1) the company and some of its directors (some say all) are perpetrating a fraudulent operation2) some of the directors are career criminals with a long history of defrauding members of the public3) some of the employees are complicit in the fraud4) there are various associated parties that are complicit in the fraud
This is an elaborate & sophisticated scam that involves a multitude of people. There are very real connections to another fraudulent operation and there is no doubt planning underway for future "enterprises" of a similar nature.
At this point my aim is to;
1) uncover further information pertaining to the scam
2) post additional material on the website pertaining to the scam to exert pressure on the perpetrators of the scam
3) make contact with other investors to alert them to the scam and help where I can
4) make contact with ex employees/subcontractors that may be willing to come forward and provide information in relation to the scam
5) alert all the relevant authorities
6) make contact with media outlets and investigative journalists to highlight the scam and warn others
7) pursue various legal remedies in an effort to seek restitution
8) try to recover my stolen funds - if I am unable to achieve restitution I intend to diligently work for as long as I can to see the "controlling minds" brought to justice
9) try to discover the next scam company they are no doubt working on and "put a dent" in its aspirations before others fall victim to it
In the beginning I thought I had some hope of seeing the return of my investment funds, I now realise there is none as Chad will never return money he has stolen. He believes since he was smart enough to steal it that it now belongs to him and he is not about to give it up easily. Remember this man has a totally different set of morals to the average person. Besides that he has probably spent it all; he has a very lavish lifestyle by all accounts.
I'm not really here to debate whether Gabriel Conde is Chad Willis or not? I was able to answer that question and verify it nearly 6 months ago. I think however it is still by far the most important issue here. ie that the whole company has essentially been built on a lie.
Are their any good folk involved with the company? I honestly don't know. So many lies have been told, it is hard to trust anyone there. Are the new people eg Edgar Selvin Perez, Any Somoza and Matthew Robson involved in the scam? I honestly don't know. Some say there is no way possible they could actually be there and not know what has been going on or not know that Gabriel Conde is in fact Chad Willis so they are therefore guilty by association. I honestly dont know what to think. It certainly is very strange that they stay there knowing what they must know.
In their defence "Gabriel Conde" is one of the very best at what he does; without peer I would say. He is the most amazing salesman you will probably ever come across in your life; it has been said he can make people believe virtually anything. He's very likeable, charismatic and funny; there is one big problem though, he steals other people's money. He's either conned all the lawyers into believing everything he says is true or they simply don't care. I honestly don't know which it is but either way it is a real worry. Hopefully as the authorities start to get more involved the lawyers will begin to see things in a different light.
On March 27, 2011 I let it be known to the company that I had serious misgivings regarding the bona fides of Gabriel Conde and had therefore lost complete faith in WER and therefore considered it mutually beneficial we part company and produced good solid evidence to support my claims. The fact that Edgar Selvin Perez (who came on board as a Director and Chief Operations Officer of the company around March 7, 2011) never made any attempt whatsoever to step in and sort things out at that point spoke volumes to me and and is still a great cause of concern to me.
Everyone has had their own experiences with the various people involved but I suppose it really all depends at what point you are at in the whole thing. I certainly found them all very nice people to deal with in the beginning but once I started asking the wrong questions (the ones they didn't like/the ones they had no answer for) well it became a very different story then. By the way none of the questions would be too hard for any legitimate operation.
For example "What is the status of the project the company flew me over in May 2010?" They will never answer that question. Why? Incidentally that particular project was ahead of schedule for most of 2010 but now it's like it never existed. More on this issue later.
The Individuals of particular interest to me are as follows:
Gabriel Conde AKA Chad Eugene WillisManaging Director of World Energy Research & Director in World Energy Holdings & Research PLCA convicted felon who has a long history of fraud and has an outstanding warrant for a parole violation with the Oakland County Sherriff's Office in Michigan.
Jorge Vizarra AKA George DizcarraDirector of Compliance, Executive DirectorFound guilty of fraud in relation to marketing Gas and Oil Futures in the USAHe claims that is another guy, not him and reckons he might need help from a reputation management company- LOL
Mike Kitto (Richard Michael Kitto)General Counsel for World Energy ResearchDenies having ever met Chad Willis but has been involved with the company since the "Audax days" when Chad Willis was in fact the managing director of World Energy Research. He is without question heavily involved in all of this.
Tony SzymczakOne of Chad's top salesman and a staunch supporter of Chad's- chose to stay on even after he found out the company had not actually built the hydro project it purported to be building in 2010.
