Teaneck's Moshe Butler pleads guilty to criminal bank and wire fraud

Forbes reports on the tangled web of crimes of a scamster from Teaneck, Moshe Butler, age 33, "Motel Art, Flat Screen TVs, Bad Trades, And Bouncing Checks Collide In Federal Case."

In 2009, Butler was charged in a criminal Information with running a $2.25 million scam, to which he was released on bail pending sentencing.

The final tally has Butler pleading guilty to two criminal Informations charging him with bank and wire fraud....

On June 13, 2012, he was sentenced to 63 months in prison and three years of supervised release; and ordered to pay restitution in the amounts of $2,259,311.35 for the television scheme and $207,375.25 for the check scheme; and ordered to forfeit $208,172.21....more

Is Mike Tyson Jewish?

Yes, Mike Tyson is converting to become a Jew.

The former world champion boxer was the subject of a glowing essay in the New York Times Magazine, Mike Tyson Moves to the Suburbs by Daphne Merkin, who describes in beautiful lyrical fashion the terms, "In which the ex-world champion learns to love the boring life."

Tyson was so impressed with Merkin, he has decided to convert himself to Judaism. "That woman has become my wole model," Tyson said. Merkin returned the compliment saying, "Meeting and interviewing Mike has been the highlight of my life."

Tyson will be undergoing the procedures of conversion this afternoon, Purim 5771. Celebrity Rabbis Arthur Schneier and Shmuley Boteach will officiate at Tyson's circumcision and ritual bath. Evander Holyfield had asked to perform the milah, saying, "It's only fair. It's in the Bible." Holyfield was rebuffed and told that "a foreskin for an ear" was not the actual wording of the biblical verse and anyhow that Holyfield was not Jewish yet. "OK. Never mind," he reportedly said.

Bloomberg: Review of David Sarna's book "History of Greed"

Our neighbor David Sarna has published a new book that has been reviewed at some length on Bloomberg:

Budding Gordon Gekkos Get Tips on Ponzi Scams in `History of Greed'

StarTribune: St. John's Returns Petters' Tainted Donations

If you want to preach morality, you must practice it impeccably. The Catholics at St. John's University in Collegeville Minnesota have acted in a way that sets the standard for religious institutions in an era of financial corruption. We are impressed.

St. John's Abbey monks drop Petters name from pavilion, will return $2M
PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

The unhitching of the disgraced Petters name and his money from various locales continues.

The latest reversal of fortune -- in this case $2 million -- came when the monks of Saint John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minn., voted Tuesday to return the gift from the Thomas J. Petters Family Foundation for construction of the Petters Pavilion, the order announced.

The Petters name will also be removed, the monks decided. A new name for the facility, which was completed in May 2007, has yet to be determined.

The donation by Wayzata businessman Tom Petters, convicted Dec. 2 by a federal jury of orchestrating a $3 billion Ponzi scheme, was made in honor of his parents, Fred and Rosemary. The Abbey Church is where his parents have worshipped.

The abbey said it is currently negotiating the terms for how the money will be returned.

Why is this Rosh Hashanah different from all the other Rosh Hashanahs?

Why is this Rosh Hashanah different from all the other Rosh Hashanahs?

Because on this holiday rabbinic leaders are asking their colleagues to speak out in favor of ethical living.

What a novelty.

Orthodox Jewish leaders urge N.J. rabbis to give sermons on ethical living
by Jeff Diamant/The Star-Ledger

In an unusual move, a group of influential Orthodox Jewish leaders has written a letter explicitly urging American rabbis to speak during this year's High Holiday sermons on the importance of ethical living, in response to some recent high-profile arrests of Jews, including two rabbis in Deal in July.

In the Sept. 3 letter sent to about 2,000 rabbis nationwide, the leaders of Yeshiva University, the Orthodox Union, and the Rabbinical Council of America cited "the recent scenes of religious Jews being led off in handcuffs, charged with corruption, money laundering, and even organ trafficking."...more...

Bloomberg: Why Rich People are Nasty Rotten SOBs

We've posted quite a bit recently about several ultra-wealthy personalities who by-and-large have been described as having rude, nasty personalities.

A writer over at Bloomberg has given this general coincidence of wealth and rudeness some thought and come to the conclusion that it is not an accident.

Want to Be Rich? It’s About Being Rude to People: Matthew Lynn
...If you want to make a lot of money, just try being rude to people.

Hold on, that doesn’t make sense, you may say. Surely the way to get on in life is to be as polite as possible. A soft cloud of charm can carry even the lamest executive all the way to the boardroom. Tell everyone you meet they are fantastic, listen to their ridiculous suggestions, buy them a drink as they launch into a tedious anecdote, and they will think you are great. The way to the top is to be courteous, you say.

No less an authority than Dale Carnegie in his self-help classic book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” makes the point emphatically. Rule No. 1 for making people like you: Become genuinely interested in them. Rule No. 2: Smile.

Rich and Rude

New research has turned that wisdom upside down. The richer people are, the ruder they are, according to Dacher Keltner, a psychology professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

Keltner and co-researcher Michael Kraus videotaped 100 undergraduate students who didn’t know each other, and studied their body language during one-minute gaps in conversation.

The results were clear: Students from a higher socio- economic background were more likely to be rude during the silence. They would doodle, fidget or start grooming themselves. Less-privileged students made far more effort to engage with the other person, making “I’m interested” signals such as laughing or raising eyebrows.

In short, the richer people were a lot ruder, while the poor were a lot more polite.

The psychologists viewed the results as basic animal behavior. The higher up the food chain you are, the fitter and stronger you are. The wealthier animals are signaling that they don’t need anyone. The poorer animals are ingratiating themselves because they need help.

No Reliance

“It is the experience of wealth that leads individuals to become disengaged,” Keltner says.

There is much truth to that. The richer you are, the less reliant you are on other people. It doesn’t matter much what others think of you, since you are unlikely to be asking them for a favor any time soon.

And yet while the rich may be rude because they are wealthy, it is just as likely to be the other way around. Just as plausibly, they are wealthy because they are rude.

Carnegie and other self-help writers have missed the point the last few decades. Getting ahead in life isn’t about making people like you. It is about getting them to serve your interests.

Success depends, more than anything, on an inner ruthlessness. As anyone who has spent much time with chief executives will know, they are mostly an unpleasant bunch.

They bully, cajole, threaten and fume. There are very few examples of them flattering or charming their way to the top. They are more likely to be shouting and raging at people, demanding the impossible, and casting old friends and colleagues aside the moment they become an inconvenience. The accumulation of wealth requires an ability to crush rivals, stamp on employees, and sweep aside all opposition. Charm doesn’t come into it.

As your bank or hedge fund slides toward insolvency, just carry on barking at your secretary, snubbing waitresses, and blanking old friends who nod at you in the elevator. Everyone will assume you are still loaded -- and will hold off pulling the plug on you for a few more days at least.