A wise thought leader once said, "the Truth will prevail." As we start to go into this protracted American/global recession and deflation of our once almighty Dollar, that "Cliche" slogan doesn't bring me comfort as the audience will see what one tragedy after another unfolds as I continue with this story of the dark side of America, a side that once you are too far down the path, will destroy you, and the prospects of any happiness in your life.
It was about mid April 2007, that due to mounting panic and stress from increasing difficulty in getting a hold of Freddie (by phone, email or Skype), that a mutual Pharmacist friend started getting me samples of Xanax and Klonopin, to see if it would help so I can ask my doctor. Not able to get a hold of Freddie, I finally just text him that I'm at LAX, and that I'm on my way. He knew this wasn't a social visit, and made it very uncomfortable for me to come and simply visit him at his house. We ended up meeting at the Airport, and rented a hotel in Florida, not far from this "Jean Claude" character's office.
It was about this time, that I was introduced to the anti-anxiety medications Xanax and Klonopin, by a mutual pharmacist friend who was worried about my 'investments' as he can see I was clearly distraught. What I didn't know, was what Hell had in store for me 3 years later...the physical and mental pains coming off it and cranial physical addictions to the Bezodiazepines in the most horrible way.
What seemed a seemingly benevolent act of getting me some prescriptions that would help in my stress and panic: little did I know, over the next several months, I will go into an increasing panic state, with bouts of Benzodiazapine withdrawal syndromes, putting me in a vulnerable state for making key life-altering decisions. My ego at the time didn't allow me to accept that this was a very serious situation. That this can be fixed. Freddie would fix it. Or so I naively thought...
The pharmaceutical industry, their miraculous drugs, and getting perfectly healthy humans addicted on them through a once or twice in a life time tragedy (as the backdrop) is both appreciated by the patient, but also humanely disconcerting as well. What I didn't know at the time, was that both Xanax and Klonopins are highly addictive, and that after taking it for even a couple of days, your body will start to experience a negative withdrawal 'sickness'. The worst withdrawal symptoms lead to death from seizures, suicidal ideations or worse.
At first, you don't really feel anything but the positive effects from the drug (as with most drugs I would imagine.) Then, after a while, your tolerance goes up, you need a steady level of the long shelf life drug to stay in your system so that you can very very slowly ween off. Many cases of death from sudden withdrawal seizures and worse have been routinely reported, and currently many countries ban it, making it illegal to obtain...makes you wonder about big American Pharma and Politics.
It was in the background of this psych meds altered state of mind, that I increasingly relied on Freddie to come through on, not one, but 3 investment groups (just to get a refund of our money wired back from them), as I feared not being able to give my family and friends their money back.
By this time, of course, I could have walked away from Freddie, and let my family and 2 friends know the bad news. This, and again, my ego that I completely trusted my financially savvy friend, was what gave me tunnel vision...that no one understood the business Freddie was in. That it was not something available to 99.9% of the rest of the world, so of course it would be ridiculed and dismissed by most.
What I could not in a million years accept, was the fact that I had just lost in a wink of an eye, without ample explanation or documents from Freddie, my father's entire life savings, my life savings and two friends' cash into Freddie's investments (which by this time he called a "Hedge Fund"). I was scared, in a panic, feeling suicidal and the only person I can talk to was Freddie. I was at a loss as to what to do.
The first big scam
Worsened no doubt by the Clonazepam side effects (that I was by that time taking daily to stay calm for the $500k I was increasingly doubtful Freddie was going to get back for me), I increasingly started to fear that Freddie was scamming me. What I could not believe, in fact refused to believe, was even the remote possibility that Freddie could be the one that is orchestrating the deceptions, acting as though he is on my side to try to 'recoup' the moneys initially lost, all the while having a much longer plan to con this gullible and trusting fool. I was being set up for what "Sawyer" in the ABC hit show LOST called "The long con".
