Complaint Review: Christopher Maguire

This is a rebuttal by Bill Peterseim as named by Bill Sanders in his report concerning Christopher Maguire. I am also a significant VICTIM.

This is a belated response to this posting by Bill Sanders many months ago in which he named me and my role, including unsubstantiated allegations in that role, with his involvement with Christopher Maguire in the lending program Chris offered us, doing POFs (Proof of Funds Letters) for client firms.

First off, Bill Sanders is a friend of mine. We met professionally some years back at a CEO organization (CEO Space) as he said. I have also spoken with Bill about the report he filed here on Ripoff naming me and stating various things about me some of which are untrue and which he should’ve verified before naming someone publically. What I will state here, I have already discussed and clarified with him a couple of months back but I have been too busy to address a response until now.

Bear in mind that I COULD also make statements and provide certain financial details about Bill Sanders but doing so would violate confidentiality rules so I will not.

In responding, to make it easier on readers, I will attempt to respond chronologically to his report as you move down the page.

Yes, we met at a CEO Space forum and I was acting in a liaison of sort role with Wen Boley for the two companies Bill names. Wen was held in high regard by everyone I spoke with both at the conference in which Wen and I met, and by the lady who brought me into CEO Space back in Orlando. I was told that he was a class act and could be trusted. The founder and president of CEO Space, Bernie, from various things many of us observed, is very careful to safeguard the reputation of his organization. During my last forum, a few years ago, he announced he had banished from membership, a lady, very popular and successful author, for violating the terms of solicitation while there. Yet, this same man, Bernie brought Wen Boley up center stage to present his oil deals to the entire body in attendance, and this was rarely done. So, all of this spoke to me that he was a solid “deal” who could be trusted.

I invested with Wen. And while it is true, much further down in Bill’s report, that Wen and others seeking funds typically pay, in some form, usually cash or shares, those who assist them in money raising, a check with Wen or his accounting will show that they have NEVER paid me anything, though it was offered, for I have thus far declined any compensation in any form. Once, I received a small reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses for some meals I bought for some interested parties. That total, as I recall, was between $ 100 – 200. Period. Therefore, Bill Sanders was wrong in what he put in the report concerning what he THOUGHT I was paid.

As a matter of fact, I have made it a practice my professional life to NOT promote anything that I myself am not prepared to invest my own money in, nor typically before I so invest, unless prohibited by any “front-running” regulations. So, I only promote or even suggest or make available something I have put my own money in and, therefore, believe in. That doesn’t make me perfect. Sorry. Over the years, I have made a number of clients some substantial returns. And, no one, including me, gets it “right” every time and, quite frankly, if anyone tells you THEY do,  RUN. Doesn’t happen. This policy is NOT the “norm”. While yet a stock broker, the head of the brokerage firm showed me a report revealing that the “typical stockbroker who calls you at dinner time with the latest hottest stock you need to buy the next morning is 27 years old, new in the business, and has NOTHING in the market himself, much less any shares of what he’s touting”. I was stunned. I typically owned hundreds to thousands of shares of what I THEN suggested to others. My money truly was where my mouth was.

Going back to the first paragraph of Sander’s report I wish to clarify his statement: “He (me) told me I could recover all the money I had lost on various CEO Space projects.”. Close, but no prize.

That sounds to me like some kind of “guarantee” which I have never made on any investment to anybody.

What I said was that it APPEARED that, it could be POSSIBLE for him to recover some or a substantial portion of any prior losses, (and that pertained to ONLY the potential losses I was, at the time, aware of) depending upon how much he chose to lend and how well the loans performed over time. THAT is a BIG difference is wording. And, it was entirely true.

What I didn’t know then or later when he got involved was the EXTENT of Bill’s “bad calls” on investments through CEO Space. At the end of 2012, Bill sent me an email in which he itemized each of the roughly 10-12 investments he had elected to make with companies he met at that organization. I am not at liberty to use figures, but the numbers DWARFED what he put into the POF deals and they were all 100% LOSSES as of when he showed me. I had only heard of 2 or 3. I had attended a few of those meetings where the opportunities were presented and I walked out of each, totally convinced they were worthless, ill-founded, or scams. I never invested in any of them, but Bill did.

I met Bill at a meeting Wen held in his room, with wine. Wen is an ego-maniac. There is no one quite like him on earth…a true “legend in his own mind”. But, then, many months later after getting to know him, I don’t know how much time ON earth Wen actually spends. (Those who communicate with him know of what I speak). We are sick of his off-the-wall New Age stuff about blitzing into the stratosphere, etc. You’d swear he was an astronaut in his former life. Anyway, Wen asked me to attend and participate. He spoke at length for nearly an hour. He showed a power point and graphs, charts, illustrations, and demonstrations of his oil-locating technology. Eyes were spinning. It was good. At one point, I raised my hand and asked if I might add a few remarks. He told me “Please do and introduced me”.

