US Coin Exchange, Armand De Angelis ripoff con artist fake consumer fraud scam con artists victimized many consumers Coconut Grove Florida

ARMAND DEANGELIS AND HIS FRAUDULENT COMPANIES ARE NO LONGER IN BUSINESS THANKS TO RIP-OFF REPORT.COM. PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING PRESS RELEASE FROM THE US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.

U.S. Department of Justice

Marcos Daniel Jimnez
United States Attorney for the
Southern District of Florida


99 N.E. 4th Street
Miami, FL 33132
(305) 961-9001

PRESS RELEASE


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For Information Contact Public Affairs April 28, 2004
Matthew Dates, Special Counsel for Public Affairs, (305) 961-9285
Yovanny Lopez, Public Affairs Specialist, (305) 961-9316


DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY HEDGE FUND
CHARGED IN 38-COUNT INDICTMENTENET

Marcos Daniel Jimnez, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and James Beltz, Postal Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, announced that on April 27, 2004, an indictment was returned charging, Armand A. DeAngelis, Marcela DeAngelis, U.S. Coin Exchange, Inc., Coin and Currency Clearing Corp., and Twenty-First Century Grading Service, Inc., with one (1) count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, twelve (12) counts of mail fraud, ten (10) counts of wire fraud, and fifteen (15) counts of money laundering, which consist of ten (10) money laundering promoting counts, and five (5) money laundering spending counts, in connection with a fraudulent gold coin investment scheme carried out through three South Florida corporations that raised approximately $5 million from investors throughout the United States.

The 38-count Indictment resulted from an investigation conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service concerning the offer and sale to investors of investments in rare gold coins by U.S. Coin Exchange, Inc., which operated in the Coconut Grove area as a purported full service discount gold brokerage firm. Both Coin and Currency Clearing Corp. and Twenty-First Century Grading Service, Inc. operated out of another Miami-area address. Collectively, the three corporations purportedly graded and sold, among other things, rare gold, silver, and other collectible items. Coin and Currency Clearing Corp., which claimed to be an independent clearing house, delivered coins to Twenty-First Century Grading Service, Inc. for grading.

Between March 2000 and June 2003, Armand A. DeAngelis, along with his wife, Marcela DeAngelis, operated the three corporations in a scheme that targeted Christians throughout the United States by advertising in various Christian periodicals. The defendants defrauded customers by, among other things, making material misrepresentations concerning the profitability and risk of loss concerning investments in rare gold coins. Unbeknownst to investors, the defendants had purchased low-grade gold coins and had them graded at a higher grade by Twenty-First Century Grading Service, Inc., a company owned and operated by Armand A. DeAngelis. These inflated coins were then sold to unsuspecting investors at prices two to three times their true value.

Armand A. DeAngelis and Marcela DeAngelis are scheduled to make their initial appearances in federal court today at 1:30 p.m. If convicted, Armand A. DeAngelis and Marcela DeAngelis could face five (5) years' imprisonment and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud count (Count 1). Armand A. DeAngelis, if convicted, could face twenty (20) years' imprisonment and a $250,000 fine on each mail fraud count (Counts 2 through 13), twenty (20) years' imprisonment and a $250,000 fine on each wire fraud count (Counts 14 through 23), twenty (20) years' imprisonment and a $250,000 fine on each of the ten money laundering promoting counts (Counts 24 through 33), and ten (10) years' imprisonment and a $250,000 fine on each of the five money laundering spending counts (Counts 34 through 38).

Mr. Jimnez commended the investigative efforts of the U.S Postal Inspection Service, as well as the cooperative efforts of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the State of Florida Office of Financial Regulation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Richard Boscovich

I previously posted a response encouraging interested readers to test credibility before giving weight to any reply posted from Armand DeAngelis or U.S. Coin. Here is an update relating directly to the rip-off report filed by J. Lillibridge: . . . an indictment was returned charging, Armand A. DeAngelis, Marcela DeAngelis, U.S. Coin Exchange, Inc., Coin and Currency Clearing Corp., and Twenty-First Century Grading Service, Inc., with one (1) count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, twelve (12) counts of mail fraud, ten (10) counts of wire fraud, and fifteen (15) counts of money laundering, which consist of ten (10) money laundering promoting counts, and five (5) money laundering spending counts, in connection with a fraudulent gold coin investment scheme carried out through three South Florida corporations that raised approximately $5 million from investors throughout the United States. The entire Department of Justice Press Release can be read here: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls/DeAngelis2.html

The person who wrote the reply I am rebutting is so secure with his bogus statement that he only identifies himself as "cory".,

The truth of the matter is that this person, Cory Piontek has never been a client of this firm.
He is a person who is reportedly making statements that some other third party told him.

