Monday, November 9, 2015

Go Fund Me Deception in Chicago Murder

In many crimes, we "follow the money" as greed is a powerful drive within human nature.  Like the honest ancient prayer, "Don't give me too much lest I forget You; don't give me too little lest I steal.." we do, in fact, find that arguments between people, like arguments between nations, often have greed behind them.

As internet use has increased, so has the various methods to satisfy this need to take what belongs to another.  I often say that theft is getting that which one's hands have not earned.

In contracting with, or conducting seminars for businesses, Statement Analysis is used not only in internal investigations, but in the interview process and analysis of application questionnaires is able to show the Human Resource professional those who's motive is to obtain money not earned to the point that the Interviewer is informed of this fact and conducts the interview with this in mind, while not revealing to the applicant the knowledge.

What will the Interviewer find out?

If the applicant talks, the applicant will reveal himself or herself.

Many companies are surprised at just how many people steal and even more surprised at the methods.  They spend large amounts of money on video surveillance and other techniques while missing out on many of the "new" methods of stealing.  Just as they think they are "hi tech", they are taken by the old school greed, instead.

A company hires temps from a temp agency.

The young person was stocking a shelf when the store manager groped her.  She cannot stop herself from crying and the company believes the store manager didn't do it, but cut a check to "pay for therapy" for the victim who is not only lying:  but knew she was going to do this when they hired her.

Social Service professionals will often go "the extra mile" to help their clients obtain "services."  We have seen under cover video of state employees showing illegally how to obtain tax payer funded welfare services even to the point of how to lie.

A new one?

Those with severe drug problems who cannot afford high priced successful in patient rehabilitation services are counseled to work for a company for a few months and claim that the stress drove them to having a drug problem putting the company on the hook for...$15,000 to $25,000.

There are those who will learn where the video camera ends and where it is safe to "fall" and cash in on the company.

Companies are amazed when they are shown "agenda driven" employees who reveal themselves in the application process, often before they even are interviewed.  The interview will confirm the analysis.

When Dept of Justice said that 40% of the thieves planned it before or during the interview process, they were looking at common shrinkage, not the myriad of exploitation today.  Not only does Statement Analysis identify these thieves before they get through the door, but will show a company how to interview the claimant, showing great sympathy for their suffering, while getting them to revealing their own fraudulent claims.

Go Fund Me 

I personally like private giving.  It is voluntary and it is sometimes a reflection of us at our "best."

It is also a hot bed for thieves, whether it be Pizza Guy in Utah, or Julie Baker decorating her Baltimore home, they will use anything, in particular, "victim status" to separate you from your money, and get their hands on money they have not earned.

Go Fund Me is not the problem; greed is the problem on the left hand, and lack of discernment is the problem on the right hand.  We do not wish to become cynical towards the suffering of our fellow man, nor do we wish to be taken in fraud.

Emotions are often elicited to override logic.  This is why one's wording is so important.  In Ms. Baker's fraud, she appealed to strong anti-religious sentiment, which revealed her own hated, while claiming to be a victim of hatred, itself.

When her fraud was brought to light, the two themes of silence were imposed:

1.  "Hatred"
2.  "Phobia"

If you disagree, you have "hatred" (which is murder) motivating you, and you are irrationally afraid of something, therefore, no reasonable nor logical discussion will be engaged in.

These two are used to silence criticism, or even questioning of one's motive.

Commentators marveled that even after reading analysis, Ms. Baker was incapable of issuing a Reliable Denial.

Now comes the tragic shooting of a little boy to Go Fund Me with both parents seeking money their hands did not earn.  

The mother of a murdered 9-year-old Chicago boy is fighting back against accusations that she used online donations meant for her son’s burial to purchase a new car.

Karla Lee, 26, admitted using the money donated through GoFundMe to buy the car, but said her son would have wanted her to be safe and a car helps, Fox32 reportedSaturday.

Am I afraid for my life? 100 percent I’m afraid for my life,” she told the station.

