Euro Pacific bank is a scam

[btc100k]

Have you seen the︂ movie Shawshank Redemption? There is a famous line in that movie. A long time prisoner︃ tells a recent prisoner:

"You're gonna fit right in! Everybody in here's innocent. Didn't you︄ know that?"

Enough with the excuses. I did my investigation into you and what I︅ found was not flattering. If you guys want me to go into detail I can.︆
-----------------
In regards to the $25 million. That was not money you lost out of︇ pocket, that is what you claim you would have made if you sold the bank.︈ Where is the offer? Let's see it.

And imagine this scenario. You have 100% of︉ your networth in Bank of America and the CEO calls you up and says:
"Sorry, all of your money is gone but I lost more than you so don't feel︊ so bad."
Would that make you feel better? Of course not. So quit insulting the︋ victims on this board.

One more thing. If you are not made 100% whole, you︌ guys need to go on a social media campaign. Get interviewed by Max Keiser, Kitco,︍ or even CNBC. Use social media pressure to get 100% of your money back. Peter︎ Schiff will cave in if there is enough pressure on him. He won't give you️ a penny otherwise.

 

[Pschiff]

Did you have an account at the bank? If so ,what's your name. I'll check.‌ The $25 million purchase price was a firm offer in cash and Qenta stock, that‍ was presented to OCIF in Nov. of 2022. It was only contingent on OCIF's approval,⁠ which according to the commissioner was just a routine background check of the principal shareholders⁤ of Qenta. Also, as a further condition of sale, Qenta was required to add $7⁣ million in paid in capital, to increase total bank capital to several million above the⁢ regulatory minimum. My actual out-of-pocket loss was still over $10 million. That's the total amount︀ of money I paid into the bank as capital. I never withdrew a penny in︁ dividends, capital distributions, or salary. The sale was by far the best option for customers,︂ employees, and Puerto Rico. But the Commissioner abruptly changed her position, withdrew her support, and︃ insisted on liquidating the bank through a receiver, despite other buyers stepping forward after the︄ Qenta rejection was made public, and the bank technically not needing a receiver due to︅ its cash and cash equivalents exceeding all liabilities, including all funds owed to depositors.

 

[regi]

😀 Game over.

 

[Radko]

I fully agree that customers⁢ shouldn't lose a single penny! We are not the ones that made the mistake of︀ sitting down to talk to an Australian tabloid program that is only there to ambush︁ you, that's what they do, that's their business, it's nothing new.
At the same time︂ customers have nothing to do with OCIF, or with the Government, we are all foreigners︃ who have never known anything about them.
And we the customers are not the ones︄ that were in charge of EPB, those who were in charge didn't keep the minimum︅ capital required by OCIF, which opened the door for the OCIF to step in and︆ close the bank, you don't leave your front door open when you go to buy︇ groceries do you? Chances are when you come back someone has burglarized your home.
At the end, the OCIF accomplished what they wanted, Peter stands to make a few million︈ from the defamation lawsuit against 60' Minutes Australia, Qenta bought the bank from Receivership, so︉ everybody is going to win except the customers, that not only they have been deprived︊ of their funds for more than 9 months, but now they could end up losing︋ 1%-2% of their savings, UNBELIEVABLE if innocent customers end up losing money, in my case︌ 1% to 2% would be anywhere from $23K to $46K, if I lose one penny︍ I will make sure the whole world knows about it, this would be the most︎ insulting event of my entire life!

 

[orion7352]

Yes being an EPB customer is like death by a thousand cuts. Not only︊ have we suffered not having access to our funds for over 9 months but also︋ the uncertainty of whether we will ever get them back.

Now the torture gets worse︌ with us having to pay daily for the running of the bank as if we︍ are the bank owners.

 

[regi]

One very famous song says "Love hurts".⁣ Our belowed bank is like a hertless bitch now. After a few dates and a⁢ hot night we have to agree to the bill.

 

[Pschiff]

How can you say everyone wins? The bank sold the assets to Qenta for︊ $1.25 million. I didn't get one penny of that money. It went to the bank︋ as additional capital to protect customers. Had the sale gone though Qenta would have put︌ in an additional $7 million to protect customers, and I would have received $25 million︍ in cash and stock for my bank shares. Instead, thanks to OCIF turning down the︎ sale, I received nothing. Also, so far over the past two years I have personally️ incurred over $1 million in legal fees on bank related issues. I am also out‌ over $10 million cash that I personally invested in the bank. I will likely only‍ recover a small fraction of that loss from my lawsuit. As far as my decision⁠ to go on 60 Minutes, I wasn't even told the interview was for 60 Minutes⁤ when I agreed to do it. I was told it was for The Age website.⁣ I do interviews all the time as part of my normal business that have nothing⁢ to do with the bank. This request seemed no different It's not my fault the︀ reporters lied to, and then ambushed me with false allegations about the bank.

