Jeff Berwick and the Shemitah

Dylan

Jedi
I've been following Mr Berwick's work for only a brief time, since I watched his video about the Shemitah. I'm sure this is on your radar and I'm wondering if there is any substance to what he is suggesting.

http://ca.video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A2KIo9wwHPlVRAIAu7iU7olQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByZWc0dGJtBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQDBGdwb3MDMQ--?p=shemitah&vid=d9b4fe31df2c719cd551f5a6bd60522f&turl=http%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DWN.ndZhfVYlK4cHZerwKhUs3w%26pid%3D15.1%26h%3D168%26w%3D300%26c%3D7%26rs%3D1&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DrkELgi6EkNo&tit=SHEMITAH+EXPOSED%3A+Financial+Crisis+Planned+For+September+2015&c=0&h=168&w=300&l=1659&sigr=11bg19g5o&sigt=11t9ieb39&sigi=12lfakpli&age=1436856756&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Av&fr=iphone&tt=b

I did notice a brief discussion on the forum regarding the subject, and it appears to have been dismissed as a kind of quackery. It interests me to hear your take on this, however, given Mr Berwick's credibility...and the fact that he is running as a libertarian party candidate in Vancouver in Canada's upcoming election.

He describes himself as an anarcho-capitalist and his truth seeking seems to have led him to a similar worldview to that promulgated at SoTT.

I would sincerely enjoy reading any comments and am hoping the members here might indulge my curiosity. I like to use this forum as a fact check, so to speak, before considering...well most anything as having a basis in objective reality.

Thanks.
 
Jeff Berwick has been accused of an alleged passport Ponzi scheme related to Mexican citizenship recently.

Also, his past involvements in BitcoinATM and Galt's Gulch real estate project in Chile appear to be murky. I have not done detailed research. He has been alleged to falsely represent himself as the founder of BitcoinATM on national news outlets. Apparently, both BitcoinATM and Galt's Gulch real estate broke their association with Berwick.

May want to do some research on these topics to get a better idea of the guy's credibility.
 
Well, by whom was he accused? Any links? Is it not a tried and true stratagem to assassinate the character of a person who represents a threat to authoritarian dogma?

As far as his credibility is concerned, I've never personally seen him describe himself as an inventor of bit coin, only an investor. He provides financial advice through a website, the dollar vigilante. https://www.dollarvigilante.com

I always approach people and information with skepticism, so I am open to examining evidence that suggests any malpheasance on his part.

Thanks.
 
Here are some links; like I said before, I have not dug deep to verify the content. But the allegations seem to come from different sources.

Galt's Gulch in Chile
_http://www.galtsgulchchile.com/

Galt's Gulch Chile is an environmentally-focused community, with over 11,000 acres of pristine land in central Chile. First phase subdivisions for our lemon orchards and GGC farm were completed in late 2014. We presently are not offering any future land parcels for sale as we await the outcome of criminal legal actions that we have filed against a Chilean party and a handful of people involved with GGC whom have assisted this party in bringing about significant setbacks to the GGC project as a whole. These setbacks are tied to a blogger, and former promoter of GGC, Jeff Berwick, whom is under investigation in various countries for possible criminal activities. Completion of our subdivisions is being worked on as we address the actions of those listed above. Feel free to contact us for more information.

_http://panampost.com/rebeca-morla/2015/04/29/galts-gulch-chile-resurrects-marred-libertarian-project/
“The restoration of Galt’s Gulch Chile has started!” reads the statement released via Facebook on Friday, April 25.* After over six months of falling off the radar, the development project inspired by Ayn Rand’s dystopian novel Atlas Shrugged appears to be making a comeback, but not without new controversy and grave implications.

In the reboot statement, Galt’s Gulch Chile (GGC) condemns a confrontation and robbery on the property that allegedly took place in October 2014: “a handful of short-sighted and self-serving individuals took illegal possession of the GGC offices, clubhouse, farm and land.” The release asserts the presence of a “small band of thieves” headed by Thomas Baker, “a crooked military cop,” and Edward J. Lashlee, who “was convicted and sentenced to federal prison in 2003 for his role in an $80,000,000 ponzi scheme.”

