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Phenoms going under (1 Viewer)

i am no expert, but dabble with bankruptcies a bit.......the llc already protects the scammer personally, so i am not sure a personal filing would be in order here. this would likely be a chapter 7 liquidation, but what assets does a cash operation have for a trustee to liquidate? also, are ff players even technically creditors........i think you would lose this argument? you are neither secured or unsecured and have no documentation to support a claim imo. once the cash here disappears, what exactly is being liquidated to pay creditors? by my math -0- assets = -0- recovery.
The LLC only protects the person if he has kept the finances separate. If he was pulling money out of the LLC and gambling with it, the LLC will be pierced and his personal assets will be fair game.
then a personal filing would follow and good luck with non exempt assets.
The personal filing would be wrapped up in the same filing with the LLC. It is likely he has credit card debt and possibly even Phenom's business loans that he personally signed for if he was a gambler in debt. Additionally, he would be a fool to not file personal bankruptcy, because it would open him up to civil disputes from the 1000's of people he just ticked off.

 
It looks like the lawyers ancd courts are now involved; that was a huge mistake for an LLC for the lawyers will take a bunch of the resources that might have been distributed.

 
SCYCPA said:
I would strongly disagree with this.

If someone entered 1 league and finished 12th, that person has no business doing a chargeback or seeking any kind of restitution. That person truly lost nothing because of phenoms'....ummm...situation, let's call it, but rather he lost because of how the contest played out.

Think of it this way....if Mike had not sent that email and simply decided to not pay the winnings....what would be this hypothetical person's losses because of the.....ummm....situation? Exactly, nothing. He paid $50 or $100 or $200 to enter a contest, the contest went off, he lost the contest, and he has zero economic loss caused by the....ummmm....situation.

The integrity or fairness of the contest itself is not in question, therefore I see it as Mike delivered that part of the service to the entire league in 2014. What he did not deliver was the prizes to the prize winners and he did not deliver the 2015 leagues to those who prepaid them. Therefore it is the prize winners and those who prepaid for leagues that did not start at all (e.g. 2015 leagues and deposits) who were affected.

The ONLY people who should be seeking restitution of any form are those that have prepayments for 2015 football/basketball/baseball leagues, those with dynasty/keeper league deposits, those who have unused funds on deposit, and those who have winnings from leagues, since those are the only ones who have a true economic loss. If you have multiple leagues, you should be doing what I did....analyze all the $ paid to Mike and determine which of your leagues fall into each of these areas.

Anyone else who seeks restitution through chargebacks, claims, or anything else, is lower than snail crap, a low-life thief akin to one who scours the obituaries and robs mourners' houses while they are at the funeral.
Is this serious?? You're comparing Mike robbing us to some innocent person who lost family members? You must be trolling.

When you signed up for a league, you paid money for a contest, when you find out that NO ONE, even the winners would receive money, EVERYONE who entered that contest deserves their money back. Period. It does not matter if you were going to win or not. The people who win these leagues are NOT getting their winning money back, they are getting their entry fee back if they file a charge back, so why in the world would the losers not file charge backs? This is the most faulty logic I've seen in this entire discussion. So there are 3 winners in a $100 league that should have payed out a total of $1020, now only 3 people can file chargebacks based on your logic so Mike only has to pay $300 instead of the $1020 that should have been paid?
You completely misunderstand what I am saying.

The issue is on the chargebacks to CC's. The guy who finishes 12th in his league did not...repeat, did not incur any economic loss. He lost his $ whether Mike paid it to the winners, paid it to a software developer, or absconded to Rio de Janeiro with a cocktail waitress in a Dolly Parton wig. Re-read what I said. That hypothetical guy was going to end up with zero whether or not this happened. He got a league set up, he drafted it, he set his lineups, he did waiver claims, made trades, talked smack with his leaguemates, had access to the league for 15 weeks of the season plus whatever in the preseason. He stunk, he lost his $.

The guys who got hosed are the prize winners. Now...those guys who decided that drafting LaVonn Brazill and Jermichael finley and starting him for 16 weeks are piling in, saying, I want my money back, I got hosed. They are using the bad situation to gleefully restore economic losses that they really did not incur at the expense of the people who truthfully lost $. Guys who have league deposits, etc. Much like funeral thieves do. Now, if they do a chargeback and pay the $ to the prize winners in the league...I don't have a problem with that. But how many of these guys do you honestly believe are going to do that?

I'm not saying Mike should only have to pay $300 or whatever to prize winners, not by a long stretch. But I am saying that, unless the league non-prize winners are going to make the prizewinners whole, they need to keep their noses out of it and their mouths shut.
So if someone started in a dynasty league this year and week 5 they were 1-4 and they decided to manage their team with 2015 in mind they should not get compensated? If they had known there would be no 2015 FF season for them they wouldn't be trading for future draft picks. The entire outcome of the league would be different. The "winners" may have never won anything.
?
I was getting to you... :o

I actually have one of my leagues that is in the same situation. Realistically, at 1-4 start, how would the outcome have changed? How many 1-4 starting teams end up making the playoffs in this format?

Look, everyone can come up with a hundred different variables in this. I've seen guys in Omega leagues who were eliminated in week 11 talking about doing chargebacks and getting their $ back....why? You lost the dang thing 4 weeks before the announcement hit.

We can come with 1,000 different variables and rationalizations. At the end of the day, we're all likely going to get screwed. I just don't think it's ethical that guys are trying to dilute what may be an already miniscule settlement pool for people who were legitimately hosed, by charging back for leagues to recover funds where they received the service, played the league for the full year and finished out of the $. Unless they somehow pay those funds to the prize winners of the leagues.
Do you really think chargebacks will diminish a settlement pool? If you do I have a great FF team I want to sell you on a site called Phenoms. Even if there is a settlement pool it will go to everyone, not just the winners...so look for your $5 check in about 3 years.
Read my next comment...I've basically written off this thing in my mind, and whatever I get I get.

The bankruptcy claims will be made by the creditors, not the players. The prize winners are the creditors. Players are the customers.
Please stop, you have no clue what you're talking about. A class action lawsuit will be for everyone who paid money to Phenoms this year they will not seek out only the prize winners.

FYI: I am a prize winner, but I understand how the process works, so I'm in full support of everyone getting what they can back, however they can.

 
by my math -0- assets = -0- recovery.
Mike thinks his non-working FF software platform is worth 600k, because that is what he dumped into it (supposedly). Most of us here believe there is some truth to the story, but it is more likely he spent 200k on the software development and dumped the rest of the lost funds into his poker/baseball gambling addiction.
Well if the latter is true, and if he really is claiming bankruptcy in the courts, he'll just be signing his own criminal warrant.
I'll bet you any amount of $$ the guy never serves one second of jail time.

