Does anyone remember the legendary Arron Funk, the famous Baja Hotel Promoter and charactor? If so, I think enough time has passed for him to surface
somewhere in Baja again. Does anyone know what he's doing? He set up in Mulege for a time. Then Ensenada. Then he disappeared.DENNIS - 12-8-2009 at 02:06 PM
Somebody that owns a firearm probably caught up with him.
[Edited on 12-8-2009 by DENNIS]surfer jim - 12-8-2009 at 03:41 PM
What did he do?Lobsterman - 12-8-2009 at 03:49 PM
Found this on the web.
Submitted: Monday, May 11, 2009
Posted: Monday, May 11, 2009
Aaron Cornelius Funk passes himself off as a "professional business man", land owner, and sincere human being, but that is far from the truth. Funk is
a professional con-man. His history of conning people, playing both sides of the law, and sociopathic behavior goes back at least 20 years. He wins
the Guiness Book of World Records for most civil lawsuits filed against him - and probably ranks in the top 10 for the number of suits he's filed
against others.
Funk "owns" Kamp Klamath, a rundown RV park in Klamath, California, where he is scorned by other business owners due to his bullying and unethical
business practices. Yet he has schmoozed his way into representing the other RV parks in the area. Funks known history goes something like this: He
went to Baja, Mexico and proceeded to "buy" a resort there, Rancho Ensenada. http://web.archive.org/web/20060618231721/http://mexicomatte...
He ran it for a while, but the owner got the property back. http://www.baja.com/ubb/Forum8/HTML/000005.html
After the owner got the property back, Funk posted a very damaging website about the man and it's still on the internet. http://www.mexicaland.com/Report%202%20-%20Robert%20Allen%20... Even though Funk had no claim to the property, he continued to sell vacation
packages to the property and when the guests would arrive, no one knew they were coming and the owner of the resort wouldn't honor their reservations.
Funk made the reservations and pocketed the money. It all caught up with him in 2000 when he was pulled over for a busted tail light and arrested. http://public-access.riverside.courts.ca.gov/OpenAccess/logo...
Go to the above website, click on Riverside criminal and traffic court and follow the instructions. Then put in case # SWF002175. He was charged with
False Pretenses and several counts of Grand Theft. But the master con artist wasn't going down that easy. For 5 years, he dodged court dates, had his
attorney step in for him, slowly wore the system down until he was able to cut a deal to get the charges reduced to misdemeanors, serve 2 years
probation and pay restitution. FELONY CHARGES REDUCED TO MISDEMEANORS!! His attorney, Ken (((REDACTED)))of Noorigian and Associates in San Diego
states that Funk owes him $60k in legal fees when he represented him in trying to keep Rancho Santa Fe. There are dozens of lawsuits against Funk from
people trying to get the money he owes them back. In Klamath, he told a local citizen that he wanted to buy his backhoe. He told him that he had to
remove some trees from his property and that if he'd let him sign a promissory note, he'd pay him for the equipment after he removed and sold the
trees. So the man delivered the backhoe, Funk signed the promissory note, took down the trees, sold the trees . . . . and pocketed the money. And
didn't return the backhoe. The man had to sue him to get his money out of the backhoe. Most recently, Funk sued a former employee for telling the
truth about him. (See Roy (((REDACTED)))vs. Aaron Funk in Del Norte County, California) He went to small claims court armed with forged documents,
fake emails, and perjured himself to win the judgment. Then, he waited for the former employee to go to a state that did not offer protection from
foreign judgments and he seized the employees motorhome, which was her home, and her car. He flew out, rented a car, paid for hotels, hired an
attorney, and showed up at the employees home with a video camera to video tape the employee being evicted from the motorhome to add insult to injury.
Does this sound like man collecting on a judgment - or a man with a vendetta? Funk ran his RV park with homeless people for years - having a woman and
her small child live in a tiny trailer with no heat or running water. Another homeless man lived in the backroom of his store with little heat and
worked him 7 days a week, 10+ hours a day, treating him like a slave. Aaron Funk has personal ads on several dating websites, lying about his age and
who he is. He passes himself off as a wealthy man, claiming to own a "ranch in New Mexico" and saying that when it sells he'll have "millions to fix
up the RV park." Aaron Funk is a liar, a con-man, a sociopath, and a very, very sick and sadistic individual. Avoid this man at all costs.
Knowsbetternow
Birmingham, Alabama
U.S.A.KurtG - 12-8-2009 at 04:17 PM
I knew Aaron when he leased and ran the Hacienda in Mulege 20 or so years ago. He committed one unforgivable act there by painting over the walls in
the cantina that had years of autographs including John Wayne and Steve McQueen along with many other early Baja travelers. My name was there from
Oct. 1974 and I'll bet Pompano's predated me.DENNIS - 12-8-2009 at 05:06 PM
High drama...most players are losers. I met Aaron at Rancho Ensenada and he was dripping in bullchiit. I have no idea where he is now but, I hope
he's dead.
