Panel # 2 – Discredited Individuals in the Business World
Group #2: Mickey Abbatiello, Niaz Ahsan, Oksana Powe, Gabriela Guazco, Yuliya Gumerova, Evan Khordipour, Danial Lam, Edwin Li, Ilya Peysakhov, Yuriy Minchuk
Panelist: Sam Antar
Bio: Sam E. Antar is a former Baruch College alumnus that studied and majored in accounting and eventually earned a CPA. In the 1980’s Sam was the Chief Financial Officer of the publicly traded company called Crazy Eddie Inc. Crazy Eddie Inc. was a discount electronic retailer chain that conducted its business through the Internet and the telephone, which operated throughout New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut for nearly twenty years. Sam’s life then took a turn when he faced a felony charge for one of the biggest securities fraud in his time. After being coined by US Attorney Michael Chertoff as, “the Darth Vader of Capitalism” and realizing his faults, he then decided to learn from his mistakes. He currently advises law enforcement, government entities, professionals, and businesses about white-collar crime and trains them to catch the crooks.
Opening Statement:
Panel Questions:
1. Sam, can you tell the audience a little bit about yourself and how Crazy Eddie’s was started. What was your role in the company?
2. In comparison to frauds of your time and frauds of today, how do you compare the Crazy Eddie fraud to them? (In terms of money involved, length of fraud, and people involved)
3. When Eddie Antar offered to pay for your education so that you could so-to-speak “help” him with the business, were you aware of what you were getting yourself into?
4. As a manager of sorts, do you feel like Eddie needed to use fear/coercion tactics to keep you and your family faithful to the business? Or was it a mutual understanding among the family that what you were doing was ok?
5. In 1970-1979 when the first phase of fraud began, can you explain the process of how you performed income tax invasion and cash skimming?
6. In 1980 when you were working for Crazy Eddie off the books and Penn and Horowitz (auditing company for Crazy Eddie), how did you prepare for the company to become public?
7. Why during this time did you work for Penn and Horowitz auditing company?
8. What was the main reason for making Crazy Eddie a public company?
9. After going public, did the fraudulent practices of the company shift from just avoiding taxes as a private company?
10. Can you explain the “Panama Pump” and give an example on how you manipulated the inventory accounts of Crazy Eddie?
11. How did the auditors fail to uncover these fraudulent practices that were made?
12. Can any amount of audit procedures make up for the lack of internal controls?
13. What techniques did you use to prevent the auditors from performing an effective audit?
14. Did you ever feel like Eddie was taking his scheme out of control? Was there a time when you had a fear of getting caught?
15. After investigations started to unfold, what was the main reason for cooperating with the government officials and civil plaintiffs?
16. What was going through your mind at the time of investigation (regret, fear etc.)?
17. Did you destroy any documents to obstruct the criminal and civil investigations?
18. What was the result of both cases and what happened to Eddie Antar and the rest of the family members involved? Do you and Eddie Antar still talk?
19. Did any of the Antar family members involved in the fraud, including you, ever have a discussion about the morality of the fraud?
20. In regards to the Bernie Madoff scandal and many others like it that occurred after yours, who do you put the blame on? Why are white-collar crimes of this size still being committed?
21. A big part of the business world is being able to handle criticism. With you being in public’s eye in a negative way, how did you handle the negative and harsh things that was said of you and what you did?
22. What is the main lesson you learned from your experience and if you had never gotten caught would you have continued what you were doing?
23. What is the motivation for you to speak openly about the case and become an advisor for law enforcement?
Key Points:
Sam Antar made many key points about frauds in the business world. A main point that Sam kept on focusing on was the point of people being naive. It is our job as people to be aware of our surroundings and not to believe everything we hear. Crazy Eddie’s commited the biggest fraud of their time which affected many investors and totaled to over 100 million dollars. Another key point that was showed through this panel was that ethics is a huge issue today. Honesty and integrity in the accounting and financial firms is a key point to look out for because many situations like Sam’s is still going on today. It is shown that their are still flaws in the auditing process and their needs to be a change in that area.
Closing Statement:
Since we are a young generation that will have to deal with these problems of fraud in our life, it will be a good idea to maybe introduce a class on fraud. This class will hope to teach us more about how to be aware of these flaws in the industry and to make sure it does not happen to us. Make sure that when investing your money that you are aware of the situation and do your research on the company to make sure that you are not being taken advantage of. Having this panel also gives us the opprotunity to learn from Sam’s mistakes and to give us a sense of the path that you will take if you decided to go down the wrong road. It is better to learn from someone else’s mistake then to make it yourself. Also learn to accept the consequences of your actions and mainly learn from them and turn your experience into a positive by educating people about your situation.
81 responses so far
This was indeed a very interesting panel. I enjoyed the fact that it was something unique where Sam Antar discussed about the darker side of the business world. It was interesting that this fraud case was a classic textbook case discussed in our accounting classes here in Baruch. In our accounting information classes, we discuss about the fraud cases and analyze it, but we are never able to hear the other side of it; therefore from the point of view of the person committing the fraud. Some points that Mr Antar brought out were quite fascinating to me such as how people like him are career criminals who have a broad network of supporters and other people who are in the fraud, which in this case is his family and how they make a living doing what they do. In addition, he pointed out how many people are looking for power/status and not money as an incentive, which is the conclusion many of us jump to when we think about why people commit a fraud.
I have to say this was an excellent panel. The topic of fraud seems to be more relevant in our lives than we actually know. Even though we ourselves may not necessarily commit acts of fraud, there is such a high chance of us being victims. The speaker Sam Antar could not have been more credible- he was a criminal himself! Hearing his story added excitement to the topic- especially since he was brutally honest and left no questions unanswered. His honestly was refreshing and I think group 2 did a fantastic job of linking the topic and the speaker. I liked that this wasn’t a “typical” panel. Sam used the board, walked around the room and enthusiastically told his anecdotes rather than sat at a table the whole time. This tells much about his personality as you may have seen from the presentation. The fact that the audience had so many questions to ask after the presentation showed that Sam was a very interesting character and his story was engaging and real. I thoroughly enjoyed watching and being a part of this presentation. Great job!
