'lil bit, yeah.
;j
Lezlers, Zebra said Nancy Drew, not Nancy Jew
Just wondering if you have an update, lezlers.
Have Mr. Wonderful over for drinks. Make sure you serve his in a nice, clean, smooth-surfaced glass. Hang onto it after he leaves and give it to the cops for fingerprints. Obviously, don’t touch the surfaces yourself; pick the glass up wearing gloves and touching only the top rim and bottom rim.
Go buy a prepaid cellphone and give it to the 14 year old. Tell her to hide it well, but keep it hidden where she can get to it easily. Put your number in as a speed dial. Tell her to call 911 and then you if Mr. Wonderful starts doing wierdness in the wilderness.
Not yet, no. Haven’t been able to reach friend for the realtor’s number and neither of the cops showed up for Criminal Law last night (go figure). I’m betting they’ll be there for Contracts tonight though, no one misses Contracts.
:eek:
Clothahump, I think you’ve been watching too much CSI.
These should be more red flags. House out in the sticks? Why? That gives me the creeps. And why more money to get the current occupants the hell out so quick? Why that house? The money thing too is another red flag. She has access to it now, but what happens when he gets her and the kids isolated in the house in the sticks and then yanks her name and social off the account. Then she’s completely dependant on him.
This whole situation just reeks of potential abuse. IMO, he’s not out to rip her off – he wants control, either of her, the kids, or both. My first gut reaction was that he was after the kids, but maybe he wants them all.
Danger Will Robinson, danger!!
Take a look at this . There is an IRS requirement to report cash transactions of over $10,000. I would expect this would be triggered by the cash house transaction. I would check to see if the house story was real, and, if it was, call the FBI (or maybe IRS) to report the suspicious cash transaction.
This smells like drugs or worse to me also.
Didn’t read the second page. I’d think a realtor’s spidey sense would be tingling if someone wanted to pay over a million in cash for a house. Who is Mr. Wonderful using? If no one, you might mention the reporting requirements to the selling realtor. Don’t buyers have to be qualified? I’d be very nervous about doing a deal with someone whose money might be illegal.
Ok, question 1-
why did the father have to pack up and move out if mom and kids went to the scumbag hotel?
question 2-
isn’t the small chance of being wrong about this guy so out weighted by the chance that you could be saving these kids from god only knows what?
my father has been a steelworker for 30+ years and let me tell you he does not have the money to buy 1.5 million dollar houses and deposit 50 grand in the bank on a whim. yeah, he makes good money, but, NOT NEARLY that kind of good money. He and my mother are comfortable, not millionares by any means. good investments or not.
DO SOMETHING TO SAVE THESE KIDS BEFORE ITS TOO LATE!!!
I’m just glad to see that you care enough to look into it. Alot of people wouldn’t.
Trust your spidey sense. It’s never wrong!
Just one more thought: Do you or the sister have pictures of Mr. Wonderful? If not, how hard would it be to get some? Maybe you wouldn’t have to be sneaky–suppose you just offer to take some family-style pictures of this woman and the guy, with and without the kids in the picture? If the guy objects to being photographed, that’s one more red flag (how many does she need?), and you might have to do something surreptitious. The point is that if anything happens to this woman and her kids the cops should at least know who they’re looking for.
I’m thinking professionals should be involved in this. How about calling the District Attorney (=State Prosecutor) 's office for your county and just asking for advice. Or the fraud department of the police. If the first person you talk to seems unhelpful, ask for someone with a lot of background in fraud.
Tell them this guy seems very questionable, you are uncomfortable with the kids being involved, and give them a brief summary: Lots of cash, scary guy, no ID, vulnerable woman, isolated house, untrue or dubious statements (esp. if by now the realtor has shot down any of his statements).
Or have the two cops in your class been helpful by now? If they say they’re not the ones to talk to, ask them to recommend an experienced officer with that kind of background.
Geez. As Strong Bad once wisely said, “Holy, holy, holy, holy crap.”
