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April 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Does anyone have any current information on Concrete Equities? Please respond asap.
April 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Yes, I do. A GRAVELY SERIOUS ISSUE has arisen to which the current share holders are now at a 99.98% risk of loosing everything they invested and a potiental that this number could increase. The new cirrcular sent out by Concrete Equities in conjunction with Wealthstreet will not only DISSOLVE my legal title on the SNC Lavalin, Castleridge and the other projects and demote me down to a mere bond holder and make me and my fellow investors 100% liable for all expenses incurred by Concrete. This was NOT the Product I purchased. I am know fevorishly working with the Alberta Securities Commission, the Calgary Police Fraud division and legal counsil to salvage my portfolio and STRONGLY recommend ALL other investors to the same. In fact my logon name should now be WANTING OUT!!!!
April 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Thank you I thought I was alone.
I’m an investor with Concrete Equities in Calgary.
Over 2 � years ago, I purchase a $50,000 unit in the SNC Lavalin building in downtown Calgary. Two hundred and Forty Five units were sold in the form of a Limited Partnership, to raise a total of $12,250,000. In addition, a Standard Life Mortgage of $9,750,000 at 4.97% was assumed on the property for a total Purchase Price of $22,000,000.
The projected � Cash Flow Investment Income� showed a 5.07% return in year 1.
A return of 7.03% year 2 and 3, and a 7.38% return year 4 and 5.
After 5 years the proposed plan was to refinance the property based on new tenancy leases, and then to do an equity take out of $37,849.07 per $50,000 unit initially invested.
This plan was strongly promoted by Dave Jones of Wealth Street.
For the first 2 years things looked really good, and quarterly payments were made on schedule, but for some reason, no financials were ever provided on the building.
In late 2008 it was brought to the attention of the Limited Partnership that the mortgage term had ended, and no new mortgage had been arranged. It also came to light that as of July 2008, two floors out of the ten floors in the building were vacant!
As of March 31 2009, the property still appears to be without a mortgage. Details are hazy. Two floors of the building still remain vacant, and Concrete Equities are still not providing the investors in the Limited Partnership Financial statements on the operations of the SNC Lavalin building.
It would appear to some that Concrete Equities is not even trying to secure a mortgage, nor rent out the vacant floors! What Concrete Equities is proposing is an entire restructuring of their business model!
On March 12, 2009, a Notice of Special Meeting, Information Circular, Proxy and Extraordinary Resolution was sent out to all 245 investors in the SNC Lavalin building, as well as to the investors in the other Concrete Equities Ventures, namely; �Millrise Plaza�, �Deer Valley Station�, �Castleridge Plaza�, �Concrete Equities Place�, �MEG Place�.
This package of documents propose the immediate selling of all properties to a third party who will then set up a single fund, the Strategic LP. In exchange, unit owners will receive �non-voting� Class B shares of the fund and a �unsecured subordinated debenture.
Also lumped into the whole scenario are yet to be Syndicated Concrete Equities Properties which hold considerable liabilities in the way of mortgages;
� Airways Business Park� mortgage of $4,750,000.
�Glenmore Commerce Court� mortgage of $6,250,000
�Symcor-Otis buildings� first mortgage of $9,500,000 at 9.25% and
a second mortgage of $8,213,000 at 40%
As well as another Concrete Limited Partnership that owes a first mortgage at $6,225,000 at 12.5% and a second collateral mortgage of $1,000,000 at 40%.
Yes, you read that right, 40%.
If individuals in the current Limited partnerships of these buildings agree to this scenario they will be giving up any ownership interest in the properties they currently own, and instead they will be assuming huge liabilities!
Unfortunately, Concrete Equities control the owner contact lists, and therefore also control the flow of all information, or lack of information, to the unit owners.
Concrete Equities and Concrete Equities President, Varun Aurora, Vice President, Vincenzo De Palma, as well as Dave Jones of Wealth Street, Director of Concrete Equities, are all working very hard to have this vote pushed thru prior to investors actually receiving full financial packages. You have to ask yourself why?
April 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
There is a group of investors all sharing the same “what do I do” “how can I stop this thing” questions meeting on Tuesday, April 7th, 7pm at 10623 West Valley Rd SW (Victory Church on the Highway 1 West). 7pm. I hope to see you at the meeting on Wednesday.
In case you don’t have the contact info for the securities commission it’s:
Alberta Securities Commission: Contact Ron Rodger, 403-355-4476
300 – 5th Avenue SW (stockexchange building).
Sending in a “AGAINST” answer on the proxy is also Key to stopping these guys and I know for sure that the securities commission is investigating. If all goes wrong we can maybe get our initial investment dollars back.
Saying Yes to the Proxy means: that you are no longer a title holder just a member, you give up your say on what is purchased and you have all the liabilities. Did you know they are planning to develop land in Odgen that is contimnated (old chemical referenery) and it will be the investors that will HAVE to PAY to clean up the land…Not Concrete… Not a good Deal.
and I don’t know how in the world someone could sign a deal that would have a 40% interest rate on second $8,213,000!!!! that’s just crazy, if I may be so bold.
Hindsite is defiately 20/20 and I wouldn’t give a dime to these crooks….
April 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I wonder who holds that second mortgage? Someone related to the directors maybe? But then these kind of people aren’t likely to put any of their own money into these ventures, even at 40%, when they can gamble with yours instead.
April 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
You could be right about the “family” connection, as the new circular doesn’t state who the mortgage lender is. And this mortgage is on the new Concrete Equities office building too! Nice, they get a gorgeous office and I loose my home… the only Power I have right now is voting against the proxy and have Hope the securities commission can get my money back – like they did for the another small group of Concrete’s investors back in Oct of 08.
Are you an LP with concrete?
April 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
No, just a cynic. The name(s) alone would have scared me off, let alone their advertising practices. If it looks like snake oil, smells like snake oil, and tastes like snake oil, chances are it is snake oil.
April 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Are you also under the impression that if I don’t vote, it is an automatic yes vote. When reading the introducing letter I understood that a vote was needed to allow this proposal to happen, but when reading the bottom line of the green sheet I changed my mind. Also, could you explain their 40% mortgage situation more? The other thing is the 6% interest carrot. Are we signing away our property and then getting paid for it in the form of a yearly 6%?
April 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I read with great interest your comments. I have $25k in Concrete Equities Place and have not received any info (proxy) to date so I am puzzled about any reorg taking place. Is this for real?
April 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Have you filed a complaint with the Alberta Securities Commission?
April 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Indeed this is all true and I would strongly urge you to contact CE for your paperwork specific to the resolution.
The original investment of an LP, registered on land titles, with further registration of me as a partner in the LP with ASC provided me with a sense of security. As a property owner one is fully aware that low rental or lease levels will impact cash flow returns and in the case of personal direct ownership, may require supplementing the capital available for the debt service on a temporary basis.
This modification however is not a reflection of this situation. As an example, MEG Place, by CE’s own documentation, is fully leased. There has not been a distribution of cash after debt service for the quarter ending the end of January 2009. So what has become of the $167,000 that rightfully should have been distributed to the LP members? My guess is those dollars have been used to further this restructuring effort. This is not acceptable and I have communicated this to the ASC for their attention. At least with the reduction in distributions from the other property I am involved was “explained” in a nice letter. Although the lack of financials means there are behaviours here that are at the very least unethical, and at most criminal. Why else would an organization not provide an accounting of where MY money was going and why? A lack of transparency means somebody is lying…..it is odd that noone has mentioned this fact here. It is evidence that CE’s tactic of fogging their investors is working…..I have an idea!! Pay me what you owe me and then we will discuss what to do next…..because until that happens you are a crook.
Based upon the retention of the cash flow dollars by Concrete, which a share of is rightfully mine, they have evidenced they are in a desperate cash flow position. So it begs the question, why should we undertake this ammendment? Simply to provide CE with the opportunity to cover up some very poor management….40% interest as an example. They have gotten themselves into a stiuation out of which they can not emerge. And how is this my responsibility? Why should I assume significant liabilities and further, significant exposure to risk because some management team is unable to direct affairs with a level of sensibility?
So where do we sit? If we do not pass the resolution then these monkeys will continue to stand as GP for the assets and eventually, and not too distant future, they will be insolvent. We would need replace the GP and continue onwards with the LP structure as orignially purchased. I am not sure what dowside in terms of returns or values of my property would emerge from this scenario….Anyone have thoughts? At least they will not be able to sell anything without due process of approval.
If we do approve, then strategic gains condtrol the assets and the CE monkeys have the only deciding votes determining what happens to my asset….which would become all the buildings being syndicated or previuously syndiated. I am not happy with this thought as sigificant liabilities exist. I know that this process WILL cost me money. And if it is true they are looking to do an environmental salvage of properties in Ogden to develop under this newly created fund….someone would need a swift kick in the nuts. In addition, the paperwor outlines that CE will not take a big chunk of transaction revenues, but will charge 20% for administration. This is above and beyond the lift they have already extracted, as example from $25-million purchae to $31-million syndication on Glenmore and the Airways buildings, and the admin fee they charged when the LP was first offered…..incredible!! In this scenario the three stooges have the only voting rights and can divest whenever they see fit. It is also a little obvious when one reads the resolution documents that a lift is built in….why esle would all the other proerties state, purchased for $XXX on date and the glenmore airways page say…..Syndicated for $31,000,000?
I have seen a cou[ple of postings from investors claiming to have contacted the ASC and other authorities…have you any commentary from them regarding what their process is uncovering?
At this point nothing CE is doing is in the ineterest of their Investors…they are in survival mode. The only salvation potential here is to have a regulatiory authority step in….stop everything….and do a full forensic audit.
April 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Hello,
I am also a LP in 2 Concrete Equities Investments who is totally against this restructuring. I have filed a complaint with the ASC, I have also filed a complaint with the Alberta Insurance Council and have written an email to the Honourable Iris Evans, Minister of Finance.
I have discoverd that Dave Jones is an insurance salesman, nothing more. He isn’t licensed to sell or advise on the purchase of stocks, bonds or mutual funds to Albertans. He is just an insurance hack who is licensed only to offer life / accident and sickness insurance products, which includes only segregated mutual funds (available through insurance agents, exclusively). Who would have guessed it listening to his blow by blow daily commentaries on the capital markets. I discovered this info from the Alberta Insurance Council site. http://www.abcouncil.ab.ca/
The only thing I’ve heard back so far from the ASC is that they are investigating. We need more people to file complaints against Concrete and Dave Jones.
We need this meeting planned for the 15th stopped until we can get the information we need from Dave and his boys. The more bad publicity for them the better. There is a meeting of the Limited Partners tonight at 7 pm at the Victory Centre out on the #1 highway to Banff. (right next to the Wedding Pavilion) Any limited partners who can make it are invited and it’s in your best interests to attend and get all the facts, particuarly if you’ve already voted Yes to the restructuring plan. You can rescind your proxy vote if you have already sent it in.
April 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Unfortunately, I’m in Edmonton and can’t make it to the meeting tonight. Could those of you who managed to attend please give the rest of us a summary of what was discussed and action to take.
Thanks
April 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Have any of you tried to get a list of all the other LP investors? If you did not get a list, what were the reasons?
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
To stop the meeting….maybe the media should become involved. After the issues with the CE executive club last December they would likely be VERY interested
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
Today is the deadline for submitting the proxy vote as NO. If any of you know an investor along side of you I urge you to contact them…..get them to send theirs in with a no vote and call anyone they know as an investor in turn
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
I was at the meeting last night, although I agree with the direction that we are going. I would suggest that we don’t lose focus of what we are trying to accomplish here, We want to retain the buildings that we invested in and get rid of CE. They are in serious trouble and will eventually piss away our money. There was a lot of discussion about voting the GP out which I am all for but lets make sure it is replaced with someone who knows what they are doing. I don’t trust Avenue commercial as the property managers, they have a lot of history with the building but if they knew Jacobs was moving out shouldn’t they have been marketing the space 6 months before they moved out? Patrick White was smooth in throwing CE as the cause but he is a professional and should have been paying attention to his building. Besides, I knew investors when Avenue commercial had owned it and not all the information was disclosed in regards to the parking lot next door.
I believe the investors need to be patient and not try to push the lawyers to drum up some large legal bill. We have rights as an investor, lets vote no against the conversion and vote the GP out! In the meantime we need to be careful of who is the right group to step in as GP. The GP will need to be able to obtain financing on SNC immediately and other buildings as well as take on the risk in this market to manage the real estate. I don’t believe we have anyone in our investor group willing to take on that risk. I will do more research and see what I can come up with for some suggestions.
On the legal side, I believe that Varun Aurora, Vincenzo De Palma, Dave Humeniuk and Dave Jones should be named in a lawsuit for cause and damages. I was always cautioned about investing with these idiots and I should have known better but they were all good snake oil salesmen. None of them had previous successes for a track record, mostly just bullshit they created to pad their resume! In fact they all popped up when the market boomed. These guys have made large profits on our backs and enjoying the good life in Mexico or where ever else they are set up and I don’t think they should be allowed to just walk away. They should have to pay back some of their profits via the lawsuit and we should make damn sure it happens.
I will provide updates shortly.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
My husband and I attended the meeting last night to show our support and found it very positive how we have come together in order to protect our investment. We are in a number of projects including SNC.
I am very certain we will not lose our investment from the overwhelming response last night.
I agree that we need to be careful about voting out the general partner too soon as we will take on that liability immediately. I have consulted a lawyer friend of mine that has some experience in this situation and he is willing to provide some direction.
I have done some due diligence on both Concrete and Strategic from the market place in Calgary, my findings are as follows;
Concrete is burdened with high marketing cost, frivolous spending, purchasing projects at the peak of the market and failed to understand the intricacies of real estate investing. They were promoters and the industry only saw Concrete as exactly that. If you wanted to unload some expensive real estate, sell to Concrete! Speaking to one of the real estate brokers that is familiar with them, they have no experience on completing due diligence on real estate and rarely cared to question information provided to them.
The management team of Aurora, Depalma, Jones and Humeniuk really made money just selling the investments to us, no effort was made by the management team to continue to manage the real estate post closing. Humeniuk has a terrible history of deceptive practices which is well documented at RECA. Jones is nothing but a snake oil salesman who pushes stock that he can’t show he invested in but more of a Monday morning quarterback bragging about what great picks he had. Depalma who promotes Dragons Den has never been a venture capitalist and does not have the money to enter into these ventures himself, rather just rides the coattails of the show and its real panelists. Aurora is pretty much unknown in the market other then having a family who is involved in selling insurance/mutual funds and holds a number of rental properties in northeast Calgary. All I have to say is that we really got duped by these characters with the glitz and their special investment clubs.
Strategic is a large real estate company and developer in Calgary, controlled by Riaz Mamdani. He is a lawyer and well known in the Calgary community as well as to the securities commission. When I inquired about him, most just say to stay clear of him. This proposal only works for Strategic, no one else! Why else would we have to pay 2% of our purchase price to them for cost.
What about our cost?
We may need to sacrifice some distributions but if we stick together I am certain that we will achieve our goal and retain all our real estate.
As mentioned last night, anyone of us is just a bug but together we are a swarm!
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
The vote is postponed and the meeting adjourned until further notice.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
That is great news! I still think that we need to vote the GP out. They do not have our best interest in mind, I have been talking to a few lawyers and in due course provide our group with a shortlist of parties that have the ability to step in and take over. In the meantime, I say we still pursue the management team for damages.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
Is this confirmed?
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
I have not received a letter yet, although I have seen the form letter that has supposedly been sent to the 1400 investors yesterday, postponing the meeting.
Given the lack of trust to date, I can’t be sure that this isn’t a trick to “fool” us into missing the proxy deadline or otherwise failing to attend the meeting. I will wait until I see mine in the mail, although with the holiday weekend I guess it might not come until Tues or Wed.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
Am just introducing myself to this thread.
I would like to thank everyone who has thus far posted – your comments were very helpful.
For the record, I am an LP in one of the Concrete Equities funds and was, quite frankly, ignorant of what was transpiring. I am quite concerned and also intend to become more involved by attending an upcoming LP meeting and am willing to share my findings, if anyone is interested.
Thank you, everyone, for your comments so far!
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
This is a team effort. Certainly Dave Humeniuk’s rejection of the real estate counsel of Alberta RECA is out there on the web for all to see.
Varun Aurora is too young to show up anywhere. He is listed as the in our OM as Chief Operating Officer and a graduate of Haskayne School of business. The faculty of University of Calgary cannot confirm anything about Mr. Aurora but initial enrollment, and a transfer from another unrelated department in 2000.
Well Decorated? Some undergraduate coursework after a high-school school diploma, a few industry acknowledgements and �employee retention awards’. (I fly for Westjet but don’t really have a log-book)
It’s in the wording. In any other industry this would be considered misrepresentation and fraud. For Concrete Equities it is just good promotion. It provides ‘credibility’ to the OM…and the OM’s are just paper for the masses. They don’t have to be real or perform.
Word has it Aurora was punted from a local land development company prior as an underperforming ‘prima-dona’. His sell has been to convey massive Pakistan family wealth and huge pools of offshore funds backing the assets and portfolio of Concrete Equities. Amusing but hardly factual.
It’s time we investors were a bit realistic about the ‘team effort’ and Concrete Equities.
Expensive office space, and all of these slick advertising and marketing campaigns cost money! (If I hear that dude’s voice one more time on the radio I’ll puke) Trips to Toronto to play big media big-shots and grease CBC execs is expensive! Gross lifts on properties and massive skimming off the top is an operational necessity to sustain the operation and hey, exotic cars and properties to the principals don’t come cheap!
Let’s be realistic. There is no money in actually managing, monitoring, and ensuring good communication, performance and delivery of returns the LP unit holders!
C’mon now, all…what are we all expecting?!!! Honesty? Integrity? Transparency? Security of our Investment?
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
I hate to say it, but I told this discussion board so.
I watched these guys since they started marketing and when I questioned their investments, investment strategy or their experience they could never provide an answer. I have invested over the years in numerous ventures and the rule has always been to pay attention to who the management team is and what their level of expertise is, past performance and what they have invested in the business, do they have skin in the game. Regrettably, these individuals could not meet any prerequisite that I had set for a credible management team.
