Con Artist Rob Carbone—The Would-Be Canadian Politician
Connected to many in the controlled opposition
Carbone & bride
Toronto native Rob Carbone first made news in 1991, when the 23-year-old milk distributor married Diana Pessotchinksaia just weeks after meeting her at a local strip joint, where he paid her to dance on his table.
Pessotchinksaia, an18-year-old from Leningrad, and a dozen other women, billed as "Gorby's Girls" and "The Russian Connection", claimed they were lured to Canada in January 1991 by promises of acting and modeling careers, then forced to strip for a living.
Carbone milked his celebrity status from the beginning, inviting the media to cover his April 4, 1991 wedding amd disclosing the news of their breakup "because someone had to come clean about the charade the newlyweds had been acting out before the cameras". Insisting to the press that he'd "never had a real marriage", Carbone conversely maintained he'd married Pessotchinksaia for love not, not to help her gain immigration status.
Carbone spent the days after his breakup bemoaning his lost love to Canadian and United States media, while his former bride spent her nights dancing naked at a Barrie, Ontario strip joint.
It appears "Strippergate" taught Carbone a valuable lesson: people believe impossible things, if you keep repeating them.
In 2019, Carbone reinvented himself as a politico, and the leader of the Republican Party of Canada. Never mind that the "Republican Party of Canada" was never legally registered with Elections Canada, or that Carbone ever seriously raised funds for his political career.
It was just another con job--one of many Carbone has pulled in Canada and here in the United States.
MY BROTHER IN TORONTO CANADA: DAVID DAMANTE AND ROB CARBONE
On March l7, 2014, I introduced David Damante to my readers. A prolific con artist, Damante (who also used the names Robert Damante and David Diamante), Damante began promoting his relationship with Carbone on Facebook and Twitter. In early 2015, I received information about Damante and a scheme he called "Whey2Go" protein powder.
Damante had taken thousands of dollars from his "fiance", a woman he'd convinced to fund his efforts, creat corporate documents and bank accounts, while concealing his secret deep-pocketed convicted felon partner: a Toronto "Sicilian bomber billionaire" named Rob Carbone.
In a June 19, 2015 petition filed by a U. S. Probation Officer (excerpted above) detailing Damante's multiple probation violations related to Damante and his fraudulent Whey2Go scheme, Rob Carbone is identified as one of Damante's "friends".
According to the petition, Carbone had been "supporting the offender financially since his release into the community on or about January 2015."
As late as August 20, 2018 (after Damante's second probation violation), Rob Carbone's name still appears on Damante's "No Contact" list.
"ROB CARBONE BRINGING IT TO YOU LIVE! If YOU EVER NEED A DIVORCE, CALL THE BONESTEIN...AND I PROMISE YOU SHE WILL SIGN."
On November 15, 2010, an arrest warrant issued in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, charged Roberto (Rob) Carbone with "being an alien illegally and unlawfully in the United States" in possession two firearms.
In the video, Carbone states "Rob Carbone bringing it to you live...um, if you ever need a divorce, call the Bonestein." Upon finishing shooting, Carbone stated "and I promise you she will sign."
Carbone slipped back over the border into Canada, eluding arrest until April 12, 2013 when a flight he was on was diverted to San Diego, California. Carbone was arrested, and later plead guilty.
A document filed June 6, 2013 on Carbone's behalf in advance of his Change of Plea hearing acknowledged, but did not detail, Carbone's "criminal history in Canada".
Carbone is barred from entering the United States without "advance legal permission of the United States Attorney General" of his/her representative.
So how does Carbone make his money?
It's clearly not through his phony "Global Investment and Private Financing" firm, London Burke.
A "London Burke Inc." Ontario Business Corporation was created on March 30, 2015, but Carbone does not have a physical location in Toronto.
Although Carbone purports to occupy office space at 23 Bedford Road in Toronto, the property's management company confirmed to me last week that "Rob Carbone does not have office space at 23 Bedford Road, and has never had an office space at that location."
Sounds like he could be a con man.
What do you think?
The True Story of The Fitness Model, Her Muscled-Up Juicehead Husband, The Crooked Chiropractor...and $1.25 Million Dollars
Lea Denee Damante
In January 2009, Robert Buckhannon's Arcanum Equity Fund wired $1,000,000 to a corporation owned by a sleazy Las Vegas character named David Damante. And even though Damante is now in a federal prison serving 41 months for wire fraud, that suspicious $1,000,000 transaction seemed to have slipped below the radar. Miss Fortune examines the case of 'The Fitness Model, her Muscled-Up Juicehead Husband and the Crooked Chiropractor.
