Complaint Review: Venetian Investment Firm LLC

On 5/16, Mark Anderson came to our home and convinced us to invest $2,300 in a real estate deal with a promise of a 50% return on our investment.  We signed a contract stating that if the deal did not close by 5/24, we would get our initial investment back.  Mr. Anderson has not held up his end of the contract. To date, we have received nothing but empty promises and a bunch of excuses from Mr. Anderson with regard to our money.

Mr. Anderson told us that he did not have a local office here which made us a bit skeptical but he seemed like a pretty upstanding, honest invidividual. However, to safeguard ourselves, we asked him for verification of his identity. He showed us all of the paperwork for the particular deal that we were investing in.  Additionally, we took a copy of his driver's license, which had his address listed in Columiba, SC.  We told him we would need a local address for him to which he gave us his sister's address where he supposedly is living.  We also noted the make, model and VIN number of his vehicle.

Mr. Anderson told us that the deal would definitely close by 5/24.  We were told several different reasons why the deal had not closed by then but he continued to assure us that the deal would close in the next few days.  Then he told us that the deal had closed and we would be getting paid in a few days.  The next excuse was that the bank had put a 7 day hold on the proceeds check and his company could not cut our check until the proceeds check cleared, then it would be fedexed from his company to Atlanta.  Then he told us that the check was sent via regular mail instead and would be here in a few days.  Then he told us he did not receive the check and was on the phone with the investors to find out what happened to the check and would call us to inform us. We never got a call.  When we contacted him again, he said that definitely we would get the check the next day and he would call to set up a meeting place.  When that did not happen, he said if he did not receive the check by the next day that he would go to South Carolina himself and we would definitely get paid.  The last we heard from him, he was on his way back from South Carolina and would call us at 8am in the morning.  The call never came and we have not heard from him since.  We have texted him and called him with no response.

We sent him a "demand for payment" letter via certified mail to both the address on his drivers license and the local address he gave us.  The letter to SC was returned as "not deliverable to addressed" and the other has not been picked up at the post office as yet.  We sent him a demand for payment via text as well and he did not respond to that.

This guy is undoubtedly a Con Man and as evidenced by the other reports filed on this site, he is in the business of taking people's hard earned money with no intention of giving either a return or their initial investment back.

WARNING!  PLEASE DO NOT INVEST ANY AMOUNT OF MONEY WITH THIS INDIVIDUAL!!!  HE IS A FAST-TALKING LIAR AND A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING!