BajaNomad - If you look around and can't figure out who the sucker is...

If you look around and can't figure out who the sucker is...

fulano - 7-18-2008 at 10:46 PM

...it's you!

OK, first read this editorial that just came out in the Baja Times. It is written by L. Jose Amate Perez, guest editor.

http://www.bajatimes.com/editorial.asp

Some nice stuff, hey? I especially like this line from Jose:

"When crime statistics are factually compared, Baja California is a safer place to be than San Diego –always has been and still is."

Now for the REAL story. L. Jose Amate Perez is an American whose real name is Leroy Joseph Amate. You can read all about him at the following link. Sit back and kickoff your shoes. It will take awhile to get through it all.

http://www.mexicaland.com/Report%204%20-%20Jose%20Amate.html

[Edited on 7-19-2008 by fulano]

rpleger - 7-18-2008 at 11:11 PM

fulano......Who is mexicaland.com and why are they no longer in business?

Thats a heavy duty article about this guy.

fulano - 7-18-2008 at 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by rpleger
fulano......Who is mexicaland.com and why are they no longer in business?

Thats a heavy duty article about this guy.

Mexicaland.com is registered to Aaron Funk, who is the guy who claims to have been totally screwed by Jose and Robert A. Dumas.

lizard lips - 7-18-2008 at 11:23 PM

I have met "Jose" years ago and know people he has screwed over.

It's true, It's not what you know it's who, especially here in Baja........

Sharksbaja - 7-19-2008 at 12:11 AM

You still have to wonder why they stopped updating after 2004? What. did something(scary) happen?

[Edited on 7-19-2008 by Sharksbaja]

fulano - 7-19-2008 at 01:07 AM

This is rebuttal posted by Leroy Joseph Amate on his website which was later redacted with an apology. It is still in another archive.

http://web.archive.org/web/20060618231721/http://mexicomatte...

It looks alike all the parties were trying to out-screw each other.

CaboRon - 7-19-2008 at 05:50 AM

What a scumbag ....
:fire:

And the Baja Times appears to be a scumbag realtors rag ..... :fire:

CaboRon

Good work Fulano

Bajajack - 7-19-2008 at 09:55 AM

Articles like this should be of interest to everyone.

Udo - 7-19-2008 at 09:55 AM

I thought I read a lot of Spanish posts and press, but I am always amazed of what Fulano brings to the table!

fulano - 7-19-2008 at 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CaboRon
What a scumbag ....
:fire:

And the Baja Times appears to be a scumbag realtors rag ..... :fire:

CaboRon

One of our Nomads writes articles for "realtors rag". Guess who?
:rolleyes:

gnukid - 7-19-2008 at 02:11 PM

I recall back in the 70's we would often say, "they probably ran away to Mexico", when guessing where murderers and scoundrels went. When I visited in the early 80's to remote places, at the time like Abrejos, Santa Rosalalita, La Ventana etc... After the long drive down dirt roads for hours on end we'd end up at a surf point with a fire, happy and alone. Finally, at some point, a english speaking stranger would arrive in the dark, the only person we'd seen for many many miles, the conversation would turn to how did you end up here, alone? The story of a crime or unpaid taxes or a family and alimony payments left behind for a life in Baja California would fuel our imaginations. And our thoughts were confirmed, the stories of criminal expats running away to Baja were true, in some cases. So it seems there are many stories, but surely one common thread is of the criminals who made their way to Baja California to live.

On the other hand, so many who made it to Baja are the true adventurers who know where to find adventure, where to fish, where to sail and surf and how to make a margarita. It's no wonder then today, we run into those two types, the pure adventurists and the pure criminals with a common thread, sitting around a remote fire. I still believe at first that everyone I meet must be an adventurer until I see proof otherwise. Shocking as it is to me, I have found a large number of criminals have made their life in Baja California in remote outposts and city centers too. They appear well dressed and with grand stories of success.

I am talking criminals, Federal Penitentiary ex-cons, prosecuted drug dealers, derelicts, Lawyers who scammed millions, all types, many retire to Baja California and there they persist unable to stop their cyclical behavior. All the while smiling, conniving, their grinning faces greet newcomers with expectation of a payout.

As a student of psychology I was taught that anti-social and narcistic criminal behaviors wane down after your 40's, that criminals do learn to clean up their act and can be rehabilitated. That conclusion is not my personal experience in Baja California where criminals are allowed to continue with few obstacles. I am constantly reminded that human cycles are almost impossible to break and that smiling, charismatic, expats may not be as kind and well meaning as they present themselves to be. In fact there are more than a few well known smiling super social expats from TJ to Cabo who are straight up frauds.

These crazy opportunists are to be avoided and easily so, you can recognize them. They are everywhere. In almost every pueblo and bar. If it sounds too good, if they act passive aggressive, if they shun your choice for notaria, your demands for documentations, your insistence for well crafted agreements prior to payments then you have a red flag.

