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toolsBoroian Free at Last
OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. (Blue MauMau) - Today, Judge Charles R. Norgle, Sr. granted one of the industry's largest makers of franchising start-ups, Donald Boroian, a Motion for Early Termination of Supervised Release, ending his two year term of probation. On May 16, 2006, Boroian, founder, chairman and CEO of Francorp Inc., was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for tax evasion, followed by two years of supervised release. Now that probation has been cut short after going before the Court on Friday pleading to be released.
The legendary franchise business consultant of 30-plus years surrendered to the Duluth Federal Prison Camp in Minnesota on July 27, 2006. Boroian's guilty plea was for failing to report $388,752 in income from his company in 1998, and for failing to report $108,850 in taxes. He also admitted he did not pay an additional $875,337 during a four-year period.
Many in the franchise community felt it would be the demise of his world-renowned Chicago-based company, but the icon of franchising proved them wrong. Although many senior and mid-level members left the firm either by choice or by Boroian's directive, he has managed to accelerate his Francorp business with a larger staff of young, less experienced employees, according to inside sources.
Boroian’s projected release date from prison had been June 9, 2007, but in spite of being placed in solitary confinement for conducting business in prison, a federal violation, he was released early to a halfway house.
In last week's motion for early termination, he stated that the court had waived any fine, did not order any restitution, and imposed an assessment of $100, which he promptly paid. It also stated that he completed his imprisonment and was placed on supervisory release on July 9, 2007, that he has abided by all the conditions of that release, and has completed over half of its term.
On his behalf, his probation officer stated that he did not object to Boroian's request for early termination.
Related articles:
- Prison Proves To Be Small Deterrent for Boroian
- Prison Investigating Francorp's CEO Boroian
- Boroian Sent to Solitary Confinement
- Boroian’s Release Date Pushed Back
- Boroian Purchased Condo Prior to Imprisonment
- Boroian Toys with Government
- Boroian Released from Duluth Federal Prison Camp
- Boroian Speaks Out on IRS Woes, Moving Forward
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Boroian Motion for Release.pdf | 174.3 KB |
| Court Decision.pdf | 4.95 KB |
Pathetic
This is my first time reviewing this website and I have to say that it is absolutely pathetic.
In regard to Boroian, no one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes but only the most successful of people have their mistakes broadcast to the general public.
Every successful person throughout history has had a long line of both admirers and haters. There is always rationalization for both types. As for the haters, I suggest dedicating your time to the enrichment of your own lives rather than the slandering of someone else's.
Obviously there is sincere passion in your hate and there are valid reasons why you feel this way. But if the only way you feel you can lift yourself up is by pushing someone else down, you have severe problems that need to be addressed.
Rather than spending your time blogging, why not spending some time to make a valuable contribution to society? Take a look in the mirror and realize that you can make something of yourself. You don't need to express your hate for your "arch enemy" on a regular basis in order to have meaning in your life.
Just a thought.
Hopefully you mean that we can count on
never hearing from you gain. Go in peace, and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out--
Richard Solomon, FranchiseRemedies.com, has over 45 years experience with franchise litigation and crisis management. He is a graduate of The Citadel and The University of Michigan Law School
Blogging
That is the beauty of blogging, you can blog, AND make valuable contributions to society, blogging is easy. For example, I was on a restaurant site last week, and although I had never eaten at a particuar restaurant, I was able to get a very good idea of what I was in for by reading the blogs of 10 - 15 diners who had already eaten there, The picture they painted of the place accurately captured my experience to a tee, and it only took me about 10 minutes to obtain that invaluable insight.
Don't underestimate blogs as a powerful information medium that shapes the way American consumers and business people make decisions.
Pathetic
Hey
What comes around goes around.
Where there is smoke there is fire.
Do unto to others as you would have done unto you.
C'mon you really think the problem here is what is being written about this guy? Is anyone shocked that he is in trouble for defrauding people again?
