Privileged Offenders. Here's yet another take on privileged criminals. They create a "privileged" persona to scam others. I just blogged here about Simon Leviev, the Tinder Swindler, who worked this angle to the max. The Casanova Scammer Brian Wedgeworth seemed to have a way with women. Posing as a medical doctor who had attended such Ivy-ish universities as U Penn, Duke, and … [Read more...]
The Tinder Swindler – a male Anna Sorokin?
This website is about justice and equity, and so today it's about the Tinder Swindler. It's only fair that I give equal time to a male who's similar to fraudster Anna Sorokin whom I've blogged about here and elsewhere. I have less info about the the Tinder Swindler —Netflix's name for him— than I did about Sorokin, so I promise to add second blog soon about another male who preys financially on women, the Casanova Scammer. And in order not to discriminate visually as well, I'll … [Read more...]
Criminal Fake Heiress Sorokin Deported Yet?
Anna Sorokin, whom I blogged about last time and a while before that, proves my assertion that celebs get special "justice." Before our very eyes in recent years, fraudster Sorokin's gone from a shadowy subject of a Vanity Fair piece on her criminal behavior to a privileged celebrity. Her Netflix series served as an accessory to the crime. It gave her a national audience. So did her zany battle in court to absolve herself of criminal charges. As has her fight to avoid deportation for … [Read more...]
Celeb arrest & release weakens Justice System’s credibility
When we watch TV, go to the movies, or attend concerts (admittedly before Covid), we enjoy watching our favorite stars. But despite being role models for millions, celebrities sometimes break the law. The justice system's credibility then takes a hit when it all too often looks the other way. Of course, stars weaken the justice system's credibility because of their talent, charm, good looks, or wealth which shines so bright it often dazzles judges and juries. When judges and … [Read more...]
Popular Culture and True Crime – Tutorial III – Why women are such true crime fans.
As part of our series on Popular Culture and True Crime, our final tutorial looks at why women seem such devoted true crime fans. Tutorials I and II dealt with the fascination with serial killer trading cards and murderabilia (the collection of mementos), respectively. While I've written about crime all my life, I wouldn't call myself a true crime fan. In fact, I'm new to podcasts and true crime radio and I rarely have time for true crime stories on TV. Writing's pretty time … [Read more...]
Popular Culture and True Crime – Tutorial I – Serial Killer trading cards?
About the same time that Michael Aamodt, a professor at Radford University in Virginia, started cataloguing serial killers, trading cards popped up. Aamodt's Serial Killer Data Base, compiled with the help of students, is academic, respectable. See here for a prior blog re Aamodt's Radford work. Serial killer Trading cards are not respectable, at least they weren't back in 1992. They are still bought and sold on Amazon, Etsy, and Ebay. Aamodt's catalogue has over five thousand entries … [Read more...]
Actress Loughlin Sentence – only 2 Months, a fine & community service.
Photo: Steven Senne, AP Loughlin & hubby sentenced to 2 and 5 mos. A judge formalized Lori Loughlin and her husband's lenient plea bargain Friday. As noted in another blog , they got "Justice Lite" as frequently happens with celeb offenders. Actress Loughlin Sentence. Loughlin was shown to have been less involved in the family's college cheating scandal. Thus, she got less time and a smaller fine than her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli. The famous … [Read more...]