I like Sam a lot! He gave a fantastic presentation of his experience of commiting a white-collar crime and how does it work. I also feel very thankful that he changed his life by using his intelligence not to continue to commite the crime but to help the government and firms to investigate the white collar criminals. The presentation was flowingly done in which the moderators and the guest speaker know when to ask or answer the questions. I also like that Group 2 had an excellent closing statement that sort of wrapping up what Sam had talked about in his presentation. This panel is not boring at all! Most of us including me laughed many times during the presentation. Sam is very humorous and charming! I appreciate him that he’s willing to talk about his experience of being a criminal and how he faced his life after that. It’s another way of showing us that we should not ruin our future by doing something unlawful. Overall Group 2 had done a fantastic job!
I like Sam a lot! He gave a fantastic presentation of his experience of commiting a white-collar crime and how does it work. I also feel very thankful that he changed his life by using his intelligence not to continue to commite the crime but to help the government and firms to investigate the white collar criminals. The presentation was flowingly done in which the moderators and the guest speaker know when to ask or answer the questions. I also like that Group 2 had an excellent closing statement that sort of wrapping up what Sam had talked about in his presentation. This panel is not boring at all! Most of us including me laughed many times during the presentation. Sam is very humorous and charming! I appreciate him that he’s willing to talk about his experience of being a criminal and how he faced his life after that. It’s another way of showing us that we should not ruin our future by doing something unlawful. Overall Group 2 had done a fantastic job!
This was an excellent panel. The speaker was able to take the attention off the fact that he was a crook, and focus more on entertaining to class as the experiences that he had along the way. I was glad that he spoke very candidly and was quite transparent in his feelings about the fraud that he had committed. I enjoyed that he walked around the room and walked over to the individuals who were asking the questions. This kept the class engaged and brought the class to a more personal level with the speaker. I enjoyed the lessons he taught us in “White Collar Crime 101” and find it ironic that he is now assisting the government. This was a unique presentation and one that I very much enjoyed.
This was for sure a very interesting topic however I think it was really risky only having one speaker. Sam’s lack of remorse or guilt for his actions really turned me off and had me taken back a little bit and because of this I really didn’t take much from him. I also felt I was getting a lecture on how to “cook the books” at times and I didn’t think that was the point. I also really wish everyone in the group would have had a chance to speak. However I’m not going to lie this was a really interesting topic most certainly for me because I want to do something similar as to what Sam does now. I want to work for the government as a financial accountant or my back up plan which is to move to Hollywood and because a famous Reality TV Star! But anyway I really liked how Sam wanted to address everyone’s questions but by doing this at times he seemed to be more in control of the class than they actual group but it still worked out fine. And considering Sam wouldn’t sit at the desk and took up the powerpoint I really thought the group was going to fall apart and they didn’t which shows what a great panel this was and how they were prepared for little setbacks they may have encountered. I know had I been in this panel and Sam wouldn’t sit in his seat I think I would have pushed the panic button seconds into the panel. Really great job Group two I was really impressed!
An amazing and engaging presentation filled important information. Like Sam Antar said, Fraud is not a class offered by many school and many overlook it as an important topic. Sam Antar was an amazing speaker who shared information that few could give us. To see how he committed fraud gives us a chance in possible detecting fraud before the collateral damage occurs. Sam shows that fraud can happen so easily because as human beings are so trusting and gullible. His ability to be so brutally honest makes sure that we understand how theses individuals think and how dangerous they can be. This panel presentation kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time and I enjoy learning the way of an evil mastermind.
This was an AMAZING panel. Not only was it vibrant and well given, but the information was relevant, interesting, and most of appealing to anyone who listens. The speaker was able to keep everyone, not only entertained, but alert as well. It was definitely not boring.
The information that he shared with us was, above all, relevant, informative, and real. Fraud is a major issue in our world today, and unfortunately the fraudulent acts of others affects everyone in the long run. Hearing about the ways people are defrauded, and the measures and extents that people would go to in order to defraud another person makes people very skepitcal about entering the business world. However, at one point or another everyone will have to do so and it is important to be informed of the kinds of people who are out there to steal from you, and the ways in which they do.
Overall, this was an incredible presentation, and the questions were not only simply understood, but very informative. Group 2 did an amazing job!
It wasnt a typical “school” associated topic. It was different, and more relevant and useful than many other boring topics that are discussed. The fact that a true white collar criminal was the one informing us of his crimes, and being honest about it without fear or regret for his actions, made the presentation all the more interesting, and influential.
I thought Sam Antar was an amazing speaker because he spoke openly and honestly about what he had done. However, I felt that this presentation was more of a lecture than a panel. I think it may have been more effective to have another viewpoint on fraudulent activities presented. Perhaps the group could have brought in a law enforcement official or an individual who invested with Madoff and lost a lot of money. All in all, I think the topic had a great shock effect and definitely kept the audience on their toes. I especially liked how Antar said, “If I say I feel bad about what I had done, I would be lying.” This is very honest of him to admit and I like that.
This was a very educational topic. The white-collar crime is something that could be a nightmare for all of us. Thus I think that it is necessary to learn as much as possible about it. The presentation went very well, despite the fact that Mr. Sam Antar took over the whole event. Mr. Antar is a very confident speaker with an enormous amount of energy. He provided us with a very realistic view of what is going on in the mind of the white-collar criminal. His message was clear. No matter what we would like to believe we always have to be very skeptical and careful about everyone and everything in our lives. Mr. Antar was absolutely honest and engaged in the discussion with all the students, while answering all the questions. The audience enjoyed this presentation and had many questions at the end. Overall great job Group 2!
Sam Antar is one of those mysteries in life. Use to run one of the biggest scams and is now rewarded for he’s knowledge of the game. This is one of the weirdest success stories I ever heard of. The one thing I took away from the panel is that people are to trusting. You smile and have a great personality and great jokes. Someone will love you. I’m still trying to wrap my head around how society works.
