Crowfunding Arrest For Misspending of Pledge Funds 8-20-2020

[Richard Harris]

This is important as it shows that misspending crowdfunding money can result in fraud charges even if a pledge donor signs a user agreement.

Like a BMW!

https://www.axios.com/steve-bannon-charged-fraud-199c43c1-2e75-4535-8eb0-d96558c9f777.html?utm_campaign=organic&fbclid=IwAR2XMxzSn7pmuL7mrJcXGFKQbi6xNuTUKcmNMYJHXYLCuCdurHjACo_0UbQ 

 

• The indictment says  "hundreds of thousands of dollars were siphoned ... for the personal use and benefit" of the defendants.
• They allegedly used the money "for a variety of personal expenses, including, among other things, travel, hotel, consumer goods and personal credit card debts." Kolfage specifically allegedly used his share for "home renovations, payments toward a boat, a luxury SUV, a golf cart, jewelry, cosmetic surgery, personal tax payments and credit card debt."

What they're saying: "As alleged, the defendants defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors, capitalizing on their interest in funding a border wall to raise millions of dollars, under the false pretense that all of that money would be spent on __________," acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a statement.

• "This case should serve as a warning to other fraudsters that no one is above the law," added Inspector-in-Charge Philip R. Bartlett.

[Lukaz]

The challenge for this group is that unfortunately members may believe that replaying ‘count me’ in or '+1' helps in any way. It doesn't. it’s obvious that all 799 backers want a resolution (plus all the PayPal backers)

The only way to get this ball rolling is by, each and everyone, individually putting the effort to spread the word. As someone that already tried, none of the blogs or bloggers that promoted this product will address this debacle unless they feel the pressure to do so.

This is not a high profile case unless we make it high profile.