An excerpt of my forthcoming book was published on December 3, 2024 by Meer.com (formerly Wall Street International Magazine). The projected publication date is November 2025.
Publisher inquiries are currently being considered and are welcome.
The title of the book is C-4 The Explosive Story of Financial Fraud on the Frontier of the American West. C-4 is the story of the Characters, Culture, Calamity and Casualties cataclysmically created when a steady flow of capital and credit was added into the mix of this cowboy atmosphere – in pursuit of illusory profit and wealth.
You can find the link to the published excerpt to C-4 HERE:
C-4 The Explosive Story of Financial Fraud on the Frontier of the American West
By Bill Dahl
The following is a brief overview of Bill Dahl’s forthcoming book. Look for it in November 2025. Publisher inquiries are currently being considered and are welcome.
C-4 is the story of the Characters, Culture, Calamity and Casualties cataclysmically created when a steady flow of capital and credit was added into the mix of this cowboy atmosphere – in pursuit of illusory profit and wealth.
Introduction:
Perhaps, no subculture in the United States is as famous, infamous and loaded with lore as The American West – The West, The American Frontier, The Wild West. For some, these terms represent yesteryear, a bygone past in one’s rear view mirror. For others, these terms represent the current day land beneath their boots.
This book is a biography of that latter place – and an autopsy of an event that occurred there – one that cannot be understood without a fresh appreciation of the culturally transmitted historical influences that contributed to the formation, depth, breadth – and the magnitude of the devastation of the event. Today, many of the survivors of this event remain in this place – they call it home.
Most people are familiar with this chorus from an old folk song from the American West:
“Home, home on the range…where the deer and the antelope play. Where seldom is heard, a discouraging word…and the skies are not cloudy all day.”
Well, that’s a folk song, celebrating life on the frontiers of the American West. Yet, sometimes life changes its tune. This is that story.
The events of the week of December 16, 2013 included the sentencing of five of thirteen people who were involved in just one grand, collaborative fraud in this region. The defendants (all 13) were sentenced to a cumulative total of 26 years in federal prison, 11 years of probation and $62,757,550 in fines and restitution for a series of financial frauds perpetrated on victims in Central Oregon who call (called) this region home.[i] They had loads of company.
This is that story; a true, incendiary story of 21st century financial fraud in a frontier region in the American West; where the deer and the antelope actually do play (I’ve seen them – photographed them – herds of them – playing together); where most folks are kind, honest, conservative, hard-working, resilient, straightforward, and trusting; where there are 300+ days a year of predominantly sunny skies. It’s also a region where the values of real estate sky rocketed during the boom years of the economic bubble from 2000-2007 like no other geographic area in the U.S; where all the elements for a lethal recipe were assembled and brewed – creating a toxic potion whose broad consumption led to a volatile and deadly economic explosion devastating an entire region of the American West, it’s financial institutions, investors, families, fortunes, friendships, futures, and faith in fellow man…changing the hearts and lives of people – and the chorus to the tune they learned as children.
I call it C-4 – the story of the characters, culture, calamity and casualties cataclysmically created when a steady flow of capital and credit was added into the mix of this cowboy atmosphere – in pursuit of illusory profit and wealth.
What’s Different About This Book?
The evolution, dimensions, subject matter, people, places, institutions, policies, causes, financial instruments, companies, handling and aftermath of the Great Recession in the U.S. have been well documented in a vast number of books. I’ve read most of them (and dozens more). They include:
A Colossal Failure of Common Sense by Lawrence McDonald & Patrick Robinson
Aftershock by Robert Reich
All The Devils Are Here by Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera
Chasing Goldman Sachs by Suzanne McGee
Crash of Titans by Greg Ferrell
Fault Lines by Raghuram G. Rajan
Freefall by Joseph E. Stiglitz
House of Cards by William D. Cohen
In Fed We Trust by David Wessel
Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis
More Money Than God by Sebastian Mallaby
Reckless Endangerment by Gretchen Morgenson
Last Man Standing by Duff McDonald
The Big Short by Michael Lewis
The Firm by Duff McDonald
The Lost Bank by Kirsten Grind
The End of Wall Street by Roger Lowenstein
The Myth of the Rational Market by Justin Fox
The Quants by Scott Patterson
13 Bankers by Simon Johnson & James Kwak
This Time is Different by Carmen Reinhart and Ken Rogoff
Too Big To Fail by Andrew Ross-Sorkin
When Giants Fall by Michael Panzer
All of the above have several things in common:
1. They delve into the subject matter primarily focused on densely populated, urban, major money center settings in the U.S.
