Friday, August 08, 2008
by Jason Gilliam
On the Monex website the company makes the following claim:
"Monex is committed to customer service. We are continually developing new policies, procedures and products to satisfy our customers' needs...and to maintain our long-held reputation as America's Trusted Name in Precious Metals Investments. We invite you to contact us at your earliest opportunity and give our service a try."
So let me get this straight, with no less than 21 complaints at the Better Business Bureau, at least five serious unanswered complaints at Ripoffreport.com, and a Better Business Bureau rating of F and they would have us believe that they are "committed to customer service"? That could easily be the most fraudulent claim of all!
Try a Google search for "monex fraud" (with or without the quotes) and you might be surprised at what Monex' former customers are saying about Monex:
Do not trust Monex, the company that buys and sells gold. Check out Monex on the BBB and you will see the truth.- To all those who have already invested with Monex may I say that I am truly sorry and I feel your pain.
...
All I can say is watch out, they are sharks and they know how to con people.
I don’t know if this is horror story or not, judge it yourself! It was horrible for me.
I wrote the following letter on 3d of july 08 to the BBB(Better Business Bereau) and made complaints to other places too.
Bear in your mind, just in case the carrier loses or your item is stolen en route, Monex is not going to send you another set of your item, but will tell you that the USPS registration number of the item becomes YOUR claim number!and you will have to wait until the USPS actually pays you. I was gonna file a claim in court too.
...
I didn’t tell them I received it, because during this time I was the only one who made calls( they don’t bother to call)and as soon as they receive your money they lose interest in you and become very reluctant to talk to you, as they never answer emails.
The rep name is Ben Nable extension #2206.
He told me it is up to me if you want to file a lawsuit or not.
Kevin said...Monex Deposit Company is a Fraud. Over 90% of their customers lose money. As an Account Representative, I witnessed hundreds of clients lose 70-80 percent of deposited funds. While certain favorite clients had their losing trades reversed.
I am currently working on a class action law suit in favor all Monex losing clients.
Tracey said...I got ripped off by Monex for $80,000. Where do I sign on?
pola said...Mark Ladenheim, a salesman at Monex, used deception and misleading descriptions of the product to get me to buy into the Atlas Account. It multiplied my losses and I can call Monex the greatest regret of my life.
...
Also... where do I sign on for your class action lawsuit?
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Monex, the giant Newport Beach precious metals dealer, is fighting the federal government again.
The stakes this time: $378 million in taxes and penalties that the government says Monex has dodged for more than two decades.
Monex attorney Michael Cohen predicted the U.S. would drop the lawsuit and settle the case "without any material impact on Monex's business."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Pribe did not return two phone calls seeking comment.
Starting 40 years ago with a Long Beach coin shop, Louis Carabini built Monex into a multibillion-dollar business. Along the way he has repeatedly battled the federal government in court over regulations and taxes. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Trade Commission all have sued Monex or other Carabini companies.
He has gotten the closest scrutiny from the Internal Revenue Service. In a series of cases the IRS demanded back taxes from 1975 through 1984. The IRS claimed that Monex dodged taxes by investing in abusive tax shelters.
The new lawsuit, filed June 13 in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, seeks to collect on a 1998 settlement for more than $100 million. With interest and penalties, the bill now totals $378.2 million, according to the complaint.
But the 1998 settlement was with Monex International – a company that no longer exists.
"The government is trying to recover tax obligations that are owed by an entity that hasn't been in business for over 10 years," Cohen said.
Not so fast, the government says.
The government alleges that Carabini and other Monex insiders shifted employees, office space, even phone numbers from Monex International to several new entities to avoid paying the tax bill.
Those new entities – including PCCE Inc., Monex Credit Co. and Monex Deposit Co. – are new in name only, the government says. Monex created the new companies "in an attempt to escape liability for the federal tax liabilities of Monex International."
Source: http://www.monexfraud.com