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the world of telemarketing swindles, another perennial favorite
involves investments in goods such as rare stamps and semiprecious
gemstones. If your Client bought any kind of colored stone
as an investment, chances are good that they are in for a
nasty revelation - if they bought them from some telemarketer,
it's a sure thing.
My
first experience with telemarketing swindles was in the 1980's.
Joe John Robilio, Laurence Daniel Sack and Mitchell Aron were
involved in selling rubies, topaz, emeralds, sapphires, etc.,
via telemarketing. Operating from a boiler room set up in
his lavish home on Marco Island, FL, Robilio promoted a ruthless
scam involving millions of dollars.
Mitchell
T. Aron operated out of Canada and both of them capitalized
upon the sophisticated sounding accent enjoyed by Laurence
Sack, a native South African.
Over
the decade or so that these people were in business, they
developed an enormous client base of "investors."
They convinced them that colored stones were an excellent
investment, and encouraged them to build "portfolios"
of stones which came sealed in plastic envelopes called, "certs".
The stones were accompanied by Certificates of Appraisal "proving"
their value.
The
victims genuinely believed in these people - some invested
hundreds of thousands of dollars in stones that were actually
of little value. The truth is, there is no market for colored
stones.
One
victim was, an 89 year old college professor from California;
I will remember his case forever. When his wife was diagnosed
with Alzheimers, he contacted his good friend Joe Robilio
to liquidate his portfolio. In failing health, he knew he
would not live long enough to protect her from being institutionalized,
so he needed to establish a Trust.
Robilio
had a special deal just for him. He "allowed" the
professor to use his portfolio to "buy in" to a
Limited Partnership involving the repatriation of millions
of dollars in gold that was lost during the war. Robilio told
him that, "a black pilot transporting gold
during the war had been forced to land in Mexico and bury
the gold." Robilio had recovered it and
was in the process of repatriating it. The professor's share
would be millions.
The
problem with the Limited Partnership Agreement was that it
required matching contributions towards expenses incurred.
Failure to match the contributions of the other partners meant
losing your entire investment. I suppose you can imagine the
rest.
As
the enterprise developed, expenses grew. Transportation, security
issues, bribery . . . "Oh, didn't you realize,
this sort of thing is against the law."
Robilio had never mentioned that the whole thing was illegal,
but by the time he did, it was too late to back out. When
it was all over, the professor had mortgaged his only remaining
asset, and borrowed everything he could, but he ultimately
ran out of money and lost it all.
The
reality was, the whole thing was a scam calculated to prey
upon his desperation and bleed the man dry.
I
cannot begin to understand the sociopathic mentality required
to set up this sort of thing, but when I look at these people,
I know that one of us is very wrong in our fundamental beliefs.
If I'm wrong, it doesn't matter, I'll never know it, but if
they are wrong, perhaps they will ultimately get some measure
of what they truly deserve.
I have
included the docket sheet for the criminal case involving
Robilio and some newspaper articles about this type of scam
for your review.
I welcome
your comments,
questions and suggestions.
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