The BMW Addiction That Completely Destroyed This Man’s Life (via Jalopnik)

[Jez_zza]

Gosh I feel very bad abound this 2nd mountain bike now... I'll have to come out clean tonight

[raysspl]

LOLLL of the day

[StealYourFace]

No different that compulsive gambling stories you read about where people steal to support their habit, combined with a hoarders mentality.

[RickFLM4]

Reminds me of my former neighbor who stood in my house telling me how good business was during a party for my wife's 40th. I later found out he was arrested for insurance fraud about a week before that conversation.

The story isn't really about BMW. It's about a pathological liar and thief who happened to spend what he stole on BMWs. However, despite the selfish actions by the thief, the part that has me scratching my head is his employer not being able draw much salary for 5 years before saying WTF and looking into it. The thief shouldn't have taken the money but business owners need to understand their numbers better than this guy did.

[Teufel_Hunden]

Bat shit crazy

[F80NJM3]

Oh boiiiii... I could relate to a lot of it... minus the stealing & jail part... "BMW enthusiasts are programmed into an attitude that all other makes and models are inferior" -

[Jadar]

Originally Posted by F80NJM3

Oh boiiiii... I could relate to a lot of it... minus the stealing & jail part... "BMW enthusiasts are programmed into an attitude that all other makes and models are inferior" -

I can understand certain aspects of BMW attraction and the desire for the brand, and I'm on my 5th. But what I don't understand is the sort of shallow way of constructing an opinion that all lesser brands are inferior. Never could understand that. I've also been a victim as I'm sure many of us have of owning a BMW (I can only speak of being in the u.s.) and people would go out of their way to be rude and I.e. Not let me into a lane in traffic or heavy intersection, so much so that at times in summer with windows down you seldom even hear f$&-k that a-hole in his bimmer :
Such is life I suppose...goes both ways LOL

I've been into cars my whole life and I've developed an appreciation for many different brands and what they can do. I know this isn't that type of discussion in detail and it's of course a BMW bias forum. I mention a certain vehicle for example and I get scoffed at but I know it's better dynamically than anything BMW has done in the last 8-10 years.

But I believe it goes for a lot of enthusiasts with endorsing their own brand they support, I see 97% of Mercedes owners look down on anything else German especially BMW stating "buy a real luxury car"

The story of this guy, it takes hoarding to a different level. And much of it was his own moral personal character that was in play that lied, stole and cheated to get what he wants. Could have been 50 pristine Honda S2000's for all it matters the outcome is the same, he's a crook.

[MRV99]

Was it 50 2002, or were there other BMW's mixed in. I was kinda hoping for a full list of cars

[Jadar]

Originally Posted by MRV99

Was it 50 2002, or were there other BMW's mixed in. I was kinda hoping for a full list of cars

Going off the article and I did get drawn into reason the entire thing, but there were a few other models mixed in but mostly 2002's.

[tdott]

Decent read, I want to know more about the parts and what happened to all the cars. Surely a lot of $$ could have been recouped from those assets.

I also wanted a picture of this : “When it came out, it was the fastest station wagon in the world.” Also i'm not sure I know what it is, fastest when came out, must be a E34 M5 Touring right?

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by SakhirM4

Isn't that TL;DR

Wow.. I saw this phrase a few days ago and now seeing it again I had to go look this up...

" too long .. didn't read " ... yeah.. someone's reading comprehension is slipping ..

[vincE92M3]

The guy is a sociopath.

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by tdott

Decent read, I want to know more about the parts and what happened to all the cars. Surely a lot of $$ could have been recouped from those assets.

I also wanted a picture of this : “When it came out, it was the fastest station wagon in the world.” Also i'm not sure I know what it is, fastest when came out, must be a E34 M5 Touring right?

I pondered this as well. Then recalled that we didn't get the E39M5 touring here ( I don't believe , so i gave up shortly after )?

That was a long story I needed a break. Lol

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Reminds me of my former neighbor who stood in my house telling me how good business was during a party for my wife's 40th. I later found out he was arrested for insurance fraud about a week before that conversation.

The story isn't really about BMW. It's about a pathological liar and thief who happened to spend what he stole on BMWs. However, despite the selfish actions by the thief, the part that has me scratching my head is his employer not being able draw much salary for 5 years before saying WTF and looking into it. The thief shouldn't have taken the money but business owners need to understand their numbers better than this guy did.

Voters voting for business owners need to understand numbers better as well ...

[myzmak]

Originally Posted by bd307

Nice read. Easily the best story on Jalopnik

http://jalopnik.com/the-bmw-addictio...n-s-1794882542

Nice post OP.

As a lawyer that does a lot of work in fraud recovery (and having just done a month long trial of a CFO that stole about $2 MM from his employer/partners over an 8 year period) this is a very familiar tale.

