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Have he and his employees returned from Monaco? Are they still in business and accepting new money for trees? Are they answering current investor inquiries and are they thinning trees? Is his health allowing wholesome and honest accounting to his investors? Is the Pope Jewish?
Most tree owners are very well satisfied with TATF. I see no reason to involve the FBI, CR has their own laws and courts and we all signed that document saying that a CR court has jurisdiction. It was near the end of my agreement. I have great faith in Steve as a good tree farmer who is fulfilling his tree owners dreams of profit. That 6% charge is not too much to pay for all that TATF does.
It is obvious that there is deception going on here by more than just the owner of TATF.
It is vital that investors file their reports with the FBI. The accumulation of reports will trigger their action.
Report at http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx
Mamy fine people at TATF could be hurt as well in any FBI investigation, the farm workers will suffer, and the fact is everyone's trees are there.
I beg to differ about getting the fbi involved. This will drive down interest in buying lumber from TATF and hurt all of our treeowners here on the board. Many rumours might cause furniture makers to stop dealing with TATF. I beg to differ with the entire message i am replying to Belmont.
Ok, Guys/Girls, this may well get the board taken by Ihub. We all know what happened to the other board because members violated TOS. We all should know that the rules about posting about deletions, speculating about other posters, calling posters bashers are hypers, personal insults even if not directly directed at the other ihub member, off topic timber, these are postings that get removed even if 99% of the entire message are brilliant timber knowledge.I am posting altogether too many such messages as this one i just did.
I can try to save some by editing and reposting i feel is worth saving but why can't adults live by and edit themselves? If i have to send to ihub admin these deletions, this won't be a board that you will see around very long. You could see abvgn trying to save the other board while several headstrong posters continued along brazenly posting offtopic or personal attacks. A link to something a poster posted.
Internet fraud complaint link: www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx
Hello Fawtc- They are collecting facts and is important for all investors to report their shortcomings as it is to FBI so they can proceed for the good of each victim and right the wrong that has occured. It appears that TATFs Sherry and Steve have recessed to the campo real? And are not in San jose? Cost savings?
I will delete any message that attacks any other poster personally, is so off topic as to create a nuisance thread of posts, and Ihub admin will delete duplicate accounts and occasionally have even showed up here to delete some messages i did not get deleted because of my days other activities. We are all living by the skin of our teeth on having this board continued by IHUB. I do not delete your messages for having an opposing point of view on TATf:only please remember to counter my message with one of your own that:
if you even mention deletions, speculations about people posting who are not company owners or their workers, if you post any obscenities, and by ihub rules that includes the &*^%$ symbols then those postings are gone even if the rest of the post would solve world hunger and mankind's wars.
In the yellow sticky post you will find the hyperlink to Ihub Terms of service on what gets deleted.
Does anyone receive any info from the FBI about their TATF complaints?
Let us know if you can talk with anyone.
We also have been getting the answering machine.
To my surprise all the phones including the one I had as direct contact (Steve') to he office are directed to the answering machine, then I tried all others numbers and various faxes, we could not get anyone.
The main office number I was given by the office manager is 506 256 5161. The other ones are the same as posted in the webpage.
I just called the TATF office in Costa Rica. The phone was answered by the machine.
WHICH PART Duped DOES NOT UNDERSTAND, THAT:
1) I am Costa Rica now, there is no one at the TATF claimed address of business.
2) Business has stopped operations. TATF is kaput, niet TAFT kapot, zippo, cero, niente!!!
They are answering the phone today too. Last night i left a message saying i was a present timber investor and first thing this morning i got a return call asking if i needed any help or information. I asked if there was any problem about the phones, and they said the night guard had inadvertantly shut off the machine on saturday. They assured me the office staff was back to work today and the farms were being tended.
Why sue a company that is going to enrich everyone after they get their very own trees harvested? TATF will meet all the expectations we had when we bought our trees. This is a really, really, really good investment!
It is fact TATF shut down operations.
I doubt you got an answer on a Saturday.
Since when there are people answering phones Saturdays?
Really, let us know when you can get a real person to answer your call.
We might get something going since TATF sold products that were called to be fitted for IRA in the USA.
Now, anyone who got IRA TATF trees will need to initiate the legal claim.
