}

Total Pageviews

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

SLEAZY COME, SLEAZY GO: MISS FORTUNE'S 2013 YEAR IN REVIEW!



The year started with a whimper and ends with a big bang!

Although they're not listed in order of importance, they are your girl Miss Fortune's favorites.

Michael Moore Files For Divorce

Miss Fortune scooped the world's entertainment press and broke the news on June 24 that Michael Moore had filed for divorce from Kathleen Glynn. In an update that appeared on June 30, Miss Fortune reported that Moore had hired attorney Joseph Aviv, an expert in handling splits for "high net-worth individuals". 

While Moore spends his time shambling around his 17th floor apartment at the Bromley on West 83rd Street in New York City, Miss Fortune hears that Kathleen Glynn is quietly spending time with friends and family here in Michigan.

You go, @torchlakegirl! Miss Fortune will be the first to volunteer for the Kathleen Glynn Film Festival.

Craigslist Scammer David Lee Hunter Captured!

The State of Michigan's Department of Corrections calls you #890892, but you'll always be El Davo the Hunted to me!

From that first little story on December 26, 2012 to the moment I heard Judge Rodgers sentence you to 23-60 months in prison, it's been a perverse Harlequin romancea story so convoluted even Lifetime TV would laugh at the screenplay.

The crazy train pulled into its last stop on the morning of October 25 when Miss Fortune witnessed Hunter's sentencing hearing.

With his shaved head shining like the top of New York's Chrysler Building, Hunter withstood Judge Rodgers' withering take on his character. Echoing Hunter's attorney's comment, Rodgers allowed that he had read "wild, unsubstantiated statements" in Hunter's version of the events.

Rodgers listened as the kleptopath Hunter launched into a convoluted tale of how he was simply working "to make his victims whole". Hunter revealed his ignorance of commonly accepted past participles while admitting to Rodgers that he "couldn't stop the web I had weaved from unraveling".


Weave on, little man, weave on!


Fugitive Michigan Welfare Cheat Craig S. Gibson Discovered in Colombia; Accused Miss Fortune of Artificial Dissemination

Gibson's December 14, 2011 Wedding
Welfare cheat Gibson is the former owner of  Versatile Mortgage Funding Company and previously an area real estate agent. According to State of Michigan's business entity records, Gibson also operated Versatile Debt Management, an unlicensed debt management firm he ran out of 801 S. Garfield in Traverse City--otherwise known as mailbox #310 at the UPS Store.

Here's where it gets a little confusing (by design, I suppose): Gibson was neither licensed as a mortgage broker or a debt management company and the debt management arm of his corporation was simply an assumed name.


The former Long Lake Township resident faced felony charges in 2012 after authorities said he duped state officials into providing nearly $17,000 in undeserved welfare benefits.


But Gibson never showed up for a meeting with DHS investigators. He'd already flown the coop--to Cali, Colombia!

Miss Fortune tracked Gibson to Cali, and discovered that he'd remarried and spends his days lounging poolside while running a number of specious online businesses.

In July, Gibson reached out to Miss Fortune and accused her of artificial dissemination. He never responded to my email when I asked him to remind me just who he was and what he did.

What a kidder! 



Dr. Bruce Langlois, The Seriously Twisted Story of a Registered Sex Offender Traveling Veterinarian


MDOC photo
What Dr. Bruce Langlois won’t tell you when he meets you in the back of his Spay Neuter Express van is that he’s a registered sex offender, with lifetime supervision by the State of Michigan as a two-time loser...but Miss Fortune will!

Dr. Bruce's story was told in this March 29 post with the help of his official 173 page criminal and license violation history.

Can't we let someone ever live down the mistakes that haunt them, and allow them to move on with their lives and contribute to society?

Oh, hell no! 

(No wonder Dr. Bruce hates Miss Fortune.)

Traverse City's Northern Express: "Tales Of Miss Fortune"


Your girl Miss Fortune, shown in a Northern Express photo at left (the clothes were borrowed but the roots are mine), was featured in the November 4 edition of the weekly newspaper. 

I'm pleased the story didn't make me look like a loony crank--I can do that very well all on my own.

Thank you to Patrick Sullivan for the story...and my first paparazzi photo.





Chris Paganes and Ship4Charities.com

What do you do after you burned hundreds of hedge fund investors for millions of dollars, been permanently barred by the SEC from the securities industry and declared bankruptcy?

Well, if you're Detroit-area resident Chris Paganes, you start again.

And if starting again means a new scheme, then Bob's your uncle!

Paganes, a former associate of Robert "the crooked chiropractor" Buckhannon (more about him below), is running Ship4Charities.com, a so-called "charity" website that claims to give a portion of its revenue to a number of Michigan-based charities. 

However, a five-part investigation series I wrote established that Paganes' claims are built on sand.

In 2011, the SEC accused Paganes, his business associate Robert Buckhannon (based at the time in Las Vegas, but now a Battle Creek resident and owner of the Smoldering Embers Sports Bar), five cronies and an investment firm of duping investors out of $34 million by bankrupting two hedge funds and skimming more than $16 million off the top. The SEC complaint said the men "looted and bankrupted the hedge funds by steering millions of dollars to themselves."

Defendants Buckhannon, Terry Rawstern, Dale St. Jean and Gregory Tindall were the managing members of two Bradenton, Florida-based hedge funds, Imperium and Vestium.

Aided by Paganes, defendants Richard Mittasch and Glenn Barikmo and Imperium Investment Advisors, the gang "commingled investor money from three separate offerings and then looted and bankrupted the hedge funds by steering more than $15 million into loans and other deals with companies in which they had undisclosed financial interests" the SEC complaint said.


In November 2011, Paganes was ordered by the SEC to “disgorge $650,000 and and prejudgment interest of $90,339.19 and to pay a $650,000 civil penalty".

Paganes and his wife declared bankruptcy on November 30, 2012. Paganes' debts were officially discharged on June 13, except for his SEC fines and penalties.

