Biospharms Inc. - real-estate scam in Belize illegally "sells" land in Belize and runs off those who expose the scam, Los Tambos, Cayo District

Remarks from Justice Sonya Young in reference to ripoffreport #1289284, in her judgment concerning the lawsuit from Janis D. Fowler:

43. Since both parties have seen some level of success I shall award the Claimant only half of the costs agreed. This award of costs is also a statement of the Court's view of the egregious if not illegal behavior of Mr. Smith. Section 14 of the Land Utilization Act specifically forbids the selling of any part of land without the Minister's final approval for subdivision. Such a contravention of the Act attracts a fine of $1,000.00 on summary conviction (section 7(2)).

19. The court takes judicial notice that a quit claim deed is a document which in the United States of America (where both parties originate) would give the holder a right to claim title. In Belize, however, it is a useless document, except perhaps in this case where it certainly demonstrates Mr. Smith's intention. An intention which I find was to pacify Ms. Fowler, lead her to believe that she would be receiving something of value equivalent to legal title or a right to legal title.

20. Now my primary concern is, why would someone pretend to part with his legal interest in land in circumstances where he had not contracted so to do and could therefore not be compelled. Why would he even entertain a discussion on the issue, far less make "several attempts to carry out a subdivision" (as he testified and where the court appreciated from the context was reference to a legal subdivision), if he knew he had only sold a bundle of rights. I reject the notion of his Christian values being instrumental in this decision. Mr. Smith struck me as a shrewd businessman who knowingly and impeccably organized his affairs.

21. When he discussed solution options with Ms Fowler, he says" I have offered to resell the property allowing her to receive the monies she invested back. Other community members have offered to help her sell her property to get her monies back. " It is beyond me to even speculate what property she would be selling to get her money back. Since according to the defendants she bought nothing but a bundle of rights and a lifestyle, tantamount, in my mind, to a licence of some sort with no proprietary interests. Certainly, he could not be referring to the wooden cabin.

23. Now, Biospharms Inc, is a legal entity separate from its directors and shareholders. Throughout the entire trial Biospharms Inc. seemed to be Mr. Smith's alter ego. He spoke for them both. He made no distinction between them except when he discussed the business of selling the biospharms. That, he said, was within the sole purview of Biospharms Inc. How Biospharms Inc. was able to legally sell property usage rights without owning property or having a right to do so on the owner's behalf, is also beyond me.

I, Jeremiah Allen, have settled my legal dispute with Darin M. Smith and Biospharms Inc. via court appointed mediation on July 28^th, 2016.  Darin has agreed to complete the subdivision as demanded in my claim.  I am pleased with this outcome, and I have renewed optimism concerning the future of the community.   My lawsuit has thus been dropped, and we anticipate receipt of our land certificate within a matter of months.  I wish to thank everyone for their continued prayers and well wishes as we advance our adventure in Belize.

I John M. Poirier do not hide who I am or what I say when I post. Your false accusations against me are proclaimed but there are no signatures. This is my first posting contrary to what you keep professsing; " that he hides behind his wife's name". Untrue statements are a very common thing coming from your mouth. 

Titled land in Belize is a surveyed parcel of land, and is "titled" in the owner's name. That owner can sell that peice of land at anytime the title holder chooses. In doing so it leaves every owner without any claim to their land they purchased from Smith. Smith thought he could hide behind an unregistered domestic Corporation from Fl  receive the funds from these unauthorized sales. then Smith claims he doesn't know what BIOSPHARMS Inc was doing. He only hired BIOSPHARMS (Smith the principle od Biospaherms Inc) to receive the money in the U.S. So I ask this question of you Smith how did you get all that money here in Belize to build all these homes and this development? 

Smith I believe you have cleverly laid a snare for the Buyers. After having been here for three months and repeated attempts to reconcile with me on the failures to perform and the refusal to give me correct paper work with receipts, and  you refused to acknowledge that you owed me the alterations I paid for in my shack. The fact that you did not have permission to survey or subdivide from the Belizean Government should say enough to any law abiding citizen. But you could not give me authentic Government documents because they don't exist. 

