VS Arizona Bankruptcy? - Big Rumors Floating Around Today

@Dave Graziano posted:

All good points, and clearly civil fraud is the sensible claim. I would only argue the point about the defendant being judgment-proof. Having collected well over $1m in deposits for un-built cars, with rent and major obligations paid current, never a late payroll (not to mention a 5-month orchestrated exit from the scene)...these are not the indicators of a business that has been having cash flow issues and has stretched its resources until there was no more.

The leaked email with claims of poverty was a good ruse. It could be he was that poor a businessman to burn through all the deposit money, but I wouldn't operate on that assumption.

Dave you are hip to the elements of a potential crime. Over the years I've written I don't know how many stories about fraudsters, most of who were never disturbed by law enforcement or victims' suits. I remember skip-tracing one Florida land scam artist to his Boca Raton redoubt. "You see, we're judgment-proof," his wife explained. The house was worth about $1.5 million, easy, circa 1998. But Florida exempts one's primary domicile in bankruptcy cases. Utah is the same or similar. There's a reason the MLM and "dietary supplement" industries cluster themselves in particular jurisdictions...

Anyway, I think it'd be interesting to delve into this for a story, but I have no idea what publication might pay for such an investigation.

Anyone wants to PM me with tidbits, I'll compile and consider pitching some editors.

So….Goodyear PD has stopped taking reports and we should go through the AZ AG?  

Correct. Do not call the Goodyear Police. All reports need to be filed with the AZ AG office. If they take the case they are going to compile all names who have filed and turn that information over to the Goodyear PD. At this time they have not made contact with anyone who has filed.

Adam,

I have filed with Goodyear PD, the AG Office and with my banks wire fraud division. Other than some preliminary updates, its been radio silence for awhile.

I contracted a friend (an actual friend) to build a retaining wall for me. He said he needed a deposit to buy materials so I gave him $5K. He had done previous work for me and I didn't really think twice about it. As we got further and further into the process, instead of taking his excuses, I made him sign 2 new contracts with more and more clauses about my protection.

As it turns out, his wife and him had separated, he lost his contractor's license, been kicked out of his house and had taken deposits from a dozen or so people without doing any work to keep himself afloat.

Others pressed for criminal charges but I didn't. You can't pay me back in jail and I cannot garnish wages when you don't have any. Even though I easily won the court case, the judgement means nothing because he was also criminally convicted.

It's food for thought because you have a better chance of getting something in civil court than criminal court and the AG and PD are only going to bring charges. It comes down to whether you want your money back or you are willing to give up your money so he goes to jail. However, the low end of a fraud charge is 4 years in jail in AZ with no prior convictions which means he would actually spend about 2 behind bars.

Get everything in writing and ensure your assets/interests are protected in that document.

Document or no document, if the person signing the document is a piece of trash then the document is not worth the paper its written on. We all had "documents" with specs and my documents even had completion date requirements. They mean nothing.

I just received a call from Detective Baca @9:40 CST. Stated they have completed their investigation and they will not be pressing criminal charges. Absolutely crazy as they have never once called or even talked to me about the case and selling the same car to multiple people which is flat out fraud. I think they did absolutely zero work on this case which is crazy. I was not gonna argue with him.

Amazing how justice can be so selective.  I'm guessing that the effort into the investigation would have been far different if one of the local cops had lost a deposit and the alleged perpetrator of this fraud didn't also wear a badge...

@ADAM SCHROEDER I also just spoke with the detective and pushed back that the case was being closed as they had never ask for any photo proof or emails, I sent me chassis number that I was give to see if it matched anyone else and also a photo of the rolling chassis that was said to be mine to see if that also matched the photo others had received. Lastly I informed them of the story that I had been getting from Matt the my car was "stuck" at the painters who was back logged which went on for about 3 months before this all happened and have since spoke to the painter and they mentioned that they haven't had any VS bodies to paint in months. He said that he was not closing the investigation yet and would follow back up.

