Generations of radio listeners and TV peepers have suffered through the commercials for Buddy’s Carpet & Flooring, the rug chain with kitschy spots featuring Buddy himself, aka the late Burton B. Kallick.
Distinct for his ceiling-scraping whine, Buddy would berate his way through ads like an excited adolescent pleading a stony date for a squeeze — A SQUEEZE! — all in that signature out-of-tune-violin voice. The results: Truly. Terrible. Commercials.
Well, it turns out that while he was inflicting major metropolitan markets with audio pain, Kallick was keeping his money hidden from Uncle Sam. In the 90s, The company’s namesake and others bought bunk insurance policies in the Virgin Islands in order to keep money off the books. In total they were able to bilk the government out of $700,000 in tax dollars.