Note the question first, "Am I afraid for my life?" as a likely response to a question.  
Next, note the use of percentage.  

Following public outrage, Lee said she used her own money that she had saved for months to make the purchase, according to the station.

She also lashed out at her critics in an expletive-filled rant on Instagram.

“This don’t make no sense,” she says in the 60-second video. “I am so tired of ya’ll social media and ya’ll Facebook people bashing me. Ya’ll don’t even know me. I was the best mother I was to my son.”

Please note that "best mother" is closely linked to child abuse and child neglect often indicating that not only have family members alleged abuse and/or neglect, but possible state intervention of the same.  


Her son, Tyshawn Lee, was shot and killed Monday after being lured into an alley on the city’s south side in what police say was an “absolutely hateful” killing motivated by his father’s alleged gang affiliations.


Lee purchased a 2015 Chrysler 200, WLS-TV reported Sunday.  Lee told the station she used her own money to make the down payment.

She told the station the trouble started when the dealership where she bought the car posted her purchase on Facebook without her knowledge. The post has been deleted.

More than $17,000 was raised in four days on a GoFundMe page created by a friend of Lee’s to “help Karla lay her son to rest.”

The online fundraiser was closed Sunday morning, DNAChicago reported.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=2Ni3uCzyz6U&app=desktop

In another bizarre twist, Tyshawn’s father apparently started another GoFundMe page seeking donations for funeral expenses, the website reported. The page was quickly taken down.

I understand the mother of my son did wrong by that money, but what the news is not telling, that they are only paying for half the cost of everything," Wooh Gotti, an alias used by Tyshawn's dad Pierre Stokes, wrote, according to DNA.”They are blaming us so they don't have to pay the full cost of everything. She is in the wrong for doing what she did with the money for our son, just give me a chance to lay my son to rest the right way." 

DNA reported that Stokes’ appeal sought $2,500 and the fundraising page also was selling Tyshawn memorial T-shirts for $25-$45. 

A police spokesman told FoxNews.com Friday that Stokes potentially knows who killed his son, but has refused to cooperate with detectives.

A reward of $54,000 is being offered for information that leads to the boy’s killer or killers.



26 comments:

Anonymous said...

VICKI SAID:

I saw her initial interview where she was fake crying, and thought she was very suspicious with that fake sadness. What is up with that? I saw this last interview this morning and did not understand a word she said, so I was glad to read the transcription here.

Statement Analysis Blog said...

I added the link to her youtube video. She does not cry for her son there.

Peter

Anonymous said...

potentially knows who killed his son"...

big difference from DOES Know who killed his son.

Gang infested areas are fodder for these type of situations. They want money to get away from the environment, and others help them only to keep them in it. A catch-22

Lured is a strong word with suspicion attached. Could it be the child was simply shot by one of many criminals in the area?

A goal on GOFUNDME with the amount of funeral expenses expected to be paid out would have been helpful. Even a meter to allow others to watch how closely the goal is to being reached would assist. Instead, these fodder makers hurt others when they need funding and others are callused and indifferent from the media storms around situations such as this one.

Statement Analysis Blog said...

Anonymous said...
potentially knows who killed his son"...

big difference from DOES Know who killed his son.

Gang infested areas are fodder for these type of situations. They want money to get away from the environment, and others help them only to keep them in it. A catch-22

Lured is a strong word with suspicion attached. Could it be the child was simply shot by one of many criminals in the area?

A goal on GOFUNDME with the amount of funeral expenses expected to be paid out would have been helpful. Even a meter to allow others to watch how closely the goal is to being reached would assist. Instead, these fodder makers hurt others when they need funding and others are callused and indifferent from the media storms around situations such as this one.
*********************


"potentially" : police believe he knows? Perhaps.

As to the specific cost of the funeral:

It is very likely that the father and mother, prior to GO FUND ME would not be paying a single dollar of the funeral. This is more the norm.

If you recall Justin DiPietro on welfare, a local journalist found that he might have ben on the hook for a few hundred dollars at maximum, though in my experiences (plural) there is NO COST if the parent on welfare says he has no money.

