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Re: Interview Wayne Andrews VP IOC with an investor type/Barry MinkowI remember reading the press releases this guy put out in the Wall Street Journal. They were frequent and usually announced the large award of a contract to clean carpets damaged in a fire of a commercial building somewhere in the USA. Anyone who believes a word that this punk says is nuts. I like how the sentencing judge characterizes young Mr. Minkow in this NY Times story.. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/28/business/minkow-of-zzzz-best-gets-25-years.html Barry Minkow, who as a teen-ager founded the ZZZZ Best carpet-cleaning company, was sentenced today to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay $26 million restitution for fraud. United States District Judge Dickran Tevrizian handed Mr. Minkow, 23 years old, the maximum penalty sought by the Government. ''You're dangerous because you have this gift of gab, this ability to communicate,'' Judge Tevrizian told Mr. Minkow, adding, ''You don't have a conscience.'' On Dec. 14, Mr. Minkow was convicted of 57 counts of securities, credit card and mail fraud stemming from the collapse of ZZZZ Best in 1987. The Government's sentencing memorandum described Mr. Minkow as a remorseless liar and thief whose schemes cost victims more than $100 million. In arguments at today's hearing, Assistant United States Attorney James Asperger said Mr. Minkow would probably serve only a third of any sentence imposed. 'Great Day for Justice' In pleading for a lenient sentence, Mr. Minkow, clad in blue prison-issue shirt and pants, said: ''This is a great day for this country. This is a great day for justice. This is how America works.'' He commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Attorneys who prosecuted him, saying: ''They got the right guy. They got the guilty guy.'' Turning toward the audience, he added: ''I see victims here today. I can only say to them how sorry I am, and I'm going to get what I've got coming, every bit of it.'' But the judge was unmoved by Mr. Minkow's plea or a similar one by his defense attorney, David Kenner, who asked for a sentence of 8 to 10 years and psychological counseling for his client. ''That would be a joke!'' Judge Tevrizian snapped. ''Here is someone who has corrupted the financial system. Here is someone who has lied and cheated. That sentence would be a slap on the wrist.'' 5 Years' Probation The judge ordered that Mr. Minkow serve five years' probation after his release and that the probation be conditional on his paying the $26 million restitution, as well as any back taxes or civil judgments against him. The judge also ordered him to participate in a drug dependency program. The judge has sentenced 10 other defendants in the case to terms of a month to eight years. Mr. Minkow, who began ZZZZ Best at the age of 16 in his parents' garage, had insisted that he was a captive of mobsters and loan sharks who took over his company and forced him to commit fraud. The Government contended that he was a shrewd con man who convinced Wall Street investors and television talk show hosts that he was a financial genius. |
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