Asked whether there could be any truth to Gamboa's claim that the Bankasia incident was an innocent mix-up, Sayre-Peterson, the state banking official, chuckles derisively. "They definitely knew what they were doing," he says.
After the tumultuous 1990s, Gamboa and the Dominion entered an era of relative peace. Gamboa says she relinquished Melchizedek's presidency not long after declaring spiritual warfare on California, and has not closely followed her nation's business since then. She and Korem eventually settled in the South Bay with a son, Hazemach.
Scamming associated with Melchizedekian plenipotentiaries has continued, on and off, but Gamboa stayed off the radar of finance authorities until June 2009. That was when the SEC filed a claim against her in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging that she had engaged in a four-year scheme to manipulate stock prices for the ZNext Mining Corporation, which was also called Pearl Asian Mining Industries, Inc. In a series of press releases and financial disclosures from 2004 to 2008, the SEC asserted, Gamboa touted revenues of up to $37 million from a remote gold mine in the Philippines. In 2006, she announced that an expansive new ore-refining system would further save the company $10 million per year, increasing returns to shareholders.
According to the complaint, however, ZNext/Pearl Asian was nothing but a shell company. Gamboa did appear to be involved in some form of mining activity in the Philippines. However, her purported mine site was surrounded by private property, and had been inaccessible until 2007 — three years after she began boasting of the mine's success. "The site is located in a remote, mountainous region that was periodically affected by rebel activity," the SEC complaint stated. "Moreover, other than a claimed small scale mining permit for 49 acres, the company has yet to obtain approval from the Philippine government to mine the site." According to investigators, the refining mechanism that spurred excited press releases in 2006 was in fact a $595 machine for purifying scrap jewelry, purchased over the Internet, that was broken when delivered.
Scams similar to this one, involving penny stocks — stocks that have a very low value or are thinly traded — are known in the financial world as "pump-and-dump" schemes. Because of the low price of penny-stock shares, their value is easily distorted by lying about a company's activity.
A perpetrator of this type of fraud can issue millions or billions of shares, send out a string of press releases proclaiming advances for the corporation that bode well for future revenue, wait for share value to jump, and then sell vast amounts of worthless stock at a profit. For instance, the SEC alleged that after ZNext sent out a press release falsely declaring that a new cash dividend was available to shareholders, the corporation's stock value jumped from just over 13 cents per share to 21 cents per share.
Gamboa's line on all this is that she was betrayed from within by a corporate lieutenant who "wanted to take over my company." This malcontent, she asserts, made misleading statements to the SEC to damage her, and her past declarations that the company was thriving were accurate. She claims the gold-refining machine is "not a little dinky one," and was purchased in China for $160,000. Any fraudulent manipulation of ZNext's stock value, she says, was carried out by her husband without her knowledge.
SEC officials, while they declined to reveal the details of their investigation, say they have independently verified all the facts set forth in their complaint. "This was a pump-and-dump scheme," says John Bulgozdy, senior trial counsel at the SEC's Los Angeles office. "She did this so she could sell stock and profit." In 2006 alone, according to court records, Pearl Asian Mining Inc. — which changed its name to ZNext in 2007 — brought in $1 million of revenue from stock sales, more than half of which Gamboa "misappropriated ... for her personal use."
Gamboa never showed up in federal court to contest the government's accusations, and U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker ordered a default judgment against her totaling $1.8 million — a $650,000 fine for the ZNext corporation, and $1.18 million for Gamboa personally — in August 2010. Gamboa was also permanently barred from selling penny stocks. Gamboa, who tells SF Weekly she has at least $1.5 million in liquid assets, has not paid the fines. She says she hopes to find a lawyer to get the decision reversed.
Trading in Pearl Asian/ZNext mining stocks also brought unwelcome attention to Korem. In the summer of 2010, he was arrested and thrown in Santa Clara County lockup as part of Operation Broken Trust, a nationwide crackdown on small-time investment fraud. The feds alleged that Korem had conspired to promise illegal kickbacks to a stockbroker if he would buy shares of ZNext, thus inflating the price, and that he had also created spurious press releases in a manner similar to Gamboa. After being extradited to Florida, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years in the Federal Detention Center in Miami.
