Wow, over 25% in the first round

of restitution which "only" took ~5 years after the FBI complaint

http://www.fbi.gov/houston/press-releases/2010/ho031110a.htm

I'm glad the long suffering victims of the Grifco scam finally got something. Is there more to follow from siezed assets?

GLTA
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Thanks B2B EM

Hi B2V, was Jarvis's big house

sold as part of the restitution deal? I seem to remember there was a problem with the property sale. Could he be spending his probation in the McMansion he owned (possibly in a relative's name)? Be a shame if the crooks are out on probation while the defrauded shareholders are still in restitution purgatory.

GLTA
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Another quarter & no restitution

Dial made a tangled mess indeed. There must be a stack of paperwork a foot high for review every time a new judge reviews the case. Are the con artist crooks out of prison on parole for "good behavior" yet? It would be a shame if they were out before any restitution was paid to their victims...

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Hi B2B, crooks trail of fraud

has many victims.

The crooks left a tangled mess and fraud in their wake. As you know, here plenty of claims against the Grifco scam besides common shareholders. Just Twot and I'm sure you can add more!

The ROBINSON REED, INC. AND FFC3 loan default and judgment

The CTBG "some shareholders get nothing" share distribution fiasco

There are many other claims against Grifco and a big mess to untangle. Seems to me that the bureaucrats have gone through some gyrations to get any money to the common shareholders who are, after all, on the bottom of the capital structure. Guess that's why they chose such an old PR as basis for prosecution.

At least shareholders are getting something from the system but I agree it's taking way, way too long
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Hi B2B, I try to check in every

quarter to see if any restitution has been paid. I take it thet nobody has seenn ane cash except the lawyers. I'm sorry to heatr that Jarvis has a mortgage on his house since it decreases the realizable value for restitution purposes.As someone posted it looks more and more like Dial will be out of jail before any cash is paid to defrauded investors - IMO that's a shame.

Is it true that none of you has seen any cash at all yet?

I'll look for LGL8054''s IHUB page though my eyes are worse mow.

I'm curious

as to how much help anyone has had from their brokerage with the records of all GFCI trades and profit/loss. 10 hrs is a long time to spend on paperwork at this late stage!

I take it that nobody has seen any money yet since, as I recall, victims had until August to file. Wonder if anyone will get any cash from the fund before the crooks are released from jail.

still a mess

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"not holding breath" -- Good idea!

Those who were holding their breath while waiting for a speedy resolution of claims passed out long ago... LOL

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The ranch sale and the restitution obligations

As far as I know the gross amounts owed are set forth below. Does not include the Useltons or others involved.

FBI

http://www.fbi.gov/houston/press-releases/2012/two-more-handed-sentences-in-grifco-fraud-scheme

"Judge Hittner also ordered Jarvis and Ellerman to pay restitution to their victims. A hearing to determine the amount of such restitution will be held no later than August 2, 2012. Jarvis, who admitted obtaining at least $2 million from the conspiracy, has agreed to sell real property located at 28322 Meadow Falls, Magnolia, Texas, currently valued at $1.8 million, and also to sell certain luxury vehicles, including a Chevrolet Corvette and a Porsche automobile, and to apply the proceeds against his restitution obligation.

Jarvis had been permitted to remain on bond pending his sentencing hearing but was taken into custody on May 3, 2012, for violating conditions of his bond, where he will now remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future. Ellerman has been in custody since April 20, 2010, when he was arrested at George Bush Intercontinental Airport upon returning to the United States after a lengthy stay in Panama"

SEC

http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2012/lr22384.htm

"The complaint charges that Dial, Ellerman, and Jarvis violated Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act) and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, officer and director bars, and penny stock bars against each.

Dial, Jarvis, and Ellerman have consented to the entry of a final judgment that: (i) enjoins them from future violations of Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder; (ii) and bars them from serving as an officer or director of a public company or participating in an offering of any penny stock. Dial, Jarvis, and Ellerman also consented to entry of a final judgment that orders them to pay disgorgement and prejudgment interest in the amount of $1,600,628, $2,095,524, and $939,650, respectively, which will be deemed satisfied upon entry of a restitution order in an equal or greater amount in a related enforcement action brought by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas (Houston); United States v. Alex Ellerman et al., Cr. NO. H-10-56-S (S.D. Tex.) (U.S. v. Ellerman)."
________

This is dated information. If anyone has updated information, please post.
GLTA
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B2B, don't forget the Russian oligarchs

who probably own the Cyprus hedge funds Robinson Reed, Inc. and FFC3 ApS. These funds were located in Cyprus and Denmark according to the lawsuit response from Dial. The funds have a judgment against Grifco and were issued a lot of GFCI shares as part of the loan as I recall.

