Biz
N.C. call hedges investment scam
Triangle Business Journal - Staff Reports
A "cold call" turned into a hot tip for a North Carolina Securities Division investigator.
Early last year, John Curry took a call at his office from a broker in Florida working for Eric Stein, an alleged Las Vegas-based investment scam artist.
Curry was posing as a wealthy Carolina investor interested in Stein's business, called the Sterling Group. The firm was suspected of using the sale of a line of merchandise on late night television as a front for another business selling something called "media units."
Curry's handling of that call is credited with helping nail the ring that cost investors nearly $60 million -- at least $1 million is known to have come from North Carolinians -- who thought they were buying into a new marketing fad.
After Curry gathered tapes and promissory notes as evidence against Stein, the master plotter disappeared. "America's Most Wanted" detailed the case in two episodes, which led to an anonymous tip and Stein's capture in California two weeks ago.
A follow-up story on the investment caper airs March 13 on "America's Most Wanted" at 9 p.m. on WRAZ-TV.
"It may sound corny, but that show proved while you may be able to hide from the law, there is no way you can hide from television," said Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, whose office includes the Securities Division.
Elvis impersonators and blues aficionados soon may have reason to hop a Northwest Airlines jet from the Triangle.
Biz hears that Northwest plans to add daily service from Raleigh-Durham International Airport to its hub in Memphis, Tenn., later this spring. No word on how many flights will be added.
Northwest now flies to its hubs in Minneapolis and Detroit out of RDU and is the airport's fifth-busiest carrier.
Talk about jumping the gun.
The News & Observer has broken the story of the century -- World War III has erupted between the U.S. and China. Fortunately, the war is hypothetical, which is too bad for the N&O, since it could have scooped everyone else by 16 years.
On its promotional site for upcoming game "Force 21," Red Storm Entertainment displayed a mock N&O front page that says war has broken out between Russia, China and the U.S. in the year 2015.
This isn't the first time Red Storm has used a local media outlet to promote its games. WRAL-TV news anchor Debra Morgan was featured in the introductory trailer to Red Storm's 1997 release, "Politika."
The Triangle will be well-represented at Red Herring's Venture Market South in Atlanta, with eight of the 45 presenting companies hailing from the area.
The conference is billed as the largest venture capital conference in the Southeast. It will be held in Atlanta March 15 - 17. The primary sponsors are Kilpatrick Stockton, Arthur Andersen and Nasdaq.
The local companies presenting are:
Cronos Integrated Microsystems, a Research Triangle Park producer of microelectromechanical systems spun off from MCNC;
Empower Corp., a Raleigh producer of on-line training systems for corporations;
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