Current scams, the list

[Tolley]

The scam of tourists coming to Thailand and pretending to be very wealthy people. They spend big, impressing Thai ladies by throwing money around on them and their families. The tourist may keep this scam going weeks/months or years. When the tourist snares his prize of either a longterm girlfriend or wife. He then decides it is time to stop pretending to be wealthy. He cuts back drastically and dramatically on his spending and generosity. This leaves the Thai lady being suckered into a relationship based on deception and untruth, which leads to terrible disillusionment on her part in her trust for her scamming bf/husband.

what a load of bull... get real .where are you living . in noddyland

To be honest though, there are plenty of two week millionaires - they arrive, play Mr Big for two weeks, and then sod of back to their homeland on a below average salary, living in a council house and driving a 15 year old Ford Focus and then save up for their annual trip

I dont really have a problem with that.

It gives those people a bit of fantasy out of their normal life and allows them to enjoy themselves for two weeks of the year.

We really shouldnt begrudge those people some joy in their life.

[Tolley]

This one was pulled on me today.

I have a car for sale online. A thai woman calls me this wednesday evening, speaks decent english, says her american husband, who is currently at work overseas, saw my car online and is interested in buying it. Next day she comes to take a look with her thai "brother" on a motorbike. Very nice and very polite. They check the car, they like it and we agree on a price. She tells me she is waiting for her husband to transfer the money but she will get it tomorrow. We arrange that we can go together to transfer the name friday, which is actually today.

There were a few warning signs, such as the very fast transfer of money, but it could be done using western union, athough it is very expensive and there might be a limit on transfer which I am not aware of. I was also a little suspicious about her brother who had a totally different skin complextion, much lighter than his "sister". I though that they might have convinced the american husband that he is her brother but not me, probably a boyfriend was my thought. She also said they were renting a car right now but that is too expensive. Weird when they show up on a motorbike. But they were very convincing so these warning signs was not enough at that stage for me to pull back.

Later Thursday evening she calls to confirm, that the money are transfered tomorrow and she will call me friday to settle the deal and transfer the name.

2 hours later same evening she calls me again and says she have talked to her parents and they say that friday is a very bad day in Thailand to buy a car. She wants to ask me a favour as the office is closed for the weekend and she really want the car before next week. She wants me to go and transfer the name to her name on Friday and then leave the car at my place until Saturday where she will pay as this day is a better day to buy, according to her very superstitious parents.

I tell her that I want the money transfered to my bank account or cash and then we can go together and change the name in the book. So I suggest that we will do it Monday. At this time I get very suspecious but she was an amazing actress playing the sweet but also a little naive so I guess some guys might have fallen for it.

All this happend Thursday and today Friday she calls me again and says that she and her american husband has had a fight and he will not allow her to buy the car, so she apologizes.

These two were actually extreemly convincing, except for the few suspecious points, but I am sure that they have been doing this many times because they were very skilled.

I don't have any photos but I will check with security tomorrow to see if we caught them on tape. I think they should be reported to the police. Maybe we can set a trap.

There are a million variations on this theme but they all boil down to the same thing.

Dont hand over anything until you get the money.

Most people learn this lesson by the end of primary school

Edited October 5, 2013 by Tolley

[tartempion]

The illegal village casino, I know a few Thai who still believe each day they will win their lost money back later today.

[benalibina]

The saving face scam.

The using kids scam.

The alienating scam.

Misusing kids in order to keep getting money whilst meantime they are being hold back from decent education, no parents and being manipulated/taken care of by evildoers.

Makes a change from any financial scam.

[xpat123]

This one was pulled on me today.

I have a car for sale online. A thai woman calls me this wednesday evening, speaks decent english, says her american husband, who is currently at work overseas, saw my car online and is interested in buying it. Next day she comes to take a look with her thai "brother" on a motorbike. Very nice and very polite. They check the car, they like it and we agree on a price. She tells me she is waiting for her husband to transfer the money but she will get it tomorrow. We arrange that we can go together to transfer the name friday, which is actually today.

There were a few warning signs, such as the very fast transfer of money, but it could be done using western union, athough it is very expensive and there might be a limit on transfer which I am not aware of. I was also a little suspicious about her brother who had a totally different skin complextion, much lighter than his "sister". I though that they might have convinced the american husband that he is her brother but not me, probably a boyfriend was my thought. She also said they were renting a car right now but that is too expensive. Weird when they show up on a motorbike. But they were very convincing so these warning signs was not enough at that stage for me to pull back.

