It's called Auto Surf, which producers Karin Ingrande and Felicia Kit were responsible for chasing down along with reporter Steve Atkinson. It’s the topic of Steve’s exclusive I-team story tonight on 10news live at 11pm.

I am pretty sure we've uncovered a cyber-age version of the classic Ponzi scheme. The name Ponzi comes from a 19th Century hustler who hailed from Boston and made his fortune hoodwinking the public. As the years have passed, the scheme has reappeared again and again in different forms. Only the "money-making element" changes. The hustler convinces bright-eyed investors he or she has a great money-making idea. I have seen just about every kind of financial carrot hung out there for the trusting to bite on. It can be gold, currency, antiques, seafood, you name it, it's been used.

It's also called a pyramid scheme, the block at the top is the hustler, the rest of the blocks holding things up are the suckers. Usually, the first investors reap some nice rewards -- because a new group of investors has come aboard and this group's money pays off the the first investing group, with a nice profit. Those first investors then became a "word-of-mouth" machine, helping the hustler really sell the scam. It blows up like a balloon and collapses like one too.

I was first exposed to this type of fraud in the 1980s, in the strange case of currency trader and hustler extraordinaire, J. David Dominelli. His scheme took a bite out of La Jolla society, shook up the political establishment and sidetracked the careers of a number of locals, including former San Diego Mayor and AM radio gabber Roger Hedgecock.

Which brings me back to tonight's Auto Surf story. It uses some of the same methods Dominelli used as well as Mr. Ponzi back in 19th century Boston. Like the mumbo jumbo these hustlers use to impress their victims. It's a special terminology unique to the scam, sometimes it’s also used to confuse the victims. Time is critical in these schemes. Time to bring in groups of investors, time to pay them off and bring in more investors, time to rack up as much money as they can before the wheels fall off. Or the cops move in, which is rare these days. Ten years ago, I would be talking to the FBI about this scheme. Not now, they’re chasing terrorists and have no time for this sort of white collar crime. If I may be frank--you have to be pretty darn stupid to get caught. Or unlucky.

I think our I Team has found the tip of the iceberg with this latest version.
How is it different when compared to its predecessors?
Auto Surf used the Internet to sell, sell, sell. That is bad, bad, bad.

It means there is a potential for thousands of victims. Let's hope not because getting money back from any Ponzi/pyramid scheme is difficult at best. It can be an expensive lesson.



Questions? Concerns?

jwblog@10news.com

Here's the secret for finding a story. Listen. Listen to all, friends, strangers or anyone with a gripe. You have to plow through a lot of material but every now and then, you hit the bullseye. That's what happened in our exclusive investigative story which aired May 24th at 11p.m.

The California agency that's supposed to monitor the limousine business didn't listen to angry tipster, but we did. The tipster laid it all out--how a local limousine service doesn't think the laws apply to them. Our tipster was upset, how come he has to pay taxes, workers comp, insurance, all those extras that any legit business has to deal with these days, but some renegade outfit just blows off the rules? So it hardly seems fair that a limo company can offer the prom-goer a discounted price because it doesn't worry about silly little things like insurance for the passengers riding in the stretch. Why would anyone his or her kids ride in an "outlaw" limo in the first place? No excuses, it only takes a few minutes to check the California Public Utilities Commission Web site to find out if the company is licensed and insured. That's where we checked out Black Tie Limo of San Diego. Bottom line here, I sure wouldn't want my kids riding in an uninsured vehicle driven by someone whose training I have no clue about.

There is more to this back story. It's seems the CPUC website is the extent of that state agency's efforts to oversee the industry. It did a limo bust at Lindbergh Field a few years back (like shooting fish in a barrel) and one of the limo owners scooped up in the operation is the same man who is the central figure in our story tonight. Our tipster said he tried telling CPUC about Black Tie Limo but nothing happened.

That's why he talked with the 10News Investigative team and you can see for yourself the result of this tip -- tonight on 10News at 11 p.m.

WHERE TO CHECK?
http://www.cpuc.ca.gov
Look for transportation carrier information, it has extensive lists on limo services in the state, the legit and otherwise.

Got a tip? I will listen

jwblog@10news.com

Tonight's investigative story from our 10News I-team took some doing. We used hidden cameras and regular news cameras. And Hollywood magic.

