Complaint Review: Les W Burke

Les W. Burke, a USN veteran stole from me, a fellow Iraq veteran. Burke was previously affiliated with a company called Phoenix Renewable Energy, LLC. He used his relationship with this company to solicit money from other Iraq veterans for a supposed overseas energy venture in Turkey. 

Unfortunately, I trusted him and "invested" money for what he assured me was a promising and lucrative opportunity.  In hindsight, I think he just used my money to take an extended vacation.  I expressly told him to not spend any of my investment without first informing me.  When I determined that he spend some (or all?) of my money anyway, I demanded to see an accounting of his business expenditures and receipts.  That's when he stopped taking my phone calls and answering my e-mails.

My only option was to sue Burke for fraud when it became apparent that he was no longer going to respond.  I obtained a judgment against him in 2010 for nearly $30,000.00 for one count of Fraud, one count of Conversion (theft) by False Representation, and one count of Fraudulent Transaction.  This judgment is a public record, searchable in the Leon County, FL, Clerk of Courts database (www.clerk.leon.fl.us).  To date, Burke has refused to pay this lawful judgment.

Shamefully, Burke also has a background in law enforcement.  Until late in 2010, he was an employee of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).  I had served a Writ of Garnishment on the TSA to force Burke pay the judgment.  Unfortunately, by the time the Writ was served, Burke no longer worked there.

Burke has recently started a company called The Phoenix Group, LLC, located in VA.  I am not sure how, if at all, this new company relates to his prior company with a similar name.  Neverless, anyone who is even thinking about doing business with Les W. Burke should be aware of his past fraud and learn from my mistake.