2. They focus on massive financial institutions with nationwide and international operations, key financial executives, fiscal policy, brokerages, consultants, financial vehicles (hedge funds, securitization, credit default swaps, collateralized debt obligations etc.), regulatory bodies and investment banks.
None of the above:
1. Tell the story of what happened to ordinary folks in a predominantly rural setting in the American West.
2. Tell the tale of a rather small, relatively less-well known, geographic region that garnered a reputation for “leading the country” in real property price appreciation in the run up to the Great Recession; becoming ground zero for incomprehensible economic destruction across the spectrum.
3. Tell the true story of regional community banks that failed and/or were sold/merged or recapitalized under regulatory pressure, due to their toxic concentrations of real estate development loans, wiping out hundreds of millions of dollars of investments from tens of thousands of small, individual shareholders.
This is that story. This is what makes this story different. Yet, there’s more.
Historians have typically treated financial crises as rather unique events. For economists, the treatment of financial crises has focused on a post-mortem examination of available data, in an attempt to identify patterns that provide explanatory power for previous, recent and future events. Yet, the unabated experience of financial fraud in market economies remains an ever-present, frequent occurrence lending both urgency and credibility to the necessity for more and different approaches to our exploration of this phenomenon. “Since the 1970s, the problem of business fraud has taken a firmer hold on the American imagination. According to Google Books, the frequency of the phrases “corporate fraud” and “business fraud” in published works has doubled every ten years since 1975. Growth in the number of articles that use one of these phrases in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times reflects a similar exponential curve. Every year, American media outlets, newspapers, magazines, and blogs produce thousands of pages about specific fraud scandals and broader patterns of intentional economic duplicity.”[ii]
When asset values in a specific sector of an economy increase significantly, a “euphoria” and/or “mania” develops for all concerned. This significant asset value appreciation has been called a “bubble” or, to use Kindleberger’s definition; “an upward price movement over an extended period of fifteen to forty months then implodes.”[iii] The terms mania and euphoria refer to what has been termed “irrational” economic behavior – by a number of diverse sets of economic participants (buyers, sellers, investors, regulators, bond rating agencies, underwriters, insurers, investment banks, speculators, developers, entrepreneurs, credit providers, banks, borrowers, lenders, etc.) Needless to say, historically speaking from a cyclical perspective, the euphoria period expires and the asset bubble collapses. Yet, there is vastly more to the evolution, appearance and impact that these types of phenomenon have on human societies than many simple, straightforward characterizations suggest.
What the bulk of published historical and economic treatments of financial crises do not take into consideration, are some of the following, that this book shall attempt to contribute in an inter-disciplinary approach to the subject: Developments in human neuroscience, cognition and psychology: The emergence of and contributions from the fields of neuro-economics and behavioral economics. Recent findings in evolutionary biology, genetics and paleobiology. Current insights from the field of social psychology. Discoveries from fields concerned with the intergenerational transmission of cultural tendencies. Perspectives from anthropology and paleontology. The experience and observations of a resident insider (the author) in a specific, geographical, regional microcosm of the American West during the Great Recession in the U.S. 2007-2011, incorporating the aforementioned.
