More investors from throughout Southeast Asia and beyond have contacted PropertyGuru in the wake of our stories last week, the first of which carried a warning from one European investor not to invest with American development company North Dakota Developments.
That organisation has been marketing its oilfield motel investment throughout the region, establishing offices in both Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. It has participated in property exhibitions in both countries.
Despite assurances last week from Chief Executive Officer Robert Gavin, in which he confirmed that: “… client satisfaction is at the very heart of North Dakota Developments LLC, and any client concerns are taken extremely seriously,” tales of alleged delays and evidence of broken contracts have been mounting.
Brenda Lee, lawyer with Florida-based attorneys SecuritiesLawyer101.com, is acting for some of the alleged aggrieved investors.
She told PropertyGuru: “Based upon our initial investigation of North Dakota Development (“NDD”), there are multiple violations of U.S. securities laws including the anti-fraud provisions.
“The number of victims and extraterritorial nature of the NDD scheme should be an embarrassment to regulators in the countries where NDD operated and solicited investors.
“Reliable sources tell us that the NDD scheme may exceed US$120 million and involve victims in at least seven countries.
She added that among many alleged misrepresentations, investors were lured into sending their savings for investments that touted unrealistic and baseless revenue predictions, fabricated construction completion and occupancy dates, fabricated customer testimonials and bogus prospects.
She added: “The alleged victims we have reviewed to date reflect non-accredited investors who were solicited by glossy and fraudulent advertisements presented to them by unregistered brokers who failed to disclose their compensation.”
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor of PropertyGuru Group, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email andrew@propertyguru.com.sg
