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Mystery solved, sort of: It seems reasonably clear to me that Daniel Kaufman, a.k.a., Dan Kay, a.k.a. Dan Katze, a.k.a. the Busted Chef, a.k.a. the Montauk Grifter, never actually worked as a producer on Hell's Kitchen, as he repeatedly claimed to the people he conned. But he definitely managed to convince several of the show's former contestants that he worked there, which is some fairly acrobatic grifting. More »
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Yesterday, we brought you the tale of Daniel Kaufman, a.k.a. Dan Kay, a.k.a. Dan Katze, the preternaturally prolific conman who told his victims, among many other things, that he was a world-class chef and a producer on Hell's Kitchen and Chopped—even though he can't cook. Since then, we've learned that he probably did manage to grift his way onto Hell's Kitchen. Also: We've gotten tons of emails from people who have crossed Dan's path, which we've published below. More »
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He is Dan Kaufman, Dan Kay, Dan Katze. He is a celebrity chef, an internet entrepreneur, a television producer. He has worked for Apple, Google, AOL, the Rainbow Room. He hangs out with Steve Case, Gordon Ramsey, Tim Armstrong. He's a world-class surfer, a AAA baseball legend, the founder of a seminal punk band. He's one of the more persistent and obsessive grifters to ply the streets of New York City—not to mention online dating sites—in recent decades. More »
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Arthur Laffer, the right-wing economist who is second only to Reagan in right-wing masturbation fantasies for allegedly proving that lowering taxes increases revenue (it doesn't), has been sued for his alleged involvement in a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors of at least $3.1 million. More »
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No one pays attention to the dumb "Terms of Service" on most websites, but the White House is pushing to make them legally binding. That would outlaw providing "any false personal information" on Facebook (did you really watch Inside Job?). It would criminalize Googling before you can sign a binding contract (looking at you, 17-year-old honors-class delinquents). And it would make illegal any "inaccurate, misleading, or false information" on your Match.com profile. More »
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The Secret Service is raising alarms about a so-called "black money" scam operating in the Northeast that's already relieved three idiots of $170,000. So if someone approaches you with a huge amount of cash that looks like it's been blacked-out with magic marker, don't trust them. Here's how the scam works. More »
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Prosecutors in Santa Monica, CA have filed 19 criminal charges against the gold sellers Goldline International for allegedly running a "bait and switch operation" using prominent spokespeople like Fox News' Glenn Beck. More »
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Citigroup has agreed to pay $285 million to settle charges that it packaged and sold a bunch of mortgage-backed securities in 2007 that it knew would drop in value, and then bet that they would in fact drop in value, making money off the suckers it sold them to. More »
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The Queens DA office announced today that more than 100 people have been busted in a massive identity theft ring. The defendants are charged with stealing more than $13 million over 16 months, starting in 2010. More »
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So, here is the kind of care you can expect if you are a migrant worker in China who cuts off his own thumb in an accident: The doctor will, over your objections, replace the missing thumb with one of your toes. Aaaaand... that's basically it. You say your foot hurts and your new thumb-toe is useless? No, sorry, that's actually not true: "Huiyang Bone-setting Hospital... insists that the thumb has recovered." We tend to agree with this commenter: "Strongly recommended that the doctor transplant his buttocks onto his head!" [ChinaSmack] More »
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Don Lapre — the boyish infomercial shyster who lulled millions of insomniacs into pants-wetting states of catatonia via the relentless repetition of the phrase "tiny classified ads!" — has committed suicide inside an Arizona prison cell. Lapre, 47, was facing 41 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and promotional money laundering in connection with his latest snake oil scam, "The Greatest Vitamin in the World," which parted 220,000 suckers with $52 million. More »
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After reading some books about banking, Denny Ray Hardin set up a website, created 2,000 fake promissory notes, and opened up "the Private Bank of Denny Ray Hardin" (not necessarily in that order) from his home in Kansas City. How entrepreneurial! And illegal. More »
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The Associated Press checked in with 325 charities founded in the wake of 9/11, many of which are still active. Most of them were doing nice things! But a bunch were doing ethically dubious, borderline fraudulent things, frittering away millions of benevolently bestowed dollars. More »
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A "Jewish Indiana Jones." The very words conjure up thrilling scenes of cliff-hanging, deli-sampling adventure! And that's precisely what a mild-mannered Jewish bookstore owner from Maryland was passing himself off as, in what has turned out to be nothing more than an extremely clever con. More »
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Dunkin Donuts may finally have found the edge it needs to cripple Starbucks and Krispy Kreme: Prostitutes. And also ATM hacking. Just the thing to pump up that stock! More »
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Saying you follow the Moorish Science faith has become the new "I'm 1/16th Cherokee," at least among financial fraudsters. All across our great, greedy nation, people are falsely claiming Moorish Scientist status in order to file phony legal documents, avoid paying taxes, and declare one's self above the law, among other illegal things. More »
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The Nigerian scam (aliases: the 419 scam, the Spanish Prisoner scam, the Letter From Jerusalem) dates back to the 1700s, but email has made it as commonplace an inbox nuisance as penis-enlargement ads or forwarded jokes from your mother's second-cousin. Just who are the confidence men behind the broken English? Are they even Nigerian? And does anyone ever fall for them? We now have answers to all of those questions, as Pennsylvania law enforcement has captured a 100% authentic Nigerian scammer! More »