As far︁ as customer's losses, there likely will not be any, other than the opportunity cost of︂ having their money tied up for 10 months or more. In some cases that has︃ involved hardship. I feel horrible about that. But these losses were all unnecessary, and would︄ have been avoided had OCFI either approved a sale, allowed me to contribute more capital,︅ or allowed me to just liquidate the bank on my own. I gave the OCIF︆ commissioner those three options, but she rejected them all. So when all of this is︇ over, if any clients wish to file a lawsuit, OCIF is your best case. However︈ lawsuits are not fun, and unless you get a lawyer to do it on contingency,︉ which will likely require a class action, they are expensive.

Life is full of risks.︊ Many banks fail, and if deposits are uninsured, customers can lose a lot of money.︋ EPB didn't fail, so if customers lose any money at all, it will only be︌ because the cost of operating the bank in receivership exhausted the bank's capital, requiring depositor︍ money to keep it going long enough to return the money. Depositors are first in︎ line after the receiver. I am last, and will only get something after every other️ creditor is made whole. I am by far the biggest victim here. So stop blaming‌ me for things that were completely beyond my control. I was a passive shareholder in‍ a bank, and ended up losing millions of dollars as a result of that ownership⁠ interest. Its also unfair to all expect me to cover ever single customer's loss. I⁤ owned stock in a corporation. The corporate structure offers shareholders limited liability. That's common knowledge.⁣ Anyone who opens a bank account, especially one with no deposit insurance, runs the risk⁢ of losing money. Life is full of risks. We all assume them. I took a︀ risk by opening a bank, and I lost a lot of money. Customers took risks︁ by opening bank accounts, and they may end up losing some money. I chose to︂ try to recover some of my losses by suing Nine in Australia. I can't sue︃ OCIF as I gave up that right to protect customers. But the customers made no︄ such agreement with OCIF and are free to take legal action if they want to,︅ either individually or collectively. But that may end up costing customers even more money, as︆ the outcome of any lawsuit is uncertain. In fact, I may end up losing more︇ money as a result of my lawsuit, if the damages I recover are less than︈ my legal fees.

 

[Radko]

Peter, I don't blame you in particular, I︎ blame a series of events that have gone from bad to worse very quickly, and️ specially a group of people that have not only destroyed the bank, but have also‌ put in danger the lives of the innocent customers.

As for "life is full of‍ risks" I believe most, if not all customers thought they were depositing their money in⁠ a full reserve bank, which should imply zero risk of losing their money, but now⁤ we are leaning that someone in the bank did not keep the bank 100% compliant,⁣ and we can all agree that it was a massive mistake for which customers are⁢ now paying the price. Yes the commissioner behaved terribly, and the J5 wanted to use︀ the occasion for their 5 minutes of fame, and yes 60 Minutes Australia should pay︁ for what they did to you and to all of us, and I truly hope︂ you destroy them, but again, we have nothing to do with all those parties that︃ somehow have and are taking advantage of this ordeal.

The question is, can the Receiver︄ charge the bank any amount he wants? After all the Receiver is sitting on his︅ a*s not doing much, but it seems that his fees can end up going as︆ high as using all the bank's reserves, shouldn't there be a limited amount of money︇ that he could charge regardless of how long this situation lasts? Or can he just︈ ask for a blank check and demand any amount he wants?

And last but not︉ least, I would happily join other customers in order to file a collective lawsuit if︊ we don't get all our money back, but for that we would need you Peter︋ to give us evidence that you offered all those alternatives to the Commissioner in order︌ to protect customer's deposits. In order to prove that the Commissioner did not act in︍ the best interest of the customers, we would need to prove that there were many︎ other better options that would have resulted in customers not losing any money, if we️ can't prove that we have no case against OCIF.

 

[regi]

I would︀ consider it even if the money comes back to us. Missed opportunities also cost money.︁ I'm not even talking about health. It all depends on the money to bet and︂ the probability of winning.

 

[Pschiff]

I have all the evidence to prove the Commissioner had much better options for customers‌ than Receivership, which would all be available to anyone who brings an action. In fact,‍ I will likely just make all of those documents public once the liquidation process is⁠ over. Yes Receivers are expensive. That is one reason I tried to make sure the⁤ bank was sold or liquidated without one. But the OCIF commissioner would not budge. She⁣ insisted on a receiver. No other alternative was allowed. Yes the bank was 100% reserve,⁢ but there were other risks that you assumed. At one point the bank inadvertently violated︀ that commitment. As soon as I was informed, I added $4.5 million to protect customers.︁ I was not legally required to make that contribution, but I did anyway. However, if︂ the receivership process imposes additional losses, I am not prepared to write another check to︃ cover those too. I think that its very unfair to expect me to do so.︄ If 5,000 customers end up losing $500 each, its not fair to expect me to︅ just lose another $2.5 million to make everyone whole. If this get wrapped up in︆ April I don't expect any customer losses, so fingers crossed. But as is always the︇ case, things can happen that you don't expect. I never expected to lose the $10︈ million I invested in the bank, but it happened anyway.