” We all have to live with a certain amount of sin and temptation. With the right amount of temptation, sin will be committed” Absolutely loved this quote from him. upon hearing who this guy was I thought he might be a little too Sopranos for me. But upon seeing him and hearing him speak, ALL I could think about was how brilliant this guy is. Well he had to be in order to pull of “one of the largest securities frauds of its time. ” He was charming,funny,intelligent and painfully honest.He told the class who,what,when,where,why and how they manage to pull it off. It was the Sam Antar show and we were just coming in for the ride. What I found facinating was his honesty. He didn’t try to be someone else for the sake of impressing anyone. The lesson I felt he wanted us to take away from that was not how to become a crook, instead it was how to prevent ourselves from being taken advantage of by a crook. Truly awesome panel.
Deffinately a very interesting topic as well as a very interesting panel. I thought that Sam Antar was a great speaker. He interacted with the class with confidence, although his confidence may be mistaken for no sense of remorse or guilt. However, it’s a great lesson to see that someone with such confidence and charm, and know that those qualities are not necessarily good because they may be very deceiving, as Sam Antar said himself. I also found it very interesting because this a an epic textbook case, something we learn from, and to hear from the man himself who has done is amazing. It deffinatelly teaches us to be more careful and protect ourselves, especially that fraud is such a big issue these days. Sam Antar definately kep tus alert and entertained with his story!
This is a very interesting topic. In the very beginning of the presentation, I was thinking about how inappropriate this is because Sam was pretty much teaching us how to do fraud. However, by touching upon such a sensitive topic in an academic environment shows us how to approach such a situation in the future if it were to happen. Sam was very engaging and very lively as he answers the many questions. There is no doubt that he is extremely confident and pretty much guilt-free when it comes to his involvement in such activity. I guess I wouldn’t blame him because he did managed to screw a lot of people up just by twitching some numbers here and there. It’s actually pretty genius of him. But honestly, it frightens me how he had never reflected on what he did, regardless of whether or not he feels remorseful towards it. He mentioned how since there’s nothing to be done anyway now that he had committed such crimes, there’s no point “changing” himself. Yes, it is true that you can’t change your past, but it doesn’t hurt to change the way you are so you can have a better future. But I guess it’s not like his future is looking so grim that he needs to completely transform his life or something. All in all, he is definitely one of the most interesting person I’ve ever listened to and I truly admire Group 2 for bringing in someone to talk about something so sensitive in our management class.
There’s no doubt in anybody’s mind that Sam Antar has charisma. It was clear to all 80 students clinging on to his every word just how this man with seemingly no conscious finagled millions of dollars from the federal government.
Fraud is without a doubt a prevalent issue in our society, and it seems all too common even in organizations that would appear superficially trustworthy and ethical. I respect that Mr. Antar continues to make a living talking about what he does best, but a part of me feels that a self-admitted “lifer” wouldn’t have any regret being designated a snitch. I’ve seen enough films and TV shows about prison to know that you can’t be considered a real criminal, or a real man for that matter, if you squeal without a second thought.
That being said, the panel was conducted well. Even with a single panelist, my interest was held for the entire hour and fifteen minutes. The questions were relevant, but at some points they seemed a bit redundant.
I must admit that I was very taken aback by this panel, I definitely was not expecting to hear from one of the men behind such a huge fraud. Mr. Antar definitely took control of the panel and gave a memorable lecture. From the first moment that he began to speak, he captured my attention and I was very curious to hear what he had to say.
As a business major myself, it is good to hear about both sides of business (positive and negative). I feel that at Baruch, we are not really taught how to handle difficult situations such as fraud.
One criticism I have is that I would have liked to hear from another individual that dealt with fraud, just to hear someone else’s perspective. Also, a few of the questions were not very open-ended and were more “yes” or “no” questions. Other than that, this was definitely a great panel.
I thought this a very interesting Panel, knowing previously the story of the crazy eddie scandal this open up more ideas, and gave me more knowledge on what really happened, It was great to hear everything first hand, I respect Mr. Antar for being honest with the things he said, and it showed in his character and the way he spoke. The panel was conducted perfectly, the format was great because it kept me interested the entire time. He happened to keep me listening the entire time, and from the classes reaction to him i can see he had a similar effect universally. I thought it was great to bring in a “former” criminal to discuss ethics. Although i do believe alot of what he said was to please the crowd, but it was different to hear it from the direct source independent of the validity. The questions were also greatly organized and the entire presentation kept flowing.
This was a great panel. I thought Sam was very energetic and honest about the whole Crazy Eddie ordeal, which was great. At first I found it a bit odd for referring to himself as a crook multiple times, but I respect him for not trying to preach how fraud is terrible and should never be done. I think the way he presented the topic gave a more real explanation and a clear view of how fraud works within the business world.
Overall group 2 did a great job and it was a pleasure to be able to hear Sam Antar’s story.
When I read this group would have only one guest I thought it was extremely risky, but now I understand why. Probably it would be impossible to have 2 or 3 speakers at the same level as Mr. Sam Antar.
For the group: I think they did a great job. However, I didn’t like the guest only for the fact that he seemed proud of his actions. He impressed me when he admitted not being sorry for his actions in the past, but I also have to give him some credit for that since what we all expected was the opposite. For this matter he was “honest”.
I believe that everything we have learned in this class so far, Mr. Sam Antar just taught us the opposite. But I guess it is good to see the dark side of the business industry. At least I will be prepared in the future for people and their masks in the business world.
As I walked into the room, I Sam Antar talking to Professor Tawil. I immediately thought to myself that this was going to be a boring panel due to there only being one panelist. Then, when I saw the video play, and the group introduced Sam as a convicted felon and white collar criminal, I was thinking to myself on how inappropriate this topic is and why on Earth would the group invite this man to talk to us about his fraudulent acts? Boy, was I mistaken. I really enjoyed this topic. I never thought I’d be able to say that a ‘criminal’ has given me advice. He brought up some interesting points and they made me rethink the way I see certain people. It’s very interesting to learn about what goes on through a criminal’s minds.. from the words of a criminal. As a Freshman Seminar peer mentor, one session that we dedicate to teach to Freshmen students is Ethics. I think that Baruch should provide advanced courses on Ethics and how they relate to our respective majors/careers. Also, after this panel presentation, I checked out Sam Antar’s website. I remember he clearly stated that he was not sorry for his actions. However, when I read through his website I found this:
“I take full and complete responsibility for my actions and apologize to all the victims of my crimes. ”
Interesting.