 
Young Chuck moved to Montana and bought a horse from a farmer for $100.00. The farmer agreed to deliver the horse the next day. The next Day he drove up and said, "Sorry, Son, but I have some bad news, The horse died."

Chuck replied, "Well, then just give me my money back."

The farmer said, "Can't do that. I went and spent it already."

Chuck said, "Ok, then, just bring me the dead horse."

The farmer asked, "What ya gonna do with him?"

Chuck said, "I'm going to raffle him off."

The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead horse!"

Chuck said, "Sure I can. Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he's dead."

A month later, the farmer met up with Chuck and asked, "What happened With that dead horse?"

Chuck said, "I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars a Piece and made a net profit of $898.00."

The farmer said, "Didn't anyone complain?"

Chuck said, "Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back."
I saw a Dateline or 20/20 a few weeks back about a murder that took place by some Thai kid who was placing bets with another kid acting as his bookie. The bookie was not actually placing the bets. He was keeping the 10-15 grand/bet the Thai kid was wagering and losing. The day came where the Thai kid finally won a big bet, went to the bookie and was told "I forgot to place that bet" and refused to pay the winnings. Thai kid sneaks into his apartment when he is not there, steals the bookies Glock 9mm and caps the bookie and his two buddies when they arrive.

I think that small time bookies pull this all the time. They earn trust by doing small wagers, wait until the big one and then don't place the wager (usually online I assume). If the bettor loses, he never knows the difference. When he wins, bookie says "sorry, I forgot". What is your recourse...filing a police report on your illegal wager? Risk free theft, unless you get shot.
Bad Lieutenant

 
by my math -0- assets = -0- recovery.
Mike thinks his non-working FF software platform is worth 600k, because that is what he dumped into it (supposedly). Most of us here believe there is some truth to the story, but it is more likely he spent 200k on the software development and dumped the rest of the lost funds into his poker/baseball gambling addiction.
Well if the latter is true, and if he really is claiming bankruptcy in the courts, he'll just be signing his own criminal warrant.
I'll bet you any amount of $$ the guy never serves one second of jail time.
Oh, if I was gonna bet on that, I would bet he doesn't either. Because of the system, not because of what he hasn't done.

 
by my math -0- assets = -0- recovery.
Mike thinks his non-working FF software platform is worth 600k, because that is what he dumped into it (supposedly). Most of us here believe there is some truth to the story, but it is more likely he spent 200k on the software development and dumped the rest of the lost funds into his poker/baseball gambling addiction.
Well if the latter is true, and if he really is claiming bankruptcy in the courts, he'll just be signing his own criminal warrant.
There are 20 pages in this thread on whether or not Mike will have criminal charges. Some think it is a sure thing, I do not believe he will be held criminally liable.

Simple as this: when you own 100% of the shares in a company, you can pay yourself whatever "salary" you want. It is no different than the board of a company paying themselves huge salaries and bonuses for years. Then, one year, the company loses a few million bucks and does not have the cash to cover the expenses and cannot get any more loans. What about the millions of dollars paid out over the last few years to the board members and CEO? Had they not siphoned all the cash out of the corporation, then the business would have had the reserve cash in the bank to make it through the bad year. Instead it likely goes bankrupt and the board members move on to a new job with plenty of money in the bank.

Unfortunately, this is how our democracy is setup. It is also why there should be caps on board/CEO pay. All they are doing is stealing from the business during the good times with no real liability.

 
"Victim blaming is not just about avoiding culpability—it's also about avoiding vulnerability. The more innocent a victim, the more threatening they are. Victims threaten our sense that the world is a safe and moral place, where good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. When bad things happen to good people, it implies that no one is safe, that no matter how good we are, we too could be vulnerable. The idea that misfortune can be random, striking anyone at any time, is a terrifying thought, and yet we are faced every day with evidence that it may be true.

In the 1960s, social psychologist Dr. Melvin Lerner conducted a famous serious of studies in which he found that when participants observed another person receiving electric shocks and were unable to intervene, they began to derogate the victims. The more unfair and severe the suffering appeared to be, the greater the derogation. Follow up studies found that a similar phenomenon occurs when people evaluate victims of car accidents, rape, domestic violence, illness, and poverty. Research conducted by Dr. Ronnie Janoff-Bulman suggests that victims sometimes even derogate themselves, locating the cause of their suffering in their own behavior, but not in their enduring characteristics, in an effort to make negative events seem more controllable and therefore more avoidable in the future.

Lerner theorized that these victim blaming tendencies are rooted in the belief in a just world, a world where actions have predictable consequences and people can control what happens to them. It is captured in common phrases like "what goes around comes around" and "you reap what you sow." We want to believe that justice will come to wrongdoers, whereas good, honest people who follow the rules will be rewarded. Research has found, not surprisingly, that people who believe that the world is a just place are happier and less depressed. But thishappiness may come at a cost—it may reduce our empathy for those who are suffering, and we may even contribute to their suffering by increasing stigmatization. "

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-love-and-war/201311/why-do-we-blame-victims

 
Finally approved to post......

Here's my take from a guy who was taken for 800 this year;

Had I been aware of the status of his software development, I would not have put 800 into Phenoms this year and would have spread it out like I have done in years prior. I would have waited until everything was up and running and in the clear before going all in on his site like I did this year.

He knew before he started setting up 2014 leagues (by his own admission in the first letter) that things were in the red, but still proceeded to take money.

I am now guilty of being an uninformed customer who got taken.

PayPal cannot do any charge backs for me because it is past the 45 day limit (the new 180 day protection deal didnt go into effect until Nov of this year and any transactions made prior are not covered by it) and I used my existing PayPal balance to pay for this years buy ins and not a card. Ironically, the existing balance was from my winnings last year...........

I stand/stood to win about 2100 when news first broke, but when I submit my claim on the filing it will be for the initial 800 spent because, even though I was out of it in several league, I bought a product that was being sold under false pretenses. I wont be claiming the 2100 because there really is no way to know how things would have played out had this news not broke because as several have stated, Owners stopped playing in many cases.

Ultimately, IMO, look at where you were the day the news broke and claim accordingly based on contracting a service that was, in theory, dead in the water at the time of the sale.

 
First time poster. I have read all the posts regarding this topic about Phenoms. This is of interest to me as I joined two $500 football leagues and am the point leader and finals contestant in one of them, which guarantees me a minimum of $1395 up to $3627.

