U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Founder of Benihana Japanese Steakhouse Dead at 69

Cash In, Check Out

As competition intensifies and regulation looms, viatical industry pioneer Steve Simon reconsiders the future

Another Day, Another Caribbean-Based Ponzi Scheme

Forget Edison, Franklin, even Steve Jobs. If there's one innovator we truly love and respect here in South Florida and the Caribbean, it's Charles Ponzi.The guy, let's face it, invented pretty much the best scheme ever. Why do complicated stuff like "invest money" when you can just take it and prete ... More >>

Allen Stanford Will Punch You in the Mouth If You Ask About His Ponzi Scheme

In a state still reeling from Bernie Madoff and staggering toward 10 percent unemployment, it's tough to think of many adjectives less likely to endear you to the commoners than accused billionaire Ponzi schemer.via mediaimran's flickrStanford, at left, sponsored $20 million cricket matches in the g ... More >>

The Fall of a Titan

A downtown Miami firm allegedly helped build an $8 billion Ponzi scheme. It could have been stopped.

Madoff's Man

South Florida multimillionaire Michael Bienes never cut ties with Bernie Madoff, even after the SEC shut him down.

End of the Diaz-Balart Dynasty

The Republican brothers are headed for defeat, and Cuban-American politics will change forever.

A Movie Guy's Lies

An L.A. producer heads to court with Jean-Claude Van Damme, French bombshell Lydie Denier, and Miami's Bryan Abboud.

Paradise Lost

For many residents, the luster of Williams Island is long gone

Cut and Run

Hundreds of mostly poor investors taken for millions? Say it ain't so.

Perception Is Reality

Drugs, guns, violence, beauty, style, and the illusory world of Miami Vice

The Hard Fall

Money and glitz made Richard Bronson a South Beach luminary, a memory he now ponders in prison

Riptide

Weaving tangled Webs

Liar, Liar

Weaving tangled Webs

Tossed from the Market

Regulators expel South Beach hipster Richard Bronson from trading for a little too much hustle

Bull in the Market

South Florida philanthropist Richard Bronson built his fortune on the shady side of Wall Street

Only Himself to Blame

South Florida philanthropist Richard Bronson built his fortune on the shady side of Wall Street

Dog Fight

South Florida philanthropist Richard Bronson built his fortune on the shady side of Wall Street

Ack-Ack Over Washington

South Florida philanthropist Richard Bronson built his fortune on the shady side of Wall Street

Secretary of Limbo

South Florida philanthropist Richard Bronson built his fortune on the shady side of Wall Street

Flying High

Before heading off to Washington for confirmation as Secretary of the Air Force, State Sen. Daryl Jones got involved in one last bond deal. The money was very good, but the backwash could be very bad.

Guess Who's Coming... to Dinner Key?

Now playing: A fight over a prime piece of Miami bayfront property. Will the city fo Hollywood or choose a tamer role for the old boat yard?

Former Miami DEA Chief Charged with Shredding Ponzi Schemer Allen Stanford's Docs

A quick lesson for all the school kids feverishly getting a Riptide fix before class this morning: If you're working for a blatant Ponzi scheme (and don't worry, someday you will) and the SEC phones and tells you not to lose any documents, don't tell your employees to fire up the shredder. It's just ... More >>

President Obama fails to go after those responsible for the financial meltdown

A quick lesson for all the school kids feverishly getting a Riptide fix before class this morning: If you're working for a blatant Ponzi scheme (and don't worry, someday you will) and the SEC phones and tells you not to lose any documents, don't tell your employees to fire up the shredder. It's just ... More >>

News Roundup: Dumb Cops Finish First; SEC Probes Miami

This makes a lot of sense looking back at it: Miami Dade College was responsible for administering tests to Miami-Dade Police officers to be considered for promotions, but the college screwed up the process. So cops who didn't get good scores were sometimes promoted, while office ... More >>

