27Aug The Naked Truth About The Naked Truth
After almost five years of covering financial fraud on The Faulking Truth, and over two years of writing The Naked Truth: Investing in the Stock Play of a LIfetime, I have honed the thirty-second sound bite to a fine art. At first, I reveled in boring everyone (and I mean everyone, including random people who I accosted on street corners and in homeless shelters), but after the hundredth retelling of the intricacies of the seedy underbelly of financial fraud, I began to bore even myself. Since then, I’ve gradually refined my litany to the point where I can condense the book into a single catchphrase-laden paragraph for drunken partygoers sucking back jello shots:
“Wellllll…..basically, it’s about a tiny diamond mining company from Canada whose CEO promised to create a ‘million millionaires’, but instead teamed up with a bunch of crooks from Las Vegas and sold over 70o billion (emphasis on ‘billion’) shares of stock to 50,000 shareholders, raking in over $250 million. Eventually, a small group of shareholders end up taking on the crooks and the entire financial system in an effort to find justice and retribution.”
Then, for the really thinking-impaired, I follow up with “It’s sort of an Ocean’s Eleven meets Erin Brockovich and John Grisham kind of thing.”
And sometimes, I end with “And in the (yet to be signed, sealed, or delivered) movie, Bruce Willis leaps out of a second story window with flames licking at his middle-aged but still muscular naked ass and lands right on top of Julia Roberts…and they make out as the credits roll.”
And then we all laugh…okay, I guess you have to be there. Trust me, it’s funny as hell.
On the book website (blatant promo HERE: www.thenakedtruthbook.com), I describe it a little more eloquently, but then, I’m assuming people reading the internet are both educated and sober. (Yeah, I know, but it’s a nice thought):
“CEO Urban Casavant initially told investors he would create ‘a million millionaires,’ but, instead, shareholders were led down an uncertain path where they couldn’t separate guilty from innocent or fact from fiction, a path fueled by rumors, innuendos, and outright lies. This tale of promises and blind faith fueled by hopes of riches paints the metaphor of the proverbial American Dream. Readers will live the range of emotions, from elation to disappointment, and everything in between, that 50,000+ shareholders experienced on a roller coaster ride they called ‘The Stock Play of a Lifetime’. Encompassing more than the company’s trials and tribulations, the book follows the shareholders’ fight against inept bureaucracy at the highest levels of America’s financial governance….and then Bruce Willis leaps out of a second story window with flames licking at his middle-aged but still muscular naked ass and lands right on top of Julia Roberts…and they make out as the credits roll.”
So yeah, that’s about it. Two years of intense research and sleep deprivation, hundreds of interviews, a couple of death threats, and a not-so-healthy dose of blood, sweat, and yes, even a few tears, condensed into 350 pages of scintillating page-turning drama.
Yeah, that’s right, I said “scintillating”. What of it?
Surprisingly, the book isn’t even in stores yet, but it’s been featured in an upcoming documentary on financial fraud (coming soon to a theater near you….unless you live in Oklahoma) and has already attracted serious interest in the movie rights. True, “serious interest” doesn’t come with a check attached, but it’s yet another bit of information that makes me a hit at parties, dinners, and even the occasional funeral.
So anyway, buy the damn book (reprise blatant promo: www.thenakedtruthbook.com) so I can pay some past-due bills, or better yet, come to the NONfactory at 3122 N. May in Oklahoma City from 6:00 to 8:30 PM on Saturday, Sept. 6th, and buy it at a discount, and I’ll even sign it for you. And there’s art…and maybe even music, and naked dancers. And if you wait until I’ve had a glass or two of wine, I might even write something clever in your book.
Eh, probably not (and I lied about the naked dancers too).
But you should come anyway. Bring your own jello shots, and I’ll regale you with witty witticisms, complete with animated hand gestures and graphic gory details…wearing all my clothes.
And that’s the Faulking (Naked) Truth.
Contact Mark Faulk at faulkingtruth@gmail.com
21Aug Conversations with Robert A. Maheu
Mark Faulk’s first book, entitled The Naked Truth: Investing in the Stock Play of a Lifetime, is now available at www.thenakedtruthbook.com.