My research over 2 years ago showed that Vinny Aurora had not graduated from the Haskayne School of Business, nor did he earn an undergrad degree. This is no surprise as he plays it off as a very experienced businessman with large amounts of family wealth that is not true. Dave Jones was nothing more then an insurance and mutual fund salesman who did some fancy promoting on himself, not bad for someone who doesn’t�t even have a degree or designation in finance. My broker called him and questioned his investment approach and the response was that �the commentary is for entertainment purposes only�. He was never licensed to provide any advice on the markets nor did he have any personal fund that he was managing to provide proof of his returns. I wonder if the public knew he was reading off some banks morning report that he received every day? Dave Humeniuk has such a bad reputation in the marketplace that I was surprised to see his named plastered all over the offering document. Anytime you have someone that needs to make this venture �the last kick at the cat�, Beware! He will always take care of himself, particularly when his name is dirt to begin with. Vincenzo De Palma is a great promoter indeed, always on the TV and radio. No real success story that anyone can verify. He was one of the most compelling Calgarians for 2009; he was quoted as saying “I believe in providing solutions in whatever I’m involved in,” he said. “I’m a big giver, whether it’s giving back to my colleagues or my family.” I wonder if he is willing to give back to the investors and leave town?
These clowns did a hell of a job to distract investors from the true nuts and bolts of their business model which was the high lifts and lack of experience in real estate investing and management, now it has come back to haunt the investors. They overpaid for their real estate and then added large fees when they sold to investors, the promotional material always had something in the lines of 98% + returns (RED FLAG), when it is too good to be true then it is. I can guarantee you that the large promotes that Concrete Equities took on these partnerships will never be returned and I suspect that the lack of basic fundamentals for an investment company is coming to light now as the house of cards falls apart. Looks like most of their staff including sales people have ran from the company, the mass exodus has begun and I guess Humeniuk is no longer with the company either. Doesn’t�t surprise me that few will stick around when the s^&t hits the fan.
Although I never invested with these clowns, I think this just hurts the already crippled global investment climate with all the failed investment companies and banks, we need to change the negativity in today�s marketplace. There are good people and companies out there and we need to rebuild confidence in the marketplace for us to get through this recession. If investors get hurt because of markets and the economy it is acceptable but if they lose money because of incompetence they will start to save money under the mattress like my mom used to. Today, we see a perfect buying opportunity and we need to encourage investing again in these markets.
I hope that your group is able to step in and find some acceptable resolution that doesn’t�t hurt the equity you all have invested. Best of luck and please do keep us updated.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
The story ran on Global today, will likely be in tomorrows Herald
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
We just caught the story on Global. We are not satisfied with Vincenzo’s response, how does this deal “enhance our investment”? He obviously has not read the same documents we have.
They are not in trouble because of the economy, they are in trouble because they have mismanaged the portfolio! They have no clue in what they are doing.
I encourage everyone to continue to pressure the ASC and anyone else we need to get these idiots out.
If they are that stupid as management, WE WANT THEM OUT!!
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
You have every right to be pissed. So do we and every investor! Even the news media is being led along! Follow me through on this:
We were told conveyed that these were ‘long term’ and ’safe’ investments in commercial real estate, somewhat insulated from the ebb and flow of the stock market, etc., etc. with quarterly cash flow.
In Calgary vacancy rates are climbing and inventory of space is up a bit…but most of the investments were in long term tenancy contracts. Tenants come and go, and legitimate management companies allocate reserves and a given allowance of their income for contingencies for vacancies, economic transitions, and numerous other unforseens…we might expect an ‘adjustment’ to a certain extent, but a complete blow-out of their portfolio and a wholesale discount to another real estate company does not make sense!
Someone needs to accurately report the state of the union. I have not seen a decent balance sheet from Concrete Equities since day one. ‘The economy’ does provide a good excuse safety net for these ‘*clueless monkeys*’ but no economy can be blamed on delinquent management.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
To All,
Not an investor in CE, but interested in this thread due to the Stategic Group being involved. Strategic seems more intent on taking over your buildings than trying to do the right thing in cleaning up the existing mess they have created in Calgary. The 4th street project and the last Sundance West project are all under liens & lawsuits. Strategic seems unable or unwilling to pay bills and has layers of companies protecting it. I notice today there are nine new companies registered, coincidentally with the names of your projects in front and without exception, all registered to Strategic’s corporate address. They are: Airways Business Plaza Capital Corp., CEP Capital Corp., Deer Valley Station Capital Corp., Glenmore Commerce Court Capital Corp., Meg Place Capital Corp., Millrise Plaza Capital Corp., Parkwood/Eastgate Capital Corp., Symcor-Otis Capital Corp., & Strategic Fund Management Corp.
It looks to me that the intention is more than clear. My advice is if Strategic is involved, run . .
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
This is is my first posting on this thread so please be kind. My wife and I own a “limited partnership” share in CE Place and I must admit I was drawn in to the spiders web by the advertising and the promised returns. I have been trying to sell my interest for the last 6 months with no luck in doing so. Now I know why.Not sure about anyone else but I had to find out what’s been happening from the story I saw on the news last week. The general partner forgot to inform me of a proxy vote that if passed will ultimately turn my secured investment in to a worthless piece of paper. I must admit I was somewhat nieve when I bought this investment but not to the point where I know that if I was secured on title as a limited partner I at least had some comfort level. Now, it looks like with this syndication of the properties our risk will be spread amongst all of CE holdings. This I did not sign up for. I would encourage all owners and stake holders that have not been informed of the possible changes to your investment to contact the office of the general partner and demand to see thse proposal being put forth. I know how I’m going to vote. An emphatic no. We need to boot out the current general partner and replace them with our own or at least one that we can trust. I have pulled title on CE Place and their has been a caveat registered by Strategic. How presumptuous of them to think that we would vote yes to the proposal. When I asked Mr. DePalma about this caveat I was ignored. When I asked why Dave Humeniuk was not longer on the executive I was ignored. This guy has been given a lifetime suspension from The Real Estate Counsel of Alberta for perpetrating mortgage fraud. This is a securities fraud. This guy was hired on to the executive with the other members knowing about his history. Tells me they are after one thing folks and that’s how to steal your money. I implore all of you. Vote no to any changes that may affect your position as limited partner in any of their holdings. Write to the ASC and file a complaint.Tell them to give you a better reason as to why we haven’t received our dividend for the first quarter. Ask to see the list of tenants and the lease agreements. Demand to know who holds the mortgages or at least get the legal descriptions of the properties and I can find out who holds the mortgages. I see one second charge mortgage at 40% interest.This is almost usery.If we let our guards down and give them the false belief that we are going to take this lying down we have lost.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
wow….so what does this mean??
April 15, 2009: 2 Directors from the GP have tendered their resignations but this still has to be reviewed by legal entities to ensure that all obligations and involvements between them and the LPs are cleared.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
To me it means that the heat was too much for some of the executive.Now that the cat is out of the bag and the ASC is involved, they’ve decided to get out while the getting’s good. Answers my question about Dave Humeniuk. I wonder who else followed suit?The only thing we can hope for is replace the current GP with our own, find out the state of the leases and the tenants. From what I read there’s enough differential from the mortgage payments to the rent being paid to pay us our dividend. At least on CE Place.Of course what is not included in these figures are the operating costs and the vacancies. Again, I am imploring all stake holders is have your voice heard.Vote down this syndication proposal. It will dilute your position as a Limited Partner.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
I was the fourth poster in this thread, over a year ago, and was the first one to blow the whistle.
I know I did submit a complaint to the securities commission with my information containing my research.
Mr Aurora�s facebook page was at one time not private. I downloaded many of his pictures. They revealed that Concrete equities has a company jet, and that Mr. Aurora has a very opulent lifestyle, including a collection of exotic automobiles. This may be of some assistance to anyone pursuing a lawsuit. As well, my initial analysis of the misrepresentations contained in the advertising materials may be useful.
Dave Humeniuk has now left. As a leopard cannot change its spots he is back at it again, this time as president of Teluric International Investments Ltd. First, warn everyone. Second, can someone register for their seminar and get a copy of their promotional material and get me a copy?
We should all lobby the provincial treasurer so that individuals under a lifetime ban from the Real Estate Council of Alberta are not allowed to be involved in any capacity offering investments, nor disbarred lawyers. (Google Orest Rusnak.)
Question � have you people received your T5013�s so you can file your taxes? If not CRA may be interested and have some fines they can apply.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
Orest Rusnak?? Not certain as to his connection with CE. Or do you offer this comment as an unrelated warning. Thanks for enlightening us as to Dave Humeniuks new venture.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
unrelated venture. Mentioned him because I believe disbarred lawyers should not be able peddle investments.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
I’m not a CE investor, but I did work in the RE syndication business up until 2 years ago. The reason I left was the ridiculous run-up in pricing of good properties. Intelligent businesspeople do NOT overpay like that. While the commercial realtors loved CE because they were always willing to pay top dollar for property, it made acquisition of properties at reasonable, sustainable price levels impossible. In short, the idiots at CE had no business doing what they did. I hope the LP’s at CE fight off Mamdami’s hostile takeover. He is a cockroach of the biggest order. And as for the principals at CE, take them to court for signing those 40% second mortgage documents. That is fraud, that’s a felony, send them to jail and seize their assets. A Class-action suit again Dave Jones, Humeniuk, Auroro, De Palma (another cockroach) and Mamdazi should attract the attention of a big lawfirm looking for a juicy target. Best of luck to all the CE investors.
Just an addendum to Raider2009: Please pardon what appears as an emotional outburst. The RE syndication business was working well prior to CE, and the companies involved were all compliant with ASC regs. Along comes CE, with their massive ad campaign, promises of returns that should have caused the ASC to investigate, and within a year, they were a billion dollar business, or so their spokesman claimed. So perhaps the real culprits here are the ASC who should have been onto CE years ago, and who are directly responsible for the mess that CE investors find themselves in.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
Well, it is just a matter of time before the boys at Concrete disappear! Looks like they have already started to take steps to cash their money out and get out of the real estate business.
With little or no education, never mind any work experience in real estate or investments these guys were able to promote themselves as the movers and shakers of Calgary. Amazing what an ad on TV (Dragon’s Den) can do for your instant credibility??
DAVE HUMENIUK is up and running with his new *Telluric International Investments*!! No one in their right mind should invest with him.
I just heard that DAVE JONES is still raising money for his DRAGON FUND, Don’t know why people are still giving him money???
There are many investors that will be hurt by what was perpetrated by the management team at CE, they over paid for real estate and took large profits from unsuspecting investors that trusted them. This real estate will take years to recover and payout a return. I encourage all CE Investors to remain patient.
My advise to CE Investors, stay firm, don’t let the lawyers spin this into some long legal battle. It is a lot simpler than you think. The general partner cannot do anything with your vote. I have heard that DAVE JONES is claiming that the 2% fee is no longer an issue, why then is the deal still open for acceptance?
The only legal fees should be spent on pursuing DAVE JONES, VARUN AURORA, VINCENZO DE PALMA and DAVE HUMENIUK for damages!!
REALIST999, you seem very emotional about this whole situation! What’s the deal? You seem to have more insight then others? Does anyone have more information to assist the CE Investors?
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
Re: Question � have you people received your T5013�s so you can file your taxes?
I got my form, but the amount on it is $155 higher than what I actually got. I was referred to an accountant, I believe, and she said they used some program that can’t be changed, so they might send out a correction later on. She mentioned that they have been getting calls about this. She could not answer my questions satisfactorily and I told her that this was no way to run a business and that I have absolutely no confidence left in CE.
I could enter the actual amount on my tax return and refer CRA to CE if there are questions. I have absolutely no desire to refile my tax return. Any other suggestions?
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
I am an investor in the SNC Lavalin building. I was told by Concrete Equities that unless I signed the Proxy giving up control as an owner, I was in danger of losing my entire investment of $50,000.
Dave Jones, told us that it was all about �Risk Management�. Dave Jones said that we must sign quickly or lose our investments! He held small information sessions down at WealthStreet with groups of no more than 20 people, so as to be able to control the group. Dave Jones yelled at the group from the very start, stating that he did not want to hear any negative talk about the proposed vote. If he did hear any negative talk, he stated, �you are a no vote and you can leave right now!� Dave Jones effectively intimidated and scared most folks in the audience from speaking up!
Vincenzo DePalma, Vinny Aurora, and Dave Jones then hammered everyone as to why this was so important to the well being of their financial future. They stated that the SNC Lavalin building was experiencing very difficult times. Two floors out of ten were vacant, with no lease offers on those two floors what so ever since July 2008. They stated that SNC Lavalin had an existing option to lease out those floors and because of this, no one else would consider renting the floors. Vincenzo stated that a benefit of giving our property to Strategic was that Strategic was powerful enough to break the options on the two floors. DePalma, Aurora, and Jones stated that we could not get a mortgage renewed on the property as it is losing so much money! They stated that they had to feed it over $400,000 in 2008 to keep it afloat. They said the building needed a Million dollars in renovations and repairs to make it suitable for new tenants. Yet when asked to provide financials on the building, Vincenzo stated that the financials statements were at the other office. Or the financials were at the CA�s office, stating �we will get them to you later, but first you need to sign this Proxy��
NOW FOLKS LETS LOOK AT THE TRUTH.
The operating financial statements for the SNC Lavalin building have been acquired directly from the building managers, Avenue Commercial.
Even with 2 floors vacant since July, and very large debt servicing costs due to the lack of a current mortgage, the SNC Lavalin building ended the 2008 year with a positive cash flow of over $500,000.
Far different from what we have been told!
It also turns out that SNC�s option on the two floors ended in July, and Concrete Equities has not even responded to several offers to lease out the vacant floors! In fact, all calls have been redirected to Strategic. As far as the mortgage goes, Concrete Equities is not even trying to get one in place, why bother when it has been sold already to Strategic. Please see the termination fee of 2% in the information circular, meaning termination of the deal they signed back at the beginning of March 2009! They are just now trying to ratify the deal with the ivestors.
Quite honestly, I believe Concrete Equities initially started off legitimately, albeit padding their pockets and their luggage with investors hard earned dollars. But as the money dried up about a year and a half ago�
Well let me ask you, in examining the Otis building (one of the buildings they wanted to group in with the SNC Lavalin building), how do you come up with interest payments on a $8,213,000 loan at 40%? Simple interest alone would mean monthly payments of $273,766. Especially when the subject building is entirely vacant!
I would have to conclude they are using my money to fund their other un-syndicated properties! And all this makes one wonder , are they really just trying to conceal the fact they do not have separate accounts and financials statements for the separate Limited Partnerships.
People, what must happen here is an audit should be conducted of Concrete Equities books, compared to the monthly financial reports of the SNC building, as well as all the other limited partnerships within Concrete Equities. Every penny of the investors profits should be accounted for. There should be separate trust accounts for each and every building/Limited Partnership. If this is not the case, Dave Jones, Vincenzo DePalma, and Vinny Aurora should be held accountable.
Either way, civil lawsuits should be commenced, as well, criminal investigations of fraudulent activities should be launched. They have been lying to all of us and trying to screw everyone out of their hard earned money. They are a despicable bunch, and at the end of the day, the general public should know the truth about these individuals.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
I am appalled at the behavior of Dave Jones, as reported in your post. However, desperation often brings out the true nature of people.
I am in total agreement with your comments as per holding these people accountable if an audit shows cross contamination of accounts, misuse of money or any other “nefarious” activity. Since the SNC provides solid evidence od deception and practises of lying routinely to investors, an audit is mandated.
The one person who you did not include in your diatribe is Dave Humeniuk. Let us not forget that he was directly involved with the running of the corporation since it’s inception and left the firm in December of 2008. He has had a hand in the development of the mess you now find ourselves…..do not let him fade into obscurity.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
I am getting mixed information…I heard that Dave Jones mentioned that the 2% fee is not an issue anymore and now I hear that we are to still consider the deal with Strategic?? CE can’t even deliver us a consistent message.
We know that the CE group are all trying to save their own hides. I still think that there is a serious conflict with replacing the GP with Avenue Commercial.
What information does anyone have about Strategic Group and Riaz Mamdani? Seems to operate surreptitiously and anything I have heard thus far is negative.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
very interestingf and informative post
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
First and foremost I would suggest that homework is necessary for ALL investors to fully read and understand the Limited Partnership Agreement and OM so you know your rights including removal of the General Partner and the processes that are involved. If you don’t understand these documents then take them to your lawyer for clarification.
1. You as LP investors have every right to request a list from the General Partner of fellow LP investors in your specific LP that you invested in. You should never accept any answer that indicates you cannot have this list due to “privacy issues” or any other rationale provided by any GP so I do hope that someone (including legal counsel if necessary) has requested lists. There are LP investment companies in this industry that actually provide all LP investors with the full contact info of their LP co-investors when they issue the investment certificates.
In the event that you are not successful in obtaining these lists from the GP you may not be aware of this but the information is also publicly available through any Corporate Registries office. In order to access this information you will need to provide the full name of the Limited Partnership (found in LP Agreement). The Registries office can pull up a microfilm # and request from Edmonton the actual LPA and full listing of investors. Unfortunately you will probably not get proper contact info for the RRSP investors as it is likely CE’s address provided.
Sounds to me like you people need to get organized as a group. How many investors are actually aware of this thread and its contents? What other means are being utilized to unify investors to discuss issues and find resolution?
You definitely do have the right to look at the CE and LP books and perform an audit (at LP cost); this includes the ability to view rent rolls/tenant information and any other relevant documents.
A good Securities lawyer can also act on your behalf or at the very least provide some direction/get answers and documents to you from the GP. Intimidation tactics should not be tolerated nor should small investor meetings be taking place. This is totally improper and contrary to LPA; it smacks to me of the famous “divide and conquer” battle tactic.
2. If you have concerns/questions over asset titles, the financial “lifts” for CE, mortgages and various liens and caveats placed on your LP assets you can get all of this information when you pull titles at any Registries office (including AMA). However in order to get this information you will need to provide them with the correct “legal description” of the asset (found in OM and perhaps any marketing package as well-ie. “Lot #, parcel identifier #” etc).
Every item registered against title also has a registration # attached to it and these too can be pulled (even actual signed mortgage documents) by Registration # to drill down for greater detailed knowledge/facts. Obviously you need to pay for all documents pulled/printed but it might be well worth the effort/time and cost to really understand what has been going on and is currently going on with your LP assets.
You may even ask for “historical” titles to be searched on buildings and decide from there which ones you want pulled. The Registries office personnel can tell you what years are available (ie. various dates when title has transferred).