 

[Radko]

I would happily join⁠ with you and any other customers who want to hold the Commissioner accountable for her⁤ actions.
We would need to try to get a lawyer in Puerto Rico to do⁣ it on contingency.

Thanks for wanting to help by providing the evidence needed to be️ able to file a lawsuit against the Commissioner, she must be held accountable!

Let's see‌ what happens in the next few weeks, but I just don't trust the Receiver, they‍ are famously known for taking advantage of these situations, I'm sure they don't get too⁠ many opportunities to make as much money as they want, bunch of vultures!

 

[orion7352]

If you want your suffering and that of︁ the rest of us customers to keep going just keep attacking the Receiver and OCIF.︂ They can keep prolonging this . They have power over us right now.

 

[Radko]

I repeatedly have said⁠ that I would seriously consider taking legal action against the Commissioner AFTER we get the⁤ money back, now let's hope we do get the money back, after that gloves are⁣ off!
And to be honest I don't think the Receiver or the OCIF have much⁢ power left, if they had any power we would have gotten our money back by︀ now.

 

[orion7352]

Yes but by making threats⁣ they can just keep prolonging our agony. They can read this just like anyone can.⁢

 

[Pschiff]

At this point OCIF⁠ and the Receiver want customer funds returned ASAP. So they are not the problem at⁤ the moment. So there is no point in attacking them. Once the money is returned,⁣ customers can assign blame however they want and express any frustration they have without fear⁢ of adverse consequences. However, one thing I know is that due to all the bad︀ publicity, and false allegations of money laundering and tax evasion, hundreds of EPB customers are︁ being unfairly targeted for audits by their local governments.

 

[Radko]

At this point they don't‍ have power over our money, it's all up to Portugal.

And if they are reading⁠ this I hope the Commissioner realizes that we now know the facts and she wasn't⁤ thinking about "protecting the interest of the customers" as she said during the press conference,⁣ she is the main culprit of this situation that we are now facing.

 

[Pschiff]

Well in her defense she was likely⁣ under a lot of pressure from Jim Lee of the IRS, and likely indirectly from⁢ the Age reporters who were originally leaked the information about the confidential grand jury investigation︀ of the bank that ended after finding no evidence of any crimes. The bank's innocent︁ customers were just unintended victims of these events and circumstances.

 

[Radko]

I understand she was under pressure and she⁣ had to close the bank, but she still could have allowed you to inject more⁢ capital, or she could have allowed the sale, or she could have allowed you to︀ close the bank without the need of the Receiver, any of those would have been︁ much better for everybody, while still closing EPB.

It's heartbreaking to hear that now there︂ are hundreds of customers being investigated by their local tax authorities and probably being treated︃ as tax evaders because of all this, those customers are very likely now having to︄ pay tax advisors and maybe even lawyer to deal with their tax authorities, what a︅ carnage.

Peter, what happened to this, I always wondered, did something change?

 

[Tulliola92]

Sincerely,
I would renounce to any legal persecutions if I just had the majority returned.‌ I have learned a lot from this…
And I would just like to thank God‍ if the Receiver and Commissioner should not be as mean as we suspect. It will⁠ be better to lose 1 or 2 % than everything.
We all have our obligations.⁤ He is aware of his power. So if he should not exploit our misery, he⁣ would already be a great man from my point of view.
I pray and sing⁢ : „Liber scriptus“ (Requiem by Verdi, Dies irae) believing in true justice.

 

[Pschiff]

I was not give as much authority as I hoped. I arranged the asset sale‌ to Qetna, handled the transfer of the bank's subsidiaries to Qenta, and got the bank‍ out of its office lease, plus sold off the furniture. But that's about it. The⁠ Receiver really wouldn't' allow me to do much else.

The bank stayed true to its commitment to maintain 100% reserves. On the day︀ the bank was placed in Receivership it had in excess to 100% cash reserves for︁ all deposits. The bank did comply with rules. No bank is 100% compliant in every︂ audit. EPB only had one audit the entire time it was in Puerto Rico. The︃ bank was bound to make a few mistakes in a new jurisdiction. The type of︄ mistakes made were common. Many banks have made much larger mistakes, but were not forced︅ into liquidation. There was a huge double standard. Mistakes that are routinely made by other︆ banks, were used as an excuse to close EPB.