I was contacted by this company with the indication of buyers wanting companies in my area. The story went that there were people who were willing to buy companies in order to gain immigration status improvements and they wanted companies in my industry badly. The only thing needed to start the ball rolling was an "independent review" to confirm the value of the company. This review came in a very nice binder and had quite a bit of "filler" material but it did come in with a value of just under 1 million, which was the "magic number" for a sale.
The evaluataion was paid in the understanding there would be qualified buyers presented. The first of the "managers" assigned to this sale botched the listing completely but there were still two contacts, neither of which had any idea of what my company did but were looking to buy a business in the state. Neither were interested after finding out what we actually did.
A few months later, a second "manager" contacted me to get in touch with another buyer, who told me they were never interested in my company to begin with. Now, this is not what I would have expected anyone to call a "qualified buyer" since that iomplies someone who not only has the means to purchase but the desire to buy that type of business.
Of course, at the end of the year contract I received a letter indicating they had introduced a "qualified buyer" to me even though the contacts had no interest in this type of business and one case not in this part of the state.
It seems I was taken for the proverbial ride... But not alone from the indications here.
If there is anything I can do to assist anyone in getting this corrected I will be more than happy to assist.
One of the services I perform through my company is as an expert witness for the US EPA through the DOJ. This is not within their normal operations but I have asked for a "friendly" reference to someone who might be interested in the interstate nature of this scam.
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