Complaint Review: Aegis Council

This is the last details about our experience with Aegis Council AKA The Ark Inc.  I will post the outcome of the litigation against us at a later date.

I apologize it took me so long and also for the length of the posts but unfortunately there is a mountain of information I reluctantly had to weed through that could not be done in one day nor in one post. It has been traumatic as well.

There are so many documents & emails from Aegis Council /The Ark that our heads are still spinning from the paperwork and the trauma we have endured.Additionally, it was really hard to select what to share in order to detail a complete picture of my experience from the beginning, middle and end. 

At the end of this post is the last image I will post of a flyer for the 3 day seminar we paid to attend Dec 11-13 2009.  This was literally the beginning of the end for us financially where our financial planner wiped out the last financial assets we had.  None of the additional speakers listed on this "Tentative" schedule showed up except Steph Olsen president of Aegis Council AKA The Ark Inc.  She lectured on most of the topics listed on the schedule for all 3 days.  There were approximately 30 other people who attended.

Rita our assigned financial planner was there and she set us up with Aegis Shield because after round tabling with the Aegis Council team she and they believed it the best way for us to use the last of the money we had to our names was to purchase Aegis shield.  Rita and the team felt it would help us with our 2009 taxes and Rita believed that finding a way to mitigate our 2009 taxes was important to us.

Jack Cohen our CPA assigned to us by Aegis Council (and still our current CPA) was scheduled to be at the 3 day seminar but wasn't.  We were led to believe by Rita that Aegis Shield was reviewed and approved by the CPA they assigned to us when they round tabled over our finances.It turns out he never approved of it even though they had round tabled over our account however Rita never divulged that information to us even though she was supposed to.

Again to be clear and to the best of my recollection when we went to file our taxes I told Jack I had questions about our Aegis Shield product we purchased from Aegis Council and the very first thing Jack said to me was "do not buy that product from The Ark/Aegis". He went on to tell us to get our money back ASAP it is not legal and when the IRS gets wind of it, it we will be audited. 

He told us it didn't matter if we made a little money or a lot of money that he has seen these types of things come through the IRS and every time the IRS denies it and says it is illegal and then the person/company is screwed. Remember Jack worked for the IRS for 33 years.  We were stunned we were like dear in headlights upon hearing this information.

Jack felt really bad for us.  He also did not want to be in the middle and asked us to not tell Aegis Council / The Ark that he felt that way. We didn't tell Aegis Council this for a while but eventually we had no choice but to tell them. We feel really bad for Jack because he is in the middle. Jack is a really a wonderful human being. Jack is also a victim too, just like us.

JT Agresti is also on the flyer (below) he was supposed to speak to us about Aegis Shield at the 3 day seminar which they refer to on the flyer as an "inflation hedge".  Hindsight tells us we think it is strange that a tax attorney is speaking about a hedge.  JT is one of the many people that Steph Olsen mentioned to us at this 3 day seminar that verified legally that Aegis Shield is legitimate.  He is reffed to in the 60 min video as an expert "like the mayo clinic of wealth protection" and in the video he is listed as a "Tax attorney specializing in financial products".

--------------------NOW ON TO THE LEGAL MATTERS....

The Ark Inc. / Aegis Council has decided that they will move forward with litigation against us.  We spoke to their attorney 2 times on 11/10 & 11/12.

In a nut shell I heard him say the following or at least this is my interpretation:

1. everything we put here is defamation (not true, and not to the best of our recollection and knowledge)

2. we are threatening his client to give us our money back or we will keep posting damaging information about them (not true We tried to work it out with Aegis Council on our own, before we posted here, but they refused to communicate with us for over 3 1/2 weeks. we are sharing our experience of what happened to us we are not adding "more and more posts" as a reaction to them not working with us. we are asking for anyone that reads our post that can help, to help us. we are also asking Aegis Council to work with us using ripoffreport corporate advocacy program so that everyone involved, if Aegis Shield is legal, can turn this into a positive experience.  We do not have money to hire a lawyer to help us and using ripoffreport.com is free for us to use and this is all the help we can afford right now)

3. The attorney implied that his Aegis Council is shocked that we claim Aegis Shield is a fraud but that we are ok with them selling our position to another buyer (not true we have been advised by our CPA that this is a scam BUT because Aegis Council is steadfast that they are not a fraud then if they are legitimate of course we want our Aegis Shield sold to another client.  If they are not legitimate we do not want this sold to anyone else we want to be the last family hurt by this fraud.)

