Armanino McKenna Suit Settled

Per this link, Armanino has agreed to settle for $3.325 million.

Don’t be too excited, though.  This won’t even begin to make anyone whole.  Expect a check for very little and let it serve as a reminder of just how badly we were fleeced.

It’s not a goose egg, but the check coming back to the Robie household probably won’t even cover the cost of our Thanksgiving turkey.

This is in no way diminishes the outstanding efforts of Theodore H.D. Jones, Jeanie Kayser-Jones, and Robert Frost, who fought this battle on our behalf.

Please comment if/when you receive a check.

And in the meantime, “Be passionate about your profession.”

Ng’s Didn’t Want Us To Talk

Didn’t have time to post this earlier today.  In a move that surprised absolutely nobody, Walter & Kelly’s attorneys filed this document in an attempt to gag us lowly investors.

Heaven forbid someone actually told the court the truth about these slimeballs  😉

Here’s a link to the filing:

Defendant Walter Ng’s And Kelly Ng’s Statement Regarding Investor Testimony

Breaking News

Walter gets sentenced to 5 years of probation.

Kelly sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Sound off.

Sentencing for Walter and Kelly Ng — MARCH 5th at 2:30 PM in Oakland

Re:	United States v. Defendant(s) Case Number 2011R00248 and Court Docket Number 13-CR-00650   United Sates v. Defendants Walter Ng and Kelly Ng

There’s been some talk on this site about Walter & Kelly’s sentencing.  And we’re aware that it’s not just us victims reading this site anymore.  We have readers from the media as well as law enforcement/judicial.  There’s a lot to learn here about what these crooks did to us and how they stole our hard-earned money.

Life isn’t fair sometimes and we’ve received the short end of the stick in terms of this investment and the fallout that has ensued.  Here’s to the legal system dealing a knockout punch to the hucksters who robbed us blind.

The enclosed information is provided by the United States Department of Justice Victim Notification System (VNS). As a victim witness professional with the United States Attorney’s Office, my role is to assist you with information and services during the prosecution of this case. I am contacting you because you were identified by law enforcement as a victim during the investigation of the above criminal case.

The sentencing hearing for defendants Walter Ng and Kelly Ng has been set for March 5, 2014, 2:30 PM at Courtroom 1, 4th Floor, 1301 Clay Street, Oakland, CA before Judge Phyllis Hamilton. You are welcome to attend this proceeding; however, unless you have received a subpoena, your attendance is not required by the Court.

Department of Justice Letter Update and Commentary

Well, today the Robie household received its USDOJ Victim Notification System letter that we discussed on this site just a few days ago.

Here’s the gist:

“The government has [charged] defendants Walter Ng and Kelly Ng with the crime of Structuring Transactions for the Purpose of Evading a Reporting Requirement.”

• That’s the best they could do?  Evading a reporting requirement?  This is nothing like tripping up Al Capone on an income tax issue.  This feels a lot more like giving Walter and Kelly a jaywalking ticket.

“The defendants are scheduled for arraignment on November 6, 2013, at 9:30 AM, before Magistrate Judge Kandis Westmore in Courtroom 4, 3rd Floor, 1301 Clay Street, Oakland, CA.”

• Okay…tell us more….

“The government and defense counsel for the Ngs have reached a resolution to these charges and anticipate that the defendants will plead guilty on November 6, 2013, at 1:30 PM, before District Judge Phyllis Hamilton in Courtroom 3, 3rd Floor, 1301 Clay Street, Oakland, CA.”

• This doesn’t bode well for the investors.  A “resolution” has been reached.  Why let these guys off easy?  This has the aroma of a skunk’s rear end.

“The government provides this notice to you because you may have been an investor in RE Loans, LLC and/or Mortgage Fund 08, LLC.  Victims of all crimes under federal investigation are entitled to service under the Victims’ Rights and Restitution Act (VRRA), including notification of court events.  However, because you were not directly and proximately harmed as a result of the structuring-related conduct charged in the filed criminal Information, you are not covered under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act.

• Huh?