I have heard a rumour that Riaz Mamdani actually has already bought CE and its assets. This could certainly be verified by anyone conducting Corporate Name Searches and title searches on assets. If you see recent transactions of land transfers or caveats registered against the properties or “lis pendens” claiming ownership of assets due to “purchase and sale agreements” then I would suggest you search those details further. Any transfer of assets is illegal without your yes vote; any “purchase and sale agreements” or ownership claims by other parties are also illegal and fraudulent.
I find it extremely odd and suspicious that CE executive have not presented the option to investors to list the assets on the open market for sale. It seems rather suspect that Mr. Mamdani has “preferential” position when it seems you have no knowledge of what your assets are worth or what they would sell for. Is this also because these buildings are so highly leveraged with debt that investor equity has been reduced to less than original value? Again is it because investors paid too much for these buildings in the first place, far above appraised value? If these buildings and investments were properly managed in the first place would it not stand to reason that CE executives would not need to be “bailed out”? Is it a coincidence that Riaz Mamdani shows up during such a time of “crisis” or is this something that has been set up to occur for quite some time?
3. Dave Humeniuk has indeed formed a new investment company in Calgary called Teluric International Investments Ltd. His web-site is http://www.realisticreturns.net. Lately he has been performing some subtle advertising by offering up financial information in locally published community newsletters. Go on his web-site and read his biography with all of his accomplishments to date.
Information about RECA sanctions against him can indeed be found on the Internet. Also note that he was one of the original Officers of Platinum Equities Inc. another private real estate investment company in Calgary offering similar investment opportunities to the public before Mr. H. launched CE in partnership with Dave Jones.
4. I noticed that quite a few of you have mentioned removal of CE as the General Partner and that you are researching other companies to take over this role. If one of these companies to be considered is Platinum Equities I believe that a little research will show that the founder and CEO of Platinum Equities has had and continues to have many major business dealings with the same Riaz Mamdani mentioned in this CE thread.
Transactions have taken place between these two parties with Mamdani’s companies Strategic Financial, Strategic Acquisitions, Oxford Capital Corp to name but a few and they involve LP and other investor assets; many of these transactions have been left undisclosed to investors and relationships between the parties not defined clearly if at all.
5. I would concur with others in this thread to stress that it is necessary for “the many” and not “the few” to take necessary actions and also file appropriate complaints with Alberta Securities Commission against CE if they feel there has been wrongdoing.
In addition I would also offer my opinion that people might want to contact and file statements with their local RCMP Commercial Crimes Division if they feel there has been some criminal wrongdoing at all by CE and any related parties/individuals (fraud?). It is always best in my opinion to ask the questions of the proper authorities as they are well versed in these matters and also have the resources to investigate if they feel there is cause.
With respect to obtaining information on Riaz Mamdani you can certainly google him and find some interesting information including SEC investigations around one of his companies JAWZ Technologies.
Drive around the downtown core especially the surrounding Beltline District and see the ever increasing numbers of “Strategic” signs that seemingly keep springing up on commercial office buildings and in the suburbs on strip malls or his massive development in Sundance Business Park.
I do hope that this situation is resolved for CE investors with positive results in their favour.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
Re: The Strategic Group. Again I am not an investor in CE, but have had an arms length relationship with Strategic for a number of years as a subcontractor. While times were good, there was never an issue. Last fall, everything changed. It owes over 8 million on Sundance West alone to the contractor group. The building is finished & rented. Best guess is 3-4 million owed on the 4th street project which numerous magazines did stories on & said Strategic was the Savior, and now sits abandoned. There are numerous liens filed along with statement of claims alleging fraud. When the 8 million was due in November, Strategic closed on a piece of property at Heritage & McLeod with a price on the title of 20 million, & has 8 million equity in it. . . . Hmmmm. There are numerous layers of companies protecting Strategic, including one for each building he has, with mortgages granted to others he owns with first rights, so he ends up with them without paying his bills. He already has companies set up for each of the CE buildings he plans on taking over as per my original post, which were registered in the past two weeks. Check David Parkers’ columns in the Herald, he has the second highest assessed house in Calgary at eleven million, but in fact has a few liens filed against it. Bottom line, highly leveraged & most that know him consider him a vulture. He is also a lawyer by the way, and a made his initial fortune in the technology business, and some research indicates there were charges filed back then over improprieties..
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
oouuch wrote:
Re: Question – have you people received your T5013’s so you can file your taxes?
I got my form, but the amount on it is $155 higher than what I actually got. I was referred to an accountant, I believe, and she said they used some program that can’t be changed, so they might send out a correction later on. She mentioned that they have been getting calls about this. She could not answer my questions satisfactorily and I told her that this was no way to run a business and that I have absolutely no confidence left in CE.
I could enter the actual amount on my tax return and refer CRA to CE if there are questions. I have absolutely no desire to refile my tax return. Any other suggestions?
It is very plausible that the amount reported on the T5013 and the actual cash received are different, for two reasons:
Firstly, some expenses are recognized at different times for tax and accounting purposes. For example, depreciation is often recorded on the financial statements at a different rate than capital cost allowance for tax. Also things like utility connection costs are recognized faster for tax than for accounting, leaving no deduction later on in the project.
Secondly, cash flow to investors usually isn’t the same as net income. If the project has a mortgage, the principle payments on the mortgage will usually come out of net income. If there was no mortgage, and the entire project was financed by investors, then the cash they receive should be higher than the taxable and accounting income, as the depreciation/Capital Cost allowance won’t affect the cash available to be distributed to investors.
If the project had 1 million dollars taxable income, but had capital cost allowance of 150,000 and debt repayment of 400,000, I would expect the investors should only receive $750,000.
That being said, the financial statements often contain a schedule reconciling taxable income to distributions to investors.
Speaking of that, did they give you actual audited financial statements? I notice from the Castleridge offering memorandum :
Accounting and Reporting to the Limited Partners
The Limited Partnership’s fiscal period will end on December 31. The General Partner will forward to the Limited Partners of the Limited Partnership within 180 days after the end of each fiscal year financial statements for the preceding fiscal period. Each statement will be accompanied by a report of the Accountants thereon as well as all necessary income tax information.
The General Partner must keep adequate books and records of the business of the Limited Partnership. A Limited Partner has the right to inspect the books and records of the Limited Partnership in accordance with the Limited Partnership Agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a Limited Partner will not have access to any information which in the reasonable opinion of the General Partner should be kept confidential in the interests of the Limited Partnership. As a result, the Limited Partner would not be provided access to information the disclosure of which, in the reasonable opinion of the General Partner, would be detrimental to the Limited Partnership for competitive reasons.
So it says they must forward to you financial statements with a ‘report’ by the Accountants. Under Item 5, terms of securities, it says:
(b) The net income or loss of the Limited Partnership for each fiscal period as reported on by the Auditors shall be allocated, at the end of such period, among the Limited Partners based on their pro rata share of Units recorded in the Register.
Thus they ought to be forwarding to you audited financial statements, or if you want to get more literal, the allocations must be based on audited statements, and they must give you statements reported on by the accountants.
I suspect that the OM for the other projects would be the same, as they are probably just copied. I have very strong reason to believe the OM and the LP agreement were copied from Humeniuk’s prior firm (Platinum) – so they don’t contain much room for Concrete to weasel out of their obligations.
I would love to get my hands on an OM and partnership agreement from Telluric to see if they are copied word for word from one of the existing agreements.
Anyone invest in one of the Mexican developments? I suspect there will be some really interesting tax and legal aspects that weren’t covered in the OM.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
hellamad wrote:
I am appalled at the behavior of Dave Jones, as reported in your post. However, desperation often brings out the true nature of people.
I am in total agreement with your comments as per holding these people accountable if an audit shows cross contamination of accounts, misuse of money or any other “nefarious” activity. Since the SNC provides solid evidence od deception and practises of lying routinely to investors, an audit is mandated.
The one person who you did not include in your diatribe is Dave Humeniuk. Let us not forget that he was directly involved with the running of the corporation since it’s inception and left the firm in December of 2008. He has had a hand in the development of the mess you now find ourselves…..do not let him fade into obscurity.
It disgusts me how Dave Jones goes on Shine FM and tries to act like such a good christian. I contact shine with my concerns last year, but of course they are the slave to the allmighty advertising dollar, and insisted he was no longer involved.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
I have a comment around your investment documents enquiry for Mr. Humeniuk’s new investment offering:
I would think that investment documents (OM) would bear no similarity to any from previous companies that Mr. Humeniuk has been associated with since this new structure as shown is a “Private Mutual Fund Trust”; not Bonds/Shares or Limited Partnerships.
There is no LP Agreement for the investors within this type of structure. Investors purchase “Trust Units” via a Subscription Agreement and are to receive some payment through “short term cash products” (whatever these are-mortgages? chosen at the discretion of Mr. Humeniuk I expect) and eventuallly would supposedly receive payments from tenant rents of commercial buildings once purchased. 100% of the cost of same commercial properties would need to be raised through investors as he claims there would be no mortgages held on the properties.
The information below is taken directly from the Teluric web-site: http://www.realisticreturns.net:
“Private Mutual Fund Trust”
The Teluric Diversified Fund provides ownership in real property by the investors. However, because the investment threshold is as low as $1,000 it is virtually impossible to have every investor listed on title. Raising $6,000,000 could mean that 6,000 names would need to be registered on title which really is not practical. Exits from the fund would require legal documents to be redrawn and refiled each time with legal costs associated with the process. The ownership of the property is demonstrated by a clear path as shown below:
Teluric Diversified Fund
Trust units all held by investors
Funds placed in Trust Accounts until used to purchase property
Funds invested in short term cash products until property purchase finalized
Investors receive all interest from short term cash products
Trust Accounts subject to an independent audit by Deloittes
Property not purchased until cash available to purchase Free and Clear
Unit Certificates issued showing ownership
Net rent paid to fund for disbursement to investors by commercial trust
Flow Through expenses passed on to investors as tax write off
Teluric Diversified Commercial Trust
Units of Commercial Trust purchased by Teluric Diversified Fund
“All” units of Commercial Trust owned by Teluric Diversified Fund
Commercial Trust purchases 100% of Limited Partnership
Limited Partnership pays net rent to Teluric Diversified Commercial Trust
Teluric Diversified Commercial Trust pays net rent to Teluric Diversified Fund
Flow through (soft costs) flow to Teluric Diversified Fund
Limited Partnership
Limited Partnership 100% owned Teluric Diversified Commercial Trust
Limited partnership own 100% of property purchased
Limited partnership operates building
Net rent paid to Teluric Diversified Commercial trust
In this model the investors own the shares in the Teluric Diversified Fund which in turn owns the shares in the Teluric Diversified Commercial Trust which in turn owns the shares in the Limited Partnership which owns the property purchased. THEREFORE THE INVESTORS OWN THE BUILDING THROUGH A STRUCTURE OF A LIMITED PARTNERSHIP AND TRUSTS.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
I made an investment in Concrete Equities Mexican El Golfo de Santa Clara property. I guess that at the time I had more money than brains, although this is not the problem now. I was wondering if anyone else had invested in this and what feedback they may have. Real estate in that area has really taken a hit and there are some serious legal land ownership issues there. I recently contacted Concrete who told me that the company is in great shape and that they would be having AGMs on each separate project and of course not to worry.
Anybody else invest in this “swampland”?
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
It is unfortunate that incidents like these have to occur for people to realize who they are dealing with. Concrete’s high budget advertising campaign should have been the first red flag! It was very evident from their initial launch that the management team had no idea what they were doing, in addition with no real estate experience and did not have the respect of others in the real estate industry. Today, you can look at the number of companies in Alberta that are out there and how many of these management teams actually have any past or positive experience with real estate or investments. This is a very small city and it doesn’t take much to call industry experts or members to confirm projects that were successful and their past performance. I am not saying there are not good companies or good people out there. Recently, a Calgary company was fined for listing projects that they were not even party to. How about the companies that are promoting resort projects in a recession; perfect time to nail down sales! Better yet, a mortgage that pays 12% or 18% on developing land that generates less cash flow than it has to pay. Or the latest I heard was a promote for US real estate and even Hawaii! What experience do these comapnies really have?? Many of these companies are too new to even show a return. The average investment is 3 to 5 years, some of these companies haven’t even been around for 3 or 5 years.
Don’t want to paint every company with the same brush but there are many companies that shouldn’t be out there. We need to really think before we jump into these investment seminars. When there were so many like quinster and myself who did the due diligence and cautioned many of you out there, no one would listen. I hope the CE investors are able to protect their investment.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
Last summer I came across this discussion board and was shocked to read your warning about C E since the year before I had become an investor. This was my first investment and I really didn’t know enough about investing to get myself into this. Like so many others I heard D J on my fav. Christian radio station and got sucked in thinking that he must be trustworthy. After reading your post, I came across some others that were giving the same advise- to get out if you can.
I want to thank you for your post, you see I did listen and I did sell my investments before it was to late.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with those of us who really need it.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
outatime wrote:
Last summer I came across this discussion board and was shocked to read your warning about C E since the year before I had become an investor. This was my first investment and I really didn’t know enough about investing to get myself into this. Like so many others I heard D J on my fav. Christian radio station and got sucked in thinking that he must be trustworthy. After reading your post, I came across some others that were giving the same advise- to get out if you can.
I want to thank you for your post, you see I did listen and I did sell my investments before it was to late.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with those of us who really need it.
Glad to see we helped someone.
I’m thinking that all the Shine listeners who were duped should complain to the station or Alan Hunsberger.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
Hi I am an investor with concrete I have some info on this company .I have been told by someone close to the company now that they are having problems. I was told that they would buy a building at higher then the going rate at first it was 2million over the appraisal and then sell them to the lp for 3million over that . concrete does have a mounthly management fee on these buildings that they get money from.I was told that after they purchased castleridge they started commingling funds. I was also told that these accounts were emptied at the end of every month if there was any money left.I was told that all the gps were aware of this and did this. I was also told that David Jones when to pick up his money from one of the deals and David Humeniuk did not give it to him .I was also told by Concerte they have no finacials and have not done taxes since day one .I was told that the last projects they did not get enough money from investors to close the deal.I was told that instead of telling the investors they lost there money the went and got notes at 30% and used this borrowed money to close . I was told they took some of this money because they had more and used it for another building these notes are unsecured good luck getting your money back.I was told that they had to get 59% mortgage on one building and 40% on another building I wounder how they expect the Lp to think this is ok. I know if my mortgage was 20%I would go bankrupt .I beleive it was greed and they just wanted there commission and it did not matter about the Lp .I have been told the Dave humeniuk is being investagated for fraud by the police.I was told they are selling everything to strategic to get the mess swept away .I was told the Lp will take it on the chin when they are purchased. I was told it will be millions lower than they were purchased by the Lp.kiss your money goodbye.I was told that if this goes through with strategic you will never get your money back.To me it looks like they stole money from the Lp and now the game is up and they are looking for the door .I was told that Dave Jone was part of this he had to know about it they need two people to sign for the money.David Jones new onehundred % that the Lp would lose there money but is so arrogant he thinks we will do anything he says so if you listen to David Jones kiss your money goodbye . I wonder how they thought we would take on liability and have no say that right there tells me they are out for thm selfs.If somthing goes wrong they will come after the Lp assets thats good they did not take enough of our money lets just give them every thing.David Jone told people to take out credit lines on your houses now you won’t see any money to pay them back that just makes it very obvious that he is out only for David Jone .David Jones has made millions on this I do not see godly man doing anything to fix this or make it right .I beleive it is all about the money for them and they need more .I was told that they will get millions in this deal and we will lose many millions in the deal.I am hopeing that some how they get what coming to them for steeling the money.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I as well had more money than brains at the time of investing into the mexico project. Emotions before due diligence clouded my judgement..Live and learn!!!
Anybody else recieve any news on this El golfo project??
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
“The others of you that are in the projects that I would say no company in it’s right mind would touch I wish you luck, a law suit might be the only recourse that you have.”
Out of all the projects that CE sold us on, which of the projects do you think another company would not touch? Why?
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I am an Investor in a downtown property. There have been no payouts (profit share) for December 31, 2008 and March 31, 2009 and it is looking like there will be nothing for July 09. They have never provided financial statements to there investors, which they are required to do – and have promised many times. This is a bad investment with many problems. These guys are salesmen but not managers. Look at the reports by Alberta Securities Commission and you will think twice about investing with these companies.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Well, we kept talking about getting rid of the GP and that wasn’t so easy was it! All the hoopla about let’s get together and vote out the GP and we can do a better job then the GP……! I agree this GP has to go but I want to know who is willing to step in?? All I hear is some old nag yapping about taking over, is she willing to step in?
Most LP holders do not have the net worth or the risk tolerance to step in and takeover. Few out there have the appetite to expose themselves to such risk. If you read the LPA, once the LP’s get involved in the business of the GP, they have really exposed themselves from the limited liabilty which we signed up for. Most of the LP’s can’t step in and obtain a mortgage on a commercial building (SNC). Now we are looking to get AC involved who have their own agenda. Do you think they are going put their name on the line for financing for us without a price??? Think again? I have spoken to a number of lawyers, other real estate syndicators and industry members, no one wants to step into this mess and put their name on the line. Strategic is even having second thoughts!! If Riaz Mamdani, who owns half this city and shrewd as he is, is telling us he is concerned about the risk in this portfolio, I don’t understand how Aunt Edna LP holder is going to provide advise on the direction we take?? Now we have LP holders that have no investment or real estate background trying to give advise on how to resolve it.
There is a reason why large investors do not want to be in a pool with smaller investors, we both have different agendas. As you can tell I am very frustrated!!!
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I notice that concerned1 (former Concrete Equities Sales Rep) deleted his post.
I wonder if that had anything to do with litigation threats from the so called big shots at CE.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Hi Ladies and Gents, my name is Huxley and I have no investment with CE or affiliation with them in any way.
I was directed to this discussion site by a friend of mine. I am on a related discussion board on this website (search Bridgecreek Developments), The company operates on a similar level as CE except the monies raised go towards residential / recreational investments.
Needless to say, all 1400 investors with that company are also being affected the way it appears this group is.
I can see that this group appears to be struggling with how to move forward, a Go Forward Proporsal was also put forward by the directors of our Bridgecreek basically mirroring what it appears what you are asked to do.
At this point there are several investor groups with Bridgecreek (representing different projects) who are dealing with the company.
As someone dealing with this already, I can offer some advice which Im sure you have already considered.
1) Get the group organized (obtain the investor list for each LP) and get someone nominated as a spokesperson/ leader etc.
