Her name is Ris Low… and she’s asking for forgiveness. Barely 60 days before being crowned Ms. World Singapore, Low was placed on probation  for 2 years for using stolen credit cards and allegedly running up a huge bill ($8,000) worth of goods… including jewelry, lingerie, and lavish meals.

Perhaps she’s sorry for committing this selfish crime… but she also has been quoted as saying, “Stealing gives her a sense of satisfaction!” Hmmmmm?

Maybe this is a dumb question… but don’t they conduct background checks on the contestants?

I betcha’ the biggest steak in Texas they do a very thorough check on her replacement!

Hats off to the organization that took away her title and accepted her resignation. My wife , a former Beauty Queen herself, has said,” Integrity is defined as what happens when nobody is looking.”

Sorry Ms. Low… you failed the integrity test!

Bummer for Low… that sure is a good-looking crown!

Remember…Character Counts!

Sounds like a strange combination, doesn’t it?

Pay attention folks…because there’s a lesson in this post you can’t miss.

Let me explain…

The two thieves are Bernard Madoff and Annette Yeomans.

Madoff (the name says it all- “made-off” ) is the Wall Street King of Ponzi who ripped off thousands of investors to the tune of 50 Billion dollars!

The word on Wall Street is that he’s a fanatical collector of vintage watches. He was very meticulous about how he spent his “time”. (Oh boy… time is really going to be his passion when he’s sentenced to prison.)

Yeomans was a California Executive who recently confessed to embezzling over $10 million dollars from her employer, forcing layoffs to her employees, while she racked up over 400 pairs of shoes and 160 designer purses valued at $2000.00 each!

The good news is… both Madoff and Yeomans recently received a pair of new, shiny, silver bracelets… compliments of their respective law enforcement agencies.

The bad news is… the victims in both cases lose BIG TIME!

Why weren’t they caught sooner, you ask? (Here comes the lesson…)

Because they were in a position of trust! And nobody verified their actions! For years!

Pretty easy fix, if you think about it. A simple, friendly audit  would’ve caught both of these thieves before they ruined the lives of thousands of people.

Remember…if you own a business…make an investment…or put your money in someone else’s hands… you must TRUST… BUT VERIFY!

That means…do a background check, validate references, get referrals, and do a little digging.

It’s a minimal investment… that pays huge dividends!

Class dismissed!