And finally we emailed the following to Aegis Council's attorney on 11/10. He was supposed to speak to his client and give us feedback on 11/12 which he did do.

-------------BEGINNING OF EMAIL SENT ON 11/10---------------------

Subject line: Like I promised to send you for the corporate advocacy program

Thank you for speaking to us about your client Aegis Council's concerns.

I believe 100% we can fix this situation by working together utilizing ripoffreport.com corporate advocacy program.I am glad Aegis Council finally decided to re-established communication after finding out about our complaint on ripoffreport.com.

I wish Aegis Council had kept  up the lines of communication with us... if they had continued to communicate with us, instead of cutting off communication for 3 1/2 weeks, it would have proved to us they were actively working on returning our money as they had committed to do so. 

Unfortunately since Aegis Council refused to call us or send written correspondence to us for 3 1/2 weeks it was clear to us that they no longer intended to do any kind of business with us or intended to sell Aegis Shield in order for us to get our money back, even though they committed to do so.

Below is the link to the corporate advocacy program.  Aegis Council has retained you to help them... likewise we are using ripoffreport.com to help us. 

We specifically selected ripoffreport.com to help us because we liked the fact that ripoffreport provided this corporate advocacy program to help us amicably resolve this with Aegis Council and because it also implies that after we amicably resolve the complaint, through the advocacy program, the complaint will be turned into a report of good customer service thus providing free marketing to the company and providing them with positive exposure to even more potential clients.

If Aegis Council is legit, if they sold us the product we were verbally promised in the 60 min video I recorded and if Aegis Shield is a legal hedge fund and not fraudulant then this corporate advocacy program is a win win for everyone involved.

http://www.ripoffreport.com/CorporateAdvocacy/HowItWorks.aspx
A few quotes from their corporate advocacy program. 

"All businesses will get complaints, but how those businesses handle those complaints separates good business from bad business."

"Turn bad buyer experiences into good customer service, and prove to your customers that your business is committed to their satisfaction."

"Turn negative customer service experiences into positive opportunities for your business."

Talk to you on Friday 11/12/10 for our scheduled appointment around 8 am.

-------------END OF EMAIL SENT ON 11/10---------------------

On 11/12 the attorney relayed to us, using other words then what I put below, the following:

His client refuses to work with us through ripoffreport.com advocacy program because they feel threatened/blackmailed and refer to our posts detailing what we experienced as damaging. They do not like being threatened and will not tolerate being threatened.

They refuse to work with us as a team to resolve the dispute and insist that we remove the posts.They will be taking legal action against us.

Slides continued... last two

The rest of the slides....

Here are 12 slides from the 60 min video I recorded of what they told us Aegis Shield was supposed to deliver:

Slide 1: Team of specialist in the video is referred to as the Mayo Clinic of finances
Slide 2: Aegis pays $30,000 cash
Slide 3: Aegis is not an investment but wealth insurance
Slide 4: After tax cash flow plus income tax deductions
Slide 5: Net cash flow possible when interest rates rise above 6%
Slide 6: Leveraged forward contract tax attributes
Slide 7: K-1 is promised "Statement of interest paid on note"
Slide 8: Fixed schedule of interest and gains
Slide 9: Savings after year 1 of having Aegis Shield
Slide 10: Net after tax cash flow if interest rates never exceed 6%
Slide 11: Tax efficiency
Slide 12: Even if interest rates never rise (in the video they state that you will make all your money back from your initial investment in tax deductions)

Steph Olsen used the impressive reputations of the individuals involved in the other Aegis related family of companies (as they are accredited and licensed attorneys, CPA's, CFP's who most probably are legitimate and who most probably run legitimate entities) to build both her own reputation and her companys reputation (Aegis Council). Steph herself and our assigned financial planner Rita are not accredited CFP's at least to the best of my knowledge.

