Dependable Locks (sometimes known as Dependable Locksmith - BBB report here) is an Israeli company that is the mother of all Israeli locksmithing scams. A report on Israeli scammers is here.
Dependable Locks Florida corporate registration is here
Update 3:30 11/05/09: Glenn Younger of Grah Safe & Lock, forwarded me this piece from the RiverFrontTimes that details the scam and the charges. It’s a great read. A snippet:
The complaint alleges that telephone dispatchers for Dependable Locks were instructed by managers to quote a price of $54 for a car lockout, while the responding technician was instructed by managers to charge up to $179 once services had been provided.
The telephone dispatchers were instructed to misrepresent or understate the possibility of additional charges above the price quoted. The market rate for a standard car lockout is typically about $60. The locksmiths were instructed to charge significantly more than the price quoted, and significantly more than usual market rates. Technicians use techniques such as accusing the consumer who objects to the overcharge of “theft of services,” threatening to call the police, withholding the customer’s keys or driver’s license, or following the customer to an ATM machine to ensure payment.
The locksmith technicians allegedly are allowed to split the profits of the fraudulently procured locksmith services with the company, typically 50/50 or 60/40, and that the technicians are required to remit the company’s share of the proceeds by regularly purchasing and shipping money orders to the Dependable Locks location in Clearwater.
The affidavit states that Eliyahu Barhanun, David Peer and Moshe Aharoni conspired with the managers of Dependable Locks to implement a scheme to procure overcharges for locksmith services.
On November 4th, US Postal Inspectors stormed Dependable Locksmith’s headquarters in Clearwater, Fl. Dependable has been one of the companies frequently mentioned as it related to the national locksmith scams. The raid was coordinated with authorities in Missouri and apparently more arrests are to made. This is the same company that the Missouri Attorney General charged with “deceiving and overcharging customers in Kansas City” in April of this year. Their BBB report includes an F Rating and numerous complaints and has more the look of a rap sheet than a business review.
Things seem to be looking up in the Locksmith industry and legitimate locksmiths must, for the first time in several years, be seeing a glimmer of hope. It appears that Google is also making progress in their efforts to control and minimize the damage that scammers in this industry have wrought. More on that in a later post.
Israeli Locksmith Ring Charged with Fraud; Group Operated in Missouri and FloridaHere's a curious tale coming out of the U.S. Attorney's office in St. Louis.
Last week federal investigators charged Eliyahu Barhanun of Creve Coeur and two other men from Florida on federal charges involving a scam of overcharging customers for locksmith services. According to an affidavit (viewable at the end of this post), the men operated and/or worked with Dependable Lock, a company registered in New York but headquartered in Clearwater, Florida.
Dependable Lock managed a national network of locksmiths that it dispatched from a call center in Clearwater. The company would allegedly quote customers a price for service but then charge three times that much -- or more -- when the locksmith completed the work.
Many of the locksmiths employed by Dependable were illegal immigrants from Isreal. Financial records show that some proceeds from the locksmiths were then funneled to a real-estate company in that country.
Consumer complaints filed by customers in the State of Missouri indicate a persistent pattern of fraudulent price quotation and overcharging by Dependable Locks locksmith technicians. In 37 of 64 consumer complaints relating to Dependable Locks filed with the Missouri Attorney General's Office, the customer reported that he/she was quoted a certain price on the phone, and then was charged a significantly higher price by the responding locksmith technician at the scene.
The complaint alleges that telephone dispatchers for Dependable Locks were instructed by managers to quote a price of $54 for a car lockout, while the responding technician was instructed by managers to charge up to $179 once services had been provided.
The telephone dispatchers were instructed to misrepresent or understate the possibility of additional charges above the price quoted. The market rate for a standard car lockout is typically about $60. The locksmiths were instructed to charge significantly more than the price quoted, and significantly more than usual market rates. Technicians use techniques such as accusing the consumer who objects to the overcharge of "theft of services," threatening to call the police, withholding the customer's keys or driver's license, or following the customer to an ATM machine to ensure payment.
The locksmith technicians allegedly are allowed to split the profits of the fraudulently procured locksmith services with the company, typically 50/50 or 60/40, and that the technicians are required to remit the company's share of the proceeds by regularly purchasing and shipping money orders to the Dependable Locks location in Clearwater.
The affidavit states that Eliyahu Barhanun, David Peer and Moshe Aharoni conspired with the managers of Dependable Locks to implement a scheme to procure overcharges for locksmith services.
Eliyahu Barhanun, a.k.a. Eli Barhanun, a.k.a. Eli Barhanin, 29, Creve Coeur, MO, is charged with a felony violation of structuring financial transactions to avoid federal reporting requirements, conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.
David Peer, 31; and Moshe Aharoni, 28, both of the Clearwater, Florida area, are each charged with conspiracy to recruit and employ aliens who are not authorized to work in the United States, mail and wire fraud and engaging in financial transactions to promote unlawful activity.
Each of the above violations carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000.
US Postal Inspectors have established a hotline for those believing they are victims of this scheme. The phone will not be manned, however callers will be asked to leave contact information which will trigger an investigative response. The phone number for victims is 314-539-9441.
Affadavit of US Postal Inspector which details money being sent to El-Ad (real estate company) in Israel.