Of course, the contribution of this text shall also include content that is both historical and economic; no decent treatment of this subject could be completed without it. The nature of the development, experience, and aftermath of financial crises are multi-dimensional. Like any subject, what we think we know, is subject to time, place and circumstance – determined primarily by the historical epoch within which we have the privilege to inhabit (now). It’s up to those of us who possess the insatiable curiosity, passion and courage to ask the questions challenging common sense and status quo; to make us uncomfortable with what we think we know. As important, really good stories cause readers to pose new questions and be introduced to new ways looking at historical events, the present, and the future. Solid stories produce dialog and inspire others to inquire further. I hope C-4 might do just that for you.
We live in a world where the velocity of daily living is distinctly forward looking. For some, treatments of history, particularly one (The Great Recession) where most folks today declare, “I’m sure glad that’s behind us,” this book may not be for you. Yet, tolerance for the historically intolerable is not tolerance at all. I am not a fan of what some historians refer to as “the death of memory.”[iv] I am also not a proponent of what the eminent sociologist Philip Slater has referred to as an enduring theme in American culture, the toilet assumption: “The belief that social unpleasantness, once flushed out of sight, ceases to exist.”[v]
I prefer a different motivation in exploring this subject matter, as written by Harold Kushner: “Being human is such a complicated challenge that all of us will make mistakes in the process of learning how to do it right, then we can come to see our mistakes not as emblems of our unworthiness but as experiences we can learn from. We will be brave enough to try something new without being afraid of getting it wrong. Our sense of shame will be the result of our humility, of learning our limits, rather than our wanting to hide from scrutiny because we have done badly.”[vi]
For those who take pride in lifelong learning, my hope is that this volume will contribute to satisfying your appetite for intellectual stimulation and equipping you with a few new skills to navigate a world whose market economies are established on the principle of “rational economic man,” while the pages of the human historical record are replete with evidence to the contrary. Historian, author and professor of geography Jared Diamond succinctly captures one of my primary motivations for immersing myself in this project: “My purpose in rehearsing our situation is to help us avoid repeating our mistakes – to use knowledge of our past and our propensities in order to change our behavior.”[vii]
If there was one phrase I heard all too frequently that inspired my research throughout the period after the most recent real estate bubble in the U.S. had burst in 2008, it was this: “Nobody saw this coming…there was nothing we could do!” Furthermore, inhabiting this phrase was another message; “It’s not our fault, it’s their fault,” pointing the proverbial finger at someone or something external to oneself. What was inspiring to me about this phrase was the instantaneous gut reaction that bubbled up into my brain each and every time I heard it: “What a crock of crap!”
Based upon what I witnessed, learned, overheard and experienced as a commercial finance professional with thirty years of experience, I knew this was a phrase uttered repeatedly in an attempt to emotionally and intellectually cope, to tolerate the intolerable, and defray any personal or professional responsibility for the conundrum. It was a phrase commonly shared to justify kicking the can down the road in a half-baked attempt to forget the devastation the characters, culture, calamity and casualties this most recent crisis had created. Having lived through this particular crisis, I just couldn’t accept that.
The Great Recession may have been a nightmare, but it wasn’t a dream. Employed as a commercial lender for several FDIC insured community banks in Central Oregon from 2006-2011, I lived this crisis each and every day; and developed an insider’s perspective. I knew people in this region who committed suicide, were victims of swindlers, fraudsters and the like; business owners who became victims of embezzlement, families imploded, long term business relationships became casualties, far too many people lost their jobs, homes and health – and honest, hardworking people became unwitting victims of the clamp down by banks when real estate values descended into the abyss. For me, this crisis was intimate, heartbreaking, and personal. Attempting to accept the unacceptable explanations that continue to be shared to this day, or whistling some old, catchy folk song from the American west, just didn’t cut it for me.
