Euro Pacific bank is a scam

[Andrew Cobb]

The Receiver does⁣ not have control of all Opt-in's funds. About $18.5M of Opt-in's funds (All Gold and⁢ Gold related Investments) were handed over to Qenta at some point (not sure when this︀ happened, OICF or the Receiver will not say). The receiver does controls about $30M of︁ Opt-in funds, which at this time are not handing over to Qenta as Qenta has︂ been ghosting OICF many months. I was 100% invested in the Gold and Precious Metals︃ Mutual fund which was all handed to Qenta, so Qenta has all my money. I︄ read that some Opt'in customers have been allowed to Opt-put as none of their funds︅ were transfered to Qenta.

I was also under the impression the Receiver controlled all funds︆ up until a few weeks ago. If your can decipher the Receivers cryptic quarterly reports︇ it is mentioned in non clear and confusing English that he does not control $18.5M︈ of funds. I do not know how long Qenta has had control of the $18.5M,︉ however I believe they have had it for a few years now. I work in︊ Finance and the quarterly reports by the Receiver are poorly written, cryptic and very confusing,︋ I do not understand most of what is written. A 5 year old could write︌ a quarterly report better than the Receiver who charges $300 per hour his non-service.

If Qenta lost or stolen the funds under their control, I have lost 100% of the︍ money I had with EPB 🙁

 

[Alpinist]

I wonder why PS told just opposite about he funds of opt ins .

 

[Andrew Cobb]

I am not sure. The one and only email the Receiver‍ sent me was one where I asked to be an Opt-out customer. He sent me⁠ the below response -

I responded telling the Receiver I did not own any precious metals with EPB︀ and that I was 100% invested in the Gold and Precious Metals mutual fund. I︁ asked him to clarify who had my money and he did not respond to 3︂ follow up emails. OCIF will not tell me either and I have sent them many︃ emails, no response. Have a read of the FAQ, it is written in the same︄ confusing, convoluted and non clear English like the Quarterly reports. I do not understand why︅ it is so hard to write in clear English. If you want to be paid︆ $300 per hour, start writing documents and emails that are almost illegible like the Receiver.︇

 

[Alpinist]

I could suppose that Qenta has not yet been allowed to take those balances of‌ opt ins , because OCIF has still not signed off on the Receiver's final liquidation‍ plan and on the formal transfer of liabilities.

The receiver makes unclear reports on purpose⁠ of course, which we cannot review precisely.

 

[Andrew Cobb]

The issue⁠ for Opt-ins is the $18.5M already transferred. The Opt-in money with the Receiver should be⁤ safe. This unfortunately does not help me 🙁 I hope Peter's contact is telling the truth⁣ about Qenta and we get our money out.

 

[Alpinist]

When a bank is undergoing liquidation, client communication must follow legal and regulatory frameworks, especially‌ under the relevant banking laws and financial regulations of the jurisdiction

I cannot fully agree‍ that above has happened .

 

[SCHLOSSFINANZ]

Please bear in mind that the receiver is giving regular report updates on the status‌ of recovering funds and expenses.
Banking liquidations take at least 1 year some 3-5 years‍ thats sadly the reality.

 

[against the wind]

this was a very simple liquidadtion⁠ untill PS rushed to Qenta

 

[JoeOhNo]

What? When? They answer to no one including You for⁠ months and now this? This is a WORST outcome at the moment that opt ins⁤ can get. Qenta is totally untrustworthy at this point.

 

[SCHLOSSFINANZ]

even simple liquidations take 1-2 years, I know liquidations which took 20‍ (!!) years.
If the sale to Qenta was a good idea seems to be seen,⁠ its just suprising that OCIF agreed to such sale to Qenta which is a totally⁤ unlicenced group.

 

[Pschiff]

It was so simple that it didn't need a receiver. I⁤ offered to do it myself. The OCIF Commissioner refused as she was doing the bidding⁣ of the IRS and the J5. What screwed it up was the unnecessary press conference,⁢ which the J5 and the media used to frame the bank for tax evasion and︀ money laundering. That's what lead the Portugese government to freeze the Novo account for over︁ eight months. During that time the bank lost the ability to move the funds out︂ of Novo Bank. The fact that the OCIF appointed receiver had zero banking experience was︃ a huge problem, Qetna tried to help him understand what to do, but he had︄ his own self-serving agenda.

Of course, the entire liquidation was unnecessary. The OCIF Commissioner should︅ have approved the sale of the bank to Qenta, as she originally intended before the︆ IRS intervened. If she didn't like Qenta, she should have approved the offer made by︇ another group of buyers, that was headed by a former OCIF Commissioner. But the acting︈ Commissioner rejected the buyout offer without giving it any consideration. That's because the IRS, J5,︉ and the media needed the bank to be shut down to frame it for tax︊ evasion and money laundering. Allowing a sale that was in the best interest of customers,︋ employees, Puerto Rico, and me, ran counter to that interest.

The main reason I gave︌ customers the option of going with Qenta, is that OCIF wanted all unclaimed funds to︍ be turned over to the Puerto Rico government. I trusted Qenta far more than the︎ Puerto Rico government. Plus, the Puerto Rico government is in bankruptcy. So I had no️ idea if customers would ever be able to get their money back. So I needed‌ a place for unclaimed funds to go. The Commissioner also refused to allow any Euro‍ Pacific Bank money to transfer to other Puerto Rican IFEs. I had some who where⁠ interested, but she flat out rejected that option. Also, with the false accusation of money⁤ laundering and tax evasion, no conventional banks would touch the accounts with a ten-foot poll.⁣ Qenta had vetted the bank and me before agreeing to buy it, and they knew⁢ first hand the money laundering and tax evasion allocations made by the media and the︀ J5 were untrue.

