Robele Career Solutions Inc. - Lonnie S. Lauer Illegally has ceased operations without any notification to clients about its status to file claims. Morristown New Jersey

Lonnie Lauer is now employed by Career Moves 100 OverLook center princeton, NJ 08540 609-524-0600.

Check them out on here too. They are as bad as the rest. Ken Levinson the owner is no better then anyone else in the industry. he just lies with a smile.

I have been working with the company for a few months and I promise I will expose them to anyone I get the chance too. It is my duty.

Contact the attorney general and let her know that Mr Laurer is now employed by career moves, maybe she can go after him since he continues to sell when he knew Robele was closing their doors.
I hope this helps!

CS

I was approached by these people as well. When they contacted me, everything sounded fine, until they insisted that my wife come to the interview with me.

This sent up red flags immediately. All I did was go to google and type the name in and *presto*, all sorts of negative comments came back.

So, please enlighten me, how can so many people be taken by an OBVIOUS scam??? What kind of recruitment/job placement agency demands THOUSANDS of dollars up front, or for that matter, anytime? All reputable firms receive their fees from the Employer, not the Employee!

In this whole process from start to finish, why didn't you people realize you were being taken? Being unemployed doesn't make you stupid, just desparate. But being desparate obviously lowers one's IQ several points.

Attorney General Farber and Consumer Affairs
File Suit Against Career Consulting Firm
NEWARK The Attorney General's Office and Division of Consumer Affairs have filed suit against Phoenix Executive Group (PEG), a career consulting firm, alleging that the company charged clients thousands of dollars in fees for services it failed to provide. The suit also alleges that PEG misrepresented its ability to place clients into high-paying jobs.

PEG is a registered career consulting organization with offices in Iselin, Princeton and Parsippany. The company solicited clients through advertisements, job fairs and by contacting people who had posted their resumes online. Among other things, PEG allegedly misrepresented that it had an extensive exclusive network of contacts through which clients would obtain high-paying executive level jobs.

Before the suit was filed in Superior Court in Middlesex County, Consumer Affairs identified 28 PEG clients as victims of the company's alleged fraudulent business practices. The State is seeking restitution for victims, assessment of civil penalties and reimbursement of its costs and fees.

These clients paid PEG thousands of dollars with the expectation that they would get a high-paying job. Instead, all they got was a snow job, Consumer Affairs Director Kimberly Ricketts said. What they got in many cases was generic company contact information with incorrect addresses and prepared resumes with spelling and grammar mistakes.

The State's complaint alleges that PEG's conduct included:

Misrepresenting that its network of contacts provides it with access to a hidden job market not available through other sources;

Falsely promising or guaranteeing the provision of temporary employment until permanent employment is obtained;

Falsely promising or guaranteeing job offers and/or permanent employment within a specific time frame;

Falsely promising or guaranteeing a minimum salary and/or hiring or sign-on bonus;

Requiring clients to pay thousands of dollars up front as a retainer before any services and/or products are provided; and

Failing to provide refunds when contracted services are not provided and failing to inform clients of any refund policy.

Deputy Attorney General Cathleen O'Donnell is representing the State in this matter.

These procedures below were followed with a company called Harvard Professional Group. You can find all of the postings on ripoffreport.com and the procedures are also found under the 10-23-04 posting under the Harvard Professional Group. Read them and educate yourself with what works to get your money back! This forum and following all of the procedures will almost guarantee or more of your money returned.

A group of individuals were successful to gather a team and combined their forces(all thanks to this website and through email). They succeeded in many ways which also includes their money returned and Harvard Professional had to close their doors.

They even had Harvard Professional exposed on UPN 9 news Early December of 2004 and have them on camera deceiving prospective clients. This may also be the cause why Robele decided to "claim" Bankruptcy as other companies in the same industry.

I encourage you all to contact one another and hit them all at once as a team as these individuals have. FOLLOW the PROCEDURES if you truly want your money back and to bring them to justice!

I highly suggest that anyone who has experienced the same, to contact the BBB. The cheating company will have 30 days to respond (they will take the full time) and the BBB will send you the letter that this company sent them trying to justify themselves.

Once you get their poor response letter, you have only 10 days to send the BBB another letter stating that you are not satisfied with their response and that this company has deceived you and you want your money returned because of their deception and false promises (send it certified, or signature required like a return receipt). You will need to go through this 3 times before the BBB will send you a letter to contact the NJ division of Consumer affairs and leave this complaint unresolved (you do not have to wait for the BBB to suggest for you to contact the NJ Dept. of Consumer Affairs, & NJ Attorney General, so do it ASAP).

The BBB needs atleast 3 active unresolved complaints (the complaints have to go through this entire process). This will then force the BBB to change their rating. STAY on top of the BBB to do so!!!

In addition to that contact, the media, like NY Times, Star Ledger, NY Post, Fox 5 news, ABC news, etc.. as they have programs like Shame on You. Bad publicity is no good for their type of business and especially on the BBB website when they have an abundance of complaints.

In addition to that, try to get pictures of them displayed throughout the media and any other ways to make it more challenging for them to try this again with another type of business.

