Firsthand witness, right here. I spent 3 months as a volunteer at the Galt's Gulch Chile project. Before leaving Canada to go down there, I met with Jeff in Vancouver and told him my plan. Rather than honestly telling me that it was utter horseshit, he just wished me well and let me go down there and figure it all out myself. I was one of the few people involved that actually took the time to get in there and get intimately acquainted with the project - most of the investors just trusted Jeff blindly and lost over 10 million dollars because of it.
RE: Who Is Jeff Berwick? Scam Artist or Businessman?
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Who Is Jeff Berwick? Scam Artist or Businessman?
@piedpiper is "Gabriel Scheare", though actually isn't even "Gabriel" on his Canadian ID, even though he plays "Gabriel" in front of those in person here in Chile. Who knows what his fake drivers license from Mexico has on it. He received his fake drivers license from Berwick in exchange for the anarchapulco.com domain name. I'm the founding partner of Galt's Gulch Chile. "Gabriel" begged me to allow him to stay at GGC, when he was penniless in Chile in 2014. Berwick didn't "let him go down there", as "Gabriel" is stating. He was already here. "Gabriel" just finished Exosphere in Vina Del Mar and had nowhere to go, and no money to get there. He was cohorts and close friends with Berwick, and he got into GGC, without mention of his close ties to Berwick of course. In 2013, I let other destitute friends or readers of Berwick come and stay, or work, with GGC and such decisions turned out to be the wrong move for our project. "Gabriel" went on to eat all that he wanted from the GGC kitchen, joining us for dinners in town, using GGC's electricity, water, wifi, resources, gas, etc., and more, all without paying a dime for any of these things, and while we were all sleeping, we later learned, that "Gabriel" was accessing and stealing GGC's client contact information, to then later use to promote his own proposed project. "Gabriel" left his Canadian ID in the Jeep Rubicon one day. I found it when I was removing items from the backseat. I took a photo of it, which I will need to dig up shortly and share. I returned the ID to "Gabriel". He and Berwick like to parrot about GGC clients losing $10m USD, or me stealing $10m, $7m, $3m, etc. but it's all false. I have never stolen a dime from GGC, nor have I taken salaries due to me dating back to late 2012. I completed our first subdivisions at GGC in late September of 2014, about one month after the false storyline and smear campaign was launched by Berwick, and others, in late August of 2014. "Gabriel" knows that I was completing our subdivisions, because he was at GGC when we were doing so, but he publicly won't admit that…apparently because slandering me and GGC is a good PR tool for his endeavours. GGC received our recorded subdivision maps in early October of 2014, and I updated our clients on this, along with a list of the past crimes of Berwick against GGC. Two weeks after the announcement of our first subdivisions, Berwick's colleagues, Josh Kirley, and the GGC "rescue" team, contracted and entered the GGC property late at night while I was in town, where they went on to then steal/destroy computer files, accounting files, banking files, and much more. My completion of GGC's subdivisions two weeks prior didn't quite fit into their false narrative against me, so they had to take immediate action…and they did. They held possession of GGC for approximately six months, from late October of 2014, until I returned to protect GGC in late April of 2015. We later realised that the "rescue" team had actually stolen or destroyed nearly all that was of value at the GGC project, totalling into the millions of dollars. This is all well-documented and will be released, when not affecting our legal processes here. Berwick, and his longtime cohort, Chris Serin, have histories of carrying out, or attempting to carry out, hostile takeovers of companies or projects. This is outlined in Serin's history in the mining industry in one very ugly failed takeover attempt by him/them. Long before Berwick's assistance in smearing me in 2014, Serin and Berwick attempted a hostile takeover attempt of GGC's assets in mid-2013, amounting to estimated financial losses of $5-8m USD for GGC. I realised even more that GGC must completely cut ties with Berwick, as more and more information came to light about this in the latter months of 2013. I refused Berwick the ownership in GGC that he demanded, because he never paid his sizeable debts to me. GGC very well would have been completed long ago, had Berwick, Serin, and others, not carried out such extreme harm to GGC in 2013 and 2014. We will be releasing a long list of information that outlines all that I am saying about GGC to be true. I'll do so here in Steemit, and we will do so elsewhere also. I chose not to fight the cast of characters on the "rescue" team in the public forums. We are simply awaiting the completion of the legal processes in Chile, which we fully expect to win across the board. We will then complete GGC, without those whom have intentionally harmed it. Cheers.