It became necessary to start up this website when it became clear that World Energy Research was not prepared to answer any questions they did not like.I personally received staunch opposition to even the most basic question of verifying Gabriel Conde's bona fides from Mike Kitto .People were driven to Motley Fool and Rip Off Report to try and get answers. Even then posts were systematically removed by the company's lawyers.Anything WER didn't like got this treatment (I call it the WER treatment).
"World Energy Research expressly denies the allegations made in this thread. Similar postings have been removed from other on-line forums including the Motley Fool as being unsubstantiated, baseless and without merit. World Energy Research is in the process of having this present thread removed as well.World Energy Research developed and cultivated its reputation and goodwill through its quality of service and transparency of operation. Prospective investors are encouraged to visit the firms website:http://worldenergyresearch.com/Further, should you have any specific questions or concerns, please feel free to contact World Energy Research directly and have your inquiries addressed:http://worldenergyresearch.com/ContactUs.aspx"
Any contact by investors is welcome and it is obviously up to you to determine how involved you wish to becomeThere now is somewhere you can go and freely connect with othershttp://www.worldenergyresearchscam.com/forum/or go to the Home page on this site and hit Web Links then Other Resources, the Forum is located at the top.
I aim to post a list of all fraud and investigation authorities and regulatory bodies and such that you should contact should you too believe you have been defrauded. (I will gradually build and add to over time as I make contact serious contact with them).
1) Serious Fraud Office (SFO) - New Zealandwww.sfo.govt.nz
2) The Financial Markets Authority (FMA)* - New Zealandwww.fma.govt.nz* The FMA took over the functions of the Securities Commission of New Zealand.
3) Companies House -New Zealandwww.business.govt.nz/companies
4) Interpol New Zealand
5) New Zealand Law Society
6) Serious Fraud Office - UK
7) Financial Services Authority (FSA) - UK
8) Companies House - UK
9) Australian Federal Police - Aust
10) Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) - Aust
11) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)* - US* I think Chad was smart enough not to take on any US investors. For him to have to deal with the SEC, well thats a whole different ball game. But well see who turns up?
The Modus Operandi at length
Investors in the Hydroelectric projects that World Energy Research (WER) were building held units as a limited partner in the World Energy Research Guatemala Hydro Pack 1 LP (LP).WER had ample funding and opportunity to build and complete at least one hydroelectric project in 2010 but they didnt. Where did all the money go? Jorge Vizcarra was telling me at the start of 2011 WER had enough cash to complete all the projects off their own back. Suddenly now they need to go to the capital markets to complete the projects.
In addition Jorge Vizcarra and in fact all personnel associated with WER were claiming one of the projects was well ahead of schedule in year 2010. I personally was flown over the project the company purported to be building in May 2010. Where is this project now and why is noone from the company bothering to talk about it any more? Why suddenly are investors hearing no more about it? The project has seemingly vanished and the company is attempting a huge cover up. The fact is the company lied to all its investors and has not built the project it claimed it was building and is in the process of committing a massive act of fraud.Regarding the proposed issue by WEHR to the LP of ordinary shares and restricted ordinary shares as payment.
ie shares in WEHR in lieu of dividends from the project. See April 19, 2011 press release by WEHR.World Energy Holdings & Research PLC announces signing of purchase agreement by its subsidiary World Energy Hydro Limited in respect of Central American Hydro Electric Power Plant Project acquisitions.This has now transpired. See May 12, 2011 press release by WEHR.World Energy Holdings & Research PLC announces acquisition by its subsidiary World Energy Hydro Limited of four Central American Hydro Electric Power Plant Projects.
How very convenient!The majority of these shares are to be restricted ordinary shares that are subject to a 12-month hold period from their date of issue. But they propose to throw a bone to investors and issue a small proportion as ordinary shares.
Who in their right mind would buy these shares? Has anyone outside the company bought any WEHR shares as yet? Why has the share price appreciated? In reality there are probably no shares that have been publically traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange; any shares that have been traded have most certainly been transacted between themselves alone and this alone has contributed to the share price appreciation.
There is nothing of substance behind the company that would give the shares any value let alone drive the share price up.All of this was conditional upon WEHR shareholder approvals at the general meeting on May 9, 2011. ie. WEHR shareholder approval for World Energy Hydro Limited (WEH) to acquire all of the LPs stake in each of World Energy El Islan, S.A., World Energy Sosi, S.A., World Energy Ixtaguacan, S.A., and World Energy Semuc, S.A., being the various special purpose entities that hold the rights to construct and operate the 4 Hydro Pack projects. Why? Shouldnt the agreement have been conditional upon World Energy Research Guatemala Hydro Pack 1 Limited partnership investors approval? Instead they created a new entity and let it decide the outcome. This is all back the front.