My intellectual affection for things economic and human behavior began a few decades ago (As evidenced by a home library my wife wishes we could have sold today for any sum remotely close to a fraction of what I paid for it). After a health crisis required my exit from the financial services industry in 2011, I immersed myself more deeply in exploring the specific subject area of risk, fraud, reward, human behavior, and financial crises. This journey led me to appreciate the multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary approach to the topic, as revealed in this work.
During this process, I explored the fields of history, economics, business, mathematics, social psychology, behavioral economics, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, experimental psychology, anthropology, archaeology, and a myriad of other sources this adventure led me to, in a tangential sort of way. One thing I discovered along the way was how much new information was available that led me to a vastly deeper and broader appreciation of the subject. However, much of this information was written by scholars, experts and scientists – hardly the sort of appetizing literature that most ordinary folks would actually intentionally buy, consume, and appreciate. Furthermore, the nature of the writing was oftentimes terribly technical and cumbersome. Yet, I became confident I could write a story that contained many of these useful insights in a way that more mainstream people (like me) might appreciate.
Finally, at the time I began this project, I had lived all my life (with the exception of eight years) in the North American West. I have driven, hiked, fished, drifted, waded, wandered and photographed its beauty. I have had long conversations and listened intently to its residents. Needless to say, I have a deep appreciation for its history, people, cultural context, and future. I am not one who is satisfied with the one-dimensional narratives and myths about The American West that continue to populate the historical record. Yet, with unequivocally harmful and embarrassing moments in history (like the Great Recession in Central Oregon), we humans have a propensity to move on as quickly as possible, without pausing to more deeply contemplate how those moments might better prepare us to live more effectively together in the future. Reflecting on one of the central motivations behind this book, a noteworthy historian writes: “But this interest in people, thought, and communication suggests that economics, as a discipline, may be on the verge of taking the words, stories, and details of history as seriously as it has taken numbers, models, and policy implications.”[viii] I hope so. That is my intention.
Frankly, one must wrestle with history to garner the lessons that may equip us to navigate more wisely, as we walk into tomorrow. My sentiment is succinctly characterized in the following:
“The history of the American West, like the art of the American West, isn’t what it used to be. No doubt, many lament the changes and pine for the myths that western histories (and western art) once celebrated. But if we are to make sense of the West’s multi-faceted evolutions and figure out how we can live together, and live sustainably in this region, we don’t need one-dimensional tales. Rather we need histories and art that respect the past, wrestling, as historians and artists must, with the complexities that challenge us still.”[ix]
A Pound of Flesh
The average human foot weighs somewhere between 1.5 and 2.5 pounds.[x]
Actor and comedian Adam Sandler remarked, “It’s nice to know that there are still places like this in America.”[xi] What Sandler was referring to was an incident where his car overheated in Caldwell, Idaho. As he pulled over to the side of the road, he noticed other vehicles pulling in behind him. The locals called a tow truck and arranged to get his car repaired. Then, they loaded Sandler in one of their cars (or trucks), and took him into Caldwell and bought him lunch while his car was being fixed. Sandler added, “And these guys had no idea who I was which, honestly, just made my day. You have to understand, this is something that would have never happened in L.A.!”[xii] Yes, Adam, there are a few things that happen here on the frontiers of the American West that just don’t happen in L.A.
J.R. “Jack” Simplot quit school in 1923 when he was just 14 years of age. In 2017, FORBES ranked his business, J.R. Simplot, as the 61st largest private company in the U.S. with over six billion in annual revenue. Simplot has major operations in Caldwell, Idaho. His company sold potatoes and onions to the U.S. military during WWII and, in the 1970’s, became the supplier of french fries to McDonald’s restaurants. Jack passed in May 2008. However, his company remains a global force in the agri-business. According to his bio, Simplot’s secret to success is: “grab opportunity in even the most challenging environments, look at well-known problems for solutions that no one has thought of before…”[xiii]
On July 31, 2014, a Caldwell resident by the name of Shannon Egeland couldn’t sleep. It had been a warm day with temps in the low 90’s. Anxious, worried and stressed, he decided to go out for a late night drive. It was pleasant outside that evening; clear skies with temperatures in the low 60’s.[xiv] He stopped his BMW on a country road in the Caldwell area around 2 am to assist a pregnant woman whose vehicle had broken down and was desperately in need of help. Unbeknownst to the damsel in distress, the next morning Egeland was scheduled to report to authorities to begin a ten year federal prison sentence and pay $13 million in restitution for his part in a multi-million dollar real estate development fraud perpetrated in Central Oregon during 2004-2007.