If Baruch College offered a class on fraud, I would be the first one to sign up. Being a very gullible person isn’t a good quality, especially when entering the business field. Sam Antar, in my opinion, is a smart criminal. He has such passion to teach and educate others about fraud and how to avoid what he had done in his past. This was a very interesting topic, and I am glad Group 2 had thought of this. There are many things that can be taken from this presentation. The fact that Mr. Antar had committed such fraud and he is willing to educated others about his behavior and sending a positive message is very bold on his part. He had shared with us such personal information, at one point I thought I was listening to an episode of CSI. The class felt a connection with a guy who put his family into jail and had no regret at the end because he played the game the right way and got out when he needed to.
I also liked the fact that this presentation was not very formal. The fact that Mr. Antar was all over the place, wrote on the board, engaged with the class and answered questions all the same time showed his excitement and true energy. Overall, Great job group 2!!
Team 2 definitely had an interesting topic and speaker. In my Abnormal Psychology class, I recently learned that people with anti-social personality disorder, or psychopaths, have no conscience whatsoever. It was interesting because I definitely believe Sam Antar fit into this category. Throughout the whole presentation, I was slightly afraid, but expectant that he would pull out a gun and kill everyone. But the topic he spoke about was definitely something that stayed with me. It is a terribly shocking, but realistic that schools usually don’t hold any fraud courses. I found this to be the point that really changed me and want to study this on my own, especially since I will be entering the accounting field in the future. Sam was also probably right in saying that no one really cares about you. People are generally in it for themselves and he shoved that in our faces. What I was able to take away from this panel was that people always wear masks, and you really never know their intentions. Especially in the business world, people want to make money and most don’t really care how they get it. In the beginning, I was expecting Sam to teach us both of the discredited individuals in the business world and how he changed and got out of that. He did tell us that he now works for the government, but it went a totally different direction for me. I could tell from both his words and tones that he genuinely felt no guilt. Throughout the presentation, I felt that he was just trying to convince us to be criminals, and I’d have to say it felt a little inappropriate, though interesting.
If I knew what was going to happen in our classroom on Monday morning when group 2 was to present I would prepare to record the whole event. It was an experience one of the kind. I was telling this story to my friends after class and they could not believe it was the reality.I give a lot of credit to group number 2 for being able to bring such a personality to the class. His story was shocking, controversial and eye-opening. Definitely very interesting and engaging. No doubts there were tons of questions and concerns.
Mr. Antar is a very good public speaker and knows how to attract his audience. I really consider myself lucky facing such an individual in such “safe” circumstances. It was definitely the most interesting panel. But when it comes to evaluating, I thought it was not really a panel , but a show of one man. He really overwhelmed the moderators . I can’t even remember if they had a closing statement and what kind of questions they were asking. I still think they did a good job though.The bar is set really high for the next groups.
I thought Sam Antar was very honest and had very interesting points in his presentation. I thought he brings up a very good point when he said it does not matter if he tells people that he does not feel sorry and regretful or tells people that he is sorry and knows he was wrong. In the end, it will not change anything that has happened. All those who were affected will still be affected. Also, I thought we can all learn from him when he said someday one of us might run into someone like him. Hopefully no one will run into someone who tears their career apart and have to start all over. So, we all need be aware and careful about what we do every step of the way in our careers. In addition, I did not agree with his ethics but I am grateful he expressed his true self because it gave me insight to the real business world that not everything will be perfect. You just need to make the best out of it.
Group 2 really brought out a true character to the classroom. I would have never expected to sit there and listen to a criminal give us advice. I thought it was great how group 2 took the panel to a different direction and allowed to class to see things from a different perspective by inviting Mr. Antar to speak to us. He really opened my eyes and made me realize that you have to be alert and aware of things especially in the business world. I liked that this was not like the typical panels. Mr. Antar took control and was full of energy. The way he talked to the class and walked around and used the board engaged the students and made everyone alert to what he was saying. Overall, I think it was a great presentation and I give lots of credit to group 2 for being able to get him to come speak to us.
I think there was a lot we can learn from Mr. Sam Antar, but not what most people would have learned. I personally didn’t think his scam was all that impressive. He even told us that a great deal of small business owners who deal mainly in cash tend to cook the books and scam the government. However, he was very charismatic and a great salesman, which is something that we can all learn and apply to most of our life. Even though his scam wasn’t that great (espescially since he was caught in the end), he managed to sell it as a good scam to nearly the entire class through his charisma and humor. I liked that he was able to teach us a little bit about the different types of white collar crimes and give us a firsthand perspective of actually doing it. I thought the panel did a good job by only having him come in as a speaker. Any more people and he wouldn’t have produced a good panel. My only complaint was that Mr. Antar spent some of his time directly responding to the people asking the questions, rather than facing and addressing the class as a whole.
I thought this discussion was a different spin on accounting and proved that it’s not boring number-crunching work. Forensic accounting is an interesting field and as a Law & Order junkie, I felt like Sam Antar’s presentation was an episode unraveling in front of my eyes. In regards to Antar’s description of his crime and the aftermath, I was shocked that he didn’t feel even the slightest bit of remorse and declared over and over that he has no heart and feelings. It was definitely a wake-up call; I was fascinated by his story but realized that I trust people quite easily and am indeed more gullible than I’d like. As an accounting major, I need tougher skin and I need to question rather than accept, read between the lines and not fall for the lies of scumbags that I’m sure to face in my future. Since we also recently had a quiz on the chapter about ethics, I thought this panel came at a perfect time.
