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Former TigerDirect President Indicted In $230 Million Laundering Scheme

Posted by timothy on from the my-washer-won't-even-hold-that-much dept.

McGruber writes "Carl Fiorentino, known to many slashdotters for his regular hyperbole-filled emails advertising 'unbelievable' blowout pricing on memory, storage, other components, and overclocker specials, has been indicted in New York federal court on seven counts of fraud and money laundering charges. Fiorentino allegedly took more than $7 million in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for steering more than $230 million in business to the Taiwanese and California companies that made the payments."

22 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. Throw the Book by mfh · · Score: 3

    Just throw the book at this guy. He's scum. This is precisely what's wrong with the corporations on our planet and there has to be some kind of accountability, not that it would do much good in convincing CEOs to play a fair game. It seems everyone is cutting corners these days.

    That is NOT how you grow a brand.

    --
    The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
    1. Re:Throw the Book by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You're kidding right? Don't you know that every Fab manager in Asia does extra runs of chips under that table and sells them on the gray/black markets? Even large companies like Qualcomm know this, and they look the other way because they want the cheap chip production.

      Every public company is operating against the interests of their common employees, and FOR the interests of their upper management / board of directors (and indirectly the stockholder). Know this and you will be less confused as your buying power is slowly eroded to nil.

    2. Re:Throw the Book by dickplaus · · Score: 5, Funny

      Let me explain to you how this works: you see, the corporations finance Team America, and then Team America goes out... and the corporations sit there in their... in their corporation buildings, and... and, and see, they're all corporation-y... and they make money.

    3. Re:Throw the Book by tompaulco · · Score: 2

      Sigh. From TFA:

      He allegedly used the kickbacks to buy an $8 million residence in Coral Gables, Fla., furnishings for the home and pay his credit card bills, as well as pay for tennis coaching and the use of a hip-hop production company. “Fiorentino had it all — a lucrative job and a high-flying lifestyle,” said Loretta E. Lynch, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in a statement. “But his loyalties were neither to his employer nor its public shareholders but solely to himself,” she said.

      Yes, and everybody that has an American Express Corporate card uses their reward points only for business related activities, and when they visit a client and are offered lunch always politely refuses. Kickbacks exist from the janitor to the CEO. Either it's all okay or it's all bad.

      --
      If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
    4. Re:Throw the Book by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Either it's all okay or it's all bad.

      There is plenty of middle ground. Some places realize that some kinds of meetings will span meal times and that meals are included in some functions, so allow meals to be covered, with some cap on price, others allow small gifts up to a certain value to help with allowing samples and simple tools to be given. Others can allow more, but require things to be declared, so that if there is a problem it gets stopped right away and the interference is more clear. As long as things are open and known, it is a little easier to just apply some common sense instead of needing to go an all or nothing approach.

  2. so by WGFCrafty · · Score: 4, Interesting

    So he laundered 7 million in kickbacks from steering $240 million in business, not a $240 million dollar money laundering scheme. Too bad he's not HSBC, the only government authorized money launderer.

  3. Not surprising by sl4shd0rk · · Score: 2

    Pretty much the norm these days, and not just in the US but everywhere. People in places of unbalanced power breaching the law. He will not do the kind of "time", as you or I, if found guilty.

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    Join the Slashcott! Feb 10 thru Feb 17!
    1. Re:Not surprising by Connie_Lingus · · Score: 2

      yeah,,,i was in vegas recently and a homeless-looking guy was just pulling a 6-pack out of the cooler when a store employee grabbed him and called the cops. he hadnt even left the store yet. i actually walked over and offered to buy the beer for the guy just dont get him arrested. they would not let me 5 minutes later the cops come and arrest the guy...for what i still have no idea.

      the point? that guy will probably do more time in jail then Carl will...oh yeah American justice sure.

      --
      never bring a twinkie to a food fight.
    2. Re:Not surprising by ScentCone · · Score: 2, Interesting

      for what i still have no idea

      Exactly, you have no idea. Here's the likely explanation: trespassing. The store is private property, and the guy has probably been told to stay out because of earlier incidents. If you've been formally told you're not allowed in the store, and come in anyway, that's trespass. And it is a crime, and you get arrested for it. And no, it's probably not going to mean jail time unless you are a real ass and just keep doing it over and over again.

      Which has nothing to do with money laundering and the way it's prosecuted.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    3. Re:Not surprising by Like2Byte · · Score: 2, Insightful

      for what i still have no idea

      Exactly, you have no idea. Here's the likely explanation: trespassing. ...

      You're adding more conjecture to his conjucture? Interesting.

    4. Re:Not surprising by Connie_Lingus · · Score: 2

      unrelated? really i was commenting on the post where the person said CF will probably not do any time in prison...my comment had to do with the way America's legal system is constructed nowadays where two men can both commit crimes, one for basically zero dollar damage and one for millions, yet the jail industrial complex will make the zero dollar one actually suffer in jail.

      btw obviously i agree with the poster...CF will hire super lawyers and skip and thru the process...the homeless looking guy wont.

