any redeeming qualities about him. Thats my two cents. Why on earth would you support him?
Re: Guess who is under SEC investigation - Posted by Bill Bronchick
Posted by Bill Bronchick on December 19, 2006 at 17:20:44:
What’s amazing to me is that you talk of Whitney as a person, when in fact it is a publicly traded corporation with Russ Whitney’s face on it. He does infomercials, no different than John Elway putting his face on an Autonation car dealership.
“Sculldugery” (good word) is “unfair and dishonest practices carried out in a secretive way in order to trick other people”. Despite what you may think, Russ Whitney and the people who work for his company do not sit up late at night and thinks of ways to trick people. It is an $80M/year corporation that sells real estate and stock seminars and training to millions of people worldwide. You may not like the product or the way they sell it at hotel ballrooms every week, but that’s your opinion. They are a legitimate operation and I know many people who are very happy with what they paid for. I also know many people who aren’t and felt like it was a ripoff. Such is life - you can dig up thousands of people who feel good and bad things about Ebay, car dealerships, check-cashing stores, equity lenders, etc, and all of the big companies have been involved in AG cases in several states. Are you saying Bill Gates is a scumbag and should be out of the software business because Microsoft was sued multiple times by the Justice Department?
John T. Reed dug up dirt and said bad things about Russ Whitney and his company. They sued him. It was settled. Who cares? People say sh*t about each other’s businesses and sue each other all day long.
I bet if you intervied all the tenants I evicted, they’d said the same about me!
Re: Guess who is under SEC investigation-Whitney - Posted by Pit Bull
Posted by Pit Bull on December 20, 2006 at 18:07:21:
Bill, Bill, Bill. Come on you can’t possibly think that just because you incorporate you have no liability. I Think the Enron case will show that not to be true and it was for a lot more than Whitney was ever worth. I well understand that from a lawyer’s perspective everybody is innocent until proven guilty. But lets be practicle. All indications that I have seen, with very little exception, show Mr Whitney to be less than an honest or forthwright person.
He has been in so many shady deals the sun don’t shine on him. If any one should be the subject of an investigation there is not a better candidate than him. I notice you did not comment on his antics with this site and its owners. Shurly, you do not condone those? I also notice that another Guru you have championed, Mr Warren has agreed to plead guilty to fraud. Maybe Mr Whitney will do the same. But then again maybe not. This of course is not for you or I to determine. but I would think you would agree the public has the right to know and make their own judgements.