There is nothing more exciting than getting a lesson on fraud from someone who was actually found guilty of a crime the size of Crazy Eddie’s. The panel presentation shone light on a more exciting aspect of accounting–forensic accounting and the practices associated with exposing fraud are definitely action-packed. Sam Antar himself had a very strong personality, and aside from the topic of the panel discussion, just listening to him talk was interesting enough–he practically took control of the class and taught an entire lesson himself. I am an accounting major, and learning about the development of the Crazy Eddie fraud was definitely an eye-opening experience!
I loved this panel! It was so exciting to be able to hear from a man who is an actual criminal. I think what especially made it so great was that he was so OPEN with the students, he repeatedly admitted that he doesn’t feel bad for doing what he did and that if he had a chance to do it all over again, he would do it without a doubt. Even though he is a “crook”, I think he really opened up some people’s eyes to the harsh reality of the world around us. He openly told us that there are a lot of crooks like him who do what they do best because people like us let them. This is great advice, I think people should always try to be aware of everyone around them and not trust them just because they’re charismatic and they talk well. We should all look beyond that and always trust the facts, not words. Sam Antar was energetic and in some ways too open. It’s very different from what business students are so used to, keeping up professionalism and respect, but this was a nice change and overall a great panel.
The most interesting panelist so far. My impression of Mr. Antar changed many times throughout the presentation. Seeing the situation from his point of view makes me understand his action in regard to the position that he was in. There was a lot of lessons being taught from his personal experience which made it hard to oppose his view but at the same time to side with him. The presentation definitely caught my interest despite it having only one presenter, the quality was definitely there. Overall I thought that this presentation served as a very good example for how the business world works in a different perspective and puts in to view the result of crime.
Quite easily one of the more interesting and eye-opening speakers that I’ve ever heard. To be caught in one of the biggest securities frauds of his time and not having much of a punishment is unacceptable, but unfortunately it is reality. Here’s a man who was previously a criminal who can speak from a point of view that is very different from what we are all accustomed to. It all doesn’t make sense how as a community we can be so accepting and loving for a guy who was a criminal and at the same time have no remorse for being one. Sounding friendly and being energetic certainly has its benefits and we can see it as evident in this presentation. If he had come in not being friendly and energetic, bragging about all the money he made from his crimes, then I’m sure we would have all hated the guy, but it’s his charisma that makes him so likable, and that is how he was able to trick so many people into believing he was an honest man.
This was a rather enlightening lecture. In a previous accounting class, I learned about fraud through videos and case studies. To be in the same room with an actual felon was a completely different experience. Sam Antar, while at times a little inappropriate, got his points across. I still can’t believe that he has no regrets and that he’d probably still be ‘in the game’ had he not been caught. It’s just sad to think that fraud can so easily sneak past the law. It is obvious that fraud is still widespread and that it is almost impossible to catch everyone doing it.
Although the panel members put in a lot of hard work in preparing for their presentation, I did not however appreciate the manner in which their panelist spoke. I feel that, as a Jew, he was very degrading and somewhat of an embarrassment to the Jewish community. I do not think that what he said in class was very valuable information, and I personally did not learn much from it. He did make several good points though, and did keep the class very entertained, and focused. He had no problem keeping our attention. But he was extremely disloyal, and very arrogant.
However, the topic he spoke about WAS very relevant to us today because thousands, if not millions, of people are being defrauded everyday. It was important for us to learn that people like Sam Antar do exist, and are trying to use us for what we have- whether its money, power etc. It is important to be aware of the crimes being committed in the business world, and important to learn how to avoid being associated with such crime, and such criminal people.
One thing he did teach us is that in the end no crime pays off. He showed us what life would be like once convicted of crime- meaningless, and how at the end of the day, the only way to truly get ahead in our careers and in life is by being ethical.
The group put together a very interesting presentation. They were very organized, and their speaker stayed on topic. In my opinion Panel 2 did a great job.
Needless to say, this was definitely an interesting panel. I cannot say that I absolutely loved Mr. Antar, but I loved that he came in for this presentation. While the theme of fraud seemed to be prevalent throughout Mr. Antar’s presentation and comments, what I found most interesting was how he succeeded in his fraudulent practices. Aside from building up a wall of integrity and being a good communicator, Mr. Antar got to where he did because of the incompetent people that should have known that something was wrong but were too naive to conduct due diligence. This is a great lesson to all of us about to go into the workforce and conduct our own finances. There are hundreds of people like Mr. Antar, and we should have that in the back of our minds, especially prior to making financial decisions.
This was a very good panel. I think I had learned alot from the panelist. Sam Antar did a great presentation of his past, idea, and life. He said that whether a white collar criminal regret about his/her crime is not important because it won’t change anything. The important is for us to learn from past experience and proceed into the future. This panel seems to me like a lesson class. And i learned from it.
This was an amazing panel as we were able to hear from an individual who committed fraud. Usually, we only hear of these stories in the papers so it was very interesting to get a different viewpoint in such a situation. I was able to learn that one should carry about life with no regrets, only learning from each and every experience and moving on. If we are continually stuck on our past mistakes, we will only regress and never progress.
I think that this is the most creative expression of how to go about teaching ethics. I was amazed at how the opening and closing statements related to the presentation. I admire Mr. Antar for his devotion and time to educate the community. I think that he put on a bit of an act when describing his attitude towards his history and his reluctance to regret.
This is a very unique and interesting panel. I did not expect such a panelist to come. Sam Antar was great at presenting and very charismatic. He taught the class to not trust anybody, specially in the business world. We never know who is out to get us and we never know whether a nice guy really is nice. Unlike other panelist he spoke about the other side of business, the criminal side. It is great to know how a business criminal thinks and this can help the class out in the long run.
One con about the panel is that it felt more like a lecture and not a panel. There was no actual discussion. Despite this it was still a very engaging panel.
At first I have to say I was nervous for this panel because it seemed that Eddy was in fact CRAZY. He seemed all over the place and like he was going to answer the questions, but also go off topic. I believed that the students asking the questions did a good job of keeping him focused and getting to all the questions they wanted to ask.
Eddy had some pretty good points to make. Its true that there are those who are out to just do wrong by the people they work with. What I learned is to always be on your toes when dealing with others in business. There are many who set up a “false integrity” and can trick you to thinking they are good. Just take a step back and think about the situation surrounding you.