2) Figure out how to apportion costs to the group in order to secure rights. This is important so that there are no misunderstandings
3) Meet with a lawyer (with a large investor base, having one dedicated person will mean the lawyer is only responding to messages from one person, if all the investors tried to call the lawyer for updates, your bill will only rise by the second)
4) Decide a course of action, as well as how to handle ongoing decisions after you realize on your security, as a group and instruct the lawyer to act. Do not involve anyone not currently an investor, it might mean that you decide as a group to realize on your security, whatever that might look like, but dont know who will manage the project. Just deal with those two as separate issues which is what they are. If you dont trust CE, dont leave your money there. At minimum create your own legal entity and passively manage things that way.
Getting a professional manager can happen but wasting time reaching a decision only means more money getting wasted every day on rents and salaries by CE. I am not entirely familiar with the structure of your investment so I apologize if this seems too simple a solution (it is how some members of our group are moving, and one of them has taken on the responsibilities of marketing and selling property in conjunction with a professional management firm, so it can be done)
5) There was earlier posts about civil and criminal action.
Under the criminal code ss. 362, under Fraud and False Pretense it lists the various criminal categories.
Using materially incorrect information to obtain mortgage credit in any form is a criminal act. I think this applies in your case although Im not 100% positive having no other knowledge of the facts other than what I read here.
My recommendation at this point if you wish to pursue these claim is to get in touch with me.
I am trying to dig up information myself about the legalities but will be visiting the commercial crimes division of the CPS and RCMP shortly. Given the similarity of these alleged crimes it makes sense to present this together (The calgary police are unlikely to ignore a request by 2500 total investors as it stands to reason that if that many people are involved something is going on)
6) Ive already been in touch with the media (CTV and the Calgary Herald) both are interested in doing stories but need proof of criminality and / or tortious acts by the salespeople/ directors etc.
Again this is something members of our group are also working on and something I think makes sense to deal with as a combined larger group. Its impossible to ignore claims by that many people of wrongdoing, even if full liability can not be proven, any reporter will recognize that there is a newsworthy story and start digging around, which is what we all want.
I apologize for the verbose and unsolicited advise, of course you are free to do what you wish with this. All the best with your efforts in recovering your monies.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
___First, I would like to thank the steering committee for all the time and effort they have committed to this cause. As well, as keeping us up to date with the latest information._
I agree with some of the points that you have made ‘retiredat55′, especially around the area of GP replacement. I have invested in two of the projects and after hearing we may have paid an excessive amount of money for CEP. I think it is time to look at a law suit (pertaining to the involved GP’s). As well, I would entertain the thought of selling the properties. This way we can at least get some of our money back…We would first need to have a property appraisal completed before we could see if this is a good strategic move. People may think this is a foolish idea, being that the state of the economy is not too hot, but if it is true that we paid $10 000 000 (ten million) dollars more for CEP then what it is worth, this may be our only option. I find it hard to believe (if the above is true) that we are going to have enough money to cover the mortgage for CEP. Which makes me think that CE GP’s have been ‘Robbing Peter to Pay Paul’. However, if CEP is able to stand on its own, it may be plausable to hold it until the market picks up.
Another concern I have is around the access to the property bank accounts. Who has access to the property accounts? Do the GP�s have access? Who is monitoring the accounts? Who is paying the monthly bills (utility, mtg. property tax, ect)?
I noticed another television ad for CE…Have they been using our money for these ad’s? What is the mortgage on CEP, MEG and the other buildings? Who hold these mortgages? What percentage are we paying on the mortages?
Look forward to everyone�s reply!
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Have you people looked at getting a commercial real estate company (ie Tonkyo, colliers, DTZBarnicke, Barclay Street or 20 Vic) to act as general partner. You would probably want to select someone who didn’t have a conflict of interest – or possibly one company for each LP.
Don’t forget, if there is fraud on behalf of Concrete, the owners probably have deep pockets. I hate investment scams, and would dearly love to see David Jones, Vinny Aurora and Dave Humeniuk pay through the nose.
Honestly, it really bothers me that they haven’t given you audited financial statements yet.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
With the reluctance of the GP’s willingness to provide us with the property financial reports, I think I it may be time for us to organize a protest in front of CEP and Wealth Street. I continue to see CE Television ads and hear Wealth Street advertising on the radio. If the GP’s are not going to cooperate with us and the lawyers are having a difficult time accessing the financial reports, maybe with a group of protesters in front of both buildings, may encourage the GP’s to act more responsibility.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I do not verify this site often. It was very interesting to read your comments and fully appreciate every effort that is made by you or anyone to save our investments.
We too are involved with Concrete Equities and face the same outcome. Being an out-of-province investor, it was not possible to attend the meeting. Lately, their actions seemed somewhat suspicious and all these events confirm it.
Please keep up-to-date info posted regarding any action or progress on this matter. If the ASC is already involved, we hope that they will be able to resolve it favorably for the investors. We want this solved in our favor if it all posssible.
Did the April 15 meeting take place? If available, what are the results of the YES or NO vote that was requested? Probably they are still very secretive about information.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
We agree and would be willing to support such a rally to give unwanted media attention to embarass the GPs and steer potential investors away from CE / Wealth Street.
Let’s hope it can be arranged
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Check out Teluric International Investments Ltd. re – Dave Humeniuk, President.
His bio reads in part; “He is co-founder of Concrete Equities which after 3 years in existence boasts a billion dollar real estate portfolio.” Guess who’s boasting about these accomplishments and who’s cursing Dave Humeniuk.
Teluric has a seminar scheduled for this evening – May 20 at 7pm: 201 – 6 Crowfoot Circle N.W. to haul in more investors – sure wish we could warn them to RUN in the opposite direction of Dave Humeniuk. Run fast.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
This is a very important message for all SNC LP’s.
The SNC Steering Committee has sent out a Special Resolution that removes CONCRETE EQUITIES from the position of General Partner and installs a New Corporation managed by Steven Butt of Avenue Commercial.
Please check your emails for a copy of this document or contact the SNC Steering Committee for further info.
This is an extremely Urgent matter.
Just a word for anyone who may be reading this in the future…
BEFORE YOU LISTEN TO ANYTHING VINCENZO DE PALMA SAYS, PLEASE SEEK LEGAL COUNSEL!
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
This is a public message directed at any media outlets that may be broadcasting commercials for Concrete Equities and Wealth Street.
Please research this situation and consider the consequences of continuing to promote Concrete Equities and Wealthstreet to your listeners!
Specifically, AM770, SHINE FM and the CBC.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
louger wrote:
I do not verify this site often. It was very interesting to read your comments and fully appreciate every effort that is made by you or anyone to save our investments.
We too are involved with Concrete Equities and face the same outcome. Being an out-of-province investor, it was not possible to attend the meeting. Lately, their actions seemed somewhat suspicious and all these events confirm it.
Please keep up-to-date info posted regarding any action or progress on this matter. If the ASC is already involved, we hope that they will be able to resolve it favorably for the investors. We want this solved in our favor if it all posssible.
Did the April 15 meeting take place? If available, what are the results of the YES or NO vote that was requested? Probably they are still very secretive about information.
The meeting and vote scheduled for April 15 were cancelled due to the actions of the LP’s. DJ has indicated that an AGM will be held but I suspect that nothing will happen. There is still no information coming from CE to the LP’s.
The saga continues…
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
A meeting has been called by the Steering Committee for all LP’s from all buildings.
Tuesday May 26, 2009 at 7:00 PM
Location: Southside Victory Village
6402 1A St. S.W. Calgary
This is a very crucial meeting for all LPs to discuss the final steps to take control of our investments.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Good morning everyone. I am a concrete investor just now getting wind of whats going on. I am shocked and appalled to say the least. What were the results of the meeting on the 26th? I voted yes on the proxy, what are my options now? Any specific news on MEG place? I have little to no experience as to what is to going on with this type of dealings, and I appreciate all of information provided on this thread so far. Please keep up with the latest information. Thanks!
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I’ve recorded and uploaded the story that Global TV ran on Concrete Equities last night. It can be viewed here:
http://www.jasondunn.com/globaltv-concrete-equities-1617
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I’m only a few days a head of you in terms of getting exposed to all this chaos, but here’s what I can tell you thus far (and someone else can correct me if I’m wrong, this is all still very new to me)
>What were the results of the meeting on the 26th?
The properties were discussed; the main issue is that they’re having to look up phone numbers and contact info for people. Lots of manual work, more volunteers are needed.
>I voted yes on the proxy, what are my options now?
I did too, largely on the advice of my Wealthstreet Wealth Coach who said he was voting yes as well. I simply didn’t understand the ramifications of voting yes. My understanding is that motion/vote is now null and void, so our yes votes don’t matter because there were so few of them (thankfully!).
Any specific news on MEG place? I have little to no experience as to what is to going on with this type of dealings, and I appreciate all of information provided on this thread so far
Not to my knowledge. The best thing to do is get in touch with the steering committee representative who’s working on your building – they’re going to be an owner in the same building so have a vested interested in it, just like you. I’m not exactly sure how to get in touch with the steering committee, so go to my blog and use my contact form to email me:
http://www.jasondunn.com/contact
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Urgent message here
Many people have been asking what can we do?
It’s time to take action folks!
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Monday morning, June 1 at 11:45 am, investors will be gathering in front of the Starbucks in Concrete Equities Place, at the corner of 4th street and 11th Ave SW.
We will be picketing!
We feel this is a crucial step in regaining control of our investments.
We understand this will involve people missing work, but it is your money on the line, and you need to do something about it!
You must show up!
We need to show the world that what Concrete Equities has done to us is not acceptable!
Please spread the word!
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Do you really think they will honour anything they have said they would? They have provided enough evidence that they can NOT be trusted. I would anticipate that your payout on the Executive thing will not appear or if it does it will be comprised of the cash that should have been distributed to the people who post here every quarter, but has not….(can you say ponzi??) ………or it is being used to cover the cost of office overhead, or stallng legal processes.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
All of you have asked us how you can help us this is how you can so please be there.The picket are already made.
Be at:
Starbucks at 4th street and 11 Avenue S.W.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I am wondering how Concrete will put a spin on little old ladies walking up and down in front of concrete
with signs calling them Crooks or people in wheel chairs .I would hope this will be front page news.I think we
should do Strategic next and wealth street and there lawyers then the concrete boys homes .Let them see how it is not to sleep at night.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Would it be possible for you or someone involved to post the contact info of all media personnel that have been approached so far in these matters?
If you prefer to offer this information via email let me know.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
HI I beleive that as much media as possilbe has been contacted if you like just phone any media you like and inform them
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
My husband and I are investors in a number of these projects and recently via our lawyer and the ASC found out that most of these sales reps or so called “Wealth Coaches” were not registered either to provide any advice on investments. We are currently looking into our options to seek damages against our sales rep who has made a significant amount of commissions from us and our friends.
Even when we had heard rumours of distress at CE, our sales rep assured us that everything was fine. Now our sales rep is telling us that it was all Dave, Vincenzo and Vinny to blame!! As recently as four months ago, our sales rep was still promoting their products and currently sells for another local investment company. Now he makes it sound like he is right beside the rest of us and claims to be the victim as we see him drive off in his new luxury SUV. We questioned him on numerous occassions about his background and to our surprise has no real experience in the industry.
It is good to know that our sales rep does not have any sleepless nights and is still making money!
We want to make sure our sales reps are just as accountable to these terrible investments that they convinced us to make when they were so anxious to make their commissions. We refuse to just allow them to distance themselves now that CE has been exposed without being accountable themselves. My sister-in-law is an investment advisor in Ontario, she is held accountable for any and all advice she provides a client. Our sales rep profited very well from our referrals and now we are left answering to our close friends. We will provide an update into our action and hope you do the same.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
YOUR ATTENDANCE WILL HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE OUTCOME OF OUR INVESTMENT
This is it everyone…
Don’t let them walk away with your money…
You or a family member/friend need to represent your investment.
We are at a Crossroad, and tomorrow will dictate the strength of our collective group.
If we don’t have a large group at the picket, it will affect our credibility…
Please be at:
Starbucks at 4th street and 11 Avenue S.W.
Concrete Equities Place: 396 – 11th Avenue S.W.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
HI Folks
I have found out that David Jones used 100% unsecured notes to buy the wealth street building . He knows you are not allowed to use 100% debt to get a mortgage.My guess is there is going to be a lot of thing coming out to show the real concrete people.The none communication speaks for it self.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Jason,
I also made a post to your blog regarding concrete equities and the history of Dave Humeniuk. It was deleted as well.
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.
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.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
If there is media there, please direct their attention to this thread, especially my posts about Humeniuk’s lifetime ban, the misleading calculation of returns, and the plagiarized tax opinion in the offering memorandum. Don’t forget to mention the fact you haven’t received audited financial statements as the LP agreement and OM specified.
Can someone print out this entire thread a few times and give it to them, perhaps highlighting my thread.
Should any media figures want details of my research, contact me at ddbergen@gmail.com.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
We are now entering OVER TIME!!!
If you are wondering if you should show up to this event or not…now is the time to follow your gut feeling.
We have a strong team, but we need the SYNERGY of the group.
We are as a only as strong as the weakest person in the group.
Remember you have an important role and your voice will be heard if you choose to participate in today’s event.
This will be my last Blogg until the event is over…I need to go to work this morning and then prepare for the picket at 11:45am.
I hope to see you all out there.
UNITED WE STAND…DIVIDED WE FALL
Even if you are not an investor, this wrong doing needs to stop and we could use your support.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Mob was used as slang
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Don’t understand your comment? Are you an investor?
What has been handed over?
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Sorry my writing was tongue in cheek… all of this is opinion…, if we follow the story…
in my op… Riaz – Property Mogul has from what I can see… purchased Concrete and in so doing purchased these men and their collective problems (finacials are buried)…, problems that are compounding for everyone one of them but Riaz…, in the end all investors of Wealthstreet and/or Concrete appear to be excess cargo…
In my op… these men were about to take these buildings to Riaz in any which way possible… foreclosure – it doesn’t matter Riaz will be there at the end to scoop them up…
In my op…, everyone has been bought sold and the cargo has yet to be delivered…
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Again not an investor, but my opinion is you should be picketing Strategic, as is in the process of taking your investments with no regard to the unit holders. The fact that Strategic is involved makes it all the more slimy!
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
The order of events… about 200-250 amassed initially
1. Concrete Equities Place over one hour
2. Concrete Equities Head Office just under 200 45 minutes
3. Strategic about 50 -60 people 25 minutes
4. Wealthstreet about 15 people 30-45 minutes
(where they conveniently left a few signs out of courtesy – Reports are that
most of the signage was removed at least two remain at the end of the curb… By the lights… I think one read – - WEALTHSTREET – RIP OFF – and the other Dave Jones and Aurora BREACH OF CONTRACT
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Great turn-out yesterday of LPs to picket at the 3 locations – Vincenzo depalma, Dave Jones, Vinny Aurora and Dave Humeniuk never had THIS much publicity before – TAKE NOTICE INVESTORS – stay clear of these ponzi scheme perpetrators!!
Dave Humeniuk is holding another “seminar” tomorrow at 201 – 6 Crowfoot Circle NW (7 pm) – we should take our signs and “inform” the lambs headed to the slaughter what they have in store if they sign up with good ole Dave!
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!
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Read this and explain how they didn’t know what they were doing was illegal. Sorry to all of you that invested…I really do hope you get your hard earned money back, or at least some of it.
http://www.albertasecurities.com/Enforcement/Enforcement%20Orders/Concrete%20Equities%20Executive%20Club%20Inc%20SAU%202008%2012%2022%203046572%20v1.pdf
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Back in November Varun and Vinnie refused to throw this same Dave Humeniuk under the bus while the SNC LPs were in a meeting…, Dave H. was “supposedly in Mexico”… Dave Jones then…, and only Dave Jones prior to this week has said anything negative about Dave H…., and even then Dave Jones has been on a leash…
Only Dave Jones… until this week said anything about Dave H…., as Concrete got further backed up in a corner… now don’t get me wrong Dave Jones is no saint apparently…, but now he has to pick his poison…
Dave Jones is the one getting squeezed here…, talk about being naive…, we only have part of the story and some people still can’t see what is plain as day..
Riaz is calling the shots – and “what credibilty”are you referring to…?
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
…..
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I agree… HONESTLY…
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
The fraud appeared in December and it was then, the new team stepped in.
I want to make my investments safe as well. Court and media is now involved, hence, nothing is at risk of further fraud.
Venting out is just going to make the grey situation look worser. Its time to trust our country’s legal system.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
100% wrong
This “new team” is the very team that shared the same office space and is none other than……… CE
Dave H. was screwing around like everyone else in that office…, the bank won’t deal with you and the LPs voted you out of three buildings… Concede…
This last post is “From the Pit”…
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
…
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Seriously dude… you don’t sound too concerned that Grandpas and Grandmas who have to go back to work because of this fraud…, Crimes that in your op are no greater than spilled milk…
And if you fail to respond I won’t lose any sleep
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Any media person could have listened to their ads and asked “Hmm – this sounds too good to be true. Is there a potential story?” The warning signs were all there, but the liberal media seems to think its role is to act as a mouthpiece for its advertisers.
I posted my email address hoping some people in the liberal media would want further details. No such luck. Its sad how these people have lost any ability to do investigative journalism.
Look at this article, a week after Concrete was sanctioned by the securities commission: http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/city/story.html?id=a00351da-63ff-4dba-b05b-38b94e2a40a3
I contacted Charles Frank from the Herald to complain, and provide further details should they want to do an investigative piece. No response.
I also contacted one of the managers at QR77, who did not respond.
A sales rep from Shine FM responded, telling me that Dave Jones, who was their finance expert, was no longer involved with Concrete.
Shame!
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
It is difficult to resist being smug when reading through this thread. I have been working in the commercial real estate industry for 15 years and have found the last 3 years to be the most frustrating time of my career. As I watched deal after deal being completed by Concrete, Platinum, Strategic, etc. I shook my head in wonderment at the incredible prices being paid and unbelievably low yields that investors seemed willing to accept for the risk profile that commercial property ownership presents. Many, many times I found myself wondering if I was missing the boat and in fact all of these invesors knew something that I did not.