Here are the links to my series on Ship4Charities:

Part 1: Shipping With Benefits

Part 5: The Final Chapter?

Robert Buckhannon, Battle Creek's Newest Con King!

Did I call it or did I call it? 

Yup, I called it! On June 13, I posted my first story about the man I dubbed "the crooked chiropractor" and speculated that he could become Battle Creek's newest con king.

And while he's been in the news somewhat over the last couple days--wait, you've heard about the fire at the On Deck Sports Bar and Grill, right?--you really don't know dick about Rob.

In December 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed suit in federal court in Tampa, Florida, against the crooked chiropractor Robert Buckhannon, and codefendants involved with two now-defunct Bradenton, Florida-based hedge funds, Arcanum Equity Fund LLC and Vestium Equity Fund LLC.

The SEC said the funds, which worked with investment advisor Imperium Investment Advisors LLC, told investors they would earn handsome profits through conservative investments.

Instead, much of the money was misappropriated, the SEC alleged in its lawsuit.

The defendants from early 2008 through April 2010 "commingled investor money from three separate offerings and then looted and bankrupted the hedge funds by steering millions of dollars to themselves,'' the lawsuit alleged.

For instance, the SEC said Buckhannon was involved in a deal to steer $6 million in investor money to Shea Mining and Milling LLC for a project called the "Tonopah Mine.'' Buckhannon, however, didn't disclose he had a conflict of interest because he was a founder of Shea Mining and planned to enter into an employment contract with Shea and receive a share of the firm's revenue, the SEC alleged.

The SEC also complained Buckhannon had funneled at least $390,000 of investor money to himself, his father, two brothers, his fiance's cousin and a friend. 


The SEC said in August 2008 he wired $60,000 out of a fund account to a jewelry store for the purchase of an engagement ring for his fiance and in July 2009 he wired another $80,000 to a title company for the down payment on a Las Vegas home.

"Buckhannon knew he was not entitled to these funds because he asked the funds' controller to classify these personal expenditures as business expenses of the funds without any reasonable basis for such classification,'' the SEC lawsuit alleged.

The suit said the defendants told investors in 2009 the funds were profitable when in fact they had lost $8.1 million in 2008 and 2009.

"Buckhannon knew the monthly account statements and newsletters (sent to investors) were false because he simply made up a monthly percentage return figure and reported it to the Vestium Management Group consultant who prepared the funds' monthly statements,'' the lawsuit alleged.

Buckhannon, Terry Rawstern, Dale St. Jean and Gregory Tindall were the managing members of the two Bradenton, Florida-based hedge funds, Imperium and Vestium.


And if you visited the On Deck Sports Bar and Grill before the roof collapsed, you may have enjoyed a signature cocktail courtesy of the crooked chiropractor.

That's right, there actually was an Arcanum & Vestium Cocktail on the On Deck menu.

Your girl Miss Fortune suggests a better name may have been "Fuck You, Investors"--made with Angostura bitters, of course.

PER WICKSTROM: SCIENTOLOGIST, RECOVERY PIMP...AND FORCED LABOR ENTREPRENEUR

Per, Per, Per...did you honestly think I'd forgotten about you? After all the shizzle about you I stirred up? And all the shizzle about to hit the fan in 2014?

Dude, you are this year's Numero Uno!
 
If I had to choose one story that I'm particularly proud of, it would have to be "Per Macht Frei", which revealed that Herr Wickstrom was cited by the State of Michigan for violating the human rights of AFR and BDR clients paying upwards of $25,000 for drug rehabilitation by forcing them to clean the facilities—without payment for their labor.

And you thought it might be time I revealed you hired a convicted bank robber as a Best Drug Rehabilitation security guard? Or the story I wrote that exposed the convicted felon who was Director of Security at BDR? Or the drug trafficker that spent 11 years in federal prison and became a security guard at BDR? 

Or the time I refuted your hollow boast to State Senator Randy Richardville that "we've just opened up in South Bend", when your paperwork is delinquent and incomplete.

Or maybe you though I'd choose the story I wrote about Richie Almstead, who let a Tranquility Detox staffer slide and skip a scheduled drug test after he'd been using crack?

Oh, wait, I know! You probably though I'd choose the story the exposed the truth about your appearance on "COPS"...it didn't happen!

OK, I know which one you'd pick!

The time I revealed that you told the Wright Township audience that BDR was "non-denominational" when a few months before BDR's website carried the Narconon logo!

Nah!

The "Per Macht Frei" was the best, even though I couldn't shoe horn in a Pol Pot reference.

Merry New Year, Per.

Uneasy is the head that wears the crown...even with hair like yours!



PUPPETMASTER BUCKHANNON PULLING THE STRINGS? $950K! Robert Buckhannon Claims On Deck "Worth All That And A Little More" After Purchasing Building for $107,000 Less Than Two Months Ago!

NO SPRINKLER SYSTEM IN ON DECK SPORTS BAR BUILDING!

Robert Buckhannon and Kelly DeMoss are said to be "stunned" and "shell-shocked".

Of course, it's Battle Creek's $37 million dollar bankruptcy man, Dr. Rob, saying that!

With only Kelly's name on the documents, including that nearly $500K "hard money" mortgage, time will tell if Dr. Rob's sooty fingerprints appear during the investigation.

Miss Fortune breaks more news in the case with her special report shortly.


Monday, December 30, 2013

UNDERCOLLATERERALIZED? On Deck Sports Bar and Grill Investors Pony Up Nearly $500K In Hard Money Loans Just Weeks Before Fire ; Investors Hang In The Balance

EXCLUSIVE-BREAKING NEWS!

Miss Fortune has discovered that Robert Buckhannon and Kelly DeMoss, on behalf of the On Deck Sports Bar and Grill, went fishing in the commercial hard money market in October, putting 27 new investors at potential risk while reeling in a $456,000 mortgage loan.

