Back in May I blogged about Pac Equities, a ‘Private Equity Funding’ establishment who supposedly did high interest loans to non-traditional real estate transactions and offered 10% interest on your money. Every commenter told me to stay far, far away – and they were right. Someone who actually worked for the company left a comment today and led me to search for and find two newspaper articles detailing how they are currently under investigation for selling unregistered securities and not properly documenting their activities – ‘Pac Equities lays off staffers, stops ads, cancels new office’, and Bend-based company facing state investigation.
Also, their once fancy website has been taken down and is now “under construction”. Under DE-struction is more like it. Looks like this is another ABFS story. I’m happy to report that although I did request an information packet, it was so vague that I didn’t pursue it any further. So many money traps to avoid out there.
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When it is too good to be true, it is too good to be true. Thanks for passing the info.
Well, I am one of the ‘unaccredited’ investors. Been so since about April of this year. They were a well represented business in terms of how they presented themselves and their product. I had very few concerns about who they were. They were growing and adding an office in Portland.
The monthly interest payments were coming along nicely ( even earlier than the date expected ) until the article in the Oregonian came along about the investigation. Now they are pretty much screwed. I imagine that once the gov’t got involved they were told that, until further notice , they could not continue to do business as they were. So now, with no new funds coming in, projects in mid stream, their techniques being questioned and investor confidence shaken,they are scrambling to save our and their money. Even if they survive this, I believe that their name is forever tarnished by this report and it will be difficult to continue with the name of PAC Equities.
This would happen even if the gov’t said “Oops..so sorry..I guess you were doing it alright afterall.”
We are getting monthly updates on the projects but I would like to see even more communication from the firm. The projects were suppose to be of 18 to 24 months in nature and we are hopeful that they will wrap up in that time frame.
As for it being ‘too good to be true’….I don’t know. But I don’t think real estate ‘limitied partnerships’ are all that rare are they?
No, I don’t think real estate limited partnerships are that rare, but letting the public who doesn’t know if they even are doing the right or wrong thing invest money in them is relatively rare. The fact is they don’t have to file hardly any paperwork about what they are doing with your money, unlike stock companies and mutual funds, so you have no idea but blind faith. I hope that your money comes out okay, but having heard from former employees, I am skeptical.
please send me a copy of the comment from the former employee.
Dec. 17th article in the Oregonian.
Headline: PacEquities, owners indicted in real estate fraud.
Subhead: Federal Charges – A Bend couple are accused of overvaluing property and swindling hundreds.
Summary: Indictments of PacEquities and its owners culiminate a two-year investigation by state and federal regulators (including FBI and IRS). Indictment alleges scheme defrauded as many as 200 investors out of $17 million.
Michael Marks Rich, 68, and Phyllis Marks Rich, 69, husband and wife, the officers and owners of PacEquities were also indicted. They both had numerous aliases, prosecutors say. They were indicted by federal grand jury. They are to be arraigned in U.S. District Court on Dec. 27.
“Ned Powers of Bend, who put $125,000 into PacEquities, said he had regarded the Riches as friends. He said he would be disappointed if they were found guilty of securities fraud.”
“We all went in there trusting them,” he said. “But I’m not into retribution. I just want to get my money back.””
Can you say it enough?
If it’s too good to be true ….
I am one of the employees who “Blew the whistle” on Michael & Phylis !! They are currently in Jail awaiting trial in July sometime. I hope they get whats coming to them. They stole from people as far as I am concerned. Even the elderly in nursing homes. I hope their permanent home is the the county jail.
for email am using conveydoggreen and you will not let me enter for Pac Equities for latest info. Whats the deal dg.
I would be willing to be that their “Swiss Bank accts” were through a well-known NYC brokerage! I could probably tell you how they sent the money to the Swiss Bank accts. They have crafty friends and NO ONE thinks that they would do this because of their “golden reputation”–precisely my point! They do because they CAN! We have a case in Houston called ENRON –same thing–different station! And so it goes…….
The saddest part, is that the investors of “Pac Equities” are suing the also-conned ex-employees of this company to try to recover their funds. The employees of PAC equities were as clueless as the investors, but they are being blamed by lawsuits trying to reclaim the millions of dollars lost.
These HONEST ex-employees are now having their names trashed, and are also having to spend tens of thousands of $$$ to defend themselves from lawsuits related to these corrupt #$^%#$%^ SOBS.
Why are the investors sueing the innocent employees of this company?
Karma will surely prevail, I hope. I also hope that the poor investors that were defrauded of their honest dollars come to realise that sueing innocent people other than Michael and Phyllis Rich is just as bad as what Michael and Phyllis “Rich” did originally.
The ex-employees of PAC equtiies were just as duped as the clients, and they have famlilies themselves and are being forced into extrmeme financial situations themselves because of these lawsuits, costing them literally tens of thousands of dollars to defend themselves, with no option of free public defense, as the “Riches” have, since these are “civil” lawsuits, and there is nothing to be gained by sueing them, except the ruin of families and heartbreak.
May god sort this out in a fair way, if there is such a thing.
May the “Riches” rot in you-know-where! And may the investors come to their senses and quit blaming the obviously wrong people.