Complaint Review: Gary Colombo Diamond Age Productions C & P Holdings and Entertainment Financial Group - Las, Vegas Nevada

Please see the article in the Las Vegas Review Journal dated Dec 8, 2010.   

Investment scam nets prison for two men

LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Posted: Dec. 8, 2010 | 12:59 p.m.

Two men have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a high-yield investment fraud scheme. Gary Colombo, 54, of Las Vegas, and Michael Jenkins, 45, of Memphis, Tenn., were sentenced Tuesday by Senior U.S. District Judge Charles Wolle. Colombo was sentenced to nearly five years in prison, and Jenkins was sentenced to four years in prison. Wolle ordered both defendants to pay $10 million in restitution.

According to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office, Colombo and Jenkins persuaded several people in 2003 to invest large sums of money in the scheme.Colombo, Jenkins, and a third defendant, Daniel Ellis, who is now deceased, were indicted in April 2007. Colombo and Jenkins pleaded guilty this summer to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.In 2003, the defendants promised victims "no risk" and "high gain" investments on sums of $10 million or more. The defendants also promised that the investors' funds would be securely held in a major bank and returned to them within a specified time.

The defendants used corporate alter egos through which the investment program was offered. Entities involved in the scheme include "Arquest, Inc," "ZAG, LLC", and FRETUS FIDUCIA PRIVATE BANK.

The defendants persuaded at least three persons to invest a total of more than $30 million, but the money was never invested and instead was used for personal gain, including the purchase of luxury automobiles and multiple homes in Grand Junction, Colo.

End of Article

Now what is all this about slander and libel??

I think I this clears myself and others of that allegation.  Once again, he took investors funds and used it for his own personal expenses with no intention of following through on his promises. It's just too bad he only got 5 years, it should have been more for all the pain he has caused people.