On January 23, 2009, David Damante rolled out of bed and padded down the hall of the Henderson, Nevada rental home he shared with his "fitness model" wife Lea Denee. It would turn out to be a great day—a million dollar day, in fact.
That million dollars would come in the form of a wire transfer from Robert Buckhannon’s Arcanum hedge fund. The money has mysteriously "disappeared", and it appears that the "crooked chiropractor" just walked away from his "investment".
Or did he?
DAVE AND LEA
David R. Damante
Damante and his then-wife (they've since divorced) formed a home-based business they modestly called “Changing The Planet LLC” on October 10, 2008. Damante named himself the corporation’s President and Chief Executive Officer. Damante was also the Chief Financial Officer of another Nevada corporation, Sinymante Enterprises LLC (formed on September 25, 2007).
On ActiveRain, a real estate networking site, Damante's profile page (listed under the name "ifundumm") https://activerain.com/profile/ifundumm claimed that he worked as a "Real Estate Mortgage Broker" with Mayflower Mortgage in Las Vegas.
Mayflower was run by Derrick Presley but neither Presley nor his company were licensed as mortgage brokers or mortgage loan originators.
And neither was Damante.
But that didn't stop "ifundumm" from proclaiming (in broken English, apparently):
Our areas of expertise and knowledge are embedded in high end financing including: High rise condos, Casino's, Commercial buildings, Raw land and construction to perm loans as well.. We have fallout contacts with Turnburry Towers, Trump International, and many loft developments. I am also great at retrieving financing for harder to qualify people, and or LLC's.. Our service is never overlooked as well as the Disconcerning Buyer will tell you," Without the loan, There is no home"! As we are a Banker and a Broker we have many resources to finding what the client needs as their expectations!
Oy!
Damante’s partners in Sinymante included Sean Sinykin (left), a California realtor and mortgage broker with a petty theft background and California insurance agent (and future Equity Investment Management and Trading Inc. Ponzi king) William Sassman.
Roughly six months before Damante formed Changing the Planet, Sinykin and Damante had convinced a Henderson realtor, Douglas Johnson, to invest $1,000,000 in a "gold mine deal".
Court records reveal that Damante told Johnson that if he invested the $1,000,000 towards Sinymante’s purchase of an $80 billion dollar gold mine, Damante and Sinymante would reimburse Johnson his million dollars—and kick in an additional $1,000,000 and then cut Johnson in for a percentage of the mining claim.
Damante assured Johnson that he would use his $1,000,000 to form “corporate bonds and other financing instruments” for the mine purchase.
In early August 2008, Damante greased the skids for the Johnson deal by arranging a meeting with a prominent businessman described in court documents only as “SR”. Damante claimed that SR was a Sinymante partner, although that was just part of the con.
On August 14, 2008, Johnson delivered $1,000,000 by interstate wire transfers and a cashier’s check to a Sinymante account controlled by Damante.
Later that day, Damante used nearly $250,000 of Johnson’s money to buy himself a 2006 Ferrari F430 F1. Four days later, on August 18, 2008, Damante plunked down $113,000 to buy another car—a brand new 2009 Mercedes Benz SL550. Damante continued to make cash withdrawals from the Sinymante account, using approximately $88,000 of additional money from Johnson’s investment.
And on August 15, 2008, Damante finally cut his partner, Sean Sinykin, in.
Damante wired nearly $500,000 to Sinykin, who did not use the money to finance the purchase of an $80 billion dollar gold mine.
Court documents reveal that Sean Sinykin used Johnson’s $500,000 for his own personal uses and uses unrelated to the purported gold mine.
In mid-November 2008, Damante allayed Johnson’s suspicions about his “investment”, telling Johnson that he’d used Johnson’s funds for payment of “securities lawyers’ fees, to register the asset, and to pay expenses related to the investment.”
Johnson apparently bought the explanation, and Damante moved into another con, one he called “Changing The Planet”.
(The account with Johnson’s investment, controlled by Damante, was finally closed on November 12, 2009—with $202.09 remaining.)
CHANGING THE PLANET...ONE MILLION DOLLARS AT A TIME
Damante used Changing the Planet to market fraudulent high-yield investments he called “'medium term notes'' through a private placement program.
On January 23, 2009, Robert Buckhannon’s Arcanum Equity Fund wired $1,000,000 of investor money from its Las Vegas Wachovia bank account to a Wells Fargo account controlled by Dave Damante’s Changing The Planet LLC.
And, except for a “personal property” declaration on AEF’s April 9, 2010 bankruptcy claiming a “$1,250,000 Changing The Planet Note”, that’s where the money trail ended.
Or did it?
