There were a number of companies they tried to buy and mine was the first after Davis Kitchens. Originally they were proposing a high percentage of cash upfront and a payout over two to three years. They were working with a couple of investor groups that provide high cost funding for highly leveraged transactions. As due diligence was completed, they became part of NECA and wanted to fund the deal through the sale of shares to be issued. I sat across the table from Rees and just laughed. There was no way they could sell the stock at a price that would fund the deal. They went across town to a competitor and that guy threw them out too.

This whole thing is a scam. Rees is behind this but his shares are held by his girlfriend because he can’t own anything. Fair is an earnest guy who was led by the nose by Rees with visions of grandeur, but they could never raise any investor capital hence the original NECA situation. Rees is on probation for other shenanigans and is not an honest guy. I dealt with him when third bench tried to buy the company I was associated with. It didn’t take long to realize it is a scam.

Update: The sentencing hearing for Eric Miller, which had been set for May 16, has been delayed until Nov. 14, 2022. Sentencing for David Rees, which had been set for Jan. 10, has been moved to July 1, 2022. The federal trial date for Ira Gaines and Sue McCluskey is Nov. 1.

Original article from 2021: Sentencing for a Paradise Valley man who previously pleaded guilty in federal court for his role in a longstanding case involving alleged fraud and money laundering has been delayed yet again while he cooperates with authorities in the case against other co-defendants, court documents show.

Separately, one of those co-defendants recently entered a guilty plea to one count in the case.

Eric Miller, who was to be sentenced in U.S. District Court of Arizona on Nov. 8, will now be sentenced on May 16, 2022 by Judge Steven Logan.

Miller pleaded guilty on Feb. 17 to conspiracy involving aggravated identity theft, money laundering and wire and securities fraud.
Miller and several other Valley residents are accused of being involved in the scheme from January 2017 to December 2020, according to the criminal complaint from the Internal Revenue Service.

According to the IRS, Miller, along with Ira Gaines, Sue McCluskey and David Rees, an attorney in Salt Lake City, Utah, allegedly converted restricted stock to create a market for it to sell at an inflated price. Thegroup is accused of concealing Gaines' identity as the owner of certain stocks, bank accounts and entities from stock regulators, brokerage firms and tax authorities while also

allegedly converting restricted stock so that it could be publicly traded.

Gaines, McCluskey and Rees were charged with conspiracy, securities fraud, transactional money laundering, concealment money laundering, and aggravated identity theft, according to the IRS.

A jury trial for those three co-defendants has been set for Nov. 1, 2022 before Chief Judge Murray Snow. In a plea hearing held in October, however, Rees recently entered a guilty plea to one count and will be sentenced on Jan. 10, 2022, meaning that only Gaines and McCluskey face trial.

Stock transactions
According to the IRS, Gaines was the sole owner of hard-money lender Peachtree Partners LLC and hadn't filed a personal or corporate tax return for the years 2016 to 2018. Gaines also allegedly registered three other LLC groups with the Arizona Corporation Commission using the same address as the Peachtree Partners business.

McCluskey and Miller were both employed by Gaines at Peachtree Partners, according to the IRS. Miller was hired to manage Gaines' stock transactions while McCluskey was employed as the office manager. Neither had a W-2 form or 1099 provided and were allegedly paid with cash, according to the IRS.

In total, Gaines and his co-conspirators allegedly altered more than
$2 million in microcap stock through this scheme, which earned the group more than $800,000.

According to the IRS, Miller was employed by Gaines from late 2016 to May 2019 and again from September 2019 to December 2020. He was allegedly paid $100,000 a year by Gaines and paid a total of $270,000 for the time he worked for him, according to the IRS. Miller was allegedly hired to assist Gaines in managing stock transactions and was allegedly paid "under the table" with no income taxes withheld.

Previously, in 2012, Rees, an attorney for the firm Vincent & Rees, was permanently barred by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from providing legal services in connection with the purchase or sale of securities after he wrote a legal opinion letter authorizing the issuance of unrestricted shares, according to a statement from the SEC.
Gaines was also barred by the SEC in 2004 and forbidden from directly or indirectly taking part in certain securities transactions, according to court documents.

Rees has pled guilty to a class d felony involving a conspiracy to commit wire fraud security fraud money laundering and identity theft and will be sentenced in July. He beneficially controls 60% of the class b shares through the llc controlled by his girlfriend . He can’t own them outright in case he is hit with a big fine at sentencing. Fair is a front man and controls the other 40%. Those shares if exercised give them 90% of the equity in common shares. These guys have no money and won’t be able to close any deals unless they give up equity and the deal cost will be high. Rees is very shady. Stock is a scam. Run