Have you got a last-known address (by which I mean, the address before the house he’s purchasing…I assume the trailer you talked about before) for Mr. Wonderful? If you do, a simple query to Lexis-Nexis should reveal his actual name, unless he forged it on that, too.
Be careful out there.
I was remembering the movie Where the Heart Is ( you know the one with the walmart baby) that Naomi Judd’s character finds this perfect guy. In the end she walks in on him raping her son. She says that all she saw was the money and the car and she never looked past it. I think your friends sister is set up for this.
She is also set up for taking a fall. If he put money in her name in an account she doesn’t really get access to, she could go to jail for whatever “earned” that money. If I am reading this right he retains the checkbook she gets the liabilities and the questions from the IRS. If nothing else he and the money could be long gone and the IRS is gonna come asking for an accounting.
Any news, Lezlers? What’s happening with these kids?
Man oh man some of you dopers can be a bit on the paranoid side. I’m not doubting anyone, but let’s just say if I ever get framed for something I sure as hell hope there aren’t 12 members of the Straight Dope Message board in that jury box
:eek:
Hi everyone. A million apologies for the lack of recent updates. I’m sorry to report there really hasn’t been any new developments. Everyone I’ve told the long sorted tale to has all come to the same conclusion: the guy seems skeevy as hell but he hasn’t done anything. Until he actually breaks a law, there’s really nothing that can be done. Especially since the stupid, stupid sister is voluntarily with him.
I haven’t been able to reach my friend for the past few days but will try calling her at work tommorow to see if there’s been any new developments. I tried to get her to read this thread (a couple of times) last weekend but she barely glanced at it. She doesn’t seem to be overly concerned. The only thing she seemed genuinely worried about was the extent of any liability her sister may face for adultery. :dubious: Yeah, that’d be my top concern, too.
Hell, no one seems to be overly concerned. If I can’t get anyone within the family to take my suspicions seriously, I’m starting to feel a little akward about the extent of my own involvement thus far. And more than a bit frustrated and silly.
Alright everyone, I just recieved some juicy news!
Friend just called me and said that Mr. Wonderful finally “came clean” (I use quotations because I believe there’s a great deal that remains undisclosed thus far).
Apparently, he’s got no money. So there will be no house. So the whole no credit cards, no name on the bank account thing wasn’t to hide his money, but to hide the fact that he hasn’t got any.
I do feel a little bit better about the kid’s safety at least. Now I don’t have to come up with various theories about how he came into all of the money and why he’s hiding it.
And yes, sister is still staying with him. Because she luuuurves him. Also, what better thing to build a new relationship on than a big huge stinkin’ LIE?
That’s all of the information I’ve got so far. Sister isn’t really talking to anyone because she’s embarrassed about how she’s been gloating about all of this money that never really existed.
I’ll know as soon as friend knows and you all will know as soon as I know, promise.
Incubus
This isn’t a trial. The question before us is whether Mr Wonderful is acting in a sufficiently suspicious manner to justify involving the police. I, and many others, felt that the answer was yes. In a trial, I would consider all the evidence and testimony and decide if it proved guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Not to belabor the obvious, but neither you nor this woman know what this guy’s ultimate plan is. And why tell a lie that is certain to be revealed? If somebody says “I don’t want people to know about my money,” it’s hard to inquire further, but if he says “I’m buying you a house and we’re moving in,” and there’s no house, how can he expect to get away that? Maybe it’s good news that he’s not a drug dealer hiding from the mob, but it’s not much better news that he’s a penniless hustler either. The important issue is still what’s happening to the kids, where are they living and how are they being treated?
Ummm… what about the money in the bank account? You did say that he deposited $50,000 into her account (post #1) then you confirmed that it was in cash (post #22). THEN you said he put it in a different account with her name on it so she could access it (post #67).
Then you say he hasn’t any money. So was the whole $50K and the bank account just a complete lie? Because if she really believed him without a shred of proof or evidence, then she is a complete idiot. And if you believed her, you’re a sucker too. No offense. Why would you believe that she has $50,000 in her name when she has no proof? Did you even ask her for any? I’m trying to picture how you managed to overlook that point. Because that would be one of the first things I’d ask. Just curious.