I was watching the news last night and saw a story about an Alberta Lawyer and businessman who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his part in a fraudulent pyramid scheme. It seems that the scheme wasn't the only thing that was fraudulent. This so called lawyer, who served as chief parlimentary legal counsel for the Alberta government, DOESN"T EVEN HAVE A LAW DEGREE!
This story of what appears to be a pure, out and out psychopath and manipulator, is very similar to other case studies covered by Hare and Cleckley, where the perpetrator concocts fantastic stories about education and experience that have no basis in reailty.
I'm not sure how to bold sentences in this post, so I'll reprint some of the more interesting quotes from the story before publishing the link and entire article.
Notice the pattern here...
"He was charismatic. He was courtly. Tall, handsome, always elegantly dressed, he charmed people -- politicians, directors, academics and journalists -- with his wit and savoir-faire. Meeting him, it was hard not be impressed with his breadth of knowledge, his force of personality. But it seems Ritter did not graduate with a law degree from the London School of Economics, as he had claimed. Scotland Yard and the RCMP could find no records to support claims that he served a legal internship with the British House of Lords, attended the University of Geneva, or worked for the Swiss Bankers Association. The man who was once head legal adviser to the Alberta legislature wasn't even a lawyer."
"And the man who could be so charming had a mercurial temperament -- the polished facade masked a master manipulator who lived to beguile and outwit others."
"Here was a man who craved public respect and recognition. He didn't just want money. He desperately wanted the power and prestige that came with it. A man with his intellect, creativity and energy could have made a roaring success of a legitimate profession or business. But Ritter behaved, instead, like a Nietzsche-style superman, who didn't need to follow society's dull rules."
Here, is part of his "official statement" to the media after receiving his sentence...
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2006/10/31/ritter-sentence.html
"I do indeed have a conscience and bear enormous guilt," he said.
That's some chutzpah!
(link to original article)
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/columnists/story.html?id=6e45ac0a-5deb-4d86-aa43-f2156b92ef72
Ritter's one-man show is over. Prison awaits
Paula Simons, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Tuesday, October 31, 2006
It's Halloween, a day when people dress up and pretend to be something they're not. Fittingly, it's also the day an Edmonton court will pass sentence on Michael Ritter, the debonair thief and fraud artist at the centre of one of the largest white-collar crime schemes in Alberta history.
Alberta's former chief parliamentary counsel pleaded guilty last week in a deal to avoid extradition to the United States. The Crown and the defence made a joint sentencing recommendation of 10 years -- much less than he might have received from a U.S. court.
For years, Ritter masqueraded as a lawyer, a scholar, an international expert in parliamentary tradition and banking law. The Edmonton financial consultant created a larger-than-life persona, as crusader for civil liberties and government accountability, as a noble philanthropist and patron of the arts.
He was charismatic. He was courtly. Tall, handsome, always elegantly dressed, he charmed people -- politicians, directors, academics and journalists -- with his wit and savoir-faire. Meeting him, it was hard not be impressed with his breadth of knowledge, his force of personality. But it seems Ritter did not graduate with a law degree from the London School of Economics, as he had claimed. Scotland Yard and the RCMP could find no records to support claims that he served a legal internship with the British House of Lords, attended the University of Geneva, or worked for the Swiss Bankers Association. The man who was once head legal adviser to the Alberta legislature wasn't even a lawyer.
Yes, he was generous to his friends and to the arts groups he supported. But it's easy to be munificent, when you're giving away stolen money.
And the man who could be so charming had a mercurial temperament -- the polished facade masked a master manipulator who lived to beguile and outwit others. Late last week, Ritter pleaded guilty to stealing $10.5 million US from an American client, Dan Gordon, a former senior executive at Merrill Lynch.
Gordon was also a thief, who had embezzled $43 million US from Merrill Lynch. Court records show Gordon hired Ritter and his consulting firm, Newport Pacific, to set up an intricate web of off-shore bank accounts and trusts to hold Gordon's money -- though the agreed statement of facts presented in court indicates Ritter had no actual knowledge the monies were proceeds of a fraud on Merrill Lynch.
Ritter used much of what he stole from Gordon to finance his lavish lifestyle. He leased a $128,000 Edmonton Oilers luxury box. He made big donations to Pro Coro Canada, the Banff Calgary International Writers Festival, the Metamorphosis Concert Society.