Adam,

Like you, I am in completely discussed! I certainly understand that running a bad business is not a crime, but taking peoples money and not returning it seems like one to me. I truly believe in the law, our police and the justice system. But after this, I have doubt. Something is simply not adding up!

Yes after some push back about 15 min after the initial phone call he called me back wanting more info. I provided him 2 chassis numbers Matt provided me. Hopefully they take this a little more serious. If anyone has chassis numbers please provide so we can prove this case worthy of criminal charges. I was just floored when he said case closed. I was like what? You never even made 1 attempt to call me…

My chassis number given was 11979952 and was sent this shot saying this was mine

@ALB posted:

Amazing how justice can be so selective.  I'm guessing that the effort into the investigation would have been far different if one of the local cops had lost a deposit and the alleged perpetrator of this fraud didn't also wear a badge...

Bingo

Mine was 116875636

All these Chassis numbers need to be reported to Detective Baca. These are trackable. Please email him.

rbaca@goodyearaz.gov

How come the FBI can't investigate this?
Interstate wire communications were used in the perpetration of the fraud

My wife and I recently watched "The Firm", the John Grisham lawyer suspense yarn.

If the US mail(OR in modern times the internet) is used to perpetrate a crime over state lines, it is a federal felony offense.

The confidence you display in "the system" is heartwarming. In my experience, "the system" usually goes after those criminals without the resources to push back very hard. The District Attorney is an elected position, and therefore needs to go after the crimes that capture the imagination of the electorate.

White collar crimes aren't sexy, even though the numbers involved make a liquor store robbery look like a child's pocket-change. The problem is, they aren't very scary to most people. There's no gun involved, ergo - it can't really be a crime, right? Going after fraudsters who prey on rich white guys? That's not going to win the District Attorney any votes.

Going after a fraudster (who also happens to be a cop) who preys on rich white guys?

If you guys can get this done, my hat is really off to you.

Apparently Matt’s cell phone still works. Another victim texted him and actually got a reply. Not that harassing him is going to change anything but interesting he is still responding

@ADAM SCHROEDER posted:

Apparently Matt’s cell phone still works. Another victim texted him and actually got a reply. Not that harassing him is going to change anything but interesting he is still responding

Very curious what Matt had to say in that discussion?

@Troy Sloan posted:

Very curious what Matt had to say in that discussion?

He was questioned about where a car is. Basically said everything was being liquidated and maybe he would get some money back. Nothing special and avoided answering specific questions.  Unfortunately this person took out a personal un-secured loan to give Matt his deposit which really hurts since he is still paying every month with nothing in return. Matt however did have to provide him a chassis number to provide the bank so that has all been reported to Detective Baca.

Matt does have some not so nice people looking for him as well I know that.

Chassis number :118166476 was also used by another victim I just spoke with.  Matt could have been making these up for all we know.  Hopefully but doubtful these detectives can trace these chassis numbers back to actual vins so we can pin him down with felony charges

If you have one instance of double-selling the same VIN/chassis, that can be explained away legally as a clerical error. Put together 2 or 3 instances and it's a pretty clear and willful pattern. I like the interstate commerce angle and bringing in the feds.

I was able to recover my boss'  '57 Speedster from the Vintage Speedster location in Goodyear. I met the property manager Melissa there this past Monday and she released the vehicle to me since I had the title and current Hawaii registration.

There are 4-5 other Speedsters in various stages of completion. Problem is, none of those cars have VINs.

Melissa asked me to give out her contact information. If you have a vehicle inside the building NOW and can describe and provide documentation, she would release the vehicle to you.

Reliance Management

2122 E. Highland Avenue, Suite 400

Phoenix, AZ 85016

  (602) 586-2871 direct

(602) 689-5410 cell

(602) 265-6000 main line

mbowman@reliancemgmt.com 

www.reliancemgmt.com

Any information you can provide as to maybe even the colors of the cars in there? Melissa is about to get about 100 calls from every victim here…. Any more info would be appreciated

Glad you got your car ! I’ve seen it in there by itself for sometime. You said there was 4-5 cars in there. Was there anything else like lifts or tools ?

