This has gotta be a stir the pot post. NOBODY is this dumb, are they?
In 2000, WCFC, a company which sold seminars on investing and offered subscriptions to a trading bulletin board service called the Wealth Information Network (W.I.N.), posted $1.7 million in trading losses.[7]
On October 5, 2000, Wade Cook Financial Corporation agreed to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and 14 state Attorneys General on charges that the corporation misrepresented earnings potential. WCFC claimed 20% monthly returns. As a result, WCFC was required to set up redress program for consumers who purchased its products and to alter its advertised earnings claims.[8]
In 2002 the FTC brought new charges based on failure to comply with the previous order.[9]
In 2002, WCFC was forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy by a group of its creditors, including several employees and independent contractors, who claimed they had not been paid for several months.[10]
In December, 2005, Wade Cook and his wife Laura were charged with several counts of income tax evasion.[11] Both pled not guilty. According to court documents, the Cooks operated a fraudulent charity, ostensibly to benefit the Mormon church, but instead bought show horses, his and her Cadillacs, a 40-acre (160,000 m2) estate, and the majority share of an oil rig which gave Cook the right to name it. He named it after himself.[12] The trial began on January 17, 2007.[13]
On February 20, 2007, Cook was found guilty by a federal jury of seven charges for failing to pay taxes on $8.9 million that the government says he should have reported as personal income from 1998 to 2000. His sentencing was set for June 22, 2007.[14][15] On May 16, 2007 Laura Cook, the wife of Wade Cook, plead guilty to obstructing federal tax laws. She faced up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.[16]
On August 2, 2007, Wade was sentenced to 88 months in prison, his wife Laura Cook was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Wade was also ordered to pay back $3.75 million in owed back taxes.[17]
On September 4, 2008, Cook was taken into custody at the Federal Detention Center in SeaTac, Washington, preceeding transfer to a prison where he is currently serving his 88-month sentence.[18]
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