Contrary to the experience of Adam Sandler, Egeland was hit on the head from behind, and shot in the leg at close range with a 20 gauge shotgun.[xv] According to one publication, the power of a 20 gauge shotgun is characterized as “about twice the power of a .44 Magnum handgun. Nobody is getting up from that.”[xvi] In the wilds of the American West, the 44 Magnum is the handgun of choice for self defense against the Grizzly Bear.[xvii] The shotgun blast had broken Egeland’s leg. Seriously wounded and bleeding profusely, Egeland called 911.
Desert Sun Development (DSD) was formed in 2004 by Tyler Fitzsimons to build both new residential housing and commercial buildings in Central Oregon. Fitzsimons was president and Egeland was vice-president. The Company filed for bankruptcy in 2007.[xviii] In just 36+ months, their operation defrauded six financial institutions out of $19+ million. Not only is the sum significant; the extent and manner in which they “gamed the system” is noteworthy.
For starters, Fitzsimons and Egeland engineered a commercial real estate construction fraud. Obtaining a commercial real estate loan is typically a complex, multi-stage process. The dynamic stupid duo (‘DSD’) manufactured false financial statements, fictional tax documents, bogus commercial leases, and other documents – and submitted the same to several banks to obtain both loan approval – and to take draws of capital from the approved loan to pay for the costs of construction. Of course, they needed help. So, they recruited and used their own employees and the employees of local financial institutions and DSD suppliers to fulfill their ambitions. Their combined efforts resulted in obtaining in excess of $4.2 million in proceeds from these commercial construction loans while completing no construction whatsoever. They weren’t done.
With the housing market in Central Oregon experiencing an unprecedented upswing, the duo decided to devise a scheme to capture the astronomically escalating profits in selling new residential homes they would build. They decided to design a DSD employee/insider “flipping scheme.” Once again, they needed help. So, they recruited their own employees as “home buyers” (who could not qualify for a home loan). Then they co-opted the services of a loan processor, a few mortgage brokers, and a loan officer.
They mutually agreed with their participating fraudsters that Egeland and Fitzsimons would get the loan approved, build and sell the home to the employees at cost, then split the profits between the schemes participants and DSD when the home construction was completed and the unit was sold to a third party. Everybody wins! Not so fast…
Since their participating employees could not qualify for the loans, Fitzsimons, Egeland, certain DSD office staff, and their external co-conspirators had to get creative. They manufactured the required documents that would enhance the probability of loan approval. This included “seasoning” the bank accounts of their employees. “Seasoning” a bank account is making a temporary deposit – funds that one has not legitimately earned (performance bonuses, exaggerated pay stubs etc.), and used intentionally to temporarily boost the borrower’s financial assets as part of enhancing the applicant’s creditworthiness in the loan approval process with a specific financial institution. When the loan is approved, these funds on deposit are withdrawn from deposit and returned to their source (in this case, DSD). Egeland even “seasoned” his own bank account with funds from DSD to acquire a $1.9 million loan to build a 22,000 square foot home for himself in Powell Butte, Oregon (northeast of Bend).
The loans approved for this DSD employee flipping scheme resulted in homes that were never constructed and/or partially completed. Needless to say, the end result was foreclosure and financial devastation for all concerned.
The question became – “What do we do with all the money?” Egeland and Fitzsimons had no difficulty deciding. They both built lavish homes in Central Oregon, bought Dodge Vipers, an awesome water ski/wake-boarding boat, a couple of BMW’s, a Hummer, a Mercedes and, of course, a Ferrari.
