Jim Casey Another To Fall

It was a shock to many in the Valley when news came of the death of Integrated Wealth Management founder Jim Casey on Monday. Casey was well known for his philanthropic efforts in our community. Palm Springs Mayor Rob Moon even called him a Palm Springs institution. This was of course before news broke of 2 pending lawsuits against Casey involving serious allegations of fraud involving millions of dollars.

Let me make this clear, allegations are just that, allegations. I met Jim Casey on a few occasions and found him to a very nice man. He was polite and charming. It will be interesting to see if his company remains viable or if it will be shut down after his death. Local media has not shied away from the story so far, despite the prominent social circles Casey traveled in.. Having zero tolerance for white collar crime, let us see where this story goes.

Upon arrival here in 1991, it didn't take me long to find out that not all was everything it appeared to be. The Valley abounded with frauds and con artists. Fake Dukes, Counts and phony band members appeared from every corner. Hell, even Cheetah The Chimp who has a star in Palm Springs is of dubious heritage. The late Mel Haber used to delight in telling stories about these folks. Mel had me laughing to the point of tears on a few occasions.With the advent of the internet, these characters could be debunked rather easily so that out an end to them. But why would someone crave that attention?

The answer for that lies in the fact that for better or worse, our Valley is one of the few places left in the United States where the society pages and being in them seems to matter. While most of the country views this as antiquated as a VCR tape, not so some denizens of the Valley. And Mr. Casey, who it appears was experiencing huge financial problems, graced theses pages regularly.

I now know of 4 "philanthropists"  in the last 10 years who had worse personal finances than me. I know of a political activist here who drove an expensive car while bouncing a 30 dollar check. I know of one charity type who couldn't even afford a ticket to his own event while tooling around in a leased Mercedes. All of the above to perpetuate nothing more than a grandiose illusion.

If this whole sorry episode turns continues on the path where it is headed once again the age-old lesson that the truly rich person is happy with who they are, not who they are perceived to be, will be proven correct. Something to think about.

Steve Kelly can be followed on Twitter @skellynj or reached at svericker12@gmail.com