Sam Antar, formerly the CFO of Crazy Eddie, known in the New York area for over-the-top commercials that scared the hell out of kids (well, me at least), knows his way around a questionable balance sheet. For 15 years, he was the executive chef of book-cooking, ultimately taking a guilty plea to conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges. He stayed out of the clink by taking the stand on the government's side at a 1993 trial, ultimately sending his cousin, Eddie Antar to prison for seven years or so.

Crooks make the best cops, so to speak, and Antar is putting his skills to work. He's out hunting for accounting fraud and sending his analyses off to the SEC. On his blog, the former CFO laid out what he called a "bulletproof case" against Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) – a company that the SEC had been investigating since 2006. The inquiry has been reopened.

Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) announced on Thursday that it received a notice from the SEC stating that the company was under investigation concerning its "previously-announced restatements of its financial statements in 2006 and 2008 and other matters."

CEO Patrick Byrne noted in the press release that "All of the matters that are the subject of the subpoena have been thoroughly disclosed and we are disappointed, given the extensive public disclosures Overstock has previously made, that the SEC, given all of the challenges it faces, has apparently chosen to expend time and resources on another investigation of Overstock. Rest assured, I will continue to speak out as I have on the shortcomings of our financial regulatory system."

Danny Devito signed a deal with Eddie Antar to make a movie about the electronics chain turned securities fraud he ran in 1980s. The problem? Eddie's cousin Sam Antar, the former CFO of the company, is upset because he feels that the film will glamorize corporate malfeasance. Howard Sirota, the securities lawyer who won a $700 million settlement for Antar's victims that hasn't been paid off yet, is upset because he wants any money that comes from the film to go to the victims.

A lawyer for Devito told Fox Business that "There was a deal and that deal is terminated. Any script that is written, or movie produced, will be based on public domain events and information."

Sam Antar's advised Devito to "not glamorize an economic predator." Devito has said that Antar loved the "art of the deal more than money" but Antar disagrees: "Eddie Antar loved money more than his own family."

Check out the Fox Business interview below.

With all the talk about mortgage fraud, Freddie Mac, Samuel Israel, and now the mother of all scandals, Bernard Madoff, it's easy to conclude that we are in the midst of a financial disaster.

But on his White Collar Fraud blog, ex-con Sam E. Antar writes that the wave of fraud is really an illusion. In effect, fraud is being exposed right now because of the market collapse. Fraudulent investment schemes are a lot easier to run when a bull market is there to bail things out. As Warren Buffett said, you get to see who's swimming naked when the tide goes out. The down market has put an end to a lot of scams that might have been able to linger on unexposed if the economy were better.

But the sad thing is that these massive financial crimes are only being exposed now because they are collapsing, and there's essentially nothing left for investors to recoup. Antar writes that "We simply do not have enough adequate effective measures in place, to prevent most white collar crimes .... Worse yet, during a strong economy, our regulators and policy makers often ignore or pay little attention to crime prevention resources and regulations that can actually reduce the amount of white collar crime. Often white collar law enforcement resources are reduced and regulations are watered down, in the name of efficiency and regulatory relief, to promote economic growth."

If you're interested in learning about the psychology and methodology of fraud -- and every investor should be -- there are two excellent videos now available on YouTube. I don't know the date on them, or what they were made for, but they're definitely worth watching.

The first is an interview with Barry Minkow, who was in federal prison at the time for the Zzzz Best fraud. The second features former Crazy Eddie CFO, Sam E. Antar.

When I listen to these former crooks explain what they did, it all sounds so easy. While their crimes occurred back in the 1980s, I wonder how much has changed.

As Tracy Coenen discussed earlier, Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK), co-founder, president and chief operating officer Jason Lindsey resigned and left the company's board of directors.

Lindsey had already retired once but came back, in CEO Patrick Byrne's own words, "when I screwed it up a couple years ago". Byrne added that "He's done a superb job. Now that it is back in a solid trailing twelve month cash-flow-positive position, he wishes to return to our previous arrangement. While Jason won't be as involved in the day-to-day operations of the company, he will still oversee special projects in a part-time capacity."

After Byrne's pat on the back and attaboys, the stock hit a new multi-year low in this morning's trading.

There are a few things to keep in mind here. As Gary Weiss wrote on his blog,

Lindsey says he is leaving because he is "ready to take a less active role in order to spend time on some outside ventures." Baloney. Note that he is leaving as director -- a position that surely requires no major heavy lifting in a board as supine as this one.

Sam Antar is also suspicious of the resignation that comes in the midst of an SEC investigation: "Was the SEC investigation of Overstock.com an undisclosed factor in Jason C. Lindsey's resignation?" Antar also discusses accounting questions surrounding Overstock.com, and comments from Mr. Lindsey on conference calls that raise questions about his involvement.

One thing's for sure: The market's reaction to Lindsey leaving doesn't suggest that traders buy Byrne's "everything is hunky dory" assertion that Lindsey left because he has restored the company to such great condition he is no longer needed in a full-time role.

As Peter Cohan discussed earlier, shares of Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU) awere down more than 8% [earlier] today. A New York Times article mentioned that the seaweed content of Lululemon products, which are labeled as being made of 24% seaweed, is actually 0%.

According to newspaper, "The Times commissioned its test after an investor who is shorting Lululemon's stock - betting that its price will fall - provided Chemir's test results to The Times."

Short sellers get a lot of grief, but this story provides evidence of why I respect their research so much. Sell-side analysts operate on a research method based on trust; they generally parrot the claims made by management, and have well-deserved reputations for downgrading stocks after they lose most of their value.