I think we first have to move to change the receiver. There is a deadline on
that (30 days from the public notice of receivership). At least then we get
Ross’ attorneys dis-involved and a regular, truly court-appointed, $400/hour
bankruptcy attorney who can file his own motions rather than doubling the
billing for a separate attorney as is happening now.
Arguably this could be done for half the cost. Whatever income there still is
is being gobbled up by Ross’ attorney and Hamstreet. Neither of whom will act
in our interest when push comes to shove.
--
Julia Pond
juliapond@xxxxxxxxxxx
On Wed, Jun 26, 2019, at 10:51 AM, bfranke wrote:
I also agree there needs to be legal action against AE and the owners to
recover money and for mismanagement of funds, but if we take over as
investors someone is going to also have to take charge of selling the assets
not performing and all the legalities of that. How much is it going to cost
for a law firm to handle this? And then there is the cost of a lawsuit?
Another big question is where is the money going that is still coming in from
current loans and can payments continue from these loans. This could continue
if they are good loans as it will take a while to get the delinquent
properties cleared up.
People are not going to get any payouts of contracts for a while, but could
some monthly payments be made by the percentage of ownership currently. An
agreement is going to have to be signed by all investors of the plan for
distribution. Many people are living off this monthly income. I would rather
get more money and wait a bit longer instead of selling things on a fire sale.
How were monthly payment getting made up to this point? I thought what caused
this receivership was due to a lawsuit, but before that I think everyone was
still getting monthly payments unless the payments were reinvesting. Possibly
investment money was not going into investment properties?
It is so sad and devastating to us all. I am open to a group effort of
recovery if it can possibly be orchestrated.
*From:* aem-vanc-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:aem-vanc-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] ;
*On Behalf Of *Julia Pond
*Sent:* Wednesday, June 26, 2019 12:02 PM
*To:* aem-vanc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject:* [aem-vanc] Re: AEM Investor Representation
It would be smart to have one attorney for whom everyone shares the cost
burden. Right now I believe we need to make the move to have the meeting with
the court to discuss the change of receiver. Because it was voluntary by
Ross, we got neither objectivity nor least cost. And given the punt of money
and the circumstances of senior citizens due to this, it is a crime in my
view that Hamstreet and attorneys will bill $1mm by year end.
--
Julia Pond
juliapond@xxxxxxxxxxx
On Wed, Jun 26, 2019, at 9:52 AM, William Pritchard wrote:
Good morning, fellow AEM Investors,
While we are all trying wrap our thoughts around AEM’s problems, it appears
we are scrambling to catch up.
Because it is wise that we all have good legal representation, for each
investor to have an attorney working on this issue is inefficient and
expensive.
Would anyone be interesting in joining forces in a class action process to
pursue civil legal proceedings. I believe we are all in this together,
perhaps I’m incorrect. But if we pursue any remedy, it would wise to work
together.
With hearing from Hamstreet that there has never been no audit and no tax
filings for the last ten years, the possibility of illegal financial
accounting seems to be looming. So pursuing a class action civil suit
against AEM principles may be a feasible and aid in exposing additional
financial assets.
I am open to any thoughtful suggestions and any opportunity to get together
and redeem our investments.
We need a leader, a spokesperson and a mutually agreed upon legal team to
represent us, the investors.
I wish everyone the best in this difficult time. At the May 30 meeting I was
disheartened to see many good people in the senior years affected by this
trauma.
Let me know what suggestions and ideas you all may have.
Thank you, best regards
Bill
Bill Pritchard
drwilliampritchard@xxxxxxxxx
I would appreciate it, as I am sure you do, that our emails need to stay
private and not broadcast all over. This may impossible, be at least we try.
Thanks.
On Jun 23, 2019, at 2:48 PM, Julia Pond <juliapond@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
At this rate, Hamstreet and company will bill a million by the end of the
year.
--
Julia Pond
juliapond@xxxxxxxxxxx
On Sun, Jun 23, 2019, at 2:41 PM, LARRY MANSFIELD wrote:
Julia, unfortunately I was in involved in a Ponzi scheme years ago and it
is not over yet as of a few months ago the receivership attorney had
received 2.96 million and other attorneys associated over 1.5 million and
about another half million for miscellaneous and probably received $.10
back on the dollar and the people involved in that. The master mine does
not get out of prison Until 2027 and his accomplice is out now and spent
about three or four years in prison I had checked American Equities out
with the Better Business Bureau police fellow investors and being local
and in business since the 70s I felt pretty comfortable
Sent from my iPhone
On Jun 23, 2019, at 2:22 PM, Julia Pond <juliapond@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Usually, a bankruptcy attorney is the receiver (if court-appointed in the
usual manner). They bill at about $400/hour, but would not require a
second attorney to liaise with the court, as Hamstreet does. So that is a
costly duplication of billings.