I believe he had a point about colleges setting up classes on fraud. It is the one thing in life that we are most likely to face and yet we do not learn about it in college.
Another point he mentioned is to look for the signs of fraud. Every fraud is the same the only difference is the people and the way they play the game.
Overall I thought this was a good panel.
This panelist has a very unique personality and story behind him. I loved the energy that he brought to class, and I was pleased to see how the group tied and made connections between the crazy eddies scandal and the material we learned in class. Most importantly, i think it was great that the fraud topic was brought to class, because it is something that is not taught or spoken about often in the Business world. It was a very risky topic to handle, but you guys did a great job overall, your panelist was fantastic.
What an exciting panel! It was contradictory in every aspect. But i loved it! At first I took Mr. Antar to be a very hypocritical person, entertaining yes, but hypocritical. But as the panel continued, I realized everything he said was said with good intentions for a better future (aka us!). I think this controversial panel divided the class. Is Mr. Antar a good person or not? I personally loved hearing what he had to say as long as you don’t take him too seriously. He means well and had a lot of applicable things to say. This whole panel was mostly a warning to watch out for crooks like him which is unorthodox but effective.
I love Sam. He’s a funny guy and i would give him credit for giving up a lot to stand up and rat on such big company. I also learned a lot about white collar crime from the panel. A lot of things he said was true. From this panel, I learned that we need to learn from our past and be able to always know what is right and wrong.
Such an interesting topic! I definitely give credit for panel #2 to come with a taboo subject and find someone who is willing to present such a passion about it. Mr. Antar definitely knew about how to go around the system and what the dark side of accounting is like. Although he engaged with a lot of students and made the topic interesting, you can tell that he want people to understand how the system is faulty and the immense need to understand how fraud can happen. I applaud panel #2 for thinking “outside-if-the-box.”
i really like this panel the fact that telling all the new generation people to watch out for people like him. it is really hard for people to even accept what they did was wrong and even to be really openly about it. this is definitely really beneficial to me in the long run especially when you start working out there in the real world. like he said you dont want someone like him to ruin your career that you invest 4-5 years in and it all goes down the drain
This was definitely an interesting topic. San Antar definitely knows how to hold a room! Although he can be very abrasive because he is extremely open, he gave valuable information that will help us in the business world, whether we want to scam people in the future, or avoid being scammed. It seems like the best lessons can be learned from those who have exploited it, i.e. criminals
This was a great presentation. This speaker was the best in the class so far. I learned so much about white collar crime from someone that, unfortunately, lived through it since adolescence. My eyes were opened to a lot of things that I did not know about before.
This was by far my favorite panel due to the fact that Sam Antar is a type of individual that you will not meet everyday. I liked that the fact he wasn’t holding anything back and he was being honest. And on top of having an interesting person, fraud is a very interesting topic. It’s a topic that people rarely talk about so when someone does talk about it, it grabs their attention. I enjoyed how Sam Antar talked the dark side of the finance. Like he said, he’s warning the class that there are people like him in this world so you can’t trust everybody you meet. I learned the most from this panel therefore this is why it is my favorite so far. Great Job Panel 2.
I liked this panel a lot! Sam Antar was super interesting, and I think this isn’t just because he’s an ex-criminal. I’d say he’d be just as interesting if he wasn’t one. Its interesting to have someone on the ‘bad’ side to tell us what they did and the mentality behind it. I’ll admit, that at times I was thinking: My god, why would you do such a thing? And then he made the point that you can’t trust anyone out there (which I still don’t quite agree) and that there should be people to look out for criminals like him. I thought his pyramid diagram was interesting, and how he labeled the hierarchy of crimes. I’ve always been into criminal psychology, so this was definitely interesting to me.
When I first heard who the speaker was and what his story was my first impression was that we were in for a lesson on how to commit fraud, which of course wasn’t the case. I liked how the panel chose this direction, I thought it was unique and the speaker did well in keeping everyone interested. I personally did not like a few things he said because it did sometimes sound like he did not learn anything from his mistake and was not sorry, but I liked that he accepted who he was and is today. I liked that there was an interesting backstory to this speaker, and thought the topic relevant especially with everything that is going on in the economy today and with the recent Madoff scandal.
When I first heard that there was only one panelist for the second group, I was a bit surprised. But, I was not disappointed for even a bit on the day of the presentation. Mr. Antar was an interesting and knowledgable accountant. He was not ashame of what he has done in the past. He did not try to hide the his personality from us and told us what he did in the past. This was a very unique panel presentation and its good to know this side of the accountant world. It will also inspire us will be accountants to be more careful. But its also good to know that for white crimes, you only have to face house arrest and can even be a forensic accountant working for the FBI!
Coming into class this day I was wondering who is this crazy guy up front. Then as the presentation started, I was taken in. Had to be the most interesting panel. So much information he gave came out to us as a class and stuck with us. I loved that he kept referring to himself as a crook and not to trust anyone. Mr. Antar was definitely a wild card to bring into class and Panel 2 suceeded 100%. His story was intense and there was always more to hear. Definitely the top panel as of 11/25.
This was honestly the most interesting panelist that I feel any group has brought in so far. Like many of my other classmates, I was a little skeptical at the thought of bringing in one panelist but after the presentation, I think we can all agree that Sam Antar was more than enough for the panel. The fact that they brought in someone who has actually committed a white collar crime and could comment on it so easily with little remorse was astounding. The lack of any type of punishment this man recieved may surprise many people but the lessons he brings by informing others of his crimes are invaluable. That is why I feel this panel was so successful. This man was charasmatic and personable. Two exact traits he even stated you need to commit white collar crime. In our education we aren’t taught about the dangers of crime or informed about anything of the sort. Yet in an hour and a half class this one man who had actually committed fraud taught most of us more than we could learn in an entire semester of a class reading from a book. Bravo.