They might have lapped up much of the restitution money but that''s just a guess on my part. Wouldn't have known that Cyprus was a place where Russians hid their money if it were'nt for the latest European crisis. One set of crooks borrows money from another bunch of crooks. If that''s true it could help explain why it's taking so long to get something done.

GLTA
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So it drags on. At least 15% if all claims are paid?

At least your friend who got the letter late should get consideration. I seem to remember more nomey in the pool as you say. Wasn''t there $2millionm fron Jarvis alone? Wonder if L. Mewman or M. King are claiming a loss (wouldn''t put it past them).

GLTA
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Drlab, Dial got Litifiber from Jarvis

You Post:
""I was told I was receiving about 25% of my loss because defense lawyers are disputing any claims with Litifiber or trim-a-lawn. Both of these companies did reverse splits to become Grifco."
______________________

When Jim Dial bailed out of Summit Entertainment Group (later Pittboss Entertainment), John Jarvis took charge. Jim Dial took charge of Litfiber (now Grifco) Jarvis's old company. Basically they switched jobs.

https://www.otcstockinfo.com/repository/656608/656608_FR15.pdf

"On November 1st 2004 Jim Dial resigned as President / CEO of Summit Entertainment Group and John D. Jarvis became the new President / CEO
of Summit Entertainment Group on the same day."
___________

This is oldinformation and I don''t know if the link works, but that is what happened. As I recall, Jarvis bought the Litfiber shell. BBB or B2B would know more about this deal that became Grifco. There was an old post on I-Hub called CEO Swapping back in 2005 with links to filings.

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The new year should bring a check

at last for the victims of this scam. Eventually, even the lawyers will run out of stalling tactics.

GLTA
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Still waiting for the other shoe to drop

The leading criminals arte in jail - seems others got a pass. It's over in the courts except for the restitution. Any progrtess?

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B2B, That's not good news

Over on RB some posters speculated that the number of complaints about Grifco had to reach some critical level before the SEC would act. I guess what finally caused action was JD's connection to the usletons and his pulling of the DTC's tail with the bogus share distribution. Too bad the scam blew up before whistleblower program started since you took the time to aid the investigation and to testify.

Still hoping you get substantial restitution
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Would email to the SEC

containing incriminating information about the Grifco fraud count as consideration for a "wistleblower" award? As I recall there were many complaints filed with the SEC by posters here and on RB. If anyone's complaints contained evidence of the fraud, it might be worthwhile to contact the office of the whistleblower and remind them about your complaint and the evidence it contained.

http://sec.gov/about/offices/owb/owb-faq.shtml#P5_1383

"Who is an eligible whistleblower?

An “eligible whistleblower” is a person who voluntarily provides us with original information about a possible violation of the federal securities laws that has occurred, is ongoing, or is about to occur. The information provided must lead to a successful SEC action resulting in an order of monetary sanctions exceeding $1 million. One or more people are allowed to act as a whistleblower, but companies or organizations cannot qualify as whistleblowers. You are not required to be an employee of the company to submit information about that company. See Rule 21F-2."
____________

Don't think it costs anything to contact them.
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So, seems likely that JD was the "front man"

and Jarvis ended up with at least some of the money. Jarvis had funds for restitution. Maybe JD spent it as fast as it came in on a big house he had built near the peak of the housing bubble, Lonnie's drill rig, girls at the strip club, trips to Vegas, etc.


Maybe the prosecutor's office hasn't found out where JD stashed it yet. Seems they bought his story about being destitute. Madoff's victims may get 50 cents on the dollar, I hope the 300 Grifco victims who submitted impact statements get something as well.

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If they find $$ millions 4 victims

that can be used for restitution I will be delighted.

