Florida Democratic congressman loses $18 million in scheme- Alan Grayson

Should I feel bad that this made me laugh? I don't know, maybe. I've heard this guy talk before and he just pisses me off. Seems like a typical politician in other words.....

So any who.....yeah, he got taken for a ride.

Florida Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson lost $18 million in a scheme by a Virginia man that involved over a 100 victims, the congressman’s office confirmed Monday.

The scheme worked like this: clients would turn over their stocks to Chapman as collateral for a loan, and Chapman would let customers borrow about 90 percent of the stocks' value.

If the stocks did badly, borrowers could walk away and keep the money they were loaned. But if the borrowers' stocks did well, they would repay the loan with interest, and Chapman was supposed to return the stocks to the investor at their increased value.

But, according to court papers, Chapman sold the stocks and had no way to fulfill his obligations if a client's stock portfolio did well.

Here is the link to the article.

Ouch!

Karma?

Always good to see karma in action .. meh the congressman will make it back from kickbacks in a month ..

reply to post by solongandgoodnight


Grayson is one of the good guys; he's been one of the few to hold Bernanke's feet to the fire and ask him where the hell the money all went, among other things.

If you bother to read the ENTIRE article, it says that not only is Grayson a multi-millionaire from his own hard work as a trial lawyer and investment returns, but that it was the amount of money from those investments that were due him that made the entire scheme fall apart. The investment company holder who was sentenced to jail was spending the money on Lamborghinis rather than properly handling the investment funds.

Nothing in the court papers suggests Grayson was anything but a victim of the scheme. Grayson, a former trial attorney, said he has had a long record for picking winning stocks, which formed the basis for his personal fortune.

The scheme worked like this: clients would turn over their stocks to Chapman as collateral for a loan, and Chapman would let customers borrow about 90 percent of the stocks' value.

If the stocks did badly, borrowers could walk away and keep the money they were loaned. But if the borrowers' stocks did well, they would repay the loan with interest, and Chapman was supposed to return the stocks to the investor at their increased value.

But, according to court papers, Chapman sold the stocks and had no way to fulfill his obligations if a client's stock portfolio did well.

"That's why (Chapman) is going to prison for a long, long time," Grayson told The Associated Press. "At least in the end, some kind of justice was served."

In Grayson's case, his stocks performed astronomically well while they were entrusted to Chapman and his company, Alexander Capital Markets.

Grayson’s office said Chapman’s lawyers tried to claim the spectacular performance of Grayson's stocks caused Chapman to be unable to uphold his financial obligations to his clients, but prosecutors found that he was actually using the money to fund his own expenses.

In 2007, Grayson had $9.35 million in a stock portfolio that Chapman was supposed to be holding as collateral. In that year alone, the portfolio's value increased by 147 percent, to $23 million, according to a chart in the court documents.

Chapman, of Sterling, Va., pleaded guilty in May but tried at Friday's sentencing hearing to withdraw the plea, saying he felt pressured to plead and that he never intended to defraud.

It is not the first time Grayson, who represents parts of the Orlando area, has lost tens of millions of dollars in a fraud scheme. In 2009, he won a $34 million judgment after filing a lawsuit in South Carolina under federal racketeering laws against a company called Derivium Capital. Derivium's business plan for hedging an investor's stock profile was nearly identical to the plan outline by Chapman.

Grayson said he first entered into deals with Chapman in 2003, well before the deal with Derivium went south, so he had no reason to be suspicious the arrangement.

And he said the loans themselves were a perfectly reasonable way to manage his portfolio, but relied on Chapman and Derivium to hold up their end of the bargain. He disputed that the astronomical returns to which he was entitled caused Chapman's downfall.

"If they had not sold the collateral, it all would have worked," said Grayson, who is generally listed as one of the 20 wealthiest members of Congress with assets of more than $20 million. His financial disclosure forms list holdings in dozens of stocks. His dealings with Chapman preceded his time in Congress, which began in 2009.

Court records indicate Chapman's firm was drawing regulatory scrutiny as early as 2007.

Before he was elected to Congress, Grayson practiced law and was best known for winning a major whistleblower lawsuit exposing fraud on a government contract in Iraq.

In the House, he is known as one the most sharp-tongued critics of Republicans, once famously summarizing Republican's health care plans as little more than wanting sick people to "die quickly."

Don't let Fox News shape your view of people. Do your own research, because their agenda is pretty damn obvious...