A couple months later, flush with cash plucked from the pockets of Robert Buckhannon's investors, Damante convinced two Japanese investors, identified in court documents as T. Kokuban and K. Hurota, to invest $2,000,000 in “medium term notes” through Changing The Planet’s “private placement program”. Damante claimed that his proprietary (and non-existent) trading program would yield a return of 25 percent per month over 40 trading weeks.
On March 17, 2009, Damante and Kokuban executed a “Collateral Asset Supply Agreement” establishing Changing The Planet’s obligations and return on Kokuban’s investment. On April 1, 2009, Kokuban and Hurota wired a $2,000,000 United States Treasury Bill from a bank account in New York to Changing The Planet’s Wells Fargo account in Las Vegas—the same account Buckhannon wired $1,000,000 to less than three months before.
Damante made three payments of $125,000 each to Kokuban and Hurota, but failed to make any additional payments due consistent with the “Collateral Asset Supply Agreement”.
But Damante did not place the money into an investment, nor did he use the money as collateral for an investment. Instead, on April 9, 2009, Damante transferred the $2,000,000 (minus fees) to another Wells Fargo Changing the Planet account. After routing the $2,000,000 through several bank accounts, the defendant eventually sent $750,000 to his wife’s personal Bank of America account, and $125,000 to a Changing the Planet Bank of America account.
In addition, the Damante made $344,995.64 in payments to buy cars, and another $44,635.67 to buy a boat. The defendant made a $375,000 payment to middle-man described in court documents as "DO", who helped broker the deal for the purposes of making payments to K.H. under the written agreement. The defendant also made a $25,000 payment to his mother, $165,000 in charitable donations, and withdrew $30,000 in cash from one of his accounts.
David Damante was finally arrested in Scottsdale, Arizona on February 23, 2011, and charged with wire fraud and aiding and abetting.
The indictment alleged that Damante “fraudulently obtained $1 million from one victim and $2 million from two other victims through false representations that the funds would be invested and that the victims would receive substantial profits on their investments.”
Funny, no mention of the $1,000,000 Damante received from Robert Buckhannon’s Arcanum Equity Fund. Wonder why the "crooked chiropractor" didn't even show up in Damante's indictment? And why was that loss ever mentioned during any of Buckhannon's SEC negotiations?
Because Damante resided in Arizona, he was supervised by the United States Probation Office in the District of Arizona. In early October 2011, Pretrial Services for the District of Nevada was informed that Mr. Damante obtained two new financial obligations -- he attempted to purchase a car and was conditionally approved for a $3 million home loan -- without prior approval from Pretrial Services.
An Arizona detective conducted research regarding the home loan. According to the detective, the alleged creator of the pre-approval letter for the home mortgage indicated that she had never met Mr. Damante, and upon reviewing the document, stated that it was a fraudulently created document.
On October 14, 2011, Damante was arrested for violating of Pretrial Services release conditions, and made his initial appearance on that date before Magistrate Judge Burns. Magistrate Judge Burns released Mr. Damante on amended conditions of release. The amended terms of release included all previously imposed conditions of release as set by the District of Nevada as well as an additional term:
Defendant shall not enter into any financial accounts to include bank accounts, money market accounts, stock accounts, credit union accounts, and credit card accounts, and shall also not enter into any financial obligations to include secure transactions, purchase agreements, any financial applications in excess of $1,500, with the exclusion of appropriate legal defense expenditures, without prior notification and approval of Pretrial Services.
But Damante didn't stop.
On October 27, 2011, Damante requested permission from Pretrial Services to attend his father-in-law's funeral. Before granting the request, Pretrial Services requested specific information about Mr. Damante's travel plans. It learned that Mr. Damante would travel to California from October 28, 2011-November 1, 2011 and would stay at the home of Dr. Scott Zawaba, a friend of his. Dr. Zawaba verified Damante’s plan to stay with him during this time period.
Pretrial Services advised Damante that he must return to the District of Arizona no later than 3:30 PM on Wednesday, November 2, 2011, and that he must check-in in person with Pretrial Services at that date and time.
However, on November 2, 2011, Pretrial Services contacted Dr. Zawaba and was informed that Mr. Damante did not stay at his residence while he was in California, nor had he heard from Mr. Damante "since last week." Pretrial Services then contacted Damante’s wife, Lea Denee Damante, who informed Pretrial Services that Damante stayed with her and her mother in Applegate, California all week. Ms. Damante informed Pretrial Services that her husband was on his way back to the District of Arizona.
However, later that day Mr. Damante contacted Pretrial Services and informed that he was in Los Angeles with only $6 in his pocket, and therefore could not make it back to Arizona by 3:30 PM. He then requested that he be allowed to relocate to Laguna Niguel, California for employment purposes.
