Cal C. Smith - Cache Card International
Embezzlement, misleading blatant dishonest statements in the interest of buying time for embezzlement activities Ripoff

I began using Cache Card International as my online third-party payment processor in mid-April. Cache Card International required that I maintain a reserve balance in my account of $535 at all times to protect them from any potential chargeback activities, and that all parties transacting through their service execute and fax in a hard copy of a No Chargeback Agreement. I, and all of my customers, complied to their TOS.

Between April 11 and May 18, I transacted a total sum of $12,500 through Cache Card International. As the payments would clear, and my funds would become available for withdraw, I would immediately submit transfer requests to have the funds electronically deposited to my bank account. All seemed well (although their transfers usually took about two weeks) until I purchased one of their Settlement ATM Cards in early May. Cache Card International aggressively promoted the cards, claiming that I would receive my funds much more quickly than I normally would through ACH bank transfer. Because their transfers were so slow, I took them up on it, paid their fee and purchased the card.

When I received the card, I logged into the members portal to find that my card did not exist. After several phone calls and emails to Cache Card International and IC Settlement, it was confirmed that my Settlement Card account had been set up. I immediately loaded $900 to the card, and it was represented by Cache Card International that my funds would be available for withdraw from the card within 24-48 hours. Over the next several days, I loaded additional funds, totalling more than $4,300 onto the card. Each morning when I would login to my Settlement Card Account to view my available balance, it would read 0.00.

After patiently waiting several days, I mailed "Annette" at Cache Card Customer Support. Her responsive email to me dated May 18 indicates that the card settlement company had hired new employees, and they had "messed up" the transactions, so everything had to be resubmitted.

Four days later, on May 22, I emailed again, and this time Annette's response was that there was something wrong with the ACH system which was effecting "everyone" and not just Cache Card. I knew this to be a lie because I was receiving payments from my other payment processors with no difficulties. I further pointed out to her that the alleged mistakes of the settlement card company had no bearing whatsoever on the status of a bank transfer I had requested on MAY 3RD, which STILL had not been deposited to my account. When I asked her for clarification, she "disappeared" and never responded to my email.

That afternoon, I again attempted to login to my Cache Card account, only to find that their website had been disabled. I immediately telephoned Cal Smith, CEO of Cache Card International. I demanded to know where my money was, and why the Cache Card website no longer existed. Mr. Smith played ignorant, claiming that he knew nothing whatsoever about what was transpiring, but would immediately find out what was wrong and call me back. That never happened. I placed several follow up calls to Mr. Smith, and my voice mail messages went unreturned.

On Tuesday, May 23, I attempted to fax a formal demand for payment to the fax number listed on the company's No Chargeback Agreement, only to find that the number had been disconnected. My next call was to my attorney.

I also contacted the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office in Northern Washington to report the theft of my money. I was instructed to file a formal complaint with the FBI, which I did.

On Wednesday, May 24, after speaking with my attorney, I ran a background search on Cal Smith through public records databases and was able to locate a physical address for him which matched up to the WhoIs database records for registry of the company's domain. As luck would have it, there was also a telephone number listed that I had never seen before in any of the company records. On a whim, I called the number, and Cal Smith answered the phone. I demanded once again to know where my money was, and what happened to Cache Card's website. His response was "Cache Card is no longer in business." I again demanded to know where my money was, and he proceeded to tell me that the company took a "major financial hit to the tune of $28,000 when IntGold was shut down by the federal government and folded." I asked him what that had to do with my funds, and his reply was "the company had to liquidate their resources to recoup their losses and cover chargebacks." When I asked Mr. Smith if he understood that MY MONEY was NOT their resources, his response was "yes." I further asked him if he understands that what they have done is EMBEZZLEMENT, his response was "Yes. Sorry, I don't know what to tell you."

I informed Mr. Smith that the FBI, Whatcom County Sheriff's Office and my attorney are now involved, and will be aggressively seeking criminal indictments as well as monetary damages to my business. His response was, again, "Sorry, I don't know what to tell you. I guess I will have to see a lawyer." I told him that would probably be a REAL good idea.

The total damages I have sustained, including my unpaid funds, pending payments and reserve balance total $6,000. If you have been ripped off by Cal Smith and Cache Card International, it is advised by the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office, State of Washington, that you IMMEDIATELY file a formal complaint with the FBI at the following url: http://www.ifccfbi. Gov

Company: Cal C. Smith - Cache Card International
Country: USA
State: Washington
City: Blaine
Address: 7806 Birch Bay Drive, #502
Phone: 3606566257

  <     >