Who is at fault here?
Where is Boroian to blame in all of this? You see the same people on the way down as you see on the way up. Is Boroian responsible for his reputation or not???
Are we supposed to believe that all of this is untrue about a guy who went to jail for fraud and now faces a trial for fraud, beginning August 11th?
Pathetic - Boroian a villian or is it justified?
You have to be careful with the word slander. Slander is defined legally as a spoken untrurh, one that harms a persons reputation or standing in the community. You can sue for slander. You cannot however, sue when someone speaks the truth.
You bring up another interesting point about successful people in this industry, how they all have admirers and haters, but if do a search on this forum about other franchising heavyweights, why don't you come up with the same amount of flak that you do with Francore's boss?
Another thing puzzles me about this as well, and I am not the first to bring it up, but reputation in business and one's professional legacy are built on strong relationships and years and years of doing business with people. True, some become friends, some become enemies, but there should be, as you allude to, a balance. Don Boroian is supposedly an icon in this industry, what business icon would not have some sort of defense for all of this? Where are Boroian's allies? where are his friends, where are all of those successful clients who had positive experiences with him?This is a very popular forum in this industry, and as we see from some of the tracking information in earleir posts, a popular site on the web in general.Certainly there should be a large group of people who have worked with Don over the years who could stand up for him. I don't get that.
Boroian Successful?
What criteria are you using to determine Boroian's success? We have found through this forum that he has lied about his professional experience, he personally has no wealth, huge tax debts, Francorp has no money as a company and certainly Bond's and other franchise resources would reflect the true number of successful clients Francorp has churned out.
The other thing you realize as you read this forum is that Don is just not a relevant figure in Franchising. There are a lot of very sharp, talented, franchising people that you become exposed to once you scratch the surface of this web property, and Boroian ain't one of them.
Pathetic
It really is just too easy, that is why you really have to watch what you say and do to people. You want to abuse employees, skip payroll and fleece unsuspecting small business owners ? That is fine, but don't cry when your business suffers because people write things about you. If your mortgage, car payment and financial well being are dependent on you keeping you businees afloat, and a site like this is going to affect that business,and more importantly, affect
your employees, then you should worry about your reputation and that of your firm.
It really is just too easy to take 5 minutes and write something about someone, especially if it's true. The truth hurts.
Pathetic
Guest, You read too much into this. Offering opinion on a website is not much of a commitment. It takes about two minutes to offer an opinion, tell a quick story, or wax eloquent on a subject that you are well versed in. That is one of the reasons that blogging is so popular. A tremendous amount of information, insight and fact can show up on a message board. Is there a lot of crap also? You better believe it, but that is the beauty of this media, information is digested and disseminated in such quick palatable bites that you can get in and get out with the information you need and move on to other things.
Case in point -
Among other things, you offer opinion in your blog that succsessful people throughout history have a long list of admirers and haters.
A clear, concise statement that if offered alone, outside of the context of this blog about Boroian, could give someone an opinion outside of franchising that Boroian has as many admirers as he has detractors.
Fair ?
But within this community, the franchising community, and in the context of this blog specifically, your post titled pathetic gives readers specific insight into how those two groups are split.
The long list of haters is well represented here, and the admirers? Not so much.
It doesn't take long to read 3-4 of these threads to realize that there are no admirers. There are no companies blogging on Blue mau mau that have worked with Francorp that have stood up and wrote about their positive experiences with Francorp. Nobody has posted how great Don was to work with. There are people who have worked right along side Don who have given very negative opinion about Don, his ethics, his behavior etc, and some of those people have posted their names at the bottom of the page.
You see, it's not what is written about Don that tells the story, it's what is not written about Don that tells the truth...There are consequences to actions in life for everyone. It used to be you say and do anything you wanted and you wouldn't end up on To-catch-a-world's-wildest-wackiest-gone-wild videos or become infamous on a blog site. It has way less to do with hatred than it does with convenience. Typing three minutes of text, or pointing a camera at someone acting the fool is just too easy.
