Reagan psychologist 'lost up to $3m in internet scam'

[bspence]

You always wonder who falls for these internet scams asking to help Nigerians get money out of the country. Here's the article:

Louis Gottschalk, a prominent American psychologist and neuroscientist who earned world renown after studying the mental degeneration of the former president Ronald Reagan, has lost millions of dollars to a Nigerian internet scam, according to court papers filed in California by his son.

Dr Gottschalk was first hooked by the fraud more than 10 years ago, the suit said, and even travelled to Nigeria and Amsterdam for meetings with the shadowy figures involved, including one called "The General". Over a 10-year period, it alleged, he may have given away as much as $3m (about £1.7m).

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article348935.ece

[Missy M]

1. It is amazing that he fell for that ridiculous scam. How could..

anyone with even an ounce of intelligence fall for that. I guess good old GREED takes over their common sense.

[pitohui]

5. you'll be 79 too one day, my friend

he is 89 now, which means he was 79 when he was targeted for the scam

it is a sad reality what aging does to the brain, half of all folks over 85 have alzheimer's, and of course many many many folks start losing their ability to make good judgments years before that

we need to focus more on jailing the evil men who prey on our weak and our elderly and less on trashing victims for the crime of getting older

[Missy M]

8. He still works at the University of California, Irvine in a...

medical plaza that bears his name. I didn't read anywhere in the article about him having Alzheimer's or dementia. I too deplore anyone who preys on the mentally disabled or elderly but this man seemed to be acting on getting easy money and certainly should have known better. He is also fighting his son in court and seems to know what he is doing.

[RedEarth]

11. here's another article dealing with conning the elderly.......

Not trying to be picky, but these crimes are not just limited to "evil men".....check this article out.

Woman pleads guilty to hate crime for conning elderly men

Sherry Kaslov, 30, who most recently resided in Florida but once lived at 24-39 87th St. in East Elmhurst, admitted in court that she conned two men, aged 80 and 84, into giving her tens of thousands of dollars for nonexistent medical bills and other expenses, DA Richard Brown said. She was charged under a 2000 hate crime law because she targeted elderly people, prosecutors said.
She will be sentenced on May 3, the DA said.
Last month a 43-year-old Bayside woman was sentenced to four months in jail for a similar scheme, prosecutors said.


http://www.timesledger.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16227680&BRD=2676&PAG=461&dept_id=573700&rfi=6

I think it's interesting, and appropriate,that she was charged with a hate crime. My father-in-law has Alzheimer's and could very easily be conned on anything. Once is was apparent he didn't have the mental capacity to make money decisions, other family members took over my in-laws financial affairs.

[acmavm]

13. Phooey. Greed has no age limits. n/t

[0007]

17. People that look for something for nothing always get scammed

has hardly nothing to do with age.

This guy set himself up.

[StephanieMarie]

2. Stupid is as Stupid does. nfm

[pitohui]

7. he wasn't always stupid, he is 89 yrs old, crap people!

The incidence of Alzheimer's disease is substantial and is approximately 14 times higher among persons older than 85 years compared with those between 65 and 69 years of age.

this could have been your grand-dad, your father, even you one day

the scammers are targeting our elderly because they know what happens to the brain while we still sit around on our thumbs and pretend that if you do crossword puzzles your brain will be 24 forever

[rooboy]

3. At least he had the right IQ to identify with Reagan. n/t

[AllegroRondo]

4. He actually travelled to Nigeria?

He's lucky he made it out alive. These scammers are known to kidnap the scamees.

[pitohui]

6. yeah they have jets flying to nigeria

every day even

why kidnap an old man teetering on the verge of senility when you can avoid all the adult diaper changes and still get his cash?

[RebelOne]

10. And there have been many who have just disappeared.

Also, some people who have gone to Nigeria to meet up with these crooks have been murdered.

[Strawman]

9. I'd hate to see what the Reagans' astrologist got taken for

[RaleighNCDUer]

12. The first law of the con --

You cannot con an honest man.