Unfortunately the laws , culture and the remote nature of so many pueblos allows these criminals to persist in Baja California while they were run out of the USA. The reasons they persist is because few victims stand up and document their losses, publicly admit to their role as victim and few pursue the cases with the bravado of the criminal. Cut your losses and shut up is the general poorly chosen advice in Baja California. Certainly, it seems something about the system of law seems to protect criminals.

I try to listen carefully to what to people say when we meet new people, they usually reveal their methods, they foreshadow their behavior through their story-telling and it's clear that patterns, red flags, are repeated seemingly forever til' their death. Its not uncommon to walk into a cantina and see a well dressed congenial expat who has a compelling story of land and deals. Nor is it uncommon to find out later that there is mixed bag of truth in the RE stories from these self appointed silky jogging suit wearing agents. One might wager that whenever you meet someone who has a land deal with broad acreage and presale deals with cash discounts the chance of it being less than it seems it high.

Now I am not saying that all expats living in Baja California are bad, they are not and many are heros in my eyes. But for all the deals I have been offered from expats in the last 35 years, I took none, most were not what they were presented to be and many times when I tried to accept a cooperative deal, soon I saw the deal be damaged by actions of the party directly in the face of the agreement seemingly purposely to confuse and destroy the deal.

Therefore, it seems that those who made their way through Baja California not having bought but instead having invested in and enjoyed only adventure may have received the best return on their dollar.

Somehow these criminals, RE scammers etc... lurk everywhere and certainly in Baja California too, they can not change their ways, Baja provides them shelter, chaos and confusion to work within. Now as Baja matures, their actions serve as a stumbling block, certainly we can laugh at the encounters, or we can cry, some of us learn while there is always another potential victim around the corner.

As a community, it is incumbent upon those who know the facts to speak out to protect our newly arriving neighbors and in turn ourselves. It must be clear that the criminals and scammers, whoever they may be, have an advantage when we keep quiet. Don't be shy to speak out with skepticism. Shouldn't we then also, welcome the outing with factual documentation of thieves like those described in these articles, the Real Estate scammers who exist everywhere in Baja California who have no license and no legal requirements? Shouldn't pursuit of these dundering thieves methods be exposed to the benefit of our community and finally can't we all agree that Baja California has a very small population comparatively and as a community we must find ways to work together to reduce the harm these corrupt criminals cause.

If criminals run out of victims and feel pressure of law enforcement they will leave just as they have before. They will go to where the pickings are easier.

The lack of effective communication within and between communities works to their advantage and to our detriment.

Additionally the criminals use every technique possible to spread false info and confuse facts, They do it here on BN too because they can.

I dream of the things we might do to repeat Real Estate frauds... but shouldn't we leave enforcement to the courts? I dream about sending a message down the road via tin can on string to avoid the crook, either way I know Baja California, she will exact revenge through her own karmic process.

CaboRon - 7-19-2008 at 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by fulano

Quote:

Originally posted by CaboRon
What a scumbag ....
:fire:

And the Baja Times appears to be a scumbag realtors rag ..... :fire:

CaboRon

One of our Nomads writes articles for "realtors rag". Guess who?
:rolleyes:

Is this something we are voting on :lol:

If I had to pick I would say (based on his website) ELINVEST18

Or (based on her defensiveness) The Gull

Am I close ?

If anyone would like to make nominations just post them ,then we can start a poll. It will be the "Out The Realtors" poll
:lol:

CaboRon

comitan - 7-19-2008 at 03:23 PM

Just not happy with a 10 peso show you have to have a 50Peso show.

gnukid - 7-19-2008 at 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CaboRon

Quote:

Originally posted by fulano

Quote:

Originally posted by CaboRon
What a scumbag ....
:fire:

And the Baja Times appears to be a scumbag realtors rag ..... :fire:

CaboRon

One of our Nomads writes articles for "realtors rag". Guess who?
:rolleyes:

Is this something we are voting on :lol:

CaboRon

I vote Bajagringo?

CaboRon - 7-19-2008 at 04:01 PM

I stand corrected ...

CaboRon

ELINVESTIG8R - 7-19-2008 at 04:10 PM

Well it ain't me. All I know about real estate is from buying my house back in 1994.

fulano - 7-19-2008 at 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by gnukid
I vote Bajagringo?

BINGO!

CaboRon - 7-20-2008 at 06:01 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ELINVESTI8
Well it ain't me. All I know about real estate is from buying my house back in 1994.

I am happy to hear it.