She found, if memory serves, that the "co payment" was under $500 at maximum, and he had taken out the life insurance policy to pay for his healthy child's funeral for $15,000.

Though she found it to be $500, it would have been very much less, and it was a very good indication that he had other plans for the money.

Recall: a cache of drugs were confiscated in his girlfriend's sister's apartment in Portland.

Not that I can quote them, but methinks drug dealers who give out merchandise in wholesale amounts, do not take Visa or Mastercard payments.

Sus said...

The father knows who killed his son. As do the police. They know it's in retaliation for shooting a rival gang member's mother.

If the mother needed a car for her safety, I wonder why it had to be a 2015. Do they stop bullets better than say, a 2010?

This is about more than Tyshawn Lee. This is about showing the hold gangs have over the people in certain areas. It has been laid bare for the world to see...a mother and father are choosing their gang banger life over their son. This is about shaming, paying, cajoling...anything to release the gangs' hold on this area of Chicago.

Sus said...

By the way, I kept praying as the police were saying the father refused to cooperate, that he really was. I was praying it was a ruse for his safety. Apparently not. He has truly chosen his gang affiliation and very likely retaliation rather than his son.

I try to wrap my head around that, and all I can figure out is that he may see retaliation as honoring his son.

Anonymous said...

This is similar in nature in that a small boy was murdered. Different in that the gang were "working" for the citizens and concerned for their well being. Here's a link if you care to peruse: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeremy-mardis-shooting-death-motorist-had-hands-up-as-marshals-killed-his-boy/

Anonymous said...

Peter, I get your point on welfare recipients and funerals.However, funerals aren't a common commodity that the recipient would know the cost of, or even the nature of how it would be handled unless the parent were accustomed to burying their children frequently.

These people are targets for training media styled terrorists who try to assemble a gang of their own, imo.

In the Depitro case, the child disappeared amid drug use. Common. As is abuse. Does one bully the drug runners? No way...to dangerous. It's easier to bully those unable to break away from the "shadow government."

Sus said...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-4-people-in-custody-for-slaying-of-boy-9-police-say-20140919-story.html

Here's a nine year old purposely shot by gang members last year in Chicago. Same gangs- same war. I read in another article that this boy had just moved to this area with his family and probably didn't understand the "rules" of the area. Where one gang's territory begins and ends. Things most of us don't have to know.

John Mc Gowan said...

Slain 9-Year-Old Tyshawn Lee's Mom Slammed for Buying New Car

CHICAGO — The mother of slain 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee is under fire on social media for purchasing a new car.

Karla Lee posted several videos on Instagram early Saturday morning, now deleted, defending her purchase, saying she needs it for protection and that she's scared to walk or take the bus.

According to unverified Facebook posts Saturday, Lee had posted on Facebook that she had spent money from her son's GoFundMe page on the car, then deleted her account due to overwhelming negative reaction. DNAinfo Chicago could not independently confirm this Saturday afternoon.

More than $17,000 was raised through a GoFundMe page that was set up to pay for the boy's funeral. The page's creator, who said she was a friend of Tyshawn's mother Karla, said the page was organized to "help [Karla] in her time of need with any small donations to help her lay her son to rest."


The GoFundMe creator could not immediately be reached for comment

Tyshawn Lee, 9, was gunned down Monday. His GoFundMe page raised over $17,000 for his burial. Tyshawn Lee, 9, was gunned down Monday. His GoFundMe page raised over $17,000 for his burial. View Full Caption Instagram/Karla_lee26
UPDATE 11/8: Tyshawn's mom denies spending GoFundMe cash on car, dad sells memorial t-shirts online.

CHICAGO — The mother of slain 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee is under fire on social media for purchasing a new car.

Karla Lee posted several videos on Instagram early Saturday morning, now deleted, defending her purchase, saying she needs it for protection and that she's scared to walk or take the bus.