Official Calhoun County Register of Deeds records reveal that the warranty deed for the four Battle Creek "lots"--lots 60-61 and 70-71--was recorded on November 5, 2013 showing the October 8 sale amount as $107,000.  According to official Battle Creek property records, the legal description for 225 W. Michigan Avenue follows:

BC CITY RB4 PART OF LOTS 60, 61, 70 & 71: DESC AS COMM NW COR OF LOT 65 - S 74 DEG 30 MIN 00 SEC E ALG SLY LI OF MICHIGAN AVE 277.50 FT TO TRUE POB - CONTN S 74 DEG 30 MIN 00 SEC E ALG SD SLY LI 46.95 FT - S 15 DEG 30 MIN 00 SEC W 94.46 FT - S 74 DEG 30 MIN 00 SEC E 10.22 FT - S 15 DEG 30 MIN 00 SEC W 40.54 FT - N 74 DEG 30 MIN 00 SEC W 57.17 FT - N 15 DEG 30 MIN 00 SEC E 135 FT TO POB, SUBJ TO & TOGETHER WITH EASE OF RECORD ((ASSESSED WITH 0254-00-084-3 IN 1996))

On the same day, a $456,000 mortgage was recorded against the On Deck property with these 27 mortgagees/investors:

Party TypeParty Name
MORTGAGORON DECK SPORTS BAR & GRILL LLC
MORTGAGEEBLACKBURNE & BROWN MORTGAGE FUND I
MORTGAGEEBLACKBURNE & BROWN MORTGAGE FUND II LP
MORTGAGEEVOLUNTINE JACK E TRUST
MORTGAGEEVOLUNTINE NANETTE M TRUST
MORTGAGEEHOTTMAN TERRY
MORTGAGEEHOTTMAN CAROL
MORTGAGEESTERN FRANK
MORTGAGEECHOY FAMILY TRUST
MORTGAGEEWOLF SURVIVORS TRUST
MORTGAGEEGEE TOM W
MORTGAGEEGEE MAY W
MORTGAGEESAM PHUNG INVESTMENT LLC
MORTGAGEEFEYS EARL L
MORTGAGEEFEYS AIZHEN
MORTGAGEEJENNINGS FAMILY TRUST
MORTGAGEEWOLF ACK
MORTGAGEEEDWARDS DAVID G 401K PROFIT SHARING PLAN
MORTGAGEENORMAN MARK TRUST
MORTGAGEESADDORIS FAMILY TRUST
MORTGAGEELESKY OLAF
MORTGAGEELESKY KRYSTYNA
MORTGAGEESTEPHENSON MARK
MORTGAGEEKUCHARSKI FAMILY TRUST
MORTGAGEEGENDRUEAU AVA
MORTGAGEENELSON ELIZABETH C TRUST
MORTGAGEEBHOLA KRISTNA
MORTGAGEEBHOLA JENNIFER W

The legal dispute between former Robert Buckhannon business partner Stephen P. Anderson that temporarily closed the restaurant was recently settled, and the bulk of the money likely went to satisfy the terms of the confidential settlement agreement.

Hard money loans for commercial real estate are often a matter of last resort. They aren’t good deals, but they can save a financing situation that has gone critical. Most hard money loans come with significant upfront costs and astronomical interest rates. 

But hard money loans are backed by the value of the property, and not the credit worthiness of the borrower.

Now could a guy like Robert Buckhannon give investors a false sense that short-term, high interest hard money loans were secure and likely to be repaid?

Looks to your girl Miss Fortune that he may have done just that--over and over...and over again.

BREAKING NEWS! Battle Creek's On Deck Sports Bar and Grill Destroyed By Suspicious Fire!

Battle Creek Enquirer photo
REVENGE OR ARSON?

Local "Hot Spot" On Deck Burns In Early Morning Fire; Battle Creek Fire Department Investigating Cause Of Blaze

The former home of the Arcanum & Vestium Cocktail, named in honor of two now-defunct Bradenton, Florida-based hedge funds, Arcanum Equity Fund LLC and Vestium Equity Fund LLC, decimated in a $34 million dollar investment fraud, is gone.

In a scene reminiscent of the Bamboo Lounge "bust-out" from the movie "Goodfellas", Battle Creek's barely-reopened On Deck Sports Bar (owned by the "crooked chiropractor" Robert Buckhannon and his live-in girlfriend Kelly Demoss) was torched early this morning, resulting in the spectacular blaze shown above.

The Battle Creek Enquirer reported that the four-story building at 225 W. Michigan Ave. was heavily damaged by the fire, first reported to the Battle Creek Fire Department at 4:21 a.m.

THE ROOF, THE ROOF, THE ROOF IS ON FIRE!

Battle Creek Enquirer photo
The photo at left shows the roof and a portion of the rear west wall collapsed. Battle Creek firefighters were pouring 2,000 gallons of water per minute on the fire and water was running out the front door of the building.
 

Battle Creek Enquirer photo
The business was in the former Sports Page Restaurant and Lounge which closed in 2011. On Deck opened in April but closed a month later amid allegations by one of the business partners that the project was over budget and that employees were not being paid.

A settlement between that partner, Stephen Anderson and Kelly DeMoss, left the business in the hands of DeMoss and her fiance  Buckhannon.

DeMoss reopened On Deck in late November along with Buckhannon, who had been involved with the business from the beginning.

DeMoss told the Battle Creek Enquirer in November that about 45 people were employed at On Deck and that thousands of dollars had been spent to refurbish the business.

“We are coming back even twice as better as before,” DeMoss said last month, demonstrating her weak grip on proper grammar. “I’m thrilled about that.”


ROBERT BUCKHANNON: BATTLE CREEK'S $37 MILLION DOLLAR BANKRUPTCY MAN

On December 6, Buckhannon received an early Christmas present. His Nevada bankruptcy case, filed on July 15, 2011, was finally settled. Buckhannon completely walked away from his obligationstotaling $37,083,936.16. Don't forget the 16 cents--the feds didn't.