Federal indictments of the 13 individuals involved in various phases of these DSD schemes were handed down in 2009 (including Egeland and Fitzsimons). The charges included fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. All 13 pled guilty.[xix] The fraudsters, their sentences and their roles are identified below, as announced by the FBI in December 2013:
Shannon Egeland – Age 35 – 10 years – $13 million in restitution – Vice President – DSD.
Tyler Fitzsimons – Age 39 – 7 years 6 months – $22 million in restitution – President – DSD.
Jeremy Kendall – age 36 – 18 months – $22 million in restitution – Office Manager at DSD. Designed and delivered false documents to banks on behalf of DSD.
Jeffrey Sprague – age 50 – 46 months – $3.6 million in restitution – Loan Officer at West Coast Bank.
Shaun Little – age 44 – 5 yrs. probation + 8 mos. in a halfway house – $191,171 in restitution – Mortgage broker.
Teresa Ausbrooks – age 51 – 1 year and one day in prison – $184,839.66 in restitution – Escrow Officer.
Del Barber, Jr. – Age 44 – 15 months in prison – $191,664 in restitution. Mortgage broker.
Robert Brink – age 62 – one year and 1 day in prison – $181,276 in restitution. Building inspector for Umpqua Bank.
Michael Wilson – age 61 – 5 years supervised release and community service – $303,114.95 in restitution. DSD employee.
Garrett Towne – age 34 – probation and community service – $202,415 in restitution. DSD employee.
Barbara Hotchkiss – age 44 – probation and community service -$303,069 in restitution. Loan processor at West Coast Bank.
Kevin Mandlin – age 50 – one year probation. Submitted a false document to a bank on behalf of Egeland for Egeland’s home construction loan.
John Partin – age 67 – pled guilty to bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. It appears Mr. Partin passed away prior to sentencing (5 years in prison and $250,000.00 fine.).[xx] He pled guilty to charges of submitting phony invoices to DSD for construction project supplies that were then submitted to banks by DSD to draw loan proceeds for construction projects where said construction did not occur.
U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall observed: “The illegal actions of these defendants exemplify the conduct that wreaked havoc in the mortgage, financial, and real estate industries for the past several years, Banks were not the only losers in this case. Everyone lost. The effects of defendants’ large scale fraud were dramatic—the local housing market crashed, people lost their jobs, communities were littered with partially finished developments, and homes, lending markets constricted, and banks suffered millions in losses. Real estate, bank, and financial insiders who commit fraud will be held accountable.”[xxi] Her colleague, Kevin Rickett, Oregon’s Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI added: “This bold fraud scheme was born out of the housing bubble long ago, but its effects will be felt by the construction and banking businesses in Central Oregon for many years to come. It’s a scam that involved losses in the tens of millions of dollars as the defendants pursued lavish lifestyles. Major fraud cases such as this one are and will continue to be a high priority for the FBI.”[xxii]
As the investigation of the Egeland shooting incident continued in Caldwell, Idaho in 2014, the investigators were perplexed about several oddities; Egeland had his wallet, car keys, cell phone and car. If it wasn’t robbery, what was the motive for this random act of brutal violence? Who was the damsel in distress? Who assisted her and hit Egeland on the head from behind? Attending physicians eventually amputated Egeland’s foot. The investigation by the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office in Caldwell continued.
On Thursday October 23, 2014 Egeland was arrested in Caldwell, Idaho and transported to the Multnomah County Detention Center in Portland, Oregon by U.S. Marshall’s. [xxiii] Egeland’s 17 year old son Rylan had confessed to Canyon County Sheriff’s investigators that his father had ordered him to shoot him in the leg.[xxiv] The elaborate ruse was an attempt to avoid reporting for the beginning of his federal prison term and cash in on a disability and dismemberment insurance policy he had applied for before the incident.