The Limited Partnership Agreement prevailed. This was all part of the script in the companys ploy to defraud investors of their investment funds.Only WEHR shareholders that held ordinary shares (WER executives only) had the right to vote, investors that were gifted shares or purchased them at a discounted price were given restricted ordinary shares which carried no voting rights.
It was engineered that way to afford them complete control.Not a good deal for investors!Below I have broken down in an approximate order the way things have unfolded.(This started off as a modus operandi and morphed into something else as more and more information came to light)
Step 1 Company builds a profile by entering into agreements with genuine companies (eg. Audax Resources & Blue Energy Canada Inc.) to give it the appearance of legitimacy. It later terminates these agreements when it is considered expedient to do so (ie. after has procured enough investment funds from investors). It is my firm belief that the company never had any intention of carrying through with any of the agreements they made with any of these companies.
Step 2 Company aggressively pursues investors to invest in hydroelectric projects.
Step 3 Company fails to install the Remote Energy Project Broadcast System (REPBS) that it so heavily touted and promised its investors and which it claimed would bring unsurpassed transparency to the construction phase of the project.
Step 4 Company tells lies and uses various forms of trickery to procure further investment funds from investors.
Company uses other tactics like the impending close out of Phase 1 of the project to lure investors into investing with the company with the promise of greater returns.
The company stated that Phase 1 was closing soon in a response by the company to my original enquiry and that was way back on March 19, 2010. The company later announced the successful close out of Phase 2 on October 26, 2010. As recently as February 2011 they were offering investors the opportunity to become Phase 1 partners (ie. well after the close out of Phase 2). The company always seemed to find enough room to offer investors the opportunity to get in on Phase 1 (ie. it never seemed to truly close out).
I believe there never truly was a Phase 1 that was meaningfully linked to the building of any specific project, the company simply bandying the term about and using it as a tool to lure people into investing with the promise of significantly higher returns.The Company added in additional projects to the Hydropack which originally just contained Islan, San Enrique and San Mash. The next evolution contained the projects Islan, Choliva, San Enrique and Santo Tomas adding in one additional project (to make four in total) although it still remains unclear whether Choliva and Santo Tomas were two completely new projects or one of them was San Mash with its name changed. Nevertheless the company promoted significantly higher returns for investors with this new addition.
This was put forth to investors as an added benefit to them at no additional cost. When Mr. Conde was asked how this could be, he retorted that because the additional project was just on the other side of the mountain to one of the existing projects the company would save on infrastructure costs when cutting roads to that site. I now believe it was just a ploy to represent the company in a positive light to investors (ie. giving them something for nothing).
The company employed such tactics purely to score brownie points with investors so it would stand them in good stead when Mr. Vizcarra went on one of his many sorties to psych up investors into strengthening their position with the company. There was nothing giving about it; a pure calculated move on the part of the company.
The next evolution of the Hydropack contained the projects Islan, Sosi, Semuc and Ixtaguacan. As Islan was the only one in common between the second and third evolutions of the Hydropack it once again remains unclear whether Sosi, Semuc and Ixtaguacan are simply name changes for Choliva, San Enrique and Santo Tomas (not necessarily in order) or whether they are entirely different projects altogether? After being questioned on the matter Mr. Conde claimed that it was necessary to rename some of the projects so as not to contravene indigenous naming rights.Certainly as time went on I found the whole issue of the naming of the hydroelectric projects became more muddled and confused.
I firmly believe the company deliberately created confusion surrounding the project names so that they could then take advantage of some of that confusion that prevailed. Subsequent to this but outside the scope of the original Hydropack (since investors interests in the LP have now been converted to shares in WEHR - see Step 8) the new company WEHR now proposes to build not only the four mentioned in the last evolution ie. Islan, Sosi, Semuc and Ixtaguacan but in addition Tacana and Maya as well. Curiously Maya which was named in a press release by WEHR on January 31, 2011 but since then there has been no further mention of it in any of its subsequent press releases (the last one being July 15, 2011, at time of writing) which have continued to tout the other five entities
Step 5 Company further builds its profile by lying about its acquisition of the Motagua Oil Refinery to boost its image and standing and thereby procure further investment funds.
