KENSINGTON GROUP PART 2....

I have to make a disclaimer for this story. I wrote the original story in March of 2010 (Louisville News and Politics: THE KENSINGTON GROUP SCAMMING LOCAL INVESTORS?) and promised a series outlining what many local investors have faced in the interim.

The disclaimer is simply because in my quest to out these guys the local investors asked me to please delay the story as they were in talks to recoup their investments with E. Warren Goss, one of the principal players in the scam. I agreed to do that while also telling them they would never receive their money but I would not jeopardize any chance they had, no matter how small it was, to recoup their investment.

Sadly, I was proven right once again and the investors have agreed to let me continue with the series.

This part deals with E. Warren Goss an attorney, yeah I know big surprise right, out of Boulder, Colorado who has been the "contact" person for the local group. There have been many stories of folks who have been scammed out of their life savings by the group of Michael Harmon, E. Warren Goss, Barie Fritz, and a few others that will be named in future articles.

The scam involves many different names but all the players are generally the same. Amerivest, HMS Financial Group, Kensington Group, and others. All used by Harmon, Goss, and associates to scam money from unknowing investors. The sum is in the millions with one local investor pouring his life savings into these clowns as part of a $2 million investment scam by Goss and Harmon.

The scam essentially is that you agree to invest your money for one year for a guaranteed rate of return each month and at the end of the term you get your principal back.

Of course this never happens.

Almost immediately the excuses start with why you haven't received your monthly return usually blaming it on international banking laws and/or signature requirements, and it goes on and on. At the end of the year, or sooner when you realize you have been scammed, when you request your principal of course the money is "tied up" in investments and cannot be gotten yet. And so it goes.

In this particular case with the local investors, the scam began in 2002 and carried forward through today. In fact there has already been one class action suit filed in Canada that has merit and the link here will give you some idea of how it really works: http://www.docken.com/PDF/HMSStatementOfClaim.PDF

In the case of Goss there is even more to question in his apparent lies and manipulation of investors here. While I have many records including email exchanges with some of the investors one is very telling and shows just how manipulative this guy is in trying to cover his butt. Today he keeps using the same excuses, they have the money in banks in Europe and Switzerland, and blah, blah, blah.

They even have accounts in the Grand Caymans which is believed to be one of the easiest places in the world to hide money.

But of course every time Goss tries to get the money the banks change the rules and he has to get new documents etc. It is a boring read for most of you so I will get them out there slowly within the series. In the meantime check out the image at the top of this story.

Goss supposedly made an agreement back in 2006 to get the money for the investors from Harmon and yet amazingly it was never followed through on nor was any action ever taken when the deal was reneged upon.

According to one anonymous investor Goss even told him that he had a private investigator trace their money and found that Harmon spent it on his own family and paying off his own real estate bills. I cannot confirm one way or the other but it is a classic example of what happens in these ponzi schemes.

I have to say that even the "deal" that Goss sent in email is very suspect. One of the biggest glaring obstacles I cannot overcome is the signatory part of the indemnification agreement. Supposedly signed by Harmon you will notice that it is never signed by Goss himself thus in fact making it a non binding agreement. Nor has their been any proof offered that this agreement was ever filed in court or followed up on. Yep startling to say the least from a supposed investment lawyer eh?

Of course during traditional research I have found many problems with Goss himself including an IRS case against him where he agreed to pay penalties for lying on his tax return and then appealed what he himself signed and agreed to arguing that he didn't know what he was signing.

Folks he is a lawyer and that is about as basic a rule as you can have in contractual agreements. How can a lawyer argue that he didn't know what he was signing?

And this is the guy bilking millions from investors around the world including right here at home.

In the meantime here are some links to read to continue with this story. Remember to stay clear of Michael Harmon, E. Warren Goss, and anything to do with HMS Financial, Amerivest, Kensington Group, and the latest Goss info shows him being involved with Angelli Investment Holdings. http://www.moneyhouse.ch/en/u/p/ws/angelli_investment_holdings_ag_CH-400.3.028.680-7.htm(Warren Goss)

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/board.asp?privcapId=22187 (Michael Harmon)

Goss was given an opportunity to respond to this story and of course never did.

Until next time....