“With regard to restitution, the government does not expect to recover any loss amounts in this case.”

• The picture above about sums it up.  Et tu, Brute?  Would anyone else supposedly put in place to help us like to cave like a house of cards and do nothing to help those who need — and DESERVE — the help?

“In any event, we will continue to provide you with notifications and services unless you tell us not to.”

• Gee, thanks.

“Because of the Court’s schedule, hearing dates could change on very short notice.  If you plan on attending, you may want to call the Victim Notification System (VNS) Call Center or check the website to confirm the date and time.  Please note, there is a 24-hour delay in information transferred to the website.”

• The phone number to call is 1-866-365-4968
• No, we cannot bill the call to the Ngs

“Separate from the charges filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office; please note that the Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Walter and Kelly Ng by Complaint with fraud-related securities violations for their activities involving RE Loans and Mortgage Fund 08.”

• Finally some good news in an otherwise bleak letter from the government.
• It’s not our Victim Witness Specialist Yvette Baird’s fault that it seems like these thieves are getting off scott-free.  She’s just doing her job.  The real blame lies with the folks WAY up the food chain.
• We matter.  There are A LOT of us.  We’ve all been stolen from, duped, lied to, taken advantage of and, in some cases, had our lives upended, detoured and even ruined.  All because of the Ngs and now they’re essentially getting away with it without ever having to pay the true piper.  This isn’t right.  This isn’t justice.  This is injustice, and it’s far from the American way.  Our government has failed us.  The DOJ, the SEC, the California Attorney General, the FBI.  Everyone.  It’s fucking preposterous and every official, whether elected or appointed, should be ashamed.

 

 

 

Jail Time Coming for Walter & Kelly?

Dan Noyes on Ng’s Fate:

The charging document, “the United States of America versus Walter Ng and Kelly Ng,” says they, in effect, looted the funds by making repeated cash withdrawals. The Ng’s are charged with “structuring transactions for the purpose of evading a reporting requirement;” 11 counts for Walter, 20 for Kelly. Each count carries a possible 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

Quick math:

• Walter 11×10 = 110 years, $500,000 fine

• Kelly 20×10 = 200 years, $500,000 fine

May they live that long to serve out their potential prison terms….

Where’s Bruce, we ask?

Courtesty KGO

While many of us are beyond the age when a tax write off is helpful, it may provide solace for some.  John Robie’s message to everyone who got ripped off:  KEEP UP THE FIGHT.  Anyone who invested in RE Loans, RE Reno, or Mortgage Fund ’08 needs each and every one of you to stay strong and keep the pressure on.  Kudos to Brown and Bernard Wittenburg, amongst many others, for their efforts.

Finally, thanks to Dan Noyes for being the only reporter in the NATION who has stayed on top of this story.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=9273735&pid=9273730

“Freedom Lies In Being Bold”

The title is a quote from the author Robert Frost, which is certainly apropos as we’ve just unearthed this “COMPLAINT FOR AIDING AND ABETTING BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY”.

It was filed against Armanino McKenna in the names of three brave investors who have taken on the burden of leading the charge for the greater good of the whole.

Thank you to Theodore Jones, Jeanie Kayser-Jones and (not the author) Robert Frost.

Link to Lawsuit

Sound off below and let us know your thoughts.

…and so it begins

Has anyone ever played the carnival game Whack-A-Mole?

Now is the time to test your hand at the game.  As you know, Ng apologists are popping up out of the woodwork everywhere.  We’ve seen it on this blog, we’ve seen it on the Google group and we’ve heard rumors of Walter Ng Pearl Tom gearing up to send hand-written letters to investors in an effort to persuade them to accept the plan we should outright reject.

Over the next few weeks, Elliott Abrams and Ms. Tom will be joined by other shills, ambushing us with misinformation about the impending vote.  Members of the Ng hand-selected creditor’s committee represented by Ng-selected attorneys will tell you to vote for the plan.  Don’t be bamboozled by their shenanigans.  Simply pick up the mallet and take a theoretical whack at the mole.

Then send your ballot to AlixPartners.  Vote to “REJECT” the Plan.

