Federated Financial’s Chris McFarland arrested for aggravated assault in 2004?
I got a notification of a response to my Federated Ripoffreport (ROR) complaint and took a quick look, only to find another anti Federated rant by an ED supporter (or Ed himself).
But there was a link to another ROR posting with a link to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office:
7/6/04—Christopher McFarland—Aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony
Is this *the* Chris McFarland who has been defending Miller and Federated in many comments here and all over the web?
How could “Juan Stumofu” who claimed in his ROR posting to be in Rockville, Maryland, have all that apparently personal knowledge about the Miller / McFarland conversations? Did he bug their office?
From Juan’s posting at ROR: “… I am told this case actually involves McFarland beating someone up to drop their lawsuit against FFS. In this case Miller needed McFarland to “take care of a company problem” and he viciously attacked a client. ...”
WHO told “Juan” that?
Well, it sure reads like another ED posting, but the Sheriff’s site does look authentic.
“… Recently, within the last couple of weeks, Miller and McFarland came back to the office after going to court. They were mad because things did not go well for them ...”
If something doesn’t go well in court, there are filings to substantiate it. If you can link to the Sheriff, you can link to the court.
But then again, Ed may not want his readers to know what the suit is about.
And while I told Chris McFarland not to post here again, he can of course notify me or submit a comment here if *another* Christopher McFarland was arrested or if he wants to explain what this is about.
Posted by Christine on 06/02/2005 at 04:01 PM
Federated Financial credit counseling & Ripoffreport.com • Permalink
Dear Ms. Baker:
On 03/21/2005, I wrote to you, ending with this statement: “hello, ms. baker, the point here is that we claimed magedson is a lying extortionist and we have already proven this. if you cared about consumers you would admit this and move on. maybe you could first give us our props for boldly standing up to him, even while you criticized us for trying.”
The same is certainly now more true than ever. Well, you still owe us an apology, but instead you now ask me for an explanation. You just can’t wait to pile on the trash in matters upon which you openly speculate. Your bias and unfairness should be obvious to any with even the barest hint of integrity.
I certainly won’t use your website to address Magedson’s rumor mongering about me, despite the poor judgment you have exercised in so eagerly perpetuating his misconduct through your own. Really, what good have you ever accomplished in this thing? Exposing some alleged privacy violation by Federated? Please. At best, you are Magedson’s unwitting tool. If any explanation is called for you should explain your affinity for this criminal. What is he to you, if not a co conspirator?
The fact that Magedson is resorting to harassing my family and friends and attacking my character should demonstrate the impact on his “business” as the truth has come to light. He has become more and more desperate as we have revealed more and more about the true nature of his extortionate practices. Or do you think it was just a coincidence that he resorted to character assassination within days after he received the notes of my testimony in Federated’s lawsuit against him? Since then, he’s also been harassing my in-laws and my wife’s friends by having some woman phone them directly in order to attempt to vilify me. This is the creep with whom you have chosen to lay down. How do you explain your support for Magedson, who is obviously a liar and a fraud? You have never offered more than negative conjecture about us, but you continue to give every benefit of the doubt to Magedson, who has been definitively proven to be on the take. What does this say about you, woman? How do you explain yourself? You first.
After I wrote to you on 3/21/05, you responded stating I am “so dumb it must hurt”. OK. Please use simple words to explain to me, oh great sage and wise one, why do I now need you or your website to clear up the lies Magedson has spread about me and many others? Why do you further publish these lies and why do you hurl personal insults at me if you are not acting in concert with Magedson?
You still have given Federated Financial no proper respect for achieving exactly what we set out to accomplish. It is already game, set and match for Magedson’s extortion racket, yet you act as though the issue is still in doubt. Why do you think he now attacks me, personally? Magedson knows he’s been exposed for the creep he is, regardless of what little sense your limited wits can make of all the evidence against him. It may be hopelessly lost on you, but perhaps there is a brain cell amongst your readership that will understand that Magedson’s “corporate advocacy” scheme is finished. Hey, Christine, maybe he can now offer you a cut rate for a positive testimonial about the quality of your own blather. You sound smart enough to fall for it.
Seriously, who needs the testimonial of an advocate that can be bought? Similarly, who cares about the epithets and fictions of a proven extortionist? For that matter, who gives a rip about the opinion of a conceited, prejudiced nobody who openly endorses and embraces someone like Magedson?
What else is there to say to you after our revelations about the price at which Ed Magedson’s testimonial can be bought? Neither you nor the rest of his legion of misguided fans can get around the obvious conflict of interest that Ed, himself, admits is unethical for any consumer advocate: 2004 BBB article
Ultimately, my own personal claims against Magedson for false light defamation will be the “icing on the cake.” I don’t need to convince anyone but the judge and jury, and Magedson has made my case for me. Read that again. Let it sink in.
