Joel Steinger was inside the World Trade Center when planes attacked.

I’m not sure if this story was published anywhere else, but Joel Steinger was inside one of the towers when the World Trade Center was under attack. How do I know this? Because there was an office meeting on the same day at about 10:17am . Over the intercom I heard a message asking everyone in the office to report to the conference room. While in the conference room Leslie Steinger stated that Joel was inside one of the towers when they were hit. He doesn’t know if he’s ok because they lost connection from his cell phone. I know exactly what was said over the phone during the incident, but out of respect for the late Leslie Steinger, I will not reveal that due to the emotion and tragedy involved. I know most people would object to the Steingers receiving any respect, but as an x-employee I owe it to them. They treated me fair, and in my eyes I felt they were conducting a good business. If the entire office was aware of the fraudulent activities then there never would have been a Mutual Benefits. Out of respect towards all that lost their lives on that tragic day, and the uncertainty of Joel’s condition, we were told to go home. We reported back to work the next day, and was then told that Joel was ok.

INVESTORS ARE STILL PAYING PREMIUMS

I just read the blog of Larry Scartz. who is Larry Scartz? . Just to show you how oblivious I am to this whole Mutual Benefits charade, I just found out that the investors are still paying the premiums. And that the investors voted on this course of action after being given a few options. According to Mr. Larry Scartz blog, one of his father's policies matured over a year ago. Unless I missed reading the part where Mr. Scartz received his money, I'm really curiouse to know if he actually did. Something smells real fishy about this "Receivership".

HOW DID MUTUAL BENEFITS GAIN SO MANY INVESTORS?

Should I feel guilty for all the money the investors lost? No, I don’t think I should. I do feel bad for them; and I do feel sympathy. I didn’t have anything to do with the scandal. I’m not one of the salesmen that lured them into making the investment. I myself am a victim of being misled into thinking I was working for an honest company. I had plans to go to school and learn a trade, but after working a year at Mutual it seamed like a great career opportunity. I watched this company grow from having just a few insurance policies, and just a few investors, to having tens of thousands of policies and investors. Everyday there were new investors. Anywhere from five to ten. Multiply that everyday for ten years and you can imagine the outcome. When they first opened in 1994 they had only one floor of an office building rented out. By the year 2000 they had to rent another floor of the same building just for placement of their investor files. Around 2001 the company had to move into a bigger office building because there wasn’t enough space to keep all the investor files. That’s when they moved to Broward Blvd in downtown Ft. Lauderdale. They rented out the 10th floor of the building. The office was huge! But the investor files continued to pour in. And eventually, by the end of 2003, Mutual Benefits had to rent a separate office on the 11th floor solely for the investor files.

MUTUAL BENEFITS EMPLOYEES

MUTUAL BENEFITS WAS NOT JUST FILLED WITH CROOKS. THERE WERE MANY HONEST PEOPLE WHO WERE UNDER THE IMPRESSION THEY WERE MAKING AN HONEST LIVING. ME BEING ONE OF THEM. WE ALL APPLIED FOR OUR POSITIONS THE SAME WAY ONE WOULD APPLY FOR ANY OTHER JOB. I DEDICATED MANY YEARS TO THIS COMPANY WHICH AT THE TIME I BELIEVED WAS A GREAT COMPANY. WE HAD GREAT BENEFITS, 401K PLAN, INSURANCE, THE SAME BENEFITS ONE WOULD EXPECT FROM A LEGITIMATE BUSINESS. IF I KNEW THEN WHAT I KNOW NOW, I WOULD HAVE FOUND ANOTHER JOB. BUT I DIDN’T, SO I STAYED AND CONTINUED TO BE A DEDICATED EMPLOYEE.
Am I ignorant, or naive? Gullible, or just plain stupid? Call it what you want, but don’t call me a criminal for being associated with the company. I was living check to check trying to make ends meet like a lot of other people within the company. I can say about 50 percent of the employees that worked there didn’t know what was going on. Do you think the company would have lasted that long, a decade, if they did? Obviously not. One thing Mutual Benefits did well is keep secrets. There was a legal department that was ran by Bari Wiggins, who is currently serving a jail sentence. She was a ball buster. In my eyes she was the one that made sure all business, and all contracts were initiated legally. When I found out she got convicted I was very confused. I seen this woman tell so many salesmen “ you can’t do that!” A few of the salesmen didn’t like her because she was the one that was going to tell them what they can and can’t do. And none of these salesmen like being told what to do. They were the ones making a lot of money. They were the ones living the fast life, and driving the luxury cars.