All your supporters can claim whatever they want, but it has no bearing on any of the plaintiffs facts presented to the courts by our very Reputable Attorney Esevan Perera. Our claims will be settled in court based on Belizean law and you have your chance to defend those claims.

By the way Smith using Google Earth pin points on a google map does not make them legal descriptions. In my opinion it makes them deceptions labeled as if they were legal descriptions.

The only Criminals hiding are those who take the money from people!!..

                           STOP BULLYING!!!!!

A Bully is a; Hot- tempered, inflexible,overly confident with lack of emphaty and likes inflicting pain on others.  They often seek out to dominate and control others.  They perceive hostile intent where there isn't one.   Overreact aggresevely to ambigious situations and hold beliefts that support violance. 

Blaming and Accusaing are a self evident and consist of statements or retorts which are designed to shift the blame and the emphasis from the Abuser onto the Victim. 

Stop bullying and show more credibility to all your statements againts the people with a lawsuit.   And those living a happy life at Biospharms stay happy and be happy!.. This people are only demanding a reimbursment or their Land tittle.  You want them to leave?.. Pay their money back and problem solve!

My wife and I are currently residents of the community known as Biospharms. We have had dealings with Mr. Darin Smith regarding our purchase and the construction of our home and have no complaints. Our home was built exactly to our specifications. The design was ours and Mr. Smith and his team built to the design. Others on this thread have complaints of one sort or the other. We, however, have no complaints, so just know that some are happy while others are not.

With regard to the title question, there is one active lawsuit at the time of this posting that will establish whether the existing status of the subdivision (unregistered) and the method of providing title to buyers (Quit Claim Deed) are legal.  Until the answers to those two questions are established by the courts, everything stated here regarding the legality of the subdivision and owners' titles is opinion only - not fact.  In cases such as this, everyone has an opinion but the truth will be established by the courts.

As someone who knows intricate details of this community, I can assure you there is not one thread of scam involved. Darin Smith is an honest and hardworking man, who will do anything for anyone and goes over and beyond the call of duty when it comes to fixing anything on any house his work crews have built. The community has always been an unregistered subdivision, not illegal, there were reasons for that and it has never been sold as anything but. There are a handful of disgruntled individuals, who claim lawsuits of 7 or 8 people, depending on which one is talking. There are in fact only 3 claims which have been submitted to the Supreme Court of Belize, one of which wrote an apology letter and dropped their lawsuit after hearing testimony from a few outside individuals, who have nothing to do with Biospharms or Darin Smith. The dropped lawsuit now brings it down to 2 lawsuits currently in litigation. One being Cindy Mayr Carson and the other Jeremiah Allen; both of these individuals in both private and public meetings have admitted to knowing how the community was structured. Both of these individuals it seems may stand to face perjury charges when the witnesses testify to the false information they presented on a legal document. Both of these individuals have admitted their spouses don’t like Belize and therefore it would seem there is a bit of buyer’s remorse happening. And anytime someone becomes unhappy with a decision they made, they always look for someone else to blame. 

At this time with the actions online and in person of John Michael and Veronica Poirier, Jeremiah and Sonia Allen, Janis Fowler, Cindy Carson, and Martha Stephens; I can only imagine they will all be facing defamation of character lawsuits. It seems clear that they feel a bit threatened by a non-winning lawsuit to go online like they are and try to destroy innocent people’s lives, not stopping at Darin Smith, his family and their mission, they are also dragging into the mix an innocent man of the village where Biospharms is located. 

