Larry Bates, as well as his business, have actually been forced into receivership in the federal district court in Tennessee due to numerous complaints from a growing number of customers about his astonishing level of dishonesty; and now, as a result, he is facing an $80-million class-action suit.
Despite the weight of this legal action, it appears that a lot of individuals are still reeling from the effects of being cheated by Bates before his business ended.
I'll share two stories here that broke my heart. There was a woman who contacted me recently after her father died. While setting her mother's affairs in order, she stumbled upon some invoices from FAMC dating back to 2009.
Without a word to their children, this couple had gone ahead and given Bates' business a half-million dollars of their investment funds. They bought gold from FAMC. And to this day, they have not received any.
These people ever received only a few coins of what they bought. It's true that they had asked FAMC to store their metals for them. But why can't FAMC produce those metals now?
Then there is the story of a woman which deals with taking care of a quadriplegic kid, who was provided a significant amount of money as recompense for an accident that affected his life. In 2008, they provided Larry Bates a few hundred thousand dollars as an investment, but they never received any precious metals in return for their money.
These two rip-offs alone amount to a staggering total of $4 million.
By this point, it is probably becoming abundantly clear to you that the entire business model of FAMC is comparable to the infamous Ponzi scheme pulled off by Bernard Madoff. Although Bates' clients were scammed in lots of ways, what really upsets me is the front he used as a Christian financial planner and service, a deliberate ploy to appear to be someone of the Christian faith who could be trusted.
Today I continue to feel horror as I listen to these stories of disaster. There is raw sin here. It all reminds me of another entrepreneur, also claiming to be a Christian, who took half-a-million dollars, as well as the ministry that I ran with Jay Trimble, my life partner. This happened 20 years ago and is recounted in my biographical book, Faith Through the Flames."
Despite the weight of this legal action, it appears that a lot of individuals are still reeling from the effects of being cheated by Bates before his business ended.
I'll share two stories here that broke my heart. There was a woman who contacted me recently after her father died. While setting her mother's affairs in order, she stumbled upon some invoices from FAMC dating back to 2009.
Without a word to their children, this couple had gone ahead and given Bates' business a half-million dollars of their investment funds. They bought gold from FAMC. And to this day, they have not received any.
These people ever received only a few coins of what they bought. It's true that they had asked FAMC to store their metals for them. But why can't FAMC produce those metals now?
Then there is the story of a woman which deals with taking care of a quadriplegic kid, who was provided a significant amount of money as recompense for an accident that affected his life. In 2008, they provided Larry Bates a few hundred thousand dollars as an investment, but they never received any precious metals in return for their money.
These two rip-offs alone amount to a staggering total of $4 million.
By this point, it is probably becoming abundantly clear to you that the entire business model of FAMC is comparable to the infamous Ponzi scheme pulled off by Bernard Madoff. Although Bates' clients were scammed in lots of ways, what really upsets me is the front he used as a Christian financial planner and service, a deliberate ploy to appear to be someone of the Christian faith who could be trusted.
Today I continue to feel horror as I listen to these stories of disaster. There is raw sin here. It all reminds me of another entrepreneur, also claiming to be a Christian, who took half-a-million dollars, as well as the ministry that I ran with Jay Trimble, my life partner. This happened 20 years ago and is recounted in my biographical book, Faith Through the Flames."
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