Gamboa says she no longer has contact with Korem, who she claims cheated on her and carried on his criminal activity without her knowledge. "I'm not lucky with men," she says. They have not divorced, and some legal authorities familiar with their activity speculate whether they were ever married. The question is not simplified by the potential applicability of Melchizedekian matrimonial law.
Elvira Gamboa (alias Pearlasia Gamboa) was president of International Monetary Reserve (IMR) - http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1035789/000101968702000123/adatom_ex10-1.txt
As the link in the comment immediately below shows, IMR CEO Louis Lesser claimed Craig Lesser LLC owned $10 Million in UN Dollars... AFTER this story had already come out - Astrologer Helped Bilk Investors, SEC Says - http://articles.latimes.com/2001/oct/12/business/fi-56206
Who was really behind Pearlasia Gamboa's notorious International Monetary reserve? http://lesserdieselenterprises.tumblr.com/
* Pearlasia Gamboa (alias for Elvira Gamboa) was the president of International Monetary Reserve (“IMR”). http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1035789/000101968702000123/adatom_ex10-1.txt
* Louis Lesser was Chairman of the Board of Directors of International Monetary Reserve (“IMR”). http://www.tumblr.com/blog/lesserdieselenterprises
* David Korem is the pretend-to-be-estranged-husband of Elvira Gamboa.
* Kathy Sanson is the daughter of Louis Lesser.
* Craig Lesser was the son of Louis Lesser.
* Craig Lesser was sued for kidnapping and drugging people for the Adi Da cult.
* Kathy Sanson is a member of Craig Lesser, LLC.
* Craig Lesser, LLC was a major shareholder of UN Dollars.
* Elvira Gamboa and Louis Lesser operated International Monetary Reserve from 1156 Shadow Hill Way, Beverly Hills, 90201 - http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1035789/000101968702000123/adatom_ex10-1.txt
* International Monetary Reserve was called “one of the most diabolical schemes in recent memory" by the Italian newspaper La Republica - http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2002/05/15/isola-del-tesoro-no-delle-truffe.html
* The Anti-Mafia Directorate in Rome is hunting for Korem, Gamboa, and the elusive leader of International Monetary Reserve - http://www.rainews24.rai.it/it/news.php?newsid=21693
Does anyone know why the image of this endorser of IMR's Michael Ioane did not show below, like the others? http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=20243143&authType=name&authToken=UfcB&trk=miniprofile-primary-view-button
Louis Lesser was mentor and early partners of Warren Buffet, landlord owning Howard Hughes’ aircraft facilities, and partners with JFK in the largest urban renewal project in western US history. Developer Donald Trump called Louis Lesser “the Legend” as the biggest developer in the history of the Western United States. Louis Lesser was partners with Meyer Lansky in owning Las Vegas Hotels and casinos. Louis Lesser was last in the news in a fight with Jimmy Hoffa’s attorney Morris Shenker over a Teamsters deal in Las Vegasr. In 2009, Louis Lesser was in a fight with Clippers owner and attorney/developer Donald Sterling over who developed Sterling Towers, renamed from Lesser Towers - http://lesserdieselenterprises.tumblr.com/image/39166215296
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Lesser
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett
* More information on the more unusual aspects of this story, and links to some associated international news stories, is here - http://www.authorsden.com/ericdiesel
*Here is a page background documentation - http://ericdiesel1.tumblr.com/
* Here is the Wikipedia page on Eric John Diesel - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Diesel
* Here is the Wikipedia page on Elvira G. Gamboa - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvira_Gamboa
* Here is one of the email threats she sent as "Princess Bae" to Heidi Fleiss' father (Paul Fleiss) and Aldous Huxley's nephew (Piero Ferrucci) - http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=64164774
* Here is a little more information (click on "more" in the section called "The Dominion of Meyer Lansky: Louis Lesser's Life Story") - http://www.linkedin.com/pub/eric-john-diesel/2b/235/7b9
(That last link also shows which law enforcement officials are investigating, in the "connections" section.)