Later Thursday evening she calls to confirm, that the money are transfered tomorrow and she will call me friday to settle the deal and transfer the name.

2 hours later same evening she calls me again and says she have talked to her parents and they say that friday is a very bad day in Thailand to buy a car. She wants to ask me a favour as the office is closed for the weekend and she really want the car before next week. She wants me to go and transfer the name to her name on Friday and then leave the car at my place until Saturday where she will pay as this day is a better day to buy, according to her very superstitious parents.

I tell her that I want the money transfered to my bank account or cash and then we can go together and change the name in the book. So I suggest that we will do it Monday. At this time I get very suspecious but she was an amazing actress playing the sweet but also a little naive so I guess some guys might have fallen for it.

All this happend Thursday and today Friday she calls me again and says that she and her american husband has had a fight and he will not allow her to buy the car, so she apologizes.

These two were actually extreemly convincing, except for the few suspecious points, but I am sure that they have been doing this many times because they were very skilled.

I don't have any photos but I will check with security tomorrow to see if we caught them on tape. I think they should be reported to the police. Maybe we can set a trap.

It all sounded like a scam up until the very last part. She seems like a very courteous scammer/thief to call you and say the deal is off. Seems out of character to me.

I am 100% sure this was a scam and very well orchestrated with all the phone calls and the story. One thing I left out was that when they checked the blue book she was very concerned that she would be scammed so she insisted that I would join her when we went to change the name. Very typical for scammers that they try to reverse the situation so the victim have to prove themselves.

[Cuban]

This one was pulled on me today...

...I don't have any photos but I will check with security tomorrow to see if we caught them on tape. I think they should be reported to the police. Maybe we can set a trap.

Only four posts in six years - please write more often, you have good content that this site needs.

Thanks for sharing - it's useful data.

[ttthailand]

So, what's the new scan today ?

Hahaha....

[Shurup]

When ordering Thai food, every time ask them if it's spicy. Nid-noi nid-noi is the usual answer, darn scambags - every time end up with burnt mouth and the bottom end (usually half a day after meal).

[DavidMcCulloch]

David whom do you work for?

I work for Business Class Asia. We are a financial planners based here in Bangkok.

http://businessclassasia.com/

Cheers

David

[NewlyMintedThai]

David whom do you work for?

I work for Business Class Asia. We are a financial planners based here in Bangkok.

http://businessclassasia.com/

Cheers

David

I wish you would tell your smooth-talking boys to stop calling me on my cell phone with unsolicited offers to meet to discuss my "financial goals". The cold call is a boiler room tactic (speaking of scams), not that of a reputable financial planner.

Edited October 7, 2013 by NewlyMintedThai

[hawker9000]

David whom do you work for?

I work for Business Class Asia. We are a financial planners based here in Bangkok.

http://businessclassasia.com/

Cheers

David

I wish you would tell your smooth-talking boys to stop calling me on my cell phone with unsolicited offers to meet to discuss my "financial goals". The cold call is a boiler room tactic (speaking of scams), not that of a reputable financial planner.

Strongly agree with this. Would rule out a cold-caller as disreputable right off the bat, particularly if unwilling to reveal how my number was obtained. AND would spread the word. If you work for an outfit like this, you get smeared personally, too. 'A practice akin to the Indian tailor touts. Just how I see it.

[NewlyMintedThai]

I didn't say that all cold calls are scams. But to me it is not the way a legitimate business markets itself. I've never had a cold call from Credit Suisse or Julius Baer.

[saintbangkok]

David whom do you work for?

I work for Business Class Asia. We are a financial planners based here in Bangkok.

http://businessclassasia.com/

Cheers

David

Sympathies to some of the simpleton quotes you will get from time to time, but i have to ask is there no other way of you guys getting appointments than by cold calling? Just asking like as i like to be constructive about these sorts of things rather than the usual destructive that we seem to often get here. I checked out Business Class website and you are clearly anything but boiler room but cold calling sucks. So is there no other way?

[DavidMcCulloch]

David whom do you work for?

I work for Business Class Asia. We are a financial planners based here in Bangkok.

http://businessclassasia.com/

Cheers

David

I wish you would tell your smooth-talking boys to stop calling me on my cell phone with unsolicited offers to meet to discuss my "financial goals". The cold call is a boiler room tactic (speaking of scams), not that of a reputable financial planner.

