Indeed, documents filed in Korem's most recent fraud prosecution indicate that the man known by so many aliases (eight are listed in the federal docket) was leading a parallel life, complete with its own set of esoterically named loved ones, to the one he conducted in the Bay Area with Gamboa and Hazemach. In February of this year, Sadia Barrameda, the proprietor of a fashion boutique in Brentwood, Calif., presented a letter to the federal court in Miami begging for leniency in Korem's sentencing. "David Korem is many things," she wrote. "The most important from my perspective is that he has been an excellent father to our 6-year-old son, Tzedeq."
Like Gamboa, San Francisco real-estate investor and former Palo Alto auto shop owner Eric Diesel has a knack for telling wildly improbable stories with a straight face. In May, when he sat down with a reporter to talk about how $302,000 of his money allegedly ended up in Gamboa's hands, he sported jeans, a necktie, and long, dark hair tied at the back in two looping pigtails. "I know this all sounds crazy," he says. There is truth to this: Diesel's tale, like other subplots in Gamboa's saga, seems to come straight from a Hollywood film script too preposterous to be made.
Diesel says he loaned $302,000 to a Los Angeles businessman named Robert Rooks, who he says had plans to redevelop the Queen Mary, an ocean liner docked off Long Beach, as a tourist attraction. (Rooks, who was successfully sued for securities fraud by the SEC in 2002, could not be reached for comment.) After some time, Diesel became convinced for various reasons that his money was not in good hands and sought to have it returned. To help him, he turned to Gamboa, with whom he had spoken about potentially investing. Gamboa says she knew Rooks from his previous business dealings with her husband.
Last year, Diesel's $302,000 was allegedly transferred from Rooks' possession to a bank account under Gamboa's control. This is perhaps the last fact about their relationship that Gamboa and Diesel do not fiercely dispute. Gamboa asserts that she acted as Diesel's caretaker last year, helping him to cope with drug and alcohol addiction and putting him up in various Bay Area hotels while managing his money. Diesel, by contrast, says he never had problems with intoxicants, and that she had a gang of Filipino thugs keep him confined in hotels for months while she burned through his cash.
In the spring of this year, Diesel, who says he is now homeless, began making reports of theft to various law-enforcement agencies and sending long e-mails to Gamboa and many people she knows, demanding his money back. So far, authorities have taken little interest in the case.
Redwood City Police Officer Joshua Chilton says Diesel has been unable to provide him with concrete evidence of theft or fraud, and that his office has closed its investigation of the case. "I've asked him on multiple occasions for documentation, and all he's given me is gibberish," Chilton says. "Maybe there's a nugget in there someplace, but it's been long lost in the din of all these threats going back and forth between all these people." He says he has advised Diesel to pursue the case against Gamboa in civil court, rather than as a criminal matter.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Robinson, who is based in L.A. where Diesel used to live part time, acknowledges in a phone conversation that Diesel has been in touch with him but says his office has not launched an investigation. "He did bring some allegations to my office and we declined to pursue them," he says.
Frustrated, Diesel began contributing extensively to a Wikipedia article depicting Gamboa as an inveterate con artist. She did not react kindly.
"YOU ARE TOTALLY POSSESSED BY SATAN AND THE DEVIL THAT TAUGHT YOU TO FABRICATE UNTRUTHFUL STORIES YOU CAME UP WITH," she wrote in an e-mail to him whose hostile tone was unmistakable, even if its grammar was difficult to parse. "AND THAT YOU SHOULD HAVE TO BITE YOUR TONGUE HARD UNTIL IT BLEEDS AND YOUR HANDS WILL BE CUT INTO SEVERAL PIECES UNTIL YOU ARE NO LONGER ABLE TO WRITE OR POST MALICIOUS AND VICIOUS LIES IN THE WICKIPEDIA [sic]."
Diesel interpreted this as physical intimidation. "It's very scary to have a threat to have your hands cut off after you've been kidnapped," he says. Gamboa says her words were taken out of context. "I didn't tell him I'm going to cut it," she says with a shrug. "I said the devil will cut it. Because I cannot talk to him rational. He is irrational, so I use my spirituality. I use my God."
SF Weekly was unable to verify Diesel's account in its exotic particulars — the Queen Mary connection, the role played by Rooks, the allegations of kidnapping. But one thing is not in question. Gamboa openly admits that she has Diesel's money, of which she says just over half is left after various bills for his medical and lodging expenses were paid last year. However, she says she is holding it in anticipation of punitive monetary damages that will be levied against him when she takes him to court for defamation — over his claims that she took his money.
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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