A little background on Cindy, Martha and Janis, all three of these ladies have not even paid for their property. They paid their payments for quite some time and then just decided to stop, therefore they are currently in contract default on a contract with Darin Smith, which clearly states if you do not continue to pay you will not be given a refund; the reason they decided not to pay any additional payments is the fact that John Poirier gave his word to them that he would win the entire community in a lawsuit and he would take over as the leader and he would give the property over to them for no additional charge. Now for John, a self-claimed prophet, who is hell bent on taking over the community and being the leader, first hand witnesses available to testify of him stating this as recent as the past few weeks. He is angry because he wants the community to be a church and himself to be the leader of all. The community was never and will never be a church, therefore not requiring a leader. Darin Smith made this clear to him and this made him red faced mad. John has currently not paid his Homeowner’s Association Dues in over 2 years, making some community amenities no longer available to him. Jeremiah Allen has an ax to grind because Jeremiah started a solar business (please note he isn’t licensed as a solar professional and doesn’t really know what he is doing, this was all learn as you go for him), after some of his work proved to be faulty (his wiring shocked a few individuals, he wired a home backwards and almost burned down a house), Darin Smith no longer sent clients to Jeremiah for work, he turned to a true professional in the area instead. This of course hurt Jeremiah’s pride and he was angry. Also to be noted, Jeremiah in all his internet rantings has been posting someone else’s home with his information and he is currently a year and a half behind on this Homeowner’s Association Dues and refuses to pay, he signed a contract saying he would pay these fees. On to Martha Stephens, who hides behind all of the other individuals being the money funneling entity. Martha sat in a meeting with multiple witnesses as the structure of the community was laid out before her and documents were shown to her, she understood, asked questions and made a decision to move forward. Unfortunately, John sank his claws into her as well and being greedy, she felt John was being honest about her being able to get the remainder of what she was supposed to pay for free. Janis fell into the same trap as Martha; she even asked Darin Smith to give her the rest of her home for free. Of course, he wasn’t willing to do that, as a fair person, that wouldn’t be right for the rest of the community, not to mention she wasn’t even half way through her payments. She didn’t like that and made it clear. Now, disgruntled as they all are, they have all fallen into the trap of one man, a man with a plan, John Michael Poirier. John’s plan doesn’t stop with the takeover of the community. His plan involved a multi-step process. His plan involved one, Don Smith, accusing Darin Smith of a made-up crime and to get him put in jail. His plan involved everyone chipping away with different made up things to incriminate Darin Smith. His plan “B” was the unthinkable, to have Darin Smith killed, as John new of someone who could do that for a cheap rate. There are witnesses to John Michael Poirier actually threatening Darin Smith that he would blow him up approximately two years ago. There are also witnesses that will attest to the plan “B” John created in a meeting of multiple individuals who were all eagerly excited to take over the community and make some extra money, all while getting their homes for free. This thought out plan was spoken into existence on a day back in March of 2015. This is a man, who is sick, whether or not he knows it is another story. I truly feel sorry for all the individuals who have been snookered by him into thinking there is a different outcome. I feel sorry for their families, I feel sorry that they are not enjoying their beautiful homes here at Biospharms in the lovely country of Belize. They have been played, and played hard, but it is not by Darin Smith, it is by John Michael Poirier and a money motivated attorney who has them convinced they have a case, a case that may stand to make them lose everything.

Though the community was originally set up as an unregistered subdivision and sold as such, Darin Smith agreed to try to switch it over, in an effort to please disgruntled people. However, John Michael Poirier and Don Smith have been found in the lands department foiling the project (witnesses available). They don't want the registration to go through because they wanted the people to believe Darin Smith is lying to them, despite his best efforts to move forward.

One final thing, the mission that was/is to be Rene’s House, which these disgruntled people also defame and call a scam, is suffering greatly with all the negative press. This home was to house girls without families, girls who need help. This home was going to be that hand up for them. Those who claim they paid into the building of the home have somehow misunderstood. Much of the funds these people paid for their farms did go into the building of the home, however, that was at the discretion of the builder/developer Darin Smith. When they paid for their properties, those funds could have gone to lavish vacations for Darin Smith, however, they did not, they went to build a home for the less fortunate. These people claim that Darin Smith has taken millions in donations, that is quite a joke in and of itself. I beg you to find anyone who has donated other than a small handful of people close to the Smith Family. The home has 8 bedrooms, the equivalent of 4 bathrooms and the Smith’s have 3 daughters, 2 of whom are adults. Why in the world would they need so many bedrooms? Yes, they live there, as they were planning to run the home as soon as it was able to be licensed.