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Are you sure that your doctor is a real doctor? It can be difficult to tell! For example, if he gives you a bottle of pills called "Prosperous Farmer Dietary Supplements" that expired in 2002, he is probably not credentialed. More »
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The massive hack attack that hit Sony's PlayStation Network has a bunch of gamers freaking out. For good reason! The latest scuttlebutt is that hackers are trying to sell a database of 2.2 million PlayStation owners' credit cards on underground forums. More »
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Condé Nast and the feds are trying to recover $8 million the company paid a Texas man after he sent an e-mail invoice—one e-mail—pretending to be the magazine conglomerate's printer. They just can't get the digital space right. More »
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God's favorite investment banker, Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein, made a shitload of money last year! Originally we thought he made $13.2 million in 2010 but, according to Bloomberg News today, it turns out he nearly doubled his 2009 take with a $19 million compensation package: More »
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Fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have been under investigation in Italy for tax evasion for some time, but now the ongoing scandal —they duo are accused of selling their company to avoid taxes—may lead to fraud charges. More »
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Time to check in with an old friend: Jason Hope—the Arizona entrepreneur whose $500,000 Christmas party made him the "Party King of Scottsdale" and ignited fake-baked nightlife warfare—is getting sued. Verizon Wireless has launched a legal battle against 26 people and companies they say are fleecing consumers with "premium messaging services," i.e., when your grandma gets a spam text message that enters her into an automatic billing cycle without her consent. Verizon says Hope is "the mastermind behind defendants' fraudulent and deceptive practices." More »
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The New York Times interviewed a "noticeably" thinner Bernie Madoff in prison and, wouldn't you know it, he said that "unidentified banks and hedge funds were somehow 'complicit' in his elaborate fraud," and also this: More »
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According to the state the Mississippi, guess who's stiffing victims of the Gulf oil spill? The state's Attorney General wrote yesterday that thanks to "sweeping deficiencies and violations of law," BP is allegedly "underpaying" legitimate claims. Surprised? [Bloomberg] More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5749723&view=rss&microfeed=true Vitaly Borker, the eyeglass-selling prick profiled in the Times, was arrested by the feds for fraud and cyberstalking. More »
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Canadian cancer scam artist Ashley Kirilow has been charged with seven counts of fraud for raising $20,000 for her fake cancer charity, and nabbing free trips to Disneyland with her elaborate cancer lie. More »
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With the election only days away, a few single-minded patriots have decided to take on the biggest problem bedeviling our political system: election fraud! Yes, a problem so huge, only 95 people were charged with it between 2002 and 2005. More »
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Larry Wilcox — better known as Ponch's sidekick Jon from the 70's-80's cop show CHiPs — was caught in a sting operation by FBI agents and the Securities and Exchange Commission allegedly seeking kickbacks in exchange for penny-stock manipulation. More »
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A 54-year-old Parisian is either a modern Casanova, a fraud, or the French incarnation of the "anchor baby" bogeyman. He claims to have fathered 55 children, each with a different foreign-born, welfare-collecting mother. Expect this story on Fox News tonight. More »
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Ponzi schemer to the stars Ken Starr pleaded guilty today to wire fraud, money laundering, and investment advisor fraud; his plea deal will put him behind bars for10-12 years. His pole-dancing wife was "notably absent" from the courtroom. [image via] More »
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Former Democratic party fundraiser Hassan Nemazee, who raised large sums for both the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama presidential campaigns, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for fraudulently acquiring $292 million in loans from three banks. More »
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Goldman Sachs is trying its own brand of top kill: The New York Times and Wall Street Journal report the investment bank plans to settle with the SEC for a lesser offense, so it doesn't have to admit to fraud. More »
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Prosecutors say Adam Wheeler committed larceny and identity fraud, stealing $45,000 in Harvard scholarship money. Peers recall a quiet overachiever with a knack for grandiose self-description and a plan to become a lawyer—or so he told them. More »
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Someone hit the "panic" button beside Larry Summers' desk—the Ivory Tower has been breached! A 23-year-old former Harvard student, Adam Wheeler, stands accused of lying in his Harvard, Fulbright, and Rhodes applications, and now faces 20 criminal charges. More »
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Adedamola Olatunji lived in a small apartment on the South Side of Chicago. Where he pretended to be Ben Stiller, David Duchovny, Paul Haggis, Paul Schrader and Noah Baumbach and used their credit cards for iTunes and online dating. More »
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As any good drug mule/terrorist knows, Puerto Rican birth certificates are perfect for obtaining fraudulent U.S. passports. What's the government solution? Render all Puerto Ricans retroactively nonexistent by invalidating all birth certificates on July 1, 2010. This will go well. More »
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An investment firm just got busted for defrauding clients of $120 million—some of which was funneled into a "sexually-oriented charter cruise venture." What is a "sexually-oriented charter cruise venture"? And does it have an unlimited soda plan? More »
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Emma Charlton pretended she had terminal cancer and was the editor of Vogue. Before that, she used the name Golightly and operated a gold-digging scam. Now, she will go to jail for defrauding her fiance and grandmother, among others. More »
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A 24-year-old in a motel room in Texas used the internets and his squeaky voice to e-and-phone date men posing as model Bree Condon. Police found him with an iPhone and a small dog that were gifts from his suitors. More »
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