The group 2’s panel was the most interesting panel for me. First of all, this panel was definitely different from other panels. During the presentation, I felt like I was witnessing the real-world-white-collar-crime scenes in the class room. Sam Antar’s own experience amazes me, and makes me wonder how a person can commit those crimes. Also, he was honest about his past life. I didn’t hide anything. Instead, he chose to speak up about crimes he committed. His charisma and humor captured me during the presentation, and I can surely say that I learned more than I learned about fraud and white collar crime in my other classes. Nothing beats real experience. I think for some people, this panel and the panelist could’ve been uncomfortable because he is a criminal for sure, but for me it was exciting experience and I loved it.
The group 2’s panel is great, the amazing guest speak, the topic is inveresting, and he shared his experience with us, he talked about white collar crime in class.he talks a lot of thing I never heard before. also from what the Mr.Sam said in class, we should think about what is right or wrong, Beware of it.
Panel # 2 was very new and refreshing and also something totally unexpected from me. I found Sam’s story to be very interesting when he told us about his white collar crime and how he picked himself back up after committing his fraud. Although there was only one panelist I still found this to be the most interesting. Job well done!
This panel was very different from the first one in the sense that Sam was very open with the audience and actually communicated his points more effectively by using body language. Another important aspect about this panel was the fact that the guest speaker Sam Antar advised the audience to be very aware of what to do when it comes to business.
Sam Antar was a very interesting man. His life experience is very unusual; therefore it really called my attention. The information shared was very educational and his life experience as a criminal was a real fraud’s example that we don’t really hear in our classrooms. I think that the message behind this presentation was to be aware of people with his mentality; since there are some people that we should not trust. The group was very organized and very adaptable to any change (when Mr. Antar did not want to sit). Over all GREAT job group
Panel #2 brought in a fresh and new perspective to the class. Sam Antar is an interesting man but seemed a bit too arrogant for me to want to listen to him talk for the whole class. His life story and reasoning made sense but he has such a negative outlook on life. Personally, I just thought Sam Antar was annoying. However, Panel 2 did a great job in bringing in a great speaker to speak on their topic. I don’t think they could have found any other person as charismatic and vocal as Sam Antar who isn’t in jail.
Even though there was only one speaker, he kept my attention throughout the whole presentation. It was a great idea to bring someone from the other side or the law and ethics. There were moments when I thought when he was joking about his personality, but eventually I realized that he is one of those people you wouldn’t want to work with. Thanks to this group, I think we all will be more aware of our environment and our colleagues. I also hope that nobody will pick a path Sam Antar took. Great job, group 2!
This was a great panel, and the panelist Sam Antar was a very interesting man. I enjoyed how Sam Antar talked the dark side of the finance. Like he said, he’s warning the class that there are people like him in this world so you can’t trust everybody you meet. It seems like the best lessons can be learned from those who have exploited it.
It might seem that commenting on my own group panel presentation would inherently be biased, but here it is anyway. First off, taking part in this project was an experience in itself. As the sixty comments above dictate, Sam Antar is not your average “Joe”. Bringing in an “ex” crook was an idea that was not only exciting but bold and risky as well. Mr. Antar often gave us one-word replies to emails and would not pick up his phone for days, so we were all honestly very relieved to see him walk through the front doors of Baruch College on the morning of our presentation. And he surely did not attempt to conceal his true colors for a second. Sam Antar taught me and the rest of the class some very valuable lessons. He opened my eyes to the outside world, and although the picture he painted was somewhat grim and negative, it was persuasive to say the least. He paced the room, asked questions, and did everything in his power to teach a group of 80 Baruch students that people like him really do exist, and that they are around us everyday. He was funny, he was interesting, and he was charismatic. Working on this panel was a pleasure to say the least, and I think the end result proved it to be an especially rewarding experience.
our panel presentation was great because we had great teamwork. Everyone did their part and showed up on time which made everyone’s jobs easier. Niaz and Mickey showed great leadership and the rest of us fed off them. We just had great synergy together and could not have asked for a better group.
I believe our panel was a much needed one in the many panels that were to be presented to the class. The topics discussed by Sam Anter in this panel included many discussions on fraud and the real world. There were many points which Mr. Anter made that should really stick to people especially Baruch students that are going into the business world. Although not everyone is a crook, like Mr. Anter said, there will be people who will try to get ahead using “questionable” strategies. Mr. Anter “enlightened” us about these people and although he is one himself, it was good that he pointed out not everything is as it seems.
I still remember the panelist’s name, which probably means that the presentation was great. Or terrible. Just kidding.
This presentation overall was a pretty good one. One can clearly see that Sam Antar is very passionate about what he does. That is a first sign of a good presentation, and also a sign to actually listen.
I especially liked this presentation because the topic was fraud. Fraud is a major issue not only in the business world, but also in everyday life as well. Lying can be a form of fraud and we see it happening to all of us. When Sam told us he was an ex “crook,” I thought that it was a brilliant idea. I would have expected the group to introduce a panelist who has dealt with fraud, but instead they had brought someone who had committed it.
The one thing I totally agreed with him upon was when he suggested that a class dealing with fraud should be created. I will be looking forward to a class dealing with fraud in the future, hopefully.
However, there were some concerns I found in the group. The majority of the presentation dealt with how to commit fraud. I am very confident in my belief that many of the people, if not everyone in the class, has no interest in committing fraud. He gave us many ways to commit fraud and told us that it isn’t such a bad idea to do so. I was a little disturbed as to how he was promoting us to commit fraud.
But other than that, great job!=)
This panel was a bit irksome but also interesting. this is because we were able to hear from an individual known for his scams and unethical behavior. moreover we were able to understand from him personally what he did, how he did it, what were his motivations and what he feels about his crimes today. Also we were able to be notified and aware of individuals like mr antar who are out there today and pulling off such scams.
What’s worse than a white collar criminal? A white collar criminal who is proud of what he has done! Sam Antar was quite the character to say the least. He was running a fraudulent business with his family for a long time. In order to save himself he practically sent his family to jail for about six years. And what has he learned from this? Nothing! This man has no guilt and has clearly stated that he would do the same thing again. It is most important to realize Antar’s mistakes and learn from them and not repeat them Group 2 did a spectacular job to shine some light on the dirty side of the business world. Good job!!