The photojournalists included Mike Howder, Richard Klein and Michael (don't look too closely at my backpack) Gonzalez. Joining us in the effort was editor Roger Renkas who helped us create the spreadsheets to make sense of the information we had gathered. Producer Kristian Castillo drove the chase car and kept everyone sane.
Stu Segal's production studio used their makeup skills to transform reporter Marti Emerald into a little old lady. Except in Marti's case she was a tall old lady. She tested the "look" in our newsroom. It was a nervous bunch of writers and producers watching the tall crazed senior run around the newsroom demanding to meet some handsome anchors. In other words, it was a pretty good makeup job.

What was this all about?

We receive complaints from the public about everything including bus service.
We have done stories because of these complaints, including an in-depth story on maintenance and equipment problems on transit buses ten years ago. But I suspected I was missing the bus after hearing what KGO Television discovered in the Bay Area. We work with their I-Team from time to time and when I saw what they had uncovered on the transit system-- some very ugly behavior by drivers -- I wondered if San Diego riders encountered the same problems. So the story began with the filing of an open records request for MTDB complaint records from bus-riding citzens. I limited it to the 25 "worst" drivers with the highest number of complaints. Some of the "25" had as many as 50 complaints each! And the complaints ran the gamut, from the drivers exhibiting "road rage" and "wreckless driving" to another who "threatened to fight," Other compalints about dirvers included "injured a senior when the driver took off abruptly, " "mocking, rude, " "bus almost hit another car, " "talked on the cell phone," "drove by bus stops with people waiting" and on and on. There were over 600 complaints from 25 drivers. See them for yourself, we have put the entire complaint spreadsheet up on our Web site, Inside the Story. It's worth a look, even if you DON"T ride the bus.

Here's the strange thing. We had Marti and the hidden camera crew riding the lines with the most complaints, night and day. Eleven different lines. And on every occasion she was treated well by the drivers. I know her makeup was good.
So I suspected that after we filed the open records act, request, MTDB sent a memo out to drivers to be on their best behavior. But the MTDB denied they would do anything like that. So I have filed still another open records request--asking for any documents sent to drivers since my first request. I will let you know what is found.


Got a gripe with MTDB? Let me know.


jwblog@10news.com

Blogger "C" from North County writes:

Your bus story was interesting, I have been a bus rider in North County since 1978.

The biggest problem I can see with the buses is that those who schedule the routes are not riders.

At certain times of the day the drivers are so rushed on many of the routes they don't even have time to take a break at all. They are pressured so heavily to keep their buses on time that they endure such stress that it pours over onto the passengers.

From the drivers and regular riders point of view, if you are not standing waiting for the bus with your fair or pass in hand when it arrives then you are not being curteous to everyone else.

The routes are not timed to allow for the elderly and disabled, therefore many problems arise.

Personally, I have a cane and a cart because I have a damaged spine, and I am not supposed to lift. Every driver pulls up and lowers the bus and expects me to lift my cart into the bus. What part of not supposed to lift do they not get. They are obviously not trained to deal with such circumstances. I feel like a one person bus driver trainer.

"Yes, please put out the ramp. No I cannot just lift my cart into the bus. No, I am not required to explain my disability to you. The ADA regulations state that if I carried a disabled pass and ask you to lower the ramp for me to board, then you must do that."

Most of the drivers are very good about this. Then you have the ones that roll their eyes and huff and puff through flipping a small switch with one finger.

Worst are the drivers that downright stall and argue. They are obviously trying to get you to take someone elses bus in the future, not theirs.

Even if you know NOTHING about the television news business, now hear this.
For the guys who sell commercials for television news, it is ugly time all over the country.
Some say the Internet is cutting into sales, some say it’s lousy car sales, I am really not sure what is driving the problem; I just hear the grumbling from TV sales people.

THAT’S WHY I WANT TO BRAG ABOUT 10NEWS

If you tune in tomorrow on 10News at 11p.m. you'll have a chance to see our story on SeaWorld and details on an entertainment industry that depends on displaying trained killer whales. Our newsroom has worked with SeaWorld for years, doing stories on their numerous efforts to advance research on marine mammals. I know many of the staff, they are good people, trying to make a difference in the field they have expertise in. At the same time, I have a job to do. When we see a story, an important story, we need to tell it. Even if it involves someone you have had a long-time successful relationship with. Even if it's not going to make them happy. Even if it's SeaWorld.

I saw the story beginning to develop after the SeaWorld trainer was hurt last November during a Shamu show. I wondered about the risk for the trainers and what made the whale become so aggressive.

I would join with reporter Lauren Reynolds and photojournalist Michael Gonzales to explore the history of the park and those big, beautiful whales. I had no agenda, I'm not a zealous tree hugger. But as we began to do our research, there was enough there to keep us looking. It's been seven months now, and the results will be on 10News live at 11p.m. starting Wednesday, then a second story on Thursday at 11 p.m. as well.

