Jupiter Ponzi scheme investors get update at town hall meeting
By Susan Salisbury, The Palm Beach Post, Fla. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
One woman who traveled from
The investors also shared their angst about ruinous losses and the stories of how they first heard about the Virtual Concierge Machines and promises of returns of up to 500 percent over three- and four-year contracts.
The court-appointed receiver,
Some compared the meeting to a funeral and said they heard about the investment from friends, coworkers or family members. Some mortgaged their homes or incurred credit card debt to make buy dozens of the machines at
"Everybody here has sucker written on their foreheads," said Marcum, a retired comptroller who invested upward of
Sallah and his team are unraveling and reconstructing the finances of
"There are still holes that have to be filled," Sallah said of the enormous task of tracking who is owed what.
Nearly 26,000 of the machines with a purported income stream from advertising, were sold to more than 1,800 people. But in reality, fewer than 100 were in operation at hotels, airports and stadiums, the receiver found.
In April when the
Sallah said Friday the amount of money taken in by JCS and TBTI was closer to
It's not possible to determine what the investors' losses are, Sallah said, because some of the money paid out was for commissions to machine salesmen. Some investors received enough payments before the collapse to cover their investment. Others made more than they invested, and some received refunds or "charge backs" from merchant banks through their credit cards.
"I am going to object to the charge back if it puts you in a profit situation," Sallah told the investors.
The numbers are preliminary and the reconstruction is a "work in progress," said Soneet Kapila, of the CPA firm Kapila Mukamal.
The team is going through tens of thousands of pages of documents such as bank records, credit card statements and sales contracts.
The next stage will be to explore claims against entities or people who may owe money to the receivership, such as people who received commissions or took in more than they invested.
Eventually, a claims process for investors will begin. It's not known how long it will be before any investor gets any money back, or even what basis will be used to determine how much each is owed, Sallah said.
So far, the receiver's estate is holding
"People have been hurt. It's a mess," Sallah said. "There is no happy ending to a situation like this."
The Schumacks this week agreed to voluntarily transfer to the receiver a
The vast majority of investors did not want to be quoted by name Friday. One muttered as he left the room, "Terrible, terrible stuff."
___
(c)2014 The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Fla.)
Visit The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Fla.) at www.palmbeachpost.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Wordcount: | 799 |
Wellington Village Manager Paul Schofield’s job possibly in jeopardy
Running with heart
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News