Patrick Byrne Caught in (Surprise Surprise) Another Lie

Stop the presses--not. The clown prince of corporate America, Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, has been caught in another lie. White collar crime-fighter Sam Antar points out in his blog that Overstock's latest 10-K contradicts a statement he made on a stock message board.

As I said, don't stop the presses. It is not news by now that, as Sam states in his blog "Patrick Byrne is a bottomless pit of lies." He has even lied about his own lies, misrepresenting (see also here) his dishonest "stock counterfeiting" jihad as a warning against the subprime mess and illiquidity in the system. In fact, he and other conspiracy theorists touted a subprime lender, Novastar Financial (NFI), claiming it was a victim of "naked short-selling."

Nor is it news for him to lie about Overstock's accounting practices , even as the SEC engages in an ongoing investigation that focuses on just that.

Byrne clearly believes that his real or perceived political clout guards him against SEC sanctions stemming from his lies. It will be interesting to see if, indeed, the SEC is the "captured regulator" that he says it is.

© 2008 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.