I spoke, not really on the oil project, for I didn’t know any more than he had just shared with everyone else at that meeting…roughly 10 people in attendance. But I just introduced some more general investment concepts, strategies, and such and how investing in this could play a role. In less than 5 minutes, Wen was tapping his watch. I was taking too much time. He spoke for an hour. I spoke for 5 minutes and was overstaying my welcome. I stopped. Afterward, people stuck around and asked Wen questions.

The next evening, Wen conducted his announced famous “Hot Tub Presentation” outside in….yes, the hot tub. I attended as did Bill. Again, Wen dominated, making the real presentation for about 45 minutes and he allowed me a few comments for about 4 minutes. Afterward, as I prepared to leave, Bill Sanders approached me. I think he liked me because I was older, didn’t look like a musician (like Wen), and had a broader background and made sense in the limited area I had discussed. He asked if we could go and speak privately which I agreed. We went to a room, his or mine, I forget, and he asked a few questions including wanting to know my background, and so forth.

He indicated that he wanted to invest and that was fine. Literally everyone else I spoke with who decided to invest came in for one or two units. If they had doubts, I would assure them they didn’t have to do anything and, if they wanted to, they could certainly start small. Be conservative. See how it performs, if Wen lives up to what he says. I HAVE NEVER IN MY PROFESSIONAL LIFE PRESSURED ANYONE, using any technique, to invest. I HATE THAT and won’t allow others to do it to me. So, I explain things as thoroughly as I know. I never “blow smoke” or engage in “creative writing”. I encourage them to ask questions. If I don’t know the answer, I tell them that and that I will either get the answer and report back, or tell them to ask the person who should know directly. I did all the same with Bill as with everyone else regardless of the investment, same as when I was a stock broker. I have often encouraged people to sleep on it. No need to make a rushed decision. Discuss it. It will be there tomorrow. That, is NOT the norm either in this profession. Most sales people are taught to overcome objections INCLUDING procrastination, and don’t leave without the order.

Then Bill told me his decision and I almost fell over. I’m not at liberty to state how much he chose to invest. But, it was MANY TIMES MORE than anyone else. When he later sent me the list of his investments, I quickly saw that this was Bill’s pattern. Not a sound one in my judgment. But, it’s what he was comfortable doing. Bear in mind, he doesn’t have a good record, but still follows the same pattern.

After I said, “Really. You’re serious?” He said he was and described his intentions. I told him that he may wish to consider cutting that down, doing some now, give it some time, check performance (if he had he wouldn’t have added any and be judged sane) but he said “no” that he was comfortable with that. So be it. The forum ended and he could’ve still changed his mind as we both returned to our respective homes in Florida. He contacted me later to verify where to send the money. And, again, I NEVER RECEIVED a penny for this, nor a single share or fractional share, though offered. In fact, I called the company a few months ago to complain that they never sent me a K-1 for my unit in Golden Eagle only to have the young lady inform me that I don’t OWN any. Really? I still have the canceled check and my IRA company has the stock certificate that I purchased directly from Wen Boley for $ 10,000. But they have no record, which is a tad upsetting. Lest I forget, if you are approached to invest in either Blue Phoenix Oil, LLC or in Golden Eagle Alliance, LLC, DON’T.

Concluding that first paragraph, the terms Bill described are accurate except that some of the deals were as short as 3 and 5 days, not even a week.

At this point, I have to make this observation. I fully understand AND SHARE Bill Sander’s frustration, and I would include disappointment anger, and regret. My wife and I and our kids have been destroyed by Christopher Maguire, financially. The same is true for many good people who, in many cases, worked a lifetime of honest labor to have this 33 year old lie and suck them dry to sustain a “high life” for himself and his live-in girlfriend.  Yet nearly a dozen other “CEO’s” of fledgling companies met with, made promises of high short-term returns to Bill Sanders, and took more money initially from him than did Christopher Maguire and, in many cases came back for more, and according to Bill Sanders himself, NONE of them ever paid him a dime of return, nor returned any of his principle. NONE. This was the ONLY investment of the many he showed me, that WAS paying him, and meeting or exceeding his expectations. And, as you will learn further down, it wasn’t all on paper. When he followed my advice, Bill received many substantial withdrawals from this POF programs, which he COULD have KEPT, but didn’t; when, in contrast, he got NO payouts of any kind, as I said, from any of the others. YET, doesn’t it seem a tad strange that THIS is the ONLY investment that has caused him to take action? To my knowledge, he never posted anything on Ripoff Report concerning any of these other, as I see it, BOGUS firms, or their CEOs or their people who encouraged him to invest. He never called any Regulator or Investigative group as we have done here. I find that odd and perhaps others will as well. I even asked Bill why the apparent “double standard”? He got hammered by everyone else but he continually questioned the honesty of the one firm paying him, and only ultimately, to my knowledge, went after that firm and none of the others. Oh well.