Unfortunately for the many investors in CE and countless other commercial property and land syndications, I was not missing anything. The risk profile of these investments is high and the prices being pad by these investors were not sustainable. The reason most people have not traditionally invested in commercial real estate is because it is an expensive and risky venture – especially for those with little or no experience. Safeguarding an investment in commercial property requires years of experience and expertise. A team of professionals is required to ensure the property is properly maintained, managed and, most importantly, is kept fully leased. Large amounts of capital are required to upgrade air handling systems, fire supressions sytems, roof membrane and structural components of the building. A high level of expertise is necessary to properly structure leases and to ensure there is adequete security behind those leases. Simply put, commercial property investment is not meant for the inexperienced or undercapitalized investor.
Ideally, this debacle will result in better protection for investors and a broader awareness of the risks involved in commercial property investment. There are many excellent property owners in Canada and anyone looking to invest part of their portfolio in this sector would be well advised to discuss these companys with a professional investment advisor (a little plug for Honestly). However, unless you know everyone involved and are confident of their abilities and track record, you should not consider investing in an asset as risky and complex as an office building.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
There is a major uprising over concrete equities and Dave Jones is the link between the two companies. Wealthstreet advertise on the radio and in the mornings Dave Jones will tell his watch list 15 minutes after the market opened, at night he will tell you what happened to a stock and imply that that with their knowledge they could of made you or saved you money.
I decided to track his morning information and after three days stopped, he was giving information that was already in the market and by the time the market opened it was a done deal. As an example he would say I have company X on my watch list, before the market opened company X would make an announcement which would immediately increase or decrease a stocks value, it is impossible and I mean impossible to either drop this stock before it drops or buy it at yesterdays price if the announcement made it go up.
You may a better chance of finding the pea under one of three shells.
As to concrete Equities, I personally own nine commercial properties and either these guys are a million percent smarter then me and any one I know in the business or?
Do your due diligence, I did and I wouldn’t let my kid put his pop bottle money with them.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
To All Limited Partners,
Many of you have been asking about where and when the court date is.
Please be advised that our legal counsel has stated that we need to be on our best behaviour. Any unruly behaviour will not be tolerated by the judge. It will not help our cause. We need to remain Professional. A show of support is fantastic and can’t hurt.
Court will be at 9:00 AM, June 4th, 2009
Location is at the new Court House located on the corner of 6th Ave and 5th ST.
You will have to go through security and have a look at assignments on the electronic board.
It will probably say “Safeguard Limited Partnerships”
Hope to see you all there!!!
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Is there any way to determine exactly how many projects Concrete Equities has dug their sticky fingers into? It seems that with each project they form a new corporation to protect themselves. I think it is important to know just how many investors have been screwed in total and if any one else has been affected. And how does international law impact their questionnable behaviour in the Mexican projects?
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
HONESTLYY… if this is all the result of fraudulant behaviour on the part of Dave H. then why didn’t the mgmt team at CE file any sort of suit on their behalf on Dec? seems to me that a responsible company would address these issues outright rather than attempt to keep it under wraps for 5 months and then blame Dave when everything falls apart. Very suspicious to me.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I found this very interesting…Looks like Shire International is being investigated by the ASC!!!
Is CE and Shire International linked??? Even if they are not, there are going to be a lot more upset investors.
Alberta Securities Commission
ASC Cease Trades Cleone Couch and Shire International
Jun 05 2009
The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) has issued an interim cease trade order against Calgary businesswoman Jeanette Cleone Couch, Shire International Real Estate Development Ltd., Shire Asset Management Ltd., Maples and White Sands Investment Ltd. and Hawaii Fund trust due to allegations of misrepresentations and fraud.
The interim cease trade order is in effect for 15 days and prohibits Couch and the named companies from trading in any securities or relying on any Alberta securities laws exemptions. An ASC panel issued the interim cease trade order after hearing evidence from ASC staff. The ASC has also issued a Notice of Hearing in which ASC staff allege the named parties:
used raised capital for undisclosed, improper purposes and knowingly deceived investors;
made misrepresentations to investors and ASC staff;
engaged in conduct relating to securities that amounted to fraud;
and took part in deceitful conduct that caused an actual loss to investors or placed investors� money at risk.
The next appearance has been scheduled for 2 p.m., June 16, 2009 in the ASC Hearing Room on the 6th Floor, 300 – 5th Avenue, Calgary, Alberta. At that time, an ASC panel will consider extending the interim order.
A copy of the Interim Cease Trade Order and the Notice of Hearing can be found at http://www.albertasecurities.com.
The ASC is the regulatory agency responsible for administering the province’s securities laws. It is entrusted to foster a fair and efficient capital market in Alberta and to protect investors. As a member of the Canadian Securities Administrators, the ASC works to improve, coordinate and harmonize the regulation of Canada’s capital markets.
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May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Very interesting. So why does the ASC not do that with Concrete?
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I think they will once they complete an investigation…
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Exactly… and why did Vinnie DePalma right himself a fat juicy check of $400,000 since Dave H was sent packing…, under cross examination Vinnie couldn’t explain where this money is… OMG what next…
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
How do we acquire a transcript from June 4? I would like to see what was said in court!!
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I dunno “wisemove” I was there in person – and the LPs lawyers were smokin – the judge adjourned however…, one LP said that he had researched her and read she was fair and thorough…, so no one should be all that surprised that she adjourned to read all the cross-examination from Wednesday…
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I sent an email two days ago to meg@dolphin-project.com, but did not get any reply. Does anyone get a reply?
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Online123
Most of the reps work fulltime, so you may not get a response immediately.
If I were you, I would email all five of the emails listed below.
You may not get a response until after the court hearing on June 9th. I have not heard from any of the reps since the last court date on June 4th.
You may not hear from the MEG and CEP reps, because these properties have not been voted on as of yet. After the court date this should change.
I truly think that our legal counsel has asked them not to respond to anyone until the verdict comes down on Tuesday…However, this is only my opinion.
Hang in there…One of the reps will get a hold of you soon.
1)Millrise/Deer Valley: millrise@dolphin-project.com
2)SNC Lavlin: snc@dolphin-project.com
3)Castle Ridge: castleridge@dolphin-project.com
4)Concrete Equities Place: cep@dolphin-project.com
5)MEG Place: meg@dolphin-project.com
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Don’t worry LPs are not going to vote on this right away… they’ll get in touch
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Hi Folks
The steering committee is looking for anyone that has not been contacted by them in the buildings and we are also looking for people in the Mexico projects and any other investment with Concrete or Wealth Street that wants help. We are now trying to do more the contact email is Dragon43@shaw.ca
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Hi Folks
I have an update
To All Investors in ElGolfo Santa Clara, Luna Marada, Conches Chinas, Concrete Executive Club
Committees are being formed for these investments. To have your names added to the lists please e-mail to the corresponding e-mail address, please state your name, investment and # of units held:
ElGolfo Santa Clara: rjmack95@telus.net
Luna Marada: dragon43@shaw.ca
Conches Chinas: dragon43@shaw.ca
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Strategic
Date: Tuesday, July 24 2001
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Business Editors & Legal Writers
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–July 24, 2001
At a hearing on July 23, 2001, the Los Angeles County Superior Court upheld claims for Fraud, Breach of Fiduciary Duty and Unfair Business Practices against JAWZ Inc. (Nasdaq:JAWZ), its current Chief Executive
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Officer, Robert Kubbernus, and its former Chief Financial Officer, Riaz Mamdani. The case against JAWZ and its officers is being pursued by Bristol Asset Management LLC, an early JAWZ investor.
The lawsuit arose after JAWZ entered an agreement with Bristol in April of 1999. The agreement provided Bristol with warrants for 1 million shares of JAWZ stock. Bristol tendered full consideration for the shares in April of 2000.
In response, Kubbernus claimed that the company’s investment bankers were not comfortable with the number of shares Bristol owned, and then JAWZ refused to deliver any stock certificates. Even before then, JAWZ failed to comply with a number of other provisions in the warrant agreement. Bristol is seeking damages in excess of $14 million, as well as punitive damages.
Bristol’s Complaint was amended recently, and Mamdani was added as a Defendant. At a hearing on July 23, Mamdani, Kubbernus and JAWZ argued that the claims against them should be dismissed. The Court disagreed and set the case for trial on Jan. 15, 2002.
http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/torts-damages/6162492-1.html
http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/torts-damages/6162492-1.html
May 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
*H_I Folks_*
**_We need your support on Tuesday 10 /2009 at 2pm at the court house .It is on 5 ST SW between 6 AVE SW and 7 AVE SW .This is important I hope to see you there.
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
The “linkage” is that Shire and Concrete (among others) took advantage of ASC prospectus exemptiion rules to offer investments to the general public which are fundamentally based on continued momentum in the real estate market.
This momentum has paused and because they lack cashflow or significant assets of their own, they are unable to satisfy investors continuing expectations.
Concrete’s moves in attempting to maintain investor confidence in the face of deteriorating conditions can only be described as “sophmoric”.
Shire’s lack of experience in the real estate development space is evident in the projects they have syndicated and even more so in their interim tactics for which the bell is now tolling.
There are many real estate investment structures which are “hitting the ditch” right now and likely to result in investor losses. The irony is that the next 18 months represent a very good window of opportunity for astute real estate investors.
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I received this email this morning from Vincenzo De Palma, President of Concrete Equities Inc. I’m doubtful that he would post it in this thread, so I thought it was worth sharing. It’s long – the first section is about the Mexico investment, of which I have a unit in Santa Clara, and the remainder of the email is about the Calgary investments. If you’re an investor with Concrete Equities, this is worth reading.
********************************
Dear El Golfo (Santa Clara) Investor,
At this time, our firm would like to update you on current developments on this particular project. El Golfo de Santa Clara region remains viable for future tourist development. Being the first point of beachfront on the Sea of Cortez along the coastal highway in the state of Sonora it is developing into a great drive-to destination for Americans. When the project began, the coastal highway was under construction and the international airport was being conceptualized. Since that time the coastal highway is near completion and the international airport to service El Golfo de Santa Clara and the Puerto Puenasco (Rockypoint) area is well underway. Also please keep in mind that your investment is a solid, equity based land hold with no mortgage or debt position on your asset.
Throughout 2008, we have had investor partners visit this locale on guided tours to see the progress on the viability of the region. To ensure greater confidence in your investment, we are planning to have an Annual General Meeting on this investment in the Fall of 2009 that will have an independent assessment of the area that you have invested in. You will meet both the Arizona/Mexico attorney and the Calgary/Mexico attorney that facilitated your transaction as well as developers in the region that have in depth knowledge of this dynamic and growing area. We look forward to seeing you at this informative and enlightening session in the very near future.
At this time, I would also like to sincerely apologize to you for the lack of communication that you have had from our firm in regards to this investment. As you may have heard, Concrete Equities, the marketing company that sold your investment, has been involved in a difference of opinion on management of its unrelated projects in Calgary. Please keep in mind that your investment has no tie to any other investment in Calgary and thus the performance of anything else has no detrimental impact on your specific project. It stands alone in performance, management and expertise. However, in light of the public misinformation and the lack of communication from us, I would like to take this opportunity to outline our corporate position on recent events in Calgary and share with you my commitment to full and open disclosure of the status of your investments going forward. I apologize in advance that this letter is anything but brief; however the need to clearly communicate with you is apparent. I understand that most of the information in this letter is relevant only to the Calgary based investments that have no association with the performance of your project in Mexico, it is still critically important that you have an idea of what has garnered our company a lot of attention in the past few weeks.
Since a market peak, events beyond our control have contributed to a decline in the market value of some of our real estate assets in Calgary. Further, in late 2008, actions of a former director of Concrete Equities were brought to our attention that has further consequences on those Calgary based investments. Since this discovery, we have been working diligently to bring solutions forth that have our investor�s best interests in mind.
By way of background, prior to joining Concrete Equities, I was a senior vice president in a commodity producing organization which transacted primarily in Japan, China, Germany, United States and Canada. I also had significant participation in the Canadian softwood lumber trade dispute. Along with those responsibilities I was an executive of a related housing entity that developed in Japan, China, Korea and Iceland. With the experience that I had in business building strategies and international exposure, I joined the Concrete team in May of 2006 in a marketing, brand building and sales capacity. Since joining the business units, I am proud to say that our team has raised in excess of 130 million dollars for various investments in Canada and internationally for thousands of families. I feel a tremendous obligation for every dollar that you have committed to this business
As in many organizations, Concrete Equities executive responsibilities were allocated among a few individuals. Dave Jones was the CEO of Wealthstreet and promoted our investments while Vinny Aurora and I were responsible for marketing and sales of Concrete Equities and another individual was responsible for the daily operations, management of funds, accounting, investor reporting and securities activities.
In the last quarter of 2008, it became apparent that this director failed to perform his duties. As a result, there has not been an annual general meeting for any of the Limited Partnerships and no financial documents, including audited financial statements, have been produced. Likewise, the mortgage on a property based in Calgary under this director�s management for a limited partnership was allowed to lapse.
On our about December 4, 2008, this director left on an indefinite holiday to Mexico due to an alleged illness. Upon the remaining directors reviewing the corporate documents of the Limited Partnership, the extent of the incomplete responsibilities and duties were becoming more apparent.
Accordingly, on or about December 24, 2008, Vinny Aurora and I visited this director at his residence in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to confront him with the incomplete duties. At this time we terminated this gentleman�s involvement with Concrete Equities and with all the Limited Partnerships.
As a result of these discoveries, we were faced with a daunting task. We had thousands of investors with hundreds of millions of dollars invested across Canadian and International investment projects and an information gap since the very first project began in 2006. This lack of information was apparent both to us on the executive level and most importantly to you on the investor level. To you our investor who has built this business with your confidence and trust, we owe a great responsibility.
Our objective since then has been to figure out a full and complete solution for every single family that has supported us. On December 27, 2008, faced with the challenge of reorganizing and restructuring a business with no reliable information since inception, I was appointed as a director. Dave Jones, a former director, was brought back on board as CEO, and Vinny Aurora as a director assisted in the transition to the new Concrete Equities. At this time for our Calgary and Canadian assets, we assembled some of the brightest real estate minds along with reputable accounting firms recognized nationally. In Mexico, we are leaning on advice from award winning architects and developers. We have retained counsel that has represented some of the largest developers in Mexico with strong political affiliations. All of these steps have been taken to maximize the performance of your investment and ensure greater confidence in your project.
Within 30 days of being appointed as a director, we contracted an independent accounting firm to complete a full recreation of all transactions since inception for the various entities. Since January 26, 2009 till today over 700 hours have been spent assembling full financials from individual transactions in each of the Limited Partnerships.
Due to the incomplete duties of our former director the cash flow investments in Calgary lacked timely and relevant information that is required for regular updates. I believe this has created confusion in our Calgary projects and has led to concern in our international assets.
In response, and to represent the interests of concerned unit holders, a steering committee was formed independently and without the endorsement of Concrete Equities. This committee has been very active and vocal in drawing public attention to the issues surrounding the Calgary investments, and many of its members have been in contact with Concrete demanding information and answers. I would like to take this opportunity to thank and commend this steering committee that has been so committed to their investments and to the investments of the collective. We at Concrete are equally committed to the cause of the steering committee, even though this commitment may have become lost in the public positions that have been taken due to mistrust created from a lack of information. We recognize that regardless of the actions of the previous director we are responsible for the information or lack thereof, and are taking steps to right this wrong.
Unfortunately, some individuals related and unrelated to your investments have favored tactics of rampant speculation, and have rallied investors to fight against Concrete. These tactics have resulted in visits to Concrete director�s homes, threats on their lives, personal harassment of staff and their family members at their places of residence and on personal phone numbers. Although their commitment to a cause is commendable, the information that they have rallied around has been a little misguided.
What concerns me is that certain steps in the Calgary based assets have been taken or proposed that are not in our opinion in the best interest of the investors. To clarify some points of misinformation:
(a) The mortgage at SNC Lavalin (SNC) lapsed in the fourth quarter of 2008 due to the previous director that was in charge of that responsibility. The new ownership structure maintained the relationship with Standard Life to have a continuance well into the second quarter of 2009 even though this mortgage had lapsed. The ability to extend the Standard Life mortgage maturity was due to the strength of the positive business relationship.
(b) The replacement General Partner for certain of the limited partnerships being proposed by the steering committee as �Lavalin LP� for at least three current Calgary assets, including Deervalley/Millrise, SNC Lavalin and Castleridge creates a potential cross-liability among partnerships. This is particularly dangerous given that the analysis of all transactions between the partnerships has yet to be completed. In this structure, proposed by the steering committee, the investors in Castleridge would be possibly inheriting the liability in SNC which is already obvious and vice versa across all other projects. I do not believe that this is in the best interest of the collective nor was this properly understood by all investors, if ever explained at all.
(c) Investors have been provided property management reports supporting some circumstances of positive cash flow without fully appreciating additional expenses, loans, and transactions beyond just the property management reports. They have not been considered, but are liabilities of the limited partnerships, and ultimately will become the responsibility of the General Partner to manage.
To find a solution, certain critical steps need to be taken to act in the best interests of the unit holders and ensure preservation of the underlying assets of the partnerships and the maximization of value of these Calgary based assets.
As evidenced by materials filed in the Court of Queen�s Bench of Alberta two weeks ago, our immediate priority is to grant full access of the limited partnerships books and records to a respected independent accounting firm (Ernst & Young) to act as an interim receiver that would report to the court with the clear mandate to:
(a) Carry out a review and assessment of the Limited Partnership�s, assets and liabilities;
(b) Protect and preserve the assets and undertakings of the Limited Partnership;
(c) Determine the extent of the former director�s irregularities and if any further action, legal or otherwise, is required to protect the Limited Partnership�s interest; and
(d) Report to stakeholders and advise on the most commercially reasonable way by which the value of such business and assets can be maximized whether by way of continuation in its present form or the sale of the assets and undertakings of the Limited Partnership to maximize the value of its business and asset,
so that an informed decision can be made by the limited partners and other stakeholders as to what steps and proceedings should be taken on behalf of the Limited Partnership to maximize the value of its business and assets.
This wide-sweeping mandate will shine a bright light on the activities of the partnerships and maximize the value to investors.
It is unfortunate that this mandate has been construed as a filing for bankruptcy or an implication that there is no value remaining in the Calgary based investments.
The filing, pursuant to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, was a necessary step to enact a court-sanctioned cessation of the misinformed acts of some stakeholders to allow the time required to assemble critical financial and operational information. I am pleased to say that since this filing, Concrete has been permitted the time to provide books, records, and analysis to Ernst & Young supporting the creation of a current financial picture of your investments.