According to unverified Facebook posts Saturday, Lee had posted on Facebook that she had spent money from her son's GoFundMe page on the car, then deleted her account due to overwhelming negative reaction. DNAinfo Chicago could not independently confirm this Saturday afternoon.

More than $17,000 was raised through a GoFundMe page that was set up to pay for the boy's funeral. The page's creator, who said she was a friend of Tyshawn's mother Karla, said the page was organized to "help [Karla] in her time of need with any small donations to help her lay her son to rest."

The GoFundMe creator could not immediately be reached for comment.

Listen to Supt. McCarthy's remarks at Thursday's press conference:



Karla Lee later posted several Instagram videos in defense of her actions, saying she was the best mother possible to Tyshawn and she bought the car to protect herself so she wouldn't become "a target" by walking or taking the bus.

"If a m-----f----- telling you they gonna try to take your life, too, because of whatever the f--- is going on ... they already took my son. I walk to work, I get on the bus. I'm not trying to be a target for nobody," Karla Lee said in one of the videos.

In the emotional videos, which were deleted Saturday afternoon, she pleads for people who are not supporting her to leave her alone.

"I got this s--- for my protection. ... I'm pretty sure that's something my son would have wanted me to do," she said in another video.

Some commenters on social media and on GoFundMe said that if the family received free burial services, they wished to get their money back. GoFundMe user Joe Smith wrote, "Used the money to buy a car, rather than either return it or donate it to charity. It was given to her to offset funeral costs and instead she used it to benefit herself."

Cont.

John Mc Gowan said...

Other commenters were more sympathetic, ageeing with Lee's assertion that she needed the car for protection.

Tyshawn Lee was lured into an alley and executed on Monday, possibly because of his family's gang ties, Supt. Garry McCarthy said this week. He was killed near his grandmother's home in Auburn Gresham.

The reward for information about Tyshawn's murderer is now $54,600.

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20151109/downtown/as-child-care-advocates-rip-state-cuts-rauner-makes-concessions

Anonymous said...

If she didn't have a car before, I could see how she could think she'd be safer in one. However, a new car would still make her a target of a different sort in the area. Thieves could jack her for the car. Not to mention the extra cost associated with new car such as insurance, taxes, parking, etc.

I doubt she paid $17,000 for a new 200, but I wouldn't know.

Had I been the dealership, I wouldn't post the transaction on Facebook as at the time of the purchase, they did not know where the money came from. Do they ask everyone where the money comes from? She could return the car. Why would they do that? How many gang members show up and buy really expensive cars everyday and no one questions it?

Yep, they aren't the Kardashians with their transgender role models and coma inducing drug exploits, but some people do have values.

Anonymous said...

Quoting Peter:
"Note the question first, 'Am I afraid for my life?' as a likely response to a question."
~~~~
This is often a speech habit, where the person asks and answers his or her own questions without pause for the listener to respond. (potentially bloated ego, even if no dishonest intentions.)
Would that put it in neon blue in the "extra information" category?

It's one thing to provide information you presume the interviewer might want. It feels a lot stronger to point out you think you know what questions they'll ask, and try to control the pace of information and the exact wording of the questions.

Quoting MOTY frontrunner Karla Lee:
" Ya’ll don’t even know me. I was the best mother I was to my son.”
~~~~
That's some stiff competition you beat out there, mom, congratulations!

Nothing minimizes her actions, but did the dealership happily pocket her money, smiling and patting her back, then post the evidence as if them knowingly accepting that money is any less despicable?
(or maybe a jealous coworker who didn't make any bank that day?)