Perhaps that is why he didn't fully idenitfy himself.

What Cory Piontek also doesn't tell the public that he is a cybersquatter who does not respect Federal copyright or trademarks laws who has nothing better to do with his miserable life.

He has never been a customer of this firm and anything he says is at best third party heresay.

If his "issues' were valid, why wouldn't the supposed victum of the supposed wrongful acts themselves be instituting their complaints/

The reason is simple, Cory Piontek, Professional cybersquatter is a party to a HATE web site not dissimilar to other HATE web sites, i.e. n**i sites, etc.

The other piece of information Cory Piontek doesn''t tell you is that he is presently being sued for his wrongful acts.

Another piece of information he forgot to tell you is that the heresay report he made on behalf of Douglas and Suzanne Pionntek forgot one important piece of information, that his parents stold tens of thousands of dollars from my Company!

suzanne and Douglas Piontek purchased Gold from this Company years ago. They received, inspected and accepted their gold. They chose to pay for their gold with their credit card. They received their gold and the gold remains in their possession to this very day.
Nevertheless, suzanne and douglas Piontek disputed their gold purchases involving tens of thousands of dollars and received a full refund from their credit card AND KEPT THE GOLD ANYWAY DESPITE THE FACT THEY HAVE RECEIVED THEIR MONEY BACK!!

Nice law abiding citizens, hugh...?

Cory Piontek has written this bogus information about me because he is trying to gain some sort of psychological feeling of well being to offset the lawsuit he is loosing...

The Rest of the Story?

Let me first declare that my perspective is biased against U.S. Coin and Mr. DeAngelis because my parents were victims to the same corporate scam set forth above. Gold coins are sold under the guise of "solid investments" and dissatisfied consumers are told to blame themselves for trusting the advertised appraisals as to grade and price. (Incidentally, the company doing the appraisals on the gold coins sold by U.S. Coin have the same original incorporator--Armand DeAngelis, just check out the State of Florida Corporations Bureau website. So much for "independent" grading.)

Obviously, persons reading the complaint and response above cannot believe both. Mr. DeAngelis calls his dissatisfied customer a world-class liar. I would encourage those who wish to judge, to do a further investigation on Mr. DeAngelis credibility. A simple web search will provide you information on his New Jersey felony convictions for consumer fraud related activity. Maybe I should re-title this blurb....Armand DeAngelis, world-class felon?

The Rest of the Story?

Let me first declare that my perspective is biased against U.S. Coin and Mr. DeAngelis because my parents were victims to the same corporate scam set forth above. Gold coins are sold under the guise of "solid investments" and dissatisfied consumers are told to blame themselves for trusting the advertised appraisals as to grade and price. (Incidentally, the company doing the appraisals on the gold coins sold by U.S. Coin have the same original incorporator--Armand DeAngelis, just check out the State of Florida Corporations Bureau website. So much for "independent" grading.)

Obviously, persons reading the complaint and response above cannot believe both. Mr. DeAngelis calls his dissatisfied customer a world-class liar. I would encourage those who wish to judge, to do a further investigation on Mr. DeAngelis credibility. A simple web search will provide you information on his New Jersey felony convictions for consumer fraud related activity. Maybe I should re-title this blurb....Armand DeAngelis, world-class felon?

The Rest of the Story?

Let me first declare that my perspective is biased against U.S. Coin and Mr. DeAngelis because my parents were victims to the same corporate scam set forth above. Gold coins are sold under the guise of "solid investments" and dissatisfied consumers are told to blame themselves for trusting the advertised appraisals as to grade and price. (Incidentally, the company doing the appraisals on the gold coins sold by U.S. Coin have the same original incorporator--Armand DeAngelis, just check out the State of Florida Corporations Bureau website. So much for "independent" grading.)

Obviously, persons reading the complaint and response above cannot believe both. Mr. DeAngelis calls his dissatisfied customer a world-class liar. I would encourage those who wish to judge, to do a further investigation on Mr. DeAngelis credibility. A simple web search will provide you information on his New Jersey felony convictions for consumer fraud related activity. Maybe I should re-title this blurb....Armand DeAngelis, world-class felon?

The Rest of the Story?

Let me first declare that my perspective is biased against U.S. Coin and Mr. DeAngelis because my parents were victims to the same corporate scam set forth above. Gold coins are sold under the guise of "solid investments" and dissatisfied consumers are told to blame themselves for trusting the advertised appraisals as to grade and price. (Incidentally, the company doing the appraisals on the gold coins sold by U.S. Coin have the same original incorporator--Armand DeAngelis, just check out the State of Florida Corporations Bureau website. So much for "independent" grading.)