 

No Means No – REJECT THE PLAN

Why You Should Reject The Reorganization Plan

We (and by “we” I mean those of us who aren’t in on the scam) can make this easy on ourselves.  We really can.  Vote no.  Reject the plan.  I’m voting to REJECT THE PLAN.  All you really need to know is one simple item.  When your packet arrives in the mail, you’ll find a nine (9) page letter from the Official Committee of Note Holders of R.E. Loans, LLC, et al.  Search for the BIG BOLD CAPS.  Focus on this sentence:

THE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS THAT YOU VOTE TO ACCEPT THE PLAN

Interestingly, the letter from the “committee” “elected” to represent us doesn’t actually list their names.  It doesn’t matter.  Here’s the math:

Any Committee Member = Walter Ng

The very people recommending urging us to trust them and approve their plan are the same people who been accused of taking distributions when the rest of us got NOTHING.  They’re the same people who were purportedly spotted dining with Walter and Bel and they’re the same people who will, without a doubt, screw us over to protect themselves and their friends.

The nine page tome suggests five times that we accept the plan.  I suggest six times that we REJECT the plan.

The last time we “voted” on a plan, our ballots ended up floating in the proverbial Bay.  Our votes didn’t matter because once Walter and Kelly cast their votes, it was over.  The process is slightly different this time around.

The Class of Noteholders will have accepted the Plan if at least two-thirds in dollar amount and more than one-half in number of the Allowed Noteholder Claims that are actually voted are cast in favor of the Plan.

Walter can line up the two-thirds in dollar amount votes.  Can he line up MORE than 50% of the entire votes that will be cast?  I don’t think so.  Many of our busiest traffic nights on this very blog saw over 1,800 unique views.  We’re out there.  We can “win” (Yes, I’m using the term “win” rather loosely).  We can beat Walter at his own shell game.  We need to vote.  Every one of us for each and every account we hold.

A few other notable items from the expensive packet of crap they sent us:

Mackinac Partners and Jim Weissenborn would remain in charge to liquidate our assets.  They’ve done such an absolutely shitty job to-date that we should not allow them many more years of revenue on our backs.

Page five (5) item B discusses the “Plan Compromise”.  The Committee got this right in that you should read this in detail.  My reading says this is such a blatant cover your ass and screw the majority it’s not even funny.  It’s sad.  And it should be criminal (is ANYONE at the FBI or SEC actually listening?).  The only compromise we’d be making is to our own detriment.  Read this:

The Plan Compromise resolves potential objections to, or grounds for subordination of, the Noteholders’ Claims, and further eliminates the risk that Noteholders could be subject to future litigation over the recovery of distributions paid to Noteholders between November 2007 and the Petition Date.

Do you know what this means?  It’s a GET OUT OF JAIL FREE CARD in a legal sense for Walter, Kelly, Barney, Bruce and everyone who got money when the rest of us couldn’t.  It glosses over the fact that the exchange agreement was potentially illegal, but who cares when the committee elected to represent us doesn’t actually represent us?

If you’re worried about the sweet little bank with the stagecoach, don’t.  Wells Fargo will be just fine under this plan, because if the plan is accepted, we will be giving them a full release.

The document also warns us about the downside of rejecting the plan.  This downside would be a Chapter 7.  While Pearl, Gene, Allen Cone, Sherrat Reicher and their cronies warn us about the ominous nature of a 7, I believe there are many, myself included, who would welcome a 7.  This gives a Chapter 7  Trustee supreme power.  Walter would be instructed to bend over and cough while we inserted the Hubble telescope up his anus.

Finally, our friends on the committee estimate a distribution of  approximately $34-$63.6 million for Distribution to Holders of Allowed Claims, including Noteholders”.  INCLUDING Noteholders?  We’re still second fiddle, but this time we’re likely taking a back seat to the attorneys at Akin Gump and all the other firms eating our cake.  Do the math on the low number and we’re looking at a glass that isn’t just half-empty, it’s entirely empty.

I urge you to VOTE NO.  REJECT THE PLAN.