There are many people speculating on what happened. All we know is what Mike has told us.

1) He does not have sufficient funds to pay out the winners, outlining 20-40%, due to overspending on a new web platform

2) "After conferring with legal counsel, and barring some intervening event (such as an acceptable offer to purchase the company), Phenoms will be pursuing bankruptcy. In bankruptcy, a trustee will be appointed who will take control of all of Phenoms' assets and make distributions to claimants according to relevant legal requirements. Additionally, the bankruptcy court and the trustee will oversee and review company finances."

I have sadly come to the conclusion that I will receive very little, if any, of my winnings. That is extremely frustrating as I have put countless hours strategically building my team.

For redraft leagues, I don't get how people that did not money deserve to get their entry fee back. You suffered no economic loss as the entirety of the regular season played out for you. Dynasty leagues are different, of which Mike said himself they would be refunded.

I do believe it was not Mike's intent to defraud people of their money, but certain personal events led to the financial state of his LLC. And under law, that is considered embezzling money. It is our duty to report this to the authorities to investigate this matter and let the legal process decide if he was guilty.

 
FatUncleJerryBuss said:
That's not the case at all. (yes it is)

I have set up a few leagues with Leaguesafe and I researched them before I did several years ago and, at the time I set them up, they were set up to collect deposits which are FDIC secured and held in a bank in Montana or the Dakotas (I forget the exact name but I recall thinking at the time it was odd it was not one of the more known banks...which I checked into and verified).

I would also speculate that there is a great chance that they are not holding "lazy" money so these deposits are probably going into very short-term C.D.'s, etc, and they are using capital to pay winnings, sitting on short term small rakes off these safe investments, and trickling in revenue there.

My company does this on a huge scale (lots of revolving accounts that are constantly coming due, reinvesting, etc. Simple software makes it very manageable and with enough money flowing, you can scrape off income that makes it worthwhile.

ALso, I know you can say this about anyone and be wrong but I know the history of the Leaguesafe people and I would be SHOCKED if they pulled a stunt like this (of course, can be wrong, for sure).

Unfortunately I can not explain things to people like you because you have no understanding of what FDIC secured means. I will give you the short version. FDIC means the government protects your money if the bank goes under, it has nothing to do with protecting your money from theft by leaguesafe, wcoff, antsports or phenoms.
Hey, I get it that you're extremely butt hurt over this and I'm not because I don't have a dog in the fight (e.g., I wasn't an idiot and didn't get raped by this guy by giving away money blindly) so I'll concede I didn't post and do a line-by-line of my thoughts with explicit counter points to statements. I admit, I often expect people to be able to read between the lines and understand the sentiment of the entire statement and not get hung up on point A- sub-paragraph 1.23d of every word typed and, in general, not to get so technical about every little thing.

But, in short, what I was saying is that I looked into it and the company is legit, with real banks under legit, commonly sought rules (aka, FDIC secured, etc). I also know that if you put money in short-held investments, you can't just walk in there and cash out. It is not dead money sitting in a pot doing nothing. ANY half-brained business would be nuts to have money sitting there doing absolutely nothing unless it is specifically stated it can not be, which is rarely the case and if it is, then it is likely locked up so tight, the LEAST thing you have to worry about is some guy casually producing a withdrawal slip and cleaning the account.

You got burned and lots of people did and in that I understand it, sympathize, and can understand your short lashing out remarks and frustrations. But breathe a little and don't miss the broader sense of someone trying to give a little reassurance just because one idiot conned you.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Finally approved to post......

Here's my take from a guy who was taken for 800 this year;

Had I been aware of the status of his software development, I would not have put 800 into Phenoms this year and would have spread it out like I have done in years prior. I would have waited until everything was up and running and in the clear before going all in on his site like I did this year.

He knew before he started setting up 2014 leagues (by his own admission in the first letter) that things were in the red, but still proceeded to take money.

I am now guilty of being an uninformed customer who got taken.

PayPal cannot do any charge backs for me because it is past the 45 day limit (the new 180 day protection deal didnt go into effect until Nov of this year and any transactions made prior are not covered by it) and I used my existing PayPal balance to pay for this years buy ins and not a card. Ironically, the existing balance was from my winnings last year...........

I stand/stood to win about 2100 when news first broke, but when I submit my claim on the filing it will be for the initial 800 spent because, even though I was out of it in several league, I bought a product that was being sold under false pretenses. I wont be claiming the 2100 because there really is no way to know how things would have played out had this news not broke because as several have stated, Owners stopped playing in many cases.

Ultimately, IMO, look at where you were the day the news broke and claim accordingly based on contracting a service that was, in theory, dead in the water at the time of the sale.
Well said

 
by my math -0- assets = -0- recovery.
Mike thinks his non-working FF software platform is worth 600k, because that is what he dumped into it (supposedly). Most of us here believe there is some truth to the story, but it is more likely he spent 200k on the software development and dumped the rest of the lost funds into his poker/baseball gambling addiction.
Well if the latter is true, and if he really is claiming bankruptcy in the courts, he'll just be signing his own criminal warrant.
There are 20 pages in this thread on whether or not Mike will have criminal charges. Some think it is a sure thing, I do not believe he will be held criminally liable.

Simple as this: when you own 100% of the shares in a company, you can pay yourself whatever "salary" you want. It is no different than the board of a company paying themselves huge salaries and bonuses for years. Then, one year, the company loses a few million bucks and does not have the cash to cover the expenses and cannot get any more loans. What about the millions of dollars paid out over the last few years to the board members and CEO? Had they not siphoned all the cash out of the corporation, then the business would have had the reserve cash in the bank to make it through the bad year. Instead it likely goes bankrupt and the board members move on to a new job with plenty of money in the bank.

Unfortunately, this is how our democracy is setup. It is also why there should be caps on board/CEO pay. All they are doing is stealing from the business during the good times with no real liability.
Well if that extra 400K went towards his salary, the IRS might have something to say about that, unless all of his filings are in order.

 
by my math -0- assets = -0- recovery.
Mike thinks his non-working FF software platform is worth 600k, because that is what he dumped into it (supposedly). Most of us here believe there is some truth to the story, but it is more likely he spent 200k on the software development and dumped the rest of the lost funds into his poker/baseball gambling addiction.
Well if the latter is true, and if he really is claiming bankruptcy in the courts, he'll just be signing his own criminal warrant.
There are 20 pages in this thread on whether or not Mike will have criminal charges. Some think it is a sure thing, I do not believe he will be held criminally liable.