Investigators found Egeland had lied in the insurance application he had sent across state lines to the Portland, Oregon Standard Insurance Company office. In the application, Egeland affirmed to the insurer he had no arrests in the past 10 years. Somehow, he failed to recall his conviction in the Central Oregon fraud case that earned him a decade of incarceration, and several other misdeeds. In 2010, he was found guilty of selling prescription drugs within 1,000 feet of a school. In 2013, he was convicted of stealing $9 worth of unidentified stuff from a grocery store.”[xxv]
So much for Egeland’s misguided “grab for opportunity in even the most challenging environments, looking for solutions to problems that no one has thought of before.” Egeland had an additional 5 years in prison tacked onto the ten years he was already facing. He also contributed a few pounds of his own flesh. Thank heaven this guy didn’t pull over behind Adam Sandler in Caldwell, Idaho. Caldwell likely cheered Egeland’s removal from their community, just as they would a bad spud coming down a Simplot potato processing quality control conveyor belt to the bagging area.
A pound of flesh…One can almost hear the deafening cheers at this outcome from Egeland’s Central Oregon fraud victims. Yet, that’s as far as many of us ever get with our reactions to the perpetrators of white collar crime. We ordinary folks look for somebody to blame and cheer their identification, apprehension and subsequent consequences. As complexity scientist and systems theorist Dr. John Casti states: “We open ourselves up to potentially devastating events when we choose not to see instead of facing reality head-on.”[xxvi] Yet, we remain frustrated and anxious, somehow unfulfilled. This ongoing sense of frustration and anxiety over financial malfeasance becomes acutely apparent when it comes to the outrage many continue to express over the absence of the individual prosecutions of executives of major financial institutions for their part in the Great Recession.[xxvii] Regarding fraud and financial shenanigans, celebrating the extraction of a pound of flesh from the perpetrators is about all most folks are able to glom onto. Why?
Perhaps, one of the reasons that financial crises are so poorly understood is due to our focus on the apprehension and punishment of the principal, individual, perpetrators versus investing our time and energy in better understanding their genesis. The appetite for the pound of flesh obfuscates the real culprits here. One historian makes a terribly poignant observation regarding this “hang em’ high” penchant with the blame game: “Westerners yesterday and today, have been able to sustain themselves on a “myth of innocence,” blaming others for their problems.”[xxviii]
To make progress in understanding fraud and financial crises, their genesis, forms, principal actors and devastating impacts, we must look back before we move forward. The false sense of satisfaction that the pound of flesh might deliver is temporary, misleading and insufficient. To become complacent and content with this outcome is contrary to the guidance of one of the American West’s most noteworthy entrepreneurs: “Grab opportunity in even the most challenging environments, look at well-known problems for solutions that no one has thought of before…”[xxix]
Summary:
Look for Bill Dahl’s new book: C-4 – The Explosive Story of Financial Fraud on the Frontier of the American West in November 2025. Publisher inquiries are currently being considered and are welcome.
About The Author:
Bill Dahl’s bio is HERE.
Notes:
[i] 26 years in prison, $62,757,550 in restitution, probation/supervised release/community service = 11 years (does not include probation terms for Towne and Hotchkiss and/or supervised release as part of future terms of parole for offenders serving prison time).
[ii] Ballesien, Edward, J. Fraud – An American History From Barnum to Madoff, Princeton University Press Princeton, NJ and Oxford, UK Copyright (c) 2017 by Princeton University Press p. 353.
