Complaint Review: American Entertainment Distributors - Hollywood Florida

Gene - I made it to the office. All of their facilities are on the second floor. The elevator was locked off of the second floor but I found a stairway and got to look in the office space. It did appear that all things were still in place, office equipment, computers and machines. There was a machine right there in the lobby next to the elevators. I did go to many of the other tenants and they dissavowed any knowledge of AED and didn't puport to know anything about what was going on. I can tell you that there is no FTC tape, criminal tape or notices to keep anyone out of the office space. If I had a key I could have walked right in. I would assume that is just what AED will do shortly to get their stuff out of office. Anyone with further knowledge do a rebuttal to this as I got taken also.

I was able to get to the offices via the stairway, the elevator to that floor was locked out. I was able to see through a glass door that in fact all office equipment, and the machine by the elevator, were all still in place. I talked to other tenants of the building and none of them would admit to even knowing of the company let alone what was going on. Needless to say I left for my hotel with very mixed emotions. Bob

I am looking at a copy of the case against AED, the principals and others involved in the scam. It is case # 04-22431 filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Following is the complete list of defendants: American Entertainment Distributors Inc., Automated Entertainment Dispensers Inc., Automated Entertainment Machines Inc., United Technical Support Inc., United Cybercom Corporation, Russell G. MacArthur, Anthony Rocco Andreoni, James R. MacArthur, Mauricio A. Paz, and MIRIAM SMOLYANSKY aka MASHA TANGO. Like ourselves, some of you may have talked to the husband of Miriam Smolyansky. Pete Smolyansky's name was given to us as a distributor with a successful operation at a high rise in Miami. As recently as last week,when this thing started to unravel, my husband unwittingly called Pete and asked him if he Knew what was going on with operations at AED. Pete said that he had driven there and that "crime scene tape" was on the doors. He lamented with my husband claiming that he had ordered 2 more machines that had not been delivered. I wonder how many other references were bogus and in on the scam. I would recommend that anyone who spoke with Pete Smolyansky notify the FTC, the Postal Inspector, the Florida State Attorney General, State of Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Mr Smolyansky should be named as a defendant as well. Getting back to the court case. I spoke with the attorneys office that will be handling the receivorship. First, her name is Linda Mulhall, legal assistant for Gerald B. Wald. She can be reached at 305-358-5900. This temporary(perhaps later today if the case isn't postponed- permanent) restraining order freezes the assets of the corporation and all named defendants. I did verify that there are SOME assets. To what extent, I have no idea as Ms. Mulhall couldn't disclose the information even if she had knowledge. Second, this restraining order was issued ex parte, meaning that the defendants were NOT given prior notice. Additionally, I was told that neither the defendants nor the corporations filed for bankruptcy. They probably would have if they had known that a restraining order was being issued. Since the court has established a recievor, claimants like ourselves get first dibs on any assets, then creditors can make a claim. So we are first in line for the assets. The restraining order says the following with regards to the restrictions placed on the defendants: "are restrained from transferring, liquidating,converting, emcumbering, pledging,loaning, selling, concealing, dissapating, disburing, assigning, spending, withdrawing, granting a lien or security interest in, or otherwise disposing of any funds, real or personal property, accounts, contracts or consumer lists,shares of stock or other assets, or any assets therein..." Furthermore, they can't open safe deposit boxes, incur charges or cash advances on credit cards, obtain personal loans, incur liens on their property or their spouses property. All financial institutions with which the defendants hold accounts are prohibited from giving the defendants access to either accounts or safe deposit boxes. Additionally( within 5 days), by now, all financial institutions dealing with this bunch, have turned over a complete account history to federal authorities. The filing goes on to stipulate that the defendants have 5 business days to provide the commission with detailed reporting of all foreign assets and repatriate these assets. I would implore everyone who was scammed by the "so called references", like Pete Smolyansky, to report them to any and all law enforcement agencies including but not limited to 1) Postal Inspectors Office Fraud Complaint Unit: 800-372-8347 2) FBI North Miami Beach Office: 305-944-9101 3) Florida Trade Commission: 202-326-2047 Ms.Debbie Matties(assigned to AED case) Lastly, I would advise everyone to write or send an email to their United States Senators and Congresspeople advising them of what has happened. This business had been advertising as recently as a couple of weeks ago on TV stations in our viewing area. The FTC has obviously been investigating this for sometime. Wouldn't it have been nice to have that knowlegde. We did our due diligence before we invested and we couldn't find a scintilla of evidence that this was a scam.

Robert - You say you made it to the office. All of their facilities (as far as I could tell when I was there in July) are on the second floor. Were you able to look in there, and see if things were still in place. There was a machine right there in the lobby next to the elevators. Was there anyone else in that building? I'm still waiting for difinitive information about what has happened. I filed a report with the FTC, the Florida Department of Consumer Affairs, and the Florida Attorney General's office. I got an email response from the FTC, but it looked like an automated response - didn't give any specifics about this case.