Hi NMT

Thanks for your reply, it is appreciated.

I totally understand your frustration and if you have been called by our company then I do apologise if this caused any inconvenience to you. Please PM me your details and I will make sure you are never contacted again.

In this case I believe there is a good chance that it may be one of the other companies in our industry (there are a few in BKK) as we actually have a policy of not calling mobile numbers. I know that most of ther companies are much more active in cold calling than we are.

As a company we generally don't mass cold call on a regular basis, like most others in the industry do. We may cold call after we have held a seminar to follow up with people who attended or did not make it. But we generally work from referrals from current clients, also holding regular seminars/presentations and our sponsorship of many events throughout the city.

We genuinely are a legitimate financial planner and we couldn't be further from a boiler room. Our head office is in the highly regulated Hong Kong (where we are one of the only licensed Foreign-Owned Independent Financial Advisors) and we follow the same standards in our Bangkok office as there.

Once again, the last thing we want to do is cause any inconvenience to you. PM me and I will make sure, if it was us, that it won't happen again.

Just out of interest, have you ever sat down with anybody who has called you before to see what is on offer?

[NewlyMintedThai]

Never. And doubt I ever will.

Like others, I'm left totally cold by cold calls.

[saintbangkok]

Never. And doubt I ever will.

Like others, I'm left totally cold by cold calls.

Sad to say, if you think like that then in fact you are as closed minded as those who cold call.

I asked a question on an expat forum some time back, let us see what answers we get on here. You have 10m baht to invest, would you

A. Buy a condo in Bangkok?

B. Leave it in the Bank earning 1%

C. Maybe speak to an investment expert who can make it work best for you?

Seriously, cold calls, yeah no good man, but if you want to build a building you see an architect and builder, if you have legal issues you see a lawyer, if you want to invest money, do you go down to the local expat bar and ask your mates? fact is, these people do in fact know what they are doing (not sure about the above) i know this as i bought an investment plan in 1999 when i worked in Saudi and it has averaged me 9.7% net in those 14 years. Much better than depreciating Bangkok condos and worthless banks.

[DavidMcCulloch]

David whom do you work for?

I work for Business Class Asia. We are a financial planners based here in Bangkok.

http://businessclassasia.com/

Cheers

David

Sympathies to some of the simpleton quotes you will get from time to time, but i have to ask is there no other way of you guys getting appointments than by cold calling? Just asking like as i like to be constructive about these sorts of things rather than the usual destructive that we seem to often get here. I checked out Business Class website and you are clearly anything but boiler room but cold calling sucks. So is there no other way?

Hi St B

No problem at all and I appreciate it is the Internet and there are going to be some people not being completely serious or have extreme opinions. That is life.

Look a lot of people in the industry (especially here in BKK) are of the Old-School view that cold calling is the most effective way to market their organisation as it is the quickest way but it also allows more interactivity with people who may have an interest, etc. These people probably started in the 80's/90's where cold calling was the standard and there was no other options like we have to today. As I have just mentioned in another reply, the company I work for do very little cold-calling, especially compared to most other companies in this city.

Other methods?

We hold seminars/presentations regularly, which are well attended (you are more than welcome to come along) and find this is a good way of not only introducing our company but also our partners in an informative way.

We sponsor different events, etc and are always looking for new partners who are in need of sponsorship be it sports teams, business launch parties and so on.

Our main method is just through referrals from current clients. It is key to our business plan to provide the best service possible and a we hope that referral occur naturally from this.

There are other methods but these are just a couple that are not cold calling.

Anyway thanks for your message.

Cheers

David

[NewlyMintedThai]

Never. And doubt I ever will.

Like others, I'm left totally cold by cold calls.

Sad to say, if you think like that then in fact you are as closed minded as those who cold call.

I asked a question on an expat forum some time back, let us see what answers we get on here. You have 10m baht to invest, would you

A. Buy a condo in Bangkok?

B. Leave it in the Bank earning 1%

C. Maybe speak to an investment expert who can make it work best for you?

Seriously, cold calls, yeah no good man, but if you want to build a building you see an architect and builder, if you have legal issues you see a lawyer, if you want to invest money, do you go down to the local expat bar and ask your mates? fact is, these people do in fact know what they are doing (not sure about the above) i know this as i bought an investment plan in 1999 when i worked in Saudi and it has averaged me 9.7% net in those 14 years. Much better than depreciating Bangkok condos and worthless banks.

