Is VXTK a SCAM? - Part 1 - In Bed with Alleged Con Artists
On 2/5/98, VXTK issued, in part, the following Press Release:
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VERONEX ANNOUNCES STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIP
February 5, 1998 - IRVINE, CALIFORNIA
VERONEX ANNOUNCES LICENSE AGREEMENT WITH VENTURETECH 2000
The board of directors of Veronex Technologies Inc. ("Veronex") (OTCBB: VXTK) announced today that it has signed a non-exclusive strategic alliance agreement with VentureTech 2000, Inc. to license the use of its complete I|NOVA System toolset.
The terms of the agreement call for VentureTech 2000 to pay a one time license fee of $2.5 million and to permit Veronex to share in gross revenues generated from the use of the I|NOVA System toolset. The revenue sharing provides for VentureTech 2000 to retain 65 percent of gross revenues and for Veronex to receive 35 percent of gross revenues generated from the use of the I|NOVA Systems toolset.
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Just who is VentureTech 2000? Are they a credible company?
According to a recent front-page article in the LA Times, VentureTech 2000 is a telemarketing fraud in the making. Many of the "employees" are ex-salesman for Global Mining Consulting, a company recently sued by the FTC for fraud.
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Now, a New Venture
In June, the FTC filed its lawsuit against Global. In seeking penalties against the company, Wagner, the FTC attorney, wrote: "The only profitable mining going on is [Global's] drilling into investors' wallets." A federal judge in Los Angeles froze the company's assets and appointed a receiver to take it over.
The next day, FTC investigators, U.S. Postal Service inspectors and the receiver fanned across Encino to halt the operation. At one of Global's addresses, investigators found an abandoned office. Inside were hundreds of pictures of the Tippecanoe Mine and little else.
Federal agents also went to the phone room where Global's salespeople had worked for more than a year. But when they arrived, Global was gone.
In its place was a telemarketing office for another company, a computer consulting and software business called Venture Tech 2000. Working the phones were several salespeople from Global. But there were no Global documents or any other evidence related to the mining operation.
Gone too was most of Global's money. The receiver's examination of the company's accounts and records turned over by Global employees showed that more than 60% of the $3.1 million raised for the two mines was paid in commissions to telemarketers, leaving little money for excavation work.
"I made my money," one salesman said. "The real losers in this are the investors."
In a settlement with the FTC in January, Noell agreed to pay $8,500 for "consumer redress." Ford agreed to pay $27,000. Neither man admitted to any wrongdoing.
About $570,000 was left in Global's accounts, a portion of which will be used to pay the court receiver. Authorities say investors probably won't recoup more than pennies on the dollar.
Noell, 31, said he was unaware of any lies told to sell Global investments. He was managing the company from his home in Henderson, Nev., while salespeople in Encino pitched the mining outfit.
"No way would I want someone to call my grandmother and ask her to invest $15,000," he said. "Unfortunately, I couldn't sit there and listen to every phone call. . . . I hope they can sleep at night."
Ford, 32, said he was the company's accountant so he did not supervise the sales staff. "I didn't associate with them," he said. "I don't want to deal with those people ever again."
But he and at least six of Global's telephone salespeople now share the same employer: Venture Tech 2000. Ford was the company's first investor, providing $130,000 last year, company officials said, although he has cut back his stake to about $25,000. He said he is not involved in telephone sales.
Engelhardt, Ford's partner in the Hope mine, handles marketing for Venture Tech. Engelhardt, who met Ford while the two worked as car salesmen, did not return calls for comment.
Nearly two dozen Global investors contacted by The Times said they also had been called to invest in Venture Tech.
Lawrence A. Boose, Venture Tech's president and chief executive, said the company is legitimate. "We do try to make sure we are operating within the letter of the law," he said.
Authorities in Pennsylvania and South Dakota--after reviewing Venture Tech's prospectus--have ordered the company not to solicit in those states. The company said it plans to challenge the orders.
Maddox, the Colorado teacher who lost half of her $40,000 life savings to Global, said she has invested the other half with Venture Tech: "It was just a sure-fire thing."
Rodney C. Owen, a retired Menlo Park engineer, said he lost $15,000 in the mining investment. The same salesman who sold him on Global, Owen said, persuaded him to invest $10,000 in Venture Tech.
The 83-year-old now tutors children at his home. But he is often distracted by as many as 20 calls a day from telemarketers.
"I don't answer the phone," he said. "It just rings and rings."
Full link:
latimes.com;
VentureTech's web site
venturetech2000.com
- Jeff
P.S. Thanks to Poker12345 on Yahoo for this lead.
Coming Next: IBM -- Strategic Partner or Strategic Misrepresentation? |
