John Veenstra, Ray Rhone, Lisa Morgan, Jim Quandt on behalf of Zland, NAMG, KiwiCo, presented a business opportunity to me in January/ February. They claimed I would be hiring into a growing organization that had a wonderful opportunity for growth and advancement. They also claimed that the company was going to receive venture capital to fund the growth of the company. It turned out that these were ALL LIES!
First of all, John Veenstra approached us and told us that the D&O Policy covering our liability was not in place and thus he wanted us to wait to come on board. Thus they asked me and the new CFO to rescind our employment agreements/offer letters and to work as independent contractors. I agreed and the CFO refused. Thus, I began working as an IC for a "temporary period" while the acting - CFO worked with no pay, agreeing to receive back-pay as a bonus when the D&O policy was in place and venture funding were secured. This was lie #1.
It turned out that there never was any venture capital. This was announced 60-days into the business, end of April '04. At this announcement the acting - CFO resigned and was NOT paid his bonus. He is in active arbitration at this point. I continued to be paid at the reduced IC rate with the vacant promise that the VC funding would be coming in the next 60-90 days.
Secondly, I was promised full benefits. This was important to me as I have 3 kids and going without healthcare is not an option. I was put on Zland's plan in April '04 and began to actively submit expenses to HealthNet, Zland's insurer. Then, in late June/early July '04 all of the medical bills started coming in. We had over $2,000 in medical expenses that were refused by ZLand's insurance company and we wondered why. We called and found that coverage for all ZLand employees ceased as of May 1 for, get this, NON-PAYMENT. Yes, this is really a company that cares about its people. We were promised replacement coverage that never came. (My wife went to work so we would get coverage and so we could make up for the less than 1/2 pay I continued to accept as an IC).
Thirdly, the company NEVER paid me on time. And they always had an excuse. They paid by check that they mailed me on payday and it arrived 5 days later. I was promissed a fix a number of times, but it turned out that these were just more lies. John Veenstra and Lisa Morgan never, in fact, pay their folks on a timely basis. Once, I was actually paid 10-days late. This, where Mr. Veenstra knew that it was already difficult for me making less than 1/2 of what he agreed to pay me. He knew this and my family situation well - but he is a cold hearted person that cares nothing for anyone but himself.
Fourth, I found that this company missrepresented their business to existing and potential franchisees. They promissed leads if people joined by paying the $25,000 initiation fee. One guy was duped for 2 franchises. It turned out that these leads, Ingram Micro customers, were never Zland's to offer. They lied and they knew they lied to get folks on board.
Fifth, the company cut me loose after I worked for them as an IC for over 6 months. This was done in the most unprofessional manner possible. I found that I was no longer with the company through the grapevine and upon approaching Veenstra on the phone, he HUNG UP! Yes - not kidding.in fact, I called a second time, and he HUNG UP again. This in response to no ill comments - I was just wondering what happened and why. Then, on Friday, after IMing Lisa Morgan, she called me back and began insulting me making it seem that I did nothing with the company. The truth is that she did nothing other than continue to lie and cheat people. I spoke to Lisa exactly 3 times in 6 months, one of which was the time she called my performance into question. No real explantation was ever given, but since the day prior I had complained about not getting paid on time (the company had agreed to wire funds and it seemed there were always excuses for not getting the wire out on time) and I had several thousand in unpaid medical bills, Veenstra and Morgan took the opportunity to let me go and lie to me and others regarding the reason. This is inexcusable.
The company is currently being investigated by the IRS (evading taxes by hiring employees as ICs), FBI (fraud), SEC/FTC (violation of franchise sales laws - sold in states in which they did not have proper licenses), and numerous state's AGs. They are also being sued by the acting-CFO for non performance under their employment agreement and by numerous de-frauded franchisees that have lost thousands to Veenstra's criminal behavior.
KiwiCo is a company run by Veenstra that is based in Switzerland. Apparently, Veenstra et al uses this company to launder/shelter money and ensure that their assets are safe. Veenstra lives at 108 Onyx Ave., Newport Beach, CA. Other than his real estate, which is probably owned by another concern, Veenstra only has is verge-of-bankrupt company. We need someone with deep pockets and good attorneys to go after Veenstra and his partners in crime (Rhone, Quandt, Morgan).
Please HELP!!!
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