A couple of years ago, I was called up for jury duty. After going to the courthouse, where a few people were dismissed, I found myself selected, and placed in the jury box.
It quickly became clear that I would be serving on this jury for a week or two.
As the prosecutor presented the case, I was astonished to learn that a young man, resembling Mike Tyson, had managed to cash nine bad checks at the same bank.
As a wealth management lawyer with expertise in risk management, I found it baffling that such a significant lapse in risk and FinTech protocol had occurred.
Driven by my professional banking history, law license, and Wall Street firm background, I questioned the prosecutor and the judge about the apparent lack of risk management protocols and protections that allowed this fraudulent activity to persist.
Surprisingly, this line of questioning led to my removal from the jury.
This experience underscored the importance of robust security measures and the potential consequences of the absence of integrity.
More recently, a friend of mine experienced a troubling incident that further highlights the vulnerabilities in our mail and banking systems.
A friend mailed a check at a U.S. Postal Office to pay off a large credit card balance, utilizing a nationally recognized bank and reputable credit card company.
Despite these reputable institutions, the check was stolen from either the post office or the credit card company.
The mailed letter including the check was addressed directly to the credit card company.
The thief of the check then created a counterfeit version of the check, which looked nothing like the original.
Astonishingly, this counterfeit check passed through all the security measures of the bank's risk management systems, probably including advanced AI and optical scanning technologies.
This first-hand incident and reviewing the evidence has reinforced my belief that mail-in voting is inherently unsafe and can't be relied upon, as there are too many paths to cheating.
Reflecting on the 2020 U.S. election, there were hundreds of thousands of potentially late, undated, or unsigned ballots counted after election day.
With that in mind, I am concerned about the integrity of the process going forward.
Further, ongoing evidence has emerged showing that late ballots that lacked proper signatures or dates continue to be counted or worse, they are adjudicated voted by an election worker.
If our postal system can be compromised to the extent that documents are stolen and then counterfeited, revised, and submitted, how can we ensure the security of mail-in ballots or any ballot counting technology?
The integrity of our elections is fundamental to maintaining public trust in our democratic process. At the very least, late, or unsigned ballots should never be counted after election day and should be discarded, especially if they contain fake signatures or other irregularities.
As for offshore military or foreign service workers, they should have their own secure voting systems. Just as we expect rigorous risk management in financial systems, we must demand stringent security for our electoral processes.
In conclusion, my direct legal experiences with clear and convincing evidence have highlighted significant vulnerabilities in both financial and electoral systems.
Ensuring robust risk management and security protocols is essential to maintaining trust and integrity. As we move forward, it is crucial to address these issues to safeguard our democratic institutions and processes.
Commissioner George Mentz JD MBA CILS CWM® is the first in the USA to rank as a Top 50 Influencer & Thought Leader in: Management, PM, HR, FinTech, Wealth Management, and B2B according to Onalytica.com and Thinkers360.com. George Mentz JD MBA CILS is a CWM Chartered Wealth Manager ®, global speaker - educator, tax-economist, international lawyer and CEO of the GAFM Global Academy of Finance & Management ®. The GAFM is a EU accredited graduate body that trains and certifies professionals in 150+ nations under standards of the: US Dept of Education, ACBSP, ISO 21001, ISO 991, ISO 29993, QAHE, ECLBS, and ISO 29990 standards. Mentz is also an award winning author and award winning graduate law professor of wealth management of one of the top 30 ranked law schools in the USA.