[iii] Kindleberger, Charles P. and Aliber, Robert Z. Foreword by Robert Solow Copyright 2005 by Charles P. Kindleberger and Robert Z. Aliber; Manias, Panics and Crashes – A History of Financial Crises – Fifth Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoboken, New Jersey. NOTE: Kindleberger was the Ford International Professor of Economics Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He garnered a PhD. In economics from Columbia University and served as an architect of the European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan) at the end of WW II. His professional career included serving as an economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, President of the American Economics Association, and as a consultant/economist with the Bank of International Settlements and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. Manias, Panics and Crashes (one of some 30 books he authored) was first published in 1978 – after U.S. the value of equity markets had plunged 50 percent during 1973-74; leading to a recession in the U.S., the bankruptcy of Penn Central Railroad (among others) and the bailout of New York City. Manias, Panics and Crashes is considered Kindleberger’s seminal work. It is recommended (by me) for those who are either required to study this dimension of economic history/phenomenon and/or those who have a desire to consume a historical, scholarly approach to the subject…It is not a casual read for the mildly interested.
[iv] Lepler, Jessica M. The Many Panics of 1837 – People, Politics, and the Creation of a Transatlantic Financial Crisis, Copyright ©2013 Jessica M. Lepler, Cambridge University Press, New York, NY p. 234.
[v] Slater, Philip The Pursuit of Loneliness Beacon Press Boston, MA Copyright © 1970 & 1976 by Philip E. Slater. p. xii.
[vi] Kushner, Harold S. How Good Do We Have To Be – A New Understanding of Guilt and Forgiveness, Little, Brown and Company Boston, MA Copyright 1996 by Harold S. Kushner, p. 39.
[vii] Diamond, Jared The Third Chimpanzee – The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal, Harper Perrenial New York, NY Copyright © 1992 by Jared Diamond p. 4.
[viii] Lepler, Jessica M. The Many Panics of 1837 – People, Politics, and the Creation of a Transatlantic Financial Crisis, Copyright ©2013 Jessica M. Lepler, Cambridge University Press, New York, NY p. 249.
[ix] Aron, Stephen http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/history-american-west-gets-much-needed-rewrite-180960149/?no-ist
[x] http://www.answers.com/Q/How_much_does_a_human_foot_weigh?#slide=2
[xi] http://kqry4.com/caldwell-idaho/adam-sandler-had-this-to-say-about-caldwell-idaho-residents/
[xii] Ibid.
[xiii] http://www.simplot.com/about/our_founder
[xiv] https://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KEUL/2013/7/31/DailyHistory.html?req_city=&req_state=&req_statename=&reqdb.zip=&reqdb.magic=&reqdb.wmo=
[xv] http://www.ktvz.com/news/bend/former-bend-developer-admits-being-shot-to-collect-disability/69158875
[xvi] https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2013/3/18/the-mighty-20-gauge/
[xvii] http://www.wideopenspaces.com/10-best-bear-defense-guns-pics/
[xviii] http://www.bendbulletin.com/home/1534209-151/head-of-former-bend-company-gets-7-years
[xix] http://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/1739674-151/desert-sun-official-10-year-prison-sentence
[xx] http://www.bendbulletin.com/news/1369739-151/8th-guilty-plea-in-fraud-case
[xxi] https://www.justice.gov/usao-or/pr/five-sentenced-20-million-bank-fraud
[xxii] https://www.justice.gov/usao-or/pr/five-sentenced-20-million-bank-fraud
[xxiii] http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/oct/26/sentenced-man-allegedly-asked-son-to-shoot-him/
[xxiv] http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2014/10/facing_prison_shannon_egeland.html
[xxv] http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-man-admits-roadside-shooting-in-idaho-was-staged-2016may11-story.html
[xxvi] Casti, John L. X-EVENTS – The Collapse of Everything, William Morrow – An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers New York, NY Copyright © 2012 by John L. Casti p. 293.
[xxvii] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/09/how-wall-streets-bankers-stayed-out-of-jail/399368/
[xxviii] Bunting, Robert Introduction Copyright © 1996 Robert Bunting in Coe, Urling C. (Urling Campbell), Frontier Doctor: Observations on Central Oregon and the Changing West, MacMillan Co. 1940. P. xviii.
[xxix] http://www.simplot.com/about/our_founder