Buckhannon filed for bankruptcy in the wake of his hedge fund debacle, outlined by your girl Miss Fortune in this prophetic June 13 post

For those of you just tuning in, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed suit in December 2010 in federal court in Tampa, Florida, against Buckhannon and codefendants involved with two now-defunct Bradenton, Florida-based hedge funds, Arcanum Equity Fund LLC and Vestium Equity Fund LLC.

The SEC said the funds, which worked with "investment adviser" (and reputed On Deck silent partner) Christopher T. Paganes' Imperium Investment Advisors LLC, told investors they would earn handsome profits through conservative investments. 


Paganes, a Detroit area native and disgraced former investment adviser, is running a so-called "charity" website that claims to give a portion of its revenue to charities. However, a five-part exposé that appeared on this blog established that most of Paganes' claims are built on sand. 

Here are the links to my series on Ship4Charities:

Part 1:
http://glisteningquiveringunderbelly.blogspot.com/2013/09/shipping-with-benefits-how-christopher_5.html


Part 5:
http://glisteningquiveringunderbelly.blogspot.com/2013/10/shipping-with-benefits-final-chapter.html



MISAPPROPIRATION...AND A $60,000 DIAMOND RING (HE LIKED AND HE PUT A RING ON IT)
 

Much of the investor money was misappropriated, the SEC alleged in its lawsuit.

The defendants from early 2008 through April 2010 "commingled investor money from three separate offerings and then looted and bankrupted the hedge funds by steering millions of dollars to themselves,'' the lawsuit alleged.

For instance, the SEC said Buckhannon was involved in a deal to steer $6 million in investor money to Shea Mining and Milling LLC for a project called the "Tonopah Mine.'' Buckhannon, however, didn't disclose he had a conflict of interest because he was a founder of Shea Mining and planned to enter into an employment contract with Shea and receive a share of the firm's revenue, the SEC alleged.

The SEC also complained Buckhannon had funneled at least $390,000 of investor money to himself, his father, two brothers, his fiance's cousin and a friend. The SEC said in August 2008 he wired $60,000 out of a fund account to a jewelry store for the purchase of an engagement ring for his fiance and in July 2009 he wired another $80,000 to a title company for the down payment on a Las Vegas home.

"Buckhannon knew he was not entitled to these funds because he asked the funds' controller to classify these personal expenditures as business expenses of the funds without any reasonable basis for such classification,'' the SEC lawsuit alleged.

The suit said the defendants told investors in 2009 the funds were profitable when in fact they had lost $8.1 million in 2008 and 2009.

"Buckhannon knew the monthly account statements and newsletters (sent to investors) were false because he simply made up a monthly percentage return figure and reported it to the Vestium Management Group consultant who prepared the funds' monthly statements,'' the lawsuit alleged.

Buckhannon, Terry Rawstern, Dale St. Jean and Gregory Tindall were the managing members of the two Bradenton, Florida-based hedge funds, Imperium and Vestium.

With defendants Richard Mittasch, Christopher Paganes, Glenn Barikmo and Imperium Investment Advisors, the gang "commingled investor money from three separate offerings and then looted and bankrupted the hedge funds by steering millions of dollars to themselves," the SEC said.

Along the way, the men "took more than $1.3 million in profit-based feed and compensation to which they were not entitled," and "steered more than $15 million into loans and other deals with companies in which they had undisclosed financial interests," the complaint stated.

Without admitting or denying the allegations, Buckhannon agreed in early 2011 to return $1.349 million to investors and to pay a $130,000 fine, an SEC settlement agreement filed stated.


BUST OUT OR JUST A BUST?

A “bust out”, for those weak on their popular culture and lacking Miss Fortune's advantage of having lived in Brooklyn, is where a group takes over some business, usually a restaurant or store. They help themselves to free food, booze, or merchandise, perhaps harassing or abusing the staff in the process. They then buy as much easily sold stuff as they can on the store’s credit and sell it elsewhere for cash. When the corpse is completely picked clean they burn it for the insurance money.

This has been portrayed fictionally on “The Sopranos”, where it involved a sporting goods store owned by a schnook gambler, and in “Goodfellas”, involving a restaurant.

The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire!
We don't need no water—Let the motherfucker burn!
Burn, motherfucker, burn!

Due to this breaking news, Miss Fortune will bring you her "2013 Year In Review" tomorrow.

Guess which two "spin cycle" brothers might be making my list?

Friday, December 20, 2013

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM MISS FORTUNE!






















Miss Fortune will be back with "A 2013 Year In Review" on Monday, December 30.

Have a blessed Christmas!

Thursday, December 19, 2013

ON THE ROPES? Is Battle Creek's On Deck Sports Bar Having Financial Problems...Again?

Miss Fortune hears Battle Creek's newly reopened On Deck Sports Bar is already stiffing employees and vendors. If you have direct information, please send an email to tcmissfortune@yahoo.com.

Miss Fortune protects the confidentiality of her sources.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

ADDICTION 101: Part 2-Per Wickstrom and the Detroit Lions: Happy Together...Forever?

Mr. & Mr. Roary and Per Lion of Detroit
Is the honeymoon over for drug rehab kingpin Per Wickstrom and the Detroit Lions?

Oh, hell no! And this bride is no pushover--unless she's near a cliff!

The recent A Forever Recovery Facebook post heralding Wickstrom's interviews with Dave Veres, Shane Power, Doug English and Barry Sanders (left) is merely one of the methods Wickstom uses to flood the Interwebs with junk content developed to push down negative Google results and counteract Wickstrom's less than sterling reputation.

Let's take a quick review of the recent spate of videos, most looking like they were shot in the back of a pornographer's Winnebago.


Turning on the profile most of us wish we'd never seen, Wickstrom interviews former Lion Doug English. Less than 30 seconds in, Wickstrom states "Doug came here to help me out a little bit and, of course, Best Drug Rehabilitation." As infomercials go, your girl Miss Fortune thinks the brains behind the ShamWow ("It holds 12 times its weight in liquid!") have nothing to worry about.