By now clouded in judgement by fear, and told I cannot contact the FBI, he would 'rationalize' to me, "Wait a second Alex, stop, just stop, stop stop stop. We can't act out of panic. If the FDLE is looking for the rightful beneficiaries of these defrauded funds, then they will eventually trace back to me, and I'll take care of it for us." It turned out I never heard from whatever happened to this money. If the IRS or FBI had ever truly contacted him, or if he even possibly had the total $1 million cash ($500k of which was mine) returned to him 'as the beneficiary', and not letting me know.
Freddie had an answer for everything. Cool and collected, he once told me in his car that he "eats attorneys for lunch". What I was told that fateful night in Florida in summer of 2007, was that he will deal with it through with the IRS, and two, that he has a guarantor for the $1 million cash he wired, a one "Patrice" person who referred Freddie to this group, and gave me reassurance she can get us our refund money back. As I would learn later, all of this was a fabrication.
What he had me do in the the coming months would put me in a situation where I would not be able to take any action, due to being frozen in fear for the repercussions of losing all of this money, and that I would get in trouble with the law, because the money that I wired him were not all mine, but that it was my father's, my friends', my family's, and so forth, and that as I was not licensed as a securities broker for the 'joint venture' he suggested and had me sign contracts with to raise more money to 'recoup' our losses while we wait for the 'refund' from the first fraud. As it turned out later, he was not licensed either, and this was a scare tactic for me not to contact the FBI and FDLE in Florida myself.
Lucifer is generally a character referred to in the Bible, associated with Satan (a fallen angel) and all the evil ones of heaven and hell. Little did I know, even after all of this so far, so blindingly trusting out of fear, depression, and ego, that I still had no idea what kind of torturous life Freddie had in store for me, as he continued to (as suspicious as I was), had no choice but to trust he will make me whole.
I still at this point, believed what Freddie kept telling me. Freddie's words that fateful night I found the initial 500k was lost, while I spun into a panic was, "Alex, calm down, we need to DOUBLE DOWN, and recoup our losses". That he found two new investment groups, vetted out and confirmed legitimate, would help us recoup our lost money. What stupidity, fear, loathing, and regret I have now... for what was around the corner was worse than anything I could have ever in my worst nightmare imagined....
It was about mid April 2007, that due to mounting panic and stress from increasing difficulty in getting a hold of Freddie (by phone, email or Skype), that a mutual Pharmacist friend started getting me samples of Xanax and Klonopin, to see if it would help so I can ask my doctor. Not able to get a hold of Freddie, I finally just text him that I'm at LAX, and that I'm on my way. He knew this wasn't a social visit, and made it very uncomfortable for me to come and simply visit him at his house. We ended up meeting at the Airport, and rented a hotel in Florida, not far from this "Jean Claude" character's office.
It was about this time, that I was introduced to the anti-anxiety medications Xanax and Klonopin, by a mutual pharmacist friend who was worried about my 'investments' as he can see I was clearly distraught. What I didn't know, was what Hell had in store for me 3 years later...the physical and mental pains coming off it and cranial physical addictions to the Bezodiazepines in the most horrible way.
What seemed a seemingly benevolent act of getting me some prescriptions that would help in my stress and panic: little did I know, over the next several months, I will go into an increasing panic state, with bouts of Benzodiazapine withdrawal syndromes, putting me in a vulnerable state for making key life-altering decisions. My ego at the time didn't allow me to accept that this was a very serious situation. That this can be fixed. Freddie would fix it. Or so I naively thought...
The pharmaceutical industry, their miraculous drugs, and getting perfectly healthy humans addicted on them through a once or twice in a life time tragedy (as the backdrop) is both appreciated by the patient, but also humanely disconcerting as well. What I didn't know at the time, was that both Xanax and Klonopins are highly addictive, and that after taking it for even a couple of days, your body will start to experience a negative withdrawal 'sickness'. The worst withdrawal symptoms lead to death from seizures, suicidal ideations or worse.