Wikipedia on El-Ad:
El-Ad Group, (El Ad US Holding, Inc.) is a real estate development conglomerate based in Israel. Among its subsidiaries is New York City-based Elad Properties, which owns several landmark properties in that city and in May 2007 purchased the New Frontier Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada for a record $1.2 billion. The ElAd Group is a subsidiary of Delek Group, owned by Yitzhak Tshuva, a self-made billionaire with assets around $4 billion. Tshuva was listed at No. 214 on the Forbes list of the world's wealthiest people in 2007, up from 382nd just a year earlier.[1]
Subsidiaries- Middle East
ElAd Group, run by CEO Amos Kol,[2] focuses on IT, one of the leading companies in the Israeli IT market since 1982.[3] Elad Hotels Ltd. took a controlling interest in the 6-hotel Sheraton Moriah Israel hotel chain.
- North America
Elad Properties is a real estate developer based in New York City, with extensive holdings in the United States, primarily New York City. The flagship property of Elad Properties, New York, is the Plaza Hotel on Central Park South, bought by ElAd affiliate CPS One LLC,[4] and reopened March 1, 2008. ElAd Properties is run by CEO and President Miki Naftali.
Established in 2004 to spearhead expansion into the southeast, El Ad National Properties began as an affiliation between El Ad Group Florida and El Ad Group Canada, and today runs properties in ten states with a focus on the south, the Midwest and northeastern United States. 55% of Elad National Properties' portfolio are rentals. Through a joint venture, El Ad National Properties controls Element National Management, a property management company.[5]
In 2007, the company expanded its holding in Los Angeles, purchasing land between Beverly Hills and Westwood as part of a $330 million development deal.[6]
Miki Naftali is President and CEO of the New York- headquartered Elad Group (and its subsidiary, Elad Properties), a leading New York and international developer and owner of prime residential and commercial real estate, including an impressive and growing multi-billion dollar collection of luxury properties. Mr. Naftali launched and guided Elad’s successful New York operation and its expansion across the country and around the globe. The highlight of Elad’s portfolio is New York’s iconic Plaza Hotel. The storied landmark has undergone a $450 million renovation, restoring it to its 1907 glory, adding state of the art technology providing the ultimate in comfort and convenience. Elad will also be expanding The Plaza brand to premier cities around the world, including Boston, Los Angeles, Paris, London, Tokyo and Shanghai. Mr. Naftali is developing the last high-rise luxury condo on the world famous Wilshire Corridor in Los Angeles and is planning a spectacular luxury high-rise in New York City designed by Daniel Libeskind. He is leading Elad into Singapore by creating a major residential, commercial, retail and hotel complex designed by Sir Norman Foster. Mr. Naftali also oversees Elad’s activities in other premier North American markets. Elad Canada’s high quality residential and commercial developments are principally located in the Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa areas, and include more than 12,000 residential units, many in newly created attractive neighborhoods, and over 6 million square feet of commercial, retail and industrial space. Elad National has a growing presence in Florida, Texas, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Massachusetts.
El Ad Properties is developing the last high-rise luxury condo on the world famous Wilshire Corridor in Los Angeles and is planning a spectacular luxury high-rise in New York City designed by Daniel Libeskind.El Ad has two projects in Singapore-a major residential, commercial, retail and hotel complex designed by Sir Norman Foster, and The Futura, a super luxury high-rise residential condominium on the periphery of Orchard Road, Singapore's Fifth Avenue.
Miki Naftali oversees Elad's activities in other premier North American markets. Elad Canada's high quality residential and commercial developments are principallylocated in the Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa areas, and include more than 12,000 residential units, many in newly created attractive neighborhoods, and over 6 million square feet of commercial, retail and industrial space. Elad National has a growing presence in Florida, Texas, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Massachusetts. Its assets, valued at $1.4 billion, include over 10,000 luxury units and 1 million square feet of commercial and retail space, with a major focus in 10 Florida resort communities. [8]
- Far East
ElAd Group runs several joint ventures with local companies in India and Singapore. In 2007, Elad Far East was established via a partnership deal with China's Zeg Investments.[9]
ControversiesElad's purchase of New York City's Plaza Hotel caused great controversy in 2004. But as the hotel was readied for opening on March 1, 2008, The New York Times observed, Tshuva and Peter Ward, president of the New York's hotel workers' union, had reconciled their differences: "It was a big change from early 2005, when Mr. Ward vowed to block Mr. Tshuva's plans to convert most of the hotel into luxury condos and reconfigure some of its Edwardian public spaces into upscale shops, moves he contended would force union members out of work".[10]
On May 15, 2007, the company announced plans to purchase the New Frontier Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, with plans to raze the current structure and build a new resort to be branded as The Plaza Las Vegas. It sold for a record $33 million per acre.[11] In April 2008, Elad Properties faced a lawsuit between itself and the New Frontier owner. Las Vegas lawyer Gene Porter of Porter and Bello Law Corporations was hired to mediate the dispute.
Holdings- Plaza Hotel
- O'Neill Building
- The Grand Madison
- 21 Astor Place
- The Link REIT
- New Frontier Hotel and Casino
- Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower
Delek also operates gas stations and has interests in car dealerships, cable television, insurance and energy companies.[12]
Related Story: The Billion Dollar Israeli Scammer Machine
Submitted by andie531 on Fri, 2010-04-02 02:14
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Good original research, Andie.
Thanks - it was just a matter of digging a little deeper. I wonder if any properties owned by Elad Properties in NYC had any connection to 9-11.