My Greedy Obsession (Gwen Moritz Editor’s Note)

I heard a rumor that “American Greed” might do an episode about Tony Rand and his five sons, all of whom are still wards of the government. I can now confirm that producers looked into the story that Arkansas Business memorably called “The Fraudfather” but ultimately abandoned the project.

Before I could check out the rumor, however, I had to find out what “American Greed” was. I make a point of avoiding cable news channels, so I had never seen the CNBC series that has been recounting — with ominous narration by actor Stacy Keach — stories of brazen white-collar crime since 2007.

Now that I’ve discovered it, I’m recording and binge-watching reruns, and I’ve concluded that “American Greed” is a public service. If everyone watched a couple dozen episodes, it might be harder to find suckers who:

• Believe in fabulous investment returns that are “guaranteed.” High reward means high risk.
• Are fooled by what law enforcement calls “lulling” payments — small payments that lull the victim into a false sense of security.
• Are dumb enough to bet more than they can afford to lose on one investment. It’s one thing to take a flier on something risky or exotic, and quite another to bet your entire future on it.

A few weeks of intensive exposure to “American Greed” has also underscored one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned as editor of Arkansas Business lo these many years: Wealth and the appearance of wealth are two different things.

Untold misery could be avoided if everyone understood that truth. People who are living large may be rich or they may be up to their necks in debt or they could be spending someone else’s money. From the outside, it’s hard to tell.

The story of the Rand family, who moved from Little Rock to Texas and launched $110 million worth of oil and gas scams, would be a perfect fit for “American Greed.” Yachts, Ferraris, classic guitars, fine wines, jewelry and art — the things the Rands bought with other people’s money — are just the kinds of things that make for good television.

Unfortunately, Associate Producer Erica Hunter told me, not enough people involved in their story agreed to participate. (Arkansas Business was able to tell the story because we don’t depend on video the way TV does.)

Maybe “American Greed” should give it another shot now that Tony Rand is about to finish his prison sentence. The federal Bureau of Prisons indicates that the 74-year-old is under the authority of the Residential Reentry Management field office in Dallas, which may mean he’s at a halfway house. His official release date is coming up on June 14.

Son Mark Rand, 50, has another year to serve. He’s in federal prison in Montgomery, Alabama, with a release date of March 2017. Bill, 46, and Greg, 51, are inmates of the federal prison in Oakdale, Louisiana, with release dates of 2024 and 2026 respectively.

Wayne Rand, 54, was prosecuted by the state of Texas, and he’s in the Beto state prison southeast of Dallas. His projected release date is February 2019.

Jeff, the only Rand prosecuted in Arkansas, is due for release from the federal pen at Seagoville, Texas, in October. He was indicted in 2008, pleaded guilty in 2011 and in 2012 was finally sentenced to 57 months in prison and ordered to pay almost $8 million in restitution to 138 victims. He’s been appealing something or other ever since.

In December, U.S. District Judge Robert T. Dawson of Hot Springs denied his latest attempt to get his sentence reduced — particularly the restitution ordered. Dawson, like U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Bryant before him, didn’t consider “an unexecuted draft settlement agreement” between Rand and a group of victims who sued him in civil court to be proof that he didn’t steal as much as he pleaded guilty to stealing.

On Jan. 28, Rand filed a notice of appeal with the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Louis.

Here’s some good news for Dennis Smiley Jr. When I asked Erica Hunter whether “American Greed” might be interested in the story of a bank executive working for the Walton family in Wal-Mart’s hometown who defrauded almost two dozen banks out of millions of dollars, she said banks don’t make very sympathetic victims.

Gwen Moritz is editor of Arkansas Business. Email her at GMoritz@ABPG.com.