Not hard to run a scam like this, when it's perceived government regulates everything.

[Anti Federalist]

3 Facing Prison Time In $1M Toilet Paper Scam

November 26, 2011 5:43 PM

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/11/26/3-facing-prison-time-in-1m-toilet-paper-scam/

WEST PALM BEACH (CB4)-A South Florida trio is facing up to two decades in prison after they were allegedly involved in a $1 million toilet paper scam in Palm Beach County.

Federal prosecutors said the three conned elderly customers into buying unnecessary septic products, in some cases more than 70 years worth of toilet paper, CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald reported.

According to the Herald, the three worked for FBK Products of West Palm Beach. They told more than a dozen of their victims that they needed the company’s special toilet paper to avoid ruining their septic tanks. They told their victims that the federal government changed regulations on toilet paper, the Herald reported.

The federal government, though, does not regulate septic tank products.

In phone pitches, salespeople claimed the company was affiliated with the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. One product, the $199 Septic Remedy treatment, would eliminate the need to have their tanks pumped, the company claimed.

Victims were also told that they needed special soap, detergent and toilet paper or their septic tanks would not pass federal inspection, the Herald reported.

But the EPA does not regulate septic tank products, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Three of the suspects, Christopher Lincoln, Mary Moore and Joseph Nouerand, this week pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to commit wire fraud. They agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and will be sentenced in February.

Three other employees are awaiting trial.

[SL89]

Not sure what to make of this...except the perps used the threat of government to profit and of course the government knows best. /s

[Travlyr]

The South Florida trio just didn't know the right people... that's all. They should have been contracting to the military and they would have promoted not jailed...


Selling a $2.98 Hammer for $100 (http://www.scragged.com/articles/yes-virginia-a-298-hammer-really-costs-our-government-100)

I worked for a conglomerate called Gould way back in the 1980s. The boss' name had far too many y's and z's for me to pronounce it with confidence, so I called him "Chairman Bill." Mao tze Tung had added so much glory to the title "Chairman" that everybody knew I meant the Chairman of the Board. Chairman Bill was a skilled deal maker; he bought and sold divisions more often than lesser beings buy and sell cars.

Shortly after he bought a division which made good profits from government contracts, the media reported that his division had been paid more than $100 for a hammer which could be bought in a hardware store for $2.98. It wasn't as bad as the $600 toilet seat or the $3,000 coffee maker which were in the news at the time, but Chairman Bill's golf buddies teased him unmercifully about how they, too, could show as much profit as he did if only they, too, could charge $100 for a $2.98 hammer. "Nice work if you can get it," as the saying goes.