My cousin in Pittsburgh was recently asked to join Merchants Barter Exchange of Pennsylvania (owned and operated by Steve & Marty Bolles). The membership fee is $895 per year and ostensibly he "Can save thousands every year on purchases tax-free". Since I worked 23 years as a federal agent, he asked me my opinion. After doing some preliminary snooping and investigation on the internet, and tracking down former owners of MBE franchises in California, North Carolina, and Georgia, I decided to share my opinion with everyone - not just my cousin Ed.
From what I can tell, this outfit run by Bolles is anything but legitimate. Merchants Barter Exchange is NOT a member of the BBB or any barter trade association.in MBE and Steve Bolles were convicted of racketeering (Franchise Fraud) in the U.S. Third Circuit Federal Court. See this link for details:
http://dockets. Justia.com/docket/circuit-courts/ca3/08-1833/
Bolles appealed the conviction and lost. Former franchise owners mentioned above as well as another victim named Jack Niggeman of Pennsylvania (can be reached at delmacjohn at aol dotcom) all claim that Bolles swindled them for thousands of dollars, never honored his commitments, and then just dared them to sue them and "waste your money on lawyers". Bolles also taunted them with bold statements like "I have no accounts, properties, nor assets in my name, so how will you enforce your judgments?"
A quick search of the internet at other scam sites like usacomplaints.com, Scam.com, Scam-Checker.com, and over a dozen blogs indicate that dozens of people who made the mistake of doing business with MBE, quickly became victims of costly identity theft. The carnage of victims is mounting, yet MBE remains in business by long-distance. People scammed for $895 in Colorado for example, are not likely to come to Pennsylvania to file a complaint with the Attorney General. A round trip airplane ticket costs more than their loss.
The FTC admits they have an ongoing investigation about Merchants Barter Exchange but will not release details. These are bold barter bandits who have a very legitimate-looking scam that is very easy to fall for - especially with our dismal economy. What makes them appear to be genuine however is self-generated hype found in bogus news releases, expensive radio advertisements disguised as radio "talk-shows", a rather impressive but misleading website, phony testimonials, and super smooth-talking sales reps who make thousands in commissions every month. MBE utilizes a mobile boiler room operation that uses disposable cellphones and the number 1-800-822-7204 which is call forwarded daily to the various mobile phones to avoid detection. Currently there are arrest warrants outstanding for Bolles in New Jersey and Maine for "fraud-related matters"
So the same advice I give to my cousin Ed, I give to all of your visitors - Unless you want your wallet and bank account to go on a crash diet, keep plenty of distance between yourself and anyone from Merchants Barter Exchange. They are masters of deception and are quite adept at evading the law. My guess is that some angry victims will catch up with Bolles before the law does. But that might actually be good news for all of us! For those of you who doubt my advice, I suggest you visit the following link - just for starters...
Http://www.scam.com/showthread.php? P=967431
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