Simple as this: when you own 100% of the shares in a company, you can pay yourself whatever "salary" you want. It is no different than the board of a company paying themselves huge salaries and bonuses for years. Then, one year, the company loses a few million bucks and does not have the cash to cover the expenses and cannot get any more loans. What about the millions of dollars paid out over the last few years to the board members and CEO? Had they not siphoned all the cash out of the corporation, then the business would have had the reserve cash in the bank to make it through the bad year. Instead it likely goes bankrupt and the board members move on to a new job with plenty of money in the bank.

Unfortunately, this is how our democracy is setup. It is also why there should be caps on board/CEO pay. All they are doing is stealing from the business during the good times with no real liability.
Good analogy and it underscores a lot about what people are upset about here in that, bottom line, just like many foolish companies do with their Board and elected officials, THEY MADE A MISTAKE AND TRUSTED THE WRONG PERSON. That is the source of the problem. That is what happened here. It isn't the first time it happened and it won't be the last but, like you say, when you look around, you don't see a lot of these guys have significant legal issues arise out of doing nothing more than being trusted when they shouldn't have been, went unchecked, and took money at other's expense. It happens every day.

 
by my math -0- assets = -0- recovery.
Mike thinks his non-working FF software platform is worth 600k, because that is what he dumped into it (supposedly). Most of us here believe there is some truth to the story, but it is more likely he spent 200k on the software development and dumped the rest of the lost funds into his poker/baseball gambling addiction.
Well if the latter is true, and if he really is claiming bankruptcy in the courts, he'll just be signing his own criminal warrant.
There are 20 pages in this thread on whether or not Mike will have criminal charges. Some think it is a sure thing, I do not believe he will be held criminally liable.

Simple as this: when you own 100% of the shares in a company, you can pay yourself whatever "salary" you want. It is no different than the board of a company paying themselves huge salaries and bonuses for years. Then, one year, the company loses a few million bucks and does not have the cash to cover the expenses and cannot get any more loans. What about the millions of dollars paid out over the last few years to the board members and CEO? Had they not siphoned all the cash out of the corporation, then the business would have had the reserve cash in the bank to make it through the bad year. Instead it likely goes bankrupt and the board members move on to a new job with plenty of money in the bank.

Unfortunately, this is how our democracy is setup. It is also why there should be caps on board/CEO pay. All they are doing is stealing from the business during the good times with no real liability.
That has nothing at all to do with 'how our democracy is setup'. Stick to the football talk and don't bring in things you clearly don't understand.

Just an example: Liability of Directors: https://www.isc.ca/CorporateRegistry/FormingaCorporation/Pages/LiabilityofDirectors.aspx

The guy who ran Phenoms may have used business money for personal reasons, which would open him up to prosecution.

 
by my math -0- assets = -0- recovery.
Mike thinks his non-working FF software platform is worth 600k, because that is what he dumped into it (supposedly). Most of us here believe there is some truth to the story, but it is more likely he spent 200k on the software development and dumped the rest of the lost funds into his poker/baseball gambling addiction.
Well if the latter is true, and if he really is claiming bankruptcy in the courts, he'll just be signing his own criminal warrant.
There are 20 pages in this thread on whether or not Mike will have criminal charges. Some think it is a sure thing, I do not believe he will be held criminally liable.

Simple as this: when you own 100% of the shares in a company, you can pay yourself whatever "salary" you want. It is no different than the board of a company paying themselves huge salaries and bonuses for years. Then, one year, the company loses a few million bucks and does not have the cash to cover the expenses and cannot get any more loans. What about the millions of dollars paid out over the last few years to the board members and CEO? Had they not siphoned all the cash out of the corporation, then the business would have had the reserve cash in the bank to make it through the bad year. Instead it likely goes bankrupt and the board members move on to a new job with plenty of money in the bank.

Unfortunately, this is how our democracy is setup. It is also why there should be caps on board/CEO pay. All they are doing is stealing from the business during the good times with no real liability.
I don't think it's that simple. Sure, he had the right to do whatever with the percent he took as his fee and whatever loans and credit he got.

But the question is whether or not he had the right to use any of that prize pool money for himself or investing in growing his business. I'm not sure if at some point he made it clear that the money would be held securely in an account, untouched. But I'm sure that most who joined were at the very least led to believe that was the case. If that's the case, maybe he broke the law. Misappropriating funds or Fruad or Embezzlement, whatever legal term it would be.

 
The guys who got hosed are the prize winners. Now...those guys who decided that drafting LaVonn Brazill and Jermichael finley and starting him for 16 weeks are piling in, saying, I want my money back, I got hosed. They are using the bad situation to gleefully restore economic losses that they really did not incur at the expense of the people who truthfully lost $. Guys who have league deposits, etc. Much like funeral thieves do. Now, if they do a chargeback and pay the $ to the prize winners in the league...I don't have a problem with that. But how many of these guys do you honestly believe are going to do that?
If this was indeed fraud, then everyone is a victim, so you should just cool it with the misdirected anger. The money lost is equal to the money put in (entry fees) if there never was a chance to win anything. The prize money for 1st place is not an "economic loss" because it was never yours. It was never going to be anybody's, so trying to claim that money just comes off a crass.

If you're in a league with a bunch of your friends and they all agree to pay the 1st place winner in the (unlikely) event of recouping their entry fees, then that's a nice story, but don't act like you are entitled to it. They would essentially be saying "hey, we all bought into a fake lottery, but since you pulled the winning number, we'll pay you if/when we get refunded."

 
Young Chuck moved to Montana and bought a horse from a farmer for $100.00. The farmer agreed to deliver the horse the next day. The next Day he drove up and said, "Sorry, Son, but I have some bad news, The horse died."

Chuck replied, "Well, then just give me my money back."

The farmer said, "Can't do that. I went and spent it already."

Chuck said, "Ok, then, just bring me the dead horse."

The farmer asked, "What ya gonna do with him?"

Chuck said, "I'm going to raffle him off."

The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead horse!"

Chuck said, "Sure I can. Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he's dead."

A month later, the farmer met up with Chuck and asked, "What happened With that dead horse?"

Chuck said, "I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars a Piece and made a net profit of $898.00."

The farmer said, "Didn't anyone complain?"

Chuck said, "Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back."
I saw a Dateline or 20/20 a few weeks back about a murder that took place by some Thai kid who was placing bets with another kid acting as his bookie. The bookie was not actually placing the bets. He was keeping the 10-15 grand/bet the Thai kid was wagering and losing. The day came where the Thai kid finally won a big bet, went to the bookie and was told "I forgot to place that bet" and refused to pay the winnings. Thai kid sneaks into his apartment when he is not there, steals the bookies Glock 9mm and caps the bookie and his two buddies when they arrive.