Realistically, the perps must have known that their fraud was drawing a lot of heat:

They pissed off the DTC and the brokerages on the botched CTT share distribution

Their buds, the Useltons, busted and squealing

Swinford suing Dial and complaining to anyone who would listen

The criminals probably tried to hide assets. I hope, for your sake, that they were too stupid to succeed and that their assets are seized for restitution payments in spite of the plea bargain.

hope you liked the song
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B2B, I thought that Dial got a Public defender

because he claimed to be broke. As I recall Jarvis was the only one who had cash. Ellerman was arrested after a trip to Panama - odd expense for someone who claims to be broke. Maybe he just ran out of money in Panama like the song:

60 Mo. = 30 Mo. day 4 day good behavior

and early parole from a non-violent, low security facility? I don't know exactly what the dept. of corrections will do with JD. He was the front man for the scam and the additional charges might be for others, there were plenty of them, who profited from the scam. P&D group TransGlobal Funding for example. Once Grifco's criminality is established by convictions it's hard for associates to pretend they didn't know.

so Ellerman was the panama connection, unlike the others he wasn't released on bail - maybe he won't cooperate?

"...Ellerman has been in custody since April 20, 2010 when he was arrested at George Bush Intercontinental Airport upon returning to the United States after a lengthy stay in Panama."

Thanks to all who attended the hearing, got information from Kesha, and posted links to the news story and the FBI press release.

Waiting for the others to be sentenced & (maybe) other charges. The government has all the time 'till the statute of limitations to do that.

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Nothing wrong with the new poster IMO

1) He/She provides interesting, useful links
2) The posts are about crook's assets
3) If you're right remember: "you catch more flies with honey than vinegar"

Why would a scammer call attention to assets still held by Jarvis?

I imagine that the crooks transferred as much money as they could out of Grifco. I don't have any evidence so this is just a possible reason that a bowling business would be handy for money laundering. A bowling alley, like the old mobster favorite, dry cleaners, takes in a lot of cash. If you had an insider keeping the books (guess who) it's easy to doctor the pin setting machine's counters, receipts, etc. and vastly inflate the number of customers paying for games in cash. It's hard to prove that, say, there were only 100 games played during some period rather than 3000. No goods
are sold, customers buy time on the lanes - perfect.

I don't see what harm any comments here will do at the final stages of the busted fraud. Why do you object to disclosures about the scammer's assets???

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B2B, If you talk to Kesha ask whether the DTC

is seeking restitution from the fund. They might have a claim based on the fraudulent CTBG share distribution and the costs associated with the share claw back a year later.

I'm not a lawyer, for all I know there could be a pecking order for victims of the scam. It would be nice if individuals have precedence over institutions and corporations for restitution payments. I hope you are able to post the outcome of the restitution as, say, cents on the dollar for example. Failing that at least the fact that there was a payout even if you can't discuss amounts or percentages due to court order.

Thanks for reminding be about the latest date for sentencing. amazing that they have dragged this out so long.
GLTA
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Sentencing June 6 of what year?

"Jarvis and Dial will be sentenced on June 6"

Amazing how long they have been able to stall. The good news seems to be that there are only a few investors seeking restitution from a (seemingly) large pool of cash.

Good luck to all
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Yes, dumb luck - I'm not proud or ashamed of it em

Thanks B2B, the perp's brazenness was an outrage em

Hi Catani, are there liars and cheats in Germany?

Charles Ponzi came from Italy but only reached his full potential in the USA. I don't think that greed and folly are exclusive to America but you have a point; I suspect there are differences in the way we deal with these financial crimes.

I thought the Grifco crooks would be tried and sentenced by now. The Grifco story has been an education for me and I'm still learning. I didn't know there was more to sentencing than a plea agreement and a judge with sentencing guidelines. Maybe the delays are part of the punishment because an unknown fate from a capricious justice system is undoubtedly stressful for the crooks (poor babies lol).

You're following Fringe? I haven't seen it but I'll check it out on your recommendation. The real life drama for the Grifco shareholders and the people (like you) who I've come to know through the GFCI chat boards is another reason I still follow the story. The final episode, sentencing and restitution, is dragging out for a long time.

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Y

OOps, yes I do em

Thanks 4 the information B2B

I'm glad that Kesha Miller returned your call. Perhaps there's a misunderstanding but I found the expression "any remaining funds" interesting.. It implies that the restitution funds are being spent or distributed somehow while in the SEC's possession.

You post:

"I asked if there was a Restitution Pool established. She said that all impounded funds and assets are under the SEC's control and once everything is settled the SEC will release any remaing funds for distribution."

No question that the probation dept. in corrections determines the time actually served behind bars. There's good behavior, participation in prison programs, assessments of rehabilitation, etc. to guide them . I am surprised to learn that the probation dept. is involved in the actual sentencing itself. Grifco is turning into an education for me.

