Young ‘Broker’ Found Prosperity
Just four years out of high school, Jerry A. Martin Jr. of Liberty Lake says he’s achieving financial success.
He’s buying a $250,000 house overlooking the first hole at MeadowWood Golf Course. He drives a shiny black 1999 BMW, worth $50,000, and has a 20-foot boat in his three-car garage.
His gold necklace sparkles, and he smiles a lot when asked about his secret to wealth at age 22.
He owes his financial savvy, Martin said, to opportunities he encountered through Global Prosperity.
He bought a $1,250 “educational tape” package from Global a year ago and will soon attend one of the company’s three-day seminars in Cancun, Mexico, to learn more.
Global, he said, taught him about offshore banking, foreign trusts and ways to move assets out of the country to make him “judgment proof.”
Martin said he intends to become a vendor at Global’s seminars in Cancun to promote his “Martin Investment Firm.”
He claimed to be a licensed securities broker, but Washington state Securities Division regulators say neither he nor his company is registered to sell securities or offer financial advice.
Asked about that, Martin later said, “Oh, I’m in the process of filling out the papers right now.”
Martin said he has learned about making vast amounts of money through offshore bank debenture trading. He uses Swedish-owned Bank Crozier Limited, licensed in 1997 to operate in Grenada.
Investors “loan” Martin Investment cash, which is aggregated to purchase bank debentures in the offshore bank, Martin explained.
He transfers the investors’ funds out of the United States to an international limited liability company (LLC) he formed through contacts he made through Global Prosperity. He refused to identify the LLC.
“It’s a loan to my international LLC,” Martin said. “Once the money comes back into the United States, to our investors, it’s a loan repayment, so it’s not taxable income.”
One client who made a $30,000 investment saw it blossom to $130,000, Martin said, but he left his money with Martin Investment. Martin did not provide the name of anyone who actually has redeemed profits from his debenture offer.
The Spokane Valley man may be misleading investors, said a prominent tax attorney in Irvine, Calif.
“These bank debenture programs are a scam. If they are above a certain size, they have to be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. They never are,” said Jay Atkisson.
Martin provided an official-looking “ICC-500” statement, describing bank debenture trading. Martin said ICC stands for the International Chamber of Commerce, which he said regulates such transactions.
But Lis Brawnbill, an analyst with the criminal investigation division of the ICC in Essex, England, said the document is a fake.
“It’s not for loans or investments,” she said, “but to facilitate international trade. They are misleading potential investors.”
Martin says the ICC and the world’s richest people and banks don’t want U.S. citizens to learn the truth about foreign investments.
“Most people don’t even have the foggiest idea that these things even exist,” he said. Those who are knowledgeable about offshore banking and international companies “are not allowed to give out any information and deny their existence,” Martin said.
“There are some people in this world who have figured it out, who’ve been invited into this exclusive group,” he said.
“I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging, but after the amount of success I’ve had people should see that I’m on to something.”
This sidebar appeared with the story: CONTACTS Problem with Prosperity?
Got a complaint about Global Prosperity? These agencies say they want to hear from you:
Internal Revenue Service, (800) 829-0433.
Washington State Securities Division, (800) 372-8303.
Better Business Bureau of the Inland Northwest, (800) 356-1007.