This is my first blog so I hope it is in the correct forum.
My wife and I are large investors with Mantria and Speed of Wealth (SOW). We support the principals involved 110%. What a shame the SEC froze assets effectively shutting down a progressive Company that is on the verge of changing the world in positive leaps and bounds. The SEC should have issued a warning if they had problems with the method Mantria and SOW were operating and give them some options and time to take corrective actions. The way SEC handled the situation is totally unacceptable. The have adversely affected hundreds of investors lives. We are retired and rely on the monthly and quarterly payments from Mantria for our income. Without this income we will be unable to meet our mortgage payments, insurance, utilities and all the typical monthly payments we are obligated for which will potentially put us on the list of foreclosures and many other negative impacts to come if the assets are not unfrozen quickly.
The damage to Mantria will be very adverse and affect all investors to the negative. With large purchases of Waste Conversion Systems on the horizon and with the lack of funds to operate the functioning system at Dunlap to show the purchasers the SEC is in effect putting Mantria and all investors in a situation that is devastating to say the least. I wonder if we investors have the right to file a class action suit against SEC or in the alternative to find out under the Freedom of Information Act who and what started this action against the Defendants. Could it have been any competitors of Mantria to help themselves gain market share?
I am in the same position as Biocharpro. I am not retired but being cut back hours at my job. The monthly and quarterly payments were helping me get through life.
We need this technology and need to keep it going forward, the planet needs this technology. I don't know what the answer is but I am glad we have this blog to communicate with each other.
Has anyone used their brain and crunched numbers? Troy had said that the cost of building a 'system' had decreased to $1.7mio and the barn in Hohenwald was probably a few thousand $$. So, where do you think all the money went? They had said that Scott's wanted to buy the Biochar as fertilizer. And what happened? They also mentioned a supposedly very rich family, the Weitners, Weidners or so who were the big-time Venture Capitalists whose help was used to develop the Remote Controlling of the systems. I want to know their exact name and what they are doing about this investigation. Wayde got divorced to separate the liability/bank accounts in case they would be found guilty. Hey, a few years in jail and his family gets to keep the millions!! Troy mentioned he had gone to Denmark, but most likely went to Switzerland to open a "Number-Account". How did you get ahold of the investors emails? I just want to let everyone know that I'm in the same boat and now unable to make lots of payments for not having this monthly income and worse yet, risking to lose the principal. Oh well! At least I have the life insurance where the McKelvy's also made a lot in commissions. Now I could die.
We will not really know the story behind all of this until the SEC charges are heard in court and the parties have a chance to respond. I agree if they had a court appointed overseer it would have saved many investors a lot of money and stress. My heart goes out to the employees of Mantria who are impacted with the sudden loss of jobs in an area of the country that I suspect will be very hard to replace. We owe the employees who continue to work for us at no pay a thank you. At the very least, Wayde, Amanda and Troy should have made sure that there was absolutely no possibility that the use of funds could in any way be viewed by the SEC as paying off early investors with later investors money. This is a very clear concept that anyone with the background of Troy, Amanda & Wayde should understand. Even if they had to invite the SEC to look at their books just to be safe and to protect us. If the phrase such as "payment of former debt" or any other euphemism was used to address this, it is asking for trouble. For this we are owed more than an apology. I signed on knowing this investment, like any other, is a risk. What I did not sign on for is investing with a company that does not insure 110% that they are going above and beyond the rules of the SEC. When you are using other peoples money, the bar is raised much higher. I hope for all of us I am wrong and I will be the first to apologize if the SEC claim is found to be unsubstantiated. As investors, we can call the Denver branch office of the SEC at 303-844-1060 for any updates or hearing schedules and post them here. Since I was unable to hear Troy's last webinar; did he address a question I had sent in regarding if the Mantria property promised as collateral is actually owned by Mantria as an asset with a deed of trust in their name? I believe we all could breathe a little easier if we knew there was a possibility that we will have some or all of our principle recovered. I sincerely hope that Mantria will be allowed back in business so they can prove that everything they said would happen will be shown to be legitimate. I hope that Troy, Amanda and Wayde are invited to this blog so they can at least monitor our concerns and address them as part of any future webinars.
Life is short, so I pray we enjoy our families during the Christmas season and beyond.
