Many people think that the scammer comes, does their damaging work, and then leaves for fear of being caught, judged or gets locked up. The truth is that this is not always the case and I have had cases where the scammers committed their scams in an organized, successful manner and in broad daylight. Unfortunately, there are people who get carried away by their good image and advertising and therefore, do not consider it to be necessary to verify before investing their money and their dreams.
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The call came from a married couple with the following case: “Last year, following the recommendation of a family member, we decided to invest $60,000 dollars of our home equity loan with a very important investment company. We went to a monthly meeting of the company where there were more than 50 homeowners, and where we were told that our investment was safe because the investment was only made in real estate properties. We were promised 60% to 100% profit and the full return of our investment in 3 years. In addition, for each property owner that we presented, we were given an economic gift, a bonus, that’s why we invited friends and family members to join the investment network. Every month, we received a check with the promised profits, everything was going well but then we started to hear rumors that this is an organized scam. This month we did not receive the check and when we complained we were told of technical problems but that they would soon be fixed. The monthly investor meeting was also suspended. We do not believe that this is a scam because this company is advertised in all magazines, on the radio, on television by known artists. We have been in their offices, a luxury suite, with many employees, first-class customer service and meetings was always opened by a Christian preacher. It seems impossible for it to be a scam but we want to investigate what is happening.”
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As good as it all seems we need to investigate anyway, it is possible that they are only malicious rumors but that will be determined. I will need you to come to my office, I replied, but the couple informed me that this investigation was being requested in a group, a total of 42 people affected. With that many people, the meeting could not be conducted in my office but in a conference room. The stories of each of them were very similar, they had invested money from their property or their personal savings, the investment company promised them high interests of profits and guaranteed them that their investments were assured by the title of real estate property where they were investing in and also, the economic gifts which they offered in order to bring in new investors. These kinds of promises in investments are almost always indications of scam and fraud.
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We began an in-depth investigation to clarify this case. To begin, this “major investment company” did not hold an investment agency license, nor did its owners hold investor licenses. The business was almost two years old, and was already moving millions of dollars, but no investments. Their owners were a family that in a few months went from a normal life to a life of super luxuries with mansions, properties in other countries, luxurious offices, very expensive vehicles, vacations and a very public life. Apart from the family, we also identified the various partners in the company who were very skillful in words but already had some backgrounds that put their actions under fire. While this was sufficient to determine that it is a company engaging in an unlicensed and therefore illegal activity, this still might not convince all our reluctant clients to believe that it was a fraud. It just so happened that while we were conducting some interviews, we found witnesses who had already been interviewed by other investigators shortly before, the FBI was already investigating the case and subtly identifying potential victims. Shortly afterward, we confirmed that the federal prosecution was already preparing its attack. The management circle of this investment company was already very nervous, their stress was evident, and their empire was crumbling.
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We prepared a detailed report with all the information we obtained the identity and background of each director of the company, the history and assets of the company and a summary of how their illegal operations worked. After presenting the results to my many clients, it was evident that they had all fallen off their cloud; their hopes for a better future had been thrown away. One of them told me that that was not the kind of results they wanted to hear, that it was very embarrassing for them. I replied that they hired me to discover and report the truth even if it hurts. I provided each of them with the contact information of the federal investigators with whom they had to report immediately as victims to collaborate with justice and claim their money.
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A few weeks later, FBI agents arrested the owners of the company, took all their records, computers, vehicles and interrogated every secretary, assistant, accountant and bank representative related to the company. The fraud was made public, the fraudulent Ponzi-type structure managed to snatch money from more than 600 victims in less than 2 years, totaling over $30 million. Shortly afterward, the principal owner was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison, the rest received slightly lower sentences while one of the main implicated managed to escape and the authorities are still looking for him.
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For your own safety, do not believe everything of what you hear or see. Fraud exists everywhere and takes new victims every day. Investigate every time you go to invest, every time you go to deposit your trust, money, property and your life because you can lose everything in a blink of an eye. Be smart and investigate first.
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Be aware of fraud, but if you need help, please call us at 866-224-1245.
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August 2nd, 2016
By Private Detective Fernando Alvarez
DIARIO LAS AMERICAS