Obviously, persons reading the complaint and response above cannot believe both. Mr. DeAngelis calls his dissatisfied customer a world-class liar. I would encourage those who wish to judge, to do a further investigation on Mr. DeAngelis credibility. A simple web search will provide you information on his New Jersey felony convictions for consumer fraud related activity. Maybe I should re-title this blurb....Armand DeAngelis, world-class felon?

I am responding to the bogus complaint issued by Jessica Lillibridge.

As she admits, she made an unsolicited phone call into our Company requesting information about how to go about buying collectible gold coins.

Pursuant to her request, a comprehensive informatoin kit containing several pounds of information was sent to her.

As she correctly states, "They were graded by TCGS (Twenty-first Century Grading Service), which we found out later to be the company Armand DeAngelis uses for all of his grading although his literature says that he uses PCGS, NGC, ANACS, TCGS, ICG, SEGS, HALLMARK OR INS".

Ms. Lillibridge correctly states that we clearly advise people that we offer coins for sale from all of the various grading services including the one she selected, TCGS grading service.

The ridiculous nature of her complaint starts here when she tries to allege of some sort of wrongdoing in that..."They were graded by TCGS grading service, which we found out later to be the company Armand DeAngelis uses for all of his grading although his literature says that he uses PCGS, NGC, ANACS, TCGS, etc"..."

Her statement in and of itself has contradictory premises...

How can she allege that she did not know what she was getting (especially now years after the transacitons) when the coins themselves clearly state that they were graded by TCGS grading service; and, she signed numerous contracts which clearly lists among other things, the fact that her coins were graded by TCGS grading service, that the grading of any collectible coin regardless of which company graded them is subjective in nature, that the pricing structure in any collectible (like coins) is subjective in nature, that collectible coins involve high risks of loss, etc., etc. etc.

She unsuccessfully tries to paint a picture that she did not know that she was getting (and accepted after her inspection with full privileges under our 10 day return policy) in that her coins were graded by TCGS grading service when she also states in the same paragraph of her "complaint" that the information kit she received from us specifically states that we offered coins for sale by several grading services companies including TCGS grading service...

Regardling the web site that she claims I provided her after the fact is simply not true.

That site, along with other various collector types of pricing "guides" were offered to her right from the outset of her opening her account with us.

Furthermore, ICG is a grading service which has no affiliation with the web site she mentions. ICG is one of the many grading services and they simply advertise on the site she mentioned which is owned by annother company entirely unaffiliated with any grading service.

Moreover on this point, her signed contract (s) clearly state the subjective and esotheric pricing structure associated with collectible such as coins. Her signed contract (s) state and attest by her that she knew and accepted this fact.

Ms. Lillibridge did at some point call me and ask to sell her coins. I reminded her that she made an unsolicited retail purchase; and, as stated in her signed contract (s)

..." THE BUYER FULLY UNDERSTANDS THAT THE PRICE THEY MAY HAVE PAID INN A RETAIL TRANSACTION MAY BE HIGHER OR LOWER THAN A COMPETETIORS PRICE AS THE PRICING OF ANY COLLECTIBLE ITEM IS DETERMINED BY SUPPLY/DEMAND AT A GIVEN MOMENT AT A GIVEN DEALER FOR A PARTICULAR COLLECTIBLE AND IS ALSO DETERMINED BY AND NEGOTIATED BETWEEN A WILLING BUYER AND A WILLING SELLER.

SIGNATURE HEREWITH FURTHER CONFIRMS UNDERSTANDINGS AND ACCEPTANCE OF THIS PRICING PROCESS AND AS SUCH AGREES TO HOLD U.S. COIN OR ITS REPRESENTATIVES HARMLESS OF ANY WRONGDOING WHATSOEVER IF IT IS EVER DETERMINED THAT A COMPETITOR COULD HAVE, SHOULD HAVE AND WOULD HAVE SOLD A LIKE COIN FOR LESS." "THE U.S. COIN EXCHANGE REMINDS THE BUYER THAT PAST PER\FORMANCE CAN IN NO WAY BE USED TO PREDICT FUTURE VALUE.