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Finally. The primary perpetrator comes out onto a platform where he can't delete comments that he doesn't like. Welcome to the blockchain, where everything is stored permanently for future reference and cannot be censored.
I've already spoken very openly here on Steemit about my name and how I adopted a new one when I left my childhood home as a teenager to go my own way... so that isn't news to anyone here that knows me and it certainly has nothing to do with your crimes that we've been discussing. I've also written quite a bit the three months I spent at Exosphere before completing my journey to GGC so again, have fun shooting blanks. Your tired old method of trying to confuse and exhaust people with endless walls of nonsensical text won't work here either since the people it would baffle don't care and the people that do care are sharp enough to cut through the bullshit.
So you're still calling yourself "The founding partner" eh? If you look up the word "partner," you'll notice that a partner is, by definition, one member of a partnership, which involves multiple people. The word "the" indicates a single specific item object of reference. In other words, one cannot possibly be "the founding partner." You could be "a founding partner," which requires you to acknowledge the other partners, or you could be "the founder," which would indicate the absence of any others. We already know which it is. You were a founding partner along with John Cobin and Jeff Berwick before proceeding to push them out of the project. Why does this matter? Well, the fact that you don't even use an honest or accurate title when presenting yourself to others would indicate that either you don't understand your role or you don't want others to understand it. The fact, as corroborated by everyone else involved, is that you were one of three founding partners and you served as the on-site project manager. As such, your rightful role should have been that of a servant to the investors that injected their capital, bought land, and made the whole damn project possible. Without them to risk their money on you, you would've just continued on as a bumbling nobody with a rotting dog in tow. When these investors became dissatisfied with your performance and wanted you to leave, you should have obeyed them and removed yourself from the premises to make way for a replacement, as they so desired and demanded. Of course, as we all know, you didn't do that. Instead, you acted as if you were the sole ruler and the investors were all just suckers giving you their money for free.
You also frequently refer to "GGC" as if its a collective, when it's really just you, and use the pronoun we, instead of I in reference to yourself as well. This is very revealing. It demonstrates that you see yourself and GGC as one and the same. For you, GGC is just a bigger-sounding name that lets you present yourself as a collective rather than an individual. This is also why you say "we" when the object of reference is just you, an individual. It's just another simple habit you've developed in order to deceitfully project authority and legitimacy where there is none. It's also a handy trick when it comes to money and possession of objects. Depending on the situation, you referred to the Jeep both as GGCs as well as your own. You also spent GGCs money as if it was your own and when a purchase looked strange, like all the imported Salmon for your dog for instance, you pretended you were just spending your own salary or something like that. I was just as bamboozled as anyone else for a while because at first, I had no good reason not to trust you at least that much.
I still have the conversation saved where I asked about volunteering at GGC and you agreed. No begging involved. If you had said you didn't have any use for me, I would have just went back to Canada after Exosphere.
As for the subdivisions, yes, I'm aware that some of the larger ones were approved in 2014. It's the multitude of smaller ones that that were impossible and made what could have been a viable project into a scam. A friend of mine even bought one with his mother and got screwed. Of course, I ended up feeling pretty shitty for having been the one that suggested GGC to them in the first place but at least I've been able to make it up to them. You have a long way to go before you can say the same.
I don't know about the domestic abuse story that you were referring to but I hope that you're not making it up. If she was being beaten by her husband and you protected her from that, then you deserve credit for that but it doesn't justify your stealing their money.
