Crazy Eddie

Crazy Eddie

Company type	Public company (NASDAQ: (former stock symbol) CRZY)
Industry	Consumer electronics
Founded	Brooklyn, New York, 1971 (original) Wayne, New Jersey, 1998 (revival) 2009 (second revival)
Defunct	1989 (original) 2005 (first revival) 2012 (second revival)
Fate	Bankruptcy
Headquarters	Brooklyn, New York (original headquarters) Edison, New Jersey (second headquarters)
Key people	Eddie Antar, co-founder, president and CEO Sam M. Antar, co-founder Sam E. Antar, CFO

Crazy Eddie was a consumer electronics chain in the Northeastern United States. The chain was started in 1971 in Brooklyn, New York, by businessmen Eddie and Sam M. Antar, and was previously named ERS Electronics (ERS stood for Eddie, Rose and Sam; Rose and Sam were Eddie's parents). The chain rose to prominence throughout the Tri-State area (New York-New Jersey-Connecticut) as much for its prices as for its memorable radio and television commercials, featuring a frenetic, "crazy" character played by radio DJ Jerry Carroll (who copied most of his shtick from early TV commercial pioneer, used car and electronics salesman Earl "Madman" Muntz). At its peak, Crazy Eddie had 43 stores in four states and reported more than $300 million in sales.^[1]

Almost from the beginning, Crazy Eddie engaged in fraudulent business practices, including under-reporting income, skimming sales taxes, and paying employees off the books. These practices, in conjunction with aggressive sales tactics, enabled Crazy Eddie to significantly undercut competitors and grow rapidly. During the process of going public, Crazy Eddie continued to engage in fraud, over-reporting profits, inflating inventory and duping auditors. Unable to sustain his fraudulent business practices, co-founder Eddie Antar cashed in millions of dollars' worth of stock and resigned from the company in December 1986. Crazy Eddie's board of directors approved the sale of the company in November 1987. The entire Antar family was immediately removed from the business. The new owners quickly discovered the true extent of the Antar family's fraud, but were unable to turn around Crazy Eddie's quickly declining fortunes. In 1989, the company filed for bankruptcy and was liquidated.

In February 1987, the United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey commenced a federal grand jury investigation into the financial activities of Crazy Eddie. In September of that year, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission initiated an investigation into alleged violations of federal securities laws by certain Crazy Eddie officers and employees. Eddie Antar was eventually charged with a series of crimes. Antar fled to Israel in February 1990, but was returned to the United States in January 1993 to stand trial. His 1993 conviction on fraud charges was overturned, but he eventually pleaded guilty in 1996. In 1997, Antar was sentenced to eight years in prison and was subject to numerous fines. He was released from prison in 1999,^[2] and died in 2016.