Marvel Comics Legend, Stan Lee, Victim of Elder Abuse and Elder Financial Abuse!

According to the police, Marvel Comics legend, Stan Lee, was a victim of elder abuse, including elder financial abuse.  I am in the process of creating a course called “Elder Financial Abuse” for my Financial Crimes suite of classes that I am trying to get domiciled at a university.  My “Elder Financial Abuse” class will provide students of financial crimes with tools, resources, and strategies to help detect, prevent, and stop financial elder abuse.

Click here for a news article on the elder abuse of Stan Lee.

Click here for more information on my “Elder Financial Abuse” Financial Crimes class.  (Note: This class is under development and is in the beginning stages of course construction.  More information, such as the syllabus, required reading, recommended reading, et cetera will be added soon!)

My Resignation from the Fairfield-Suisun Adult School

Dear Students and Colleagues,

On Friday, February 15, 2019, I resigned my teaching position at the Fairfield-Suisun Adult School.  My resignation was accepted by the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District on Thursday, February 21, 2019.  Without going into details, I will say that this was not a decision that I took lightly.  I will miss working with my amazing students and colleagues.  I plan on teaching accounting and financial crimes at another school in the not too-distant future.  For those trying to access my teacher page, it has been disabled by the administrators.  I have migrated some of the information from my teacher page to this website.

Steve M. Windham

Financial Crimes Course (Fall 2019)

Hello Everyone!

I am updating the Financial Crimes survey course, and I am also trying to offer a new course called “Retail and Restaurant Loss Prevention.”  As I have recently resigned my teaching position at the Fairfield-Suisun Adult School, I am looking for another school where I can domicile my Financial Crimes courses.

There is also more information for the Financial Crimes Survey course here:

FINANCIAL CRIMES SURVEY COURSE RESOURCES LIBRARY

If you are interested in taking this course, or my new course (currently under development), “Retail and Restaurant Loss Prevention,” please contact me.

 

FRAUDULENT caller posing as IRS (Phishing scam alert!)

Yesterday, I received a telephone call from a 305 area code (Miami).  After listening to the message, I called them back.  They claimed to be from the Internal Revenue Service and that I had owed a past due amount and that they were going to pursue criminal charges against me.  Today, a client called me and informed me that she had received a similar call.

In both cases, these were phishing scams and not the Internal Revenue Service!  I refused to give them any information, and when I informed them that they were not the IRS they hung up on me.

DO NOT give these people any information!  The IRS does not call you if you owe them money.  When you owe the IRS money, you will be sent numerous notices via USPS First Class Mail.  It is very rare for the IRS to call a taxpayer!  They nearly always use USPS First Class Mail to contact taxpayers, especially if this is an initial contact!

When in doubt, ask for their name, badge number, and a number where your accountant or attorney can call them back.  Then hang up.  Do not give them any personal information whatsoever over the phone–do not confirm any personal information!  When in doubt about any collection proceedings from any tax authority, contact your tax professional.

Also, note that it is extremely rare (never to the best of my knowledge) for the IRS to use email when dealing with tax payers.

See the following Internal Revenue Service links below for more information:
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/scam-phone-calls-continue-irs-identifies-five-easy-ways-to-spot-suspicious-calls
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/phishing-schemes-lead-the-irs-dirty-dozen-list-of-tax-scams-for-2017-remain-tax-time-threat
https://www.irs.gov/privacy-disclosure/report-phishing

See the following California Franchise Tax Board links below for more information:
https://www.ftb.ca.gov/online/Fraud_Referral/index.shtml
https://origin-www.ftb.ca.gov/aboutFTB/press/2017/02-02172017.shtml
https://www.irs.gov/privacy-disclosure/report-phishing

Another Northern California Restaurant Tax Crime Conviction

Yaowapha Ritdet, a restaurant owner from Ukiah, California,  was sentenced on April 26, 2017 to 24 months in prison for corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the Internal Revenue Code and harboring illegal aliens for profit.

For more, see:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/northern-california-restaurant-owner-sentenced-24-months-prison-obstructing-tax-laws

San Francisco Bay Area Chinese Food Buffet Wage and Tax Law Violators Sentenced

Owners and managers of a San Francisco Bay Area Chinese restaurant chain have been convicted and sentenced to prison for violating California wage laws and failure to pay California taxes.

For more on this story, please visit:
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/06/20/former-restaurant-owners-hit-with-6-1-million-restitution-prison-sentence-in-massive-wage-theft-case/