On the back of this company offers free or gifted shares in WEHR to entice investors into making further investments with their company. At the time the company claimed they were ordinary, liquidable stocks with no restrictions. This later changes to a 3 month restriction or withhold period (before they could be sold or cashed out), then to a 6 month restriction and then finally a 12 month restriction. The company claims this was done to protect the interests of the investors but I believe this was all planned right from the very outset to deceive investors into making further investments with the company
.Step 6 Company fails to build the promised hydroelectric projects that they claimed they would build. Indeed it fails to produce any evidence whatsoever verifying the existence of the specific hydroelectric project they purported to be building all of 2010 (and which they flew investors over) and which they also claimed was not only in an advanced stage of development but also well ahead of schedule. They cite nonsensical reasons such as it being price sensitive as a reason for providing no information. The only thing that is price sensitive is the stock price which they are manipulating with gay abandon.Most investors had received only Project Update photographs of the site but since I had actually been flown over the project site by the company on May 20, 2010 I obviously knew it positively existed. The failure of the company to release any further updates on the project despite repeated requests for information plus the threatening and intimidatory stance the company took towards me when I tried to obtain that information led me to believe the company was hiding something. I then set about identifying the true owner(s) of the project in question which I did (details provided elsewhere) and it was unequivocally confirmed that WER was not the owner.
Step 7 The wheels start to fall off for the company as it becomes commonly known Gabriel Conde has misrepresented himself to investors to conceal his criminal past. He is in fact Chad Eugene Willis a man with a long history of fraud and a current outstanding warrant for his arrest with the Oakland County Sheriffs office on a probation violation. June 6, 2011 Gabriel Condes appointment as a Director Of WEHR is terminated as the company in effect acknowledges he is Chad Eugene Willis. They simply cannot fight all the associated adverse publicity and relent opting to remove him from the frontline so to speak so they can continue unabated with their scam. They wrongly think that by removing him as a Director that they can absolve themselves of all the fraud perpetrated by Conde and the company on the investors.Amidst all of this the company carries on denying any wrongdoing and using its legal team to intimidate all who came in its way.
Step 8 Also ex employees began to sing spilling some of the dirt on him. Ex employee Blake Robert Brischke confides in me on a Skype conversation as follows (the he referred to being Gabriel Conde);If any legal action was taken against WER i dont see how i could be held liable being that he was lying to everyone about the construction and where the money was going, he conned me also.Im not sure at what specific point Mr. Brischke became aware that the hydroelectric project that the company purported to be building in year 2010 did not exist? What I do know is that throughout 2010 both he and all the other WER representatives were claiming that the project was at an advanced stage of construction and well ahead of schedule. Mr. Conde aside, Jorge Vizcarra was by far the loudest proponent of the latter.
In March 2011 Blake Robert Brischke leaves the company disgruntled with the lack of respect afforded to him by Gabriel Conde aka Chad Eugene Willis plus he was not being paid commissions on his sales. Also Blake is owed a considerable sum of money as a result of an initial investment he made when starting up the company.
Blake indicates he would tell everything if Chad doesnt pay him his money back. Later Chad includes him on Guatemalan Court Documents citing defamation and extortion etc in an attempt to intimidate and silence him. When I ask Blake what he has done to land himself in those court documents he simply replies resigned and I know too much. When I ask Blake a few questions pertaining to the company he admits you pretty much have it all except for a few things like his future plans. Blake knows everything one needs to know about the companys fraudulent dealings plus the next company Chad is trying to build but will not talk (whether he gets his money back or not) for fear of reprisal from Chad. Chad has some sort of hold over Blake that he intends to use against him if it is required. Blake informs me he has been involved in some shady dealings in the past that Chad is aware of (presumably from his days at Seisma Energy Research) and that Chad will use that information against him to stop him from telling what he knows, which is obviously extremely damning for Chad.
Blake tells me that Chad would destroy him if I was to inform anyone else of what he has told me since Chad would immediately know it was him that has been talking, for these are things that only he (apart from Chad and Jorge) has knowledge of.It was Blake who also informed me of the fact that everyone working for World Energy Research knew that Chad Eugene Willis was operating under the alias Gabriel Conde and that he had misrepresented himself to investors as that person to conceal his criminal past. However a few like Mario Delecce, Sam Barouki and Basil Barouki (now with Polaris Energy) claim they did not know, although it is worth noting that they had strong suspicions 2 months into their tenure with the company and approached Mr. Conde on the matter. In an email sent to me by Sam on June 22, 2011 he says:>We were introduced to GC as GC. At one point in our tenure (about 2 months into it) I questioned GC about the name Chad W. As we had our doubts and speculations because the name kept on popping up.