For serious financial matters I visit with a reputable private banking officer at an international bank, or discuss with my stock broker back home.

These fly-by-night "expat" experts are mostly just trying to sell you their product so they can get a commission. Most are highly unqualified, young, and are living in Bangkok for all the wrong reasons. Most are less than half my age and have no experience in anything other than trying to sell their product.

Another tip: the address in Pacific Place 2 really turns me off. That has been one of favored locations of boiler rooms for as long as I can remember.

[Mr Average]

Another tip: the address in Pacific Place 2 really turns me off. That has been one of favored locations of boiler rooms for as long as I can remember.

I know of at least two boiler rooms that had offices in Pacific Place.

When checking out these outfits, google the names of their top executives. You'll get nothing.

Always make a note of the names which these companies give themselves. Many names are quite amusing. Off the top of my head, for example, you could have:

1. Kensington Investments.

2. Mayfair Consultants

3. Belgravia Financial Planning

4. Kennedy, Berkshire and Marlborough

5. Kleinwort DuPont

6. Boston Asset Management

7. Harvard Strategic Consultants

Edited October 8, 2013 by Mr Average

[FiftyTwo]

Seriously, cold calls, yeah no good man, but if you want to build a building you see an architect and builder, if you have legal issues you see a lawyer, if you want to invest money, do you go down to the local expat bar and ask your mates? fact is, these people do in fact know what they are doing (not sure about the above) i know this as i bought an investment plan in 1999 when i worked in Saudi and it has averaged me 9.7% net in those 14 years. Much better than depreciating Bangkok condos and worthless banks.

Good for you, unfortunately this has a similar chance of success to buying your Thai wife/gf a house.

For every success story, there are 20 disaster stories.

My first IFA (UK Oxford), sold me a pension product that was unsuitable for me, but gave him max. commission. I got compensation 5kGBP.

My second IFA (UK London), advised me to move from a company pension to a private pension, giving him a nice commission, his company admitted wrongfully advising me, I got compensation 30kGBP.

My third IFA (UK person, Thai based) lost me 35k GBP this year, he also lost another approx 20 clients similar amounts, most of whom don't know yet (one guy lost 45kGBP, another lost 30kGBP from a trust fund). I'm not expecting compensation of any kind in Thailand.

Now it's great that one Thai based reputable firm has posted on this thread (not that he answered any of my questions, after inviting me to ask them), but when it comes down to it, I don't see how Thai based IFAs can do any better than a totally UK based firm (like Hargreaves Lansdown), and the UK firm has someone looking over their shoulder and forcing them to pay compensation if they do something silly.

Which is why I say keep your pensions entirely UK based, when one link in the chain is outside the UK .... no rules, no compensation.

Edited October 8, 2013 by FiftyTwo

[NewlyMintedThai]

Now, this is interesting.

It seems that Business Class (Thailand) Ltd has registered capital of just 2 million baht.

How does it get work permits for all those smooth-talking cold-caller boys?

Even more interesting: it posted revenues of exactly ZERO in 2012. Its expenses during the same year were a whopping 5,000 baht.

Can anyone say "hmmm"?

[Mr Average]

Now, this is interesting.

It seems that Business Class (Thailand) Ltd has registered capital of just 2 million baht.

How does it get work permits for all those smooth-talking cold-caller boys?

Even more interesting: it posted revenues of exactly ZERO in 2012. Its expenses during the same year were a whopping 5,000 baht.

Can anyone say "hmmm"?

Interesting, but far from surprising.

These "companies" are usually nothing more than a name and a website.

Oh, and an address such as suite 402/c; level 6; Hollywood Towers; Sathorn Road; Bangkok.

[CaptainPeacock]

Never. And doubt I ever will.

Like others, I'm left totally cold by cold calls.

Sad to say, if you think like that then in fact you are as closed minded as those who cold call.

