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  • Report:  #1311395

Complaint Review: Bill Stern - New York New York

Reported By:
DW - Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
Submitted:
Updated:

Bill Stern
585 Madison Ave, New York, 10022 New York, USA
Web:
N/A
Categories:
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I'll never work with Bill Stern of Strategic Strategy Partners again!  Bill contacted us after seeing our company site on Crowdfunder and said he could help us raise capital.  He requested $5,000 up front to do due diligence on our company and to provide some revised documents which we never received.  I've heard he charges some people up to $26,000 up front! 

Once we wired the funds he said that he had a foreign investor named Dr. Ganapathy Arumagam from India who was creating a US investment fund and Bill could basically tell the Dr. what investments to fund and that he'd recommend the Dr. invest $2.5million in our company.  We never once spoke with this supposed investor.   

It took forever to get a signed purchase agreement back from the Dr.'s attorney which was basically our own document.  At first the Dr. was going to fly to meet with us in person and bring a check, then his funding was delayed so he couldn't come.  Bank of America supposedly wouldn't approve his $65million fund which took over a month to resolve.  Finally the Dr. got fed up and sent the funds to his account in India.  Then a wire was supposedly issued to us from his account in India through Citibank.  The funds were supposedly held up at CitiBank, so we reported it to consumerfinance.gov and eventually we got a letter back from CitiBank that they had no record of this supposed wire.

It was one excuse after another and weeks went by.  Finally we asked for a Cashier's check and Bill said no problem.  When the Doctor finally got the cashier's check he couldn't just deposit it in our account, he decided to drive it to Bill's house and of course got in a car wreck on the way!  Bill said he'd drive to meet him and take a picture of the cashier's check once he got there.  The picture never came. 

The check was supposed to have been issued by Bank of India in New York.  I called their manager and told him that I needed to verify that they had issued a check for $2.5 million dollars the day before and they said they had not issued a check in that amount and had never heard of the doctor, our company or Bill Stern. 

At this point I was fed up and told Bill that I needed his signed W9 form, ID and some verifiable references like an attorney and CPA that were licensed so I could call them directly.  I told him that we needed the Dr.'s W8-BEN form and a copy of his passport.  As soon as I started questioning Bill he began threatening to sue me.  He also said that he'd already won a defamation lawsuit.  I told him that I'd really like to see that lawsuit so I could verify it was real.  Of course, no response!

If I were you I wouldn't pay a fund raiser who asks for money up front a dime unless you have a signed W9, a driver's license and have paid for a real background check.  I would also call an attorney reference and CPA and make sure you look up their phone numbers and verify their license is real.  I wouldn't take anything for granted.  If there is a supposed investor insist on having a video call with them and look them up on line.

We wasted so much time with this process that it really hurt our company.  It tied up a lot of our investor units that could have been sold elsewhere.  It's sad that we have to be so careful in this world to protect against fraud and scams but I guess it's the world we live in.  



3 Updates & Rebuttals

SResq

New York,
New York,
USA
eerily similar story

#2Consumer Comment

Mon, July 11, 2016

To the original poster, 

A client of mine had an almost exact experience down to the car wreck working with Mr. Stern. They have recently gotten me up to speed on their ordeal and while doing my diligence, they pointed me to this article. Certainly seems like we are not the only ones out there dealing with this and I'd greatly appreciate the opportunity to speak with you and/or your council to see if we can compare notes and collaborate. 

It seems like this has brought quite a bit of hardship to both you and my client and hopefully our posting here and possible action can put a stop to this before other hopeful entrepreneurs are damaged, Please feel free to reach out to me directly at 646 three nine 6 six 4 two 1.

 

 


Bill Stern - More Threats

#3Author of original report

Wed, June 15, 2016

You can tell a lot by reading Bill's response.  More threats.  I'd welcome the opportunity to explain all of this in court in front of a judge requiring Bill to prove his proposal was real and not a huge waste of my time.  I have hundreds of emails and text messages to back up these claims.  I offered Bill an extension to his self-imposed 3 month agreement term and did not receive a response.  He is required by law to give our company a W9 for the fee we paid him and refuses to do so.  He has also refused to provide any other verifyable credentials.    


Bill

New York,
USA
Canceled deal

#4REBUTTAL Owner of company

Wed, June 15, 2016

this poster filed this after an expired agreement, was asked to revise and after making viral threats as well as circumventing myself, after finding out we can led the offer and the deal. Using a prior post from a criminal whom was sued in court to persuade me to continue and made threats as well as in his post inaccurate findings. I guess I will see you in court. Very unprofessional and extremely disappointing, Deal was canceled based on the colony's finders being very unprofessional. Maybe a rip-off report should be filed against them as well. 

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