This is intended to set the record straight with hard, provable facts, history and evidence that anyone can look up in public record or by contacting the people who will be referenced in this letter. History: At approximately 5AM (pacific time) sometime in the summer of 2002 I received a phone call from someone who identified himself as from the Rippoff Report and that he was about to print a letter from Linda Koziba slandering my name unless I would send him $15,000 immediately. I responded with one question, Can you spell extortion? Click. Later that day the letter (posted on this site) was indeed faxed to my church and another companies where me and my kids did, and still do, voice-overs for radio commercials. I received a couple of phone calls asking who this nut case was and everyone dismissed the letter because, knowing me and my family for many years, they also knew it was all lies amounting to libel. Linda attempted to further extort money from Diamond Age Productions and me by filing lawsuits corporately and personally. Neither I nor the Company could afford an attorney so I defended myself pro se against her in court and won. I would have won for the company as well if I had been allowed to defend that case, (since they were the same issues), but Nevada law does not allow a layman to defend a company. Linda's allegations had no merit. She was under a contract and the contract was upheld. The judge complimented me for my defense as well as the impeccable way I managed the Company and the books. Linda was proven to be a liar with no merit in her allegations whatsoever. The case was closed. After the Rippoff letter was posted, my partner, Terry Parsons and I had many discussions as to what should be done about Linda's letter, if anything. We elected not to pursue her for damages since we basically felt sorry for her and thought it would just be better not to practice an eye for an eye but to extend forgiveness as the higher ground. In the meantime, unknown to us at the time, Linda tried her shenanigans on two other startup companies. I am told that she received formal reprimands from Attorney James Burk of Burk and Reedy in Washington DC. I recently confirmed this with Mr. Burk, who would not divulge any confidential information but agreed to take calls from interested parties regarding Linda, me and Diamond Age. He can be reached at 202-204-5002. Terry and I decided that truth will always stand and lies will fall away. That's how we were raised. Unfortunately we were raised before the dawning of the Internet where slanderous words and libel print just hang out there forever even if untrue. The courts already proved Linda Koziba a liar. I am not one to take vengeance. As said above, forgiveness is preferable. However, we did not anticipate the power of the Internet to perpetuate lies and further damage otherwise innocent people. People Google my name now and assume because these lies are in print they must be true. Therefore, after much deliberating the record must be set straight. Please feel free to investigate each and every detail presented here. Point by point from her letter: 1) She claims my wife and I are con artists from NY who came to Vegas to perpetuate their dishonesty and acquire new victims. In 1994, on the advice of our Pastor in Avon, NY we looked into 5 cities where we could use our gifts in music and theater. Pastor Michael Hicks, originally from the west coast, encouraged us to sing and get involved in our passion which is the arts. He advised us that there were more opportunities outside our little town of Avon and the larger manufacturing communities. Options were NY City, Florida, Chicago, LA or Vegas. I was able to land a job in Vegas as the first live interactive cartoon character in the world at Treasure Island Hotel (Captain Blackjack) who greeted people daily as they entered the hotel for 2 years. That led to helping Tony Marnel (owner of the Rio Hotel at the time) create a unique interactive feature at the Masquerade Village Show in the Sky. I created a live, talking gigantic, two sided head that entertaining people daily. During the 4.5 years I was performing at the Rio I decided I needed to think more about the future and my kids, who were also performing professionally. That led to opening a family owned production company which we called Diamond Age Productions after a book I read once. 2) She says the company was founded in 1991. False. The Company was formed in 1999. (look it up in Nevada Secretarty of State records) 3) She claims we bilked money from old ladies. The LLC was opened in 1999 and funded with my entire life savings ($80,000) plus a home equity loan on my personal residence ($25,000). That funded most of one TV Pilot we produced plus start up costs. We had a total of 14 other investors all family and friends who invested from $100.00 to $10,000 ea. They are still my family and friends. Actually the $100.00 (one hundred) came from Marge Shoen, a lovely dear lady in my church at the time who came to me one Sunday and slipped a $100 bill in my hand and said, Here, put this in your company. Bless her soul. I actually gave her 100 units of ownership in certificate form. All the investors were between the ages of 25 and 40 with the exception of my father. We never raised any money from outside family and friends. 4) Her next paragraph, a multitude of lies, basically is what she tried to allege in her law suit but could not convince a judge that any of it was true. The company books were perfectly kept and allegations had no merit. I will add this though. I have tithed 10 to 17% personally to my church for over 28 years and we had it written into the Company's Operating Agreement in 1999 that the company would also tithe (10%). Linda forgot to read the Operating Agreement. 5) Have they filed taxes? she asks. Yes. I have filed taxes for myself yearly since the 1970's and have filed annual returns for Diamond Age for 1999-2006. Every return for the company has been informational since the company never got off the ground and never had any income, never sold anything. All this is public record. Call the IRS. 6) She says we left investors holding the bag. I guess that would be mostly me since I was the biggest investor. Linda, myself and Terry were functioning under signed contracts to exchange our labor for equity until the company was fully funded. Sweat equity. Showing the judge the contracts pretty much cancelled any claim she had that the Company or I owed her money. Sweat Equity is very common in startups. 7) She claims she has NSF checks. Those would be the checks she wrote to herself. There was one week when we had a commitment from a single company in New York City to invest 1.5 million in Diamond Age in exchange for equity. Terry, Linda and I were very excited that we were finally going to really start working on theatrical projects rather than fund raising. Linda wrote out a bunch of checks we would have released upon seeing the funds in our account. The funds never materialized. Linda, Terry and I agreed to hold our personal checks and keep trying to get funded. I still have mine in a drawer with about 10 other checks Linda wrote that day. By the way a check is not NSF when written only when presented. The judge had a few words for her. As for contractors out there not being paid sadly there is one. Mike Fusco. Mike was a dear friend and a genius in animation. He billed us and patiently waited for money but knew we were broke. The pilot never sold. I still hope to someday repair that relationship. 8) Her last paragraph is really bizarre. Terry and I opened two companies in anticipation of getting funding in Diamond Age. This was to separate out liability for our investors because in the course of trying to raise funds for Diamond Age we met people who wanted to do many other projects. So we decided EFG would handle film finance, and CP Holdings would serve as a mother company. Diamond Age would be assigned just one movie by the same title. CP stood for Colombo and Parsons. EFG= Entertainment Financial Group. In this, Linda further demonstrates her ignorance of the industry she claimed to be able to handle finances for. As for the other two letters posted here: All I can say is I have never used my faith as a manipulator to get money. That is absurd and I will let those who have known me speak for me on this. On the contrary I often encourage people to deal with people as just people and not of any affiliation. I don't expect Christians to be any different than non-Christians, since we are all people subject to all the shortcomings of all people. Linda claimed to be a Buddhist. That didn't stop me from welcoming her aboard to build our company. Do I live by faith in God? You bet I do. Am I perfect? You bet I'm not. But I do know who made me, where I am going and what I am supposed to do here. Please feel free to call the Pastors of the International Church of Las Vegas for character references on me. I have been there since 1994. Call the church at 702-243-2273. Speak to Nancy Fulmer, Pastor Joel Garcia, Betty in Accounting, Clyde Vegas, or anyone else who has been there as long as I have 15 years. Executive Pastors Paul and Denise Goulet are hard to reach but feel free to talk to them too. Gary Colombo