GGC further claims that Baker and Lashlee — alongside Ken Carpenter, Alison Sherman, Cathy Cuthbert, and Ricardo Oyarzun — stole “accounting, bookkeeping, receipts, invoices and corporate files pertaining to most of 2014.”

Moreover, the unsigned release states that these individuals took computers, hard drives, topography and architecture files, income from six months of farm sales, “and much more.”

“The irony to all of this is that these people, along with Josh Kirley, Jeff Berwick and a few others, refer to themselves as ‘rescuers’ of GGC … much like when an unwanted and unneeded military force invades a foreign country to pillage and destroy for natural resources.”

According to GGC — as they attempt to get the ball rolling again — most of their clients, founding partner Ken Johnson, and “his trusted confidant” Ian Thornton have now reclaimed the land, offices, and some of the stolen items.


Regarding his Bitcoin involvement,

Berwick's version: _https://www.dollarvigilante.com/blog/2013/5/2/my-official-withdrawal-from-the-bitcoinatm-project.html

The CEO of BitCoin apparently "fired" him. The name "Genesis" comes up in connection to BitcoinATM and there was a Genesis fund exposed as a ponzi scheme. One of those convicted in that case was Edward Lashlee, who is referred to as a fellow GGC rescuer along with Berwick. Lashlee's conviction in the scheme is verifiable with justice department indictment on the web.


The latest is Berwick's alleged passport fraud. He apparently promised people Mexican citizenship in quick time. There is apparently a video which indicts Berwick.
_http://beforeitsnews.com/scandals/2015/09/jeff-berwick-exposed-passport-ponzi-scheme-fraud-and-more-2435700.html

A snippet
Bobby Casey, the founder of Global Wealth Protection, is in the investment and residency business. He is quoted here from his article about the video and recently released emails pertaining to Mr. Berwick’s passport scam: _http://us10.campaign-archive1.com/?u=a1af7ec8a9ebd20d1918295bc&id=5fd2a6d82d

“Do your own research. Mexico requires a minimum of 5 years of permanent residency before you can even apply for citizenship. Even then you must be fluent in Spanish and knowledgeable in Mexican history. You are looking at a legal process that takes approximately 7 years, not 6 months or less.

And yet, JB claims that through his high level connections you can expedite the process and get all the required signatures in a matter of weeks. All for the low price of $30,000.

In his own words he claims to have 80-100 clients who have paid for this service. Based on my calculations that is $2.4mm – $3.0mm. And he has not delivered even one passport!!! Let me be clear. If you are obtaining Mexican citizenship and a second passport in this manner, it only comes only one way – bribery.”

In his article written last week about Mr. Berwick and his passport scam, investment and residency advisor, Mr. Nestmann outines the clear and present dangers that are created by Mr. Berwick for his clients and victims. _http://www.nestmann.com/passport-scammer-exposed-in-secret-video#.VeyOrflVikr

“If you’re a US citizen or resident, you could also be subject to prosecution and imprisonment for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. If you bribe, or pay someone to bribe, a foreign official in exchange for some benefit, you could be imprisoned for violating this law. And that’s precisely how this Mexican “program” works.

In addition, every time you use the passport to cross an international border, you’re taking a chance. If border officials somehow learn you got the passport under false pretenses, you could face years in prison. That’s especially true if you use the passport to enter or leave the country that issued it. A few years ago, the same promoter running the Mexican “program” warned that the fake Bulgarian passports he was selling at the time shouldn’t be used to enter or leave Bulgaria.”

..............................

In March of 2012, Mr. Berwick and his wife, Kena Lisette Moreno Lopez, wrongfully accused an innocent man of rape in the town of Cafayate, Argentina. The accusations against the innocent man were dismissed after every testimony from each witness contradicted the testimony of the accuser. The attorneys for the wrongfully accused are investigating possible civil and/or criminal charges against the Berwicks in Argentina. One of the newspaper articles written about this case can be found here: _http://www.elsigloweb.com/nota.php?id=88507
................................

Below, you will find a list of partially, or fully, transcribed statements made by Mr. Berwick in the video. We have highlighted some of the comments in bold.