Quoting Sus:
"This is about shaming, paying, cajoling...anything to release the gangs' hold on this area of Chicago."
~~~~
Not that it would help the neighborhood, but the cost of just about any 2015 car would cover a few months' rent and required deposits in a much safer area.

Anonymous said...

I doubt but a few donated for any reason other than beotchin' rights and the mineral rights on the remaining lifeforms. Most have some idea of the cost of a funeral, yet donated after it exceeded the reasonable expectation of funds gathered.

A $5 contribution puts the donor in control of the life of another unbeknownst to the recipient. Those belittling the deceased family do so for entertainment and never had any intent to help, nor would they ever help anyone else.

I would be interested in a summary of who donated what amount to compare that amount to the pain caused by the statements they have made via social media. Would it be worth it? How many that have social media sites donated just to increase clicks?

I don't blame her for being mad and cursing. Her son just died and now everyone is tearing her down more in her time of need.

The priest asked what have we (the community) become when a small child is executed- Social media in the flesh.

Had I donated, I would want her to do something for herself such as get her hair or nails done or something that makes her feel better. It would have been a gift, not a cheap puppet string.

Unknown said...

Sunday's new episode of The Simpson's featured Homer using crowd funding to raise money to purchase a new lift chair for himself because he's too lazy to stand up with out help.

He's shown sitting on the couch in front of his laptop, and he pulls out an instructional book titled:

CROWDFUNDING: THE NEW PANHANDLING

Lol

Anonymous said...

Jen, that's what I'm talking about! People whose priority in life is keepin' up with some fictional cartoon family such as the Simpsons are the ones whose life revolves around pounding on these people-people dealing with grief.

These are real people with real feelings dealing with real pain, dangerous environment, tasked with making ends meet and already surrounded by problem people from friends,family, neighbors, co-workers and have little time to understand how the social media cliches operate.

At some point the people sending in funds need to be held responsible! Either that or they need to let go of the animosity.

Anonymous said...

Quoting yet another Anon @6:25 am, Nov. 10:
"I doubt but a few donated for any reason other than beotchin' rights "
~~~
I don't see any correlation, much less a precise linear one, between donating money and authorization to insult and complain.

That small mindset can only lead to misery no matter which side of the equation.

Statement Analysis Blog said...

Using anonymous logic, we would have to legalize (or decriminalize) fraud, including internet and postal fraud, due to one's grieving.

This was the argument of the pizza scam's lawyer. "It was a cry for help!"

The cry was to the tune of $22,000.

Let's blame the donators? Really?? They should have known that when it said "Go Fund Me" for a funeral it really meant a 2015 car and a vulgar tirade of self defense from someone who appeared to care nothing for her child?

I wonder if critical thinking was taken from citizens, or if it was freely surrendered. Let's think it through...

Then, if we legalize fraud due to emotional distress, perhaps we can now move to other criminal behavior, including molestation.

Let's be a European judge and blame the rape victim for her underwear in order to understand what the poor migrant was experiencing when he raped a local. Blame the victim; blame the donator.

The suspension of reason for the purpose of emotion never fails to catch my attention.

Peter

Statement Analysis Blog said...

Generous people might have donated to her had she said, "I walk to work and this is dangerous, so if you would like to donate, I intend to buy a car for my safety."

Of course, donators would like to know if this is real: does she have a job and will the money go to a car, and not to, as has happened to me more than a few times, to drugs or alcohol. (Recall my triplets of the early 90's).

Go Fund Me could be set up by a local car dealership without any fraud.

People would be then emotionally unentangled in thinking that a dead child was in need of a funeral, but deprived by poverty.

This is fraud.

Welfare pays for the funeral and if the mother works, even at minimum wage, she would have a co-payment of a few hundred dollars.

It was fraud; another attempt to fulfill a desire to steal from someone something one's own hands have not earned.

The wise man prayed, "Lord, don't give me too much, lest I forget you ("my hands have earned this wealth!), but don't give me too little, lest I steal" (I don't trust myself).

Human nature in a self-honest statement.

Peter

Unknown said...

I'm not sure what point you are trying to make Anon.

Crowd funding IS little more than panhandling, only instead of sitting on the side of the road with a cardboard sign, they are reaching a much wider audience through the internet. It's basically, 'here's my sob story, please donate'.

Same.

I don't agree that people donate only so they can complain. That makes no sense. If they suspected that the story was untrue, or that the money would not be used for its stated purpose...then they likely wouldn't donate at all.

