RE: Who Is Jeff Berwick? Scam Artist or Businessman?
He was a co-founder. As such, the business was his responsibility. I'm in the same position with my business and if one of my partners went rouge and started abusing our investors, I would have to fix the problem even if it meant purging him from the equation. If I just walked away silently and let it all burn down, my name would be complete shit afterwards. Such irresponsibility and cowardice is unacceptable, especially when your investors are ruined because of it. He could've had Johnson physically removed and the investors could have then been able to come and claim the land, even though they would be getting more than they paid for. It could have been relatively simple but because zero balls or leadership were shown, it's still a complete effing disaster and I'm left down here in Chile working every day to slowly redeem the Galt name that was so badly dragged through the mud.
If he went rouge, that could be one hell of a Steemit makeup tutorial. /lol
Well good luck with that @piedpiper. Do you think it's salvageable? I only know what I've read. I still think the idea is a great idea. I'd definitely consider it if it weren't such a mess. Good luck! And in no way am I taking up for him. I don't know him other than his podcasts. And I won't pretend to know all the details. I still say if you or anyone else has claims like this, then provide legal documents. It's the only real way we can know. The legal documents he posted on TDV did not list him as a defendant, co-founder or not. I do agree that if you mislead people, even unknowingly, there is still some responsibility to clear that up. I'll definitely follow you in case you post more about these issues.
I haven't been there for two years now so I'm not up to date on all the current legal details. Last I heard, the majority of the company had been sold out to a Chilean businessman named Mario Del Real and Ken Johnson is still squatting on the property. I'm not optimistic at this point. After getting to know some of the PDI (like Chilean FBI), it has become clear to me that the authorities don't give two shits about foreigners screwing one another. They have more important local matters to allocate their tax dollars to. The obvious solution required the victims to roll up their sleeves and be prepared to use some well-justified force to remove the invader/occupier and take control of their community's land back. Rugged self-sufficiency isn't always rainbows and pussycats. Sometimes pioneers have to get a little dirty.