Blogging gives you enough information to make the hard judgement calls for yourself in very short order. You can read enough information about Francorp and Boroian on this site in 20 minutes to help you form opinion, make a business decision, or even to cancel a plane ticket to a client meeting.
You just need some simple math skills,like.... What is 3+4
Re: Pathetic
Again, welcome to BlueMauMau Mr. Boroian.
REALLY???
What is the deal with this website? It seems to me that this obscure, and frankly depressing, website just serves the need of a bunch of egomaniacs who feel that their opinion matters a lot more than it actually does. If I were looking for relevant information on franchising this is probably the last place I would look on the planet. However, if I wanted to view a bunch of middle-aged nobodies write snoody comments and giggle to themselves in their leased cubicals, then I found the jackpot. You all really need to find hobbies and quit posting comments about people who are probably more involved in the franchising industry than you will ever be. But, from judging the nature of this blog I know there's some franchise guru who is going to give me his two cents, which coincidently is probably what he has in his bank account as well.
I would say, definitely, not Really?
I don't think that you are going to find the news about the latest jury that Boroian faces anywhere else but here on Blue Mau Mau. I think that there has been some other good posts about how popular this forum really is.
Unbelievable that Boroian and Francorp are facing another jury in the South Beach case..
Obscurity certainly has been popular recently, especially for Boroian.
jury in the South Beach
Can you please elaborate on the lawsuit you mentioned in South beach....
Thanks.
It's so obvious this guy Boroian is slime.
Awww is it hard to swallow Boroian...... that world is finding out all about you and your awful crooked history.
Thank you Janet (we love you) - Thank you Blue Mau Mau (this site is excellent just the way it is)
These sub human disgraceful people, have been getting away with cheating Franchisees for way too long.
Go Blue Mau Mau You educate and you inform like no one else.
Yes, Really.
It is certainy depressing if you are Don Boroian. You are emoting too much, if you want to give people the opinion that this is not a hot thread or that gas wasn't just dumped on the smoldering Boroian fire, you have to be more subtle.
Blue MauMau's Net Traffic Rankings
A guest writes, "this obscure, and frankly depressing, website"
Michael Webster had asked me to write an article on our traffic rankings several days back. I'm reluctant. But given this posting, I think I will at least write a comment. The Alexa.com graph below compares our traffic and rank to other news sites like Franchise.org, Franchise Times and Franchise-Update. The lower the number the higher the rank. For example, Yahoo! is ranked #1 of all sites. Google #2. Yesterday, Blue MauMau was ranked #74,915 of all sites. That's followed by the IFA's franchise.org site.
At any rate if readers are curious in exploring this geeky online publishing stuff, they can see more details on Alexa.com. It ranks this site as one of the highest and most visited franchise related sites.
I also find Trafficestimate.com useful in comparing visitors to competing sites for the past 30 days. Here's what it says.
Popularity of BMM
There is only one other franchise site, franchise gator - a portal site- which beats BMM for use. And franchise gator has been steadily losing influence compared to BMM.
BMM is almost as influential as the portal site, and I believe that in the next 6 months, BMM will surpass the portal site.
The image below shows the relative influence.
Michael Webster PhD LLB
Franchise News
Ha
This only shows that Blue Mau Mau hasn't gone anywhere but down. Franchise Gator is dropping because of the economy and franchisors resistance to spend money on internet advertising.
What is Blue Mau Mau's excuse for the lack of attention it has been getting?
It is funny that the above graph was supposed to be impressive...
The scary question for us in the industry is the over saturation and bad wrap and stereotype franchising has associated with it. Instead of bashing everything in the franchise community it would probably be smarter to promote the industry.
That way we ALL keep our jobs.
Industry reputation
Negative perceptions of franchising are increasing due to the ability of participants in the new media to get their message out without the public relations firms and press relations flacks which were formerly needed.
