DD Support Board and Research Team

[nodummy]

Babikian - wine connection.

We began seeing a common pattern in lots of the AwesomePennyStock shells with many of them having some kind of connection to wine.

Here is an interesting article that gives us much more information about the "agriculture property" in Oregon linked to John Babikian

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2014/03/accused_fraudsters_money_tied.html

Babikian was connected to a vineyard located in Oregon. Could this also be how he allegedly became involved with Aaron Lamkin (huge wine enthusiast) and Scott Gelbard?

http://twowinecru.com/aboutthecru/


From that OregonLive article:

Elder and Lamonica were vindicated to a degree Thursday when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused a 26-year-old Canadian stock promoter and multi-millionaire named John Babikian -- the man financing much of the competing vineyard -- of masterminding a massive penny stock promotion. Babikian’s location is unknown.

The news rocked The Dalles, no one more so than local businessman James Martin. The former mortgage broker has, in middle-age, transformed himself into a significant player in the wine business. And just as his businesses seemed poised to take off, he now feels like a bit player in “The Wolf of Wall Street,” he said Thursday.

It is Martin, backed by Babikian, who is planting the huge new vineyard adjacent to Elder and Lamonica. But Martin’s major claim to fame is Copa di Vino, his company that sells wine by the single serving. The company did $11 million in sales last year and is well on its way doubling that, Martin said.

Martin’s primary backer in Copa: Babikian again.

Martin, told Thursday of the SEC charges against Babikian, said he knew nothing of Babikian’s stock trading business. He said Babikian recently sold his stake in both the vineyard and Copa.

The connections to Babikian began with Martin’s 2011 appearance on the ABC television show “Shark Tank.” Martin presented Copa di Vino and set himself apart from many of his fellow entrepreneurs by rejecting all investment offers from the show’s panel of financiers.

Afterwards, dozens of investors contacted him with their own offers.

Martin said he met multiple times with Babikian, or his people. He hired lawyers to vet his prospective investor.

“He was young,” Martin recalls of his first impression. “He had a laser-like intelligence. He explained to me that he’d been making money as an entrepreneur since he was 13. We never talked about stocks. He never mentioned trading.”

Babikian agreed to make a multi-million dollar loan to Copa, which was later converted to a minority equity stake, according to Martin. Babikian soon agreed to much larger things.

In April 2012, the news circulated through Wasco County ag and real estate circles: Long-time wheat farmer Jack Hay had just sold 470 acres for $2 million. Word was, Martin was involved in the deal and intended to plant a huge vineyard.

But the warranty deed on file at Wasco County Courthouse lists Middlebay Trade Ltd. as the buyer. The company is based in Victoria, a city in the Seychelles, a tiny Indian Ocean island nation.

Elder met with Martin, who filled him on the plan to develop all 470 acres, which would make it one of the largest vineyards in the state. Martin made it clear he had a deep-pocketed partner, but declined to give a name.

“I didn’t want any trouble and I didn’t have any ax to grind with James Martin,” Elder recalls. But he began sifting through property documents and the Internet to learn more.

Months later, in 2013, Elder found two Wasco County plat maps of the property signed by John Babikian. Elder also found a lawsuit filed in Quebec Superior Court by Babikian’s ex-wife in which she accuses him of running an internet pump-and-dump stock scheme that earned him “astronomical profits.”

The lawsuit lists Middlebay Trade Ltd. as one of Babikian’s companies.

Elder was convinced he’d found Martin’s mystery investor.

He started researching Babikian and found AwesomePennyStocks.com, the website allegedly operated by Babikian. The company was all over the Internet, frequently accused by competitors and commenters of running a sophisticated scheme to lure investors.

Elder filed two citizens’ complaints urging city officials to cut their ties with Martin because of his links to Babikian.

By last fall, word of Martin’s links to Babikian began to circulate through town. Martin acknowledged that he was slow to pay some bills because Babikian stopped providing him with capital.

The allegations against Babikian became much more serious Thursday when the SEC sued Babikian in U.S. District Court in Manhattan accusing him of defrauding investors.

Martin said Thursday he hasn’t heard from the feds. He claims it’s essentially irrelevant to him because he’s cut his ties to Babikian. A Hong Kong hedge fund acquired Babikian’s position in Copa and the vineyard, Martin said. He vows to continue work on the vineyard even as it costs him $20,000 a month.

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2014/03/accused_fraudsters_money_tied.html


I do have to wonder if that Hong Kong hedge fund is still linked to either Gelbard or Babikian or one of the APS insiders in some way.