I think that small time bookies pull this all the time. They earn trust by doing small wagers, wait until the big one and then don't place the wager (usually online I assume). If the bettor loses, he never knows the difference. When he wins, bookie says "sorry, I forgot". What is your recourse...filing a police report on your illegal wager? Risk free theft, unless you get shot.
Bad Lieutenant
That was an episode of Forensic Files.

 
by my math -0- assets = -0- recovery.
Mike thinks his non-working FF software platform is worth 600k, because that is what he dumped into it (supposedly). Most of us here believe there is some truth to the story, but it is more likely he spent 200k on the software development and dumped the rest of the lost funds into his poker/baseball gambling addiction.
Well if the latter is true, and if he really is claiming bankruptcy in the courts, he'll just be signing his own criminal warrant.
I'll bet you any amount of $$ the guy never serves one second of jail time.
Right. Who's going to put, or attempt to put him there?

I mean, it's the Shark Pool equivalent to the OJ Trial, but outside of this circle... he's a small time crook who appears (from outside) to have ripped off a bunch of gamblers. And the "crook" part is argumentative.

Here in Utah they may build a statue in his likeness for his contribution to society.

 
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Finally approved to post......

Here's my take from a guy who was taken for 800 this year;

Had I been aware of the status of his software development, I would not have put 800 into Phenoms this year and would have spread it out like I have done in years prior. I would have waited until everything was up and running and in the clear before going all in on his site like I did this year.

He knew before he started setting up 2014 leagues (by his own admission in the first letter) that things were in the red, but still proceeded to take money.

I am now guilty of being an uninformed customer who got taken.

PayPal cannot do any charge backs for me because it is past the 45 day limit (the new 180 day protection deal didnt go into effect until Nov of this year and any transactions made prior are not covered by it) and I used my existing PayPal balance to pay for this years buy ins and not a card. Ironically, the existing balance was from my winnings last year...........

I stand/stood to win about 2100 when news first broke, but when I submit my claim on the filing it will be for the initial 800 spent because, even though I was out of it in several league, I bought a product that was being sold under false pretenses. I wont be claiming the 2100 because there really is no way to know how things would have played out had this news not broke because as several have stated, Owners stopped playing in many cases.

Ultimately, IMO, look at where you were the day the news broke and claim accordingly based on contracting a service that was, in theory, dead in the water at the time of the sale.
No, you are guilty of being an uneducated investor, uneducated meaning you didn't do your homework and kick the rocks on a guy you gave money to that you didn't know.

I'm not trying to pour salt on the wounds here but there is a lesson to be learned here that, unfortunately, doesn't get learned well because it seemingly happens every year to fantasy owners in that you need to demand and expect a legitimate, secure fashion to secure your funds when you are giving them to "some guy on the Internet".

I know I am typing to an audience that, by and large, got swindled and it's ok if you guys get nasty and take it out on me. I know you are frustrated but here's the truth:

You're emotional about this because it is affecting you in a bad way and you are in a room where its "safety in numbers" and it feels a little comforting to be in the same boat and everyone just lash out. So you feel a little like victims who had no chance. But you did have a chance it begins before you ever give strangers money. We have seen this scenario play out over and over and over again in the fantasy community and we (as a group) need to learn from it. KNOW where your money is going and that it is safe.

 
The guys who got hosed are the prize winners. Now...those guys who decided that drafting LaVonn Brazill and Jermichael finley and starting him for 16 weeks are piling in, saying, I want my money back, I got hosed. They are using the bad situation to gleefully restore economic losses that they really did not incur at the expense of the people who truthfully lost $. Guys who have league deposits, etc. Much like funeral thieves do. Now, if they do a chargeback and pay the $ to the prize winners in the league...I don't have a problem with that. But how many of these guys do you honestly believe are going to do that?
If this was indeed fraud, then everyone is a victim, so you should just cool it with the misdirected anger. The money lost is equal to the money put in (entry fees) if there never was a chance to win anything. The prize money for 1st place is not an "economic loss" because it was never yours. It was never going to be anybody's, so trying to claim that money just comes off a crass.

If you're in a league with a bunch of your friends and they all agree to pay the 1st place winner in the (unlikely) event of recouping their entry fees, then that's a nice story, but don't act like you are entitled to it. They would essentially be saying "hey, we all bought into a fake lottery, but since you pulled the winning number, we'll pay you if/when we get refunded."
The court will decide whether it was Phenom's intent to pay out the winnings. With a history of the company doing so, I wouldn't see why it would be different this year. I honestly believe it was not Mike's intent to defraud his customers. Otherwise, he would have just taken the money and ran. Why send any type of communication that would only stir controversy? You take the money and run. And get as far away from the crime scene as possible.

 
Assuming he is filing BK, there is an immediate stay on all collections action. Once you have been notified he has filed, it is then illegal to attempt to collect any debt including proceeding with a lawsuit unless you get a stay from the BK court. It is possible to get a stay if you can prove the debt was obtained through fraud. I am not sure that you could win that point. It is possible to convince the BK court that the debt was caused by fraud or embezzlement, and the court could then refuse to dismiss the debt. The problem then becomes collecting from the LLC which doesn't have enough assets to pay. So in the end, you can spend a lot of money to try to collect, but the only people collecting will be lawyers.

 
Young Chuck moved to Montana and bought a horse from a farmer for $100.00. The farmer agreed to deliver the horse the next day. The next Day he drove up and said, "Sorry, Son, but I have some bad news, The horse died."

Chuck replied, "Well, then just give me my money back."

The farmer said, "Can't do that. I went and spent it already."

Chuck said, "Ok, then, just bring me the dead horse."

The farmer asked, "What ya gonna do with him?"

Chuck said, "I'm going to raffle him off."

The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead horse!"

Chuck said, "Sure I can. Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he's dead."

A month later, the farmer met up with Chuck and asked, "What happened With that dead horse?"

Chuck said, "I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars a Piece and made a net profit of $898.00."

The farmer said, "Didn't anyone complain?"

Chuck said, "Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back."
I saw a Dateline or 20/20 a few weeks back about a murder that took place by some Thai kid who was placing bets with another kid acting as his bookie. The bookie was not actually placing the bets. He was keeping the 10-15 grand/bet the Thai kid was wagering and losing. The day came where the Thai kid finally won a big bet, went to the bookie and was told "I forgot to place that bet" and refused to pay the winnings. Thai kid sneaks into his apartment when he is not there, steals the bookies Glock 9mm and caps the bookie and his two buddies when they arrive.