I am in a circumstance similar to biocharpro and Paula. I am sure there are many others in the same boat. We are not alone. I felt safe investing based upon the promised collateral. However, even if the collateral exists, with the assets frozen, it is likely to take a long time before we get our money. Lets hope we can all hang on until then. At this point I do not know if the SEC is the bad guy or if Mantra and SOW are. But it really does not make much difference. Since blaming anyone is not going to change anything for us. I hope we can all get through this without too much damage.
The comments by Biocharpro, Paula, Dohe, Benjaminhadd, and Pfitzg seem to represent all Mantria Investors! Right now, we all have many questions and many anxieties. One thing is for sure, no Mantria Investor deserves to be in this situation! Our hearts and minds were in the right place when we made our initial investments. For investing our hard earned money with the expectation that we were contributing toward promoting a a new technology that would benefit the world, we deserve far better than this!!!
Although we certainly have reason to be concerned, we generally stand behind our principals and the technology. Until the law proves otherwise and our principals admit otherwise, most investors generally believe that supporting them now is the best hope for us to preserve our investments.
Please note that for now, this blog will not be available to Mantria or SOW employees. We may need to use this blog to independently sort out issues arising from the trial. For example, some Mantria Investors are currently looking into legal council and we may require discussions concerning legal representation, if necessary. We also may need to "vent" among ourselves.
Concerning the issue of collateral, I believe Mantria's land is considered an asset on their balance sheet. And, Mantria does own a significant amount of real estate in Tennessee. Accordingly, we would be entitled to our 2:1 or 1:1 in the case of a bankruptcy. My concern is that as with foreclosures or estate sales, property tends to be liquidated at a discount. Depending on the status of Mantria and its principals, the property may lose value at the time of liquidation. I have also asked Troy to clarify the status of our collateral. This is a highly relevant and urgent question. Mantria also has Mantria Place, Hohenwald, and a patent pending which could be liquidated to reimburse our investments. I do not believe Mantria has much cash on hand. If I heard correctly, they only have enough to operate the company for about two months. There is not much cash for the SEC to "freeze."
I anticipate that one of our greatest challenges will be waiting for outcomes to occur. Please feel free to utilize this blog to "blow off steam" or pass the time as you see fit.
Meanwhile, I will try to post as many updates and facts as they are presented to me.
I wouldn't hold my breath on a class action lawsuit against the SEC. Unfortunately, the govt. usually always wins. I think we all just need to pray for a quick resolution to this mess. Although I would like to see some form of retribution after this is all over, this may be unlikely.
If anyone who is in contact with Troy or Wayde such as Merril Rowe or Ben Greinke, please relay dohe's concerns so a comment can be made on this blog in response. I think this will help in setting a lot of investors minds at ease. I really think they were working in our best interest as I saw the technology in person and spoke to some of the engineers.
Also, there was a post made on another one of our blogs "How is it that the $1 million deposit made to Earthmate by Colima, Mexico cannot be tapped to support the Dunlap plant operation? Can anyone shed any light on the reasons why it's not available for needed plant operation?" made by Lori M.
To Dohe, the name you are looking for is Cary Widener. I actually met him in person at the TN bootcamp tour.
I attended the hearings yesterday and today and was disappointed that Mantria's lawyer didn't focus on the assets of Mantria, specifically the land and the bio-refinery(s). I am also cincerned about the AP associated to the Dunlap facility ($750K to Acme) and the lack of cash in Mantria accounts. With only $250K in the Mantria accounts, how would they meet December obligations?
As an Investor (not a lawyer), I don't know what the process is from here, does anyone else?
I believe there is a large contingent of companies scheduled for an on-site visit of the Bio-refinery in Dunlap on Monday (12/07/09) and this needs to occur so Earthmate can generate some system sales. This will be critical in preserving our investments.
We, as a group, need to formulate a plan to protect the technology and the assets so we can maintain control (from the SEC and a possible liquidation) and keep moving forward. We are on the verge of bringing this technology to the world and profitability! With a couple of system sales, Mantria will have real cash-flow and real momentum.
It was not a good day in court today for investors. The Mantria attorney had no defense for any of the charges in the SEC complaint and disputed nothing in the end. At the very important final hearing today regarding the lifting of the freeze on assets in order to keep the plant open; Neither Troy, Amanda, Wayde or Donna were present. They were not present yesterday either. Only the CFO for Mantria was there. The judge noted they did not make themselves available even for a telephone conference which would have been OK with the court. Yesterday, the judge told the Mantria attorney that the court would have questions to discuss with them today regarding her upcoming decision. You can guess what her decision was on the issue of changing the status of the frozen assets.
