Sun Village, Puerto Plata. Photo redtag.ca
PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic.- A father-son development team in the Dominican Republic collected more than US$100 million in a fraudulent real estate scheme, according to sworn declarations filed in a Miami federal court action.
An international legal battle is now underway in an attempt to recover the funds for hundreds of U.S. and international investors who were defrauded in the long-running scheme involving properties at Sun Village in Puerto Plata and Juan Dolio on the south coast of the Dominican Republic.
Canadian expatriates Frederick Elliott and his son Derek Elliott bilked more than 2,500 real estate investors and buyers of time-share and fractional interests in their resort properties, according to lawsuits filed in the United States on behalf of the victims.
A March 20 sworn statement by Gregory Clark, former chief financial officer for the Elliotts, provides a revealing inside look at the DR development scheme over the past nine years. “The Elliotts created a series of investment vehicles for real estate interests and raised millions of dollars,” Clark said.
Clark added that the Elliotts used those funds, which were held in the D.R., the Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI) and other locations, as “piggy banks” for their personal use and to fund other companies and business ventures. They also used some of the dollars received from new investors to pay a small return to earlier purchasers.
Using a complex web of offshore companies, trusts, and shell corporations, the Elliotts used buyers’ money to finance a lavish lifestyle, including a $500,000 yacht, a private airplane, paying off $1 million in Las Vegas gambling debts, and purchasing substantial property in the Dominican Republic for their personal benefit, according to other court documents."
RELATED ARTICLE: http://www2.dominicantoday.com/dr/local/2009/3/10/31341/Idaho-sues-promoters-of-Dominican-resort-for-US3M
From: United States
really? i thought that these guys were just part of the "investors' who love the investment climate, and are here to help propel the country forward. i wonder if we will hear any outcry from some of the posters here who find this kid of behavior by certain people to be quite acceptable, but fly into paroxysms of rage if a haitian steals a mango.
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
more Canadian scammers operating in Time Share and Real Estate on the North Coast.....Beware and be afraid ....very afraid
From: Dominican Republic, Puerto Plata
Yeah, this country is too small for American crooks. Lest they come here to hide.
Written by: juanb, 24 Mar 2009 9:35 AM
From: Dominican Republic
A Ponzi scheme, pure and simple.
Written by: Escott, 24 Mar 2009 10:08 AM
From: Dominican Republic, Cabrera and Sosua a 2 days a month for payday
Dread you are a very silly guy. If I could buy you for what you are worth and sell you for what you think your silly opinions are worth I could reimburse all the stupid investors that lost money in this supposed scam. These guys are Canadian not Americans for what that's worth..
The hotel is a real nice hotel and I have recommended it many times. Don't know what the outcome of the court case and unlike here in the US where their trial will be you are innocent until proven guilty.
From: United States
it's alive!! the Escott monster is back. he is here to get into his favorite pastime; attacking the Dread. four other posters already posted on the subject, but he singles me out, and goes off into his usual undecipherable rant. Escott, as i told you many times before, your opinion of me is immaterial. you are just a rude, ill mannered, ill bred windbag, here to take what you can get, and sock it into your bank account. you hate the people, call them the vilest of names, but you stick around for the ride. you know where the airport is, but you keep hanging on for one more dollar(or peso, as the case may be). hey, you might not like my writing style, but it is not my fault that you have a third grade education, and i will not lower the level of the board by writing down to your level. you are not in a position to assess the worth of my knowledge, because, being a numbskull yourself, you have no frame of reference. what you need to do is cultivate some manners; your social graces
From: United States
leave much to be desired. Rule number one, Escotty Boy: when you are invited to someone's house for tea, you do not call the host or hostess rude names, and urinate on the furniture. you might not like the color of the drapes, but you do not yell out to everyone that the homeowner has bad taste. some things you keep to yourself, if you have any breeding and upbringing. in your case, it is clear that you have neither class, style, or education. you are a vindictive and childish creature, who spends his time either lambasting Dominicans, or attacking me. i really do not give a rats backside about your opinion of me. i only worry what intelligent, cultured, urbane, civil people think. to me, you are just a country bumpkin with a bank account; the most dangerous of all creatures. DISMISSED!
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Dread I think you are a prince among men a true mensch ...you are the man....we are not worthy we are not worthy
From: United States
furthermore, Escotty Boy; the gravamen of the article is that people have been robbed by the actions of despicable, thieving creatures. what do you do? you refer to the victims as "stupid investors". sorry, Escott, but in the world in which some of us live, there will always be victims in scams like these. only someone who is basically amoral would seek to advocate on behalf of the criminal element, and berate the victims. so, again, i can add one more quality to your retinue of despicable character traits: you are amoral. now, get lost! maybe you can hover around the periphery of this case and scrape up some scraps of cash, preferrably at the expense of the victims. just the way you like it!
