If Henry Blodget was trying redeem himself with his new book, he failed miserably. In fact, the book reinforces the idea that he is a slime-ball. But recently Herb Greenberg sat down with two ex-cons who have gone a long way toward redeeming themselves: former Zzzz Best Carpet conman Barry Minkow and former Crazy Eddie CFO Sam E. Antar. I have also spoken with these men and, in speaking with them, one thing becomes clear: These two are living proof that people really can change. When you look at the work they've done since they set off on the road to redemption, I would argue they have more than made up for the damage they've done.

They also offer valuable advice for investors. From Greenberg's piece, Mr. Antar says: "Watch how management handles bad quarters, earnings disappointments, criticism, skepticism and cynicism. Do they start by saying, 'We take full responsibility and make no excuses' -- only to follow by carefully worded innuendos, excuses and deflection? Do they question the integrity of those who ask questions?"

To learn more about these two amazing people, visit Barry Minkow's website and Sam E. Antar's site, a must for understanding white-collar crime.

Former fraudsters fightin' fraud originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 Mar 2007 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Every day, or at least whenever I find a really awesome web page in my trek across the Internet, I will post it here. Today, I'm featuring White Collar Fraud, the official web page of Sam E. Antar, who was the CFO Of Crazy Eddie, a chain of electronic stores that was one of the most flagrant accounting frauds of the 1980s.

According to the website: "I believe that former criminals like me must do more than just express regret for our crimes and pay whatever punishment society imposes upon us. I believe that it is our obligation and responsibility to educate society, so that society can avoid future perils caused by new generations of criminals. I also believe that any person's true test of character comes from overcoming past misdeeds and wrongdoing and trying to do something positive out of it without any personal gain or recognition."

It's a really fascinating website to browse if you're interested in corporate history and crime as much as I am. You can read about the techniques they used in the Crazy Eddie fraud, the psychology of fraud, and other frauds/SEC news.

This is a really amazing website.

Website of the Day: WhiteCollarFraud.com originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 29 Dec 2006 12:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.