Faking it

December 13, 2013 | Dian Chaaban


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Ford must be happy – the spotlight has turned away from his lawsuits, crack smoking and drunken stupors to the outrage of Tuesday’s fake sign language interpreter. As you've likely heard by now, during Nelson Mandela’s memorial on Tuesday, Thamsanqa Jantije stood next to Obama and other world leaders signing what was later identified as random gibberish.

Here is a sample: Hello, Welcome, so far. Bringing in different to you. Circle. This is good. Inside joining friend beyond and on, and on. I am pleased to say, from me to you. Running horse.

The uproar has grown over the week as Jantije’s fraudulent skills, apparent schizophrenia and history of violence have surfaced. How could this man be allowed to stand next to world leaders as an “official sign-language interpreter” during a memorial for the legendary Nelson Mandela? To make it worse, the owners of the interpreting company who hired the man have “vanished into thin air” and he is now blaming the entire episode on having a schizophrenic attack because he was “too happy” and “excited” and had hallucinations about angels entering the stadium.

Regardless of if I believe his hallucinations or not, his credibility should have started with his qualifications, experience and reputation – all of which were overlooked. He has dodged questions about being qualified as a professional interpreter, has little to no experience signing publically and has prior complaints regarding his gibberish inspired handwork.

The qualification oversight reminds me of an article I read a few years ago about a fraudulent Investment Advisor who under the guise of a trusted friend and advisor scammed honest people out of their life savings. After all was said and done, he wasn’t even a registered advisor! The entire debacle was the inspiration behind the article that we had created here at DS: Seven Questions you should ask before choosing a Financial Advisor. Choosing a financial advisor is one of the most important financial decisions you will ever make – even if you already have one you like, you can use the questionnaire as a check up tool.

Enjoy the weekend.

D.

Dian Chaaban

Investment & Wealth Advisor

Chaaban Wealth Management Group

416.842.4234