Missouri real estate investment goes the way of scam
A business involving real estate investment has gone wrong in Springfield, Missouri. Randy Allen Rippee and his son, Frankee Lee Allen Rippee, have been charged with fraud by the Securities Division under the office of the Secretary of State. Through a website, their company RCH Investment Group had invited investors to invest in a real estate venture being started in Branson near Springfield.
The proposal had invited investment to the tune of around $1.2 million dollars, only a paltry sum of which seems to be accountable now. The men have been charged with misusing the money collected, by putting it on a baseball team, an automobile dealership and a resort among other things. The homes for which the money was originally sought are all either in foreclosure or on the verge of being so.
These irregularities came to light at the end of an audit on their financial status by Secretary of State Robin Carnahan. It would seem as an investor that there was little one could do to prevent falling into such situations. The business or the men did not have any adverse presence on the net or otherwise. But Mr. Carnahan pointed out that the investors could have done better.
Mr. Carnahan pointed out that the investors should have been alerted when the deal was being sold as one offering guaranteed returns. It seemed too good to be true. This should have raised doubts in their minds and subsequently prompted them to contact the Investment Protection service run by his department.
For the investors, this has ended up with a breach of the trust they placed on the company. In the end, the money was not used for the purpose it was solicited for. Investors must have studied the opportunity exclusively as an investment in real estate. Not many would have lent their money had it been sought for investing in a baseball team, for sure.
Probably, the men floundered and had a change of heart after finding themselves amidst a large amount of money. Now they are restrained from conducting any commercial activity whatsoever without first registering with the local authorities. They could also have penalties imposed on them when the law follows its full course.
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