I think that small time bookies pull this all the time. They earn trust by doing small wagers, wait until the big one and then don't place the wager (usually online I assume). If the bettor loses, he never knows the difference. When he wins, bookie says "sorry, I forgot". What is your recourse...filing a police report on your illegal wager? Risk free theft, unless you get shot.
Bad Lieutenant
That was an episode of Forensic Files.
Yes, you are right. Can't wait to rent Bad Lieutenant though, looks like a fantastic movie.

 
There are 20 pages in this thread on whether or not Mike will have criminal charges. Some think it is a sure thing, I do not believe he will be held criminally liable.

Simple as this: when you own 100% of the shares in a company, you can pay yourself whatever "salary" you want. It is no different than the board of a company paying themselves huge salaries and bonuses for years. Then, one year, the company loses a few million bucks and does not have the cash to cover the expenses and cannot get any more loans. What about the millions of dollars paid out over the last few years to the board members and CEO? Had they not siphoned all the cash out of the corporation, then the business would have had the reserve cash in the bank to make it through the bad year. Instead it likely goes bankrupt and the board members move on to a new job with plenty of money in the bank.

Unfortunately, this is how our democracy is setup. It is also why there should be caps on board/CEO pay. All they are doing is stealing from the business during the good times with no real liability.
That has nothing at all to do with 'how our democracy is setup'. Stick to the football talk and don't bring in things you clearly don't understand.
It is football talk in that it relates directly to the Phenoms incident. Sorry you disagree with the CEO pay thing...I am comfortable in my position.

 
Finally approved to post......

Here's my take from a guy who was taken for 800 this year;

Had I been aware of the status of his software development, I would not have put 800 into Phenoms this year and would have spread it out like I have done in years prior. I would have waited until everything was up and running and in the clear before going all in on his site like I did this year.

He knew before he started setting up 2014 leagues (by his own admission in the first letter) that things were in the red, but still proceeded to take money.

I am now guilty of being an uninformed customer who got taken.

PayPal cannot do any charge backs for me because it is past the 45 day limit (the new 180 day protection deal didnt go into effect until Nov of this year and any transactions made prior are not covered by it) and I used my existing PayPal balance to pay for this years buy ins and not a card. Ironically, the existing balance was from my winnings last year...........

I stand/stood to win about 2100 when news first broke, but when I submit my claim on the filing it will be for the initial 800 spent because, even though I was out of it in several league, I bought a product that was being sold under false pretenses. I wont be claiming the 2100 because there really is no way to know how things would have played out had this news not broke because as several have stated, Owners stopped playing in many cases.

Ultimately, IMO, look at where you were the day the news broke and claim accordingly based on contracting a service that was, in theory, dead in the water at the time of the sale.
No, you are guilty of being an uneducated investor, uneducated meaning you didn't do your homework and kick the rocks on a guy you gave money to that you didn't know.

I'm not trying to pour salt on the wounds here but there is a lesson to be learned here that, unfortunately, doesn't get learned well because it seemingly happens every year to fantasy owners in that you need to demand and expect a legitimate, secure fashion to secure your funds when you are giving them to "some guy on the Internet".

I know I am typing to an audience that, by and large, got swindled and it's ok if you guys get nasty and take it out on me. I know you are frustrated but here's the truth:

You're emotional about this because it is affecting you in a bad way and you are in a room where its "safety in numbers" and it feels a little comforting to be in the same boat and everyone just lash out. So you feel a little like victims who had no chance. But you did have a chance it begins before you ever give strangers money. We have seen this scenario play out over and over and over again in the fantasy community and we (as a group) need to learn from it. KNOW where your money is going and that it is safe.
You basically said the same thing as El If I No

 
Was he even allowed under Utah law to be profiting from this type of activity?
Very good question. Federal law doesn't classify fantasy sports as gambling, but not sure about state law.

The State of Utah is 100% opposed to any form of gambling... and they classify lotteries as gambling.

 
Was he even allowed under Utah law to be profiting from this type of activity?
Very good question. Federal law doesn't classify fantasy sports as gambling, but not sure about state law.

The State of Utah is 100% opposed to any form of gambling... and they classify lotteries as gambling.
Not completely true. There are federal exceptions which allow certain types of fantasy sports activities, but they must meet certain guidelines. Different courts in different states interpret these same laws very different, some allowing this type of activity and others not. Also some states have made up additional rules. Not cut and dry by any means.

 
There are 20 pages in this thread on whether or not Mike will have criminal charges. Some think it is a sure thing, I do not believe he will be held criminally liable.

Simple as this: when you own 100% of the shares in a company, you can pay yourself whatever "salary" you want. It is no different than the board of a company paying themselves huge salaries and bonuses for years. Then, one year, the company loses a few million bucks and does not have the cash to cover the expenses and cannot get any more loans. What about the millions of dollars paid out over the last few years to the board members and CEO? Had they not siphoned all the cash out of the corporation, then the business would have had the reserve cash in the bank to make it through the bad year. Instead it likely goes bankrupt and the board members move on to a new job with plenty of money in the bank.

Unfortunately, this is how our democracy is setup. It is also why there should be caps on board/CEO pay. All they are doing is stealing from the business during the good times with no real liability.
That has nothing at all to do with 'how our democracy is setup'. Stick to the football talk and don't bring in things you clearly don't understand.
It is football talk in that it relates directly to the Phenoms incident. Sorry you disagree with the CEO pay thing...I am comfortable in my position.
I agree...very similar to what the CEO's did when the stock market crashed, filed Bankruptcy then walked away with million dollar bonuses.

 
Finally approved to post......

Here's my take from a guy who was taken for 800 this year;

Had I been aware of the status of his software development, I would not have put 800 into Phenoms this year and would have spread it out like I have done in years prior. I would have waited until everything was up and running and in the clear before going all in on his site like I did this year.

He knew before he started setting up 2014 leagues (by his own admission in the first letter) that things were in the red, but still proceeded to take money.

I am now guilty of being an uninformed customer who got taken.

PayPal cannot do any charge backs for me because it is past the 45 day limit (the new 180 day protection deal didnt go into effect until Nov of this year and any transactions made prior are not covered by it) and I used my existing PayPal balance to pay for this years buy ins and not a card. Ironically, the existing balance was from my winnings last year...........

I stand/stood to win about 2100 when news first broke, but when I submit my claim on the filing it will be for the initial 800 spent because, even though I was out of it in several league, I bought a product that was being sold under false pretenses. I wont be claiming the 2100 because there really is no way to know how things would have played out had this news not broke because as several have stated, Owners stopped playing in many cases.