The more I learned about how shitty Berwick was, the more I wanted you to be different, Ken. I wanted there to be a good guy in the equation to throw my weight behind. When the first disgruntled former employees started contacting me, I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt and write them off as nutjobs. It got harder and harder to do that as more and more people came out of the woodwork and in a matter of weeks, it became impossible. All you had to do was walk away, leave the victims their land to bicker and squabble over, and move on to the next idea. That's what real entrepreneurs do. They don't need to scam anyone because they know they can produce value and earn an honest living no matter where they are. The path you and Berwick walk is that of men who don't believe they have any real value to offer so you need to trick people into giving up theirs instead. Berwick sings himself to sleep with songs about outlaws and anarchy while you prefer songs about legal loopholes, technicalities, and conspiracies against you by the very people that trusted you with their money in the first place. Granted, you're a bit more clever and devious than him but you're both walking the same path. You could make things right and redeem yourselves if you really wanted to - but as the years slip away and you both entrench yourselves deeper in your respective narratives, hope for a positive outcome seems all the more unreasonable. Either way, the Galt name is being redeemed with or without you. I've developed a community of enthusiastic and satisfied members here with Fort Galt while you've accumulated nothing but angry victims and bitter enemies. I fully expect you to continue making all sorts of semi-comprehensible noise as your fantasy land erodes and justice slowly catches up with you but rest assured that those of us that actually produce value and serve our investors are far too preoccupied to care.
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"I don't know about the domestic abuse story that you were referring to but I hope that you're not making it up. If she was being beaten by her husband and you protected her from that, then you deserve credit for that but it doesn't justify your stealing their money."
Pied, I know about this situation and surprise, Johnson's lying about this, too. A witness told me that a couple was staying on the GGC property doing work for Johnson and that the woman was abused. This witness said that the employees reported this to Johnson who shrugged his shoulders and ignored it. They were appalled at his attitude. He didn't help the victim in any way.
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This is Johnson's story about GGC which is totally false. We have addressed every lie that he spews on our webpage http://ggcrecovery .com
Johnson is the accused in three felony cases in Chile right now. The docket numbers for those cases are on our website in the time line section. All cases against him and his partners in crime, the Del Reals and Ramirez are on going. None have been dismissed. Quite the contrary.
Johnson is a liar, a thief and a manipulative sob. Don't fall for his lies. Please go to our website.
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As much as you can blame scammers, there is some responsibility on anyone investing. I invest every day. I have been scammed and learned my lessons. Due diligence. Following people blindly is a very harsh mistake to learn from. However, I still say, where's the legal documents for these people who were ripped off. You DON"T LOSE THAT MUCH MONEY, without legal repercussions. At least it seems that you were a little smarter than some of the other investors if the allegations are true. Cheers!
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Absolutely, everyone should minimize their risk by investigating their purchase carefully ahead of time and I'm sure the buyers in this case won't make the same mistake again. A costly lesson indeed.
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Most investors have been there. Luckily for me, mine was only about $2k. That's pocket change to many. And I do have sympathy for anyone who's been ripped off. But I do usually play devil's advocate when claims are made and there's not hard proof. However, if Jeff truly is a scammer as many people claim, karma is a bitch. Truth always comes to light. Nice meeting you and you have been followed :)
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Yes you do when the person is operating from foreign countries. Call Kevin Schmidt who I just got off the phone with to learn exactly what is going on. You can't just let people continue to be scammed. And on this platform? What a disgrace to see someone who has done so many horrible things to people be rewarded. Find out for yourself. Kevin's contact info is listed on this site: http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/tdv-passports-failure-to-deliver-c707391.html#c1624651
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I might do that. I find this type of stuff interesting as well, and I am very anti-scammer. However, just a verbal accusation is not enough to come here and promote those accusations. Did he provide you any proof? If you want your post to stick, or rather if they want their complaints to stick, and affect the general Steemit public's opinon of any scammer, you have to have substance. I could create 3 websites and make multiple posts that say @stellabelle has ripped me and my friends off repeatedly. She owes me money. Check out these websites for proof. I could even post numbers and say contact me and we can discuss it. That clearly does not make it true or factual. And this is not to slander you nor your point. You obviously seem to think he's dishonest and a scammer, and doesn't deserve the attention or rewards that he receives on here, and that's a noble and valid concern that most people on here would have. But I still think it's a very emotional response to hearing the accusations. When we hear about people who are dishonest, it's natural to not want them to be rewarded or to potentially hurt someone else. But do you see the danger in posting something like this and it has no backing of factual evidence? Hopefully, if you dig, and you are correct, some of the people making these claims can produce solid evidence of their complaints. But I wouldn't trust these people to tell the truth as much as I wouldn't trust Jeff Berwick. I don't know any of them. If he were scamming on such a large scale, there would more than likely be a huge paper trail. That's what is needed to validate these types of stories. And if it's true, then that is very sad and very unfortunate for people to lose such large amounts of money for attempting to better their lives. This could be such large sums of money that could have been years of savings, if they aren't already rich. I hope to see something of more substance. I am glad Kevin left his email and phone number. This could be interesting to dig into. And for me it would be very disappointing, because I am an anarchist, and while Jeff's delivery methods are questionable at times, I do find value in the basic theory of anarchy that he pushes. He's one of many that has helped push these ideals forward. So anyone that pushes the ideal and values of the non-aggression principle to turn around and harm someone else is probably the biggest let down if this were to be true.