 

[SCHLOSSFINANZ]

again the same and same story from you.
If you don't trust PR and you‌ say PR is bankrupt why did you relocate the bank to PR and not to‍ US mainland or another Caribbean Island? Because the PR licence was easy and cheap for⁠ you and PR is NON- CRS! I seriously doubt any other jurisdiction would have given⁤ you a licence.
Why don't you publish what DD has been done from you and⁣ the SPA regarding Qenta?
Did you know that Qenta holds no licence to hold customer⁢ funds? Have you ever visited one office of Qenta?
Has Qenta shown you audited financials?︀
Please stop spreading untrue facts. There are some investigations into customers for tax evasion (allbeit︁ not many).

It's not fair to your customers. You just try to whitewash your reputation.︂

 

[Sols]

This is an interesting point. Could've placed EPB in Miami and it⁤ still would've been non-CRS. At the time, FATCA reciprocity was basically non-existent.

It would've required⁣ complying with state and federal banking regulations, though, and increased costs.

This horse is already⁢ dead, though. Beating it further does nothing. The liquidation will take the time it takes,︀ which unfortunately seems to be many years still.

 

[SCHLOSSFINANZ]

Of course they wanted to play banker and without investing in a proper setup. In‌ Miami you need at least 10 Mio USD equity in PR at that time 500k‍ USD lol.
PS is accountable to his (former) depositors - thats my personal opinion...

 

[Pschiff]

No U.S. states are part of CRS. I wanted an off-shore bank.. If on shore‌ I would have needed to be FDIC. But I was a 100% reserve bank. So‍ I didn't need to incur all that added cost when I had no need for⁠ government insurance. Customers benefitted from that with lower fees. I also didn't want to have⁤ the bank in tax haven, as it was too hard to get correspondent banking relationship.⁣ Also, in Puerto Rico I was able to get an account a the Fed as⁢ well as a deal to be a global issuer with of American Express. I would︀ not have been able to do this in another Caribbean island. Also, at the time︁ I thought as a U.S..territory, Puerto Rico would be a safer location for the bank.︂ It ddi not matter that the island itself was bankrupt as we were not loaning︃ the Puerto Rican government any money. Plus, I lived in Puerto Rico myself. So not︄ only was it convenient to have the bank there too, but there were considerable tax︅ advantages for me personally to have the bank there. You can't blame me for not︆ anticipating that an illegal conspiracy between five nations, and reporters for the NY Times and︇ The Age would destroy the bank and result in the circumstances that exist today. Customers︈ didn't anticipate it either, or they never would have opened accounts at the bank. Also,︉ no customer was forced to transfer the funds or metals to Qenta. Everyone who did︊ had to Opt-In. Plus, no customers have their money back yet, so it's too soon︋ to tell if Opt. In customers are actually at a disadvantage. Lastly, why do you︌ keep saying "same old story?" It's not a story, it's the truth. This is what︍ actually happend. Yet you keep insisting on blaming me for actions that were completely beyond︎ my control. Blame the corrupt governments who did this to you, not me.

 

[Pschiff]

Again, if I opened the⁣ bank in Miami it would have been much too expensive to be a 100% reserve⁢ bank, especially having to pay for FDIC insurance that I did not need. Also, there︀ are lots of banks in Fla. and other U.S. states that Euro Pacific Bank customers︁ could have opened accounts with. But they choose not to. I offered a different type︂ of bank that was not available in U.S. states. What governments did to my bank︃ was unprecedented. I did not anticipate this happening. I lost over $10 million myself as︄ a result. Clearly I never would have stated this bank had I foreseen this outcome.︅ Customers would not have jumped thought all the extra compliance hoops to open accounts had︆ they foreseen it either.

 

[Radko]

Why can't you call Brent De Jong and ask him‍ if Opt-in customers are safe, I'm sure you have Brent's phone number.

 

[Andrew Cobb]

Hello Peter, You must have missed my earlier reply, so⁠ I will ask again 🙂 When did you last spoke to Qenta and can you tell⁤ me who you are in contact with? Can you elaborate on when 'soon' will be?⁣ Is it a few days or weeks? They have all my money and I am⁢ very concerned. Thank you

 

[Pschiff]

If by accountable you mean legally personally liable for their losses,⁤ you are wrong. If bank shareholders where personally liable for any losses suffered by customers⁣ there would be no banks. If directors where also personally liable to bank customers there⁢ would be no directors, which would also mean no banks. There is no bank in︀ the world where you can lose money then go after shareholders for your losses. The︁ only way is if shareholders illegally divert bank assets, including customer deposits, to themselves. But︂ since I started the bank in 2011, I never once took any money out of︃ the bank. The bank never paid me a dividend, I never took a salary, as︄ I was neither an officer nor an employee, and as a director I was unpaid.︅ So no one can accuse me of diverting bank assets to myself. In fact, when︆ the bank got into trouble based on the false allegations made by the media on︇ behalf of the J5, not only did I not take any money out of the︈ bank, but I put another $7 million into the bank to protect customers. I could︉ have just walked away and cut my losses. But I chose not to.

 

[SCHLOSSFINANZ]

I am pretty‍ sure he is not returning his call. Makes me wonder what safeguards PS put in⁠ place regarding the transfer of the client book to Quenta...