We already won, Christine, regardless of what the court does. The high fives were already slapped. Regardless of what Ed says or does, the truth about him is already out. The truth is always a much more effective weapon than sick lies and half-truths, but people like you and Magedson will never learn this simple rule.
So, please go ahead and continue speculating as to whether or not Magedson is the con man we have claimed all along. Anyone with any common sense is laughing at you when you do so. You’ll never figure it out if you haven’t seen it already.
You have chosen to act as though you believe that my picture may have just coincidentally appeared in a false light on his website within days of my testimony against him. In publishing his handiwork you are no better than he is. You can also choose to believe that the cancelled checks and the sworn testimony of Magedson’s other “clients” (extortion victims) don’t exist. You can also choose to believe that Magedson’s lawyers were just mistaken and not intentionally misleading the Florida court by claiming their client does no business in Florida, when the Rip-Off Report receives thousands each month from businesses located here in the sunshine state. You can also choose to believe the sun is green and the earth is flat for all I care. It’s your life and your website. For what it’s worth, you have consistently chosen poorly, and at some point, we all get what we deserve.
As have Magedson’s, your tactics belie the principles for which you so publicly profess respect. You both appear to prefer to wallow in the filth rather than see the truth, and you both seem titillated by your continuing notoriety in doing so. For now, I have chosen to disregard your ongoing jibes, as those of a fat, lazy, parasitic know-it-all who is resentfully unwilling to admit that she leaches off the same society she so eagerly vilifies. You appear to me to employ the sensibilities of a 12 year old with a grudge against her parents. From what I can see, you are a worthless blow hard who isn’t helping anything or anyone, and I have no further use for you or your website.
Here is a thought, since you appear to be so cozy with the extortionist: Why not do something useful for your readers, for a change, and print Magedson’s “explanation” about the thousands in dollars in payoffs he receives every month from the businesses reported on his site, Rip-Off Report.com? Or is your website strictly limited to the innuendo and rumor that Ed supplies you, when not otherwise serving as your personal diary of forgettable causes?
You should be so fortunate as to have me labor to school you any further, woman. You were too blind to seize that opportunity when it was freely presented previously. I certainly don’t need you or your website now that matters so clearly speak for themselves.
Chris McFarland
Boca Raton, FL
Very interesting. So I specifically requested comments about the assault, and instead I got 2 rants.
I also a long rant from Steve Miller and there’s no need to repost it here - same content but more “language”. Oh, I almost forgot, according to Miller, the charges against McFarland were dismissed and he also just had heart surgery or something ...
Well, the rants weren’t exactly what I was looking for, but I should have known better than to offer space for McFarland’s reply.
Any further rants will again be deleted.
It just realized that few readers know why this is very funny.
I just reposted the page from Steve Miller’s 11/04 website with Ed Magedson’s mug shot and the ticker throughout Miller’s site claiming: “Ed Magedson Arrested - AGAIN
In fact, Magedson’s arrests were over 30 years ago.
Note the timing - Miller had that page in 11/04, only a few months after his buddy Chris McFarland had been booked for assault and battery.
Don’t throw rocks while sitting in a glass house!
Here we go again. Another installment of “As the Stomach Turns”. Before the bashing begins, I will openly state that I am a fan of Rip-off Report. I am also a fan of this site. I cannot see the necessity of “choosing sides”. Consumer abuse is the same all over, even though different people may choose to combat it by different means.
Any person attempting to advocate for consumers in the current business climate has my deepest respect and admiration. Kudos to you, Ms. Baker, for all your hard work. What you have accomplished is impressive.
Chris McFarland is losing ground with each and every post he makes. Miller should duct tape this guy’s keyboard, pull his plug, whatever it takes to shut him up.
Overwhelming ignorance always gets my dander up and this poor McFarland man is deluded beyond all comprehension.
First I have not seen that McFarland & Miller have “proven” that ANYONE is an extortionist..or anything else. I see some e-mails at his site. Or some partial e-mails, as only one segment is posted. Magedson’s answer. Without knowing the questions, they are invalid. I can only imagine the leading questions that were asked, probably under the guise of inquiring about the Corporate Advocacy program.
At any rate, it is always very easy to alter e-mails to say anything, so I am skeptical of all that “evidence”.
Then there is a rant about the three lawyers that evidently have Magedson as a client. This is really low, come on. If YOU (McFarland and Miller) are going to sue someone, they have as much right to legal representation as you do. McFarland, as a former lawyer himself, knows that as well as anyone.
McFarland trots out his BBB show horse here, increasing my amusement factor greatly. Uh, businesses PAY the BBB to be members and they aren’t going to bite the hand that feeds them until complaints against the business have become overwhelming. I suppose that the BBB charging the fee to join is also “extortion” and should provide M&M;another large target for a lawsuit.
