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May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I also made a post to your blog regarding concrete equities and the history of Dave Humeniuk. It was deleted as well.
I apologize for that. At the time, Concrete Equities managed to sweet talk me into taking down the posts because they had an answer for everything and I didn’t have the discernment to realized I was being lied to. I’d encourage you to go back to that blog post and re-post your comment. That blog entry ranks very highly for the term “Wealthstreet”, so any comments posted will probalby be read by anyone who is researching Wealthstreet, Concrete Equities, etc.
It looks like David Jones was also promoting something called MPowerTec. Back then it sounded fishy, but I couldn’t find anything ‘concrete’ wrong with it. I googled it, turns out it is a scam as well.
Indeed, I recall hearing Dave talk about MPowerTec. At the time it seemed like that investment was a bit of a hassle…
Perhaps I should start an investment scam blog. I also figured out Phil Archer’s “Real Estate Development Company” was a scam a full year before it became public.
I’d encourage you to do that – you can go to blogspot.com and register a blog for for free. Getting accurate infomation out about these people is a must – I’m kind of amazed how little infirmation there is online. This thread has a great Google ranking though, which helps.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I have found out that David Jones used 100% unsecured notes to buy the wealth street building
I was one of the people who loaned Dave Jones $50,000 on a 10% return. I got my money back, and the return, and was quite pleased with the results – but I declined lending that money back to him again because we were shopping for a new car and needed the capital. I don’t know what would have happened if I had done the second loan, but I can say that I’m happy I didn’t.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I have been watching this play out for the past couple of months and it is easy to see that everyone is quick to blame someone in this market. I am a registered investment advisor and when some of my clients came to me with Concrete’s investments, it did not take long to realize the numerous holes in the proposed investments. I made a few calls and was told that Concrete and the boys had no credibility. Most of them had no investment advisory background and worked to receive large commissions by selling these investments. Too many red flags to continue to invest into these projects.
I watched the picketing yesterday and I must ask how many people actually understood what they were investing in? You wouldn’t get in the water if you didn’t know how to swim would you? Wall Street brokers were accused of being greedy which in turn led to the collapse of the markets, how many of you were just too greedy to ask the right questions about how these investments work?
I don’t want to paint everyone with a broad brush, there are good investments out there and legitimate businesses that deserve your investments. However, when good investments were looking at long term growth and management had a vested interest in building a successful business, most people would always blame management that they were not doing enough to generate profits.
I remember when 6%, 8%, 10%, 12% and even 15% returns were not good enough for investors in Calgary, investors wanted more and more. Today, anyone who can have their principal protected should be grateful.
I hope this is a lesson learnt for most of you, the grass is not always greener on the otherside.
Greed is good only for those who can afford it.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090601/CGY_concrete_eq_090601/20090601/?hub=CalgaryHome
There is a bit of a response from Vinny DePalma in this news clip. From the looks of this response I think that Concrete Equities is going to try to blame everything on Dave Humeniuk. They mention “a former partner using investors funds for personal use” and “Vincenzo DePalma, who took over in December”.
While I am sure the accusations they throw at Dave Humeniuk are true, I hope that nobody believes them when they try to make it look like they weren’t involved themselves.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Deferring responsibility to Dave H is fine, BUT, he was there when the alleged improper use of funds occurred. And had the responsibility to ensure the process was followed properly. That is the role of a Senior Executive….as was Vinnie….so considering their inability to act in my best interest then…..why in God’s name would I assume they can do it now? If there was indeed use of Investor dollars for personal use…I support jail time.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
HI I think David Jones is done and the concrete boys now if they still do not give us the building we do the same to Strategic .Check out the sun on page four and the Metro news on line
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Even if the sole cause of their problems was Dave Humeniuk, the others must share responsibility for several reasons:
Before they hired or went into business with him, they should have investigated him. When I first investigated concrete equities, I googled him and came upon his lifetime ban. They could have done something similar.
After discovering this, I emailed Dave Jones (at that time the president) and asked him how he could allow such a person to be his VP. His response was “I let God be the judge of his character.” I emailed back, asking if he would let a convicted pedophile babysit his children. No response.
The second reason that the others share responsibility is that they should have a system of internal control to prevent that type of fraud. Public companies are required to have reliable internal controls in place. If the LP’s are to be audited, which the offering memorandum promises, there really should be a system of internal controls for the auditor to test.
As a person with over 20 years experience in public accounting, I can tell you that not having a system of internal controls where you are holding other peoples money in trust is gross negligence. If you are ‘mom and pop pizza shop’ and have no internal controls, it is only your own funds you are wasting, but when you are offering investments to the public, it is utterly inexcusable.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Maybe so, HONESTLY…, people like a good return…, it isn’t always about greed…
The MARCH itself was about…
1. The financials LPs haven’t seen them…
2. Concrete voted out legally in 3/5 buildings – so step aside already…
3. Gets back to the financials they don’t want anyone to see them..
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Takes two signatures on each cheque and I believe the bank should have a copy of each one… so Vincenzo, Varun and Vinnie won’t wiggle off that “we didn’t know hook”…
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Are you really naive or just venting out? If Dave H can plan this huge fraud, how hard will it be for him to fake couple fraudulent signatures?
we have played our game, I suggest to wait for their response in court on 4th. The legal system is now involved; obviously more fraud is not possible!
The CE present management has not walked out of this mess nd are facing the huge media stigma! Lets wait for the response in court!