Pretrial Services requested that Mr. Damante provide the contact information of the friend he planned to live with in California and information regarding his potential employer for verification purposes. However, Damante failed to provide this information to Pretrial Services, so his request for modification of pretrial release was not immediately granted.
On November 2, 2011, Damante appeared telephonically before Magistrate Judge Foley on a Hearing on Defendant's Motion to Modify Conditions of Release. Judge Foley denied Defendant's request. At a November 21, 2011, hearing on Defendant's Motion to Modify Conditions of Release, Judge Foley added several conditions to Mr. Damante's release conditions.
But Damante still didn’t stop conning.
On January 9, 2012, Mr. Damante contacted his supervising officer in the Central District of California and requested permission to obtain a loan for $160,000 "against one of my Ferraris," which had been seized by the government. The request was denied on January 10, 2012. On January 11, 2012, Mr. Damante contacted his supervising officer and indicated that he would like to purchase a home in Newport Beach for $5 million.
He requested permission to obtain this new financial obligation. On January 18, 2012, Mr. Damante's supervision officer contacted him and advised him that his requests to obtain a loan on his seized Ferrari and/or to purchase a home in Newport Beach were both denied. Pretrial Services informed Mr. Damante that his requests were denied because he failed to provide the Office with verification and documentation regarding the financial transactions.
On January 25, 2012, Mr. Damante contacted his supervising officer in California to request permission to open a bank account at US Bank in order to obtain a $2 million loan. When the supervising officer requested the name and contact information of Mr. Damante's friend at US Bank whom would provide him the loan, Mr. Damante became agitated and refused to provide the information. Pretrial Services denied Mr. Damante's loan request. Mr. Damante later requested permission to obtain a $2.5 million loan through Deutsche Bank.
Because of Mr. Damante's several requests to obtain large financial obligations, on February 9, 2012, the Court amended the terms of Mr. Damante's pretrial release, determining that Damante enter into financial transactions in his own true lawful name and must gain approval from the Court, and not Pretrial Services, before entering into any financial obligation over $1,500.
On May 24, 2012, a FBI agent informed Pretrial Services that it had been contacted by a man named Mike Krasowki, Mr. Damante's friend. Krasowski indicated that Damante was in the process of purchasing a home at 33 Vista Montemar, Laguna Niguel for $1.5 million. On June 1, 2012, Mr. Damante's supervising officer in California instructed Mr. Damante to report to Pretrial Services by 4:00 PM to sign the required documents for Pretrial Services to obtain the relevant escrow information, which Mr. Damante had not provided to Pretrial Services. Mr. Damante did not report to the office as instructed.
On June 1, 2012, Pretrial Services submitted a Violation Memorandum to Magistrate Judge Foley and a warrant for Defendant's arrest was issued. Mr. Damante was taken into custody and made an initial appearance on June 8, 2012.
He was subsequently released on an Appearance Bond of $50,000. Magistrate Judge Foley added a further term of release: Defendant must sign a release of financial information form.
On June 13, 2012, Mr. Damante appeared before Magistrate Judge Hoffman for the Initial Appearance on the Revocation of Pretrial Release.
Damante was ordered released on the same conditions as previously imposed pending the Revocation Hearing.
Damante was also ordered to appear before Magistrate Judge Foley on the Revocation Hearing on July 11, 2012. However, Damante failed to appear. A bench warrant was then issued for his arrest.
According to Mr. Damante's supervising officer in California, Mr. Damante traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday July 13, 2012, and self-surrendered to the United States Magistrate Judge on the outstanding warrant. Mr. Damante then appeared before Magistrate Judge Hoffman on July 16, 2012, and was ordered detained pending the Revocation Hearing before Magistrate Judge Foley.
On July 23, 2012, Foley revoked Damante’s pretrial release and ordered him taken into custody, where he remained until he accepted a plea deal on November 11, 2012. Damante pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud.
On February 19, 2014, Damante was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison.
He’s asked that he serve his time in Arizona. (And people in hell want ice water!)
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MILLION DOLLARS ROBERT BUCKHANNON WIRED TO DAMANTE?
It appears that the money just went into Damante's account, and didn't play a role in his federal trial.
However, could Damante have withdrawn the cash, transferred it to another account, or used the cash to start an off-the-books business with Buckhannon?
Yes, each one is possible...and the only ones who know aren't talking.
And what about Lea Denee?
She was not charged in the case, and divorced Damante and moved back to California. Miss Fortune thinks Miss Lea looks strong enough to take care of herself, thank you very much!