We are confident that these steps will ensure that investors in the limited partnerships will become fully informed of the status of their investments. In addition, we are confident that equity still remains to support the value in the Calgary based projects.
Our objective is to maximize shareholder value by instituting this court monitored restructuring of all the investments. Attempts of reaching a restructuring consensus solution outside of court was proposed to the steering committee. We recognized the lack of information and our plan was to assemble information collectively with the investor committee to reach a number of solutions for each asset and have them presented at an Annual General Meeting to all investors. This agreed plan was not followed through and thus the court appointed process for finding a solution had to be initiated. Further court applications were filed by the steering committee to restrict the ability of the General Partner to call an Annual General Meeting on the Calgary cash flow investment projects. A court application was then filed by the General Partners to request the appointment of an interim receiver; this should not be misconstrued as an attempt to maintain control by Concrete. It is in actuality the opposite, we are relinquishing control to a non-partisan group that will find the solution to the real estate. Upon completion of this work, investors in the related projects will have a clear picture on the status of each asset and informed expert information on the most commercially reasonable way to maximize shareholder value on a go forward basis.
The situation we find ourselves in is larger than any individual, committee or corporate brand. A decision must be made to implement a process to consider approximately 4,000 families that have their hard earned investments in a multitude of projects. Considering the confusion and the lack of information that has caused mistrust, I am confident this is the best strategy to not only find the solution for every investment but also to assist in holding accountable any individual that might have committed irregularities and/or was negligent in duties due to the limited partners and the General Partner.
I sincerely appreciate and commend individuals in the steering committee that have voiced their concerns, but please understand that our objectives are completely aligned – the maximization of your investment and the protection of your assets. We are not fighting for control, quite the opposite we are relinquishing control to a process and protocol that is in the best interest of all the families across the investments. When new management took over the business in 2008, we had two options to work to protect our personal reputations and jeopardize the investments of the many or potentially call into question our reputations and work for only one purpose, righting the alleged mistakes of a past director and rebuilding your faith in your investment. We chose the later.
Please remember that your investment is not tied to the performance and status of any other investment nor is it tied or legally bound to Concrete Equities. Your investment is in good standing irregardless of rhetoric that you have heard and we endeavor to further build your confidence in your asset at an Annual General Meeting that will have a panel of Mexico experts familiar with the region that your asset is in.
Thank you for the time you have taken in reading this. We have had thousands of calls and unfortunately we have not been able to respond to each one and thus we have attempted to clarify any misconception in this letter to you, our valued investor.
Please visit our website for regular press releases and other relevant information during this time of transition, http://www.concreteequities.com.
Respectfully,
Vincenzo De Palma
President
Concrete Equities Inc.
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
“Judge sides with Concrete Equities, makes appointment in dispute with disgruntled investors”
http://www.calgaryherald.com/Business/Business/1679179/story.html
Doesn’t look like good news for the Limited Partners who were trying to change the General Partner.
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Sounds like a lot of bullshit to me! They didn’t come up with this story 3 months ago???
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I can honestly say that I have never read such a crock of **** in my life. The “lone gunmen” takes down Concrete. Give me a break. Regardless, they are Directors and have a fiduciary responsibility for things as simple as current financials. He says that the Mexican stuff is separate but they clearly pledged several of the Calgary assets together to get the money from Strategic. It’s absolutely mind-boggling what liars these guys are. Where in the hell are the securities commissions and the RCMP?
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
*I can honestly say that I have never read such a crock of **** in my life. The “lone gunmen” takes down Concrete. Give me a break. Regardless, they are Directors and have a fiduciary responsibility for things as simple as current financials. He says that the Mexican stuff is separate but they clearly pledged several of the Calgary assets together to get the money from Strategic. It’s absolutely mind-boggling what liars these guys are. Where in the hell are the securities commissions and the RCMP?*
Agreed – and the current Concrete team is already trying to “soften the blow” by apearing to inititate the process and cooperate with the Courts in the the name ofthe LPs…, Hogwash – LPs voted to rid themselves of the Concrete GP and had they not the Concrete Team would have further driven these said properties into ruins for Riaz to eventually buy for little to nothing…
I think Judge Romaine is already onto this… hell it even sounded like Riaz had his Strategic lawyer terminate some of the “bogus fees” prior to the Receiver having to wade through them…. I figure that for Riaz it is about negative publicity now and he has heard his name too much linked to these guys…, albeit it’s Riaz’ bed he slept it in to…
Does anyone else know much about this “termination” agrement
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Vincent, why are you say vague about the company you previously worked for? Did things there not end well?
Winton global is the name of the company, did you forget what it was called? And the commodity was LUMBER! That is why you have all that worldly experience in the softwood lumber negotiations.The related housing entity was called soruce capital homes? Correct? Wow, can you say vague? Why no talk of your daus as a labourer for the city of prince george? Not glamorous enough? I have heard of a 3 dressed up as a 9! and lipstick on a pig! But seriously?
“By way of background, prior to joining Concrete Equities, I was a senior vice president in a commodity producing organization which transacted primarily in Japan, China, Germany, United States and Canada. I also had significant participation in the Canadian softwood lumber trade dispute. Along with those responsibilities I was an executive of a related housing entity that developed in Japan, China, Korea and Iceland. With the experience that I had in business building strategies and international exposure, I joined the Concrete team in May of 2006 in a marketing, brand building and sales capacity. Since joining the business units, I am proud to say that our team has raised in excess of 130 million dollars for various investments in Canada and internationally for thousands of families. I feel a tremendous obligation for every dollar that you have committed to this business”
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Thanks for sharing Vincenzo’s heartbreaking story. I’m now confident my investments are safe (not really)
I’m a MEG investor (2008) and CEP investor (2007).Funny, now that I’ve checked my CEP info, seems I didn’t get any financials for 2007 either. I guess they didn’t catch the “director” for no financials for 2007. Investors probably didn’t call or inquire because we did get a Dec 31/07 payment.But, hey, they did wake up for 2008-I guess it was the calls from the investors inquiring where the quarterly payments were.Wouldn’t you think that a management team would review all the financials for every property/project at least annually, if not quarterly, but what do I know?
Those of you in some of the earlier investments-did you ever get financials for any of the properties for prior years????If not, I guess the same “director” was managing those as well (busy guy!!).
They apologize for lack of communication-as an LP you are entitled to all the news- good and bad. Rather then advising that no quarterly payment is on the way(for whatever imaginary reason), they just say nothing or deal with it if you call.But come on-how could they possibly know anything was wrong???(the Resolution was just an innocent thing-that should be the nail in the coffin that they knew exactly what was going on and blatantly tried to scw#$ the LP’s)
I’m sure we all feel sorry for the “harassed” directors.
Who is paying Concretes legal fees??
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Rhetoric is defined as the art of using language as a means to persuade.
Let’s look at an example of rhetoric in this quote from Vincenzo DePalma;
When new management took over the business in 2008, we had two options to work to protect our personal reputations and jeopardize the investments of the many or potentially call into question our reputations and work for only one purpose, righting the alleged mistakes of a past director and rebuilding your faith in your investment. We chose the later.
That’s funny, I seem to recall you trying to conceal the situation from all the shareholders in the proposed sale to Strategic!
While at the same time insisting that the sale was in the best interests of all the shareholders, and stating “not to worry, we’ll get you the financials later…”
Financials that did not actually exist at that point in time?
Why such the rush to push the special resolution and sale to Strategic by April 15?
Vincenzo who do you think you are fooling with all your rhetoric?
You tried to screw “approximately 4,000 families” out of “their hard earned investments” and that fact is impossible to conceal now.
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
It is too bad that these companies are tarnishing the industry for those who truly want to capitalize on opportunities in this new economy. It’s unfortunate because the time is so right for alligning ourselves with a credible, industry experience rich and transparent company that will allow us to capitalize on the here and now like a mutual trust with secured dividends and at the end of the day a respectful profit share and be able to sleep at night.
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
For those that might not have heard, I just got word via email that there�s a meeting for all Concrete Equities investors:
�There is a general meeting being held for �ALL� investors in Concrete Equities projects, including the Mexico Properties. It is very important that you attend this meeting being held:
Wednesday June 17, 2009 � 7PM
Southside Victory Village
6402 1A ST SW
We are now starting to receive emails from El Golfo investors asking �what is being done�, how does our investment stand�. To this end we have formed a Mexico steering committee and alligned ourselves with the Calgary Buildings Steering Committee.�
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I’m invested in the El Golfo project but live in Edmonton. Who do I contact to get information on what transpires at this meeting?
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Here is the Mexico contact information…
To All Investors in ElGolfo Santa Clara, Luna Marada, Conches Chinas, Concrete Executive Club
Committees are being formed for these investments. To have your names added to the lists please e-mail to the corresponding e-mail address, please state your name, investment and # of units held:
ElGolfo Santa Clara: rjmack95@telus.net
Luna Marada: dragon43@shaw.ca
Conches Chinas: dragon43@shaw.ca
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Several times through this thread, I have seen reference to Riaz and his relationship with the principal of Platinum Equities, Shariff Chandran. I am involved in an investment in one of Sharriff’s other companies, Leben REIT. I have no proof, but am highly suspicious that I am being duped with respect to the investment. Unfortunately, I have been unable to turn up any good information on what is really happening in this investment. I have not come across a blog or link like this for Leben, or Platinum for that matter. If anyone has any information or is aware of a blog, please point me in the right direction.
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Jason,
I applaude you for getting the correct information out to everyone. Did the Mexico assets go to the receiver as well?
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Everyone, I think that Vincenzo De Palma must be reading this board. He is sending this letter to the Mexico investors as a means of trying to encourage them not to form a steering committee and not to look into the various holes in the Mexico project. Vincenzo since you are probably reading this board I thought I would comment on and help translate the meaning behind your letter.
Please keep in mind that your investment has no tie to any other investment in Calgary and thus the performance of anything else has no detrimental impact on your specific project.
So, all the Calgary projects have been comingled together but the Mexico projects are completely seperate???? As well did this “former parner” (Dave Humeniuk) not get his hands into these projects as well?
Further, in late 2008, actions of a former director of Concrete Equities were brought to our attention that has further consequences on those Calgary based investments.
I find it very hard to believe that you had no idea what was going on. You have been very involved with all of the projecs since the beginning.
I was a senior vice president in a commodity producing organization which transacted primarily in Japan, China, Germany, United States and Canada. I also had significant participation in the Canadian softwood lumber trade dispute. Along with those responsibilities I was an executive of a related housing entity that developed in Japan, China, Korea and Iceland. With the experience that I had in business building strategies and international exposure,
You should elaborate on why you left this commodity producing organization. Word on the street is that you were fired and there may have been some alleged improprieties there as well.
I joined the Concrete team in May of 2006 in a marketing, brand building and sales capacity.
In other words “I had no idea what was really going on at the company”
I am proud to say that our team has raised in excess of 130 million dollars for various investments in Canada and internationally for thousands of families.
The fact that you are proud of this fact is very concerning.
As in many organizations, Concrete Equities executive responsibilities were allocated among a few individuals. Dave Jones was the CEO of Wealthstreet and promoted our investments while Vinny Aurora and I were responsible for marketing and sales of Concrete Equities and another individual was responsible for the daily operations, management of funds, accounting, investor reporting and securities activities.
Remember, investors I really did have no idea what was going with the company.
Accordingly, on or about December 24, 2008, Vinny Aurora and I visited this director at his residence in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to confront him with the incomplete duties. At this time we terminated this gentleman’s involvement with Concrete Equities and with all the Limited Partnerships.
You fired him on or about Christmas eve?
At this time for our Calgary and Canadian assets, we assembled some of the brightest real estate minds along with reputable accounting firms recognized nationally
Who is paying for these bright real estate minds and reputable accounting firms? Why don’t you want to mention them by name if they are so bright and reputable. I would guess that they either aren’t reputable or don’t want their name associated with Concrete Equities.
Within 30 days of being appointed as a director, we contracted an independent accounting firm to complete a full recreation of all transactions since inception for the various entities. Since January 26, 2009 till today over 700 hours have been spent assembling full financials from individual transactions in each of the Limited Partnerships.
Which is why Dave Jones said the Financials were complete and just needed to be picked up from the CA’s office? After you vote yes.
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
HONESTLY…, To answer in short form Concrete says “no”… but the Mexico projects hold “assets” (concrete lawyer-talk) against our 5 properties..
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Jack987 wrote:
Everyone, I think that Vincenzo De Palma must be reading this board. He is sending this letter to the Mexico investors as a means of trying to encourage them not to form a steering committee and not to look into the various holes in the Mexico project. Vincenzo since you are probably reading this board I thought I would comment on and help translate the meaning behind your letter.
Please keep in mind that your investment has no tie to any other investment in Calgary and thus the performance of anything else has no detrimental impact on your specific project.
So, all the Calgary projects have been comingled together but the Mexico projects are completely seperate???? As well did this “former parner” (Dave Humeniuk) not get his hands into these projects as well?
Further, in late 2008, actions of a former director of Concrete Equities were brought to our attention that has further consequences on those Calgary based investments.
I find it very hard to believe that you had no idea what was going on. You have been very involved with all of the projecs since the beginning.
I was a senior vice president in a commodity producing organization which transacted primarily in Japan, China, Germany, United States and Canada. I also had significant participation in the Canadian softwood lumber trade dispute. Along with those responsibilities I was an executive of a related housing entity that developed in Japan, China, Korea and Iceland. With the experience that I had in business building strategies and international exposure,
You should elaborate on why you left this commodity producing organization. Word on the street is that you were fired and there may have been some alleged improprieties there as well.
I joined the Concrete team in May of 2006 in a marketing, brand building and sales capacity.
In other words “I had no idea what was really going on at the company”
I am proud to say that our team has raised in excess of 130 million dollars for various investments in Canada and internationally for thousands of families.
The fact that you are proud of this fact is very concerning.
As in many organizations, Concrete Equities executive responsibilities were allocated among a few individuals. Dave Jones was the CEO of Wealthstreet and promoted our investments while Vinny Aurora and I were responsible for marketing and sales of Concrete Equities and another individual was responsible for the daily operations, management of funds, accounting, investor reporting and securities activities.
Remember, investors I really did have no idea what was going with the company.
Accordingly, on or about December 24, 2008, Vinny Aurora and I visited this director at his residence in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to confront him with the incomplete duties. At this time we terminated this gentleman’s involvement with Concrete Equities and with all the Limited Partnerships.
You fired him on or about Christmas eve?
At this time for our Calgary and Canadian assets, we assembled some of the brightest real estate minds along with reputable accounting firms recognized nationally
Who is paying for these bright real estate minds and reputable accounting firms? Why don’t you want to mention them by name if they are so bright and reputable. I would guess that they either aren’t reputable or don’t want their name associated with Concrete Equities.
Within 30 days of being appointed as a director, we contracted an independent accounting firm to complete a full recreation of all transactions since inception for the various entities. Since January 26, 2009 till today over 700 hours have been spent assembling full financials from individual transactions in each of the Limited Partnerships.
Which is why Dave Jones said the Financials were complete and just needed to be picked up from the CA’s office? After you vote yes.
Straight up he does.. or somene very close to him does… Great Post…!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Duped2 – I would assume that you are aware the Leben sold the Ship & Anchor Building in March to Riaz- but given the current state of affairs, it is probably unwise to assume anything. So, you should know that the Ship & Anchor building was traded on March 3, 2009 for $9 Million – about $1.5M less than what they paid – and still way too much for that building IMHO.
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Office vacancies swell as recession takes hold
Near-record levels seen in years ahead
By Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald June 20, 2009
I t wasn’t long ago that Calgary boasted the lowest office vacancy rates in the country.
But that picture has changed dramatically thanks to a vicious recession and the city now has among the highest office vacancy rates in the country, according to commercial real estate firm CB Richard Ellis Ltd.
And only a rebound in energy prices will prevent those vacancy rates from rising to near-record levels in the next two years or so.
“Two years ago we were at a record low and look where we are today,” said Greg Kwong, regional managing director for CBRE in Calgary. In the fourth quarter of 2006, Calgary’s downtown office vacancy was a minuscule 0.5 per cent.
Calgary’s downtown office vacancy rate has risen to 8.9 per cent in the second quarter of this year, representing the second-highest level in the country behind London, Ont.’s 14.2 per cent, in a survey of 10 major centres by CBRE. The national downtown vacancy rate has increased to 6.6 per cent from 5.8 per cent in the previous quarter.
In the first quarter of this year, Calgary’s downtown vacancy rate was 6.9 per cent.
The city has an inventory of nearly 33.5 million square feet in the downtown.
There are also nearly five million square feet of space under construction and, so far this year, the amount of total leased space has dropped by nearly 900,000 square feet.
Calgary’s downtown vacancy rate hit a high of 21.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of 1992.
Kwong said demand for space has slowed and those companies looking for space are looking for cheap sublet square footage.
“In a year and a half from now, some of these newer buildings under construction are going to hit and then you’re going to see the amount of head-lease space vacancy rise,” Kwong said. “The big chunk(of the new office space under construction) comes in 2011, 2012. The vacancy could get as high as 18 per cent. Some of our clients are saying over 20, but we don’t believe that at all. But anywhere from 15 to 18 per cent is reasonable to assume.”
However, Kwong said a saving grace is if oil gets up to$80 or $85 US a barrel, everything changes.
He said the percentage of sublet space in the total vacancy for the downtown has risen from about 20 per cent a few years ago to nearly 55 per cent today.
“That is entirely due to the weakness of the junior oil and gas market that is still there. That is still prevalent in spite of little glimmers of hope that you see. The juniors are still under severe pressure. No way to raise money. No drilling activity. No cash flow. So what do they do? Sublet their space,” said Kwong.
The rising vacancy rates indicate the Calgary economy still is experiencing a continued downturn, said Adam Legge, vice-president and chief economist with Calgary Economic Development.
“It suggests that we haven’t reached our bottom point or stabilization point quite yet. Companies continue to experience layoffs and less need for real estate. They’re putting it back on the market. They’re not demanding as much and therefore we’re seeing vacancies rise,” said Legge.
He said it’s a bit surprising that Calgary has gone from the lowest vacancy rate to among the highest in the country.
“You look at some of the employment figures in terms of unemployment across the country and we’re in the top half of lower unemployment rate. Yet obviously the impact on the real estate space has been more dramatic than perhaps the labour market,” said Legge.
