Universal Corporate deceptive company Atlanta Georgia
Mr. Anthony Tobin found my business plan on the web and invited me to come to Atlanta to meet with investors -- saying my plan had merit. I arranged a meeting and flew down to Atlanta. Where I met with Bertus Siekmeijer, from the Netherlands, who was presented to me as Chairman of European River Cruises, Inc.
I presented to Mr. Neil Barnett, Mr. Siekmeijer, and other members of Mr. Tobin's staff my project -- a new business The Private Sector, Inc. They appearred interested and excited at the potential of the investment opportunity.
Within 4 days I received an offer to fund my business, They wanted to do "due dilligence" immediately. I referred the offer to my legal counsel, who prompltly found Mr. Tobin's company reported here.
I asked Mr. Tobin for references of companies that he had successfully funded. I asked Mr. Siekmeijer for proof that he had the ability to fund the project.
I never heard from any of them again.
Jim
Chicago, Illinois
1 Updates & Rebuttals
BERNIE
Lake Forest,California,
FINANCING FRAUD
#2Consumer Comment
Mon, October 14, 2002
If you are looking for financing for a your buisness plan you should be aware of a very ugly fact; There is almost no one that will finance a start up company. The odds of you getting a legitimate Venture Capital firm to do so are less than 1%.
True they went a little crazy in the first half of the 90's and funded a lot of dotcom start ups, but they were responded to a demand from the IPO market, and rushed those companies to IPO as fast as possible, and sold out their interests as fast as possible transferring the risk of start up companies to IPO stock buyers. You can see how well that worked out.
The risks involved in financing a start up company are two. 1) Is the business plan viable? and 2) Are the person(s) implementing the buisness plan able to create a profitable company around that business plan?
Since 80% of start up companies fail in the first two years, and 95% fail within 5 years, the answer to these twin risk questions is NO, 95% of the time.
If your company is up and running, and producing sales, preferably at a net profit. If the company is losing money they might consider financing an expansion, IF the company is losing less money every financial statement period.
There is a fairly large number of 'companies' that promise financing to new companies. Most are ripoffs who's only purpose is obtain 'upfront' fees from those companies, without providing financing. For them, milking entrepeneurs out of money is a very profitable business, never mind that it destroys the dreams of those entrepeneurs.
And there are NO exotic funding meathods that produce your project financing with loans that don't have to be paid back.
There are NEVER funds 'blocked'for delivery to you as soon as you come up with 5% of that money as a processing fee, or good faith deposit.
You can keep seeking financing for your start up company, but be aware that anyone that responds in a positive and enthusiastic fashion to a non operational company is going to ask for a large up front fee sooner or later.
You can stretch a point and say that processing fees for financing are sometimes transferred to the persons seeking finacing, but those amounts are seldom more than a few thousand at most.
If that up front fee is $20,000 plus, or a 3-5% (which are usual) of the money you are supposed to receive. Run.
What you are dealing with is an upfront fee financing scam like the ones that take millions of dollars each year from well meaning, but financially naive, entrepeneuars every year.
How do I know this? I am the head of a club of investors who have been equally ripped off by boiler rooms that have sold them fake investment opportunities, ripping off those investors.
Ironic isn't it, that that the companies looking for money, and the investors trying to find a decent investment are both being ripped off by scam artists?