Another Crook Bites The Dust...Well, Not Quite.

Date : Aug 03, 2006

For years I have been denouncing Bill Reed as a slimy marketer of ineffective Asset Protection products. His scammy planning normally involved Nevada Corporations with illusory bearer shares and sometimes also an expensive International Business Corporation. The bottom line is that what he peddles is ineffective at best. In most cases, it requires the beneficiary of his plans to commit perjury and tax fraud when facing down an attack.

My views on Bill Reed are not secret. Even so, our phones never seem to stop ringing with questions on how to get one of these fancy "Nevada Corporation Bearer Share Deals.

Two weeks ago the FTC seized Bill Reed's business (called the Asset Protection Group) and, we thought, put them out of business. One of my posters on the Asset Protection Corporation bulletin board even commented "I was personally present on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 19th when the locksmith was changing the front door lock and a representative from Robb Evans (Receiver) was seizing the office and it's contents."

Whew, another con artist selling worthless Asset Protection products hits the dust…we all hoped and thought. NOT TRUE.

Shortly after the seizure of the office, the receiver issued a very interesting report showing that Mr. Reed and his crew collected approximately $19.8 million from sales of a business opportunity to 1,930 Asset Protection consultants, each of whom paid a little less than $10,000 for the right to market the worthless technology Mr. Reed and Asset Protection Group were peddling. Nobody is sure where a good part of this $19.8 million in fees went. One thing for sure is that a significant portion of it ended up in Mr. Reed's pocket. My sources tell me that there is less than 1% of that left in the APG coffers for distribution to Mr. Reed's victims.

Well, it looked like we had seen the last of Mr. Reed and Asset Protection Group.

NOT TRUE. The sad fact is that the FTC didn't shut down Mr. Reed and his Asset Protection Group companies because they were selling a junk "product" that doesn't work. Instead, the FTC seized APG's assets only because he had been too aggressive in selling the APG "business opportunity." Bottom line, the people paying 10K for the "right" to become Asset Protection consultants were promised that they would soon be making six figure incomes if they just followed the simple rules outlined by Mr. Reed. (Needless to say, fewer than half of the folks who bought into the program ever made a dime). It doesn't appear that the fact that APG's products are fraudulent and ineffective was even considered in the decision to shut the company down. Instead, the company was shut down because the creeps selling this crap weren't able to find enough suckers to sell to. The income Bill Reed and his convicted felon henchman, Rick Neiswonger, promised was not realized by most of his Asset Protection experts.

It gets worse. Two days ago, even though the Federal Court supervising the receivership did stop the selling of NEW Asset Protection Expert slots, the same court did NOT stop the peddling of this worthless technology altogether. Instead, all 1,930 APG "representatives" who paid their money to sell his worthless products get to continue to do so.

Unfortunately, it appears that the question of the worthlessness of the APG "product" never seems to have been a matter of concern for the FTC or the Receiver. Perhaps no one ever brought it up. Note that the Receiver's report states that "Another aspect of the business of . [Reed] is the formation of domestic and offshore corporations for third party clients. [Rob's note: This is the general public whom we would hope the FTC would want to protect]." The Receiver went on to conclude that these company formation aspects of the business "could be operated without losing money and without violating the law."

It's hard to believe, but the Judge agreed to allow the Asset Protection Group companies, through their collection of self-proclaimed experts (and just plain innocent victims), to continue to sell their slop to the general public. While I suppose the Judge is supposed to help the companies make as much money as possible so that they can make good to the folks they sold business opportunities to, and mitigate the losses occasioned by the APG shutdown, it would certainly have saved a lot of future heartache if the Judge had taken a few minutes to consider the actual value (or lack of value) in the APG "product." The sad part is that the money coming in from the sales the Judge allowed is going to be made off the backs of the unsuspecting general public. Hell, now it's even worse. The Asset Protection Group fraud can be sold with the arguable blessing of the Receiver, the FTC and a Federal Judge.

What a mess. I wouldn't be surprised if we see the Judge tighten up his order once he understands what he has done. At least one would hope so.

A final word (pretty much the same as the first word). The APG "Asset Protection System" is junk. It's a fraud. It doesn't work. It can't work. Don't get taken in by that wolf in sheep's clothing or whatever kind of clothing it comes in.

Have a healthy and protected week.

Rob

ABOUT THIS EDITOR:

Rob Lambert, Founder and former law professor is considered to be foremost expert on tax compliant asset protection structures. A contributing editor to Lexus Nexus debtor creditors series of law books Rob's passion is implement client wealth plans that stand the test of time and hold up under duress.

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