At first, you don't really feel anything but the positive effects from the drug (as with most drugs I would imagine.) Then, after a while, your tolerance goes up, you need a steady level of the long shelf life drug to stay in your system so that you can very very slowly ween off. Many cases of death from sudden withdrawal seizures and worse have been routinely reported, and currently many countries ban it, making it illegal to obtain...makes you wonder about big American Pharma and Politics.
It was in the background of this psych meds altered state of mind, that I increasingly relied on Freddie to come through on, not one, but 3 investment groups (just to get a refund of our money wired back from them), as I feared not being able to give my family and friends their money back.
By this time, of course, I could have walked away from Freddie, and let my family and 2 friends know the bad news. This, and again, my ego that I completely trusted my financially savvy friend, was what gave me tunnel vision...that no one understood the business Freddie was in. That it was not something available to 99.9% of the rest of the world, so of course it would be ridiculed and dismissed by most.
What I could not in a million years accept, was the fact that I had just lost in a wink of an eye, without ample explanation or documents from Freddie, my father's entire life savings, my life savings and two friends' cash into Freddie's investments (which by this time he called a "Hedge Fund"). I was scared, in a panic, feeling suicidal and the only person I can talk to was Freddie. I was at a loss as to what to do.
The first big scam
Worsened no doubt by the Clonazepam side effects (that I was by that time taking daily to stay calm for the $500k I was increasingly doubtful Freddie was going to get back for me), I increasingly started to fear that Freddie was scamming me. What I could not believe, in fact refused to believe, was even the remote possibility that Freddie could be the one that is orchestrating the deceptions, acting as though he is on my side to try to 'recoup' the moneys initially lost, all the while having a much longer plan to con this gullible and trusting fool. I was being set up for what "Sawyer" in the ABC hit show LOST called "The long con".
By now clouded in judgement by fear, and told I cannot contact the FBI, he would 'rationalize' to me, "Wait a second Alex, stop, just stop, stop stop stop. We can't act out of panic. If the FDLE is looking for the rightful beneficiaries of these defrauded funds, then they will eventually trace back to me, and I'll take care of it for us." It turned out I never heard from whatever happened to this money. If the IRS or FBI had ever truly contacted him, or if he even possibly had the total $1 million cash ($500k of which was mine) returned to him 'as the beneficiary', and not letting me know.
Freddie had an answer for everything. Cool and collected, he once told me in his car that he "eats attorneys for lunch". What I was told that fateful night in Florida in summer of 2007, was that he will deal with it through with the IRS, and two, that he has a guarantor for the $1 million cash he wired, a one "Patrice" person who referred Freddie to this group, and gave me reassurance she can get us our refund money back. As I would learn later, all of this was a fabrication.
What he had me do in the the coming months would put me in a situation where I would not be able to take any action, due to being frozen in fear for the repercussions of losing all of this money, and that I would get in trouble with the law, because the money that I wired him were not all mine, but that it was my father's, my friends', my family's, and so forth, and that as I was not licensed as a securities broker for the 'joint venture' he suggested and had me sign contracts with to raise more money to 'recoup' our losses while we wait for the 'refund' from the first fraud. As it turned out later, he was not licensed either, and this was a scare tactic for me not to contact the FBI and FDLE in Florida myself.
Lucifer is generally a character referred to in the Bible, associated with Satan (a fallen angel) and all the evil ones of heaven and hell. Little did I know, even after all of this so far, so blindingly trusting out of fear, depression, and ego, that I still had no idea what kind of torturous life Freddie had in store for me, as he continued to (as suspicious as I was), had no choice but to trust he will make me whole.
I still at this point, believed what Freddie kept telling me. Freddie's words that fateful night I found the initial 500k was lost, while I spun into a panic was, "Alex, calm down, we need to DOUBLE DOWN, and recoup our losses". That he found two new investment groups, vetted out and confirmed legitimate, would help us recoup our lost money. What stupidity, fear, loathing, and regret I have now... for what was around the corner was worse than anything I could have ever in my worst nightmare imagined....