Ultimately, IMO, look at where you were the day the news broke and claim accordingly based on contracting a service that was, in theory, dead in the water at the time of the sale.
No, you are guilty of being an uneducated investor, uneducated meaning you didn't do your homework and kick the rocks on a guy you gave money to that you didn't know.

I'm not trying to pour salt on the wounds here but there is a lesson to be learned here that, unfortunately, doesn't get learned well because it seemingly happens every year to fantasy owners in that you need to demand and expect a legitimate, secure fashion to secure your funds when you are giving them to "some guy on the Internet".

I know I am typing to an audience that, by and large, got swindled and it's ok if you guys get nasty and take it out on me. I know you are frustrated but here's the truth:

You're emotional about this because it is affecting you in a bad way and you are in a room where its "safety in numbers" and it feels a little comforting to be in the same boat and everyone just lash out. So you feel a little like victims who had no chance. But you did have a chance it begins before you ever give strangers money. We have seen this scenario play out over and over and over again in the fantasy community and we (as a group) need to learn from it. KNOW where your money is going and that it is safe.
Actually, Im not emotional about it and not looking for safety in numbers.

To my original post, I should rephrase from being uninformed, because when I first started play with Phenoms 4 years ago, I did a lot of homework, I should have sated that I became a complacient customer in that I just rolled along without doing any periodic sanity checks......... for me, there are two distinct lessons learned:

1 - use a card in the future indifferent of my paypal balance to provide some level (even if minimal) of protection and insurance

2 - just because it's been going good for a while, I am now reminded that I still need to stop and look once in a while instead of just riding along in cruise.

#2 is what I am guilty of but I also accept that and as much as it'd be nice to have the additional funds for the Holidays if it played out in my favor, I'm not losing anything that will affect my ability to live

I saw/experienced the FanBall crash, the Ant crash, and now the Phenom crash..............

So please, exercise a note of caution on statements of generalization because in many cases they couldn't be further from the truth, and thankz for offering to be a whipping post.......... I sure that there may be a few who might take you up on it

 
Was he even allowed under Utah law to be profiting from this type of activity?
Very good question. Federal law doesn't classify fantasy sports as gambling, but not sure about state law.

The State of Utah is 100% opposed to any form of gambling... and they classify lotteries as gambling.
I found this...not sure what to make of it except that they are very anti gambling

http://www.gamblingonline.com/laws/utah/

Looks like they even have a law for just in case Federal law tries to make any form of gambling legal.

 
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Was he even allowed under Utah law to be profiting from this type of activity?
Very good question. Federal law doesn't classify fantasy sports as gambling, but not sure about state law.

The State of Utah is 100% opposed to any form of gambling... and they classify lotteries as gambling.
Not completely true. There are federal exceptions which allow certain types of fantasy sports activities, but they must meet certain guidelines. Different courts in different states interpret these same laws very different, some allowing this type of activity and others not. Also some states have made up additional rules. Not cut and dry by any means.
It's muddy for sure.

This is why I was curious what the response was to those here that claimed to have spoken to the local police.

 
by my math -0- assets = -0- recovery.
Mike thinks his non-working FF software platform is worth 600k, because that is what he dumped into it (supposedly). Most of us here believe there is some truth to the story, but it is more likely he spent 200k on the software development and dumped the rest of the lost funds into his poker/baseball gambling addiction.
You know he had a gambling addiction? And you also think he blew $400k+ on it? That's quite a leap.

We all agree he ran his leagues well for many years and had a crappy web experience that needed work.

It's not much of a leap to believe him. But it doesn't really matter. We all know it's over and want our money back regardless of the cause.

 
Was he even allowed under Utah law to be profiting from this type of activity?
Very good question. Federal law doesn't classify fantasy sports as gambling, but not sure about state law.

The State of Utah is 100% opposed to any form of gambling... and they classify lotteries as gambling.
Not completely true. There are federal exceptions which allow certain types of fantasy sports activities, but they must meet certain guidelines. Different courts in different states interpret these same laws very different, some allowing this type of activity and others not. Also some states have made up additional rules. Not cut and dry by any means.
It's muddy for sure.

This is why I was curious what the response was to those here that claimed to have spoken to the local police.
if you really want to muddy it up some more, he wasn't selling Fantasy Football, he was selling a facilitation service to bring Fantasy Football Players together........

 
Was he even allowed under Utah law to be profiting from this type of activity?
Very good question. Federal law doesn't classify fantasy sports as gambling, but not sure about state law.

The State of Utah is 100% opposed to any form of gambling... and they classify lotteries as gambling.
I found this...not sure what to make of it except that they are very anti gambling

http://www.gamblingonline.com/laws/utah/

Looks like they even have a law for just in case Federal law tries to make any form of gambling legal.
Yup. They hate the Federal Government too. :yes:

It's a bizarre place to live

 
Just a matter of time before LeagueSafe does the same thing. I remember when this site hid the Antsports thing in the dating game forum or something just so they didn't get that fraud too much exposure.

 
Was he even allowed under Utah law to be profiting from this type of activity?
Very good question. Federal law doesn't classify fantasy sports as gambling, but not sure about state law.

The State of Utah is 100% opposed to any form of gambling... and they classify lotteries as gambling.
Not completely true. There are federal exceptions which allow certain types of fantasy sports activities, but they must meet certain guidelines. Different courts in different states interpret these same laws very different, some allowing this type of activity and others not. Also some states have made up additional rules. Not cut and dry by any means.
It's muddy for sure.

This is why I was curious what the response was to those here that claimed to have spoken to the local police.
if you really want to muddy it up some more, he wasn't selling Fantasy Football, he was selling a facilitation service to bring Fantasy Football Players together........
my thoughts too.

I wasn't in any of these leagues and I am pretty surprised that many people were, kinda crazy if you ask me.

 
Just a matter of time before LeagueSafe does the same thing. I remember when this site hid the Antsports thing in the dating game forum or something just so they didn't get that fraud too much exposure.
doesn't paul carchian run league safe or own it or something? he's on the radio up here all the time, has a weekly four hour fantasy show on a state wide radio station (and he was before leaguesafe came around). Seems like he would have a lot more to lose than this guy.

 
by my math -0- assets = -0- recovery.
Mike thinks his non-working FF software platform is worth 600k, because that is what he dumped into it (supposedly). Most of us here believe there is some truth to the story, but it is more likely he spent 200k on the software development and dumped the rest of the lost funds into his poker/baseball gambling addiction.
You know he had a gambling addiction? And you also think he blew $400k+ on it? That's quite a leap.