Caveat - that applies to this sort of swindle. Plenty of honest folk are conned by, say, fake contractors who overcharge for their labor; have the building supplies billed to the person who paid them after having collect those costs from the individual, etc. But the 'money for nothing' cons always target people who hope for exactly that.

[pitohui]

14. at that age good judgment is the first to go

long before diagnosis you lose the ability to make correct judgments and you make really stupid mistakes, sadly i've had the misfortune to see it close at hand

it is easy to con the elderly, even the honest and good and hard-working elderly, the cogs are starting to slip, that's why frauds target them

[RaleighNCDUer]

15. That's true, but on the other hand,

upon re-reading the entire article, I wonder what is not being said (I admit, I'd only read the first couple paragraphs when I posted). He was aware of the scam after the first year, and the first $300,000 but subsequently lost $900,000 to 'bad investments', and his son claims he lost another $2,000,000 besides. Nobody, but nobody, makes financial investments of that magnitude without involving lawyers, and what did his lawyers have to say about it? Were they his lawyers, or his son's lawyers who might have a vested interest in gaining control of a small fortune?

As a neurologist, an expert on Alzheimers, he'd certainly recognize the early signs of it in himself -- my dad did, and he was no expert. I'd conclude that he is not suffering from any form of senile dementia, but his son is trying to get his hands on his money. Possibly, (don the tinfoil hat) he is also being targeted because of his revelations about Reagan's Alzheimers (no revelation to me - I thought he was clearly losing it by no later than '82).

There's a lot here that doesn't add up. This isn't just a con man convincing some older gentleman to withdraw a few thousand dollars from his savings.

[superconnected]

16. I think thats a catchy phrase but false for any blanket reasoning.

After all, the bush administration has conned half of america. I don't think all of them are dishonest.

[RaleighNCDUer]

19. But they did play on greed --

Vote for me and I will give you back your tax money!

And so many fell for it.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

18. Funny...I just got one of those in my email today

along with a promise of a refund from the "IRS".

[alarcojon]

20. Weird story

I initially sympathize with pitohui's comments - the man is 89 and continued to send money after he promised his family he wouldn't and after he must have known he was defrauded. But then why is he still working, and as a doctor? Is he seeing patients?

Something doesn't add up.

[Kailassa]

21. It's always difficult to sort fact from fiction.

Especially when the opening post references an article which is inaccessable unless you sign up and pay.

Gottschalk — who at 89 still works at the UCI campus medical plaza that bears his name — said in court papers that the losses were caused by "some bad investments."

Guy Gottschalk is asking a judge to remove his father as administrator of the $8-million family partnership that was set up for tax purposes after the death of his mother in 1993. A hearing is set for March 14.

The suit alleges that Louis Gottschalk destroyed bank records to cover up the amount of his losses.

"While it seems unlikely, even ludicrous, that a highly educated doctor like would fall prey to such an obvious con, that is exactly what happened," wrote Guy Gottschalk's attorney in court papers.

By William Lobdell, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
March 2, 2006 http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-nigerian2mar02,0,3251538.story?coll=la-home-headlines

So, what looks reasonably believable here?
1. Father is in control of 8 million dollar partnership.
2. Son wants control of that partnership.
3. Father has lost money, claims it was due to bad investments.
4. Father has destroyed bank records which would show how the money was lost.
5. Son says some of the lost money went on a Nigerian scam.
6. This is not the first time the son has tried to have control of the partnership taken from his father. (sorry, owing to 4 paragraph limit, you'll have to read article for yourselves to see that bit)

Apart from these points, I would not assume anything. We all know that stupidity is a possibility, but we also know the wish to be in control of the money would make some people lie.

The first thing my wicked, conspiracy-theorizing brain came up with was that the father is being blackmailed, and invented the scam idea himself as an excuse, and burnt the bank details under orders from his blackmailer. But I freely admit I would do better as a novel-writer than an investigator. ;-)