I UNDERSTAND THAT CERTIFICATION/GRADING OF COINS DOES NOT ELIMINATE RISKS AS COIN GRADING IS SUBJECTIVE AND OPINIONARY AND ANY PARTICULAR GRADE ASSIGNED TO A PARTICULAR COIN MAY NOT CONFORM TO THE GRADING STANDARDS USED IN THE FUTURE OR PRESENTLY USED BY COMPETITOR COIN GRADING COMPANIES. THE BUYER FURTHER AGREES TO HOLD U.S. COIN ITS REPRESENTATIVE AND/OR THE GRADING COMPANY THAT GRADED THEIR COINS HARMLESS OF ANY ACT OF WRONGDOING WHATSOEVER IT IT IS EVER DETERMINED THAT THE PARTICULAR GRADE ASSIGNED TO THEIR COINS DOES NOT AGREE WITH THE SUBJECTIVE OPINION OF A COMPETITOR COIN DEALER OR GRADING SERVICE" "THE BUYER ALSO STIPULATES THAT HE UNDERSTANDS THAT COINS GRADED BY THE SMALLER OR LESS KNOWN GRADING SERVICES MAY REALZE LESS AT AUCTION".

"THE BUYER UNDERSTANDS THAT THE COINS LISTED (ON THEIR SIGNED CONTRACTS) ARE STRICTLY COLLECTOR COINS AND NOT INVESTMENT OR BULLION COINS". "THE BUYER FURTHER CONFIRMS THAT THIS TRANSACTION REPRESENTS A SIMPLE PURCHAASE AND NOT AN INVESTMENT".

"THERE ARE NOT ANY SPECIFIC REPRESENTATIONS OR GUARANTEES MADE BY THE SELLER AS TO THE ECONOMIC BENEFIT TO BE DERIVED FROM THE PURCHASE OF RARE (COLLECTOR) COINS.

"SIGNATURE HEREWITH CERTIFIES THAT THE BUYER UNDERSTANDS AND ACCEPTS THAT THERE IS A HIGH RISK IN PURCHASING RARE COINS INTHAT IN ORDER TO REALIZE A MONETARY BENEFIT THE PURCHASER MUST FIRST OVERCOME THYE SELLERS MARKUP AND/OR COMMISSION AND THIS MAY TAKE AN UNKNOWN PERIOD OF TIMME OR NEVER HAPPEN".

"SIGNATURE HEREWITH FURTHER STIPULATES THAT THE BUYER UNDERSTANDS THAT IN ORDER TO REALIZE A MONETARY BENEFIT THE WHOLESALE PRICE (BID) MUST FIRST EXCEED THE RETAIL PRICE (ASK/OFFER) AND THAT IF THE BUYER CHOOSE TO LIQUIDATE BEFORE SUCH A TIME WHEREIN THE BID PRICES HAS NOT YET EXCEEDED THE ASK PRICE, THEN THE BUYERR UNDERSTANDS THAT THEY ASSUME FULL RESPONSIBILITY OF ANY LOSSES ASSOCIATED WITH THEIR DECISION TO SLL IN AN UNTIMELY FASHION".

Ms. Lillibridges signed contract (s) state numerous other clear disclosures indicating the risks assoicated with choosihg to buy collectible rare coins.

Ms. Lillibridge signed contract (s) clearly demonstrate that she fully knew and accepted the risks associated with purchases of any collectible item and that every conceivable risk factor was described in her signned contract (s) so she the buyer could decide if they could live with the risks...


Worse, Ms. Lillibridge seems to suggest in her "complaint" that she somehow does not understand that there is a difference between Retail and Wholesale prices.

Yet, on this point she claims..."He said that is how all gold brokers do business. A customer buys from them at retail price but sells back at the wholesale price. This did not make sense to me".

This accusation in and of itself illustrates the insanity of her entire "complaint".

I would be happy to fax to anyone Ms. Lillibridge's signed contract (s) which clearly demonstrate all of the foregoing and more in that she knew what she was doing, was clearly told that grading and pricing of collectible coins is largely subjective in nature.

Ms. Lillibridge could have simply rejected her coins as long as years ago when she made her purchase and physically received them for inspection and either acceptance or rejection.

Instead, she completed her due dilligence, inspected her coins, never disputed the transaction and decided to keep her purchase.

Not only did she decide to keep her initial purchase, but she entered into subsequent purchases for additional collectible coins of the same nature.

Here again, she signed her contract (s) on her subsequent purchases as well after she completed her inspeciton and acceptance of same.

In concllusion, Ms. Lillibridge is attempting to pervert the purpose of the internet and certainly this web site in and attempt to intimidate me into yielding to her blackmail and extortion.

I can be reached at 305-859-9050 if anyone would like further information about this bogus complaint and this pathological liar, Ms. Lillibridge.