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Frank Parlato

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Frank Parlato

5415 articles
Showing 1 - 12 of 5415 Posts
Portrait of a founder and CEO in a workshop, holding a wooden gear mechanism with the 'First Brands Group' sign in the background.

Who Really Killed First Brands? Part 1

  What Was Lost First Brands, a Cleveland-based auto parts company, went into bankruptcy last year. It employed 26,000 people on five continents. About 6,000 of those workers were Americans in Midwestern factories. The other 20,000 were in China, Mexico, Europe, and other pl

Aerial view of a sleek white luxury yacht cruising through deep blue open water, leaving a white wake behind it.

How Radovan Vítek Bought a Yacht With Bondholders’ Money

This is the latest installment in a continuing series on Czech billionaire Radovan Vítek and the financial structure of his publicly traded real estate empire, CPI Property Group. I have been contacted by officials in the Trump administration who have expressed interest in whethe

Large crowd of people looking at their phones beneath a bold headline reading '9/35000 That's All It Takes' (lottery/quiz theme).

PART 2 The Dangerous OneTaste Precedent

On June 9, 2025, in United States v. Daedone et al., a federal jury in Brooklyn returned guilty verdicts against Nicole Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz on a single count of conspiracy to commit forced labor. On March 30, 2026, U.S. District Judge Diane Gujarati imposed sentences of 9

Professional man in a dark, cluttered office seated at a desk with crumpled papers and a lamp, two monitors in back displaying maps and the CPI Property Group logo.

Inside Vítek’s CPI: A Czech Billionaire’s House of Cards

Two Czech businessmen — Marek Čmejla and Jiří Diviš — placed their trust, and a great deal of money, in a real estate operator named Radovan Vítek. Vítek ran the company. They called it a “parity partnership.” With Čmejla and Diviš’s money Vitek bought buildings, land, hotels, an

Two women outside a government building; one in a black suit holds a checklist while the other comforts her with a hand on her shoulder.

The Unlocked Door: A Series on the OneTaste Precedent

United States v. Daedone and Cherwitz: A Series on the Precedent On June 9, 2025, in United States v. Daedone et al., No. 1:23-cr-00146-DG (E.D.N.Y.), a federal jury returned guilty verdicts against defendants Nicole Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz on a single count of conspiracy to