“To me what that suggests is perhaps a lot of companies were planning on continued growth, continued hiring and expansion of their workforces. That has turned around a little bit for this short period. Therefore they’re putting a lot of space they probably got as growth space back on the market because they’re just not in growth mode right now.”
In Calgary, suburban office space vacancy has risen to 12.4 per cent in the second quarter from 10.3 per cent in the first quarter while the industrial real estate availability rate has increased to 5.9 per cent from five per cent.
The suburban office vacancy rate hit a low of 1.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2006. Its high was 18.1 per cent in the second quarter of 1994.
The industrial real estate low was 0.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2006 with a high of 6.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 1992.
Nationally, suburban office vacancy is 10.5 per cent, up from 9.7 per cent in the previous quarter. The industrial real estate availability rate is 7.4 per cent, up from 6.7 per cent in the first quarter.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
I thought this article gave a good insight into what is happening with supply and demand. I would advise to remain calm in these volatile times and restate your investment goals over a longer time period. The market will eventually comeback. Most want to make quick money, I would suggest you understand your own risk vs reward ratio before making a move.
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I read the Herald article today as well. I agree that we need to be patient and wait for the results of the audit before anymore action is taken. The economy will improve and the investments will perform better. Give it a chance.
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I am an SNC investor, and there is a lot of good information on this thread. It’s a long read to do the whole read, but it’s a good read if you have any money invested with Concrete.
One point I would like to make. There are several posts implying that the investors in these properties are “clueless”, or didn’t know what they were doing, or didn’t do any homework.
I do not know much of the properties other than the SNC project, but I believe I did a reasonable amount of due diligence before I purchased my share for $50k (using a Home equity LOC). I was trying to get in on the Calgary Real Estate boom and I believed this was a good project for me. The original returns at the beginning were fairly low, but they did improve every year, and with long term, way below current market leases due to expire in 2011 there would be significant opportunity for huge improvements in only a 5 year term. Every other project that I looked at seemed to have more recent lease signings where the leases were already closer to current market rates. This means these buildings will sell for more because they generate more revenue. In other words, the current owner is making their money from their investment by selling the building to Concrete (or anyone else for that matter). The SNC building was the opposite of this. As an owner in SNC, I would be the one making the profit when we sold the building in the 6-7 year term when these leases renew. I accepted the lower returns in the beginning in exchange for so much potential (read RISK) in the future.
Also, I am was well aware of the fact that Concrete made a big chunk of money when they sold the building to the LP, I knew this because I asked them and they told me they made a significant commission when they broker deals like this. I only say this because it seems a lot of other investors are surprised at this fact. That being said though, it does look like Concrete helped themselves to much bigger commissions as they did more and more of these projects. In fact, it looks like some of these commissions were just down-right insane. I think they took a little under 7% from SNC ($1.5M out of $22M I think), and I’ve heard on some other projects they took as much as $10M, I’m not sure what that is as a % because I’m not sure the total purchase price (anyone out there know?) Does anyone have any insight as to what is normal or market for the broker of a syndication like this?
Anyways, for me, this was very much a hold and wait investment, I never even considered trying to sell my share, and with interest rates so low, the payments on my LOC are so low, they are insignificant.
I guess all I can say for myself now, is next time, my due diligence will include looking at the people managing my investments. I only concentrated on the investment itself. That being said, this investment didn’t require a magnificent GP who could negotiate half market mortgage rates, this investment didn’t need a stellar property manager to negotiate double market rental rates to turn a profit. All it needed was competent management. In fact, I believe it was such a good investment, even with a bit of incompetent management it would still do quite well.
I have no idea what Concrete did to mess it up this bad. I personally spoke with Vince on several occasions about the mortgage. He always said he was just a couple of weeks away from signing a new one. He’s been saying that for months. It is now apparent that they probably never even tried to get a mortgage. Now he seems quite content to tell everyone that it’s ok because they are still making payments on their inflated bridge finance deal with the mortgage holder. Look at the year comparisons on the income statements from Avenue. The difference between the original mortgage and this temporary one is almost $250,000 / year in interest. That’s about $1,000 for each investor. How does Vince say this isn’t a big deal and he’s taken care of it by doing nothing?
The GP’s have always said that they are acting in the interest of the LP’s. Then why is it that every single decision they’ve ever made of seems to be exactly the worst thing for the LPs? Not getting a mortgage? Probably because they assumed Strategic would just deal with it, it would be Riaz problems? What’s with them turning down potential clients that would’ve rented out 2 floors at $27 / sq foot??? That’s just insane.
I’d like to just think they are bumbling idiots, but let’s be serious. I honestly do not think that these guys are idiots, they’re not. I’ve refrained from making acquisitions of criminal activity due to lack of hard evidence. But there is so much to indicate that the GP has intentionally and deliberately interfered with all of their buildings so as to lower the market value of the buildings. Why would they do this? I’ve thought about it, lots. The only thing that makes sense to me is that the deal they have with Strategic is that the cheaper Strategic can appraise these buildings at, the more money Strategic will pay the GP’s in the form of commissions or bonuses. Now, someone please correct me if I am wrong, but the GP’s have a legal duty to look after the LP’s interest, and if they do not, it goes beyond a civil matter and may potentially become a criminal matter, right? Just because we haven’t found the smoking gun yet, doesn’t mean it’s not there.
The mortgage being called isn’t Concrete’s fault. It’s not. Concrete not being willing to even try to secure reasonable financing is their fault. Jacobs moving out wasn’t Concrete’s fault, in fact it would have been a good thing, but Concrete said no to the tenants that would have paid way more than Jacobs was paying. A new mortgage at potentially a lower interest rate than the original one and replaced tenants paying more in rent would have meant this would have been the best year yet for SNC. Instead, it’s the worst. And getting a mortgage and securing tenants are normal responsibilities for the GP in any project like this. If concrete did nothing, absolutely nothing, and just left the property manager to run everything, this investment would be better than it is now because every time they do something, anything, it’s always the worst thing they could possibly do.
This brings me back to my point about doing your homework before you invest. Even looking back now, I had absolutely no reason to suspect the GP’s would either be a) The worst GP’s in the history of property syndication or b) Criminal thieves. They are obviously one of the two. Which one has yet to be proven. I’m leaning towards the criminal thieves just because I do not believe that anyone can be as stupid as they are to just “happen” to make so many mistakes and mismanage these properties so bad, that they are all in jeopardy.
It does appear the steering committee and the legal council should eventually straighten all this out, and it’s starting to look like I will eventually get my investment back. I just need to be patient. In all honesty though, I’m having a harder time waiting to see these crooks go to jail than I am having to wait for my money.
my 2 cents
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I have an update
To All Investors in ElGolfo Santa Clara, Luna Marada, Conches Chinas, Concrete Executive Club
Committees are being formed for these investments. To have your names added to the lists please e-mail to the corresponding e-mail address, please state your name, investment and # of units held:
ElGolfo Santa Clara: rjmack95@telus.net
Luna Marada: dragon43@shaw.ca
Conches Chinas: dragon43@shaw.ca
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Sent: Wed Jun 17 18:17:25 2009
Subject: RE: Letter to Safeguard LP Unit Holders
Hello Neil,
My apologies and I must have miss understood the discussion we had in our meeting yesterday. My understanding was that Kevin was preparing the website link and communication for the investors. In addition, I was my understanding that you wanted to establish our board structure with the 4 members tomorrow and a meeting on Friday and at that session we were all going to agree to cease communication to the investors.
I will ensure that this will be the last communication to these investors and I am looking forward to working with you as well as the board to allow for solution to this matter. Once again, my sincere apologies to all – please call me if you would like to discuss further.
Regards,
CONCRETE EQUITIES INC.
Vincenzo De Palma
President
PH: (403) 265 0020
CELL: (403) 862 0127
DIRECT: (403) 513 2360
TOLL FREE: (866) 912 0020
e-mail: vdepalma@concreteequities.com
http://www.concreteequities.com
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
As you can see Vincenzo does not do what he is told to do by Lawyers or the Judge Surprise
.He has done nothing to help us and everything to hurt us.
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I’m not sure that I understand the context of that email from Vincenzo. Who is Neil?
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Jack
Neil would be Enst & Young Receiver I would think…, Vincenzo was to stop the spam and he didn’t so Vince is kissing up to the Receiver
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I just wanted to bring to light some information on Mr. De Palma’s past business ethics. He was formerly employed by Winton Global forest products out of Prince George, BC. He started as a fork lift driver, then was brought into sales, and later promoted to vice-president of sales after a major management change (all of those managers have since been let go). He was eventually terminated for cause due to a massive embezzlement scheme. This is a family owned company that out of emabarassment and shame, chose not to criminally prosecute. He was let go immediately and left town for obvious reasons. Perhaps his business ethics has changed, perhaps not. I would not go anywhere near a business associated with such an individual.
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
And guess where he ended up after leaving Prince George…with Concrete Equities in Calgary!
In the worst case scenario, Concrete Equities could be another avenue to commit fraud for personal gain. In the best case scenario, it’s a company run by a 42 year old guy with almost his whole career working for a lumber mill, no formal post-secondary education to speak of, and now he’s running a company that manages $300 million in other peoples money – might this be over one’s head?
June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Anyone have some words on the court case this morning…?
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Most corporations will use their lawyer’s offices as their registered offices. I’m actually surprised that people investing in exempt securities would not know that.
Undoubtedly this wasn’t legal fees, but a mortgage.
Quite honestly if you are asking questions like this you should not be investing in these type of securities. They are not intended for the general public, but for special classes of more sophisticated investors.
Perhaps we should make people pass some sort of accredited investor exam before they are allowed to invest in anything without a prospectus.
Hmmm, anyone see that Foundation Capital just got in trouble. I’m not surprised.
WantToRetire wrote:
Here’s an interesting website, apparently 934608 Alberta Ltd’s address of #440, 7220 Fisher Street SE is the location of a law firm.
http://www.taylorconway.ca/contact.jsp
They are secured creditors for $5.5mil x 5 properties = $27,500,000. Did we pay for OJ’s trial lawyer too?
That’s a lot of money for legal fees. Anyone that went to court remember the name of Concrete’s or Strategic’s lawyer? Were they of this firm?
If you know, please post
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
If it is a mortgage the limited partners were not informed nor nor did they have a chance to vote on the use of their investment. Boys…….bend over and pick up the soap I’m getting very mad.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
If these investments aren’t intended for the general public….why did I hear it advertised on QR77 for many months. In fact Dave Jones is still on there. That last blog has really pissed me off.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Except they’re NOT only for accredited investors, neither by law nor by practice. In fact, that’s these guy’s entire marketing pitch. Making these types of investments available to the general public.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Unfortunately not everyone is in this special class of sophisticated investors, that perhaps you belong to.
We are just trying to get more information to better understand the situation we are in.
No need to be rude quinster – we realize we should have asked more questions going in.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
This has absolutely nothing to do with the level of sophistication, knowledge or “savvy” of anyone who participated in the investments offered by Concrete Equities.
It has everything to do with the potential fraud that has occurred. And, had the management at Concrete followed their own documentation as per their roles, responsibilities, and limits upon their actions as custodians of the assetts it is likely that the only issue we would ALL be worrying about would be some vacant office spaces.
Instead, we are now in the throws of forensic audits, possible theft and fraud, continued spend on legal fees, and the worry of whether or not we will ever see any of our original investments, let alone any profit. By stating that this should, or was, or should have only been, the bastien of the “sophisticated” transfers blame and culpability from THEM to ME, WE, and US.
And quite bluntly, I am not responsible for unethical, perhaps illegal behaviours, nor do you Quinster, have the right to place it there, intentionally or otherwise.
Please in the future, provide assistance and insights if you can, but refrain from the “I told you so” postings.
It is just very bad taste.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
In response to Quinsters amazingly intelligent and insightful response:
First off, this thread is a place where LP’s and interested parties can share information, opinions and ideas. My post was actually saying “does anyone know who these lawyers are and if there are any connections to Concrete”. As we all know, Concrete has already posted their business partners and family members as secured creditors against our assets, without any supporting documentation.
I remain extremely confident that when I said “$27.5M for legal fees, did we pay for OJ’s trail lawyer” that most people with any intelligence at all would understand the intent of that statement. Sarcasm.
You say that “Undoubtedly this wasn’t legal fees, but a mortgage.” WOW, you’re amazing, does anyone confuse you with Sherlock Holmes?
If anyone has the intent to post comments to share opinions, share advice, or to show support to our cause then please do. But if the only way you can feel better about yourself is to post “your a dummy” or “I told you so” or “nyah nyah” or “I’m so great” then do everyone on this board a favor and piss off.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I am not an investor with Concrete Equities but would like to provide some background info on Vince De Palma. I grew up with Vince (as he was known before he figured Vincenzo sounded more prestigious) in Prince George and knew his family. Vince was run out of Prince George after he was caught stealing thousands of dollars (possibly hundreds of thousands) for the company he worked for, Winton Global. Unfortunately he did not face any criminal charges as the company was a family based business and did not want the bad publicity. Vince had set up a dummy company and was selling lumber to his customers and pocketing the profits. He was caught when one of the customers complained to the head of Winton Global that their prices were too high.
Since then I see he has continued his criminal ways and has stolen thousands of dollars once again from innocent people. I can’t stand to see a man (used very lightly) like this continue to get away with this. He needs to be punished to the full extent of the law (I am not sure how this can happen) so he does not prey on any more people. People (scum) like him always seem to land on their feet. Vince I hope that one day you meet your maker and that you are the one getting in the a%%. How do you sleep at night knowing that you have wrecked people’s lives? What do your parents think of you or have you deceived them as well? They are good people of which you are not!!
To all the investors of Concrete Equities, I wish you well in your pursuit of justice. I will continue to watch the activities of the court and hope and pray that they send these scumbags packing. Better yet I would love to see some jail time. Keep fighting!!!
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I don’t think Quinster intended his post to be insulting towards the investors of Concrete Equities.
When you all invested with Concrete Equites you would have signed documentation indicating that you are either an accredited or an eligible investor. (Or atleast you should have). This requirement is important to protect the investors by ensuring investors are able to withstand potential losses and have an understanding of what they are investing in.
Perhaps Concrete Equities was guilty of not really caring if their investors fit into these categories or not, and just expected them to sign off as accredited or eligible regardless. I don’t know this to be true for a fact, but I certainly do wonder.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Quinster and Jack987:
The two of you may not have all the facts. Have you been to any of our meetings? Have you attended any of the court hearings? Have you seen De Palma’s sworn affidavit? Or have you just read this forum to gather your information?
Plain and simple – De Palma has admitted (in a sworn affidavit) that their have been commingling of funds, and that the act of embezzlement did occur. This point alone put our capital in jeopardy.
By the way, this was the GP’s of CE plan from day one.
I understand the risk of investment, but we would not be in this current predicament, if it were not for the criminal act(s) by the GP’s and possibly others.
I can tolerate the loss of my money and understand that there is a chance of lost capital in most investments. However, the losses would be more palatable if the company monies were not stolen.
Let the market decide if our investments were correct or not (laissez-faire).
Give your head a shake! They (the GP’s of CE and others) walked off with the LP’s profits (criminally ) and almost got away with it until a few LP’s caught onto their scheme.
The BOYS of Concrete will pay and the truth will come out in the fall of 2009.
I am still waiting to see the land titles for all of the Mexico properties. This is another �can of worms that the GP�s of CE will need to answer.� I do not have much faith in their truthfulness or the prospect that the land is owned by the LP’s.
Again, watch out for Dave Jones, Vince De Palma, Vinny Aurora, Dave Humeniuk and Riaz.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Check out some of the comments people had to say about Vince “the scumbag’ De Palma
http://www.insidethedragonsden.com/2007/05/vincenzo_the_dr.html?cid=114793298#comment-6a00d83451ff4069e200e55228366a8833
You are a real winner Vinny! You have gained a lot of respect amongst Canadains.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
wisemove, I don’t claim to know “all the facts” and I am not downplaying or defending Concrete Equities.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Wisemove, I couldn’t agree more.
New updates now: wow, $40.000/ month has been allocated by Concrete for each of Vinnay Aurora and De Palma . This is just unbelievable.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Source?
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Sgt Nuke,
The source is from the minutes that were taken at the E & Y Management Meeting held in early July. If you are a shareholder, you can ask your representative for a copy. Here is a portion of what Vinny and Vince asked to be paid, while going through through bankruptcy protection…This is unbelievable…
9. Concrete Equities Costs
“Concrete Equities has been allocating costs across the 13 entities for management
fees, overhead etc. Concrete put forward a proposed monthly spend of $111,000 for
management fees and overhead. This proposed monthly spend included fees of
$40,000 per month for each of Vinny Aurora and Vincenzo De Palma. The Receiver
challenged Mr. Aurora and Mr. De Palma on their proposed fee of $40,000 each per
month allocated over the 13 entities.
The Receiver is of the view that the fees for Jackie and Barb are supportable through
June and July as they are assisting the Receiver. Mr. Aurora and Mr. De Palma
submitted a revised proposal of $71,000 per month including management fees for
Mr. Aurora and Mr. De Palma of $20,000 each per month. The Receiver challenged
these amounts as well.
The Receiver asked that the Management Committee think about the proposal for
payment of $20,000 per month for each of Vinny and Vincenzo on a month-to-month
basis for their assistance with these proceedings”.
I am not too impressed with the proceedings of this Management Team. There should not be any money paid to management until all proceedings have been completed.
LP’s please read the entire minutes from the Management team and write your comments to your Reps. Have we not already been taken advantage of already? ENOUGH!!!
Another question I have, What is Strategic doing on the Management Team and why are they willing to lend us money…Take a hike Strategic!
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Hello All, I have been reading your posts, I am not an investor and therefore I did not feel that it was my place to post any commentary, until now. We all know the rule of thumb is to not let our emotions control our ability to make decisions regarding our investments. That being said.. I know first hand the emotional connection that we experience with certain investments. I understand the frustration that you must feel, unsure of the outcome, panic over �what if�, these emotions are valid. However.. there are a few people on this forum that are only compounding the issues of people�s emotions and concerns.
I have been following this situation closely due to my personal friendship with Vincenzo. Frankly, I have finally had enough of the countless posts demeaning the character of DePalma. I believe that it is unfair to the majority of the readers, when the only thing they know of Vincenzo DePalma is the faceless accusations from people who do not know the man. There are two sides to every story, painting Vincenzo as this villainous character is unnecessary, and completely unwarranted. I believe it is time that you read something from someone who knows him.