The author of the piece is right: cars aren't the problem, just the particular outlet for this particular guy. Consumption and self-justifying behavior are usually at the root of these guys.

[noro]

I have a reverse story, I got divorced and now I am collecting BMWs.

[myzmak]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Reminds me of my former neighbor who stood in my house telling me how good business was during a party for my wife's 40th. I later found out he was arrested for insurance fraud about a week before that conversation.

The story isn't really about BMW. It's about a pathological liar and thief who happened to spend what he stole on BMWs. However, despite the selfish actions by the thief, the part that has me scratching my head is his employer not being able draw much salary for 5 years before saying WTF and looking into it. The thief shouldn't have taken the money but business owners need to understand their numbers better than this guy did.

There are two truths about fraud:

(1) Fraud requires one thing to happen: trust. As long as you trust your money/business/etc to another person, there is a chance they will defraud you and steal it. Yes, you can put more controls in place (and trust them less) but the more controls you put in place the harder it can be to do something with your money. At one extreme, the safest thing in the world is to take your money, put it in tomato cans and bury it in the backyard and guard it 24/7 with a shotgun. But that doesn't work in business where you need to deploy your capital (in employees, in inventory, etc) so you can earn a return. So, in business, you trust other folks to access and control your money. The more controls you put on them, the harder it is to steal, but the more expensive it can be and the harder it can be for you to react and do what you need to do with money (too much bureaucracy and red tape can stifle business growth).

Is there a balance and did this business get it wrong by being too trusting? Yes.

But as long as you have trust, you will have fraud.

(2) 6,000 years of recorded human history tells us that there will be trust and there will be fraud and stories like this one will repeat as regularly as the sun rises and sets.

[Jadar]

Originally Posted by (((myzmak)))

There are two truths about fraud:

(1) Fraud requires one thing to happen: trust. As long as you trust your money/business/etc to another person, there is a chance they will defraud you and steal it. Yes, you can put more controls in place (and trust them less) but the more controls you put in place the harder it can be to do something with your money. At one extreme, the safest thing in the world is to take your money, put it in tomato cans and bury it in the backyard and guard it 24/7 with a shotgun. But that doesn't work in business where you need to deploy your capital (in employees, in inventory, etc) so you can earn a return. So, in business, you trust other folks to access and control your money. The more controls you put on them, the harder it is to steal, but the more expensive it can be and the harder it can be for you to react and do what you need to do with money (too much bureaucracy and red tape can stifle business growth).

Is there a balance and did this business get it wrong by being too trusting? Yes.

But as long as you have trust, you will have fraud.

(2) 6,000 years of recorded human history tells us that there will be trust and there will be fraud and stories like this one will repeat as regularly as the sun rises and sets.

Were well spoken and truthfully put.

[MickyD'bo]

CazuaLUK hope you've read this. This is what can happen. Now don't buy anything else. Okay?

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by (((myzmak)))

There are two truths about fraud:

(1) Fraud requires one thing to happen: trust. As long as you trust your money/business/etc to another person, there is a chance they will defraud you and steal it. Yes, you can put more controls in place (and trust them less) but the more controls you put in place the harder it can be to do something with your money. At one extreme, the safest thing in the world is to take your money, put it in tomato cans and bury it in the backyard and guard it 24/7 with a shotgun. But that doesn't work in business where you need to deploy your capital (in employees, in inventory, etc) so you can earn a return. So, in business, you trust other folks to access and control your money. The more controls you put on them, the harder it is to steal, but the more expensive it can be and the harder it can be for you to react and do what you need to do with money (too much bureaucracy and red tape can stifle business growth).

Is there a balance and did this business get it wrong by being too trusting? Yes.

But as long as you have trust, you will have fraud.

(2) 6,000 years of recorded human history tells us that there will be trust and there will be fraud and stories like this one will repeat as regularly as the sun rises and sets.

Well, if you are a small business, I understand it is difficult to put controls in place that segregate duties. However, if you have one person who has control over disbursing cash, reconciling accounts and providing financial statements, checking that persons W-2 vs. what he should be paid or reviewing disbursements periodically is neither time consuming nor stifling and would have easily caught this fraud much sooner. Trust, but verify.

I am a CPA and don't have many small business clients, but the one's I do have insist on signing checks or otherwise approving disbursements themselves if their organization can't support segregation of duties. They watch cash flow details like hawks. Having your personal income dry up as a business owner and figuring it out by looking at QuickBooks after 5 years is inconceivable to me.

[F32Fleet]

Typical fraud that always gets discovered when the fraudster goes on vacation.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by M3 Adjuster

Voters voting for business owners need to understand numbers better as well ...

This is true of anyone voters vote for, including those promising free shit to everyone.