"You said you called yesterday!" I did. I called tonight and got an answering machine.
Hello Mr. John *****, how are you? Hope fine. I’m Maria ****, I work for CINDE, the investment promotion agency of Costa Rica. Regarding your question,
any legal contract in Costa Rica has to be in Spanish. But maybe your lawyer can help you facilitating an exact English version for you.
If you have any additional doubt, let me know.
Hold-the-Horses, TATF-still in business! TATF is sorry that phone service was interrupted and offices are staffed again as usual. I was correct, the staff were called to Monaco, everything is fine with TATF and the farms are in TATF hands and control.
Goodby Everyone, The-TATF company-dissolving has ended further speculation about TATF.
I would not, unless i consulted someone in the know. It might be that anyone might say i would be somewhat responsible if the news of TATF put someone in the frame of mind to do harm to steve and i contributed before a cooling off period.
How could telling us how to contact Steve and Sherry possibly get you in trouble in court? I am not an attorney but telling us how to contact to Steve and Sherry could not be an illegal action.
That could be dicey for me to answer in court. I suppose though that if you set your mind to it you might logically come up with a way to find out.
I still have my head but Steve and Sherry have our money. How do we contact them in Monaco or wherever they are hiding? I am not interested in doing anything illegal. I want to legally procede to catch the crooks. Since you are the only one who seems to know where they are please help the rest of us catch them. You have cajoled and infuriated everyone on this site. At the very least you can now help us. If you really are "Honest John" then you should have no problem helping us catch the "Dishonest Steve and Sherry Brunner." Please help the rest of us.
TATF has apparently sold all their-farms in-CR in the last 10 days. There apparently is no legal recourse against Steve and unless you had legal contracts written in spanish no recourse with the new land owners.
No-Steve & Sherry are Not honest people. However i do not intend to get embroiled in possibly illegal actions if someone(investor) loses his head.
So, now we are all dupedbysteve. Please tell all of us how to contact Steve and Sherry. I will borrow the money to go talk to them. I hope that everyone including the FBI goes with me. If what you are NOW saying is the truth, Steve and Sherry need to be blessed with our current attention. Do you really think that they are honest people? What a total load of crap. If they have sold the farms where is our money? We investors paid for the farms.
Not so, i just knew that a spanish written contract was the only legally binding form of contract in CR. I brought it to the attention of several posters months ago. Now that Steve has doublecrossed his investors at least i have legal options so i will get my money from the new owners. As far as i knew the company was solvent when i bought my trees. Now it is not, as evidenced by the shutoff of phones and office.
I beg to differ with you. TATF has yet to meet my 7, 10 or 13 year projections. How in the world can they honestly say that the payouts from their projections are based on past experience? I HAVE NOT RECEIVED ONE PENNY FROM THEM. How can sending no money and not even telling me that they are waiting for someone to buy the wood be construed as meeting their projections? The projections on the website are nothing but falsehoods or lies as some would call it. Also, no, I have not attempted to sell my wood. TATF has always told me that they would do that. That is part of the deal that is offered to all investors. TATF selling the wood has always been part of the deal. How can the wood not being sold be my fault? Steve and Sherry always said that they would sell the wood. Please explain to me how my not receiving any money from at least 3 thinnings shows that TATF has met all of their projections. If they had met their projections I would be on here telling everyone what a good investment this is. I have received no money from them. To me, that means that they have not have not met their projections with me or anyone else that I know. I would love to be on here telling everyone that this company is reputable and honest. But my pockets are still empty and they tell me everyday to get on here and let everyone know that this is a bad investment with a dishonest company and owners.
It matters-naught anymore. TATF-hs sold the-landand the new owners are cutting the trees down of those who did not have spanish witten contracts. Luckily i am once again going to be able to recoup my original investment last month. This time however i will not receive full timber projection price at time of harvest. Anyone else wih a legally admissable contract written in spanish will likewise get re-imbursed.
This board may not be here tommorow, ihub may shut it down at any minute as redundant to another board. So to those who read this adieu, good luck in the future.
Honest John.
You said you called yesterday!
You claim to have spoke with Steve using the phones listed in the TATF web page.
I challenge everybody to call those numbers to see if you get an answer. Can you post your results of your calls!!!