There is no guarantee they will give you back your hard earned money, that they had to lie to steal from you, but this will hopefully disrupt their scam and the authorities will get involved. They prey on individuals who are in desperate need and willing to trust someone to help them work for a living.
Don't forget to also submit a form to the FTC
https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01
Contact the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs
1-800-242-5846
visit: www.NJConsumerAffairs.gov
e-mail: askconsumeraffairs@lps.state.nj.us

Here is a link to the FBI in which they call what these companies do as FRAUD! Here is there explanation of this type of Fraud and the link to fill out the FORM. This is a long and detailed form. However, FILL IT OUT to the best of your knowledge.

http://www.ifccfbi.gov/cf1.asp:

Advance Fee Scheme

An advance fee scheme occurs when the victim pays money to someone in anticipation of receiving something of greater value, such as a loan, contract, investment, or gift, and then receives little or nothing in return.

The variety of advance fee schemes is limited only by the imagination of the conartists who offer them. They may involve the sale of products or services, the offering of investments, lottery winnings, "found money," or many other "opportunities."

Clever conartists will offer to find financing arrangements for their clients who pay a "finder's fee" in advance. They require their clients to sign contracts in which they agree to pay the fee when they are introduced to the financing source.

Victims often learn that they are ineligible for financing only after they have paid the "finder" according to the contract. Such agreements may be legal unless it can be shown that the "finder" never had the intention or the ability to provide financing for the victims.

Some Tips to Avoid the Advanced Fee Schemes:

If the offer of an "opportunity" appears too good to be true, it probably is. Follow common business practice. For example, legitimate business is rarely conducted in cash on a street corner.

Know who you are dealing with. If you have not heard of a person or company that you intend to do business with, learn more about them.

Depending on the amount of money that you intend to spend, you may want to visit the business location, check with the Better Business Bureau, or consult with your bank, an attorney, or the police.

Make sure you fully understand any business agreement that you enter into. If the terms are complex, have them reviewed by a competent attorney.

Be wary of businesses that operate out of post office boxes or mail drops and do not have a street address, or of dealing with persons who do not have a direct telephone line, who are never "in" when you call, but always return your call later.

Be wary of business deals that require you to sign nondisclosure or noncircumvention agreements that are designed to prevent you from independently verifying the bona fides of the people with whom you intend to do business.

Conartists often use noncircumvention agreements to threaten their victims with civil suit if they report their losses to law enforcement.

I hope this helps and I hope you follow the suggestions.

NEVER GIVE UP and you shall prevail. DO IT AS A TEAM AND YOU WILL GET BETTER RESULTS.

I have not pursued this any further. If there are legal grounds and a critical mass of interest - i.e. enough people to get together to retain an attorney - I would be more than happy to act as a single point of contact for organizing a class action.

Kenneth,
According to my lawyer, there is now potential grounds for a Rico Act violation against David Schwartz how now works for Carnegie Career Associates as does Lonnie Lauer and several other former Robele executives. Because Schwartz appartently folded up Executive Career Resources prior to Robele (he was the owner I believe) this makes three companies in the same potential scam which makes it a federal offense.

Also, companies CANNOT file for Chapter 7, only individuals so you would have ability to file a lien as a creditor. Have you taken steps towards the Class Action suit you mentioned?

From another posting, Robele may now be Carnegie but I cannot confirm this or did just their employees come over to Carnegie?!? This has the makings of real scam versus just bad business now so anyone who has information or has taken legal actions towards any of the three companies please let me know...

Robele filed for Chapter 7 (not 11) however my attorney informs me that companies cannot file for Chapter 7 only individuals so there is a chance for continued legal action.

With regards to Mr. Schwartz, he is now employed by Carnegie Career Associates which I'm trying to determine if this is a "shell game" where they just fold up and start again under a new name. He owned Executive Career Associates before Robele so he's either incredibly bad at business or this is a deliberate fraud.

Lonnie Lauer and several other Robele employees are also now employed by Carnegie...

Robele did file Chapter 7. I also understand that David Schwartz, the owner of the company, has filed for personal bankruptcy. I don't know Lonnie Lauer's situation, you may be able to find recourse by going after his personal assets IF you can prove fraud on the part of Robele.

In my case, I filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau and the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs. The former entered a black mark against Robele - woo h*o - while the latter shut down its investigation because of the Chapter 7 filing. I also disputed the payments I made to Robele through my credit card companies. Due to Robele's non-responsiveness to any of the above agencies, including the credit card companies, the charges I made were reversed and I'm happy to say that I've got my money back, though not without this whole tawdry affair having been a huge pain in the arse. So my recommendation is, if you charged your payments, dispute the charges with your credit card company/ies.

Good luck,

Jim, under this posting dated 1-13-05 on Pg 2
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff127008.htm you will find information that will help you begin the process to recover your money.

You must follow all of the steps and especially, fill out the form for the FBI. I know for a fact that they take this seriously and have investigated other similar companies and assigned local Detectives to the case.

In addition to that, there have been some leads stating that there is a connection between Robele and Carnegie Career Partners. You may want to look into.

Good Luck and DON"T GIVE UP!!!!!