In Dec of 2009 at the 3 day seminar Steph Olsen seemed to brag to us about the impressive individuals who currently own the other Aegis related companies (and their consultants). The business relationships she explained to us that she had with certain individuals led us to believe everything Steph told us about her company and Aegis Shield as 100% credible and accurate.

We felt that Steph led us to believe, during the 3 day seminar, that a few key individuals that currently own the family of other Aegis related companies (and their consultants) knowingly allowed and gave Steph Olsen permission to use their professional reputations to legitimize both her financial planning services and Aegis Shield.

When we purchased Aegis Shield from Steph Olsen, during the 3 day seminar, she told us we would receive a K-1 from a bank for the interest we were charged on the leveraged forward contract which our CPA would use as a business expense to be written off like all our other business expenses.

We never received a K-1 from a bank.Instead we received the attached document. We were told this was our K-1 and to give this K-1 to our CPA that Aegis Council assigned us.When I gave this "K-1" to my assigned CPA he said he wouldnt use it because the IRS would not accept it.

There are so many ripoffs going on against the middle class in America that we need to not demand that government get out of the picture. Only the government can afford to tackle law firms that do not deliver - so PLEASE consider filing a report and then send it to this government watchdog division:

http://www.ftc.gov/reports/index.shtm

On 11/5/10 I received a call from an attorney whose name I believe was Mark (I may have his name wrong). He apologized for not contacting me sooner.  He implied that he was swamped professionally with other clients and that was the reason for his delayed response.

Mark then asked me to remove the rip off reports I filed because they were defamatory. I asked him if Aegis Council is going to commit to selling our Aegis Shield position.

His response implied that he was told by his client that they had always been committed to selling our position and were in process of doing just that but that I stopped the process by posting this complaint. He then implied his client told him that the only reason I posted this complaint was because I was unhappy with the investment product I purchased from his client.

I said to him that is not true.Then I tried to convey to him that the correct and single reason I posted this complaint was because Aegis Council refused to return any of our phone calls for the last 3.5 weeks to keep us updated on the sale of Aegis Shield.  Which indicated to us that they had no intention to ever speak to us again about anything much less do any kind of business with us.

I told him that if Aegis Council had returned our calls none of us would be doing any of this right now. At this point he implied two thing but I am not sure which one he was trying to actually convey to me:

#1. That he needed to find out more details from both his client and myself because he was just starting to research this case and has not had enough time to gather all his facts.

#2. Or that it doesn't matter what I said because his client told him that they were always committed to selling our position and their commitment was never a question. And that I deliberately attacked them without any cause other than to defame their character because I was unhappy with the investment that I purchased from his client.

I am not sure which one of the above he was trying to convey to me but I told him I did not have time to continue our conversation and asked if I could call him tomorrow around 3pm.

For the record.  Let me state again that this complaint was not posted in order to defame anyone's character it was posted because Aegis Council refused to communicate with us (after we left several phone messages) about a transaction we paid them to take care of. They chose to not call, email or send written correspondence to us via snail mail for over 3.5 weeks. They then chose to re-establish communication with us but only after our complaint was submitted on Rip off Report.

Secondly my freedom of speech is protected by the 1st amendment. I have the right to speak about what happened to me and my family to the best of my recollection.Me sharing my experience as a client of Aegis Council has absolutely nothing to do with me plotting to defame anyone's character.

Finally, I told Mark I would really like to work this out with them and that I would do what it takes to make things work out. I told him I hope he can help mediate this situation.Mark implied that the only resolution would be for me to remove these posts.  He then implied that he was trying to mitigate costly impending legal action against me.

I am supposed to call him today at 3pm. I am not sure if I will reach him because I don't have his number as my phone was stolen last night. I have called Aegis Council and I left a message to have their attorney email me.  However, as soon as I finish speaking to him I will post the details.

We filed our report on 10/27/10 after they refused to return our calls and communicate with us for over 3 weeks. Then five days later on Tue 11/2/10 10:00 AM we finally received a call from Kinsley Charles telling us that they have a buyer in place to purchase our Aegis Shield product and that our money was in escrow.

When we received this call from Kingsley Charles it seemed very suspicious since they ceased all communication with us. We instantly thought that they must have found out about the rip off report we filed. We felt that in order for them to legally protect themselves they made the above call as a show to making it appear as if they actually intended to sell our Aegis Shield to another buyer.