So I did just speak with Melissa.

They will disclose no information as to what lies within the building or any identifying characteristics of the cars. So I guess this is a crap shoot to even contact them with any info. I guess anyone can just email here either pics or build sheets of their car in question and hope you get lucky. Honestly I don't even know how that would even play out by them just giving out cars they have no rights too unless because they left the cars on property they are now property of the landlord?

Maybe @turn74 can provide more info since he has been there as to what colors these cars even are??

I'd suspect their lease contains language to address this situation and after some period the landlord has the right to take ownership and liquidate. Same as abandonment of storage units (hence Storage Wars!)

...Unless there's evidence of a crime surrounding it (fat chance of GY PD making that determination!), in which case the cops would impound

Wow - great to hear you were able to get your car.

@turn74

Does Melissa know where to find the VIN # on a VW pan based Speedster?  If these are VW pan based they do have a VIN.  However, they may be tube based cars from Brazil with no VIN.

The business location was likely covered by a standard commercial lease, the language of which will be controlling.  Since both parties in this matter seem to be LLC's or other business entities, it is likely that lawyers familiar with leases were involved at some level, with a level of sophistication of both parties presumed by the court.

Arizona law encourages landlords to utilize self-help in case of a material breach by the tenant.  Such self-help remedies includes re-entering the premises and taking possession of any material goods left on site.  Any such goods can then be sold by the landlord.  As stated above, any tenant breach must be material, i.e., not a rent check that was two days late due to a bookkeeper error.

The above is much different than the law regulating self-storage units.  Many states, including California and Arizona, have a specific set of statutes/codes that deal with self-storage units.

Poor Melissa is going to get blown up, worth a shot though.

Yes I’ve offered her some advice on this. I explained to her it is best to just offer some information and allow us to shift thru it to hopefully match cars to buyers. She has no clue here… Release info then prove ownership not the opposite way around when we have zero idea what’s even in there. Heck it could be 3 painted bodies with nothing else. I did thank her however on behalf of every victim involved that she alone has done more than the Goodyear PD or AZ state’s attorney at this point. Will see if she takes my advice today after she starts getting 100+ phone calls daily plus her email blown up

I sent her an email rather then blowing up her phone. Mine was "supposed" to be ready by November 10th. Obviously it may still not even exist. I thanked her so much as well, maybe there's hope for a chosen few. This is above and beyond, she's very kind to do this.

I would obviously pay the remaining balance into the bankruptcy fund if he's even filed. Has anything been filed yet?

I just figured out how to search national court records. Nothing filed related to Matthew Teerink. I wouldn't expect a filing until creditors such as the landlord petition the court against VS

Fun fact about commercial leases: In the event of a breach, the landlord always claims the entirety of the rent that would prospectively be owed going forward, as well as any back rent. So if you dip out on a 5-year commercial lease in the middle of year 2, you will "owe" 3.5 more years of future rent as well as any late fees and back rent. Every day I see these claims made in civil court. The failed hair salon tenant in a 25 x 50-foot cubbyhole in a tired strip mall gets hit with like a $465,000 claim hot from the bat.

Hello,

Just off the phone with the Goodyear PD.  He informed me that there are at least 15 victim's involved financially.  Including me....it would behove us to file a class action law suite.  If interested please text me at 805-795-1950. If you go through the AG it becomes a Civil Case & you have to hire a Lawer individually.

Thanks,

Bob

Bob,

I sent you a text.

Bob, I also sent a text. Let me know how I can help secure a firm to go after this.

If you are looking for legal horsepower in Arizona just let me know.  I am an attorney in LA and my firm is the largest and most well-respected law firm in Arizona, headquartered in Phoenix.  I would be happy to make an introduction to an attorney in our Phoenix office who would be able to handle this.  Best, Grant