If you bother to read the ENTIRE article, it says that not only is Grayson a multi-millionaire from his own hard work as a trial lawyer

reply to post by signalfire


sorry you lost me at the word "lawyer".

reply to post by signalfire

Don't let Fox News shape your view of people. Do your own research, because their agenda is pretty damn obvious...

That is offensive. I'm going off the garbage I've heard him spew from the few times I've seen him. I'm aware of the "fox agenda".

reply to post by solongandgoodnight


What garbage did he 'spew'? Feel free to enlighten us.

reply to post by signalfire


Not all lawyers are bad, just like not all politicians are bad. If you ever need a lawyer, you'll be very lucky to find one who will work for you (and you alone). Try protecting your intellectual property without one, for starters. Or your freedom if the cops haul you in on some BS charge and you need someone to help you prove your innocence.

All I've ever seen from Grayson was epically good. He's an anti-politician, if there is such a thing. The man didn't need to go to Congress for the money, for one thing. He made plenty of that on his own in the private sector.

I await your Youtube video evidence that he 'spews garbage'.

Maybe this is your idea of 'spew'. It's my idea of representative government at its finest.

reply to post by signalfire


Alan Grayson Likens Tea Party To KKK

Like most politicians, he is a sensationalist.

HOWEVER, I must confess I do like his stance on the fed and some of the foreign policy I just read about.

I have a very hard time trusting any politician.

The Tea Party has lots of members who are only one brain cell removed from the KKK. There are others who want a return to Constitutional Law; the problem with them is they have been largely co-opted by the Koch Brothers for their own purposes, and associated far too much with racists rather than calling them out as not representative of their views. It's a problem the South had better learn to deal with or they will continually be marginalized and manipulated.

Grayson has continually been on the side of the little guy and the Constitution; I'm surprised the bankers haven't had him silenced. They tried once and he was voted out of Congress. It's a miracle of sorts that he returned for a second try.

I would be proud to vote for him for President (and thanks for realizing that not all lawyers, or politicians, are bad, or even that any given situation may not be black or white).

reply to post by signalfire


bottom line is his greed bit him on the @$$.

reply to post by signalfire


Grayson also enthusiastically backed Obamacare. By telling the world that the Republican plan for your health is to "die quickly."

Given what we are now seeing of the average plan under Obamacare, I would say that he was simply projecting.

He also unseated Allan West. You know, the TEA Party guy. I guess those Florida TEA voters who voted for West the first time must have been blind. Either that or they aren't actually all that racist.

signalfire
The Tea Party has lots of members who are only one brain cell removed from the KKK. There are others who want a return to Constitutional Law; the problem with them is they have been largely co-opted by the Koch Brothers for their own purposes, and associated far too much with racists rather than calling them out as not representative of their views. It's a problem the South had better learn to deal with or they will continually be marginalized and manipulated.

Grayson has continually been on the side of the little guy and the Constitution; I'm surprised the bankers haven't had him silenced. They tried once and he was voted out of Congress. It's a miracle of sorts that he returned for a second try.

I would be proud to vote for him for President (and thanks for realizing that not all lawyers, or politicians, are bad, or even that any given situation may not be black or white).

He could be a good choice for President. This was one of the best speeches he has made so far. It starts at 1:50.

signalfire
The Tea Party has lots of members who are only one brain cell removed from the KKK.

Not every Tea Partier is racist, but every racist I ever met was a tea partier.

My first thoughts on the Tea Party "keep your govt hand off my medicare"

Alan Grayson made himself a target. Chances are, the whole charade was targeting him and the other suckers were just the motions. TPTB can release a multitude of people after someone. Spend a few years in a low security prison for a few years and get "favors" for life when you get out.

reply to post by signalfire


Grayson is one of the few in Congress I put myself on his mailing list for.
Helps me keep up with new bills coming to Congress that limit our rights.
I think he's one of the better ones working there, if not he does a damn good job of fooling me.

I agree he may well have been intentionally targeted, not for his money but his political views.

solongandgoodnight
reply to post by signalfire

 

bottom line is his greed bit him on the @$$.

Bottom line is, he can afford to lose several million dollars, the guy who ripped him off was a criminal and is going to jail, and you started a thread snarking about how 'some democrat who spews' got karma handed to him.

Gloating, depending on your political views, isn't terribly attractive, especially when you obviously didn't know jack about the guy.