I asked a question on an expat forum some time back, let us see what answers we get on here. You have 10m baht to invest, would you

A. Buy a condo in Bangkok?

B. Leave it in the Bank earning 1%

C. Maybe speak to an investment expert who can make it work best for you?

Seriously, cold calls, yeah no good man, but if you want to build a building you see an architect and builder, if you have legal issues you see a lawyer, if you want to invest money, do you go down to the local expat bar and ask your mates? fact is, these people do in fact know what they are doing (not sure about the above) i know this as i bought an investment plan in 1999 when i worked in Saudi and it has averaged me 9.7% net in those 14 years. Much better than depreciating Bangkok condos and worthless banks.

For serious financial matters I visit with a reputable private banking officer at an international bank, or discuss with my stock broker back home.

These fly-by-night "expat" experts are mostly just trying to sell you their product so they can get a commission. Most are highly unqualified, young, and are living in Bangkok for all the wrong reasons. Most are less than half my age and have no experience in anything other than trying to sell their product.

Another tip: the address in Pacific Place 2 really turns me off. That has been one of favored locations of boiler rooms for as long as I can remember.

Agreed NewlyMintedThai

...AND here's the thing, 95% of fund mangers worldwide CANNOT beat an index, that is a FACT.

Why would anyone give these 'sharks' their hard earned moneyfor investment is beyond me, especially when you can do it all yourself by investing in ETF's etc...

[DavidMcCulloch]

Never. And doubt I ever will.

Like others, I'm left totally cold by cold calls.

Sad to say, if you think like that then in fact you are as closed minded as those who cold call.

I asked a question on an expat forum some time back, let us see what answers we get on here. You have 10m baht to invest, would you

A. Buy a condo in Bangkok?

B. Leave it in the Bank earning 1%

C. Maybe speak to an investment expert who can make it work best for you?

Seriously, cold calls, yeah no good man, but if you want to build a building you see an architect and builder, if you have legal issues you see a lawyer, if you want to invest money, do you go down to the local expat bar and ask your mates? fact is, these people do in fact know what they are doing (not sure about the above) i know this as i bought an investment plan in 1999 when i worked in Saudi and it has averaged me 9.7% net in those 14 years. Much better than depreciating Bangkok condos and worthless banks.

For serious financial matters I visit with a reputable private banking officer at an international bank, or discuss with my stock broker back home.

These fly-by-night "expat" experts are mostly just trying to sell you their product so they can get a commission. Most are highly unqualified, young, and are living in Bangkok for all the wrong reasons. Most are less than half my age and have no experience in anything other than trying to sell their product.

Another tip: the address in Pacific Place 2 really turns me off. That has been one of favored locations of boiler rooms for as long as I can remember.

For "serious" financial matters you will visit a reputable private banking officer? 2 disadvantages of this are -

Private Banks usually have far higher minimum investments (usually $1m upwards), which rules a lot of people out who have mid to high net worth. Therefore you will find charges are generally higher as well. Companies like my own actually work with the mid to high level net worth clients and it gives them an option with suitable avenues to work with. You also say you would discuss with your stockbroker back home. Again this is not very efficient because unless all your investments are domiciled back there, which means they will be subject to the relevant tax (Capital Gains Tax, Inheritance Tax, etc). That is fine if you are happy with that but as most of our clients are tax resident in Thailand but are of a foreign national then we look at tax efficient offshore solutions which can save them paying tax that they don't have to.

Also my company is Independent. So you are entitled to go to your Private Bank but they will only have there own set of funds, products, etc which will therefore be limited. However my own company have access to hundreds of partners ranging from large international insurance companies to many fund managers to even those Private Banks who you are a client of.

You also say we just try to sell to get a commission. I guess that is your opinion and you are entitled to it. But it is wrong. We work with each client individually and tailor what we do for them to meet their own needs. We carry out in-depth consultations over 4-5 meetings, giving a complete holistic look at their situation (so carrying out an indepth needs analysis, looking at the their overall personal circumstances, and really looking at what each person wants to achieve). Commission comes nowhere near any decisions we make.

Your are entitled also to your opinion about what the average "expat expert". I would like see your proof for 'most' being unqualified, young and here for the wrong reasons. I guess you would have conducted some deep research into that?

[NewlyMintedThai]

Well, I don't know if you'd consider it "deep" or not...but I looked at your LinkedIn profile and you only received your bachelors degree six years ago. You're barely out of your knee britches, son.

