Steven Robert Comisar (born December 30, 1961) is an American convicted

con man A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...

and

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

ist. Comisar was in federal prison and was released April 27, 2018.

Career

Comisar grew up in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...

. As a young man he sold a "solar powered clothes dryer" in national magazines for $49.95. Buyers received a length of

clothesline A clothes line or washing line is any type of rope, cord, or twine that has been stretched between two points (e.g. two sticks), outside or indoors, above the level of the ground. Clothing that has recently been washed is hung along the line t ...

. Comisar has been arrested and convicted of numerous crimes. Comisar was convicted of a variety of

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

s in 1983, 1990, 1994 and 1999. All these trials took place in Federal court in Los Angeles. In 1999, Comisar was arrested for swindling investors in a fake television quiz show involving

Joe Namath Joseph William Namath (; ; born May 31, 1943) is a former American football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New York Jets. He played college foot ...

. He was sentenced to thirty-three months in jail. Comisar used the working name Brett Champion during the period when he said he had retired from his career as a con man and posed as a

fraud prevention In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

expert and consultant, using it on ''

Dateline NBC ''Dateline NBC'' is a weekly American television news magazine/reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on true crime stories with only occasion ...

'', '' The View'', ''

Sally Sally may refer to: People *Sally (name), a list of notable people with the name Military * Sally (military), an attack by the defenders of a town or fortress under siege against a besieging force; see sally port *Sally, the Allied reporting na ...

'', ''

Leeza ''Leeza'' is an NBC and syndicated daytime television talk show. It premiered on June 14, 1993 as ''John & Leeza from Hollywood'', hosted by John Tesh and Leeza Gibbons. Tesh left the show after seven months, and on January 17, 1994, the pro ...

'', ''

Crook & Chase ''Crook & Chase'' is an American television talk show hosted by Lorianne Crook and Charlie Chase, focusing primarily, but not exclusively, on country music. The pair had first worked together on the weekly syndicated program "This Week In Count ...

'', and in various other television appearances, and when he wrote the book ''America's Guide to Fraud Prevention''. Comisar is now prohibited from using this alias or from referring to himself as a consumer fraud expert. His book is considered a "piece of fraud history" by the

Association of Certified Fraud Examiners The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) is a professional organization of fraud examiners. Its activities include producing fraud information, tools and training. Based in Austin, Texas, the ACFE was founded in 1988 by Joseph T. Wells ...

and is on display in their fraud museum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comisar, Steve 1961 births Living people American male writers American prisoners and detainees American people convicted of fraud American confidence tricksters People from Beverly Hills, California 21st-century American writers