Sources Say Miami City Manager Pete Hernandez Has Resigned

via City of Miami Pete Hernandez has handed in his resignation.​Miami City Manager Pete Hernandez has handed in his resignation, two of Riptide's sources at City Hall have confirmed. Herandez's ouster is a major victory for Mayor Tomas Regalado, clearing the way for Regalado to bring in an ... More >>

Stop Screwing Miami's Inner City; Hire A Black Guy

Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness once made the U.S. Supreme Court Newscom​stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. Up this week: Miami is in trouble again. The town's top bureaucrat -- City Manager Pete Hernandez -- has resigned and the U. ... More >>

Stop screwing Miami's inner city and hire a black guy

Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness once made the U.S. Supreme Court Newscom​stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. Up this week: Miami is in trouble again. The town's top bureaucrat -- City Manager Pete Hernandez -- has resigned and the U. ... More >>

UPDATED: Eight Named in Miami City Hall Corruption Sweep

Eight City of Miami officials and members of local charities were arrested today on corruption charges.The busts involved an array of unrelated scams -- and come as the city's finances are under intense scrutiny by federal officials. ​Mayor Tomas Regalado portrayed the arrests as the culmina ... More >>

Kathy Fernandez Rundle Slams Regalado's 'Corruption' Crackdown

Speaking to a jam-packed room of reporters, cops, and politicians yesterday, Mayor Tomas Regalado trumpeted eight corruption arrests as proof of his commitment to cleaning up city government. ​"For the first time ever in the City of Miami, we have an anti corruption department," Regalado crow ... More >>

Teen Driver Was High on Laughing Gas When She Killed Fire Fighter

​Sherry Marks, the 19-year-old driver whose Ford Mustang struck and killed Miami firefighter Leslie Luma two weeks ago, admitted she had taken drugs at the time of the crash. Marks admitted to taking Xanax and Lexapro, which she may have been prescribed, but she was also high on nitrous oxide, als ... More >>

Ponzi playboy Sean Healy didn't invest money he swindled; he blew it in a hurry

​Sherry Marks, the 19-year-old driver whose Ford Mustang struck and killed Miami firefighter Leslie Luma two weeks ago, admitted she had taken drugs at the time of the crash. Marks admitted to taking Xanax and Lexapro, which she may have been prescribed, but she was also high on nitrous oxide, als ... More >>

Rick Scott Has Business Connection with Mexican Playboy

Suddenly surging Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott has so, so much money we really can't expect him to know what he's done with it all. Though, surprisingly for a guy who's built a sizable portion of his platform around bringing Arizona's controversial immigration laws, that some see as ... More >>

Nevin Shapiro, Miami Beach Ponzi Schemer, Pleads Guilty

Nevin Shapiro, the colorful Miami Beach businessman who claims to have written a tell all book about the Miami Hurricanes from his jail cell, admitted the he was guilty of charges that he ran an $880 million Ponzi scheme. Shapiro used the money to fuel a lavish lifestyle, make donation to the Univer ... More >>

Nevin Shapiro: Miami's Caligula

Nevin Shapiro, the colorful Miami Beach businessman who claims to have written a tell all book about the Miami Hurricanes from his jail cell, admitted the he was guilty of charges that he ran an $880 million Ponzi scheme. Shapiro used the money to fuel a lavish lifestyle, make donation to the Univer ... More >>

Fictional Legal Case Shows Juries Work, Judges Sometimes Don't

​Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness once made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke's ass is saved from a lawsuit.I believe in the American judicial system, even when others are looking for a quick pay day ... More >>

Bikini model tries to sue Luke

​Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness once made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke's ass is saved from a lawsuit.I believe in the American judicial system, even when others are looking for a quick pay day ... More >>