Then right on schedule, we believe, the truth revealed itself two days later on 11/4/10 at 8:30 AM we received another call from Kingsley Charles telling us our account has been handed over to their in house attorneys because of our complaint on rip-off report and that he was not allowed to finish the transaction.
Aegis Council is now implying that they had every intention to sell our Aegis Shield product BUT the only reason they will not sell our Aegis Shield product now is because we filed a complaint. Basically their actions are implying that we are to blame for not getting our money back, never mind that they purposely stopped returning our calls and ceased all communication with us since 10/6/10 (over 3 weeks).

I do believe this company does have the means and the network to provide both the proof that they had money in escrow and a buyer to purchase our position on or around 11/2/10. And I believe this is why Kingsley called us to let us know our money was in escrow so that they could provide documentation that their intentions were legitimate.

We have been continuously ignored, lied to, treated poorly and rudely since we began trying to amicably resolve this problem with them regarding Aegis Shield. We honestly believe that their dismissive actions toward us indicated without a doubt that they had zero intentions of selling our Aegis Shield position to another buyer, so that we would be reimbursed.

These people really know how to add insult to injury... These tactics are very predatory to say the least.

I told Rita Mae Cannizzaro-Walsh that if our $50,000 position was sold and we received our money back to resolve their mistake of selling us this wrong product, then they must certainly be a legitimate company selling legitimate products.

I then told Ted Rusinoff the president of the company to whom the check was written to for Aegis Shield that if they continued to ignore us, not communicate with us and string us along then they are a fraud (my money must obviously be gone with no intention of being returned) and that I would come after them in order to prevent them from hurting other families across America.

On Tue 11/2/10 10:00 AM we finally received a call from Kinsley Charles telling us that they had a buyer to purchase our Aegis Shield and that our money was in escrow.  After the ride we have been on for the past year with this company we both looked at each other and said we will believe it when we see it.

Kingsley Charles rarely, if ever, actually calls when he says he is going to.  We have been stood up by calls we were supposed to receive on so many occasions by Kingsley that I lost count. So when we actually received a phone call from Kingsley Charles we were suspicious that something was up and that they must have found out about our rip off report.

Then today11/4/10 (two days later) at 8:30 AM we received another call from Kingsley Charles telling us our account has been handed over to their in house attorneys because of our report on rip-off report and that he was not allowed to finish the transaction.  Was there really any money in escrow to begin with?

Again, I reiterate.  If you, and I mean Aegis Council and all the 8 various companies, are legitimate companies you will move forward with selling our Aegis Shield hedge to another buyer and return our money (with or with out additional broker charges).  

If you are not legitimate companies you will litigate and bully even more than you already have a consumer whom you have literally taken every last dime from (raped).  Which will fall right in line with how we have been continuously ignored, treated poorly and rudely as customers since we began trying to amicably resolve this problem we had with Aegis Shield.

We have been punished by Aegis Council and their staff because the Aegis Shield product sold to us could not be used as Rita (our assigned financial planner) set it up to be used as part of her asset protection plan for us.  Your own in house CPAs said no when Rita told them what she wanted them to do with Aegis Shield.  Somehow it is our fault that Aegis Council set us up with Aegis Shield in order to implement a plan Rita had mapped out for us; which failed because we didn't make the income required or we made too much (the 2nd was the last of the many reasons Rita gave us for their CPA's refusing to use Aegis Shield).  My gross income is 110k of W2 income how is that too much?..... Rita knew exactly how much we made and where EVERY single one of our assets and liabilities stood.  We were required to divulge all our finances to her and we did that so Rita could map out a custom made asset protection plan just for us.  At least that is what we were told.

If Aegis shield is legitimate then we were certainly sold a product that should not have been sold to us.  If Aegis Shield is legitimate then it is made for affluent sophisticated investors.  We do not have the net worth and are not affluent sophisticated investors and this is one of the many reasons youre in house CPAs, who believe in Aegis shield, gave us as to why we could not use Aegis shield as Rita arranged it to work for us.

The little guy is fighting Goliath.  Justice will prevail here.  Greed is what caused this problem. Pigs get fed hogs get slaughtered.