PARAGAPH 2: Bill’s initial response was no different than most others and mine when first learning about the POF program. “Sounds to good to be true” and “It sounds like a PONZI Scheme” were the initial observations by most. Unfortunately, here is a case of where we ALL should’ve gone with and Stayed with that first suspicion , as it now appears it likely IS a Ponzi Scheme.: very well designed and presented by Chris Maguire who, as I write this, is in jail on Contempt of Court charges for his refusal to honor the judge’s demand to provide adequate personal financial information to a Plaintiff’s attorney.

And, what Bill says I told him in my later call, about making good money, was true.  I personally, my LLC, and a number of friends and family and other CEO Space contacts were involved by then and making AND RECEIVING very decent returns. The very first note and many subsequent notes we had Chris pay us out our earnings. One young lady, who had lost her job, was living off the earnings, collecting a few thousand dollars each month from a relatively small investment. All true. The checks cashed, bills were being paid from the earnings from these notes. However, as it now appears, that is the way most Ponzi Schemes work, paying people out who get in so as to make believers of them, success stories to be shared, and to build confidence so they eventually start putting more money in. It works all too well and most (but NOT everyone) followed suit.

So everyone heard essentially the same presentation, some with even greater detail and with longer-running track records than Bill Sanders, but not everyone GOT IN, as Bill and I did. Not everyone STAYED IN as Bill and I did. Not everyone ADDED more money, as Bill did. The amount to loan, to roll over, to withdraw, to cash out, was always AN INDIVIDUAL CHOICE by each lender, upon the maturity of each note, Bill Sanders included.

I should also note that when I inform would-be investors about any investment product and state if I have invested in it, I always add that this was MY or OUR (including my wife) decision, based upon OUR situation. Your situation is likely different, so the mere fact that I found this to our liking and comfort level shouldn’t be taken to mean that you should too. We are all different. You make that decision as to whether it’s right for you. I can’t make that for you. And that is the way things SHOULD be. The same applied to Bill Sanders. NO ONE made any decision for him and he is a mature, very successful businessman.

Now, I will address something Bill didn’t.

Of all the people who got involved, most have never met Christopher Maguire. Some have never met me. Some have never spoken with Chris Maguire. Not so with Bill Sanders. Bill, in fact, stands apart from literally all other lenders in this program, with one exception: me. Only one other lender comes CLOSE to Bill in terms of matching the personal contacts with Christopher Maguire whether over the phone, by text, by email, or even in person.

SIDE BAR DIGRESSION:

Bill decided after that second discussion to “get in”. One thing additionally had occurred with me that may or may not have been a factor in his decision.  What was still “bugging me” despite my having been invited to come to Chris’s home, with my wife, to learn more details about the POF program (at which we both were made to feel very comfortable), was that, in all my professional life largely in the financial world, in real estate, insurance, and securities, that I had never come across or heard of Proof of Funds Letters. That bugged me and I prayed about it. The very next week, I had a succession of conversations in which 3 different parties relayed information (1 was Chris about a 3^rd party meeting…so we can discount that, if you like) but the other two were totally unrelated sources.

The first was when I called the lady who got me into CEO Space and told her of my new venture. I was involved for less than 2 months. I had stopped referring to this as Proof of Funds letters because no one else had ever heard of those either. In this instance, about 3 sentences into describing what Chris did, and how it worked, the lady interrupted me and, in her British accent, asked me, “ William. Are you describing Proof of Funds Letters”. I nearly dropped the phone. No one else had any inkling of what these were or that they existed until that moment.

When I said “yes” she responded, “OH, well that’s totally legitimate. You know I have an MBA and worked in banking in the UK for years. We worked with POFs regularly. You must be making a KILLING!” Well, there was the proof I was looking for, over and above what I’d found on the Internet. 2 days later I spoke with a gentleman who was also quite familiar with POFs, had used them in business, and was comfortable with them. So, my concerns were dispelled. I no doubt shared those conversations, at least at some point, with Bill.