I have known Gary Colombo personally and worshipped with him at the same church for more than 10 years. Not only is he a good church member, working diligently with children's and adult drama and financial ministries, he is also an honest and respected business man. Many people can will testify of the encouragement and good advice Gary has given them in and outside church walls. I can tell you personally that Gary pulled me out of an emotional mental depression with his friendship that threatened both my relationships and my life. He is a valuable teacher and mentor to many. Contrary to the reports here, I have witnessed him share cautions and warnings to many people seeking his financial advice. He knows the law of man and God and I have watched him apply, instruct, correct and disciple with both codes. Gary generously shares joy of success with all around him and he bears the burden of failure with deep regret and resolution for recompense, as any good business man should. Unfortunately, as evidenced in the bitter comments and half truths listed here, others have not appreciated this grace as much as his close friends and associates have. If you read the negative reports listed on this website I pray you will contact Mr. Colombo or one of his associates to get the real truth before deciding what to believe about him.

I, too, was almost taken in by these people.. they attend my church and so I have had contact with them..they have made numerous attempts to get people to lend them money or invet in one of their schemes. I do know they declared bankruptcy several years ago in New York, before relocating to Nevada.(94-21016 and 96-22980) Also, if you check the Federal District Court of Nevada you will find that Gary and Debbie Colombo and their company are being sued for copyright infringement and the unauthorized use of material, by Don Barrett Entertainment.(CV-S-02-0750-JCMLRI) These people are just trying to make money any way they can in order to avoid working for an honest living. And be careful, Mr. Colombo is an actor and so is very convincing in his sincerity. He contantly brags about what a good Christian he is ... in order to get people to give hime money!

Mr. Colombo is hiring his children and his wife out through Studio Center Corporation 200 W. 22nd St, Norfolk, VA 23517
757-622-2111. and is living off the proceeds so he does not have to pay back his investors and the people he ripped off!
Two of the kids names are Christy, and John Colombo.

Because of this rip-off I have had to move out of my home of many years. I cannot believe this man has done this to me and so many others.

Thinking about it, over and over again, as to how I let this happen to me, I must say I was fooled, I was taken in by the trusting words he spoke, that he was a good Christian. I should have been reading this web site sooner. Somewhere on this web site I read an editorial that says, when an individual that your doing business with is bragging what a good Christian they are, you know they're getting ready to rip you off and to run the other way ..this is noting but a ploy for them to get your guard down.

Mr. Colombo is hiring his children and his wife out through Studio Center Corporation 200 W. 22nd St, Norfolk, VA 23517
757-622-2111. and is living off the proceeds so he does not have to pay back his investors and the people he ripped off!
Two of the kids names are Christy, and John Colombo.

Because of this rip-off I have had to move out of my home of many years. I cannot believe this man has done this to me and so many others.

Thinking about it, over and over again, as to how I let this happen to me, I must say I was fooled, I was taken in by the trusting words he spoke, that he was a good Christian. I should have been reading this web site sooner. Somewhere on this web site I read an editorial that says, when an individual that your doing business with is bragging what a good Christian they are, you know they're getting ready to rip you off and to run the other way ..this is noting but a ploy for them to get your guard down.

Mr. Colombo is hiring his children and his wife out through Studio Center Corporation 200 W. 22nd St, Norfolk, VA 23517
757-622-2111. and is living off the proceeds so he does not have to pay back his investors and the people he ripped off!
Two of the kids names are Christy, and John Colombo.

Because of this rip-off I have had to move out of my home of many years. I cannot believe this man has done this to me and so many others.

Thinking about it, over and over again, as to how I let this happen to me, I must say I was fooled, I was taken in by the trusting words he spoke, that he was a good Christian. I should have been reading this web site sooner. Somewhere on this web site I read an editorial that says, when an individual that your doing business with is bragging what a good Christian they are, you know they're getting ready to rip you off and to run the other way ..this is noting but a ploy for them to get your guard down.