1 Like
Eric (OOP) Diesel is very charming and amusing man. Whom on first impression is one of a clown.Poor fellow.
Don't be so quick to feel sorry for him. He is a vile person.
Getting high is more important to him than the safety of innocent people, which is why he has multiple DUIs and a revoked license, and the real reason he is homeless.
The family of his supposed "business partner," 94-year-old Louis Lesser, have restraining orders against him because he is a relentless, deranged stalker.
He was also convicted for water pollution, among other weird and disturbing activities.
@Anon There is no restraining order. Louis Lesser's son, Craig Adolph Lesser, was partners with Robert N. Rooks and David Korem. Louis Lesser's daughter, Kathey Sansom, manages Criag Lesser, LLC, which is the principal shareholder of International Monetery Reserve, of which Louis Lesser was chair of the Board of Directors when Elvira Gamboa was president. Michael Ioane is Gamboa's "senior broker" for IMR real estates. Michael Ioane was named as a defendant with David Korem in another fraud action. If you click on the Linkedin page of Michael Ioane - http://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeioane, he keeps being propped up with endorsements on his Linkedin page by Jack Farcas, who claims to be "commander in chief" of the Layette district Freemasons - http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=20243143&authType=name&authToken=UfcB&trk=miniprofile-primary-view-button , and they pretend to have judges and crooked cops in their pocket by means of their nuttball cult.
This story is about a seriously mentally ill woman who continues to be taken advantage of - first by a "husband" who was trained by his own father to be a con-artist, and then by a reporter who wanted to mock the life of someone clearly in need of some help. What I find utterly disturbing about this story is Jamison's lack of integrity in choosing to cite the names of two children - minors, innocent young people with classmates whose parents will likely read this. First amendment rights and all, I don't understand how a) making fun of a mentally ill person is newsworthy, or b) how it is at all ethical to drag children through the dirt when they are already subjected to the odd if not unhealthy behaviors of their parents.
They need to enhance the beard porn angle. Their website is pretty slick, I was thinking of applying for a passport... http://www.melchizedek.com/dom...
That creepy guy Eric Diesel is as bad or probably worse than anyone else in this article. He was convicted and fined over $300,000 in California for creating some bizarre pet cemetery.
@Look it up
You have it backwards - CBS News and the president of Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists say that Diesel was the one who ultimately stopped Cal Trans from dumping, in what they called CalTrans' Secret Pet Cemetery , and the phony initial conviction was overturned in federal court, and Diesel was compensated, according to CBS News and the other references cited here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_John_Diesel#Caltrans_Pet_Cemetery_road_grading_controversy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_John_Diesel#cite_note-27
Look it up needs to look things up a little better.
How can there not be one comment besides mine? There were 600 fucking comments on the puke in Dolores park thing. This is actual news, in the real world of actual people who actually do things and no one has a peep. She is the president of a island nation that is underwater for 5 hours a day!!!!! C'mon, you gotta be kidding me!!!!!! She bought property in Antartica and named it Penguini. The world is her clam sauce. I for one am dissapointed that the MIsion Man or at least Eric Sir would come here and call all of them morons or.... something. C'mon... someone at least tie this into the conspiracy to keep photographs of Blue Bottle flavored vomit from being sold at my illegal American Apparel outlet on Army street... or something. Anything!!!!!!!!
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Holy shit. It's all real. Oh. My. Dear. God. I've been listening to this crap for years. Eric Diesel is known to us as Oooops, his pet nick name. He's the smartest person I ever met. I brought him food from time to time at hotel rooms, and met that woman. I can't belive she's 60. Wow. Oooops is a mathematician. He paid my mortgage once when I broke my wrist. He buys land that have no roads to get to them. He's a weird guy, for sure. But harmless and mirthful. Island nations that are underwater at high tide. Why didn't I think of that? They are definatly right about the Koreans, the Fleiss clan and Oooops owning Mercedes Benz of Mountain View. Last time I saw Oooops, I got drunk and he STOLE over 350 novelty vomits I had left over from the whole Dolores Park kerfluffle. That bastard.
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