Next in the Wickstrom Film Fest lineup is former Detroit Lion Eddie Murray. And without even a costume change or any movie magic, Wickstrom morphs into the CEO of A Forever Recovery. No, he's not a superhero but he does tell Murray that he wants to "look at addiction as kind of a responsibility issue". And Murray admits "there's more than one way to skin a cat".

Whew! Now that's profound.

Former Lion Jim Arnold lands in the back of the Wickstrom Winnebago, and gets cast in the role of a lifetimeas a spokesmodel for Best Drug Rehabilitation.  Arnold listens as Wickstrom tells him that Best Drug Rehabilitation has taken "a different twist on addiction". 

Wickstrom bonds with Arnold over a shared concern for "the kids", and the pitfalls of social media.  Arnold tells Wickstrom that kids should "follow their dreams" and instead become leaders.

Finally, the scene changes from a clammy Winnebago to a game day suite at Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions.


Wickstrom is joined by NFL Hall of Fame member Charlie Sanders, who played for the Detroit Lions.

And it's here in this video that Wickstrom makes his most noxious pitch, calling it "Addiction 101".

Wickstrom is a triple threat, explaining that he's with A Forever Recovery, Best Drug Rehabilitation and Life Solutions. 

Regular readers of this blog will recognize the name "Life Solutions" as a front company ostensibly owned by Wickstrom's sister, Pamela Anderson. Life Solutions claims to deliver non-biased recommendations for drug and alcohol treatment facilities, and Miss Fortune's April 2, 2013 post provides additional information.

Back to Per Wickstrom and Charlie Sanders: less than 30 seconds in, Wickstrom tells the nattily dressed Sanders that "it's all about the kids".

Wickstrom waits another 60 seconds (at 1:37 in) to bring up his theory of "Addiction 101", using famous athletes to speak at high schools under the auspices of Wickstrom's rehab business.

Wickstrom weaves a entire web that includes using the high school athletes as his anti-drug crusaders—even talking up Wickstrom's efforts at home to their own families.

And Mommy and Daddy say, "Gee, that Per Wickstrom is such a nice guy"!

'Scuse me while I kiss the sky...
 
[Note: If you missed Part 1, click here to read all about Herman Moore's bromance with Per "we just opened up in South Bend" Wickstrom.]
 


Saturday, December 14, 2013

HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY, DAVID LEE HUNTER!

Just when I thought I was out, he pulled me back in!

Miss Fortune would like your indulgence on the cusp of David Lee Hunter's 40th birthday.



Disappearing muscles, low T, erectile dysfunction--all behind bars on December 15!



 

Friday, December 13, 2013

HOPELESS TO DOPELESS...AND BACK AGAIN! Narconon Freedom Center "Graduate" Featured on Indianapolis' Fox 59 Morning News & Narconon "Recovery Month" PR Push Now Facing Calhoun County OWI Trial In January

PR PAWN STAR ARRESTED ON 'OPERATING WHILE INTOXICATED' CHARGE FOUR DAYS BEFORE STORY AIRED...LIVE!!

Sara Doan, shown at left in a screen capture from an interview that aired live on September 22, is facing a January 29, 2014 trial date in Calhoun County, Michigan for a September 18 operating while intoxicated (OWI) charge. 

That's right, Doan was arrested in Marshall four days before the story aired! (Although it was initially unclear whether the segment was taped or aired live, a Reaching For The Tipping Point forum comment confirmed Doan was interviewed live on air September 22.)

In another shocking twist to this tale, Miss Fortune has discovered official Lorain County, Ohio Common Pleas Court documents that reveal on September 25 the Lorain County Adult Probation Department terminated Doan's probation supervision after determining she had "successfully completed a three year period of rehabiliation" for a March 2010 heroin bust. Doan's deal included "intervention/treatment in lieu of conviction" and the case was dismissed on September 25.

Doan is currently represented by Joshua M. Covert, an East Lansing-based lawyer who specializes in "the defense of those charged with driving while impaired by medical marijuana and other drugs."

Doan shown in Narconon press release photo
Doan's inconvenient legal and personal travails didn't derail the Narconon "Recovery Month" train, however. (Never let the truth get in the way of a good PR story, right?)

In a press release issued by the Narconon Freedom Center on September 30, Doan told Fox59.com viewers, “I had gone to eight other treatment centers that didn’t work. My mom never gave up on me and continued to search for something that would truly help me get off drugs. She found the Narconon Freedom Center drug rehab which is a holistic program that doesn’t give one drug to get you off another. Part of the program is a sauna detox that helps get the drug toxins out of your body. It was during this part of the program that my cravings stopped. The other parts of the program that included Life Skills taught me that I could change and really be happy.” 

One more thing—on September 24, two days after the story aired, Narconon Freedom Center Executive Director Brian C. Kuehne paid Doan's $200.00 bond.

According to publicly available records, Doan and Kuehne share an address in Marshall, Michigan...the same address that Kuehne gave in his 2011 Calhoun County DUI arrest reported by Reaching For The Tipping Point.

This is wrong on so many levels, but especially the craven use of a relapsed former student/client in support of a PR effort that this marketing professional can only call a hoax.

I guess money does buy the truth, right?

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

ADDICTION 101 Part 1: Per Wickstrom's Selfie Video PR Spigot

Shill crazy after all these years?
Per Wickstrom is using a steady stream of selfie videos (and former members of the Detroit Lions) to bamboozle and obfuscate...and keep the $$$$$$ flowing. Spewing more effluent than the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Wickstrom's recent public relations efforts have focused on a series of self-produced videos featuring former members of the Detroit Lions and select Monroe County officials.

Wickstom's "speaks to" video series was shot in and around Battle Creek, behind the scenes at Detroit's Ford Field, and on location during a tour of Monroe County's vacant Boysville. Wickstrom has publicly expressed interest in purchasing the former Boysville property, and is reportedly licking his chops at the thought of packing three sets of bunk beds in each bedroom in the 41,000 square foot space.

But the exception to the "speaks to" rule is former Detroit Lion and star receiver Herman Moore, the subject of Part 1 in this special series. 