-The Acapulco program is actually my favorite one. I hope it gets faster, uhhh, now. It is so legitimate, it is almost impossible to see how it cannot be illegitimate. The only thing that goes different is that we just speed it up.

-I didn’t really even know this guy. He promised me he’s like a big guy. I won’t tell you his name, but you can look him up. He’s a congressman in Mexico or something. He knows everybody. He, through connections, said…oh no problem…I will get this done for you in eight days.

-I drank at least five drinks before I met with anybody. I don’t want any sympathy at all. Nothing. I actually stopped drinking after I saw you. I stopped for like three months. I’m not really even drunk right now, but I needed to have a drink before I talked to you.

-Like, at what level are we responsible for things that we are not responsible for, you know what I’m saying?

-Everything is for sale. Everything. (Other person on Skype call: Does that make it legal?) Well, like every single person is for sale.

-If I was going to guess how he was going to do it, he would probably just go to some state, which is like fifty in Mexico, and say, ahhhh, we have this guy and he wants to be naturalized in this state. And they’d give him some money and he’d just stamp (the falsified documents)…and then they’d go to the federal government, the SRE guys, and go ‘he’s naturalized now and he wants a passport’ and they’d go stamp (the falsified documents). That’s really how it is here, like, ahhhh…

-It’s sorta just the way it is, really. I don’t know if this is gonna work…the six week one. I know the Acapulco one works. They just sorta backdate it a little bit.

-The Acapulco program, when it’s done, they will come here and we will go to all of the government offices. It’s like three of them. Fingerprints…and photos…and sign…and they get a passport in about three days.

-I was gonna tell you. We got ahead of ourselves. We overspent because we thought we, by now, would have ten or twenty clients already gone through and none of them have gone through. Ummm. It’s been a terrible couple months. (Overspent client money on your Anarchapulco conference (Feb 2015) that was obtained fraudulently via your passport scam, perhaps?)

-Listen, listen to this, ummm, we already are doing one client through this new six week program. So, we’re going to test that out. Like, this guy is a big guy. Like, I don’t think he will lie to me about this, because his finger prints are gonna be all over this.

-We have some very serious, very big people involved here. There is no way this can get all f#%$ed up like this, ever again. I can’t say anything until I see it. But, we will make sure, for sure, number one, that, uhhh, that the very first thing that we get from him, if we get anything from him, uhhh, that we will vet it out as much as we possibly can. Like, I will personally take it (the illegally obtained passport) right to the office. Like, I know people at the office here. So, I’ll be like, is this (passport) real? Like, look in the computer and is it (passport) no problem? Like, we will make sure of that. Ummm.

-Other person on the Skype call: I have three hundred thousand dollars to find (which Berwick squandered) Berwick: Yeah, I’m about two hundred (thousand dollars), including you. You’re about a hundred and something (thousand dollars), I think…and another hundred (thousand dollars, which Berwick owes to another party they were discussing).

-I’m going to probably make about a hundred thousand in one to two months on an investment that is going public. A marijuana investment. (Berwick made this personal investment with money swindled from passport clients, perhaps?)
 
Wow!

Thanks for the info. He does always seem to have an ulterior motive of self promotion. I wonder if this is all true. Just when you think you have found a source of reliable info...

And this is why I keep coming back here to fact check!

Thanks, obyvatel.
 
I've been subscribed to the TDV site for a while, without paying for anything mind you, and though there seems to be a clear self interest in what he writes, I can't help but feel that Mr. Berwick is genuine in his desire to provide information to people for their own good; an STO type of behaviour. It seems to me that he truly wants to break the enchantment people have with government and status quo financial investments and empower people to prepare for being self reliant both on the spiritual plane and the financial. While I understand this is a typical way that clever financial types can induce Ponzi schemes for their own financial gain, it seems to me, obyvatel, that the message he spreads, while devoid of the work and esoteric philosophy is truly one of service to others.

If we took all of the propaganda spread about the FOTCM crew at face value, we might believe the same malpheasance to be true of the crew here. Yet, I do not see financial advice, which Mr Berwick has a penchant for providing to the end of enabling people to free themselves from being dependant upon the rat race, being proferred here. And one might make similar arguments against the behaviours of the revived church of paleo Christianity as have been levelled against Laura and her team. I am not that one, but I wonder if this clever man, who has expatriated, after noticing the same rot that you folks have is not on a similar path.