It was a fiasco, and he went off on me, and almost let me go for even asking him the question. So, I was never able to verify, but always casted doubt. One of the many reasons we didn't last 7 months with WER.In early 2011 (they had all left the company at that point) I forwarded them a photograph of Chad Eugene Willis who appeared in a San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico Forum blog. They all confirmed the person in the photograph as being their old boss Gabriel Conde. Interestingly at that point Mario Delecce was able to readily confirm in a very short period of time via his contacts in law enforcement in the US that Chad Eugene Willis was indeed a wanted felon in the US. So it seems despite all their strong suspicions regarding Mr. Condes identity they chose not to verify this whilst they were still working for the company, instead staying on for some months after and all the while accepting commissions on the sales they were making.
Step 9 Company performs a financial sleight of hand to convert investors interests in the LP into shares (predominantly ordinary restricted shares that cant be cashed out for a year) in a new parent company namely World Energy Holdings & Research PLC (WEHR).The company issued these worthless shares to investors in WEHR (which is still not producing anything) in lieu of investors interests in the LP (hydro projects) because they did not build the hydroelectric project they purported to be building in 2010 (the same one they were flying investors over and claiming as their own); they actually never had any intention of building it. The whole process was in fact premeditated and intentional; they had planned it right from the outset. Basically the company stealing investors funds that were invested in the hydro projects and converting them into worthless shares in WEHR to give the appearance of some sort of value but with nothing of substance behind the company the shares will be effectively worthless and totally unsaleable.
Step 10 Company aggressively pursues investors offering them more worthless shares in WEHR at a discounted rate of 1.00 Euro in any effort to procure further investment funds.Step 11 Since investors interests in the hydro projects have now been converted into shares in the new parent company WEHR, the company now deflects all enquiries pertaining to the project they were building in 2010 effectively denying its existence in the form that it was presented to investors and speaking only of the 5 new proposed hydroelectric projects it supposedly intends to build.Step 12 Contradictory reports released regarding the hydroelectric project company purported to be building in 2010.
In June 2011 Lorena Valdez (Legal Representative announces to Richard Jakob of Wasserkraft Volk WKV) that the project the company claimed to have been building in 2010 ie Islan has not even commenced being constructed. At the same time the company website is reporting El Islan is currently under construction but gives no details as to what stage it is at; the company still failing to release any updates on the status of this project to investors (now shareholders).In mid July 2011 an effort to sell shares to investor Murray Wilkinson of Melbourne, Australia the company claims that the project is now only 6 months away from being completed and should produce dividends shortly thereafter (completely contradicting what they told Richard Jakob of Wasserkraft Volk WKV in June 2011). This too in spite of a 15 month time frame (for building, supply and installation of turbines) quoted by turbine manufacturer Gugler from time of the first down payment which has still not occurred and was supposed to have taken place several months ago.
August 1, 2011 Blake Brischke informs me Brandon Francis and Tony Szymczak have left the company. When I asked why? As Tony was always regarded as one of Chads strongest supporters, he replies; you can only stick around for so long hoping to sell your worthless shares. He owed Tony money also. I imagine he was just hanging around trying to collect it.Well Blake I guess you got that bit right, you know the bit about the shares being pretty much worthless; as all of the investors have just found out. Of course you knew that would be the case, right from the very start, didnt you?
WORLD ENERGY HOLDINGS SCAM ALERT !!!!!
To all the investors of this company. We are currently following a criminal investigation against WEHR , and we have
found the following:
World energy holdings and research is nothing more than a boiler room scam.
There are no hydroelectric projects being built in Guatemala by this entity
Michael Gabriel Conde cane is in fact Chad Eugene Willis, a wanted felon from the united states
There is a current criminal case investigation by the Guatemalan government against them
This company is not being threatened, extorted in any way shape or form . their bogus criminal complaint was just to intimidate the investors that were requesting their funds back.
All the leaders of this scam come from the Seisma Oil Research Scam currently being prosecuted by SEC in the united states http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2010/lr21562.htm
THERE IS SOMETHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT, join the CORE GROUP of investors and add your complaint to the Guatemalan District Attorneys Office.
Visit (((link redacted))) We are here to help , contact us.
Central American Investigations And Security Consultancy Group (((link redacted)))
CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.