BACK TO THIS REPORT and BILL SANDERS PERSONAL CONTACTS WITH CHRIS:

Shortly after Bill Sanders chose to invest the first time, he expressed how pleased he was with the returns...then added, “Assuming, of course, this is all legit and not a Ponzi scheme, I’m happy”.  Then, perhaps before he made the second, maybe third investment, he told me that, before he continued, he wanted to personally meet this Chris. (as he put it). I told him that was fine and I arranged the meeting over in Orlando, roughly a 100-mile drive for either of us. He asked me to accompany him, and I agreed. As I recall, he drove to my home roughly along the route, and we drove together. We met Chris for lunch, his treat. During lunch, Bill literally drilled Chris…3^rd degree, which was fine.  He was open about his apprehension, concerns if it was all legit, or a Ponzi, and so forth. In retrospect, I don’t know if he actually thought that if Chris WERE a thief, he would promptly admit it because Bill asked. Well, needless to say he didn’t. We spent a couple of hours at Rocco’s Tacos on Sand Lake in Orlando. When Bill ran out of questions and observations, we called it a day and left. He expressed how pleased and comfortable he was with the whole POF deals and Chris. It was early in their relationship and he had grilled Chris in person and had every opportunity to cash out and walk away right then and there or anytime thereafter.

Following that meeting, I was told by both Chris and Bill that he would frequently call Chris to discuss one thing or another. Again, only one other lender had even a substantial portion of those contacts. He subsequently met with Chris again on a one on one in Orlando, and he attended every event Chris put on in our area, over near Tampa. He came to a luncheon and a dinner, as late as last November I think (2013).

My point is, with all the personal contacts directly with Christopher Maguire who ran the POF program (if, indeed it ever actually existed), and the side deals Bill Sanders negotiated directly with Christopher Maguire that I only learned about after the fact, it is a real “stretch” and a bit insulting to me for him to name me in such an accusatory manner, in the Ripoff Report he filed and to which I am responding. It’s a little late and over the top to be trying to kill the messenger(ME) given the context of Bill Sanders’ history in this lending program directly with Chris, and his other investments.

PARAGRAPH 3: As to his stated difficulty in getting funds out going back to April 2013, this, I have to say, was unique to Bill, if true, and needs additional discussion.

Every time Chris was preparing to issue another note, he would call me with the details: the date for the note to start, the length of the term, any possible extensions, the rate of return, and a cap, if any, on the amount that could be taken. I would then contact everyone and relay that info.

People from Day One always had the option of taking all of their money out upon maturity of any given note; rolling it all into the next, subject to any limit on the note; or to take and roll funds in any combination. This worked fine for 18 months way past April 2013.

With Bill, and he was the ONLY lender to so state, nearly every time we had a note mature and I would be speaking with a lender on their choice going forward, Bill would comment on how happy he was to be making that kind of money, but would then add, “Assuming of course that it’s not a Ponzi”. After he said this so many times, I asked him (and he recalled all of this in a friendly discussion we had this fall, months after he posted this on Ripoff) if he was really uncomfortable with it, and concerned it might be a Ponzi, why didn’t he just CASH OUT? He’d always back peddle. He would just be concerned but not enough to curtail those earnings.

He continued to make these remarks with literally every conversation so I then told him: “Bill, this is always an issue with you. Why don’t you follow the advice the smart gamblers do at Vegas, and many wise Stock investors? He asked what that was. I told him “You’ve made some really great returns. Instead of just rolling everything over, why don’t you start pulling some substantial funds out? You can do it in one swoop or just get a discipline and pull out earnings and maybe some principle each maturity until you do what those gamblers do…withdraw ALL of your out of pocket, your tables stakes, I think they call it. Then KEEP IT OUT. Gamble from then on ONLY with the house’s money. That way, should it turn into a scam or Chris makes a bad move later and even ALL the money is lost, you still have all of your original money and are out only time and what you thought you had made. Or, set a certain minimum return over and above your investment, say 10% and pull that too so, if it all crashes you’ve got your entire out-of-pocket back, plus a fixed percentage?”

He thought that made a lot of sense. And, I recently looked back on his lending record and could tell you literally the day I had those conversations because he started withdrawing substantial amounts at every note maturity.

He continued to do that for a month or so when, all of a sudden, he reversed his actions.  This was right about the time he stated in his report on this site that he started having problems getting funds.  He would call me though and ask for his latest note. I had sent him what I knew about, but he said he was also in another note.  Really? He told me that he had planned to take more out but that Chris had made him a really sweet offer instead.