The slander and defamation of innocent people’s character is very unfortunate. These disgruntled people have slandered and lied about so much. They have made up so many things and repeated them so many times they honestly believe their own lies. They have brought strangers into their fight, people who don’t know any of the parties involved, it is quite sad that people are that bored with life that they mix into the lives of people they don’t know, trying to hurt them for something that is not proven. Darin Smith lives on the same property as the disgruntled people, he has to see them every day, why would anyone do that if they were a scammer, liar or thief?

We, who are happy at Biospharms, will continue to stand behind Darin Smith, his family and each other. This place will be the amazing place God created it to be once the dust settles and the handful of disgruntled ones either find their peace and apologize or have moved on to other things and other places.

 I have been an owner from the very beginning of Biospharms (One of the First 4 Elders in the community), Everyone Reading or posting on Rip Off Report page needs to know that The Biospharms community was never sold as a registered subdivision or an absolute title community. This was outlined, told and explained to every one of the buyers explicitly and they agreed to it as part of purchase. All of this communication from disgruntled owners in my estimate is because some people who purchased where not able to make a transition to “Life in Belize” and thought it would be easy (It was never sold as an easy life) and are now trying to back out. It has always been as it is today sold as Shares in a Community and I personally have witnessed some of the sales and clients who are complaining on these posts as if they didn't know? I find it very interesting that Martha, who hides all of her comments because she knows she is in the wrong, is not the only one we explained everything to at the Ft Myers Sweet Tomatoes before she purchased, so I know she was leaning toward trust title for her shares in the community and knew for fact it wasn't absolute title. Anyone calling this a scam is NOT TELLING THE TRUTH. If since purchasing they have changed their mind and no longer want their property, then that is on them and they should not blame it on Darin or the rest of the great people of the Biosphams Community. It is an excellent property and was only meant for the Right People to be a part of. Unfortunately some have come to the community and no longer want their homes here, just like any community people move in and MOVE OUT! So if they do not like the structure they should have never invested or should think of selling their shares and rights to their property to someone who understand what it means to live in Belize. Everyone of us has had to pay the full amount for our shares in our properties and Darin has always told me up front what thing cost so it is up to me to pay and negotiate. I have heard that some have been able to work with Darin’s generosity and do payment plans (I wish I would have gotten that deal) but I didn’t and had to Pay up front before my home was built. So if you have stopped making your share Mortgage payments then just like in the USA, Your property should be foreclosed and can be resold. If one wishes to sell ones property then please put it on the open market just like any of us would have to in a community, and as long as the new buyers agree to the Buy Laws of Biospharms then their investment should be strong. Anyone considering an investment in Biospharms or Belize should be fully aware of how hard it is to move to a third world country and live. And to the poster of this incorrectness I know that this is not your home on the Farm. This is Matts farm and he is not happy that you posted using a picture of his farm. God Bless

When I mentioned "running off those who expose the scam", we are referring to things like this. Rumors get spread around town and threats get made, and people become frightened for their lives.

This sign was posted at the entrance of the village of Los Tambos within the last day or two, it translates roughly to, "Mr. Jeremiah, you and your family are not welcome in Los Tambos."

Since we have lived here (1 1/2 years) there have been two murders by assassination in Los Tambos, so I take this very seriously. I have my wife two young children living here as well.

Corrections:

• I had a typo in my original report that my initial visit was in May 2015, but the correct date was May 2014.
• In paragraph 2 I stated, "The land was not yet titled..." - this is a true statement, but I should clarify that I was unaware that the land was not yet titled.  I was pretty ignorant of the workings of real-estate sales in general.  I was a 1st time home buyer, and I put 100% trust in Darin's words that he was doing everything above board.  I failed to do my due diligence, which is part of the reason I ended up in this mess.

