Sgt. Bale: Stock Fraud Swindler

[cthulu2016]

I imagine journalists dread "self-debunking" news. D'oh!

[FONT COLOR=GREEN]Yesterday's news...[/FONT COLOR]

[FONT COLOR=darkblue]Patriotism brought suspected shooter Robert Bales into Army [/font color]

In his mind, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales' motives were noble. He enlisted in the Army in the throes of patriotism on Nov. 8, 2001, just two months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

"That is the primary reason he joined," his attorney Emma Scanlan said Sunday.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-03-17/robert-bales-background/53593992/1

[FONT COLOR=GREEN]Today's news...[/FONT COLOR]

Robert Bales, the staff sergeant accused of massacring Afghan civilians, enlisted in the U.S. Army at the same time he was trying to avoid answering allegations he defrauded an elderly Ohio couple of their life savings in a stock fraud, according to federal documents reviewed by ABC News.

"He robbed me of my life savings," Gary Liebschner of Carroll, Ohio told ABC News.

Financial regulators found that Bales "engaged in fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, churning, unauthorized trading and unsuitable investments," according to a report on Bales filed in 2003. Bales and his associates were ordered to pay Liebschner $1,274,000 in compensatory and punitive damages but have yet to do so, according to Liebschner.

"We didn't know where he was," Liebschner told ABC News. "We heard the Bahamas, and all kinds of places." Liebschner says he recognized Bales after news reports named him as the American soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers in a shooting rampage.

http://news.yahoo.com/afghan-murder-suspect-bales-took-life-savings-says-223934030--abc-news.html

[Baitball Blogger]

1. Crazy.

The man sounds like a psychopath.

[cthulu2016]

5. yup

[cthulu2016]

12. .

[Logical]

2. He also assaulted a girlfriend and had a hit and run accident. Not a good man!

[malaise]

3. OMFG

What do they say about patriotism and scoundrels?

[mike_c]

4. "And the sergeant came over, pinned a medal on me..."

"...sent me down the hall, said, "You're our boy."

[jsmirman]

6. I saw one other thread, but I don't know why this isn't getting more run

here.

This is the crime of a monster.

People who bilk the elderly via, really, anything, but certainly securities fraud, occupy the same rung as child molesters.

This is an evil, evil crime.

I don't know if there will be a response to the story(?), but:

1) This story appears to be supported by something you can't factually fudge - an arbitration award and

2) I don't understand how other news outlets could report on the guy and fail to find something that should be infinitely findable if you're doing your job.

[cthulu2016]

7. oddly enough, being a con man may

be a more reliable indicator of sociopathy than killing civilians in war

[jsmirman]

8. That does not sound crazy

I'd like to see the backing for it, but the level of not caring one whit for other human beings in doing something like this is staggering.

[cthulu2016]

10. a mass murderer has to snap once, and justs shoots everyone

But a con-man is continually amoral and lives a 24/7 role of deceit... amoral and atruthful.

Con-man is a personality type. Mass murder is an event.

[arely staircase]

15. there is a great documentary on the subject

"I Am Fishead" Are Corporate Leaders Egotistical Psychopaths ?

[arthritisR_US]

9. When I do a word association game in my

mind and the word "journalist" comes up, the next word to pop up is LAZY, hmmm.

[jsmirman]

11. That is a terrible, terrible shame

I partially blame the "race to print," but that race and the conditions of most forms of "success" have led to an unfortunate epidemic of self-selection, in my opinion.

[arthritisR_US]

13. I know, it is a shame and I find I have

so little faith in the 5th estate. Pair with that the advent of misinformation from outlets like fox and my cynicism continues unabated.

[jsmirman]

16. I think you mean

the Fourth - what's brutal is that the issues go so far beyond fox and partisanship.

[arthritisR_US]

17. Well I'll be damned! All this time I thought

they were the 5th, thanks. I always learn something here

[jsmirman]

20. There is the "Fifth Column" of course, and

apparently some people claim that blogs and internet writers constitute a "fifth estate." So that's something I learned, too!

[USArmyParatrooper]

18. Because some DU members...

were chomping at the bit to use this as an indictment of Obama, the military, the war in Afghanistan or any combination of the three.

If it turns this guy was just simply a murderous bastard it doesn't aid in any of those agendas.

[EFerrari]

21. Nobody needs a new reason to do any of that although they keep coming,

like this week's story that they're sending prisoners out to certain torture.

Report: US sending Afghan detainees to prisons known for torture
http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/03/report-us-sending-afghan-detainees-to-prisons-known-for-torture.php

[USArmyParatrooper]

22. "Needing" a reason or not

the incident with Bales was pounced upon with those agendas in mind.

But (IF) what is reported in your link is true, I can see how the US handing prisoners over to the National Directorate of Security might make you want to them leave - considering once we leave ALL prisoners will end up being sent there.

[cthulu2016]

23. good point

[arely staircase]

14. yeah, but he had a cuncussion

so it isn't his fault

(sarcasm thingy)

[AtomicKitten]

19. Wow. That's a real window into this murderer's character or lack thereof.

k&r