The opening: A lawyer and a priest and a bishop walk into a bar....the punch line?

$52 million Ponzi scheme.

Right here in the midwestern US, in a swanky suburb, an attorney who happens also to be a BISHOP in the American Anglican Convention (remember Henry VIII?)

www.kansascity.com...

The charges, filed under seal in St. Louis last month and announced today, allege that James Scott Brown, 66, of Leawood, attorney Martin T. Sigillito, 62, of Webster Groves, Mo., and Derek J. Smith, 67, a British real estate speculator, duped investors throughout the U.S. over a 10-year period.

In addition to working as an attorney, Sigillito is an ordained priest and bishop in the church of the American Anglican Convocation.

Leawood is known as a fancy-schmancy hood to the south of Kansas City, in Johnson Co Kansas. A Leawood zipcode all by itself = prestige.

Attorney = well, ummmm...not the most popular sorta person
Priest and Bishop = holier than thou

Got rich RIPPING PEOPLE OFF??

But, the Legion of bankers and Wall Street criminals are still laughing all the way to the(ir) bank...and not held accountable.

I doubt this thread will get much traffic, but I found it rather appalling in a humorous sort of way.

Point being that lawyers and priests/bishops are both sworn to uphold certain standards, are they not?
Which, I wonder, came first? His credentials as an attorney, or his credentials as an Anglican Bishop?

Either way, the guy had not one shred of ethical moral fortitude...yet he made millions off of people whose trust he gained.
Sigh.

The sun is shining here - I'm going outside. I'll let you know, ATS, if anything "alternative" happens while I'm at it.