Former NBA Player Allegedly Targeted NBA Alums for Ponzi ...

This week, the Department of Justice filed charges that remind us that affinity fraud can target any identifiable group. Recently, affinity frauds have targeted retired bus drivers, <a href="http://www.quickbooksonline2011.com/"><strong>quickbooks online</strong></a> muslim immigrants, and even Ferrari owners. The latest group to fall victim to such a scam may be former NBA players. Prosecutors in New Jersey have charged former UConn basketball star Tate George with operating a 2 million Ponzi scheme that targeted other former NBA players. According to an article in InvestmentNews: Tate George, who played professional basketball for the New Jersey Nets and Milwaukee Bucks in the 1990s, was charged with running a 2 million Ponzi scheme that targeted former pro athletes. George, 43, is charged with one count of wire fraud, according to a statement today from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark, New Jersey. George, who faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted, surrendered to federal authorities today in Newark, the U.S. said. From 2005 through March 2011, George, claiming to have more than 500 million under management at his company, raised more than 2 million from investors for real-estate developments in Florida, Illinois, Connecticut and New Jersey, according to the statement. The company had "virtually no income generating operations," prosecutors said. "Instead of using investments to fund real estate development projects, George used the money from new investors to pay existing investors," according to the statement. "He also used some of the money for home improvement projects, meals at restaurants, clothing and gas." Thomas Ashley, whom the U.S. Attorney’s statement listed as George’s defense counsel, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. Game-Winning Shot George attended the University of Connecticut, where he hit the game-winning shot against Clemson University in the third round of the 1990 National Collegiate Athletic <a href="http://www.cheapghdstraighteners2011.com/ghd-iv-pink-styler-p-16.html"><strong>hair straighteners ghds</strong></a> Association tournament. With one second remaining and Connecticut trailing by one, George caught a full-court inbounds pass from teammate Scott Burrell, spun around and hit a 15-foot jump shot as time expired. He was selected by the Nets with the No. 22 pick in the 1990 National Basketball Association draft. In a four-year NBA career, George averaged 4.2 points and 1.8 assists a game. Heritage. Hobbies. Occupation. Faith. If we share these things with someone offering a supposedly great investment opportunity, it is only natural that we’ll feel more comfortable about the investment. We tend to think that someone who has so much in common with us must be like us in other details. We know that we would never run a Ponzi scheme. “Therefore,” the misplaced ‘logic’ goes, “this person would never defraud me.” Our tendency to resort to such shorthand reasoning is a product of the complex world in which we live. With too many relevant factors to consider, we unconsciously opt in favor of mental shortcuts. So, a time-consuming and detailed analysis of every relevant factor we could possible consider gets shortened to “Can I trust this person?” Â*And even that question does not get a thorough analysis. Rather than looking for evidence of previous breaches of trust by this person, we shorten the inquiry further to “Do I like this person?” You begin to see how intelligent, sophisticated <a href="http://www.cheapghdstraighteners2011.com/"><strong>cheap straighteners</strong></a> people can entrust their life savings to people they’ve known for all of 20 minutes, simply because a friend vouches for them and they are pleasant to be around. None of us is immune to this tendency to chop complex problems down to manageable size; it goes on behind the curtain of our conscious thought. Â*Avoiding an affinity fraud, a reckless broker, or an inept financial adviser, therefore, must begin with aÂ*better understanding of how the mind works and how it is pre-wired to lead us astray in the investment context. Â*Once you understand the lay of the mental landscape you can begin to take meaningful steps to protect yourself and others.