Then McFarland comes back again to chew on Ms. Baker and make accusations about her “side”, being a “tool”, blah, blah, blah. And the name-calling...geez, grow up, fool! (What a hateful person, spewing his vitriol. Does McFarland like ANYONE? No wonder his temper gets him into trouble!)
Miller and McFarland present as juvenile idiots that evidently never got spanked enough in their younger years. That allowed their silliness to carry over into their adult years. I bet their parents are truly proud of these paragons of manly virtue and eagerly send all their friends to look at their various smear sites to see what Chris and Stevie have done.
What a lovely professional corporate image these two clowns are presenting. After reading all this, I cannot wait to run to Florida and entrust these two Federated Financial boobs with all my most sensitive personal information (NOT!) I can see with my own eyes the level of intelligence at work here. ("So dumb it must hurt” sounds fairly accurate to me.)
In spite of all the accusations and innuendos, I have yet to run across a “Miller & McFarland smear site”. I suppose Mr. Magedson feels that you are doing enough to harm yourselves without any help. Ms. Baker has no need to create a site for you...every time she lets you in the door, you smear yourselves.
I believe that I have seen at least three sites created just for the purpose of smearing Magedson, his lawyers and anyone else that crosses M & M’s radars.
That means that whatever else may happen in this saga, it has very clearly been PROVEN to me that Mr. Magedson and Ms. Baker are much classier acts than M & M can ever hope to be.
(Ms. Baker...I am still working on those suit templates. There has been a grave illness with my friend and everything has had to be postponed for a time for medical testing. I have not forgotten.
These guys would be a joy in court, considering the weakness of their abilities.)
Detractors of the Rip-off Report site probably have an axe to grind, I just don’t get why Christine is so hard on the site.
I think the point has been pretty well made that all that Steve Miller and his minions can come up with for wrong doings about ED is a pot charge from 30 years ago, when Miller was probably doing something similar while at the same time harbors a convicted felon who represents himself as an attorney! I understand the Florida State Bar is investigating this one. There are several complaints about Chris McFarland calling people and telling them that he is in house counsel for Federated Financial.
I will make no bones about it… I am a big fan of ROR and I will tell you why. First, Christine, as a business owner, who has been reported on ROR, I can tell you that Federated Financial has a program of contacting these companies and encouraging them to file a lawsuit against ROR. I told them I was not interested and McFarland became irate and abusive with me. I tried to explain my position to him, but he was only interested in shouting me down.
I find it particularly odious that words like slander, extortion and defamation are used by business owners affiliated with Federated Financial or their shills as soon as their unethical, particularly harsh business practices are brought into the public view. The practice of “shooting the messenger” I find rather unhelpful to the company or the public. I would venture to guess that most companies that would engage in activities which would attack this site (or even more appropriately, the customers who have felt taken advantage of) are usually trying to protect business practices which are probably unethical or illegal, and they just don’t want to give up their ill-gotten gains.
I have had the occasion to use this website in two ways: first as a business owner, I found it particularly helpful to analyze the public criticism of my company. I welcome the opportunity to attempt to make it right with the customer. Since the site is anonymous, it is difficult for me to know just exactly who it was who filed the complaint, but you know what.... that just doesn’t matter. I take the policy to make it right with all the customers who contact me with a similar complaint, without retribution. I do not want the to get the reputation as the company who will go for the clients jugular if they complain about my service.
Next, I realize that most business owner are the most vulnerable clients also. We also usually are exposed to other companies who may take advantage of us. These companies may have tricky lawyers or PR and advertising budgets that could drive me into the ground when I complain. Many are not ethical. I find it rather upsetting to be confronted by guerrillous attorneys when contractual arrangements have not been met by their clients. In those cases, I have found this site helpful in negotiating a fair and equitable settlement.... without going to court.
Therefore, by using RipoffReport.com I have improved my customer relations and recouped thousands of dollars using this site!
You know, I would challenge those people who have used words like “defamation, extortion, and slander (and more appropriately libel - Internet communication is considered written, therefore it could not be slander)” to give the whole story. I bet we would see that it is not defamation or libel. By the way, if the accusations are true, it is not defamation or libel. Truth is the perfect defense to these accusations. None of the detractors have provided hard facts.
Oh, and I reported one poster for using defamatory language about the ROR site without providing evidence. They got hoisted by their own petard. They can’t have it both ways; either they are correct in their allegation about ROR and they are also guilty of the same tactics they accuse posters of ripoffreport.com use, or they are wrong and are therefore guilty of defamation, extortion and libel.
I will tell you the racketeering-like practices of Federated Financial qualify them as extorioneers. ROR has no racketeering-like practices to my knowledge so their efforts to encourage business to improve can only be considered “negotiations.”
Thank you!
Now that both sides had their say, I’m closing this thread to comments.
