The Real History of Bergamo (Company wants you to forget)
-BGMO was formed in 1997 and was a non-operating shell until July 2002 merger with Herzog/Parekh company, Clothing Source of California.
-Hillard Herzog, currently 84, is an undistinguished lifelong ladies garment salesman who moved from company to company without apparent success. Sohail Parekh, age 47, is the Sancho Panza the bean counter.
-Following RM in 2002 Bergamo maintained filings with SEC for about a year. The filings showed little revenue and loses. BGMO stopped filing in 2003. It formally terminated registration Sept 8, 2006. Old filing can be found on EDGAR. HH/SP comp in 2001 and 2002 was $36k/$34k, respectively. At that time the company had 2.5 million shares, with HH/SP controlling 64.4%.
-The company collapsed in 2007 under weight of debt to Platinum Funding after announcing several dubious acquisitions widely touted in PRs (a prevue of coming attractions).
-Through connections to corrupt government officials in Pakistan (a redundant statement), the dynamic duo learned of existing government plans for a coal power plant which all knowledgeable power plant developers including the Chinese had dismissed as unfinanceable. HH issued PRs that he would build the plant and announced BGMO was receiving $1 billion of financing from LondonWall, an invented entity. There were numerous PRs about the eminent closing, which briefly propelled share price to $1 with help from StockGuru. Nothing ever happened and the non-existent deal “died” when HH wouldn’t make deposit on Power Purchase Agreement.
-In Oct 2010, company announced large investments into Suntrough, a start-up CSP trough manufacturer with unproven design, and GreenSafe Demanufacturing, another start-up with plans to built appliance recycling and Freon disposal company using European design. These would be funded by money from Vivek Sinha of eSoft Informatics, a New Jersey based con man originally from India.
-Since then, the company has announced every few months bizarre and implausible financing schemes running into the $$$$ billions -- all of which depend on unidentified parties delivering huge sums of money on inconceivable terms. None of these investors can be verified as real and most appear made up from thin air. The CEO never explains why months later these massive deals have never happen.
-These financial schemes involve obvious scams -- such as worthless Stand By Letters of Credit (SBLCs), High Yield Investment Programs (HYIPs), prime bank guarantees, cash-backed deposits, etc. The 2012 deals involved deposit scheme of Italian bank Eurobonds and Brazilian bank guarantees. The 2013 scam is an investment arrangement where BGMO gets to invest $1 billion or $1.5 billion, depending on which PR you read, supposedly on deposit in Hong Kong Bank through bond powers granted to Anguilla shell, National Wealth Int'l. Herzog gets to keep 50% of profits. Paper work is phony, but company got a bottom-of-barrel penny stock accountant to repeat what was written on the papers, without any independent verification, which company then widely touted that deposit was "CPA verified". Clearly meant to deceive/fool investors.
-The CEO loves saying he has signed contracts or that he has documentation verifying everything, however, the papers are worthless.
-There was a very real $4 million final judgment handed down by NY Supreme Court in 2012 in favor of a plaintiff a former lender, Camofi Master LDC. Search for NY Supreme Court and see for yourself in the docket of cases (and other litigation BGMO has lost). Also litigation in Illinois and elsewhere.
-CEO has long history of making highly confident and convincing-sounding assertions in PRs, phone calls and interviews that something's been accomplished, everything's still on the table, all past statements are true and investors are about to be rewarded -- every time to no avail.
-The CEO will get hostile if you ask why previous PRs didn't happen. Financings are presented as imminent - and spurious details, like location of bank accounts, are in attempt to make claims sound real. It's all head-fakes from a master con man.
-The share dilution is not as blazing fast as many pink sheet BB pump/dumps. Shares when from 2.5 million in 2003 to 35 million in 2007, then climbing rapidly 2009-1020 to 155 million and then jumped in August 2012 when company gave away 62 million shares for $62,000 ($0.001 per share) to unnamed person. CEO swears under penalty of perjury that shares are 144 restricted, however the one year holding period is now over. Company refuses to identify the notorious 25% owner, but likely to be Herzog/Parekh or one of their co-conspirators. Herzog has also issued himself 58 million warrants, and 18 million of $0.0001 warrants to relatives.
-The CEO and his partner sold over 7 mm shares of their shares (20% of company back then) to the public in 2010 in deal with ICG and falsely claimed to have just 5 million shares in filing with OTC Market. See affidavits from ICG litigation for eye-opening testimony on how company is really run.
-The company pays people to post on iHub. Many different people admitted receiving money for posting (awareness posts). The company won't pay for an audit, rarely pays vendors, but does pay for relentless posting campaigns.
-Herzog and Parekh fumbled one actual business opportunity in 2012 by failing to deliver their side of the bargain and screwing over Rahi Tajzedah of BB Solar regarding the widely touted solar demo Pakistan. Herzog proved beyond doubt he is Bozo the clown.
-CEO is a stubborn short-fused soon to be 84 years old washed out garment salesman who has lived off this long running stream of fake and hapless ventures by borrowing against shares and selling shares.
-The Sept 17th release of compiled financial report brazenly reports $179.5 million of Cash in European subsidiary, but no one has seen a dollar of this. Company managed to get uptiered on OTC Markets to "current" status (but still no audit). Current status was stripped in March 2013 when company failed to provide required information to OTC Markets.
-Since December 2012 there has been a renewed pump campaign that continues to this day. Some think this is tied to recipient of 62 mm shares, whomever that may be (company won't disclose owner of 25% shares gotten for a song).
-Company in clear violation of U.S. Law by failing to hold shareholder meeting for as long as anyone can remember. Also, Herzog let corporate registration expire last year. Articles of Incorporation presented to OTC Markets show only 20 million shares. Governance is in shambles.
-SEC suspended trading in shares on Aug 2, 2013. Company moves to grey markets, but it appears to IR campaign of utter denial and nonsense will continue.
Everything I post is my personal opinion.
