Things aren't always as they seem. Sometimes judgments are made based on incomplete or withheld information. Sometimes we focus only on one thing and fail to see the big picture. Sometimes it takes less effort to simply accept things at face value and not ask questions. On the other hand, how do you ignore the obvious, but unexplained?
At least a decade ago, a friend at work shared an amazing story with me. He had been traveling the week before and opted to spend the night in a town where he once worked. When he went to check out of the hotel, he noticed the morning newspaper and recognized the picture of a man and woman highlighted on the front page. He knew them from the time when he lived in that town. They attended the same church that he did.
The man pictured in the newspaper allegedly had embezzled $16 million dollars over an eight-year period. So how does a man who earns $50,000 a year explain the ease at which he sometimes spent up to $250,000 a month? Wouldn't the disconnect between affordability based on income and the list of things the FBI subsequently seized from the couple seem to offer at least a subtle hint that there is, "Something rotten in the State of Denmark":
• "The couple's turn of the century home in Corsicana, Texas, and their $784,000 villa in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
• 596-bottle wine collection.
• $2,500 Waterford Crystal 12 Days of Christmas ice bucket.
• $10,000 "Sex and the City 2" ring with a five carat black diamond.
• Louis Vuitton luggage, Hermes handbag and other designer purses.
• $60,000 Steinway piano.
• Four fur coats including a $15,000 mink fur coat and a reversible mink and leather bomber jacket.
• Luxury cars including a BMW X53, a Lexus, a Mercedes-Benz CL500 and a GMS Yukon XL Denali.
• 108 watches, including a men's Patek Philippe 18 carat rose gold 40mm Aquanaut watch.
• A collection of Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry, �more than 80 bracelets and necklaces, and 53 rings.
Don't forget the lavish vacations. During an eight-year period, the couple reportedly spent $3.2 million on private jets to fly them to Aspen, Napa, Martha's Vineyard, and the Turks and Caicos islands.
At least when it came to using their credit card, they managed some level of restraint. Reportedly, only $11 million was charged on their American Express card.
Things aren't always as they seem. Either the man had an incredible ability to 'stretch a dollar" and then "stretch it some more" or there was something rotten in the State of Denmark.
All My Best!
Don
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