WHO IS JOEL STEINGER?

Joel Steinger was born on November 10, 1949 in Brooklyn New York. He has two younger brothers named Steven and Leslie. When Joel was 11 years old, his father died of a heart attack which made him become man of the house. By the time he graduated High School, Joel had a son named Michael, and was married to his mother Rhonda. The marriage didn’t last long. Rhonda and their son Michael had moved to Arizona. Soon after that, around 1970, Joel and his younger brothers along with their mother, had moved to Hallandale Beach Florida. In 1974 Joel married a woman named Bonnie Rosen, who was the daughter of a man named Philip Simon. Simon was named in a book published in 1973 by mobster Vincent Teresa. Vincent wrote that Simon Laundered money through Miami banks for known Mafia members, including the notorious Meyer Lansky. In the late 70’s, Simon leased Joel a space in his building which was equipped with a telephone room. Joel then began operating Crown Colony Commodity Options Ltd. Joel sold bogus options on commodities which led to his first felony, and an appearance on 60 minutes. During the 80's, Joel then started a company called Tara Petroleum where he sold interests in dry oil wells. The Securities and Exchanged Committee investigated Joel in connection with Tara, and in 1989 the SEC perminenlty barred Joel from selling securities. That same year, Joel devised a business called Original Diet Pizza Co. Inc. which ended with many lawsuits begining in 1990. In 1991 Joel started a business called Galaxy Wholesale Corp. which was operated out of an office on Oakland Park Blvd. Marlene Steinger was the company's bookeeper and says they made a substancial amount of money. But when she and her husband came back from a vacation, they came back to an empty office. According to Marlene, she claimed that Joel took off with all the investors money, and the company owned Jaguar convertable. Galaxy Wholesale Corp. soon went through suit, and eventually came to an end. During the lawsuit, it was then when Joel heard about the Viatical industry.

WHO FOUNDED MUTUAL BENEFITS CORP?

Mutual Benefits Corp. was said to have been founded by a man named Joel Steinger. Marlene Steinger, Joel’s cousin and former associate, claims Joel got the idea from a girlfriend who worked for a company called United Benefits Group. United Benefits Group was also a company that bought and sold viaticals. In 1995, the Securities Exchange Committee shut down United Benefits Group when they found out the firm sold more than four million dollars in insurance policies that did not exist.

WHAT IS MUTUAL BENEFITS?

Mutual Benefits Corp., which opened in 1994, was a company that bought and sold viaticals. They were based out of Ft. Lauderdale Florida on Oakland Park Blvd. If you don't know what a viatical is, then here is the breakdown: First, you have someone that is terminally ill. If that individual has a life insurance policy they have the option to sell the policy.Let's say the policy is worth $200,000. The patient must have a short life expectancy; can be anywhere from six months to six years. A broker from Mutual Benefits would offer the individual a small percentage of what the policy is worth. In this case, the broker would most likely offer about $60,000, if the individual was given a one year life expectancy from the physician. The shorter the life expectancy, the more the broker would offer the patient. Then the broker would sell the policy to an investor for about double than what was paid for it. The money from the investor is then used to pay the premiums, and maintane the policy untill the death of the patient. Once the patient dies, the investor then collects the $200,000 payout. In most cases this benefits the patient because they can enjoy the money they receive for selling the policy. Most people that are termially ill are in turmoil, and are experiencing financial setbacks. This would be the answer to all the financial distress. The investor also makes a healthy profit which in turn makes a good investment.
This is a short summary of what Mutual Benefits was, and in the near future I will reveal what was my role in the company. Mutual Benefits was open from 1994 to 2004, and generated millions of dollars in profits through viatical investments.