Back in May, Moore's appearance at a Calhoun County Fraternal Order of Police charity basketball game provided him with an opportunity to use his professional football history to reach out to kids—while seated in front of a Best Drug Rehabilitation banner wearing a Detroit Lions-branded basketball jersey.
use their professional athletic histories to help reach out to addicted young adults.

Read more at: http://www.monroenews.com/news/2013/nov/14/drug-rehab-firm-looking-monroes-boysville/

“ Kids gravitate to athletes,” Moore said during his tour of Boysville with Per Wickstrom. “It’s a way for us to get the message out.”

Indeed it is!

HERMAN MOORE: FRIENDLY PROFESSIONAL OR PROFESSIONAL FRIEND?

Wikipedia defines a shill, also called a plant or a stooge, as a person who publicly helps a person or organization without disclosing that they have a close relationship with the person or organization. "Shill" typically refers to someone who purposely gives onlookers the impression that they are an enthusiastic independent customer of a seller (or marketer of ideas) for whom they are secretly working. The person or group who hires the shill is using crowd psychology to encourage other onlookers or audience members to purchase the goods or services or accept the ideas being marketed. 

Miss Fortune presumes that when Moore looks in the mirror, he might see "shill" lit up in bright red letters above his head.

They run a consulting firm — Tru Rehab Centers — that links businesses willing to invest in areas that have substance abuse issues.

Read more at: http://www.monroenews.com/news/2013/nov/14/drug-rehab-firm-looking-monroes-boysville/
Moore and his business partner Sean Jordan, a West Point graduate and former NFL football player with the Dallas Cowboys,
a West Point graduate and former NFL football player with the Dallas Cowboys

Read more at: http://www.monroenews.com/news/2013/nov/14/drug-rehab-firm-looking-monroes-boysville/
run a consulting firm — Tru Rehab Centers — that links businesses willing to invest in areas that have substance abuse issues. 

According to State of Michigan business entity records, Moore formed Tru Rehab Centers, Inc. as a domestic profit corporation on February 26, 2013.

But on June 8, Moore and Wickstrom were making the rounds at the Salute to Detroit Hometown Heroes held at Ford Field. Sponsored by Wickstrom's A Forever Recovery rehabilitation facility, the event was a benefit for Mack Alive and its Partnership for a Drug Free Detroit program.

Wickstrom and Moore worked the room together, to all the world just a sweet, sweet towel-snapping bromance born of a mutual interest in improving the quality of life in Detroit, while bringing greater awareness to substance addiction solutions. 

Oozing sentiment as gooey as an airport Cinnabon, Moore said he partnered with Wickstrom because " both have led efforts to to combat drug use in Michigan neighborhoods, and this event spawned from that relationship."

No mention of that nifty consulting business he formed nearly four months before, though.

And Moore acknowledged during an interview at the event that having local celebrities and athletes spread an anti-drug message can be an effective addition to reminders from parents and teachers.

"To a certain degree, getting the message out in a broad sense goes over really well when you have a celebrity figure who has goodwill and trust built in the community," he said. "We're able to do that as athletes." 


As your girl Miss Fortune wrote in a July 11 post titled "Turd Polishing 101",  four metro Detroiters were honored during the fund and friend-raising event.

The four honorees--Lem Barney, former Detroit Lion and NFL Hall of Famer; Greg K. Monroe, Detroit Piston and founder of Greg K. Monroe Foundation; Alberta Tinsley Talabi, State Representative and Mack Alive founder; and Michael Curis, Sr., president Curis Enterprises--were chosen for their community service, commitment to improving the quality of life in Detroit, and bringing greater awareness to substance addiction solutions.

But Per Wickstrom, the event sponsor, hijacked the event and turned it into a big-ass infomercial for his troubled, Narconon-based drug rehabilitation clinics, A Forever Recovery and Best Drug Rehabilitation.
 

Detroit City Councilman Andre Spivey even thanked Wickstrom for hosting the special evening and presented him with a “Spirit of Detroit Award” for his continued fight against addiction and his ongoing effort to educate today’s youth.

Later in the evening, Wickstrom posed with developer Michael Curis, Alberta Tinsley Talabi, State Representative and Mack Alive founder, and Lem Barney in front of that Best Drug Rehabilitation/A Forever Recovery branded step-and-repeat banner.

Folks, that's what money
— and Herman Moore can do for you! 

Short of a classic Chinatown-esque slapfest between Moore and Wickstrom (He's my friend! He's my business partner! He's my friend AND my business partner!), we may never know the whole truth.

Remember that a con man can hide behind a kiss, a skunk by any other name still stinks the same
and nightmares can come true too. 

Miss Fortune and her em dashes will be back tomorrow with Part II of this extra special report.
They run a consulting firm — Tru Rehab Centers — that links businesses willing to invest in areas that have substance abuse issues.

Read more at: http://www.monroenews.com/news/2013/nov/14/drug-rehab-firm-looking-monroes-boysville/
They run a consulting firm — Tru Rehab Centers — that links businesses willing to invest in areas that have substance abuse issues.

Read more at: http://www.monroenews.com/news/2013/nov/14/drug-rehab-firm-looking-monroes-boysv

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

NARCONON FREEDOM CENTER "REUNITES FAMILIES" WHILE QUEST DIAGNOSTICS SEEKS TO GARNISH THOUSANDS FROM CENTER'S BANK ACCOUNTS

In a December 5 press release, the Albion, Michigan-based Narconon Freedom Center boasted about its "huge Thanksgiving feast", which included a sumptuous buffet (left) featuring slices of tasty pumpkin pie. 




While families reunited in thanks, another even more important story was quietly unspooling in the background.

On September 30, a Consent Judgment was approved in Michigan's 37th Circuit Court ordering the Freedom Center to pay Quest Diagnostics Clinical Laboratories, Inc. $50,486.60. 

Official court records indicate Quest filed paperwork on October 28 requesting a "writ for garnishment" to tap money from seven accounts held by the Freedom Center at Battle Creek's Old National Bank. And on November 25, a disclosure form was filed by the Freedom Center.

