We're all actors in life. This guy just took it a little too far. James Summers, 52, wore a suit and tie and carried a briefcase to his local Denny's Restaurant in Madison, Wisconsin. He told the staff he had been sent by "corporate" and was immediately taking over as the new General Manager. The whole ploy was all so he could fix himself a cheeseburger and french fries without paying...
Madison's police said the real restaurant manager, Tracy Brant phoned her supervisors. When she discovered Summers was not an employee she asked him to leave.
Unmoved, Summers shot back that he had worked for Denny’s for 30 years, and Brant wasn’t going to tell him he couldn’t work there. When Brant asked him how he planned to pay for his $10 meal, he told her he wouldn’t – and couldn’t pay.
In addition to the fraud charges, Summers was also charged with felony possession of an electric weapon, (stun gun) as well as disorderly conduct and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The "black money scam" came to Buffalo last week from West Africa. If you're not familiar with it, it's something of a 2012 version of the Emperor's New Clothes. Famous victims of the Nigerian scam include Chelsea Clinton's father-in-law. The scam finds dumb people with excess money and uses their own greed to separate them from it. The one in a Cheektowaga motel last week involved three Liberians and $21,000. This one was rather bizarre as one of the alleged scammers ended up notifying police to save his own life...
The scam is a fraud popularized in the West African nation in which the victim — in this case Omar Clark, 35 — is presented with black construction paper reported to be real U. S. currency that had been dyed black through a chemical process.
The con men —Kromah,; Mohammed Kaba, 42, of Philadelphia; and Yayah Swaray, 32, of Sharon Hill, Pa. — told Clark they needed money to buy another chemical to wash away the black dye and make the currency usable again.
Clark was asked for money to buy the chemical in exchange for half of the black paper. Clark apparently turned over $21,000 to the three scammers in exchange for the black paper, which was really just construction paper with no value, police said.
Then things got interesting. Realizing he had been scammed out of $21,000, Clark told the three scammers he had some friends interested in getting in on the investment. That's when the crooks should have just gotten in their rental car and checked out of the motel.
It was in Buffalo, where Clark and at least three other men confronted the Liberians at gunpoint and demanded his money back. They then beat the hell out of the scammers, tied them up, and threw two of them out of a car on Godfrey Street in Buffalo. They brought the third scammer back to the Motel room where he broke free and called police...
The Black Money Scam, although apparently new in Western New York, has been widely reported in national media after netting several prominent victims, including former Rep. Ed Mezvinsky — the father-in-law of Chelsea Clinton —and a relative of New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma.
In Mezvinsky’s case, ABC reported the former Iowa congressman lost millions due to African money scams — including the Black Money Scam. Mezvinsky eventually served a seven-year prison sentence for fraud.
The only question I have is what did they do with all the black colored money?
One of the best African soccer players of the 90's was Liberian George Weah. He was so popular after his retirement from the game that he ran for President of Liberia, and lost in a very close contest. In his playing days, he often looked like a man competing against boys. The Liberian scammers are probably looking at this post right now, wondering how someone from Buffalo remembers George Weah...
I had to laugh when I saw this billboard on South Park Avenue by Tops the other day. More proof that they are trying to pit members of the working class against one another. At least they had sense enough to put it up near the disability epicenter of Western New York.
Nothing says City of Good Neighbors like picking up the phone and ratting out one of your neighbors. If there's one thing worse than a scammer, it's a rat. I have to go. My neighbor is out with a bad back and I think I just seen him carrying a heavy box...
This was a great scam I saw on Unsolved Mysteries. A woman showed up one day in Cleveland, Ohio claiming to be a wealthy German Countess who had inherited $45 million from her parents. She wore fancy designer clothes, drove an expensive car, and spoke with a thick German accent. When she expressed an interest in purchasing a fancy restaurant on Lake Erie, the movers and shakers of Cleveland all stood in line to invest in it. The alleged Countess collected over a million dollars from people eager to ingratiate themselves with royalty.
She played the part real well and seemed to take a genuine interest in the new restaurant. But, one month later,when it came time to pay the previous owners, she told them the money hadn't arrived yet. Finally, they told her the deal was off. She then skipped town with over $1 million dollars of the investors' money. The best part of this Unsolved Mysteries episode is at 3:45 when they talk about her use of a cellular phone. This was the 1980's and people didn't have them yet. The phone looks like it's about a foot long and her friends were mesmerized that she had one. Fast forward to today where everyone over age 12 has a cell phone, which can fit into their pockets.
People with a little money love to get close to people with a lot of money. Further investigation revealed she wasn't a Countess at all. It's easy to see why the power brokers of Cleveland were fooled, though. Aristocratic nobleman are known to frequent rust belt cities like Cleveland, Detroit, and Buffalo when they could be jet-setting in Paris or Berlin.
The "Countess" was in fact German, though. German officials told Cleveland officials she had been purporting various scams in Germany since 1966 and was a well known con artist with at least 18 different aliases. Barbara Helda King was apprehended in California a few years later...
It turns out the suspect who sent out the already marked absentee ballots is likely an "old guard" Democrat, according to channel 4. They were sent out marked for Chris Collins, apparently in an effort to make Collins look like a little cheater. The only question that remains after watching this channel 4 clip, is whether Democratic Elections Commissioner Dennis Ward wears a rug?
2011 Buffalo Marathon-South Buffalo's Marty Farrell briefly holds the lead (for about 1/8 of a block) in a strong, international field
Congratulations to my friend and former coworker Aileen Hoak on finishing yesterday's Buffalo Marathon in under three hours. This was Hoak's first marathon and she finished fourth overall among women in this international race.
Previously, she was known for competing in road racing (5K and 10K races). Marathons require a significantly different style of training and not all road racers make the transition easily. Unlike many serious runners, Hoak is not quirky, either. Some are so obsessed with their times, it becomes a part of their personality. Congratulations to Hoak as well as third place finisher Meaghan Hayes of Grand Island on being the top local women finishers. Their times are even more impressive when you consider that running is a part time hobby and not their primary occupation. Hoak, for example, works three jobs and runs in her spare time. The runners who come here from other countries are often professional runners in search of prize money. Not to take anything away from their accomplishments, but they have more time to train (and rest) than our local competitors. Although, you would never hear athletes like Hoak or Hayes use this as an excuse.
Speaking of quirky, how about this quote from 1st place Russian runner Veronika Lopatina, when asked about her time?...
When asked if she was happy about her time, she said, "Not so happy, but it's OK."
Next time, she hopes to break the speed of light.She made up for it, though by stating her true purpose in coming to the event...
When the race was over, Lopatina set out on the true purpose of her visit.
"I came here to see Niagara Falls," she said. "It's very close, so I decided to run the marathon and then see the Falls."
Can you really blame her? I'm sure she saw enough abandoned grain elevators during the race.
This might be the funniest clip I've put on this site in a long time. Rosie Ruiz, came out of the crowd to finish "first" among women in the 1980 Boston Marathon. After the race, she was interviewed and failed to answer basic questions about running, that even the most novice runners would know. It quickly became apparent that she was a scam artist who snuck into the race. The best part about the interview might be the constant sneezing. I think they call that a "tell" in poker. It was revealed that a few months earlier, Ruiz took a subway to finish the New York City Marathon. Hey, it's quicker than running...
Did you hear about this story? A young Asian man in his 20s tried boarding an Air Canada plane disguised as an elderly white guy in his 50s (looked more like he was in his 70s). The flight crew was alerted when the man didn't complain about prostate problems during the flight. The guy immediately claimed refugee status when he arrived and was given a job offering free samples of chicken at the Galleria Mall food court...