Written by: jacirez 
, 24 Mar 2009 10:37 AM
From: Iran, Zähedän
We do not need news like this! It gives all a bad name...
From: United States
GC, in all seriousness, have you ever read the postings of this Escott creature? if he is not attacking me, it is something about the dishonorable nature of EVERY DOMINICAN. i mean;constructive criticism is one thing, but this clown is out of his mind. how go you live in somebody's country and call them those names?
From: United States
Jacirez, Escott does not care about mundane issues like that. as we speak, he is trying to figure out how he can profit from the misfortunes of the victims. he is racking his brain to figure out where is his share of the pie.
Written by: jacirez , 24 Mar 2009 10:44 AM
From: Iran, Zähedän
Dread,
That's all well and good' but we need strong oversight and regulation for things like this. If this keeps on happening it won't be long before people (institutional investors) lose confidence in the DR as an investment destination. We cannot afford to let that happen...
From: United States
Escott the genius allows 'these guys are Canadians, not Americans, for what thats worth" worth to whom? do you believe that it matters to the victim who ripped him off? you think he is less or more robbed, because the perps are canadian? i mean, who aked you, anyway?
Written by: jacirez , 24 Mar 2009 10:53 AM
From: Iran, Zähedän
dreadlocks,
I'm with you: A crook is a Crook...is a Crook. No matters where he/she comes from...
From: United States
Jacirez, i am getting a lecture from a guy who probably does not even know these guys. well, i have friends who worked for these two dirtbags, and who had to threaten them with court proceedings to recoup a weeks pay! yes, they were stealing millions, but reluctant to make a tradesman whole for his efforts. yet Escott rides in to defend their honor, with the tired old "innocent till proven guilty" line. the courts found OJ Simpson innocent, but i am sure Escotty Boy's open mindedness does not extend that far!
Written by: jacirez , 24 Mar 2009 11:20 AM
From: Iran, Zähedän
dreadlocks,
I am seriously concerned we do not have the safeguard in place to prevent things like this from happening. We are a service based economy and as such our biggest asset is the intangible feel of safety and fair play. We lose that and we're dead in the water...
From: United States
Jacirez, there seems to be very little local outcry, because people do not seem to see how much of a peril it constitutes. as i said before, too many folks here have what is called "resource complacency". we have good beaches, and nice scenery, so will will prevail. they stop to realise that other countries have it too, so we have to safeguard our position by going the extra mile. but, you mention where we fall short, and people get offended, and call you anti-dominican. the country is crawling with lowlife from north america and europe, and scams are all over the country. i can bet this one; there are more gringo real estate agents in this country per capita than anywhere else on earth. guys get off the plane selling real estate. every gringo who cannot find a gig is selling real estate. guys with no cedula; guys who cannot speak a word of spanish; guys who have never seen the inside of rentas internas. these guys all have business cards, though they have been in the country for
Written by: jacirez , 24 Mar 2009 12:04 PM
From: Iran, Zähedän
dreadlocks,
That is so true! We seem not to realize that a beach is a beach...is beach. That if we don't get our affairs in order, people will not come to our shores. We are a service based economy and as such our biggest asset is the intangible feel of safety and fair play. We lose that and we're dead in the water...
From: United States
all of five days. it goes something like this "
"so, Bobby, is this your first time in the Dr"?
"Yes, and i am thinking of staying"
"what will you do for a living"?
'oh, i met this guy in a bar last night, and he offered me a job selling real estate"
yes folks. no licensing. no background checks. just a desk and some business cards, and every gringo is off to seek his fortune. lucky thing we have the Haitians to beat up on, or some guys would get real disturbed over stuff like this!
From: United Kingdom
Hi there! this sort of things damge too much the already fragile Dominican reputation abroad. Of course, this could happen anywhere, let's say Spain, Romania, Bulgaria, etc. But DR has enough
with drug's related problems which are no good for the country. Though, I beleive that most of the
conned people must've been foreigners, the government should act firmly in order to prevent certain crooks enter the country. I know that, unfortunately, in my country (D.R) the mayority of the population beleive that every foreigner's a god, the people there like boot licking too much.(my respect to the foreigners) but in this case people think that everyone from the developped world is to be treated as a king, without knowing that many expats can't live in their original countries, however, in country like DR they're praise like gods and we, normal dominican who live abroad visit our country, we're treated with no respect, especially at airports and government ministeries. Big mistake. Ray
Written by: synapse, 24 Mar 2009 4:59 PM
From: United States
This was a first class classical Ponzi Scam for greedy idiots.
Recipe: Add 2 parts Scamers who have nothing to loose because they are total screw ups.
Add 1 part stupid greedy people who still believe in the tooth Fairy.
