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To: Suma who wrote (25712)	12/8/2004 3:06:37 PM
From: Elroy Jetson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

Greed always blinds people. In 1984 I was working as the Research VP for an investment banking firm which brokered Savings and Loans and health-care facilities. One evening at a glitterati business spot, one of the two owners of my firm introduced me to a woman I immediately disliked. After she left he told me she was arranging $18 million in financing to establish a network of our offices in Europe. It was money from a Saudi that was only going to cost 5.9% blah, blah, blah. I asked him how much money she wanted up-front to put the financing together? He said, "How did you know, this was supposed to be confidential?" I explained to him how an "up-front scam" works and how she would never be seen again once he gave her the $16,000. He asked me why I thought she had picked on him. I quickly thought of the best euphemisms I could find for greedy, self-obsessed and ignorant -- I told him, "It's because you look so successful and drive such an expensive car." Well, I'm sure those things did factor in as well. .

To: Suma who wrote (25712)	12/8/2004 4:23:56 PM
From: GraceZ	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

This was my reasoning behind telling Fatty to go to the bank manager with his tale. If the guy he was dealing with was running a scam, it's likely he's been running it on more than one person. It's been my experience that the DA doesn't get involved in what they see as civil cases until they become too numerous to see as mere civil cases, but organized con games. The banks have access to info about these various schemes because they are so plentiful now that they have to keep on top of them. It was only later... years later that I learned about this con man and his modus operendi...as he pulled shrewd deals with a lot of people who he took for more than he did me. Con artists like your guy almost always make themselves judgement proof. I think there is a special place in Hell for guys like that, at least I hope so. You were greedy... That always stuck.. It's like people asking me, after I was mugged, "Why were you out so late by yourself?" The old adage is that you can't con an honest man, but if you spend time reading about con artists and their various schemes you'd see that many honest people get caught up in them. They prey on the dishonest and greedy more often simply because if they've suckered you into doing something which is illegal than you are less likely to call the cops on them when they take off with your cash. The larger the sum, the more successful the mark, the less likely the person is to call the legal authorities because of the sheer embarrassment. I just saw a great Spanish language movie about con men in Argentina called the "Nine Queens". If was a great tale of whose conning who. After the movie I turned to my husband, who loves to travel to Mexico, Central America and South America and said, "I think we can skip Argentina".