As part of this Panel, I believe our Panel Presentation lived up to the expectation we expected from our speaker Sam Antar. At first, the process was quite grueling in order to get in contact with Mr. Antar as well as finding a panelist for the Topic-Discredited Individuals in the Business World. Fortunately for us, we were able to bring Mr. Antar in and he definitely exceeded our group’s expectations. Through great teamwork, we were able to put together a presentation and questions which we believed the whole class greatly enjoyed. I could have understood that many of my classmates may have had doubts when they saw only one panel speaker, but Sam Antar definitely stole the show. If I had to do this over again, I would not change a thing.
This was a very interesting topic and a very important one considering the bad economic times that we have been through. I want to say that it was a excellent “panel” but it wasn’t a “panel” because there was only one person (panel implies varying opinions from different people). Putting that aside, for only having one person it was great considering how infamous he was and still is to the business world. As bad as this may sound, it makes you realize that everyone is not your friend and that you should never really trust anyone fully, especially the ones who seem to act too nice to you.
By looking at most of the responses I can tell that our presentation definitely had the desired effect. Our goal was to do something different, but something also relevant to today’s business environment, and something that everyone can learn from. Sam Antar definitely helped to convey a message that a lot of people don’t want to believe, that not everyone is always doing the right thing, and that it is wrong to assume that about everyone you meet in business. People made that mistake about his business, Bernie Madoff, and many others, and we can see how valuable this lesson was. I think it took immense teamwork and leadership in our group not only to bring Sam in, but to manage a presentation for this larger than life character, and I think we did a great job in doing what we wanted to do and not deviating into something else. Like our group member Niaz said, I would not change a thing about this presentation.
Being part of this presentation, I think we did a great job. Good thing we did not get another speaker because Sam Antar would have not let him speak at all. It was very unpredictable of what Sam would do because he has that type of personality but i think his lesson on how to commit fraud definitely reached out to everyone. This way maybe some of us wont be so naive and trustworthy of people in the business world because they can all be like Sam.
Everyone in the class seemed to enjoy the show put on by Sam Antar. This presentation was obviously very interesting. Sam seemed very proud of all of his wrongdoings throughout his life, speaking about his actions as if they were normal- without an ounce of remorse. His main message was that not everyone in the world is so nice and some people are out to get you. This wasn’t news to me and I’m sure it wasn’t news to the rest of the class, so honestly this presentation wasn’t so educational. I would give it a 10 out of 10 in entertaining the crowd, which at times it seemed that was all Mr. Antar was interested in doing. Good presentation, kept the class interested.
I believe that our presentation was more unique and exclusive than any other. First, we were able to bring an extraordinary person, who could speak openly about the crime he had committed and shared the details and the results of his act. I think we have reached our goal of this panel – we planned and organized it in the best way possible, given the unpredictable character of our panelist, Sam Antar and his desire to do it his way. To me, it was a great experience!
I though this panel was interesting. Sam Antar was definitely a great speaker and was able to keep the class paying attention the entire time. Although he spoke about an issue that is applicable to any business, I just hope that the class was able to take away the right message from the speech. Sam Antar spoke very openly, without holding anything back and was very funny. I hope this was a good warning for students to be honest in all their business and personal dealings in the future.
Group asked great questions and was well organized!
I think we did a good job. Our panelist was unique and he presented himself different from any other panelist. I really enjoyed whenever he talked, he always had something funny to say. No one fell to sleep in the class, but all were paying attention.
It was good working with this group. We did a very good job!
I was personally uncomfortable with this panel’s choice of speakers, but I appreciate the fact that people like Sam Antar exist in the business world. I disagree with his idea that everyone is out to take advantage of you, as well as his idea of never trusting anyone. I was also annoyed that he kept saying that not to be like him, but his tone and diction conveyed a sense of pride in what he did, and that it is excusable because so many other small businesses do the same on a regular business. He only regretted the fact that he got caught.
I learned a lot about fraud and trust from Sam Antar. He showed us that there are really immoral people in the business world who will do anything and not feel guilty or regret about it. It was a good life lesson to learn not to trust everyone and to be more skeptical about situations.
Panel #2 had by far the most engaging and original presentation of all the panels. However, I am not sure if it was for the right reasons. I do not want to sound like there was nothing for me to take away from this presentation, because there was, I just could not relate to Mr. Antar as a professional or as a human being. He seemed to use this panel to “toot” his own horn for being a criminal and to revel in his activities which in the end made him a terrible person. Best of all, he totally has shown zero humility despite taking a coward’s way out of his problems. The man knew what he was doing, committed a series of federal crimes for years and in the end sold out his family only to cash in on being a crook. To me he is not a crook. He’s a regular coward. But I digress. I cannot lie the presentation was very captivating, engaging and it caught the audience’s attention like no other panel did. Quite frankly, I just don’t agree with going through life looking out for people trying to hurt or con me. We should have some belief in the goodness of human beings.
The topic for panel 2 was a very interested and original topic to present. Mr. Antar proved many points to our class. Money is the root of all evil. Mr. Antar stole millions by illegal auditing and he even says how to this day he has no regrets. One of the aspects that surprised me the most is how he have no remorse. He put his family members in jail without a second of hesitation. He mentioned how once you are a criminal, you will always be a criminal. The panel chose the perfect guy to lead this discussion. Sam Antar was very engaging in the conversation and kept me focused the whole time. He made a very valuable point when he said not to trust anyone because someone who is charming like him or well-known Mr. Madoff can easily walk into your life and you must be very keen to their attitude and behaviors. It was very well organized with the development of the questions and the closing and opening statements. Great job and amazing presentation group 2!!!
Thank you to Professor Tawil, the panel, and the class for seeking my input on white-collar crime. My goal was to teach you about the brutality of white-collar criminals and not give you a sugar-coated contrite presentation about my crimes with a feel-good happy ending. An important lesson in morality can be learned from being exposed to the immorality of criminals. I enjoyed reading every single comment. It is apparent that you all have a much better understanding of the nature of white-collar crime
Happy New Year to all,
Sam E. Antar
great article, i read white collar crime stuff like this on http://www.dailybusts.com all the time