Add a dash of paradise, pinia colada, beach and sun and cute chiquitas to spend the night with.
Add a dash of glitter and hype from Maxim magazine and Impact Marketing to legitimize the scam.
And WA LAH! The perfect Scam for the suckers that are born every minute.
Too bad it gets linked as TIME SHARE AND FRACTIONAL which it had not even remote similarity to legitimate operations. It also screws up the DR destination image for not regulating Pirates of the Caribbean like the Elliots who promise lucrative returns and use benefits. Only a moron could buy their pitch or got dragged in by trusted friends and family for the referral fee. Sadly this just the beginning, - as we will continue to hear of burned investors for years to come in the DR.
From: United States
synapse, you have no idea how many gullible people are coming to the DR and getting ripped off every day. people see me as a malcontent for harping on these things, but the truth is the truth. the streets are crawling with gringo con artsists from all over the planet. the people who got ripped off in the time share boondoggle are just bona fide people who were suckered by amorals like the Elliotts. the country is full of these types. the DR is a magnet for bottom feeders from all over. sadly, these guys can get away with just about anything, because the average Dominican believes that these are stand up guys. they must be; they are from north america and Europe. why do you believe that all the top honchos in these organisations are asshole buddies from the same countries? because they cannot allow the grimy secrets to slip out, that is why!!
Written by: froggym, 24 Mar 2009 8:25 PM
From: United States
These guys are small time crooks. Just look at what the U.S. government is doing... handing 800 billion over to foreign banks to reimburse them for bad investments in U.S. mortgages by their incompetent and greedy execs. And then handing the bill for this bailout to the U.S. taxpayers.
Now that is big time crime. But it will go unpunished.
From: United States
that is an oversimplification of the situation, froggy. the people who are being reimbursed are those who were involved wit the mortgage backed securities and credit default swaps, which were covered by insurance policies. if the insurance companies did not pay off the losses, they would have been in default, and , in some cases, forced into bankruptcy. it is not just a bunch of guys rolling the dice and coming up snake eyes. some had insurance policies attached to the deals.
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The hotel is a real nice hotel and I have recommended it many times. Don't know what the outcome of the court case and unlike here in the US where their trial will be you are innocent until proven guilty.
That's all well and good' but we need strong oversight and regulation for things like this. If this keeps on happening it won't be long before people (institutional investors) lose confidence in the DR as an investment destination. We cannot afford to let that happen...
I'm with you: A crook is a Crook...is a Crook. No matters where he/she comes from...
I am seriously concerned we do not have the safeguard in place to prevent things like this from happening. We are a service based economy and as such our biggest asset is the intangible feel of safety and fair play. We lose that and we're dead in the water...
That is so true! We seem not to realize that a beach is a beach...is beach. That if we don't get our affairs in order, people will not come to our shores. We are a service based economy and as such our biggest asset is the intangible feel of safety and fair play. We lose that and we're dead in the water...
"so, Bobby, is this your first time in the Dr"?
"Yes, and i am thinking of staying"
"what will you do for a living"?
'oh, i met this guy in a bar last night, and he offered me a job selling real estate"
yes folks. no licensing. no background checks. just a desk and some business cards, and every gringo is off to seek his fortune. lucky thing we have the Haitians to beat up on, or some guys would get real disturbed over stuff like this!
with drug's related problems which are no good for the country. Though, I beleive that most of the
conned people must've been foreigners, the government should act firmly in order to prevent certain crooks enter the country. I know that, unfortunately, in my country (D.R) the mayority of the population beleive that every foreigner's a god, the people there like boot licking too much.(my respect to the foreigners) but in this case people think that everyone from the developped world is to be treated as a king, without knowing that many expats can't live in their original countries, however, in country like DR they're praise like gods and we, normal dominican who live abroad visit our country, we're treated with no respect, especially at airports and government ministeries. Big mistake. Ray
Recipe: Add 2 parts Scamers who have nothing to loose because they are total screw ups.
Add 1 part stupid greedy people who still believe in the tooth Fairy.
Add a dash of paradise, pinia colada, beach and sun and cute chiquitas to spend the night with.
Add a dash of glitter and hype from Maxim magazine and Impact Marketing to legitimize the scam.
And WA LAH! The perfect Scam for the suckers that are born every minute.
Too bad it gets linked as TIME SHARE AND FRACTIONAL which it had not even remote similarity to legitimate operations. It also screws up the DR destination image for not regulating Pirates of the Caribbean like the Elliots who promise lucrative returns and use benefits. Only a moron could buy their pitch or got dragged in by trusted friends and family for the referral fee. Sadly this just the beginning, - as we will continue to hear of burned investors for years to come in the DR.
Now that is big time crime. But it will go unpunished.