Drew Ciccarelli dba DMC Capital Investments LLC Portrayed himself as owner of MusclePharm and tried to get me to invest $100,000 Charleston South Carolina

Was eating dinner locally at this place I've been wanting to try for a while, Reign Republic. I left my gf at the table to use the restroom and while washing my hands, a young man washing his hands next to me introduced himself as Drew Ciccarelli the "owner" of the restaurant. He invited me to join him at the bar for a drink, but I informed him I already had a table with my gf, and not wanting to be rude to the owner I invited him to come join us if he wasn't busy.

A few mins after I sat back down, he walked over to our table and after introducing himself to my wife, he sat down and asked what we would like to drink.  I informed him that I was planning to hit the gym afterwards and didn't want to drink, but because he was offering (on the house), I said I would have a redbull with just a spash of vodka, hoping that it'll give me extra energy for my workout, without getting me drunk. My gf said to him that he looked kind of young to own a bar/restaurant, believing he was 19/20 years old, but he insisted he was 31, which I didn't believe at first either. (Me and my gf are in our early/mid 40s, and anyone at Reign who didn't know Drew would probably assume he was our son getting ready to start his freshman year of college.)

I bring up Drew's appearance because in hindsight I can now see how his "innocent, baby face looks" could easily cause even the most cynical person to be swindled by him. I am normally a cynical but astute investor. Somehow, Drew's appearance and personality gave me a false sense of security and confidence that I can trust him, from the first day we met him. After some small talk, Drew switched the conversation to my workout asking about what gym I goto, what muscles I'm execising, if I have a personal trainer, if I take supplements, etc.

At first it seemed like he was trying to set himself up to become my new personal trainer, but I couldn't imagine an apparently "successful" bar/restaurant-owner/businessman also working as a part-time personal trainer. He quickly got to the point that Reign is just his "hobby" and not his "cash cow". The reason he is able to afford 4 different $1/2 million dollar sports cars, his own private jet, and the majority ownership of 5-6 multi-million dollar restaurants is the success he achieved by founding the company MusclePharm, a company that I immediately recognized but didn't know how. After showing me pics on his smartphone of him with Clay Guida the UFC fighter, I quickly figured out that they are one of the biggest sponsors of the UFC.

According to Drew, he came up with the idea for MusclePharm, he founded the company, he took it public in the IPO, he financed it, he put together its management team, and now he gets to sit back and enjoy the wealth he earned from the business while others run its day-to-day operations. When I informed him I was visiting my uncle in Weston FL the following week, Drew said that he might be down there at the same time because his good friend billionaire Frost of Star Island was looking to perhaps increase his position in MusclePharm.

Anyway, Drew spent the next hour bragging about all the fighters he knows as well as all of the successful businessmen he's involved with. He said he admires the creators of "Tap Out" clothing, a billion dollar company. Drew said he was now focusing all of his business efforts on creating MMA's next Tap Out. Being an astute investor, I asked him if there was a way I could get a piece of that, and he said because he barely knew me the answer is no, but if we got to know each other better, maybe. He went outside to his brand new Lamborghini (one of many he owns) and brought us back some MusclePharm t-shirts that he said are being endorsed by Clay Guida.

About a week later I gave Drew a call on his mobile phone and he immediately demanded I come by Reign. He informed me his biz partner is going thru a tough divorce and decided to pull out of the new MusclePharm clothing company. He said I could replace him but it would require a very substanital investment of $300,000. With all my assets tied up in Real Estate I only had access to about $100,000 cash through a home equity line of credit that I previously setup for if I ever came across a huge opportunity like this. He said because he liked me, he'll let me take his partners place for just $100,000 and become 50/50 with him on the business.

To make a long-story short, on the day of the closing, an attorney friend of mine came across an SEC filing which read "MusclePharm Corporation (the "Company") has sent a termination notice to MusclePharm Sportswear LLC ("MPS"), thereby terminating, effective immediately, the Sportswear License Agreement that was entered into in June 2011 between the Company and MPS. Accordingly, the Company no longer has any affiliation with MPS and its principle owner, Drew Ciccarelli. The Company has demanded that MPS dissolve its company and stop using the name "MusclePharm" and/or "MusclePharm Sportswear LLC" in any manner or any fashion within 30 days."

The SEC filing was dated November 7, 2013, and by then it was already more than 30 days past its filing. I came to the conclusion that Drew was trying to sell me for $100,000 (at first he wanted $300,000) half of a worthless shell company with no license, rights, or assets of any value. My lawyer found out that Drew didn't own the parent MusclePharm company like he stated. He apparently stopped making payments to MusclePharm months earlier for the rights to market their sportswear. I came just a fingernail away from being swindled out of $100,000 cash and have learned a very valuable lesson not to trust somebody based on their personality or appearance.