He bought two private planes. And he spent $40,000 to purchase Belizian citizenship.
He also took $4 million US of stolen funds to invest in a global Ponzi scheme. The fraud, set up by two California con-artists, convinced victims to buy promissory notes, supposedly invested in the accounts receivable of latex glove factories in Malaysia and China. It was all a hoax -- any "investors" who did get any money were simply paid with funds scammed from new investors.
When U.S. authorities tried to shut down the operation, Ritter helped his partners transfer their operations to Canada and Belize, out of the reach of American law. In all, the $270-million US pyramid scheme victimized more than 6,500 investors, mostly Americans.
The Ponzi scheme targeted ordinary middle-class people, some who were personally convinced by Ritter that they were making a sound investment. He stole their life savings, as surely as if he'd robbed them at gunpoint.
Why did he do it? And having stolen his millions, why didn't he simply board one of his private planes and fly away? He had a Belizian passport. Why didn't he take his money and run years ago for some safe haven from whence he could never be extradited?
Perhaps it was because Ritter was so in love with the grand drama he was living. In Edmonton, his home town, he could play the hero, the great benefactor of the arts, the champion of civil rights. Here was a man who craved public respect and recognition. He didn't just want money. He desperately wanted the power and prestige that came with it. A man with his intellect, creativity and energy could have made a roaring success of a legitimate profession or business. But Ritter behaved, instead, like a Nietzsche-style superman, who didn't need to follow society's dull rules.
Sadly, this brilliant man squandered his own personal capital. The political causes he endorsed were worthy ones. So were the many arts groups he supported. Ritter did do real, substantive good for our city -- but not nearly enough to excuse his crimes.
Michael Ritter hasn't lost his magic. Last week, his lawyer entered into evidence 40 fulsome letters of support from character references -- including university professors, arts administrators, former provincial New Democrat leaders Pam Barrett and Ray Martin, former Conservative cabinet minister Jim Horsman and former Tory MLA and speaker David Carter. In spite of those character references, Michael Ritter isn't an honourable soul who made an isolated error in judgment. He lied, stole, facilitated fraud and manipulated the gullible for years, all to maintain his illusion of grandeur.
His one-man show is over. It's time to ring down the curtain.
This story of what appears to be a pure, out and out psychopath and manipulator, is very similar to other case studies covered by Hare and Cleckley, where the perpetrator concocts fantastic stories about education and experience that have no basis in reailty.
I'm not sure how to bold sentences in this post, so I'll reprint some of the more interesting quotes from the story before publishing the link and entire article.
Notice the pattern here...
"He was charismatic. He was courtly. Tall, handsome, always elegantly dressed, he charmed people -- politicians, directors, academics and journalists -- with his wit and savoir-faire. Meeting him, it was hard not be impressed with his breadth of knowledge, his force of personality. But it seems Ritter did not graduate with a law degree from the London School of Economics, as he had claimed. Scotland Yard and the RCMP could find no records to support claims that he served a legal internship with the British House of Lords, attended the University of Geneva, or worked for the Swiss Bankers Association. The man who was once head legal adviser to the Alberta legislature wasn't even a lawyer."
"And the man who could be so charming had a mercurial temperament -- the polished facade masked a master manipulator who lived to beguile and outwit others."
"Here was a man who craved public respect and recognition. He didn't just want money. He desperately wanted the power and prestige that came with it. A man with his intellect, creativity and energy could have made a roaring success of a legitimate profession or business. But Ritter behaved, instead, like a Nietzsche-style superman, who didn't need to follow society's dull rules."
Here, is part of his "official statement" to the media after receiving his sentence...
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2006/10/31/ritter-sentence.html
"I do indeed have a conscience and bear enormous guilt," he said.
That's some chutzpah!
(link to original article)
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/columnists/story.html?id=6e45ac0a-5deb-4d86-aa43-f2156b92ef72
Ritter's one-man show is over. Prison awaits
Paula Simons, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Tuesday, October 31, 2006
It's Halloween, a day when people dress up and pretend to be something they're not. Fittingly, it's also the day an Edmonton court will pass sentence on Michael Ritter, the debonair thief and fraud artist at the centre of one of the largest white-collar crime schemes in Alberta history.