I assure you that there's no Victim Impact statement from me and I will not file one.
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If you try to sell a large block of GFCI

there might be a nice government employee who would ask where you got the shares.

Don't know if he'll skate

and that's part of the reason I'm still interested. Why the sentencing delays? I imagine (but don't really know) that when there's a plea agreement and the DA recommends a sentence then the court follows. If Jarvis forfeits his ill gotten gains, cooperates, and fulfills the terms; then wham, bam they're done in a few minutes. Something is delaying the sentencing, you may be right,I don't claim to know.

The Grifco crew managed to piss off a bunch of businessmen as well as the shareholders. Here's 3 of many

Someone at the DTC looks pretty stupid and the DTC itself was inconvenienced. They might want to send a message to scammers - "don't involve us in your scams".

Mr. Swinford nearly lost his company.

Locally, Ronnie Taylor might have a few words to say about the scam

I'm very curious about the outcome
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Texas may have a 3 time loser law em

A final shareholder's meeting at the courthouse?

No private bodyguards this time, I imagine there will be a different kind of guards. Seriously though will anyone posting here attend the sentencing?

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Guess a tailgate party would be inappropriate

on the 27th since there's not much to celebrate IMO. GFCI shareholders lost money and some of the crooks lost their illicit gains and maybe their freedom for a while. Hopefully B2B and other investors will get some of their money back.

I wonder what, if anything, happened to "RG Raymond", Cladue Eldrige, King/Dalkart, and the rest of the crew at the shareholder's meeting and at TransGlobal Funding? It would be a shame if they just set up shop again with another front man and another con job company.

At least with Google and stock chat boards these characters would have their past catch up to them in a hurry if they promote another scam on the internet at sites like this IMO.

http://claudeeldridge.com/

Has anyone here posted to this blog?
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Post jail? The crew may have some CTBG

stock stashed in a proxy account (or several) somewhere. This assumes that the crooks knew that their scam was falling apart at the time of the CTBG distribution (handled by Grifco not the transfer agent). Worthless GFCI for real CTBG. So someone not directly connected to Grifco (like a chum of Mike King's for example) could have been holding a mess of bogus (unregestered) Grifco stock and got many real CTBG shares. The distribution was very short and Dial distributed the shares.

The extended Grifco association of crooks could continue to make grief for Swinford. The Swinfords are moving ahead with help from Mr. Pohlmann:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Coil-Tubing-Technology-Inc-bw-50761700.html?x=0

I think that CTBG was the only real asset they totally controlled. Global Oil Tools was able to protect their assets (don't know about Mr Griffin).

On the other hand maybe I'm just paranoid and these guys would rat about anything in exchange for a reduced sentence.

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Property transfer to protect against civil suit?

The sentencing ought to take into account asset forfeiture for restitution. I've forgotten the exact amount but didn't Jarvis agreed to pay $1 million in the plea bargain? I'm not a lawyer but aren't the felons eligible for civil suit in connection with Grifco?

You post about Nick:

"...He is also snorting our coke and spending our money on table dances."

If this is true it sounds like he's a "menace to himself or others" and in violation of his release agreement pending sentencing.
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Jarvis crashed OUR car?? EM

Sentencing DELAYED 'till February 27 !

I hope that you are right in your conjecture B2B:

"... the only other reason for the delays, that I can think of, is that the three criminals are cooperating in building cases against other criminals. When I talked to the SEC Investigator he said there were over 40 entities that were being investigated in connection with Grifco."
___________

Would be nice to see some action against the other players in the scams. For example other unnamed coconspirators from the entities TransGlobal P&D operation, Princeton Research, Pittboss Entertainment, Lyamec, the Forbes &York P&D, the Useltons P&D ... and the list goes on.

Thanks for the update B2B
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B2B, didn't you post Jan 19th? EM

January 19, 2012! They may die of old age

before sentencing at this rate. Heck they should get credit for time served if any of them are already in jail awaiting sentencing.

I'm guessing that the detention or release hearing is to determine whether Jarvis should be incarcerated while awaiting sentencing. If I'm right about this, the court would determine whether Jarvis is a menace to public safety, a flight risk, etc.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcrmp/Rule46.htm

"(c) Pending Sentencing or Appeal.

The provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 3143 govern release pending sentencing or appeal. The burden of establishing that the defendant will not flee or pose a danger to any other person or to the community rests with the defendant."
___________

I'm not a lawyer
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