So why am I proud of 10News?

SeaWorld is an advertiser with us. A good customer. In addition, 10News and SeaWorld have worked on projects together. The park is an institution in San Diego. And as I said at the top of the blog, these are tough economic times in television news. When I went to my boss about this story, there never was an issue over backing off the story because of our relationship with SeaWorld. Or the money. I know my boss went to his boss and again, the concern wasn't about ticking off SeaWorld, it was about doing the story right, being tough but fair. I hope this is what we accomplished, see for yourself Wednesday night. But as important to me as this story is, so is the support we received from our management to do this story. It's a special feeling to know that you can count on a news operation that believes in the value of doing good, solid journalism no matter the cost, even in 2007.

What a great job I have. No complaints from me, at least not after a week when our 10News Investigative team produced five good stories. Each one presented interesting challenges for reporters, producers and me.

Wednesday night at 11pm we broke a story on faulty smoke detectors. It seems they blow up--which is not what you want from a detector. But we didn't stop with just that element. Reporter Marti Emerald dug deeper and found that the guts in most smoke detectors is 1970s technology. The problem is most homes these days have all kinds of vinyl and plastic products throughout the dwelling. When fire starts in a home in 2007, the furnishing and household goods begin releasing noxious, toxic smoke. In the 70s you have an over 10 minutes to get out of a building on fire, nowadays, its two minutes. This information could save some lives.

Thursday an investigation from Steve Atkinson aired. Producer Heidi Ortiz and Kristen Castillo, as well as SDSU intern researcher Natalie Asaro shopped drug stories all over the region. They were buying cold and allergy medicine that can be cooked to make meth. A federal law limits the amount of these over the counter medicines can be purchased in a day, in a month. Not everyone obeyed the law. One problem area stood out; a drug store chain that seems to dance to another drummer. If we paid them, they would sell it to us. When we told their corporte bosses what we found, we didn’t hear any thanks. Nope, their public relations people argued that the law was just a guideline and didn't need to be followed unless the store chose to. The DEA and State Narcotics Bureau said it was the law and it should be followed. But the chain's public relations department wouldn't budge. They can argue it out in court. I just wondered why the chain wouldn’t at least follow the guidelines the law sets down. After all, the last thing we need around San Diego are more meth freaks. Why feed their habit? The chain was C-V-S.

Friday night's story was alot of work. I have piles and piles of responses to an open records act to prove it. It is impossible to open the door to my office without falling over the stuff. Beginning in January we asked and began receiving information from every school district in our region. What did we want? For the districts to provide us their superintendent’s salary and expense reports. What did we find? Too much money? Fair compensation? You decide, the entire list of salaries is near this blog in the investigative section.

This coming Sunday nights investigative story from Lauren Reynolds is a tough one. It centers on a Doctor Denis Nigro, a high profile doctor who does some good things in our community. We even honored him as a 10News Leadership winner. But the 10News Investigative team found out the doctor is accused of sleeping with his patient. The patient-doctor relationship is one of the most honored relationships in our culture. That's why the California Medical Board is serious about this sort of behavior, as they should be. The doctor's attorney and publicist have been flooding us all week with calls and e mails. When you do investigative work, you get used to pressure by those who feel they're being portrayed unfairly. They have every right to complain. And we have an obligation to hear them out. And we do.
Dr. Nigro's people have been especially aggressive. What is odd about this is they don't argue that the patient and the doctor did or did not have sex. Or that Dr. Nigro was also treating his alleged sex partner's husband. Or that the doctor lied to the husband about the affair, or that he asked the husband/patient to convince Mrs. Nigro that nothing was going on. No, the publicist and the attorney want us to drop the story because they say the patient was not a patient when she had the alleged sex with the doctor. They sent a hand written letter from the doctor's alleged lover, where she admits she lusted after the doctor because "he was kind to me" She parrots the publicist and attorney's position, writing Dr. Nigro wasn't her doctor when they had their "intimate relationship" The affair was in 2003, her letter is dated May 4, 2007. I am no lawyer but I've read the ground rules and I believe it doesn’t matter if it is before, during or after you are treating your patient. You can't have sex with your patient. We shall see on this one--as the hearing begins Monday, May 14th. Hopefully we will be allowed access into the state court Monday. It may not happen because as I write this the attorney for Nigro is asking the judge to keep us out of the court room. Attorney Michael Khouri accuses us of being on a witch hunt. I don't agree. I hope the judge doesn’t agree either We shall see.

Got a tip? jwblog@10news.com