In the past, the numbers listed would ring and a message with the Monday to Friday schedule would play. Now, they do not go to an answering machine, and they are not answered.
At the address provided by TATF web-site there is nothing there.
It was not a holiday in CR when I tried to locate anyone from TATF.
I believe it is something genetic. I can only go that far, but i know everyone is hoping for the best for our dear steve.
"TATF and everyone on this message board knows that the projections TATF continues to post are completely false"
I beg to differ. I believe that TATF has met every projection. TATF has your tree thinnings in holding for a buyer that is being sought today. Did you make an effort to sell your thinnings?
Running a fraudulent operation has to be having a negative effect on Steve's health. I do not wish anything bad for Steve but I do believe that if he suddenly became honest with his current and future investors he would experience a positive effect on his health. Dishonesty has a very negative effect on people.
Honest Bob
A long time investor with TATF who has still not received one penny return on my investment with TATF.
Dupedbysteve:
I sincerly hope that your big investment pays off for you considering the amount of work that you have done and continue to do to promote TATF. Time will tell. So far my time with TATF and Steve and Sherry Brunner has given me nothing but empty pockets. Steve and Sherry have my money as well as everyone else's and are now able to live in Monaco, spending the money they have stolen from all of their unsuspecting investors. Time will tell.
Honest Bob
A long time investor with TATF who has still not received one penny from TATF
Future investors:
TATF continues to post knowingly false projections on it's website in an attempt to lure in more unsuspecting new investors. Here is a direct quote from the TATF website: "The projections below therefore reflect our actual results from our earliest thinnings together with historically based data for the subsequent thinnings and final harvests." I have been invested with this company for almost 17 years now. According to the projections on the TATF website which are based on their "actual results for our earliest thinnings" I should have already received payments totaling $7887 for every 100 teak trees that I own. To this date, now almost 17 years after first investing with TATF I have received $0 in payments. I invested in this company within the first year of their existence as did several of my friends. My experience with this company is not a singular experience or a mistake that is completely out of the ordinary for other investors. If people have been paid I and my friends should be close to the front of the line. I still have not received one penny from TATF and neither has anyone else that I know that is invested with this company. If anyone has been paid it is only Steve and Sherry's friends and family, not anyone who is not part of that group.
This really has become a fraud. TATF and everyone on this message board knows that the projections TATF continues to post are completely false, inaccurate and misleading. Earlier in my experience with TATF I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. I didn't believe that they were knowingly misleading investors. I believed that Steve and Sherry Brunner were honest people. It is now VERY, VERY obvious that TATF and Steve and Sherry Brunner are now knowingly posting totally false information in an attempt to get more unspecting investors involved. Do not be taken by the seeming honesty of the Brunners.
The projections are completely false and TATF and the Brunners know this fully. They are now seem to involved in a situation that is illegal at best.
FUTURE INVESTORS: DO YOUR HOMEWORK!! WHILE TRYING TO DO SOMETHING GOOD FOR THE WORLD AND FOR YOURSELVES, YOU WILL BE MAKING A MISTAKE INVESTING WITH THIS FRAUDULENT BUSINESS AND IT'S CRIMINAL OWNERS. THE OWNERS OF THIS COMPANY HAVE LEFT COSTA RICA AND NOW LIVE IN MONACO. THAT SHOULD SPEAK LOUD AND CLEAR TO ANYONE INVOLVED WITH THIS COMPANY OR ANYONE WHO IS THINKING OF BECOMING INVOLVED WITH THIS COMPANY OR STEVE AND SHERRY BRUNNER.
Honest Bob
A long time investor with TATF who has yet to receive one penny from TATF.
Of course they are up. TATF is still operating and viable. There was no problem when i called TATf yesterday. So any new investors are more than welcome to get in and make money.
What makes this so fraudulent is that Brunner's Tropical American Tree Farms site is still up, projections and all, and is still trying to attract more tree buyers. It was only our forums that saved StanleyB from disaster days ago when he said he was about to send the scam money for 1000 trees.
belmontx
TATF is literally out of business as an operating entity.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Steve assured me if anything like that happened he would notify investors long before any sale and enumerated how investor's trees were protected under contact. The new landowner must get permission to cut down the trees and the investors still had only to worry about theft.