I called Chris Maguire and he told me he made another separate note for Bill and gave me the terms. I told him that if he did that he had to tell me since he had me keeping records. This happened on several occasions. Sometimes Chris would call me, sometimes Bill would call me. On at least one occasion, Chris made a special note that was just for Bill personally, and for his company. And, Chris told me to increase Bill’s return to a higher percentage than anyone else got. I asked why and he said he was giving Bill his (Chris’) override as well. Bill was the ONLY lender to get that special treatment on his money. Again, why does he appear to be blaming ME in his Ripoff Report? I made the introduction. I suggested he GET OUT. I told him to take money out and how much and to not put it back. He listened to me to get in but largely ignored me thereafter and reversed the “safe policy” I had gotten him into of withdrawing principle, and he did that on his own.

So, what was happening for the better part of a year….through much of 2013, was that Bill Sanders was calling Chris directly, and vice versa, and making separate, special arrangements for extra notes and, in some cases, higher returns. I don’t know who instigated this. I suspect Chris, in order to stop Bill from taking the multiple, regular withdrawals I had urged him to do. And, it worked. Bill admitted this to me in our more recent call and said he succumbed to the greed factor, against his better judgment, and put the funds I had gotten him to “take off the table” back in the game. Chris was good and smooth. Of course, what has happened apparently, is that Chris was running a Ponzi all along and so he got Bill Sanders to put his safe withdrawals back in for Chris to take, in exchange for the illusion of making a lot more money, sadly it appears, only on paper.

That concludes my response to Bill Sanders Ripoff report. Sorry to be so lengthy but it needed addressed, albeit belatedly. We have multiple investigations underway against Christopher Maguire.  As Bill Sanders said, I initiated most of them, with my County Sheriff and the FBI. The County Sheriff, due to jurisdictional issues, ultimately transferred it to The Florida Division of Law Enforcement. I spoke with agents of all of these agencies and provided them considerable information.

One last bit that I need to clarify from Bill’s report: in his next to last paragraph he said I was “angry about this”…his contacting the Office of Financial Regulation. And then he said, in his opinion, my anger was likely due to my not wanting them to look into my role in this Ponzi scheme. That is not at all true, and I discussed this a while back with Bill and he understands what I am about to say.

During a conversation with the agent from the Florida Division of Law Enforcement, he asked if I had contacted any other agencies. I told him that I had also contacted the FBI. He told me he wished I would not involve any others because NONE of the agencies have enough funding for all they have to investigate. So, he continued, “If we are out in the field investigating someone and run into an agent from another law enforcement agency, we will likely drop our investigation and put those assets to work on another case”. Makes sense. I had already told Bill Sanders that I had two active investigations on-going against Chris, one state, one federal, and who they were. And, I’d been told what I stated above to NOT involve anyone else. THAT is why I was a little upset, not angry, that he had gone ahead and involved yet another agency. I had also told him that a good friend had gotten a check from Chris that bounced and that the Sheriff’s department I sent him to had sent him to the Attorney General’s office to handle the bad check. And THAT investigation was also on-going for several months. So, we actually had, at that point THREE (3) separate investigations going against Chris and his companies when Bill, with knowledge of all 3, starts a 4^th. Given what I was told, I had a right to be a bit upset as I didn’t want investigations already underway for months, to be canceled because of any new entry. Make sense?

As to not wanting them to check on my involvement, I had already provided considerable history and detail of the entire operations and ALL of my involvement to the three agencies with which I had personally spoken. So that allegation is totally bogus.

As it turns out, I think some of them have dropped the investigation but the one that Bill brought in seems the most dogged which is good and my wife and I have had several detailed meetings with them and have provided them literally everything we could to assist them in their efforts. They recently got the IRS CID involved as well and we have assisted them to the fullest degree.

I would leave everyone with this admonition, based on some rather painful experience:

When it comes to investing, AVOID getting involved in PRIVATE (non-public) investments or loan programs or such. These appear to be ripe with Ponzi schemes and scam artists. I got turned off from the Stock Market years back when I got burned there by following Analysts reports which I later learned were NOT independent but which were written under threats of job loss because the companies they were “analyzing” were paying them substantial fees, so they published tainted reviews and bogus analysis that cost me and millions of other trusting investors billions of dollars. But, I found that the Private Sector (non publicly traded stock) are sadly comprised of many thieves. I have lost my faith and trust in most people today.

If Bill Sanders or anyone else wants to fault me, fault me for having been raised to always be honest in my dealings and that I naively thought others I dealt with to be similarly honest. And, sadly, that aren’t. My sincere apologies to anyone ever hurt by me having been taken in by dishonest businessmen. Be very careful with ANY investing you choose to do. Diversify and step “lightly”, if at all. I would urge you to NOT give money for any endeavor to Christopher Maguire.