I’m John Robie and I approve this message.

RE LOANS FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY PROTECTION

RE Loans filed for bankruptcy.  While this was inevitable, no doubt, it’s still a shock to the system.  Despite the fact that it’s our money, our lives and our futures, the real bankrupt entity is the Ng Family Dynasty.  They’re morally bankrupt.  They’re ethically bankrupt.  Yet they’re still out there doing business and tricking more suckers like us out of their hard-earned savings.

Maybe Led Zepplin said it best in “When the levee breaks”

If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to break,
When The Levee Breaks I’ll have no place to stay.
Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan,
Got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home

Equitatus posted the following a few minutes ago:

Siena Update

Thanks again to the inscrutable blogging superstar behind REReno for the attached document and the willingness to provide their thoughts:

Barney’s “Hobby” Revisited

The Siena saga is nearly over, but info keeps landing in our laps.  Therefore, we present another document with the following reader comment:

3 Page Notice that all claims close 15 April, then 26 pages of creditors.  Wouldn’t you love to know how much American Document Destruction is owed, and exactly what their services were?  It takes some major cajones to stiff your shredding company.

Click here for the document:  Creditors Doc 265

Do you see any creditors on the list that spark your curiosity?

 

Barney’s Failed Experiment – The Siena…where the fun never ends…

Interested in staying up-to-speed on the Siena?  Click on the two links below and let us know if you can find any items of interest:

Cash Flow July 2010

Cash Flow August 2010

RE Reno Seven Months Later…

On May 14, 2009 Barney Ng wrote the following to RE Reno investors:

I recognize and appreciate the trust that you as an investor have placed in me in originally providing this Loan to the Siena, and because of this I am committed to the pay-off of the loan.

Barney’s commitment to paying off the loan should be lauded.  His follow-through, however, is laughable (so is yours, Walter – you, too, signed the personal guarantee).  Barney continues…

The ‘Mourning’ After

Rage faded to disappointment overnight, but returned with a vengeance this morning.  The realization (or was it a reminder?) that the valuations provided by the NG family aren’t simply inflated, but greatly exaggerated, hit like a ton of bricks.  Weissenborn and his high-priced team have been noticeably quiet.  They apparently don’t have time to update us on anything, let alone the great financial loss we sustained yesterday.  Arent Fox made money.  Stephanie & Matthew Kelly made a few bucks.  So did Innovation Capital, to the tune of $300,000 plus consulting fees of $10,000 per month.  We, however, lost everything unless, of course, you believe in divine intervention.

Barney Finally Called On His High Jinx

 On October 6, 2010 we discussed Barney’s Supplemental Statement filing.  This filing asked the bankruptcy court to allow Barney’s group to hire a few firms, amongst them the Kelly Law Group.  KLG was to provide legal services to the Siena.  As we all know, the Kelly Law Group is run by (virtual) legal dynamos Stephanie & Matthew Kelly, also known as Barney’s daughter and son-in-law. 

While the SEC allowed its employees to spend many of their office hours watching pornography on the internet instead of prosecuting the NG family and Bruce Horwitz, the lawyers in the Office of The U.S. Trustee were working hard, as evidenced by their October 20, 2010 filing objecting to the arrangement between Barney NG and the Kellys.  The Attorneys for the Acting U.S. Trustee August B. Landis deserve a standing ovation thus far.

In 13 easy-to-comprehend pages, Landis’ attorneys spell out exactly why the sweetheart deal Barney put in place with his family doesn’t pass muster and would have been denied by Judge Newsome had the Siena not shut down earlier this week.  It is comforting to finally see Barney take a right hook to the chin.  Perhaps he didn’t realize he’d get called on his bullshit.  This isn’t the bush leagues anymore, Barney.  You can no longer make up the rules as you go along, enriching yourself and those you deem worthy.  You are now playing in the big leagues.  Everything you do shows up on PACER.  Sure, the RGJ and other newspapers may not cover ever move you make, but you can be certain the team behind http://www.barkinvestors.blogspot.com will.  A simple Google search leads people to this website.  The web traffic shows people are coming to this website often, looking for updates on your latest transgressions.  You and your Bar-K cohorts fooled us for years.  Those days are over.