Is he a pathological type who seeks to enrich himself, or is he truly after the goals he espouses on his site; to free people from the servitude to the wage slavery in which so many find themselves? Is he on a similar path or is he tripe?
 
Dylan, have you looked at any of the (deactivated) links given above? Have you seen the video where Berwick is speaking ?

For general info, given the publicity of impending economic collapse and the desire to get a "second passport", it could end up as a field day for scams promising passports. So it maybe a good idea to have a glimpse into this world of "expedited second passports" irrespective of whether you are interested in Berwick.

Here is the link to the video where Berwick is talking about this. It is about 12 minutes long.
_http://vimeo.com/135162922

Also note that Berwick has been involved in this "second passport" business in the past. There were reports of his passport agent in Paraguay being busted for fraud. There are a few consumer complaints on the web for this. Here is just one link.
_http://outscam.com/tdv-global-llc-d3

Note, many people who go to such "agents" to get their second passport maybe somewhat aware that it is not a fully legal process. That would impair their ability to come forward with complaints.
 
Dylan said:
He describes himself as an anarcho-capitalist and his truth seeking seems to have led him to a similar worldview to that promulgated at SoTT.
I've watched a little of Jeff Berwick, but probably not enough to give him a fair hearing. Nevertheless, I find Berwick's worldview a bit one-dimensional. According to his libertarian, anarcho-capitalism philosophy, anything that governments do is coercive and bad, and is backed up with the threat of force via the police, IRS, and armies. The perfect world for Berwick is one without any government, where individuals are free to pursue their own goals and best interests, so long as no one else is harmed. This perfect world does sound pretty good, but I wonder if it is a bit of a utopian ideal that is difficult to realize in the real world? It's kind of like he's advocating "Just stop believing that governments have any legitimacy, stop paying taxes, emigrate from the USA, and everything will be fine."

I think his philosophy is a bit too individualistic, i.e. it seems to be about individuals making it big through their own creativity and enterprise. He seems to favour Westerners breaking out of the straight-jackets of their western education and pursuing business opportunities in the wider world, e.g. South America and Mexico. That might work out fine for those individuals, but what about the bigger picture? I.e. is an influx of entrepreneurial westeners running hotels in Mexico going to benefit Mexican peoples? Or is it just colonial expansion all over again?

I think the problem is that Western governments are so bad, that Berwick's anti-government views start making a lot of sense. But I think there is still a good role that governments can play when they are working properly, i.e. government "by the people, for the people".
 
I agree with that take, Mal7. Governments have a role to play and perhaps Jeff Berwick throws the baby out with the bath water, so to speak. I would personally like to see the power of the state held in check to a much bigger degree, and I think that there are legal professionals and lobby groups out there that do a fine job of pursuing that end, but unfortunately true power lies with the state and it's special interests.

The more I learn about Jeff Berwick, the more I am skeptical about his true intentions. I do, however, appreciate the financial advice that he offers, and his prognostications have proven out in the past.

Maybe I have a blind spot for him, maybe he really is scum.
 
Not that i feel this Berwick and his Bullshemitah needs any more attention, but i did feel this Corbett Report interview with him demonstrated just how weak his 'evidence' and argument was. I noticed Berwick looked quite uncomfortable throughout - and smoked hard on his cigarette.

Corbett apparently went to a conference of his the year prior so they were 'friends' and apprently had similar political views - i think it was called anarcho- fest? - but it came across that Corbett won't be going this year because "family", Berwick seemed eager for him to attend.

So whilst i didn't even know about this passport fraud issue, the original Shemita video by Berwick and this interview were enough for me.
Today James is joined by Jeff Berwick of dollarvigilante.com to discuss his viral video "Shemitah Exposed: Financial Crisis Planned For September 2015" and his new book on the subject. They share their views of what the Shemitah is and isn't and discuss the value of promoting this prophecy as a warning for the coming financial chaos.

https://youtu.be/7tAji9t5mMQ
 
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