So, would you like whipped cream or ice cream with your pumpkin pie?

Monday, December 9, 2013

A GLISTENING, QUIVERING UNDERBELLY EXCLUSIVE: "PLUNDER THE ELF DELIVERS CHRISTMAS CHEER...TO HIMSELF"!

Tis the season to be jolly, decorate our homes and share a meal with our nearest and dearestunless you're Per "we just opened up in South Bend" Wickstrom.

"Plunder the Elf" claps his widdle hands, so pweased with the lumps of coal he stuffed into Christmas stockings from Indiana to Pennsylvania.

It didn’t take long for the spate of contract lawsuits filed in late September by attorney Phillip Slot on behalf of Per Wickstrom’s Best Drug Rehabilitation and A Forever Recovery to begin delivering a financial sucker-punch…and I’m not talking lollipops, people!

On Friday, December 6, a default judgment was issued in Calhoun County’s 37th Circuit Court against an Indiana woman, ordering her to pay Best Drug Rehabilitation $39,500.

And two weeks before, on November 25, a Pennsylvania man was notified by the court that A Forever Recovery had entered a default judgment against him—for the $68,932.50 he reportedly owed for his minor child’s treatment at A Forever Recovery.

A “Glistening, Quivering Underbelly” examination of the Pennsylvania man’s complaint provides a look at the inner workings of Per Wickstrom’s business practices and raises troubling questions about the reliability of the insurance coverage estimates provided by the AFR/BDR “intake counselors”.

In the Pennsylvania case, the “enrollment agreement” issued on December 15, 2011 by AFR staffer Rob Mead, provided a lengthy list of services including withdrawal/medically supervised detoxification, moral recognitition (sic) therapy, relapse prevention group and peer counseling, vitamins, exercise and sauna.

Under “Review Program Fee”, the enrollment agreement stated that “entire program cost to be covered by insurance.” The agreement advised that “in the event the insurance does not cover the costs program delivery will be terminated.”

However, the agreement further stated that “in the event insurance does not cover the program fees, program fees will be the responsibility of the client and/or cosigner.”

And the Indiana woman, like the Pennsylvania man, signed as the “guarantor” and agreed to assume any debt resulting from her child’s treatment leaving her holding the bag for nearly $40,000.


Your girl Miss Fortune can hardly wait for another shoe to drop.

Santa's little imp is getting ready to drop a load on the Mooney Grove Trailer Park in Visalia, California, right into the trailer of a former Best Drug Rehabilitation client whose next door neighbor's murder was finally solved. But Miss Fortune hears the lady is fixing to fight back, so I'll pop the corn and get ready to watch the show.

But I can just hear that rumpled little imp in his sleigh: "Ho, ho, ho! Default judgments for all bad girls...and their fathers."

Just you wait, 'enry 'iggins!

EXCLUSIVE: Former Insider Accuses Tranquility Detox Deputy Executive Director Richie Almstead of Employee Drug Test Cover-Up

Almstead 2010 mugshot
TRANQUILITY DETOX: SEX, DRUGS...AND RICHIE!

It’s a chronic problem that drug rehabilitation centers struggle with— keeping drugs from patients desperate for them. Drug addictions are notoriously difficult to kick. In fact, studies from the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that 40% to 60% of people treated for drug addiction relapse, a rate similar to other chronic diseases such as hypertension, asthma and diabetes.

Facilities often have a long list of policies and procedures to keep contraband out, including carefully screening employees with deep background checks and regular drug testing.

But it appears that Tranquility Detox's employee testing guidelines are as flexible as a Slinky, with much of the rule-bending allegedly done by its Deputy Executive Director, Richard W. Almstead. Shown above in a 2010 Pinellas County, Florida booking shot, Almstead listed the Narconon Freedom Center in Albion, Michigan as a home address on an April 2013 Calhoun County traffic infraction.
 

Better known around the halls of Tranquility Detox as “Richie”, Almstead appears to be at least partly responsible for the “anything-goes” vibe at the Battle Creek, Michigan detox facility. 

A former insider with direct knowledge of the incident revealed exclusively to Miss Fortune that Almstead recently gave a Tranquility Detox staffer a heads-up the day a “random” drug test was scheduled. Almstead, informed that the staffer had been using drugs, reportedly told the staffer to stay home and not worry about failing a drug test.

And Richie, whose divorce from soon-to-be-ex-wife Stephanie is nearly final, is reportedly also involved in a distasteful love-sandwich—he’s the meat and two current female Tranquility Detox staffers are the bread. 


What a picnic!

Almstead has a long, checkered history and has previously been featured on "Glistening, Quivering Underbelly":

http://glisteningquiveringunderbelly.blogspot.com/2013/07/rehab-boys-gone-wild-best-drug.html

In addition, Richie's mug has shown up in more than a few shots over the past few years:

http://mugshots.com/US-Counties/Florida/Pinellas-County-FL/Richard-W-Almstead.3442438.html

http://mugshots.com/US-Counties/Ohio/Auglaize-County-OH/Richard-William-Almstead.4193566.html


http://www.justmugshots.com/florida/clearwater/16254748


And, like Per "we just opened up in South Bend" Wickstrom, Richie is a Scientologist:

http://www.truthaboutscientology.com/stats/by-name/r/richard-almstead.html 

But Almstead hasn’t exactly gotten off—well, OK I guess he has—unscathed.

When rumors of the alleged cover-up bubbled up within Tranquility Detox, Almstead was ordered to Scientology’s Flag Land Base in Clearwater, Florida for a security check.

In Scientology, the security check (or sec check) is a practice instituted by founder L. Ron Hubbard in 1960. It involves an "Ethics officer" probing the thoughts, attitudes and behavior of an individual member by asking them large numbers of questions. In Almstead’s case, it appears they focused on his sexual behavior.

The former insider told Miss Fortune that Richie later bragged about holding the cans at the end of an e-meter and fooling the machine.

Friday, December 6, 2013

MR. WICKSTROM EXPLAINS IT ALL...ABOUT VICODIN!