Conversations with Robert A. Maheu
March 8, 2007; March 11, 2007; June 12, 2007; January 18, 2008
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Because of the significance that shareholders attached to Bob Maheu’s involvement in the CMKX saga, I decided, with Bob’s permission, to release the entire portion of my interviews with him pertaining to CMKX. That way, the shareholders of the company and the readers of The Naked Truth: Investing in the Stock Play of a Lifetime can decide for themselves the extent of Maheu’s involvement with the company, or any so-called “sting operation.”
On a personal note, I have to say that my conversations with Bob Maheu were a highlight of this project. As I told him during my conversations with him, I have the utmost respect for Bob Maheu, both as a person of integrity, and for his countless accomplishments over a long and productive life.
After first insisting that I call him “Bob” instead of Mr. Maheu, he led me down a fascinating path through some of his many achievements, including his involvement in the attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro, his years as the alter-ego of Howard Hughes, and his role in aborting a contract between Aristotle Onassis and the King of Saudi Arabia that would have given much of the control of the world’s oil to Onassis. At the time of our conversations, Maheu was involved in extensive interviews covering his entire life, which will eventually be turned into a documentary on the Bay of Pigs and a movie script based on Maheu’s life.
This entire written transcript has been viewed and approved for accuracy by Bob Maheu. (more…)
21Aug Business Beat Live interview with Mark Faulk
01Aug Silver State Bank: Like Rats From a Sinking Ship
Silver State Bank: Like Rats From a Sinking Ship
By Mark Faulk
August 1, 2008
http://www.faulkingtruth.com/Articles/CommentaryToo/1086.html
(Editor’s note: Mark Faulk’s first book, entitled The Naked Truth: Investing in the Stock Play of a Lifetime, detailing the sordid story of CMKM Diamonds (CMKX)is now available at www.thenakedtruthbook.com Seriously, just go buy the damn book. You won’t regret it. Join Mark and Paul Faulk from 1-2 PM CST on The Faulking Truth X2 Show at www.TogiNet.com Mark Faulk will be on Gnosis with host Chuck Aubrey this Saturday from 3-4 PM PST on AM 1330, KJLL in Tucson, AZ, which streams live on the web at www.tucsonsjolt.com )
The fallout from the Silver State Bank fiasco continued on Friday as the company announced a wider-than-expected quarterly loss and CEO Corey Johnson resigned. Johnson’s resignation follows the resignation of Board of Directors’ member Andrew McCain, who was on the bank’s Auditing Committee. McCain is the son of presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain. McCain and Johnson’s departures came on the heels of resignation of one of the bank’s executive vice-presidents, who left just two months ago. (more…)
30Jul Silver State Bank: What’s Deposited in Vegas Doesn’t Stay in Vegas
“When the casinos treat you poorly, let Silver State treat you like a valued customer.”
~ Silver State Bank Motto
In yet another bizarre development in the saga of CMKM Diamonds, better known as CMKX, one of the largest financial frauds in history, Andrew McCain, the son of presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain, resigned from the Board of Directors of Henderson, Nevada based Silver State Bank, the bank where hundreds of millions of dollars was deposited as it was stolen from CMKX shareholders. (more…)
30Jul From the ashes: CMKM Diamonds refuses to “just go away”
From the ashes: CMKM Diamonds refuses to “just go away”
By Mark Faulk
July 10, 2008
http://www.faulkingtruth.com/Articles/Investing101/1082.html
(Mark Faulk is the author of a just-released book detailing the incredible story of CMKX. The Naked Truth: Investing in the Stock Play of a Lifetime is available at www.thenakedtruthbook.com )
While CMKM Diamonds, Inc. (former trading symbol CMKX) might not yet qualify as the proverbial phoenix rising from the ashes, the company has shown that it’s far from exhaling its dying breath. Originally hyped as a diamond and gold mining company (with promises and/or rumors of uranium, zinc, platinum, and an ancient Chinese collection thrown in for effect), the approximately 50,000 shareholders were instead defrauded of over $250 million by company insiders and their cohorts. (more…)
30Jul Better Late Than Never…SEC Files Charges in CMKX Case
Better Late Than Never…SEC Files Charges in CMKX Case
By Mark Faulk
April 8, 2008
http://www.faulkingtruth.com/Articles/Investing101/1081.html
The Naked Truth: Investing in the Stock Play of a Lifetime is available at www.toginet.com
To read excerpts from the book, go to:
www.faulkingtruth.com/Articles/Investing101/1080.html
www.faulkingtruth.com/Articles/Commentary/1078.html
Three and a half years after the company was delisted, and over two and half years after the NASD filed charges against NevWest Securities in the same scam, the SEC charged 14 individuals in the CMKM Diamonds fiasco. Although thousands of shareholders were jubilant over the news, for many it seemed to be a case of too little, too late, and raised many questions about who wasn’t charged and why it has taken the SEC so long to bring charges in this case. (more…)
30Jul Is Canada Robbing America Blind? - Terrorism North of the Border
Is Canada Robbing America Blind? - Terrorism North of the Border
By Mark Faulk
March 19, 2004
http://www.faulkingtruth.com/Articles/Commentary/1001.html
This is the faulking truth: Canada has for years been systematically defrauding the US of money by allowing investors using Canadian brokerage firms to practice the act of “naked short selling” American securities.