I was cautiously hopeful up until hearing yesterday’s and today hearings. I missed the first hour and a half yesterday and could only stay for the first two hours today but none of what I did head was very promising. I didn’t take notes but below are a few findings and concerns I gathered. Again, this is all from memory so don’t quote me on this stuff.
The fact that Troy didn’t even show up for his own company’s hearing was very concerning to the judge and to me.
Total dollars raised from investors is about $30 million.
Of the 40 some Mantria accounts frozen, there was only a few hundred thousand dollars in them.
Total homesite sales in 2008 was about $10 million. Total homesite sales in 2009 was about $3 million. Of all the homesites sold, only three buyers in the two years paid cash. All others bought with 100% financing by Mantria Financial. The judge made it a point to clarify that all money funding Mantria Financial came from us investors (Mantria 17). In short, whatever “revenue” Mantria made from home sales really came from investor funds.
From speaking with other investors in the court hall, it sounded like the SEC brought to attention several material misrepresentations about their operations, revenues, risks, assets, etc. and that Mantria’s attorney had little to no rebuttle to these claims. I have no specifics on this as this was covered yesterday before I arrived.
Another concern discussed by investors in the hall that I’m guessing was addressed early in yesterday’s hearing is the fact that the underground water at Mantria place is contaminated and not “potable.” This means home owners cannot install wells for home water service. I’m guessing this can have a catastrophic impact on the value of the homesites.
At this time, I’m not 100% convinced that Mantria actually owns all that land. They paid nothing for it up front. Mantria negotiated with the sellers to pay the sellers once Mantria sells it to the end user. If the land never sells, does it go back to the original sellers? If so, our collateral in all these investment isn’t Mantria’s to be forclosed on.
Mantria’s attorney requested a lift of the asset freeze so they can pursue system sales. I couldn’t stick around long enough to see if this was granted but considering how unimpressive Mantria’s defense was, I doubt it gets granted.
I hate to be sounding negative but I’m just relaying what I gathered. I have about $160K which is about 30% of my net worth in this company and hope like hell this works out somehow. However, I wasn’t given much reason today to be optimistic about this.
I think if Troy was really fighting for this company and for us investors, he would have been there. He wasn’t. I feel abandoned and left to fend for myself.
I don’t know what else to do, what else to say, or how else to feel, except terrible.
If anyone has knowledge of any promising news or developments, please share. This is the last thing I think about before falling asleep at night. I wake up several times a night thinking about it, and it’s the first thing I think about when I get up in the morning.
I hear they are supposed to be showing the eco-system to some prospective buyers next week. I hope that is true, I hope the system is as impressive as the claims have been, and I hope it results in some sales. However, in light of all this, I’m not holding my breath.
Mantria has just informed me that they are planning a conference call this Friday Dec 4. I have reiterated several of our concerns from this blog to Mantria. Mantria was not sure if they will respond during the teleconference or send out FAQs.
I am very disappointed in the veracity of the defense so far by Wayde, Troy, Donna and Amanda. Not showing up and having a poor defense to charges worries me. I hope it all works out, I too would like to have my precious capitol safe. Very worrisome.
Neither the SEC or Mantria's defense made any mention of Mantria Records and Cleanse to Thin. What ever happened to these business ventures?
In any case, here is the latest press update I could find:
------------ Tenn. land tainted in alleged Bala Cynwyd scam
By Harold Brubaker Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer
When Mantria Corp., of Bala Cynwyd, solicited investors for environmental projects, it told them their money was backed by land in Tennessee that was worth twice their investments. It turns out some of the land, supposedly destined for lucrative residential developments, has serious water-contamination problems from strip mining, making it difficult to develop, according to the mayor of Van Buren County, where three of Mantria's housing projects are.
This was among the stories gathered by Securities and Exchange Commission officials and filed this week in federal court in Colorado to support their request for a preliminary injunction freezing the assets of Mantria's cofounders, Philadelphians Troy B. Wragg and Amanda E. Knorr, and their codefendants.
The SEC has accused Wragg and Knorr of operating a $30 million Ponzi scheme.