Per "we just opened up in South Bend" Wickstrom appears to be grasping at straws with his recent PR Web paid content media blast promoting A Forever Recovery's latest addition to addiction: a vicodin blog.

And while some pesky WordPress glitches have kept the blog offline for most of this afternoon, your girl Miss Fortune grabbed another breathtaking jewel in the crazy crown--an Active Internet Marketing infographic.

Although they didn't call it "weed from the devil's garden" like the one-sheet for "Reefer Madness", the AIM crew pulled out all the stops...and then kept pulling.


The "faux" press release explains that "A Forever Recovery’s Vicodin Information Center features blog posts, infographics, photos, lists of street and brand names, and other essential Vicodin-related content that has been specifically created to be easy-to-understand and free of confusing medical jargon."

Yeah, you don't need that confusing medical jargon--like "contraindicated" or "not medically proven" or "it could kill you"!

Cultured pearls of wisdom dripped from Per "we just opened up in South Bend" Wickstrom's lips and plopped right in the middle of the fake release:

“Vicodin related abuse and addiction is growing rapidly across the country, particularly among young people who are getting initially hooked through illicit recreational. By providing clear, objective and accessible Vicodin-related information, our goal is to spread awareness and eliminate some extremely dangerous myths out there – such as that Vicodin isn’t addictive, or that because it’s a prescription drug that it’s somehow safer than heroin or other so-called street drugs. We need to win the war on drugs through education – not just treatment -- and this is one of the ways we’re doing that.”

Wow, somewhere in the cosmos Gandhi and Jimi Hendrix are together, dancing the Salty Dog Rag!

The faux press release wraps up with a standard paragraph describing A Forever Recovery:

A Forever Recovery program is an open-ended drug and alcohol treatment program that gets clients off to a great start and gives them a solid foundation in recovery they can believe in. Not every treatment methodology works for every client. Some people are very receptive to 12-step principles, whereas others are more comfortable with faith-based treatment. Cognitive approaches have excellent success, whereas others thrive within a more holistic approach. A Forever Recovery allows clients to choose from a wide range of recovery methodologies, coupled with Moral Recognition Therapy (MRT), to achieve success rates unmatched in the addiction treatment industry. The bottom line is that there is no single therapeutic approach to recovery that works for everyone… until now. 

The copywriter in me loves that titty-twisting last line:

The bottom line is that there is no single therapeutic approach to recovery that works for everyone… until now. 

OK, so are they saying there's no single approach that works while dangling the participle that suggests that...there is?

Oh, I'll bet Steven King's scared of you, Per!

And, by the way, isn't it "Moral Reconation Therapy" you're pedaling in that slovenly pile of bricks in Battle Creek?

Miss Fortune hears you wouldn't "recognize" anything moral if it bit you...I'll just let my readers decide what was chomped.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

DRIVING THE BUS WITH MR. WICKSTROM: Per "We Just Opened Up In South Bend" Wickstrom Talks with Former Detroit Lion Rob Rubick About Sex Addiction and Driving A Bus...And That's NOT A Euphemism (Unless There's A Stick Shift-Wink, Wink, Nudge, Nudge!)

 
Driving The Bus: Hand-In-Hand?

In case you missed it yesterday, Best Drug Rehabilitation CEO Per "we just opened up in South Bend" Wickstrom (known in the Fortune household as "the gift that just keeps on giving") posted another mumblecore masterpiece on BDR's blog.


Shot in a location that would make a San Fernando Valley pornographer blush, Wickstrom demonstrates his patented techniquecontroversial, hilarious and utterly unconvincing. Looking like a cross between "The Breakfast Club" and "Bride of Frankenstein", the video is rife with bone-headed bonhomie.

Oh, and some weird sexual subtext, too. (I know...sometimes a stick shift is just a stick shift.)

Here are the words, in case you'd like to sing along:

Per: Once again here with Rob Rubick. Again we’re together.

Rob: And looking dapper too, by the way. (laughing)

Per: Hey, look at this. Can you believe it? And we didn’t do this on purpose either. (laughing) We talked about kids and being absent.

Rob: Right.

Per: And then you brought up the sexual end of it, you know. And you teach that.

Rob: Well, when we talk about substance abuse, Per, you talk about addictions; it all comes down to decision-making, original decision-making. Now once you get an addiction, the decision-making is kinda’ taken out of the equation.

Per: Yeah, cause it’s kinda’ not there.

Rob: That’s why they call it an addiction. But initially, it’s all about risk and reward. And when kids start using, whatever type their preferred substance of choice is, it leads to poor decision-making. And I just want parents to be aware that when your child has an addiction, if it’s a substance abuse addiction, they go hand-in-hand with sexual diseases, unwanted pregnancies, just terrible things that just change a child’s life. They don’t have the opportunity, I always tell my students, “you’re driving the bus. You become sexually active, you start using some kind of substance, you’re no longer driving the bus. Someone else is in charge.”

Per: That’s right, because who you’re with, you don’t know.

Rob: You’re with people who aren’t making good decisions. I’m a big fan of thinking before you act.

Per: We do, at Best Drug Rehabilitation, deal with sexual addiction. In my business, it kind of runs parallel. It’s not hand-in-hand. You don’t have to drink to be, you know, an internet porn addict, but it’s very similar.

Rob: It leads to each other.

Per: Either way, right.

Rob: If you’re a sex addict, etc., it can lead to substance abuse and vice-versa, so it all comes down to treating the addictions.

Per: I liked your decisions. It all comes to being abstinent.

Rob: Right, you have to abstain initially, and once you make that poor decision, you lose control. You lose, you’re not driving, you’re not controlling your life any more.

Per: You’re not driving the bus.

Rob: You’re not driving the bus. Good stuff, man.

Per: Good stuff again. Rob Rubick, thank you again for coming down.

Rob: Alright, enjoy.

COMING TOMORROW: ADDICTION 101: Per "we just opened up in South Bend" Wickstrom and the Detroit Lions