Chris Tappin

Justice Served Up March 14, 2012

Insider Trading Tips from Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting - AA meetings are meant to start off with, "Hello, my name is XXXX and I'm an alcoholic." These meetings put good people, who are trying to recover from abuse, in a vulnerable position....so it is not uncommon for people to unload on people at the meeting about many things going on in their life, including business. So when confidential information about an acquisition led to a huge gain by fellow AA members, it was not only insider trading, but a breach of confidentiality at AA. The SEC is pressing charges on such disclosure.

U.K.'s Chris Tappin Update - Tappin was extradited from the U.K. and today sits in a federal prison in New Mexico as he appeals his bond hearing, at which bail was denied. But was Tappin also an informant for the FBI in the Sky Capital securities fraud case at the same time that he was allegedly moving military-grade batteries to Iran? An interesting development for both Tappin and Sky Capital cases. This was a breaking and exclusive story that I wrote about on Forbes.com.

Prison Industry Impact on Jobs - Jobs are difficult to come by these days and the matter is made worse when law abiding citizens' jobs are at risk of being taken by prison inmates. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) got involved when he heard jobs at a local small business would be lost if Federal Prison Industries (FPI) bid on a government contract for T-shirts. FPI backed down, but what are the implications for putting over 200,000 inmates to work?

Guilty Until Proven Innocent - Controversial Arizona (Maricopa County) sheriff, Joe Arpaio, allowed the reality show Steven Seagal" Lawman, to participate in a raid of an alleged rooster fighter. The compound, house, was raided with aggressive tactics including tanks, bomb robots and automatic weapons. Should reality TV be a part of our justice system....a lawsuit may answer this question.

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Justice Served Up March 6, 2012

Allen Stanford Jury in Deadlock - For 3 days the jury has been deliberating in the trial of accused Ponzi schemer Allen Stanford. The jury sent a note tho Judge David Hittner that they could not reach a verdict. Judge says, "keep on going, this trial is as good as you're going to get."

Sam Antar Speaks Out and Attendee Let's Him Have It on Evaluation - Sam Antar, convicted felon and prominent white-collar speaker on the circuit, gave a presentation in Philadelphia last fall. One of the audience members gave an "anonymous" evaluation that called Antar "A piece of shit". The man making the comment was subsequently fired and guess who has come to his defense to have him reinstated? Sam Antar! Interesting perspective.

Chris Tappin, U.K. Citizen, Denied Bail - The saga continues over U.K. citizen Chris Tappin who was extradited from the U.K., a bit over a week ago, to stand trial in the U.S. on charges that he attempted to send military-grade batteries to Iran. Denying bail leaves Tappin in solitary confinement in a U.S. jail awaiting trial. The U.K. is concerned about the extradition of its citizens to stand trial in the U.S.

Misdemeanor Drug Charges have Big Impact on Former Boeing Employees - People who were caught up in the sale of presciption drug scandal involving employees at a Boeing helicopter plant near Philadelphia, are suffering some serious consequences for their actions. Should they have been treated as criminals, or people with a drug habit who needed help? They lost their job, now many are losing their homes.

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Justice Served Up February 28, 2012

How Brits View our Justice System - Chris Tappin (65), a retired U.K. citizen, was escorted to the United States over the weekend to stand trial for his role in exporting military-grade batteries to Iran. He was caught in a fictitious company sting operated by U.S. Immigration officials. The U.K. is in an uproar over Tappin's extradition to face trial in El Paso, TX. This is going to be an interesting story that I'll be covering in Forbes.

Federal Prisoners Soon To Be Allowed To Have MP-3 Players - Many federal prisoners have small radios, Walkman, which is primarily used to watch television. There are multiple televisions in a large viewing room and each television transmits a low-grade signal to the local viewing audience/inmate. It makes for civil discourse by not fighting over volume to view a show. Now the Bureau of Prisons is considering a policy of allowing inmates to have their own MP3 players with music they download on a local computer at the prison. The BOP says that it will not cost the tax payers any money....meaning that inmates will foot the bill for the device and the music they buy. Some company is making money off of this, so don't think this is being done for the benefit of inmates. A BOP spokesman said it will help inmates overcome "stress and boredom."

Allen Stanford Defense Team Rests - The trial of Allen Stanford came to a close yesterday when the defense team rested its case without calling its promised, star witness....Mr. Stanford. Many defense attorneys claim that they will put their client on the stand but in the end claim that since the prosecution presented such a weak case that it was not necessary. Closing arguments are set for Wednesday and the jury could get the case by the end of the week.

Michael Douglas in Wall Street III - In a short public service announcement, Michael Douglas (aka Gordon Gekko), encourages people who have knowledge of insider trading activity to step forward. The FBI was behind the ad and did not pay Douglas for the appearance. The commercial is part of the latest move by prosecutors to step up enforcement of securities laws that have led to 64 people being arrested in cases brought in the Southern District of NY (Operation Perfect Hedge). In related news, the FBI says that it has a five-year backlog on investigations on insider trading as a result of the cases they have brought to date. More sleepless nights for some hedge fund managers!

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