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It's only natural to want to hold up champions and cling to people that seem to represent our ideals. I liked a lot of what I heard on Anarchast too, before I got closer and peeked behind the curtain. Fortunately, even though men can be corrupted and killed, ideas and principles cannot. The trick is to just be your own hero and don't invest your identity in anyone else. That's a hallmark of true personal responsibility.
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I don't know why I cannot reply to your post below @piedpiper. Believe me when I say I do not champion or cling to ANYONE, including Jeff Berwick, or any other anarchist. I do however love the ideas of anarchism and decentralization. But even those concepts do not rule my life. Nobody is perfect, so I don't see any reason to put anyone on a pedestal. And in reality anarchism is in line with what you said. I don't put faith in governments, or politicians, or political parties to take care of people, create jobs, or solve everyones problems. So when I say i'm disappointed if this were true about Jeff, it's because he claims to have similar values as me, and scamming people would not hold up to those values. However, like anyone else with any other idealogical view, there will be people who do not live up to what they preach. I'm not convinced that he has scammed anyone, because I see no legal action against him. I do see in the videos that he has had problems with his businesses and money. And he also has addressed his personal problems in other videos and posts. I think the key thing here is to try to separate bad business with intentional scamming. Maybe someone will shed some light on this. Maybe Jeff himself will address @stellabelle on her post of accusations. I'm sure he's had to defend himself on these issues elsewhere. The other thing to think about, is what about the financial incentive to call someone like Jeff out. I mean one of the easiest ways to see posts upvoted here is to call out a power user on Steemit. Hell, you could call out @stellabelle on here and your post would probably do well. I'm not saying that was her intent, just an observation. P.S. if anyone can tell me why I was not able to reply to @piedpiper below, I'd appreciate it. I can see the post but there is no reply button.
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Hi @framelalife Yeah, unfortunately, there's a limit to how long a back and forth conversation can be carried out here. I hope they fix that in a future update.
When dealing with international scams, there are very few options available to people seeking refunds and restitution from scammers. It would require the police from both the victim's country and Mexico to cooperate in a joint effort, which only ever happens in major cases involving terrorists, drug smuggling rings, etc. I doubt something as small as Jeff's little racket would get such care or attention. Also, it's a shady business model to begin with, which require clients to either remain willfully ignorant of the laws that are being broken or disregard them intentionally. Most law enforcement officers would most likely think that you deserved to get scammed because you tried to subvert immigration laws. Ironically enough, this is likely the kind of situation that calls for some vigilante action from the victims themselves.
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Isnt there a lawsuit in Chile about this whole mess?
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Yes. The chilean authorities don't care about gringos scamming each other and the lawyers will just continue to milk it for as long as people keep paying them. The only real solution would involve a physical confrontation but those who would be justified in doing so are unwilling. I seriously doubt it will ever be resolved.
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I don't know the specifics of the case but have been following the drama for a few years now. I think you are correct the authorities dont care and neither does the us government for that matter.
The reason I mention the us government is because the lady that Jeff berwick and company did business with in Paraguay was , well I dont know what was supposed to happen to her but the us government and paragugan authourites never put her in jail as far as I know.
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You mean Bettina Müller? I'm not sure what became of her. She's pretty notorious though. A lot of people have been screwed by her over the years. A costly education, to be sure.
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Yes thats who I mean.....I dont think much happened and may still be in business.....
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