--
Julia Pond
juliapond@xxxxxxxxxxx
On Sun, Jun 23, 2019, at 1:48 PM, Troy Rendon wrote:
Hi everyone,
To add to what Eva has said, my attorney has recommended similar advice.
Going after the funds / pools may be fruitless b/c they are going to be
liquidated in receivership, etc. So what is left? The other entities
(managers, accountants, attorneys , etc) that remain. This would include
Davis Wright Tremaine potentially b/c they wrote some or all of these
contracts for American Equities. However, he warned this would be no
slam dunk. There is no guarantee what Ross, et al is worth (if anything)
and Davis Wright Tremaine is a large law firm that has the ability and
motivation to defend itself (it could be expensive).
I’m on the fence about appointing a different receiver. I agree that the
current firm is charging very high fees and that this will get
expensive. However, I believe that would be true of any receivership. I
would like to hear more about forcing a bankruptcy and having a public
entity (the federal courts) overseeing the distribution of funds.
However, what are the risks of having a public entity overseeing a
bankruptcy? I think we need to learn more about all pros and cons of
these potential decisions.
Troy Rendon
Sent from my iPhone
On Jun 23, 2019, at 12:35 PM, Eva Johnson <los-johnsons@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Julia,
We are in Oregon and more importantly, so is our attorney, so I do not
know if we could file for the motion to change receivership. It’s my
understanding that if we file for involuntary bankruptcy (in Oregon or
federally), it would make it easier for our attorney to intervene. In
any case, our first step should be in my opinion, to get us together
and have someone who knows tell us our options. For instance, our
attorney suggested that we should go in mass to the District Attorney’s
office in Vancouver and/or to the US District Attorney’s office in
Portland. Or that we go after the entities that are not in
receivership, so the accountants and lawyers working for AEM, along
with the family.
But I am only relaying these ideas and cannot elaborate much , because
I am not that well versed in the law. So it would be better to hear
these from a lawyer.
Eva Johnson
On Jun 23, 2019, at 11:39 AM, Julia Pond <juliapond@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Yes. It changes the outcome for everyone if there is found to be
illegal activity.
The receiver also did not explain our options or procedures for
objections. He said only (and somewhat flippantly) that if we didn’t
like something we could take it up with the court.
A couple of weeks ago I contacted the FBI and made a report. I pointed
to the discrepancy between liabilities and assets as well as the
amount of money involved as evidence of a Ponzi scheme. The agent who
took my report said that the entity/situation is known to them. They
could not elaborate.
--
Julia Pond
juliapond@xxxxxxxxxxx
On Sun, Jun 23, 2019, at 11:33 AM, LARRY MANSFIELD wrote:
Also at meeting at Red Lion, he was asked if he would contact or
report any illegal issues to proper authorities and his response was
I am not here to prosecute or judge illegal activities only to
liquidate assets or words to that effect were said, you are right he
is representing Ross only.
Sent from my iPad
On Jun 23, 2019, at 11:15 AM, Julia Pond <juliapond@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Agreed. The current situation is neither objective nor least-cost,
as we are entitled to as creditors. We need to pursue the option to
change receiver at a minimum. I am willing to be one of the two that
makes the motion. Can your attorney file it?
My attorney is filing my objection to the notice of intent to
compensate. We have a couple of reasons in our objection, so at
least the runaway train that this has been is momentarily paused.
--
Julia Pond
juliapond@xxxxxxxxxxx
On Sun, Jun 23, 2019, at 10:13 AM, Robert Johnson wrote:
Hello,
My name is Eva Johnson, I am Robert Johnson's wife. We wrote and
sent the letter to all we could, in an attempt to get everybody
together. This list-serve is a great idea, thank for setting it up.
I think that we should pursue Julia's suggestion and file a motion
to change receivership. My husband I have been talking to our
attorney and we were told that we could also force AEM into
involuntary bankruptcy (possibly in federal court), which takes it
out of the receivership and puts it into court. We need to meet
ASAP. I am not sure how to make this happen, anyone have an idea or
would want to take this on? We will have our attorney show up and
help us figure out our options. But time is of the essence. We want
to meet with as few or as many as are willing to do so. Thank you,
Eva and Rob Johnson
On Thu, Jun 20, 2019 at 4:24 PM Julia Pond <juliapond@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
All,
It only takes a motion of two or more creditors (served and filed
within 30 days of the notice mailed to creditors) to make the
court order a meeting of all creditors to determine whether a
person other than the assignee named in the assignment should be
appointed as a general receiver.
I think we ought to at least try to get someone who doesn’t have
such high fees AND get Ross’ attorneys out of this process.
As it stands, Hamstreet and the attorneys are on track to bill
over a million dollars by year end, and in any tough decision will
favor Ross over any or all of us—if it keeps the money flowing.
--
Julia Pond
juliapond@xxxxxxxxxxx