A federal judge in Denver, where civil charges were filed Nov. 16., approved the SEC's injunction request Wednesday. The injunction also covers Wayde M. McKelvy, Donna M. McKelvy, and their Centennial, Colo., company, Speed of Wealth L.L.C., because of their alleged roles in raising money for Mantria.
Wragg, 28, swore in an affidavit that Mantria was legitimate. However, he did not appear for two days of court proceedings this week, despite the court's "strong recommendation" that he show up, according to the judge's order. Wragg, a Manayunk resident, did not return a call yesterday seeking comment.
In his affidavit, Wragg disputed specific accusations made by the SEC. For example, he said he and his codefendants did not promise or guarantee any specific investment returns.
But investor Dee Holl of Highlands Ranch, Colo., said in a court declaration that she put $65,000 into Mantria 50, which promised repayment of principal plus 50 percent interest in eight months.
Wragg, who paid himself about $220,000 in each of the last four years, said in the affidavit his company had laid off more than 100 people because of the SEC action and had to move out of its offices in a signature Bala Cynwyd building, 555 E. City Ave.
He told investors in a Nov. 19 conference call that he had just $1,000 and Knorr had $1,600 in the bank. To save money, Knorr moved into the house Wragg rents in Manayunk.
At least one Colorado investor, Lori Morrell, is convinced that the biorefinery she invested in - which turns waste into a charcoallike substance that can sequester carbon in the soil - is for real. "We know what the technology can do. It will change the way we deal with waste," she said.
IRS TAX DEDUCTION (this is a repeat from the other thread in case anyone did not see my note there) Regarding the IRS "ponzi" loss ruling. You can deduct your theft loss up to 100% of your ordinary income for 2009 and any left over can be applied toward past ordinary income if you file a revised tax return for those years. However, you cannot deduct any IRA dollars invested since those were never taxed. I suppose you might deduct a small percentage if you can isolate what amounts were your original after tax amounts. Since all 401K is pretax, you cannot deduct any of that. I forgot to mention that the part of the IRS 165 ruling is under the area termed "misresentation". This might help your accountant since this is a new ruling this year brought about specifically by the Madoff case.
This is my first blog so I hope it is in the correct forum.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I are large investors with Mantria and Speed of Wealth (SOW). We support the principals involved 110%. What a shame the SEC froze assets effectively shutting down a progressive Company that is on the verge of changing the world in positive leaps and bounds. The SEC should have issued a warning if they had problems with the method Mantria and SOW were operating and give them some options and time to take corrective actions. The way SEC handled the situation is totally unacceptable. The have adversely affected hundreds of investors lives. We are retired and rely on the monthly and quarterly payments from Mantria for our income. Without this income we will be unable to meet our mortgage payments, insurance, utilities and all the typical monthly payments we are obligated for which will potentially put us on the list of foreclosures and many other negative impacts to come if the assets are not unfrozen quickly.
The damage to Mantria will be very adverse and affect all investors to the negative. With large purchases of Waste Conversion Systems on the horizon and with the lack of funds to operate the functioning system at Dunlap to show the purchasers the SEC is in effect putting Mantria and all investors in a situation that is devastating to say the least. I wonder if we investors have the right to file a class action suit against SEC or in the alternative to find out under the Freedom of Information Act who and what started this action against the Defendants. Could it have been any competitors of Mantria to help themselves gain market share?
I am in the same position as Biocharpro. I am not retired but being cut back hours at my job. The monthly and quarterly payments were helping me get through life.
ReplyDeleteWe need this technology and need to keep it going forward, the planet needs this technology. I don't know what the answer is but I am glad we have this blog to communicate with each other.
Thank You.
Has anyone used their brain and crunched numbers? Troy had said that the cost of building a 'system' had decreased to $1.7mio and the barn in Hohenwald was probably a few thousand $$. So, where do you think all the money went?
ReplyDeleteThey had said that Scott's wanted to buy the Biochar as fertilizer. And what happened? They also mentioned a supposedly very rich family, the Weitners, Weidners or so who were the big-time Venture Capitalists whose help was used to develop the Remote Controlling of the systems. I want to know their exact name and what they are doing about this investigation.
Wayde got divorced to separate the liability/bank accounts in case they would be found guilty. Hey, a few years in jail and his family gets to keep the millions!!
Troy mentioned he had gone to Denmark, but most likely went to Switzerland to open a "Number-Account".
How did you get ahold of the investors emails?
I just want to let everyone know that I'm in the same boat and now unable to make lots of payments for not having this monthly income and worse yet, risking to lose the principal.
