A fishy cold call from Komatsu Global...

Ever heard of the stock broker Komatsu Global? Me neither, until recently. Komatsu Global called me around a week ago claiming they have a great deal going on right now  involving GE stocks, which they expect would rise with 70%. The news that will drive up the price will be released within 90 days according to the conversation. Komatsu Global had already secured a number of stock shares a while back so if I would invest through them I would get another 7% discount due to today’s stock price being higher than when they bought the shares.

They sent some information about themselves and their “Wealth management” concept and then kept calling me three times a day for a follow-up conversation, because they had “breaking news” of the GE stock. Of course they wanted to create a sense of urgency and a “once in a lifetime” deal feeling in order to secure my investment. “An investment of only 50 000 USD” they said. When I told them that I didn’t have that kind of money it was sufficient to invest 5 000 USD. This fancy Senior Portfolio Manager was a smooth-talking guy trying to convince me about this steal. He kept calling even though I had responded in an email to him that I wasn’t interested in receiving further calls. I explained that I was skeptical since I had never heard about Komatsu Global even though he said they had been in business since 2001 and had a really good reputation among their current investors. When I told him that I would see how things develop for the GE stock based on his advice he got really pushy, angry and hung up on me.

I checked the trustworthiness of their homepage (http://www.komatsuglobal.com) through Scamadviser, http://www.scamadviser.com/is-komatsuglobal.com-safe.html, their homepage is only three months old, hosted from the USA (even though they claim to operate from Japan…), and the owner of the homepage is hidden… Sounds strange for a company that has been in business since 2001 to only have a website that is three months old J

Also, I found this thread: http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/81345700470

So watch out for Komatsu Global!

/Chris

Carbon credit investment with IRE (Industry RE)…a fascinating scam…???

 

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year! In this first post of the year you will read about a hot investment topic – carbon credits! I must admit that this kind of investment is difficult to explain so I believe the best thing for you is to google it on Wikipedia.com for a short introduction. After reading wikipedia you would probably realize that this kind of investment is difficult to get a grip on and there is a lot of information out there, and many different investment schemes. I chose to go with the English investment broker Emerald Knight Consultants, who is “specialising in Socially Responsible & Sustainable Investments”. At the time, Emerald Knight Consultants was promoting a carbon credit investment from a company called Industry RE (www.industryRE.com) which had the mission “To aid in the creation of a profitable and sustainable future where our ecosystems, population, businesses and financial systems work together in harmony”.

 

 

 

              

 

Industry RE defined a carbon credit as a “unit earned by someone who has implemented a project according to international standards that generates a reduction, removal, storage or avoidance in greenhouse gas emissions than would otherwise have occurred (for example a windfarm)”. In this case I bought Voluntary Emission Reduction Carbon Credits (VERs). According to Wikipedia.com, VERs are usually created by projects which have been verified outside of the Kyoto Protocol. One VER is equivalent to 1 tonne of CO2e emissions. Through these schemes, industries and individuals voluntarily compensate for their emissions or provide an additional contribution to mitigating climate change. VERs may be developed and calculated in compliance with one of several VER standards. These standards set rules defining how emission reductions are measured. Standards provide assurance for buyers of VERs. At a minimum, all VERs should be verified by an independent third party.

 

The opportunity was to buy VERs over one year and receive 30% ROI. It sounded great! The account manager at Emerald Knight Consultants said over the phone “the returns from the last batch is being paid out as we speak”. A “proven” investment, even better! So I bought for the smallest amount possible as I didn’t know much about this type of investment and I wanted to be a bit cautious.

 

So what happened with this high-return investment?

 

After one year of eager waiting I got the information that the payout of my initial investment and the 30% profit was delayed. I waited one month…. two months… three months… And I received one excuse after the other for the delay: Industry RE had moved its headquarters to Dubai so the bank transfer didn’t work properly, the bank had been overtaken by another bank so no transfers worked, etc. It was impossible to get a hold of Industry RE and Emerald Knights Consultants were not helpful either. I felt a bit like I was David fighting Goliath. J

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One day I happened upon a link on the Internet that referred to a group of over 200 Industry RE investors that were in the same situation as me – delayed returns with elusive excuses. The idea behind the group was that “many investors are together stronger than one single investor”, that we could share information received about the investment, and apply pressure on Industry RE and Emerald Knights Consultants to deliver according to contract. A while ago all investors received a letter that many of us had anticipated – Industry RE was bankrupt. Where the money went is still a mystery, and the CEO seems to have disappeared into thin air. There are many theories circulating within the group of investors about what has happened, but one thing is clear: Industry RE is in liquidation and has been taken over by liquidators. There is basically a snowball’s chance in hell that I will get some of my invested money back. Thank you Industry RE, well done. And special thanks to Emerald Knights Consultants for a high-quality Due Diligence. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhh!!!!

 

Many in the investors group have also invested in GFI Forestry through Emerald Knight Consultants, which also is experiencing delayed returns which were expected in January 2013…. Hopefully we will have more luck chasing this payment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is to hoping that you, valued reader, will have more prosperous investments during the new year than I had in 2013!

 

I hope also to post some more profitable (?) investments that I have conducted recently. So stay tuned and subscribe to my blog if you haven’t already done so!

 

Until then, invest safely J

/Chris