If there was no substance to the stories, the franchise industry would not be having a problem.
It is only recently that the franchise industry has admitted that it is an industry.
Unfortunately the industry still promotes franchising as though all franchise systems are equal.
That is false, and the industry would be much better off if it was willing to admit that there are bad franchisors out there, and some of them are large systems.
Honesty by the industry trade association would go a long way toward encouraging purchasers to not tar good franchisors with the bad acts of the bad franchisors.
The IFA will never admit that there are bad franchisors, and that's part of the problem.
Spoken like a rear kissing tie wearing office dwelling coward!
Ohhhhh I'm so scared I,ll lose my job. How pathetic. grow a set, If franchisor's are getting a bad wrap based on BMM reporting it's a wrap they created themselves. No one here wants to read franchisor lies and sales BS. What is reported here is reality.
I hope BMM never becomes a sell out.
Your comments are indicative of your obvious lack of conviction and self serving weasel nature.
Reality?
..."What is reported here is reality". - Guest
How is being able to publish anything I want and hide behind the "guest" curtain reality?
And, if anything, phrases like "grow a set" make you look ignorant and kill your creditability.
Reality
What does putting your name on something prove?
Boroian signed his name to his tax return didn't he ? Was that reality?
Well...
BMM has a long way to go to be relevant force in franchising. But if it does promote due diligence in prospective franchisee investment selections then it will be good for franchisors that have worthwhile concepts.
The Truth Shall Set You Free!
TIF
not so TIF
I am sure that I am not the only zee to have found this site incredibly useful. By learning what can go wrong in franchising we have managed to steer our franchisor away from some damaging activities. Knowledge gleaned here about those "grey areas" in franchising can be used to keep zors (more) honest.
This is in just 1 franchise, but I bet that the influence is replicated manyfold. Keep up the good work BMM.
p
RE: not so TIF
Congratulations and good for you that BMM helped you with your franchisor!
What changed for your system that you can attribute to BMM?
The Truth Shall Set You Free!
TIF
Changes
Fair Q. Most significantly, understanding that when our franchisor's representatives say "this is not negotiable", that is their hope rather than a reality. Its still a crappy agreement, but much less so than it might have been.
p.
Response to Ha
Guest writes: "Instead of bashing everything in the franchise community it would probably be smarter to promote the industry."
Uh, you want us to be shills?
No - shilling is going down. Just ask franchise gator - who spend a lot of money with adwords advertising their shill site.
BMM spend nothing in adwords.
We have succeeded in maintaining influence. Franchise gator has not.
But BMM is not about shilling for the franchisor community - it is about spreading the light where there was only darkness before.
Michael Webster PhD LLB
Franchise News
News for Franchisees, Not Franchising News
""If I were looking for relevant information on franchising this is probably the last place I would look on the planet." - Guest
Right. This is not a site for franchising - i.e. franchisors developing / selling franchise chains. It is a site for franchise owners and franchise unit investors. Judging from your comment, what franchisees read really rattles you.
By the way, exactly what would you recommend for relevant franchising (franchisor) information? The Francorp site?
Janet Sparks - A sneeze away from the nursing home
I have had the pleasure of meeting this woman and she is, without question, dumb as a post, and the basis of her articles are always missing substance. Please write about something more current and interesting!!!
I don't know much about Francorp or Boroian but I do know that Sparks should be given an "early retirement."
Hateful comments are often a sign of fear
What's the matter, Guest, is little Mrs. Sparks eating your lunch?
Janet says it straight and out loud. She's tenacious, she has guts, she knows where the skeletons are, and she's loyal to the truth. On the other hand, it appears that transparency is not 'your' long suit.
To give you the ultimate pass would be to say that Columbo had his own investigative style, but that would be way too much in your favor so I won’t take that road.
Nick Bibby is an international franchise consultant and a program developer dedicated to excellence in entrepreneurship.