We all agree he ran his leagues well for many years and had a crappy web experience that needed work.

It's not much of a leap to believe him. But it doesn't really matter. We all know it's over and want our money back regardless of the cause.
It's known that he was a big gambler, he was very open about it on his twitter account. It's not uncommon for someone to get into a hole and pull money from other places thinking they can get out of it, only to get in deeper.

 
Chemical X said:
i mean, if you cant trust a stranger from the internet to hold over 650k, who can you trust?

oh, he took the money..........hth
You're an #######. Everyone who played Phenoms knowingly accepted the risk associated with entrusting their money to another individual. That doesn't mean that when they are defrauded by that individual we don't have the right to be upset or to try to take legal action to recover that money. Nobody is suggesting that there weren't risks, and nobody is suggesting that this outcome wasn't a possibility from the start. People are just trying to recover what is rightfully theirs. To have you act like we are all fools is really in poor taste, especially when some people posting here have lost thousands of dollars.

 
ILUVBEER99 said:
Also for those complaining about people who didn't cash charging back their CC's please stop.

They entered the leagues under the pretense that they would have a chance to win money, they weren't delivered what they paid for.

Everyone who can should be charging back their CC's. Hate to break it to the "winners" but the odds are you're not getting paid anything. Charge everything you can back, you were scammed and not given the product you paid for.
This is not true. If there are funds to be recovered and split amongst the winners, anyone who lost could potentially have their chargeback taken out of pool of money to pay the winners, screwing them over even more. This of course is all dependent on how much money remains and where it is located, but none of us know right now and won't until more information comes out. If you lost and initiate a chargeback you are stealing from either the winners, paypal, or your credit card company, none of which are acceptable to me.
Disagree…you paid for a competition that would hold funds to payout the winners after 16 weeks. You did not get what you paid/contracted for so you are entitled to a refund.

exactly, people didn't get what they paid for. Everyone should chargeback and do it as soon as possible.
As a loser of the single $100 league that I played in, I think it's pretty clear that the "right" thing to do if I were refunded any money would be to send it to the winners of my league. They aren't at fault for Mike's actions, the league would not have played out any differently if Mike didn't steal the money. They won my money fair and square, and I wouldn't feel right keeping any money refunded to me.

That said, I certainly don't feel obligated to pursue chargebacks or refunds simply to be able to send them that money. There shouldn't be any cost on my time because of Mike's actions. I guess in the end, I feel that the most fair course of action is for me to do nothing.

 
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SCYCPA said:
I would strongly disagree with this.

If someone entered 1 league and finished 12th, that person has no business doing a chargeback or seeking any kind of restitution. That person truly lost nothing because of phenoms'....ummm...situation, let's call it, but rather he lost because of how the contest played out.

Think of it this way....if Mike had not sent that email and simply decided to not pay the winnings....what would be this hypothetical person's losses because of the.....ummm....situation? Exactly, nothing. He paid $50 or $100 or $200 to enter a contest, the contest went off, he lost the contest, and he has zero economic loss caused by the....ummmm....situation.

The integrity or fairness of the contest itself is not in question, therefore I see it as Mike delivered that part of the service to the entire league in 2014. What he did not deliver was the prizes to the prize winners and he did not deliver the 2015 leagues to those who prepaid them. Therefore it is the prize winners and those who prepaid for leagues that did not start at all (e.g. 2015 leagues and deposits) who were affected.

The ONLY people who should be seeking restitution of any form are those that have prepayments for 2015 football/basketball/baseball leagues, those with dynasty/keeper league deposits, those who have unused funds on deposit, and those who have winnings from leagues, since those are the only ones who have a true economic loss. If you have multiple leagues, you should be doing what I did....analyze all the $ paid to Mike and determine which of your leagues fall into each of these areas.

Anyone else who seeks restitution through chargebacks, claims, or anything else, is lower than snail crap, a low-life thief akin to one who scours the obituaries and robs mourners' houses while they are at the funeral.
Is this serious?? You're comparing Mike robbing us to some innocent person who lost family members? You must be trolling.

When you signed up for a league, you paid money for a contest, when you find out that NO ONE, even the winners would receive money, EVERYONE who entered that contest deserves their money back. Period. It does not matter if you were going to win or not. The people who win these leagues are NOT getting their winning money back, they are getting their entry fee back if they file a charge back, so why in the world would the losers not file charge backs? This is the most faulty logic I've seen in this entire discussion. So there are 3 winners in a $100 league that should have payed out a total of $1020, now only 3 people can file chargebacks based on your logic so Mike only has to pay $300 instead of the $1020 that should have been paid?
You completely misunderstand what I am saying.

The issue is on the chargebacks to CC's. The guy who finishes 12th in his league did not...repeat, did not incur any economic loss. He lost his $ whether Mike paid it to the winners, paid it to a software developer, or absconded to Rio de Janeiro with a cocktail waitress in a Dolly Parton wig. Re-read what I said. That hypothetical guy was going to end up with zero whether or not this happened. He got a league set up, he drafted it, he set his lineups, he did waiver claims, made trades, talked smack with his leaguemates, had access to the league for 15 weeks of the season plus whatever in the preseason. He stunk, he lost his $.

The guys who got hosed are the prize winners. Now...those guys who decided that drafting LaVonn Brazill and Jermichael finley and starting him for 16 weeks are piling in, saying, I want my money back, I got hosed. They are using the bad situation to gleefully restore economic losses that they really did not incur at the expense of the people who truthfully lost $. Guys who have league deposits, etc. Much like funeral thieves do. Now, if they do a chargeback and pay the $ to the prize winners in the league...I don't have a problem with that. But how many of these guys do you honestly believe are going to do that?

I'm not saying Mike should only have to pay $300 or whatever to prize winners, not by a long stretch. But I am saying that, unless the league non-prize winners are going to make the prizewinners whole, they need to keep their noses out of it and their mouths shut.

The guys who screwed the hardest in all this are those that have league deposits or have paid for leagues that have not gone off. No one, absolutely no one, on that site should get paid a dime one second before all of those are reimbursed. Those are the guys who truthfully paid for a service and never received it.
no, they got freerolled. they were victims too.

 
Just a matter of time before LeagueSafe does the same thing. I remember when this site hid the Antsports thing in the dating game forum or something just so they didn't get that fraud too much exposure.
doesn't paul carchian run league safe or own it or something? he's on the radio up here all the time, has a weekly four hour fantasy show on a state wide radio station (and he was before leaguesafe came around). Seems like he would have a lot more to lose than this guy.
Someone should call into the radio show and ask him how the funds are secured.

 

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