Oh well! At least I have the life insurance where the McKelvy's also made a lot in commissions. Now I could die.
We will not really know the story behind all of this until the SEC charges are heard in court and the parties have a chance to respond. I agree if they had a court appointed overseer it would have saved many investors a lot of money and stress. My heart goes out to the employees of Mantria who are impacted with the sudden loss of jobs in an area of the country that I suspect will be very hard to replace. We owe the employees who continue to work for us at no pay a thank you.
ReplyDeleteAt the very least, Wayde, Amanda and Troy should have made sure that there was absolutely no possibility that the use of funds could in any way be viewed by the SEC as paying off early investors with later investors money. This is a very clear concept that anyone with the background of Troy, Amanda & Wayde should understand. Even if they had to invite the SEC to look at their books just to be safe and to protect us. If the phrase such as "payment of former debt" or any other euphemism was used to address this, it is asking for trouble. For this we are owed more than an apology. I signed on knowing this investment, like any other, is a risk. What I did not sign on for is investing with a company that does not insure 110% that they are going above and beyond the rules of the SEC. When you are using other peoples money, the bar is raised much higher. I hope for all of us I am wrong and I will be the first to apologize if the SEC claim is found to be unsubstantiated.
As investors, we can call the Denver branch office of the SEC at 303-844-1060 for any updates or hearing schedules and post them here. Since I was unable to hear Troy's last webinar; did he address a question I had sent in regarding if the Mantria property promised as collateral is actually owned by Mantria as an asset with a deed of trust in their name?
I believe we all could breathe a little easier if we knew there was a possibility that we will have some or all of our principle recovered. I sincerely hope that Mantria will be allowed back in business so they can prove that everything they said would happen will be shown to be legitimate. I hope that Troy, Amanda and Wayde are invited to this blog so they can at least monitor our concerns and address them as part of any future webinars.
Life is short, so I pray we enjoy our families during the Christmas season and beyond.
I am in a circumstance similar to biocharpro and Paula. I am sure there are many others in the same boat. We are not alone.
ReplyDeleteI felt safe investing based upon the promised collateral. However, even if the collateral exists, with the assets frozen, it is likely to take a long time before we get our money. Lets hope we can all hang on until then.
At this point I do not know if the SEC is the bad guy or if Mantra and SOW are. But it really does not make much difference. Since blaming anyone is not going to change anything for us.
I hope we can all get through this without too much damage.
The comments by Biocharpro, Paula, Dohe, Benjaminhadd, and Pfitzg seem to represent all Mantria Investors! Right now, we all have many questions and many anxieties. One thing is for sure, no Mantria Investor deserves to be in this situation! Our hearts and minds were in the right place when we made our initial investments. For investing our hard earned money with the expectation that we were contributing toward promoting a a new technology that would benefit the world, we deserve far better than this!!!
ReplyDeleteAlthough we certainly have reason to be concerned, we generally stand behind our principals and the technology. Until the law proves otherwise and our principals admit otherwise, most investors generally believe that supporting them now is the best hope for us to preserve our investments.
Please note that for now, this blog will not be available to Mantria or SOW employees. We may need to use this blog to independently sort out issues arising from the trial. For example, some Mantria Investors are currently looking into legal council and we may require discussions concerning legal representation, if necessary. We also may need to "vent" among ourselves.
Concerning the issue of collateral, I believe Mantria's land is considered an asset on their balance sheet. And, Mantria does own a significant amount of real estate in Tennessee. Accordingly, we would be entitled to our 2:1 or 1:1 in the case of a bankruptcy. My concern is that as with foreclosures or estate sales, property tends to be liquidated at a discount. Depending on the status of Mantria and its principals, the property may lose value at the time of liquidation. I have also asked Troy to clarify the status of our collateral. This is a highly relevant and urgent question. Mantria also has Mantria Place, Hohenwald, and a patent pending which could be liquidated to reimburse our investments. I do not believe Mantria has much cash on hand. If I heard correctly, they only have enough to operate the company for about two months. There is not much cash for the SEC to "freeze."
I anticipate that one of our greatest challenges will be waiting for outcomes to occur. Please feel free to utilize this blog to "blow off steam" or pass the time as you see fit.
Meanwhile, I will try to post as many updates and facts as they are presented to me.