Getting back to the Landis filing, here are the salient points:

RELEVANT FACTS:

1.  Matthew Kelly is Barney Ng’s son-in-law and grand-son-in-law to Walter Ng.
2.  Barney Ng is the managing member of each of the debtors and has served in that capacity since May 8, 1998.
3.  Barney Ng is the 100% owner of Wild Game Ng, LLC.
4.  Barney Ng is the sole unsecured creditor for Hi-Five Enterprises, LLC ($75,000).
5.  Barney Ng and Walter Ng are co-debtors with One South Lake Street, LLC on the secured note to RE Reno, LLC.
6.  Walter Ng is the registered agent and manager of One South Lake Street, LLC.
7.  The Kelly Law Group – Matt Kelly was paid $4,656.70 on the petition date.
8.  Matthew Kelly is not licensed to practice law in Nevada, only California.
9.  The Kelly Law Group, LLP is “a virtual law firm.”
10.  Although the Application states that the Applicant was employed since December 2009, the Engagement Letter is dated July 22, 2010.
11.  Barney Ng’s testimony at the 341 hearing state in-part:
      a.  Matthew Kelly was employed on an “oral basis before the bankruptcies were filed “because he’s my son-in-law”;
      b.  the flat fee rate of $7,000 per month is a “family discount”;
      c.  Matthew Kelly was employed by Barney Ng on numerous personal matters;
      d.  Matthew Kelly was in-house counsel for Bar-K, Inc., an entity owned by Barney Ng and where Barney Ng was also employed;
      e.  Matthew Kelly left Bar-K, Inc. employment when Barney Ng left Bar-K, Inc. employment;
      f.  Walter Ng and Barney Ng’s brother were also involved with Bar-K, Inc.;
     g.  initially, Matthew Kelly was working on mostly personal issues for Barney Ng (70% of his time), not the Debtors; and
      h.  Barney Ng has an unsecured claim of approximately $35 to $36 million, that he intends to subordinate to other unsecured claims.
12.  The first application to employ the Applicant was filed on September 8, 2010, forty-nine (49) days after the petitions were filed.

Whew.  That’s a lot to digest, but we’re not done yet!

In the “Application Of Authorities To The Relevant Facts” section of the filing, Landis’ team describes  why the Kelly Law Group is not eligible to receive Barney’s rich handout.

 A professional in a bankruptcy case should not be put in the position of having to divide his loyalties.  Matthew Kelly, as Barney Ng’s son-in-law, is an insider and therefore is NOT a disinterested person. 

The Application and the accompanying verified statement of Applicant and Barney Ng, do not adequately disclose the significant connections between the Applicant, Barney Ng and Walter Ng. 

Additionally, Applicant gave a less than full disclosure that his “four years working in-house for one of California’s largest private commercial real estate lenders” was Bar-K, Inc., a company that is owned by Barney Ng and also involved Barney Ng, Walter Ng and Barney Ng’s brother.  Applicant’s statement that he “is a disinterested person as that term is defined in 11 U.S.C. § 101(14),” shows a lack of understanding of and appreciation for the requirements of disclosure by professionals working for a bankruptcy estate.

Applicant’s legal abilities are not unique or extraordinary enough to warrant overlooking the obvious concerns regarding his allegiance to his family over the interests of the estates.

Allow us to summarize:

1.  The U.S. Trustee and his staff won’t stand for Barney’s bovine feces.
2.  Matthew Kelly attested to the fact that he and his firm would be a “disinterested” party as required by law.  Landis called him on his blatant lie.  The California State Bar will want to look into this ethical breach.
3.  Barney’s $7,000 per month gravy train broke down and became unhitched.
4.  How much would this contract cost if the ‘family discount’ weren’t applied?
4.  We still haven’t recovered a single cent of our investment, unlike favored investors Leonard Epstein and Phillip Tagami.

Please add your own analysis below in the comments section.