Up to now, the SEC has largely ignored (and most likely even condoned) the problems with the market, especially the OTCs (over-the-counter, or penny stocks). Naked short selling is unethical, and should be illegal. Plus, I’ll go a step further: Allowing Canada to play by their own rules (there aren’t any in regards to naked shorting) is giving them the power to move investors’ money from America to Canada legally, in effect robbing our country of wealth, and giving it to those north of the border. Unless we change our rules to force shortsellers to find shares to physically cover their positions (which the NASD tried to do a few years ago, before the SEC stripped the regulations of their real power before enacting them), and force foreign countries (in particular Canada) to play by the same rules that American investors are required to follow, then our country’s citizens will continue to be robbed of our wealth, and small, struggling public companies will be continually forced to the verge of bankruptcy or worse.
(more…)
30Jul Financial Terrorism in America
Financial Terrorism in America
By Mark Faulk
March 19, 2004
http://www.faulkingtruth.com/Articles/Investing101/1001.html
Part one: The Sucker
Picture this: You are a small-time investor who stumbles onto a start-up company that has just developed an innovative new product, a cutting edge technology, or maybe a medical breakthrough that could very well be “the next big thing”. In the back of your mind, you can’t help but think, “This could be the next Microsoft”, and you have a chance to get in on the ground floor of a hidden gem that the big investors and analysts haven’t even heard of yet. You do your homework, research the outstanding shares, study the recent press releases and filings, and read about the company on the stock message boards. Finally, you take the plunge, and decide to buy 500,000 shares at a nickel a share. That’s right, you now own 1% of (there’s that thought again) the next Microsoft, for a paltry $25,000. Sure it’s a bit of a risk, but you know the saying, “no risk, no reward”. You hit the buy button, turn off your computer, and wait for the money to roll in. A couple of weeks later, the company announces that they have secured a major financing deal, and now have the money to take their product to market, and you know you made the right decision. The volume picks up, the message boards are buzzing, and all is right with the world. (more…)
30Jul The CMKX Story: When Too Much Isn’t Enough
The CMKX Story: When Too Much Isn’t Enough
By Mark Faulk
June 1, 2006
http://www.faulkingtruth.com/Articles/Investing101/1058.html
“..every stockholder is entitled to have a certificate, signed by officers or agents designated by the corporation for the purpose, certifying the number of shares owned by him in the corporation.”
On October 28, 2005, CMKM Diamonds, Inc. (best known by its trading symbol CMKX) was delisted by the SEC for non reporting violations, halting trading of the stock in a company that had issued an incredible 703 billion shares of “real” stock, sold to over 50,000 shareholders. Shortly afterwards, the company appointed a three person task force, consisting of Attorney Bill Frizzell, Attorney Don Stoecklein, and Howard Hughes’ former right-hand man Bob Maheu, to “identify bonafide shareholders” of the company’s stock, a process that after seven months and three deadline extensions, still has not been completed, as brokers have used excuse after excuse to delay delivery of shareholders’ stock certificates. (more…)
