The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "dealer's claims" ...
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Is it true?
"For several years a local car dealership ran advertisements on the radio, television and in newspapers offering deals on cars that it could not live up to". As a number of complaints mounted, the investigation into the dealership began. The investigation revealed the dealership used false advertising and "even increased the interest rate on finance documents after they were signed by the customer".
Tags: Mike Young Motors; bait-and-switch advertising; advertisements; ads; false; car dealership; dealer's claims; violations; automobiles
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Consumers: State Refund claims bogus; Attorney general consumer watchdog inflated claims by $2.5 million
An investigation by the Cleveland Plain Dealer reveals that Ohio's attorney general inflated her restitution figures "by at least $2.5 million." The newspaper's investigation "showed how not just that her office puffed its numbers but how: It took credit for refunds secured by other agencies, included refund offers from companies that consumers never accepted, inflated the dollar value of refunds and counted refunds that companies promised but never delivered."
Tags: Ohio; attorney general; consumers; refunds; local government; agencies
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Town on Trial
"A small town sheriff in Tulia, Texas seeks to rid his town of drugs by hiring a lone white undercover police officer to sniff out drug dealers. The result: More than a third of the adult black population in the town, 41 in all, are thrown in jail. All claim they are innocent."
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; racism; sheriff; law
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Windstar Troubles
WBNS-TV reports on "problems with 1995 Ford Windstar transmissions ... [that] were expensive to fix and pose a safety risk." The investigation reveals that "one of the primary problems concerned aluminum forward clutch pistons, ... [which] can fail in transmissions on 1994 and 1995 Windstars, Taurus, Mercury Sables and Lincoln Continentals." It also finds 521 owner complaints about the questionable part. The reporter uncovers a 1994 Ford Motor Company service bulletin warning dealers and technicians that "the aluminium part may crack, causing gear engagement concerns." The story details several lawsuits claiming that Ford has "told its dealers to replace the aluminium part with a steel part," but has "failed to notify its customers about the defect."
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; safety; Ford; Windstar; highways; gear; transmission; NHTSA; consumer advocates; warranty
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Good Cop, Bad Cop; Dirty Cops, Dirty Games
A Dallas Observer investigation "deals with disturbing allegations of widespread police corruption made by a former Dallas Police Department (DPD) officer." The author, a Dallas-based lawyer, details the corrupt story of the patrol officer Daniel Maples who has turned himself in to the police and has claimed being "part of a "ring" of dirty cops run by another officer, Quentis Roper Jr." To back up his claims, the officer has brought $ 49,000 in cash and has said it is 'his cut of what he, Roper and other cops" have stolen from arrested drug dealers. The two-part series examines Maples' allegations and shows that "for a variety of political, budgetary and personality-based reasons, the DPD was more interested in hushing this up than in fully investigating Maples' story."
Tags: corruption; theft; Dallas; FBI; U.S. Attorneys office; drugs; public integrity
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Shortchanged on Nasdaq?
The San Jose Mercury News looks into Nasdaq's claim which is that vigorous competition among its dealer firms keeps investors' trading costs low. The Mercury News doesn't think that's true and that investor costs are much higher.
Tags: dealer competition; investor costs; stock market; New York Stock Exchange
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When is a Calder not a Calder?
This story deals with the little-known problem of fakes in the booming market for sculpture by Alexander Calder. Four prominent American art dealers were suing a London dealer and a collector, claiming that a Calder mobile they bought from the collector through the dealer was a fake. The leading expert on the artist's works, Klaus Perls, agreed it was a fake, but a judge disagreed and ruled the work genuine. This decision shocked the art world, as a judge with no background in art overruled the expert. Since Perls retirement, Calder's grandson, Alexander Rower, is the official expert on his grandfather's work, as is producing the authoritative catalogue raisonne. This means he has sole authority to bestow the stamp of authenticity. Many dealers and collectors are distressed that Rower has rejected about 80 works as fakes without any real explanation. People who are knowledgeable think that Rower, who was 13 when his grandfather died and has no training in art history, isn't qualified to make such judgments.
Tags: forgery
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No title (id: 13264)
The marriage of prominent Philadelphia car dealer, Robert Potamkin to his wife Jeanne deteriorated, involving their son, Jamin. Jamin required visits to a psychologist, Mary Catherine Coroza, in order to deal with the events of his 10 year life. After making imporovements, his mother stopped these visits, just as he was making progress. Ten years later, while driving in Philadelphia, Jamin and his mother attempted to run over Coroza, claiming that she ruined their lives. The trial of Jamin and Jeanne, which ended in jail sentences for both,is discussed in this article.
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No title (id: 12705)
In early 1995, the Dallas County courthouse raged with paranoia. Robert Rose--a natorious defense attorney with a reputaion for living well off the cash he collected representing drug dealers--endered a secret plea to federal charges of tax evasion. The plea was sealed for five months, presumably while Rose cooperated with federal investigators plumbing allegations of courhouse corruption. Rumors of payoffs and kickbacks abounded, and one local television station swent so far as to report that the indictment of four judges on corruption charges was imminent. Mysterious affidavits surfaced, in which a questionable informant claimed to have seen two prominent judges accept cash payoffs. (Aug. 24, 1995)
Tags: Pasztor Whose afraid of Robert Rose Contest entry 10 pgs
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No title (id: 8518)
The Advocate (Stamford, Conn.) tells the story of the only person imprisoned in the United States for the Iran-contra affair, a Pakistani-born arms dealer named Arif Durrani who claims to be linked to Oliver North and his government-sanctioned arms-for-hostages operation; uncovers several U.S. - Israeli joint arms networks to illegally supply Iran with weapons, Aug. 8, 1991.
Tags: None