Next to Florida, Utah is the USA’s scam capital. Once again, it boils down to an abuse of trust for someone with a shared religious background:
An Ogden businessman pleaded guilty Monday in one of the largest fraud cases ever in Utah…Authorities said Southwick, 62, promised high returns on commercial real estate investments. They said he traded on his membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to gain investors’ trust.
For background, there is an article from last year first exploring Southwick’s Ponzi scheme.
From where I sit, if I ever hear someone appeal to my faith — or anybody else’s, for that matter — as a reason to trust them, it sends my BS-O-Meter blaring in my head. It’s a bit distracting sometimes, but worthwhile to listen to.
Best book ever to avoid being taken in by a good sales pitch: Robert Cialdini’s Influence: Science and Practice. It reads a bit like a textbook, but it is mercifully short and provides a tool-chest of influence identification and management that will serve for a lifetime.
Thanks to MADB for the link today.
Should his church return his donation?
Out of the hundreds of millions he bilked from unwitting investors, he tithed millions of dollars to the LDS church.
Should the LDS church return his donation to the authorities?
My gut instinct is that if I robbed a store at gunpoint and stole, say, $50, then gave $25 of that to my church, once my church is aware the money was stolen they should return it to its rightful owner. But if a substantial amount of time has passed — like in this case, over a year — it’s probably already spent.
Makes for an interesting conundrum.
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Matthew P. Barnson