Excusing fraud, doesn't make it any less fraud. Excusing lying, doesn't make it any less a lie. Trying to find a way to make 'bad guys' out of those who donated, doesn't make her any less of a scammer.

When people pull stunts like this, (eliciting donations to bury a murdered 9 year old, only to turn around and buy herself a new car) they bring the backlash on themselves. I can't feel a bit sorry for her plight in social media. She deserves to be shamed for her terrible life choices, and the fraud she perpetrated.

Unknown said...

And, yes...she tragically lost her son, due in no small part to her, and the father's terrible life choices.

No doubt she is hurting, but she has demonstrated through her fraud that she has no desire to leave the lifestyle that cost her son his life. She could have used whatever funds remained after burial to move away from the gang area, but we all know what she did instead.

Sus said...

To me, the mother buying a car is only part of a bigger picture. That picture is that children are expendable, easily let go, in a certain sector of society. And that sector sits smack dab in the middle of us so it hits us hard. It's unexpected.

Yes, the mother bought a car with money intended to honor her so. As far as I'm concerned she put herself first in doing so. I also lost a son. It was important to me to give him a nice headstone. At the time, all I could think was "this is all I will give him, no baseball spikes, no prom tuxes, no college, etc." It was important to give him a headstone. I made payments to do it.

The mother also says she has nothing to do with gangs. Check out the woman at her side. That's her guard. She's a gang banger. The father refuses to name names. The community refuses to tell (those who know) and I'll guarantee you, many know.

The point is that they have all chosen their gang affiliation over Tyshawn Lee, a 9 year old. It's unexpected in normal society.

Sus said...

I'd like to add, Peter has been writing how police can become jaded. I agree. This is what Chicago police see among the gangs, and have come to expect.

The police know who killed Tyshawn Lee. Chicago uses the social mapping model. Heck, they know before a retaliation occurrs who is likely to do it. They have had to ease back on visiting and prevention because...wait for it...that would be profiling.

Now that the media has picked up Tyshawn's death and his community's silence, it shows the world the unexpected. It puts pressure on the gangs to conform to societal norms. Nothing else has worked.

Statement Analysis Blog said...

The frustration must be so that it impacts health.
Chicago police officers who are black may have it even more so. They dedicate themselves to a profession or "calling" only to believe in justice and the rule of law, while being denigrated by some as "betrayers."

Baltimore is another example.

Policing is difficult no matter what, but today, black police have it more difficult due to the racial divide we are experiencing.

Peter

Anonymous said...

I viewed a clip on GoFundme accounts, the Lee case being featured, and the standard operating procedure was once the goal was reached excess was theirs to keep and do with as they please. This applies to kickstart projects for films where $3 million is goal and $5 million is collected equals $2 million to go play. There!

And, yes, I think they know when they donate (most that is) that they will receive inside information on that person, their family, friends, etc. and do so to monitor them. Many donate because they are moved by the story on TV (knowing the dead child was impoverished) and do so out of impulse. Of course, friends and family members donate, but the complainers know. They know.

The woman in question just lost a son to a brutal murder, was hospitalized out of trauma and grief, and now fears for her own self. Her decision wasn't the best in the car purchase, but given the culture in which she lives it is expected. To escalate a bad situation is more costly than letting go of a mistake in giving. Someone will have to pay for more sedation, more security, etc.

Bet a good many of the donors are media related and hope to make something off the trauma. A business expense for them, so to speak. Escalate the warfare in the area.

Nope, it ranks right up there with placing stuffed animals in the outdoor elements where a child was found dead because the want to help the children when so many would be happy with just one stuffed animal. Or collecting a truck load of toys for a found child when one or two would be enough and collecting money for future clothing, school supplies, sundries, food, etc. You get my drift.

Nadine Lumley said...

I hope Peter's bristling outrage is directed also at NYC bankers who steal billions from everyday Americans, something a black welfare single mom can't even dream about that level of fraud.

Mmmmmk