Friday, April 27, 2012
Hard to sympathize
Most low-level scams are purely cruel, abusing the decency and morality of poor people. You can strongly sympathize with the victims. Not so with this one.
Doctors and attorneys who had a spare million to invest in a dubious scheme. No sympathy whatever. They shouldn't even get their money back.
Hiatt may be a smooth talker, but millionaires have enough resources to check things like contracts, corporate entities and patents. Doctors can afford to pay an attorney. Attorneys don't have to pay attorneys because they ARE attorneys. Even a pauper can check patents, for fuck's sake. ¶ 3:34 AM
Robert B. Hiatt, 57, pleaded guilty Thursday to eight felony fraud counts and a single count of intimidating a witness after he threatened to kill a whistleblower.
Hiatt presented himself to investors for a decade as a successful inventor and businessman and claimed to have inside tracks to contracts with major companies. He solicited investors using front companies that looked real. In one of his schemes, he claimed to have a contract with General Electric on a “Shriker Chip” that purportedly had the ability to harness energy from lightning strikes.
...
To convince the investors, Hiatt created letterhead, email accounts and other documents that made the companies – Highgate Computer Co. and HighPlaces LLC – look legitimate. He charged investors fees to pay fictitious bills for attorneys, bank fees, taxes and other expenses.
By using the front companies, Hiatt was able to convince investors that he had patents and sales contracts with General Electric, the U.S. General Services Administration, Sears, Clorox, Rain Bird and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, according to court records.
Court records identified 10 victims, including Bryan Teel, of Davenport, who reported losses of $1.4 million. The victims include Dr. Stephen Smith, of California, and the late Howard Michaelsen, a longtime Spokane attorney, who lost $164,896 to one of Hiatt’s schemes.
Doctors and attorneys who had a spare million to invest in a dubious scheme. No sympathy whatever. They shouldn't even get their money back.
Hiatt may be a smooth talker, but millionaires have enough resources to check things like contracts, corporate entities and patents. Doctors can afford to pay an attorney. Attorneys don't have to pay attorneys because they ARE attorneys. Even a pauper can check patents, for fuck's sake. ¶ 3:34 AM
