Signs of Stress, Fraud on Roadside

[formercia]

http://finance.yahoo.com/insurance/article/106813/Signs...

Signs of Stress, Fraud on Roadside
by Douglas Belkin
Thursday, March 26, 2009
--snip--

Tow yards in Las Vegas are filled with the blackened hulls of Mercedes sedans and Cadillac Escalades. The wrecks were pulled from desert hills and city streets by the department's eight-member auto-theft unit, which responds to calls around the clock. Over one weekend this month, Mr. Menzie investigated eight car fires in 36 hours.

"This is a money town," says Lt. Robert Duvall, who reorganized the auto-theft unit to include insurance arson fraud. "Where else can you lose a paycheck in a night?"

The cops hunt suspected arsonists by SUV and helicopter, trying to identify registered owners as quickly as possible. "We see people with singed eyebrows and hands," said Sgt. Will Hutchings, Mr. Menzie's boss. "Some of them still smell like gas."

--snip--

[gratuitous]

1. Now that IS gambling

You can try to cheat a casino, and you might even do it in some small, insignificant way. But trying to cheat an insurance company? You'd better pack a lunch.

And the lieutenant's name is Robert Duvall? For real?

[formercia]

3. This has always been a problem in Vegas

people in desperate straights, trying ,for the last score and losing it all.

I used to go there often. We had a big contractor in the area. Every time, I would meed people who were in a dire situation. It's a strange town.

I guess the Mob did Cuba a favor by moving from Havana to Las Vegas.

[leveymg]

2. Foreclosure rate in Vegas is highest in US. Sheldon Adelson, owner of Sands Corp, lost 95% of his

wealth last year, about $30 billion, according to Forbes. That's up there with Madoff.

Vegas has been the center of high-risk finance, and when Wall Street melted-down, Vegas burned to the ground. Or, was the "market contagion" the other way around?

There is a major connection between the two biggest American money centers that is not often acknowledged and little studied. GOOGLE "Mafia Wall Street" and "Vegas Wall Street". There's not much recent serious work on the subject.