Edited October 8, 2013 by NewlyMintedThai

[DavidMcCulloch]

Seriously, cold calls, yeah no good man, but if you want to build a building you see an architect and builder, if you have legal issues you see a lawyer, if you want to invest money, do you go down to the local expat bar and ask your mates? fact is, these people do in fact know what they are doing (not sure about the above) i know this as i bought an investment plan in 1999 when i worked in Saudi and it has averaged me 9.7% net in those 14 years. Much better than depreciating Bangkok condos and worthless banks.

Good for you, unfortunately this has a similar chance of success to buying your Thai wife/gf a house.

For every success story, there are 20 disaster stories.

My first IFA (UK Oxford), sold me a pension product that was unsuitable for me, but gave him max. commission. I got compensation 5kGBP.

My second IFA (UK London), advised me to move from a company pension to a private pension, giving him a nice commission, his company admitted wrongfully advising me, I got compensation 30kGBP.

My third IFA (UK person, Thai based) lost me 35k GBP this year, he also lost another approx 20 clients similar amounts, most of whom don't know yet (one guy lost 45kGBP, another lost 30kGBP from a trust fund). I'm not expecting compensation of any kind in Thailand.

Now it's great that one Thai based reputable firm has posted on this thread (not that he answered any of my questions, after inviting me to ask them), but when it comes down to it, I don't see how Thai based IFAs can do any better than a totally UK based firm (like Hargreaves Lansdown), and the UK firm has someone looking over their shoulder and forcing them to pay compensation if they do something silly.

Which is why I say keep your pensions entirely UK based, when one link in the chain is outside the UK .... no rules, no compensation.

Hi FiftyTwo

All I can say, if you have been burned by not so great companies, you should have done better due-dilligence on the companies you planned to invest with. You have to take some responsibility as well and know that there are risks with any investment.

Our head office is actually in Hong Kong (which I'm guessing you will know from your knowledge) is highly regulated. Although not mandatory we actually follow the same regulations and procedures.

You say keep pensions UK Based as outside UK "no rules, no compensation". That is just lies.

1) NO RULES = QROPS schemes are all approved by HMRC. If you are offered one a simple trip to their website will let you know if it is real --

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pensionschemes/qrops.pdf (you can save that to your favourites)

There for there are RULES

2) NO COMPENSATION = Dependent on where the QROPS is domiciled then the relevant pension authorities will provide the relevant compensation.

This is generally around 90% if the company goes bust.

Hope that answered your question.

[NewlyMintedThai]

Basic due diligence, like looking at the company's registration records and balance sheets? Like I have done?

Two million baht in capitalization and no revenue at all recorded in the previous year? How does that sound?

[DavidMcCulloch]

Well, I don't know if you'd consider it "deep" or not...but I looked at your LinkedIn profile and you only received your bachelors degree six years ago. You're barely out of your knee britches, son.

Thanks for your condescending analysis of my career

However I have worked tirelessly during that time to get to the point I am at in my career and I am delighted with where I am and how I am progressing.

I am not saying I am the finished article and that I am completely knowledgeable in every area of financial planning but I am working as hard as I can to get towards that. I complete financial exams and further study as much as I can to build my knowledge and experience. And it just so happens I enjoy what I do thoroughly but I the only thing that I find unfair is that the reputation of others gets tarred to everybody in the industry. But I am more than aware that there is nothing I can do about this and just get on with what I do.

Just because someone is 50 years old doesn't mean anything and most certainly doesn't mean they know more than I do.

I guess I appreciate the care you took to check out my LinkedIn anyway, so thanks.

[DavidMcCulloch]

Basic due diligence, like looking at the company's registration records and balance sheets? Like I have done?

Two million baht in capitalization and no revenue at all recorded in the previous year? How does that sound?

Look I am not a Director so that means very little to me and you can take from that what you will.

All I know is the we have been here for many years in Bangkok and have a huge client base who are happy with what we do.

I'm glad you carried out due-diligence on us however I am not looking to promote what we do to you but I am just trying to defend the people in the industry who are trying to make career.

Cheers

[NewlyMintedThai]

No comment on how all those white faces on your website could possibly have work permits under a company entity with only 2 million baht in capitalization? A company which produced no revenue at all last year?

Oh, and your "Executive Director" -- Andrew Wood -- is certainly known to many of us who have been around a while. He's been featured on Andrew Drummond's blog:

http://www.andrew-drummond.com/2013/02/shot-fire-bombed-then-sold-pup-by.html

Is it possible that you didn't do your own "due diligence" when joining this company?