[Edited on 12-9-2009 by DENNIS]tripledigitken - 12-8-2009 at 05:09 PM
Originally posted by KurtG
He committed one unforgivable act there by painting over the walls in the cantina that had years of autographs including John Wayne and Steve McQueen
along with many other early Baja travelers.
unforgivable indeed. Santiago - 12-8-2009 at 05:47 PM
BTW - the Mexicomatters web site noted above is pretty interesting.DENNIS - 12-8-2009 at 06:28 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by tripledigitken
If not the same guy a coincidence.
That writer states his case well. I wonder if it's the same AF?surebought - 12-8-2009 at 06:56 PM
So the Funkster re-invented himself in Klamath, California. I just went to the website and saw a lot of familiar descriptions and the fun bus. Its
him I am afraid. I hope that previous owner is receiving payments. LOL.jeans - 12-9-2009 at 08:18 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by DENNIS
High drama...most players are losers. I met Aaron at Rancho Ensenada and he was dripping in bullchiit. [Edited on 12-9-2009 by DENNIS]
Was that place out on the San Felipe highway past the propane place, on the right, down in a canyon? If so, I was there in 1997 and there was
something fishy going on...That name sounds vaguely familiar..but I remember a manager who was very nice with a memorable name...James Bond. Related
to the actor Ward...DENNIS - 12-9-2009 at 08:25 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by jeans
Was that place out on the San Felipe highway past the propane place, on the right, down in a canyon?
That's the place. I think some of the racers still use it during the 500 and 1000.Pompano - 12-9-2009 at 08:42 PM
A lot of us knew Aaron from his Mulege days...before, during, and after his Hacienda lease from Alfonso. Johnny Tequla called him..Paladin..because
he resembled Richard Boone on the tv series.
I have many photos...and memories.
Before I post anything further that might get me in deep yogurt...I'm double-checking with my lawyer.jeans - 12-9-2009 at 09:42 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by DENNIS
Quote:
Originally posted by jeans
Was that place out on the San Felipe highway past the propane place, on the right, down in a canyon?
That's the place. I think some of the racers still use it during the 500 and 1000.
Yeah..they were advetising a "Gringo Getaway" in the barter club I belonged to. I had some trade credit so I took a girlfriend down as a graduation
present.
First hint that something was amiss was a "refundable" $20 per person cash deposit upon check-in. The weekend was my treat so I paid it. Then we went
to the bar and they were out of just about everything..."The delivery truck was late."
or something...a couple of hours later, I saw one of the workers I had seen earlier arrive with supplies. I think they had to wait until money came
in to go shopping!
Aaron drove a red jeep, but he was not around the whole three-day weekend. There was real nice guy with a memorable name...James Bond. Related to
actor Ward. James came to the pool after a trip into town and said he had a sad announcement: Princess Di had been killed. We all took turns reading
the one copy of the SD union he had.
At checkout, no one got their $20 "refundable" deposit back. We were promised "checks in the mail".
All in all it was a wild weekend, with some memorable characters.DENNIS - 12-10-2009 at 07:42 AM
As I recall, Rancho Enesenada was originally acquired by Robert Dumas from the Ensenada Lions Club or Rotary. He actually never paid them for it. He
and Aaron Funk then spent a long period scamming each other, and a lot of innocent investors and customers over the years. It was like a Chinese Fire
Drill of these two scam artists, each trying to get the upper hand on the other. Jose Amante, who in himself is another colorful scam artist, also got
into the middle of it. Those three would make that ramuma character look like Mother Teresa.
Yes arrowhead
Gypsy Jan - 12-10-2009 at 02:40 PM
This is what we were told sometime around 2002, when AF was trying to get us to invest in Rancho Ensenada.
We visited; we didn't stay for food or drinks.
He spun many stories, including one about a Mexican widow hiring gunsels to lock him out of the property in order to take part or all of it away.
I have to admit that when we were there, it was a beautiful property, with many guests. Aaron had built a beautiful lava rock outside bar with
pockets for orchid plants and a waterfall. He also had the hillsides planted with grapevines fed by drip irrigation.
[Edited on 12-10-2009 by Gypsy Jan]CampHost - 5-18-2020 at 06:22 AM
Aaron Funk recently passed away after a VERY, 3 week, short stint with Pancreatic Cancer. He passed the morning of 5/11/20 in a Nor Cal hospital and a
funeral will be coming shortly.
I only knew and volunteered for him at Kamp Klamath for a couple months. Just as written by others he came off kind but quickly warning signs popped
up. We left the Kamp after a personal disagreement with his manipulative ways and verbal abuse towards his volunteers/Camp Hosts. He was definitely up
to financial no good when he parted this earth and best his wake of trouble ended. So live in peace knowing he won't be causing any more trouble.
[Edited on 05/18/20 by CampHost]pacificobob - 5-18-2020 at 07:06 AM
Baja California is a magnet for this breed. They arrive, do what they do, and move on one step ahead of the pitchforks and torches. Anyone hanging
out around here long enough has seen it.BajaTed - 5-18-2020 at 07:12 AM
Rule #1: always lease first
Rule #2 people come to Baja for reasons
Rule #3 gray is more than a color in Baja
