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Court To Scammer, "Give Up Your House Or Go To Jail"

Posted by kdawson on from the on-the-bright-side-the-rent's-free dept.

coondoggie writes "Too many online scammers get away with what amounts to a wrist-slap, but a case if Las Vegas this week seems to be heading the right direction. According to the Federal Trade Commission, a business opportunity scammer has been held in contempt for the second time by a federal court and ordered to turn over the title of his home in Las Vegas or face jail time. The court found that the operator of the scam, Richard Neiswonger, failed to deliver marketable title to his home, in violation of a previous court order entering a $3.2 million judgment against him, the FTC stated. The FTC charged that the defendant deceived consumers with false promises that they could make a six-figure income by selling his 'asset protection services' to those seeking to hide their assets from potential lawsuits or creditors."

12 of 152 comments (clear)

  1. Haha! by Kalriath · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Can anyone else see the irony in the seller of "asset protection services" to "hide assets from potential lawsuits" failing to hide his assets from potential lawyers?

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    For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
  2. WTF? by drew_92123 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Don't give him a choice, take everything AND put him in jail...

    1. Re:WTF? by JCSoRocks · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That sounds better to me too. Punishing these people is a start but the reality is we need to do a better job of educating consumers. As long as there are suckers there will be people trying to scam them.

      --
      You are using English. Please learn the difference between loose and lose; they're, there, and their; your and you're.
    2. Re:WTF? by Arthur+Grumbine · · Score: 4, Funny

      That sounds better to me too. Punishing these people is a start but the reality is we need to do a better job of educating consumers. As long as there are suckers there will be people trying to scam them.

      Hear! Hear! In fact, I have just the cure-for-naivete/stupidity you're looking for... right here and for a limited time only I'm willing to offer you a secret extract derived the the lubricant glands of the rare pythonus imaginarius. This elixir has been known cure even the most obstinately held absurd beliefs, why just the other day it helped cure some poor fool who thought he could solve the problem of confidence men by "educating consumers" - God's honest truth - the poor bastard actually believed that!! Act now and receive, as my gift to you, a one-size fits all societal curative ideology! Don't pass this opportunity up!!

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      Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
  3. Not really... by schon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    think about it - if his service actually worked, he wouldn't have been prosecuted for running a scam :)

    1. Re:Not really... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Actually, this house is just a decoy. All of his real assets, being protected, are hidden.

    2. Re:Not really... by Moryath · · Score: 5, Funny

      Given the state of the housing market in California, isn't it equally possible that he simply doesn't have a title to the place at all?

    3. Re:Not really... by UltraAyla · · Score: 4, Funny

      Hey, California has enough problems without you giving us Las Vegas!

  4. It doesn't say if the scammees get their money. by NoYob · · Score: 5, Insightful
    What's going to happen? The scammer asshole coughs up his assets to the Government and does any of that money go to reimbursing the victims? I doubt it. The victims would have to file suit against this low life and get what? Nothing because the Feds took it all.

    What I tell friends and family and anyone who wants to listen: consider all unsolicited emails as scams. The same for telemarketers - if you're on the DNC list, then those people are breaking the law by calling you which makes them criminals. You don't want to do business with criminals, do you?

    Junk mail a lot (too many) of times are crooks too - you know the "checks" that come in the mail for you to deposit and send money via Western Union to others.

    Some day, one of these assholes is going to scam the wrong person and they may end up wishing they've gone to jail.

    --
    It's NOT me! It's the meds! I'm on 1000mg of Fukitol.
  5. case background by Trepidity · · Score: 4, Informative

    The FTC has an archive of case materials. Looks like a complaint was brought in 1996, and he settled in 1997, which included agreeing to a permanent injunction. The FTC brought another complaint in 2006, got a temporary restraining order, and a finding of contempt of court in 2007. The 2007 filing is the one that instituted a $3.2 million fine and ordered Neiswonger to turn over title to a specific residence in Las Vegas as part of paying it.

    It's not clear to me if that's his primary residence or a secondary one. Usually primary residences are shielded from civil judgments. If it's a secondary one, this case isn't unusual at all, since ordering a 2nd home to be sold to pay a judgment is common. If it's a primary one, I'm not sure if the rules are different because it's a contempt proceeding. (In theory it seems the rules might also be different for even primary residences purchased with ill-gotten money, but none of the complaints seem to allege that specifically.)

    The FTC also has a slightly more detailed version of this news, fwiw.

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    10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
  6. In Jail without trial [Re:My scheme really works!! by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 4, Informative

    Contempt of court is the only thing that can legally get you sent to jail indefinitely without a jury trial in the US.

    No, in fact, the (former) president of the United States stated that if you are suspected of terrorism, you can be held without charge indefinitely, without access to a lawyer, and without any right to challenge the fact that you were so designated (or even to see any of the evidence used to designate you a terrorist.)

    For example, Jose Padilla was a U.S. Citizen, picked up on U.S. territory, and put into solitary confinement without being allowed to see talk to a lawyer and without any charges against him. On September 9, 2005, a three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit ruled that President Bush indeed has the authority to detain Padilla without charges, in an opinion written by judge J. Michael Luttig.

    So, no, contempt of court is not the only thing that can legally get you sent to jail indefinitely without a jury trial in the US.

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    http://www.geoffreylandis.com
  7. Re:I don't see the actual *crime* here... by MrCrassic · · Score: 4, Insightful

    IANAL, but if you knew the intent of the person wishing to find those bomb-making instructions, and you help him anyway, wouldn't that make you an accomplice to the crime?