University of Miami Sued for $6.4 Million in Ponzi Scheme Funds

​The University of Miami sure has a problem with getting caught up with Ponzi schemers. First, high profile athletic booster Nevin Shapiro was busted for a scheme, and now the university is being sued for its involvement in the alleged Ponzi scheme run by Allen Stanford. The suit claims that UM ke ... More >>

SEC Accuses Miami 'Penny-Stock' Promoters of Fraud

If you invested in this, you're probably f*cked.​Beware of what you see here in the Magic City: very little is real. The boobs? Nope. Those lips? Collagen-enhanced. Even that sweet Lamborghini is just a rental. We all know you ended up with the Datsun after your divorce.So it might not come as a s ... More >>

Today's Oil Spill Anniversary Is Last Chance to Sue Companies Responsible

Last chance to sue Transocean, at least until the next environmental disaster.​Wednesday marks the one-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 rig workers and released 206 million gallons of crude into the ocean. And while the oil spill undoubtedly ... More >>

Miami Beach Ponzi Schemer Nevin Shaprio Gets 20 Years in Jail

​Nevin Shapiro lived like a modern-day Caligula. He seemed to have it all: a luxurious Miami Beach mansion on the bay, parties that attracted local notables and sports superstars, fast cars, big yacht, women and the athlete's lounge at the University of Miami named after him. It all came tumbling ... More >>

Report: Moody's Downgrades City of Miami Bond Rating to 'Negative'

​Concern over a looming budget gap and leadership turmoil has led Moody's, the bond rating agency, to downgrade its outlook on the City of Miami's $226 million in obligations from "stable" to "negative," according to an investor's report obtained by blogger Al Crespo. The agency also down ... More >>

Recall Tomas Regalado

​Concern over a looming budget gap and leadership turmoil has led Moody's, the bond rating agency, to downgrade its outlook on the City of Miami's $226 million in obligations from "stable" to "negative," according to an investor's report obtained by blogger Al Crespo. The agency also down ... More >>

Nevin Shapiro: Don't Believe a Word

​Scam artist Nevin Shapiro's allegations detailed in Yahoo! Sports might end the University of Miami football program. Or maybe not. As New Times showed this past December in a lengthy magazine-style piece, Shapiro is "the epitome of a Magic City con artist: a hard-partying, tasteless, statu ... More >>

Marlins Stadium Deal Now the Target of Federal SEC Probe

​Maybe federal investigators finally got around to reading our piece about the six biggest lies behind the monumentally awful Miami Marlins stadium deal? Whatever the motivation, the Securities and Exchange Commission has subpoened the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County for financial information ... More >>

Albert Pujols Offered 10-Year Contract by Marlins

​SEC probes and baffling aesthetic choices aside, the Miami Marlins really do deserve credit for keeping good on their promise of upping their payroll and making the team a serious contender. A day after adding prized shortstop Jose Reyes, ESPN is reporting that the Fish have made a 10-year contra ... More >>

Charles Stiefel, Coral Gables Dermatology King, Sued By SEC For Bilking Investors

photo by Chzz via Wikimedia CommonsStiefel's new headquarters​When Charles W. Stiefel took control of his family's business, Stiefel Laboratories was the largest dermatology manufacturer on earth. And the Coral Gables-based firm, which traced its history 160 years back to Stiefel's ancestors in Ge ... More >>

Luther Campbell loves the Miami Marlins, federal investigation be damned

photo by Chzz via Wikimedia CommonsStiefel's new headquarters​When Charles W. Stiefel took control of his family's business, Stiefel Laboratories was the largest dermatology manufacturer on earth. And the Coral Gables-based firm, which traced its history 160 years back to Stiefel's ancestors in Ge ... More >>

Mitt Romney Takes Slumlord Money While Newt Gingrinch Is Propped Up By Casino Under Federal Probe

​In the race for the White House, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich don't seem to have a problem taking money from corporate pirates accused of breaking the law to maximize their profits. Romney has collected at least $100,000 from a Miami-based investment fund that owns run down apartment buildings i ... More >>