1 I
I wouldn't hold my breath on a class action lawsuit against the SEC. Unfortunately, the govt. usually always wins. I think we all just need to pray for a quick resolution to this mess. Although I would like to see some form of retribution after this is all over, this may be unlikely.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone who is in contact with Troy or Wayde such as Merril Rowe or Ben Greinke, please relay dohe's concerns so a comment can be made on this blog in response. I think this will help in setting a lot of investors minds at ease. I really think they were working in our best interest as I saw the technology in person and spoke to some of the engineers.
Also, there was a post made on another one of our blogs "How is it that the $1 million deposit made to Earthmate by Colima, Mexico cannot be tapped to support the Dunlap plant operation? Can anyone shed any light on the reasons why it's not available for needed plant operation?" made by Lori M.
To Dohe, the name you are looking for is Cary Widener. I actually met him in person at the TN bootcamp tour.
Preliminary Injunction Granted today (12/2/09).
ReplyDeleteI attended the hearings yesterday and today and was disappointed that Mantria's lawyer didn't focus on the assets of Mantria, specifically the land and the bio-refinery(s). I am also cincerned about the AP associated to the Dunlap facility ($750K to Acme) and the lack of cash in Mantria accounts. With only $250K in the Mantria accounts, how would they meet December obligations?
As an Investor (not a lawyer), I don't know what the process is from here, does anyone else?
I believe there is a large contingent of companies scheduled for an on-site visit of the Bio-refinery in Dunlap on Monday (12/07/09) and this needs to occur so Earthmate can generate some system sales. This will be critical in preserving our investments.
We, as a group, need to formulate a plan to protect the technology and the assets so we can maintain control (from the SEC and a possible liquidation) and keep moving forward. We are on the verge of bringing this technology to the world and profitability! With a couple of system sales, Mantria will have real cash-flow and real momentum.
It was not a good day in court today for investors. The Mantria attorney had no defense for any of the charges in the SEC complaint and disputed nothing in the end. At the very important final hearing today regarding the lifting of the freeze on assets in order to keep the plant open; Neither Troy, Amanda, Wayde or Donna were present. They were not present yesterday either. Only the CFO for Mantria was there. The judge noted they did not make themselves available even for a telephone conference which would have been OK with the court. Yesterday, the judge told the Mantria attorney that the court would have questions to discuss with them today regarding her upcoming decision. You can guess what her decision was on the issue of changing the status of the frozen assets.
ReplyDeleteI was cautiously hopeful up until hearing yesterday’s and today hearings. I missed the first hour and a half yesterday and could only stay for the first two hours today but none of what I did head was very promising. I didn’t take notes but below are a few findings and concerns I gathered. Again, this is all from memory so don’t quote me on this stuff.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Troy didn’t even show up for his own company’s hearing was very concerning to the judge and to me.
Total dollars raised from investors is about $30 million.
Of the 40 some Mantria accounts frozen, there was only a few hundred thousand dollars in them.
Total homesite sales in 2008 was about $10 million. Total homesite sales in 2009 was about $3 million. Of all the homesites sold, only three buyers in the two years paid cash. All others bought with 100% financing by Mantria Financial. The judge made it a point to clarify that all money funding Mantria Financial came from us investors (Mantria 17). In short, whatever “revenue” Mantria made from home sales really came from investor funds.
From speaking with other investors in the court hall, it sounded like the SEC brought to attention several material misrepresentations about their operations, revenues, risks, assets, etc. and that Mantria’s attorney had little to no rebuttle to these claims. I have no specifics on this as this was covered yesterday before I arrived.
Another concern discussed by investors in the hall that I’m guessing was addressed early in yesterday’s hearing is the fact that the underground water at Mantria place is contaminated and not “potable.” This means home owners cannot install wells for home water service. I’m guessing this can have a catastrophic impact on the value of the homesites.
At this time, I’m not 100% convinced that Mantria actually owns all that land. They paid nothing for it up front. Mantria negotiated with the sellers to pay the sellers once Mantria sells it to the end user. If the land never sells, does it go back to the original sellers? If so, our collateral in all these investment isn’t Mantria’s to be forclosed on.
Mantria’s attorney requested a lift of the asset freeze so they can pursue system sales. I couldn’t stick around long enough to see if this was granted but considering how unimpressive Mantria’s defense was, I doubt it gets granted.
