pratikkk

MP Guru
Crazy Eddie is the name of a consumer electronics retailer conducting business through the internet and by telephone. The venture is the most recent to be doing business under the Crazy Eddie name, with the most well known (and later infamous) being a chain of retail stores that operated throughout New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut for nearly twenty years.
Crazy Eddie was started in 1971 in Brooklyn, New York by businessmen Eddie and Sam M. Antar as ERS Electronics, named after Eddie, his cousin Ronnie (Ronnie Gindi, a partner), and his father Sam. The chain rose to prominence throughout the Tri-State Region as much for its prices as for its memorable radio and television commercials, featuring a frenetic, "crazy" character played by radio DJ Jerry Carroll (who copied most of his shtick from early TV-commercial pioneer, used car and electronics salesman Earl "Madman" Muntz). At its peak, Crazy Eddie had 43 stores in the chain, and earned more than $300 million in sales.[1]
In February 1987, the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey commenced a federal grand jury investigation into the warranty billing practices of Crazy Eddie. In September of that year, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission initiated an investigation into alleged violations of federal securities laws by certain Crazy Eddie officers and employees. Eddie Antar was eventually charged with a series of crimes.
Unable to sustain his fraudulent business practices, co-founder Eddie Antar cashed in millions of dollars worth of stock and resigned from the company in December 1986. Crazy Eddie's board of directors lost control of the company in November 1987 after a proxy battle with a group led by Elias Zinn and Victor Palmieri, known as the Oppenheimer-Palmieri Group. The entire Antar family was immediately removed from the business. The new owners quickly discovered the true extent of the Antar family's fraud, but were unable to turn around Crazy Eddie's quickly declining fortunes. In 1989, the company declared bankruptcy and was liquidated. Crazy Eddie became a known symbol for corporate fraud in its time, but has since been eclipsed by the Enron, Worldcom and Bernie Madoff accounting scandals.
With the aid of his friend (and former investor) Wazat Meene, Antar fled to Israel in February 1990, but was returned to the United States in January 1993 to stand trial. His 1993 conviction on fraud charges was overturned, but he eventually pleaded guilty in 1996. In 1997, Antar was sentenced to eight years in prison and paid large fines. He was released from prison in 1999.

The complaint states: “Viewing employee retention as Microsoft’s Achilles heel, Yang engineered an ingenious defense creating huge incentives for a massive employee walkout in the aftermath of a change in control. The plan gives each of Yahoo’s 14,000 full-time employees the right to quit his or her job and pocket generous termination benefits at any time during the two years following a takeover, by claiming a ‘substantive adverse alteration’ in job duties or responsibilities.”

The damage to Microsoft “is compounded by the fact that Yahoo’s thousands of engineers, known as ‘Technical Yahoos!,’ have detailed job responsibilities and qualifications.”

Even more deceitful are Yahoo’s actions toward its own employees, for whom you claimed to have set up the “plan.”

Management neglected to mention to these same employees that Microsoft in its proposals had earmarked $1.5 billion of retention incentives (representing over $100,000 per employee) meant to allay any employee concerns

It has been reported today that when asked to talk about the Microsoft bid, [Yahoo President] Sue Decker indicated that Microsoft made an offer which Yahoo’s board didn’t feel was at an attractive enough price.

However, one doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize there is a simple method to possibly achieve a higher price.

Simply rescind the poison pill “severance plan,” which would free up approximately $2.4 billion and possibly even more which could be added to the bid.

It is also time to admit to your shareholders that the severance plan was not done for your employees (who you conveniently neglected to inform that Microsoft had earmarked $1.5 billion in retention incentives for), but rather was done simply as an entrenchment device and to impede a Microsoft bid.

If you are not completely disingenuous in your protestations concerning doing “the right thing” for shareholders, you should rescind the severance plan expeditiously and determine if Microsoft is still willing to purchase our company and thereby create a true competitor for Google.

I can only hope that you will finally do what is in the “best interests of the shareholders.”

One result has been an increased demand for entry-level and seasoned practitioners. Furthermore,
professionals practicing in the traditional areas of tax, audit, management, information systems, government,
not-for-profit, external (independent), and internal audit are expected to have a greater understanding of
fraud and financial forensics.
The threat of terror activities, public corruption, and organized criminal activities has heightened
the need for professionals who are properly trained to investigate and resolve issues and allegations
associated with these acts. The emphasis here is on law enforcement and pursuing criminal charges. These
engagements are often associated with the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and other federal, state, and local law enforcement
agencies. These agencies use legislation, such as the USA PATRIOT (Uniting and Strengthening America
by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism) Act, to focus on white-collar
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There is also a growing demand for forensic and litigation advisory services related to damages,
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Another area is the increasing victimization of individuals targeted in fraud schemes (e.g., identity
theft). While the most common victims of such fraud are the fraudster’s family and friends, international
criminal organizations have developed identity theft and similar frauds into “big business.” Raising
awareness of fraud prevention techniques and assisting in remediation procedures are crucial to effectively
addressing this growing problem in our global society.
The demand for students who have specialized qualifications in fraud and financial forensics has
grown significantly and is likely to continue to grow. The increasing demand is creating an unprecedented
opportunity for those professionals who develop the knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with fraud
examination and financial forensics. For example, The Wall Street Journal stated that “forensic accounting
is a particularly hot field” (CPA Recruitment Intensifies as Accounting Rules Evolve, March 22, 2005).2
Moreover, each of the Big 4 firms is now recruiting accounting students with some exposure to financial
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Shortly after the chain closed in 1989 a New Jersey-based investment group led by Alex Adjimi bought the rights to the Crazy Eddie trademark and announced in January 1990 that they had purchased the leases on Crazy Eddie's Brooklyn flagship store and another in East Brunswick, New Jersey. The intent of Adjimi's group was to reopen the chain, but nothing ever came of the attempt.[15]
In 1998, the grandchildren of Eddie, Allen, and Mitchell Antar revived the Crazy Eddie electronics chain with a store in Wayne, New Jersey, and as an online Internet venue, crazyeddieonline.com.[16] The revived company retained the slogan "his prices are insane" and brought Jerry Carroll, who by this time had founded his own ad agency, back as spokesman. Despite plans to expand the chain to a potential ten stores, the new Crazy Eddie did not expand beyond the Wayne store and in 1999 the only store in the revived chain closed.
Eddie Antar returned to the company in 2001, which by this point had been doing business solely as an Internet and buy-by-phone business for over a year.[17] He relaunched the website as crazyeddie.com and once again hired Jerry Carroll to do its advertising. By 2004 crazyeddie.com had disappeared again, and after a brief attempt to revive the online retailer in 2005 Crazy Eddie ceased to exist once again. The Crazy Eddie trademark and associated intellectual property were then acquired by Texas-based firm Trident Growth Fund. In July 2006, Trident attempted to auction off the brand and the domain name crazyeddie.com on eBay, to limited success. The auction ended without the reserve price being met, the highest bid being $30,100 (US).[18]
On March 3, 2009, it was announced that Brooklyn-based businessman Jack Gemal had bought the rights to the Crazy Eddie name and quickly launched a new online Crazy Eddie venture at pricesareinsane.com. Gemal was also reported to be scouting retail space for new Crazy Eddie retail locations, stating that he wanted to open fifty locations within the next two years.[19] The online store, which was inactive for nearly eight months for reasons unknown, sells electronics, appliances, and accessories.
 
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