I have a great deal of respect for Vincenzo. This is a man (I use that term with extreme conviction..pg girl) who has stood up for you, the investors, and has endured countless shots personally over the last 6 months. I was with him when the protestors held signs claiming he was a liar and a thief. I have seen the hurt in his eyes, and the frustration on his face, as he tries to do the right thing for all of you. Please understand I do not mean for this to be inflammatory, however, I believe Vincenzo to be the most honorable and loyal man I have had the privilege to meet; I believe he is loyal to a fault. His name has been tarnished, and his reputation beaten, yet he continues to go into battle for you (whether you believe it or not). He daily has to speak to the music of a song he did not write. For those of you who do not know, it would do you well to look up who the founders and shareholders of your business are. From what I have read, and in my conversation with DePalma, he was not a shareholder in the corporation. In his words �this is the right thing to do� given the actions of a former partner who was a shareholder. I hope you can see that Vincenzo�s commitment to you and your family is relentless. I know this because I see my friend work from dawn to dusk, six, seven days a week, bearing the brunt of this entire situation on his shoulders. It takes someone with incredible strength and an even greater skill set to continue forward with such opposition. I hope for a speedy resolution to this for all of you. As I said before, I know that you are frustrated.. but try to put aside your emotion, take an objective look at this situation.
Before you pull the trigger, take a second look at the person in your crosshairs; he just might be a friend and not a foe.
Respectfully, Thank you for reading this.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
afriend wrote:
Please understand I do not mean for this to be inflammatory, however, I believe Vincenzo to be the most honorable and loyal man I have had the privilege to meet; I believe he is loyal to a fault. His name has been tarnished, and his reputation beaten, yet he continues to go into battle for you (whether you believe it or not). He daily has to speak to the music of a song he did not write. .
Faceless accusations…, eh…?
Lawyer Blair reviewed with DePalma during cross-examination a certain $400 Thousand dollars that bent bye bye since Depalma took over and “wiped the slate clean” of poor management so he said…. DePalma told Blair under oath that he didn’t know where the money went – sound like integrity to you…? Be objective now…?
‘Please understand I do not mean for this to be inflammatory, however, I believe Vincenzo to be the most honorable and loyal man I have had the privilege to meet; I believe he is loyal to a fault.’
Get off his teet and grow a pair…
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I am not an investor in CE but am a novice investor. I have read all the cries and finger pointing and now everyone wants to hang somebody!
I have to ask you one question, would you jump in a pool if you didn’t know how to swim? Not one person understood the real estate they were buying. There is risk involved in any investment and I understand that there is some wrong doing on the part of the management team but did any of you investors actually call to ask if these guys knew what they were doing? You have the management team that made all these claims of success but people just took their word for it. If the markets had continued and the money was flowing no one would even care to look at what Dave Humeniuk had done in the past, in fact you would probably defend him. Today it looks like you made a ****** investment, live with it! You made those investments in the past and if you haven’t yet, I guarantee that you will in the future. Go take a look at your investment statement from January 2008 and compare it to January 2009, the world fell apart in 12 months! Do you see anyone picketing AIG, Merril Lynch, CIBC, Manulife, Canaccord, Caisse Depot or Lehman’s? Those companies made bigger mistakes then anyone and I am pretty sure you hold some of those assets in your portfolio.
Not all investments work out, some perform very well and some will take losses but when you don’t understand the risk involved….GO BUY A GIC!!
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
You know what?
If it was just the status of my investment, I could handle that with ease……vacancies, reduced market values, all the result of the world falling apart in a year.
BUT! When a group is responsible for managing the dollars, in the best interest of the investors, and alledgedly fails to do so prefering instead to ensure their own survival, I get more than just a little annoyed.
I do think you are accurate in your summation that had the market continued to grow unabated, we would never have found out that issues in management existed…..so which is better?
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
The request for that level of compensation in light of what is occurring says it all
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
FINANCIAL ADVISER EARL JONES ARRESTED IN QUEBEC
Hey,
Jones, De Palma, Aurora and Humeniuk…Guess what?
You’re Next
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
another scumbag, gone…more to come.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I must say you sound quite convincing to me. I’m thinking of booking you an appointment with my 71 year old grandmother “would that be ok?” She knew one of the Concrete Boys really well for a long time and in fact, was “afriend” of his, this “Man” convinced her to invest the little money she had and she will get dividends every month, well…guess what? the dividends stopped coming, he does not answer her calls, she feels betrayed and spends sleepless nights pondering about what is going to happen to her in her last years. Would it be ok if you sit down with her and please explain to her that her naivety is what got her in trouble from the first place, and may be you can throw in how uninformed, financially undereducated and naive she is, how it looks like she made a ****** investment and must live with it now -big deal right !- she should have known how the market works, but wait a minute, I remember her watching BNN one night, does that count in her favour in your opinion?
It seems to me that If you are rich and guilty, if you have defrauded LP’s of 400.000 dollars for example, as Vincenzo and the boys have, if you wear fancy suits and drive fancy cars, you get off easy, and you might still collect $40.000 every month. You will maintain the lavish lifestyle of trips and spas and …. you live a life of unchecked greed . You will even have “friends” who will jump in to defend your morally empty character, and “smart hottotrot” real estate investment guys who will defend you fiercefully as well.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
MAKE THE APPOINTMENT..I’M sure your grandmother could kick his a$$ too.
Hot2 trot…keep defending these guys, you loser.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Is there a central website for the shareholder groups? I have not received any kind of update in about a month and was wondering if I was left out. Has anyone also heard anything solid or gossipy about the El Golfo de Santa Clara investment money?
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I have not received any kind of update in about a month and was wondering if I was left out.
Here is the Santa Clara email addy
ElGolfo Santa Clara: rjmack95@telus.net
Information is not moving as quickly, becasue we are waiting for our next court date, plus people are on vacation.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
There are really only two outcomes, and outside of all the emotion…here is a reality check.
First, it would seem there is a pattern of deceptive and misleading practices. In this case, the oneness is not on the poor old ladies and/or uninformed sucks who were simply too naive to understand the complexities of investing in real estate…but rather the principals and signatory agents on our LP documents that should be held accountable to misrepresentation, misappropriation, fraud, and perhaps theft.
Seeing as our offering memorandum clearly outlined how our investment dollars would be used, it seems that the trust or escrow accounts became a veritable playground for Aurora, Humeniuk, DePalma, Jones to play in and direct wherever at will.
Under scrutiny it would also seem that the ’stewardship’ of our investment was not a high priority…or at least not as high as promoting themselves as geniuses and financial demigods of a real estate empire, then spending our money on unrelated endeavors.
Whether the monies were directed internally to other businesses they controlled or they had related interest(s) in, or whether or not they dabbled into these accounts personally and used on whatever is irrelevant. Using the funds in other businesses or to facilitate other purchases unrelated to an outlined and specific investment is still theft, it is illegal, and it is a criminal act.
The ASC, as well as courts, place the stewardship of public investment high, and any inter-company loans or co-mingling of funds is an absolute ‘no no’. Yet the misdirection and misappropriation of funds has already been established.
The second (more palatable, but nonetheless disconcerting) is that the CEC boys have been grossly incompetent on any level of disciplined management to begin with. Although being a sales buffoon and bad manager in business is not illegal, the decisions CEC management made (et al.) were their own (and we’re all living with the results).
When called upon to provide simple reporting, they ignored the wishes of a collective democracy the (being we the LP’s), and made a concerted effort to move quickly to a trustee, strip out any remaining investor equity, and ultimately secure their own gain and protect their own asses at all costs.
In every other industry and discipline certain requisites are employed. (Even the lowliest of tradesman need basic certificates and licenses to practice). If a lawyer absconds funds or mismanages his accounting, he or she will likely loose their license to practice, may be fined heavily, and ultimately may go to jail. How much more should be the astute stewardship of huge amounts of public capital and investment in the millions of dollars? Should the principals such a high profile company as the magnificent Concrete Equities meet some level of qualification? Should they be allowed to conceal information on the status of our investments if they so choose? Should they held accountable in the managing of escrow or trust accounts?
What is becoming clear is that these are not novices, but ‘rouge businessmen’ who have the ability to mutate into another beast altogether, and use the courts and alliances with the likes of Strategic (yikes) to further their survival. The affidavit was yet another poor decision by DePalma. It bought them some time, but Ernst & Young is not going to be perceived as a ***** catering to and protecting Concrete Equities, or conforming to the persuasive charm of Mr. V in a tailored italian suit. (We can only hope that E&Y provides a clear and unbiased deal of what is, and what is not. Even in the best case, however, an audit is only as good as the information provided…audits don’t create scenarios, fabricate situations or create accounts where none exist.)
Unfortunately, the courts and legal system do not work to the investor’s advantage. Just the opposite. It seems that our whole system is based on legal protection and accommodation of rouges, versus quick and decisive decisions needed to vett them out.
In contrast to Mr. DePalma’s dramatic back-peddling and emotional outpourings for all to see, I’ll take the emotion out.
The allegations are significant enough that all principals should be preemtively bared from acting as a director of any company now in the future, they should be forbid from securing any public or private investment, they should be forbidden from establishing corporate accounts or acting in any capacity as a director or owner of a company involved with real estate, mortgages or financing, and should NEVER be allowed to touch the movement of public or private capital.
This might not solve our dilema, but in the absence of any other prerequisites it would send a message to anyone in this particular industry. Astute management and honorable business practices are to be the norm, NOT just a suggestion.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
For all the message board members posting messages assuming all the investors involved in this should not be investors in anything more than savings accounts and could not possibly be as good as you:
Please stop ASSUMING that every single person involved in this is an idiot.
Please stop ASSUMING that this is just another investment that went south because there was risk involved.
Please stop ASSUMING this was just another investment that is performing poorly because of the current economic situation.
The fact is our investments, what we invested in, the properties we purchased as combined members of Limited Partnerships, when looking at only the investment, separating the “investment management” level, are in fact doing OK. Of course not as great as we’d like, but they are all doing OK. In fact, OK is actually about par with the low-cost index funds, bond funds, GIC’s and blue chips in my RRSP and my TFSA. None of these other investments are doing as good as I’d like, most of them I’ve actually lost money in the last year, yet I’m not petitioning any of them, I’m only mad at this one. To summarize, these investments with concrete that should be doing OK relatively speaking are in serious danger. Not because of the inherent risk associated with investing in commercial real estate, not because of the current economic situation, not because of incompetent management or management practices, but due to deliberate and skillfully orchestrated fraudulent activities designed to profit the GPs that have both a moral and legal obligation to act in the best interests of the LP.
Your assumptions that we are just a rebel band of disgruntled investors that do not understand the markets, or don’t understand what we invested in, or just don’t like the fact that we lost money are just completely misguided assumptions that are totally unfounded. What we actually are is 1000’s of investors that have been deceived to and lied to for years. We’ve had our partners stealing from us, we’ve had our partners lying to us, we’ve had our partners with-holding important information from us, we’ve finally found each other and are banding together to fight for justice and take back what is ours.
Most people would honor and support our cause, Why are all these people posting on this message board saying that we shouldn’t have invested in this? Did you all get ripped off before and just took it instead of fighting back? Do you wish you could go back and do what we are doing? Are you envious? Is that why you are so quick to insult, judge and ridicule us?
August 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I am in BC on business right now and to my amazement saw a bus pulling a trailer today – the bus and trailer were painted with all Concrete Equities logos and colors. It almost looked like it was pulling a race car or something…
Do any of you know what the bus is used for and why it would be on the road “promoting” their product?
August 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Do any of you know what the bus is used for and why it would be on the road “promoting” their product?
It is my understanding that CE has an office in Vancouver and they continue so sell their SCAM to honest investors on the West coast.
My gut tells me that De Palma and the other BOYS of CE are moving their exotic cars from Prince George/Calgary to the shipping yard in Vancouver, so when the authorities turn up the heat…they will run like a little boys to another country where he will be safe…
August 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Excellent postings – Alienvestor and WantToRetire
August 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Within the first paragraph of DePalmas e-mail sent to LP holders June 10th he comments on the status of the Santa Clara handhold project..
“Also please keep in mind that your investment is a solid, equity based land hold with no mortgage or debt position on your asset.”
With todays interim report from EY’s efforts it has come to light that there is not adequate funds remaining in the Santa Clara trust account to CLOSE on the properties. This from a collective $24-million raise.
In addition, the EY report also indicates that deposits were made on “several lots”. The Offering Memorandum I read stated that the monies were being raised to purchase LOT 5. There was adequate monies for the purchase of the property and a significant reserve remaining to be directed to the development of this same SINGLE lot. If memory serves it was something on the order of $12-million.
Now we discover capital raised is secured by nothing, and for my dollars that is what I am going to get.
If the monies were used to bolster the returns produced in reduced amounts from other properties, PONZI. And that means jail time. If you recall, in his affidavit, VDP indicated that funds had been used for precisely that purpose. Now all is left to determine is if they came from Santa Clara.
There are more than just the immediately obvious question of “where the F#*K is the cash and how much of it went where? The more important issue from the perspective of seeing someones *** in jail is that the OM I read as part of my diligence stated categorically, for the purchase of LOT 5.
I did not see an addendum, EVER! This is enough for charges to be laid under securities law and I think the ASC will have their teeth sunk into these guys just over this one tactic.
And finally, can we no longer post shite on this blog in defense of any individuals associated with the management of CE? After all VDP penned lies, distributed them by e-mail, and they were shared for all to see on this blog (page 13).
August 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Just out of curiosity… has anyone written a formal complaint to the ASC? The ASC 9 times of out 10 will NOT investigate unless they receive a formal written complaint, especially in the exempt market.
August 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Yes
The ASC received so many compliants the ASC told our LP Steering committee to tell the LPs to back off already the ASC is a busy group these days with “Shire” and all
August 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Where does one get ahold of this interim report? I was specifically told by CE that this property was already purchased.
August 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Where does one get a hold of this interim report? I was specifically told by CE that this property was already purchased.
Sorry Sgt Nuke:
This is another example why you cannot trust a word from the BOYS of CE. Their ‘dog and pony’ PONZI show has come to an end…
http://www.ey.com/ca/safeguard
August 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I think Davy Jones and the BOYS at CE are starting to feel the noose tighten around their necks. I went to Wealthstreets and CE’s website.
The only thing Davy boy is selling is his PONZI dragon fund (all the other reputable investments he was selling appear to have vacated). Gee, I wonder why?
CE website only allows you to click on the receivers report…Or update your personal information (yeah as if that is going to happen)
I just wish the four of you (Dave Jones, Dave Humeniuk, Vinccenzo De Palma and Vinny Aurora)…MANY MANY MANY Sleepless nights for what chaos you have caused to so many families!
The four of you are so deserving.
August 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
In response to ‘afriend’ ’s post. First, is this written by Vincenzo himself? Second, if this is really a friend, did Vincenzo ever tell you about why he left Prince George? He was run out of town for fraud – he stole $100’s of thousands over years during his employment with a family owned forest products business (Winton Global). Everyone in PG knows this fact. Why would he have changed his moral character? All evidence is that he continues to live his lavish lifestyle, all of it financed by the investors in Concrete Equities. Whether fraud or mis-management, he is still siphoning off the life savings of investors who placed their money with CE in good faith. Or perhaps everyone is completely wrong and he is actually living like a pauper and is volunteering his time to serve the underprivilaged, donating his earnings to charity and paying back the money he stole from Winton Global?
August 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
I have also invested with Wealthstreet’s promisorry note. The note was to pay out Aug.1 with 10% interest. I received an e-mail from Dave Jones saying he was unable to pay anything out. Has anyone else invested in this? What options do I have to get my money back?
August 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
So no principal OR interest?
August 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Nothing. He says they ” are in the process of negotiating deals to facilitate repayment of these notes which may take several months”.
August 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
If Vincenzo was an honorable/honest as someone mentioned on this Board then he would give back all of the money he extorted from the company along with his cronies. He is basically going to try to save CE’s money first and then the investor’s money if at all possible. Quite shameless.
Whether or not he was directly the cause of the problems is irrelevant as he is ultimately responsible. His incompetence is flagrant and I wouldn’t hire him for anything more than cleaning my trash and even then I wouldn’t pay him.
I invested in Santa Clara and it seems that it is short approx. $15M to close the property. All investors are at risk of losing it all if the money is not produced. Vicenzo should get his *** together and come up with this money to save our investments or get us out of the contract and return our money. It’s not rocket science. This is his opportunity to save face or at least half of it.
PS: I would be quite happy to see someone kick the living daylights of the Executives of this company for being recklessly irresponsible and uninformed about how the money is managed.
August 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am
There are several people – groups of people – already interested in seeing these crooks get an “attitude adjustment” they will never forget. Keep your heads up boys – you deserve a good lesson and I’m sure it’s coming.
November 12th, 2009 at 1:14 am
[...] not hard to see the reasons why. Someone contacted me earlier this week about this topic; they’ve created a blog with all of the posts originally made to those Canadian Business Forum discussion threads about Concrete Equities. It [...]
November 13th, 2009 at 1:25 am
What happened at the Nov 10th meeting? When is the E& y coming out with their reviews?
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:15 pm
I’ve tried all sorts of links to try to get an update from the meeting. Someone must have some news somewhere about what is going on. The silence is deafening….
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Found the link: Just cut and paste it into your browser.
http://documentcentre.eycan.com/eycm_library/TESTING/English/Receivership%20Proceedings/Town%20Hall%20Meeting/Town%20hall%20presentation%20-%20November%2010,%202009.pdf
November 27th, 2009 at 5:59 am
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February 3rd, 2010 at 7:24 am
Equities…
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March 11th, 2010 at 11:30 am
I remember the ads which promised untold riches, “you do the math” they said, and the evidence presented was an investment in a building, made before the 06-08 boom. If Canada had the same laws as the US, there would have been a disclaimer at the end of the ad which said: “Past performance is no guarantee of future success.” Actually, an upturn in a trend is more likely to be followed by a regression towards the mean, which is a corresponding downtrend. Sound like that’s precisely what happened, in addition to some very bad management decisions.
April 19th, 2010 at 10:40 am
I was hoping to get some information, people can call me uninformed or a bad investor if they so choose, but right now I am just needing some answers. I invested $50K in CE Glenmore Airways, which then I got notice explaining that it had been changed to 5, $10K units in Safeguard VI. I have not seen any information for this and am at a loss for what to do now. Anyone have some insight? Thank you.
June 22nd, 2010 at 1:20 am
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