Alberta's former chief parliamentary counsel pleaded guilty last week in a deal to avoid extradition to the United States. The Crown and the defence made a joint sentencing recommendation of 10 years -- much less than he might have received from a U.S. court.
For years, Ritter masqueraded as a lawyer, a scholar, an international expert in parliamentary tradition and banking law. The Edmonton financial consultant created a larger-than-life persona, as crusader for civil liberties and government accountability, as a noble philanthropist and patron of the arts.
He was charismatic. He was courtly. Tall, handsome, always elegantly dressed, he charmed people -- politicians, directors, academics and journalists -- with his wit and savoir-faire. Meeting him, it was hard not be impressed with his breadth of knowledge, his force of personality. But it seems Ritter did not graduate with a law degree from the London School of Economics, as he had claimed. Scotland Yard and the RCMP could find no records to support claims that he served a legal internship with the British House of Lords, attended the University of Geneva, or worked for the Swiss Bankers Association. The man who was once head legal adviser to the Alberta legislature wasn't even a lawyer.
Yes, he was generous to his friends and to the arts groups he supported. But it's easy to be munificent, when you're giving away stolen money.
And the man who could be so charming had a mercurial temperament -- the polished facade masked a master manipulator who lived to beguile and outwit others. Late last week, Ritter pleaded guilty to stealing $10.5 million US from an American client, Dan Gordon, a former senior executive at Merrill Lynch.
Gordon was also a thief, who had embezzled $43 million US from Merrill Lynch. Court records show Gordon hired Ritter and his consulting firm, Newport Pacific, to set up an intricate web of off-shore bank accounts and trusts to hold Gordon's money -- though the agreed statement of facts presented in court indicates Ritter had no actual knowledge the monies were proceeds of a fraud on Merrill Lynch.
Ritter used much of what he stole from Gordon to finance his lavish lifestyle. He leased a $128,000 Edmonton Oilers luxury box. He made big donations to Pro Coro Canada, the Banff Calgary International Writers Festival, the Metamorphosis Concert Society.
He bought two private planes. And he spent $40,000 to purchase Belizian citizenship.
He also took $4 million US of stolen funds to invest in a global Ponzi scheme. The fraud, set up by two California con-artists, convinced victims to buy promissory notes, supposedly invested in the accounts receivable of latex glove factories in Malaysia and China. It was all a hoax -- any "investors" who did get any money were simply paid with funds scammed from new investors.
When U.S. authorities tried to shut down the operation, Ritter helped his partners transfer their operations to Canada and Belize, out of the reach of American law. In all, the $270-million US pyramid scheme victimized more than 6,500 investors, mostly Americans.
The Ponzi scheme targeted ordinary middle-class people, some who were personally convinced by Ritter that they were making a sound investment. He stole their life savings, as surely as if he'd robbed them at gunpoint.
Why did he do it? And having stolen his millions, why didn't he simply board one of his private planes and fly away? He had a Belizian passport. Why didn't he take his money and run years ago for some safe haven from whence he could never be extradited?
Perhaps it was because Ritter was so in love with the grand drama he was living. In Edmonton, his home town, he could play the hero, the great benefactor of the arts, the champion of civil rights. Here was a man who craved public respect and recognition. He didn't just want money. He desperately wanted the power and prestige that came with it. A man with his intellect, creativity and energy could have made a roaring success of a legitimate profession or business. But Ritter behaved, instead, like a Nietzsche-style superman, who didn't need to follow society's dull rules.
Sadly, this brilliant man squandered his own personal capital. The political causes he endorsed were worthy ones. So were the many arts groups he supported. Ritter did do real, substantive good for our city -- but not nearly enough to excuse his crimes.
Michael Ritter hasn't lost his magic. Last week, his lawyer entered into evidence 40 fulsome letters of support from character references -- including university professors, arts administrators, former provincial New Democrat leaders Pam Barrett and Ray Martin, former Conservative cabinet minister Jim Horsman and former Tory MLA and speaker David Carter. In spite of those character references, Michael Ritter isn't an honourable soul who made an isolated error in judgment. He lied, stole, facilitated fraud and manipulated the gullible for years, all to maintain his illusion of grandeur.
His one-man show is over. It's time to ring down the curtain.