Additions:

I am part of a unified group of full and part-time buyers of the 'Biospharms' Inc. Christian community, in Los Tambos in the Cayo District of Belize. Since 2010 buyers have come and gone. All came for the same thing buying into the vision that Darin Smith described - an "Acts like Christian community”, affordable, self-sustaining and organic. A small handful has stayed full time, I am one of them. The common denominator was Christian community, and owning our little slice of tropical paradise with Belize sanctioned contracts and documents. Over time each of us has discovered, often through great resistance – that Darin Smith owns the entire 43 acre property personally, “Biospharms Inc.” (of Fort Myers, Florida) denies any connection, and that Darin Smith never subdivided the land as presented in maps, boundary markings, and laminated plot plans. We also discovered from the Lands Authority and attorneys, that all of our documents were fraudulent. Many over the past 6 years have left with that discovery, despite losing money that was not returned, only to have their homes re-sold. We were loathe, as Christians to hire attorneys; Mr. Smith counted on this. Having exhausted all other means, WE are now 8 plaintiffs, (so far) suing Mr. Smith as defendant, in the Belize courts to perform, and to prevent further sales in the un-subdivided 'Biospharms' community so that more innocent people are not deceived. If successful, our hope is for refunds to those who lost so much, and a completed subdivision. Those few residents who are happy with the current arrangement should not feel threatened by what we are doing, as it will benefit them as well to be legally recognized. We were all charged a huge premium so that Mr. Smith could do a proper, approved, legal subdivision. This should not be a difficult task. All we ask is that Mr. Smith do things legally as promised and then leave us alone to live our lives peacefully and without the constant gossip, slander, and dividing that has been done to us. We ask you to realize – that there are 2 sides to every story, that we are doing all we can to bring justice and that if history is any indication, all will come out eventually.

Your comments Richard are appreciated however, what you do not understand in your sales contract in the past 6 months or there about, are not the same as those who purchased over a year and half ago.  Why do so many of us come forth now if we just misunderstood because we did sit with Mr. Smith and we heard loud and clear what was being done and changed from November 2014 which is after many of the sales.  We are accused of mud slinging in public when it also goes on in emails from Mr. Smith along with some other horrible comments.

Things changed dramatically over this time  frame and as he started bringing in new owners to stand with him.

Also, what you are saying is "hear say"  You have no personal involvement in what Darin told his homeowners in any sales period of negociaitons.  You are saying we all knew what you know.  Impossible for you do were not there. 

I am very excited that you are happy with your purchase and enjoying your life there as we all enjoy our individual homes however we do desire what we were sold....an established subdivision.  

Always remember, God does not set a motion in action if He is not going to handle it....when we go before the Lord and bribe to get our way, it is not God's way.

May the Lord open your eyes to the Truth and cause a peace within your heart.

I must say these claims of biospharms and Darin Smith being frauds and scams are completely uncalled for and their reasons unjustified, if people would take the time to actually talk to Mr. Smith and learn of both sides of the story then perhaps they would see what is actually going on. I know Darin and his family personally and they are some of the most kind heartted genuine people trying to help the children and people of Belize and these fraudulent complaints are completely uncalled for as well as causing them and the people around them extreme amounts of worry and stress. Please I implore you to seek out and talk to Mr. Smith before accepting these negative reports.

 I'm a homeowner at Biospharms and have a different opinion about this matter. I feel people making these complaints are using terms like "scam" "illegal" in a very loose, unprofessional, and fear-mongering way. As far as I know they were all aware there existed one land title for the entire estate and not individual titles, yet they proceeded to buy. At some point they decided they were ripped-off and started to sling mud and lawsuits. In actually, most of us home owners here are peacefully coexisting. We feel ok with a collective title, and yet if there are legal decisions by the Belize government that recommend we subdivide, we'll proceed with those recommendations, and as far as I know the developer is quite ok with that.