      --
      never bring a twinkie to a food fight.
    5. Re:Not surprising by ScentCone · · Score: 2

      Quite unfair to the guy

      Unless, as is very often in the case in retail settings - especially where packaged alchohol is sold, he'd been previously told that he wasn't allowed on the premises. That scenario makes subsequent arrival in the store trespass, immediately.

      Let's say there's someone who comes to your front door and does stuff you don't like, on your property. You tell them to leave, and that the next time they set foot on your property, they'll be trespassing. If he shows up again, you can call the police and tell them exactly what's going on, and they can arrest. Especially (as is frequently the case with the sort of guy described, in the sort of business described) when the cops - by virtue of having to deal with the same people on a regular basis - already know the person in question isn't allowed to trespass.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
  4. maybe their prices will FINALLY come down then by slashmydots · · Score: 2, Informative

    I'm so sick of TD always being 1-5% more expensive than Newegg when they ship almost everything from 1 state away in 1 day for ground charges and newegg ships from 3 locations that all take 4+ days to get to my state. I have a residential and business account at both and always wondered why, even at my volume for my business, TD just can't seem to get their crap together and lower their prices. They buy from the same places as Newegg! Well, this explains it. Hopefully now this asshole's replacement will pick from the cheapest supplier instead of one bribing him and lower TD's prices to compete with Newegg.

    1. Re:maybe their prices will FINALLY come down then by tocsy · · Score: 2

      So you're saying that you're sick of TigerDirect shipping more quickly than Newegg for slightly more money? It sounds to me like they're offering something that their competition isn't, and they're charging a little more for it.

      I don't care either way - I switch between them both depending on who's cheaper for the component I'm buying - and I HAVE gotten stuff cheaper on TigerDirect than Newegg.

  5. Was I the only one? by TWiTfan · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Was I the only one who always always found TigerDirect to be kind of sleazy? I mean, even back *years* ago, they always reminded me of those skeevy camera stores that are notorious for false advertising and bait-and-switch deals.

    --
    The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
    1. Re:Was I the only one? by freeze128 · · Score: 2

      No, I also thought it was suspicious. They were always advertising on TV. I have never seen a NewEgg TV commercial. It's rare that companies in this industry advertise on television. Usually, they go where the market is: The internet, or trade magazines. If you advertise on TV, then you start to get Mr Joe Everyday ordering computers and components, and he doesn't know anything about it. My dad would always show me ads from TigerDirect and ask me if I thought it was a good deal. Now, I know why....

    2. Re:Was I the only one? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      It's true. They don't even sell tigers.

    3. Re:Was I the only one? by FrothyBitter · · Score: 2

      Nope, I always thought of them as extremely sleazy despite having zero corroboration. My brother buys from them all the time, the stuff comes in a very timely fashion and exactly as represented. One time, about 5 years ago, I even broke down and ordered a 500 watt modular power supply with 2 lighted fans and a bluish chrome finish for 20 bucks. I was sure there was a catch to this deal. Absolutely positive. A couple days later the power supply came, and it was super nice quality. It came with so many modular cords that I didn't even use half of them, and the cords were super nice quality as well: wires wrapped in a tube of cross stitch metal shielding, sealed in a colored translucent rubber tube. Bottom line, I got a power supply that would have cost over twice as much on sale anywhere else, that has been running nearly 24/7 for over 5 years now.

      I never ordered anything from them again, because for some reason I just could never shake the shady feeling I get from them.

  6. Used to be a SYX shareholder by Paddy_O'Furniture · · Score: 2

    I have been purchasing from TD for years and was so pleased with them that I bought shares in SYX. This was before Carl starting showing his ugly mug in some of the advertising. My first reaction to seeing him in the ads was "sleazeball". I hope Carl burns but that TD doesn't suffer by association.

    --
    âoeNever underestimate the difficulty of changing false beliefs by facts.â â" Henry Rosovsky, Harvard ec
  7. In case you're wondering... by slashmydots · · Score: 5, Informative

    They own: Tiger Direct, Tiger Direct B2B, Systemax, Infotel Distributors, Ultra, Global Industrial, Nexel, Misco, Speedgifter, WorldWide Rebates, Comp USA, and believe it or not, Circuit City.

  8. OT: My LAST experience w/ TigerDirect by GodfatherofSoul · · Score: 2

    I was looking for a RAID enclosure for my little VM setup. What I got was a hard drive array (basically a port extender) with a RAID card thrown in. I went back to look at the advertisement to see how I got it wrong, and the ad used very deceptive wording about "additional items" included. Very shady and one of those transactions that evaporates any trust you might have in a vendor.

    --
    I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
  9. Re:Explain the diff between sales commissions and by bws111 · · Score: 2

    On the off chance you are not just trolling...

    The guy who sells you trucks works for a Ford dealer. The dealer pays him commission for selling their product. Nothing shady about that. He is acting in the best interest of his employer when he sells you a Ford truck.

    This guy was not acting in the best interest of his employer. Rather than make supplier decisions based on the companies criteria, he was making them based on who paid him the most bribes. Even if you look at the kickbacks as some sort of volume rebate, that money should go to the company, not the employee. His keeping the money (and hiding it from his employer) is fraud. The money laundering is what he did to hide the money obtained by the fraud.