I hate to be sounding negative but I’m just relaying what I gathered. I have about $160K which is about 30% of my net worth in this company and hope like hell this works out somehow. However, I wasn’t given much reason today to be optimistic about this.
I think if Troy was really fighting for this company and for us investors, he would have been there. He wasn’t. I feel abandoned and left to fend for myself.
I don’t know what else to do, what else to say, or how else to feel, except terrible.
If anyone has knowledge of any promising news or developments, please share. This is the last thing I think about before falling asleep at night. I wake up several times a night thinking about it, and it’s the first thing I think about when I get up in the morning.
I hear they are supposed to be showing the eco-system to some prospective buyers next week. I hope that is true, I hope the system is as impressive as the claims have been, and I hope it results in some sales. However, in light of all this, I’m not holding my breath.
Mantria has just informed me that they are planning a conference call this Friday Dec 4. I have reiterated several of our concerns from this blog to Mantria. Mantria was not sure if they will respond during the teleconference or send out FAQs.
ReplyDeleteI am very disappointed in the veracity of the defense so far by Wayde, Troy, Donna and Amanda. Not showing up and having a poor defense to charges worries me. I hope it all works out, I too would like to have my precious capitol safe. Very worrisome.
ReplyDeleteNeither the SEC or Mantria's defense made any mention of Mantria Records and Cleanse to Thin. What ever happened to these business ventures?
ReplyDeleteIn any case, here is the latest press update I could find:
------------
Tenn. land tainted in alleged Bala Cynwyd scam
By Harold Brubaker
Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer
When Mantria Corp., of Bala Cynwyd, solicited investors for environmental projects, it told them their money was backed by land in Tennessee that was worth twice their investments.
It turns out some of the land, supposedly destined for lucrative residential developments, has serious water-contamination problems from strip mining, making it difficult to develop, according to the mayor of Van Buren County, where three of Mantria's housing projects are.
This was among the stories gathered by Securities and Exchange Commission officials and filed this week in federal court in Colorado to support their request for a preliminary injunction freezing the assets of Mantria's cofounders, Philadelphians Troy B. Wragg and Amanda E. Knorr, and their codefendants.
The SEC has accused Wragg and Knorr of operating a $30 million Ponzi scheme.
A federal judge in Denver, where civil charges were filed Nov. 16., approved the SEC's injunction request Wednesday. The injunction also covers Wayde M. McKelvy, Donna M. McKelvy, and their Centennial, Colo., company, Speed of Wealth L.L.C., because of their alleged roles in raising money for Mantria.
Wragg, 28, swore in an affidavit that Mantria was legitimate. However, he did not appear for two days of court proceedings this week, despite the court's "strong recommendation" that he show up, according to the judge's order. Wragg, a Manayunk resident, did not return a call yesterday seeking comment.
In his affidavit, Wragg disputed specific accusations made by the SEC. For example, he said he and his codefendants did not promise or guarantee any specific investment returns.
But investor Dee Holl of Highlands Ranch, Colo., said in a court declaration that she put $65,000 into Mantria 50, which promised repayment of principal plus 50 percent interest in eight months.
Wragg, who paid himself about $220,000 in each of the last four years, said in the affidavit his company had laid off more than 100 people because of the SEC action and had to move out of its offices in a signature Bala Cynwyd building, 555 E. City Ave.
He told investors in a Nov. 19 conference call that he had just $1,000 and Knorr had $1,600 in the bank. To save money, Knorr moved into the house Wragg rents in Manayunk.
At least one Colorado investor, Lori Morrell, is convinced that the biorefinery she invested in - which turns waste into a charcoallike substance that can sequester carbon in the soil - is for real. "We know what the technology can do. It will change the way we deal with waste," she said.
I couldn't attend the webinar today because of work. Can someone please explain what was discussed? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteIRS TAX DEDUCTION (this is a repeat from the other thread in case anyone did not see my note there) Regarding the IRS "ponzi" loss ruling. You can deduct your theft loss up to 100% of your ordinary income for 2009 and any left over can be applied toward past ordinary income if you file a revised tax return for those years. However, you cannot deduct any IRA dollars invested since those were never taxed. I suppose you might deduct a small percentage if you can isolate what amounts were your original after tax amounts. Since all 401K is pretax, you cannot deduct any of that.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention that the part of the IRS 165 ruling is under the area termed "misresentation". This might help your accountant since this is a new ruling this year brought about specifically by the Madoff case.