CaboRon

shari - 7-20-2008 at 08:02 AM

Interesting observations about some ex pats by Gnukid...however, my experiences beg to differ...in 20 years of living and travelling all over baja, in remote areas and cities....I have NEVER heard an expat brag about being an escaped criminal from the states....I'm sure I have run into them but I imagine they do not discuss their past with strangers...(in their best interest), nor do I ask them about it. I know they are here and suspect some loners I have met but have never encountered one who flat out tell people about it.

bigeye - 7-20-2008 at 09:37 AM

A Mexican friend of mine told me what the locals say about the gringos that live in Baja. There are two kinds, the wanted and the unwanted. :lol:

gibson - 7-20-2008 at 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by shari
Interesting observations about some ex pats by Gnukid

keen observations yourself, as Gnu wud've still been in nappies in the 70's (wink)
he's baaaaack

BajaGringo - 7-20-2008 at 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by fulano

Quote:

Originally posted by gnukid
I vote Bajagringo?

BINGO!

Yes Nancy, I write for the Baja Times. I would love to see you produce one link to an article of mine that pushed or promoted Real Estate in the Baja Times. Everything I have written has been solely about life and experiences here on the peninsula.

Sorry that bothers you so much...

palmeto99 - 7-20-2008 at 10:40 AM

I think you are beating a dead horse with the Nancy thing
my friend. He seems to have your number... :cool:

fulano - 7-20-2008 at 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaGringo
Yes Nancy, I write for the Baja Times. I would love to see you produce one link to an article of mine that pushed or promoted Real Estate in the Baja Times. Everything I have written has been solely about life and experiences here on the peninsula.

Sorry that bothers you so much...

Well, you know the old saying: "Uno que duerme con los perros se despierta con las pulgas."

bigeye - 7-20-2008 at 02:00 PM

Seems like, fulano and gringo, need to get a room. :?:

Sharksbaja - 7-20-2008 at 02:11 PM

eh, it's a journalists' thang.. :lol:

Iflyfish - 7-20-2008 at 03:47 PM

I ran into a guy in mainland coastal town, in the 70s, motel owner, fat gringo type, Mexican wife cooking while he is in hammock....kids running all around him. I told him my last name and he flinched, old gang name from Chicago, he wondered if I was related, or made. Then out came the story.... showed me the bullit holes, scars from shoot outs, he was from Chicago, gang, dropped out, made his "fortune" illegally importing Arrow shirts and Maidenform bras. Married Mexican, bought hotel, dug holes in back yard at night, waking me up, digging out chests from under the palms...I left, no more questions....no more answers...just an amazing story of someone "getting out of Dodge".

They Yucatan used to be the Australia or Siberia of Mexico, prisoners sent there to rot. Lots of Xpats have indeed fled their lives in the US. One can figure that of the ten people you meet, one will be Sociopathic and will look either too smooth or too good.

Iflyfish

palmeto99 - 7-20-2008 at 03:56 PM

While this has been true for many years, the US Marshals have had an office in Mexico for some time now. They have been very successful in bringing these criminals home to the USA to face justice . Its the internet and cable news that rats these characters out.. :cool:

[Edited on 7-20-2008 by palmeto99]

We Met With Jose Amate

Gypsy Jan - 7-20-2008 at 04:27 PM

Ohh, maybe seven-to-eight years ago. He was charming, well spoken and very persuasive in trying to get us interested in his resort project in Ensenada, which at that time was called Rancho Ensenada.

Another principal in this property was one Aaron Funk, who, I believe was involved in the creation of the Mexicaland website.

Amate aka "whoever" alluded to having a mysterious criminal past and several legal problems in the U.S.

Whether those declarations were real or just conversation to make him seem more interesting, romantic or dangerous...ehh, who knows.

A lot of con men like to develop "mystery backgrounds" because it attracts the naive who feel that their life may have lacked excitement or danger, so they attracted to the idea they can acquire a bit of this by association.

We did not do any business with Sr. Amate "whoever" because he couldn't deliver due diligence on the property or the project.

Amate wrote a column for the Gringo Gazette North for many years, promoting investment in San Felipe and pontificating on how his "legal offices" could assist the Gringo buyer with "safe" investments in properties in Mexico.

I could only read those "special" pieces of wisdom when I knew that my gag reflex was safely under control.

[Edited on 7-20-2008 by Gypsy Jan]

Convicted Sex Offenders

JaraHurd - 7-20-2008 at 08:47 PM

It is becoming increasingly difficult for convicted sex offenders to live in certain areas of the U.S. Depending on their convictions, some are required to have their identities and residences available for disclosure to the general public. Laws vary from state to state but the trend is for stiffer registration requirements nationally. This is obvious motivation for them to move out of the U.S. I am unaware, however, if failing to disclose that they are moving outside of the country is a crime. ...I am also unaware if Mexico has a registration requirement for these types. I am guessing they don't..

Eugenio - 7-25-2008 at 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by fulano

Quote:

Well, you know the old saying: "Uno que duerme con los perros se despierta con las pulgas."

That's a real nice babelfish translation fulano - thanks for revealing something I already suspected - your spanish is pretty limited - try - Quien con perros se echa, con pulgas se levanta. - it sounds better.