And I prefer the satisfaction of being able to see the fruits of my investment on a regular basis and without having to beg the custodian of my money for updates on the use and eventual return of those dollars.
One must be sensitive that these are long term investments and many investors are too hands on in their approach. These investors expect monthly individual reports on their very own 500 trees out of 2.5 million trees steve manages!..in a 20 year investment cycle. Frankly, if a company did something like that, i would suspect it to be a scam.
Of course everyone is entitled to invest anywhere, anyhow. I just prefer to have the satisfaction of replenishing natural rainforests that were destroyed by short sightedness. Also i am happy to soon be able to realise gains through the kyoto accords carbon credits to enrich me also for the teak i bought.
If any investors wish french,italian,russian, portugese,japanese or chinese contracts, they could certainly get them from TATF in CR.
LOL... I couldn't care less if Steve provides contracts in english, Chinese, Russian or jibberish. There's not a chance that he'll see any of my money. If one wishes to invest in timber or other natural resources there are many golden opportunities to do so within the borders of this country.
All current investors. BTW, Steve has made to your personal wishes of english only written contracts. So you are free to negotiate such items as regular communication and if you are not satisfied, you could get all your money back.
For a reason that is concerning his health Steve is unable to fly for a while. So naturally even with the cost, it needs to be directed by steve with steve having top hand info on the farms.
So you're saying TATF has no problem with spending some time putting new money in their pockets but no one will spend a few minutes responding to the folks whose money is already in their pockets. I see.
We really cede management to a professional forestry team.
WE?
We really cede management to a professional forrestry team. The TATF operation does not have time to spend an hour a day of Steve's time answering endless questions repeated ad nauseum. As a tree ownner i want TATF taking care of my trees, not wasting time with overly demanding individuals who fail to understand the mechanics of this long term investment.
I have had no trouble contacting TATF to help with marketing lumber to local furniture makers here in texas.
Gee stanley, you made the same mistake i did in believing that TATF was a bad investment from reading a message board. I sold out and discovered i should have boght more trees from TATF. I just bought several thousand trees from TATF and i am pleased as punch i could get back in.
TATF is literally out of business as an operating entity.
I have tried to get a local lawyer to give me an assessment.
It seems that unless the local police is willing to issue a warrant, there is little hope.
Accessing the farms to claim the trees is impossible because we do not own the land, and there is little control to stop TATF from selling the land and the trees.
Good luck with you phone calls to TAFT....
Once again you have been duped by Steve....and Sherry. I sincerly hope that your investment turns out better than mine has for me. I want TATF to succeed but it is looking more and more as if that is not the case. If everything was going the way that it was supposed to, I really don't think that Steve would be living in Monaco. He would be in Costa Rica welcoming his investors with open arms and showing the investors how well things are going. The last time some of my friends went to Costa Rica, Steve and Sherry would not even come down from their house to say hello. These people traveled from the U.S. to Costa Rica and spent their hard earned money to go there. Steve and Sherry were very well aware that they were coming. Steve and Sherry were there at the farm but would not even come down to see their supposed friends from the U.S. 5 minutes is all that it would have taken. I knew something was wrong then. It hasn't gotten any better. I find this very interesting: When this operation first started, Steve and Sherry would call on the phone and we could call them too. Now, you had to go to Europe to see Steve. This stinks to high heaven. If this isn't a scam, what are Steve and Sherry running from?
Honest Bob
A long time investor who has still not received any money from TATF.
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I am not an investment professional and any comments i make are only my opinion and belief.
Herein you must make your own judgements. I suggest you read sbrunner postings on another board. It will take a little while ... Then you will have a clearer idea of why i think other "posters" are misguided in their assessment of TATf. Besides i saw the farms, read letters, know that thinnings don't amount to a hill of beans and that the only basis i have is that the trees exist, they are growing and being cared for now some 20 years almost since steve started this business, and there is no real reason to suppose that a man who has 2.2 million trees of his own is interested in making 3350 enemies for what is peanuts in his holdings.
I have decided That CLOSING the board is necessary because too many were complaining about my moderating noise out of the forum. It gets very old explaining that talking about deletions on the board is automatically going to get the post deleted. I attempted to put in Knowledgable assistants so they could understand by reading the deletions that a few posters were posting personal attacks and thinking i as the moderator would stand still for that.
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