In what had to have been one of the biggest forgone conclusions in our history, The Quinn Law Firm has informed the city of Erie and the Enterprise Development Fund of Erie County Inc. that no money can be recovered from Juice King/scam master Herb Fiss or his shell company IFP North America and that the firm is closing it’s investigation.
You may remember that the geniuses on City Council accepted a worthless “juice contract” as collateral for a $295,000 “loan” it gave to Fiss on the promise that he would bring his one-of-a-kind juice making process to the city and build a juice manufacturing facility. Not to be left out the Enterprise Development Fund chipped in another $100,000 to the project.
According to the Erie Times News, both the city and the Enterprise Development Fund have now written off the loans as uncollectable. Larry Bossolt, president of the Enterprise Development Fund told the Times, "It was a calculated risk, one in the early stages we felt would bring a lot of jobs to the city. In time, it did not prove itself. In retrospect, our collateral was not strong enough."
Ya think?
The collateral was said to be a Chinese juice contact valued at $400,000, but with no viable way to produce the juice it wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on!
Of course we should remember that neither group would have even heard of Mr. Fiss without the able assistance of our beloved Governor Fast Eddie Rendell, who is responsible for pawning off the Juice King on the city. While I’m no fan of legal action, maybe both groups should look into suing the Governor and his Economic Development Action Team for not doing any due diligence or investigation of Fiss.
Even a basic web search of this scam artist will reveal a number of cities, and businesses that this guy either fleeced or tried to! The bottom line in all this is not only the loss of $395,000 plus interest, but that once again NO ONE in government will be held responsible for what was clearly an avoidable screw up.
You may remember that the geniuses on City Council accepted a worthless “juice contract” as collateral for a $295,000 “loan” it gave to Fiss on the promise that he would bring his one-of-a-kind juice making process to the city and build a juice manufacturing facility. Not to be left out the Enterprise Development Fund chipped in another $100,000 to the project.
According to the Erie Times News, both the city and the Enterprise Development Fund have now written off the loans as uncollectable. Larry Bossolt, president of the Enterprise Development Fund told the Times, "It was a calculated risk, one in the early stages we felt would bring a lot of jobs to the city. In time, it did not prove itself. In retrospect, our collateral was not strong enough."
Ya think?
The collateral was said to be a Chinese juice contact valued at $400,000, but with no viable way to produce the juice it wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on!
Of course we should remember that neither group would have even heard of Mr. Fiss without the able assistance of our beloved Governor Fast Eddie Rendell, who is responsible for pawning off the Juice King on the city. While I’m no fan of legal action, maybe both groups should look into suing the Governor and his Economic Development Action Team for not doing any due diligence or investigation of Fiss.
Even a basic web search of this scam artist will reveal a number of cities, and businesses that this guy either fleeced or tried to! The bottom line in all this is not only the loss of $395,000 plus interest, but that once again NO ONE in government will be held responsible for what was clearly an avoidable screw up.
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