"DEATH & LIFE ARE IN THE POWER OF THE TONGUE AND THEY THAT LOVE IT SHALL EAT THE FRUIT": Las Vegas Con Man (& Former Robert Buckhannon Associate) David Damante Hits The Ground Running With A New (Ahem!) Business...And A New Name-Robert Diamanté
“There are no second acts in American lives.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald may have rewritten that famous line from his final novel, The Last Tycoon, if he'd been alive when it was published.
Self-styled "inventor/entrepreneur" David R. Damante, shown in the photo above, is living proof that American lives are full of second acts.
In January 2009, Robert Buckhannon's Arcanum Equity Fund wired $1,000,000 to Saving The Planet LLC, a business owned by Damante. And even though Damante served time in a federal prison for wire fraud, and currently resides in a Las Vegas halfway house located at 2901 Industrial Avenue, he recently started a business selling a product he calls Energy 2Go/Whey 2 Go Protein Powder.
Now using his middle name (Robert), Damante has taken to calling himself "Robert Damante" or even "Robert Diamanté".
Wonder why? Could it be he's trying to conceal his criminal past?
Let's examine just one of the the claims "Whey 2 Go" makes on on its website.
Larded with spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors, Damante's site pitches his protein powder:
That's Right People!.
Top fitness people have taken the sample program and the results have been providen without question that the Energy 2 Go product and surpassed all the compeition and gain the highest reviews in fitness critics today!
Achieved best pricing for a top protein in the market.
Achieved highes results for the categories of health, endurance, fat burning and high energy, .
Largest pre-order sales on market.
Achieved the top shelf on all fitness centers at west coast fitness challenge.
Having spent ten years in New York City working on (among other things) consumer product introductions, I know new product rollouts take time and money.
However, official Nevada corporation records reveal Damante only registered "Whey 2 Go USA Ltd" as a business entity on April 6, 2015.
In addition, a "Robert Damante" registered the company's domain name (whey2gousa.com) on February 24, 2015 using the 2901 Industrial Avenue address as its corporate headquarters location.
Funny, Damante's company shares the same address as the Las Vegas Community Correctional Center.
Run by The GEO Group, Inc. on behalf of the federal Bureau of Prisons, the center provides "transitional services in a supervised environment in order to assist offenders in becoming employed, law-abiding citizens in their respective communities."
It appears to Miss Fortune that Damante is up to his old tricks: selling something that doesn't exist or looking for investors for his "all protien" product. In addition, Damante is likely still scamming fitness models--hitting them up for money or promising "sponsorships".
Damante even goes so far to claim that retail giant Walmart is "on a waiting list" and "making an offer" to expedite shipment of his likely non-existent product.
Miss Fortune has reached out to Walmart's superb Media Relations department with that crazy claim...and will bring you the company's answer as soon as it becomes available.
I'm betting I already know their answer!
If you'd like to read my comprehensive story on Damante's extensive criminal past, click here.
And you can trust Miss Fortune--unlike Damante, I have official federal court documents that confirm everything!
CHANGING THE PLANET: The True Story of The Fitness Model, Her Muscled-Up Juicehead Husband, The Crooked Chiropractor...and $1.25 Million Dollars
Lea Denee Damante
In January 2009, Robert Buckhannon's Arcanum Equity Fund wired $1,000,000 to a corporation owned by a sleazy Las Vegas character named David Damante. And even though Damante is now in a federal prison serving 41 months for wire fraud, that suspicious $1,000,000 transaction seemed to have slipped below the radar. Miss Fortune examines the case of 'The Fitness Model, her Muscled-Up Juicehead Husband and the Crooked Chiropractor.
On January 23, 2009, David Damante rolled out of bed and padded down the hall of the Henderson, Nevada rental home he shared with his "fitness model" wife Lea Denee. It would turn out to be a great day—a million dollar day, in fact.
That million dollars would come in the form of a wire transfer from Robert Buckhannon’s Arcanum hedge fund. The money has mysteriously "disappeared", and it appears that the "crooked chiropractor" just walked away from his "investment".
Or did he?
DAVE AND LEA
David R. Damante
Damante and his then-wife (they've since divorced) formed a home-based business they modestly called “Changing The Planet LLC” on October 10, 2008. Damante named himself the corporation’s President and Chief Executive Officer. Damante was also the Chief Financial Officer of another Nevada corporation, Sinymante Enterprises LLC (formed on September 25, 2007).
On ActiveRain, a real estate networking site, Damante's profile page (listed under the name "ifundumm") claimed that he worked as a "Real Estate Mortgage Broker" with Mayflower Mortgage in Las Vegas.
Mayflower was run by Derrick Presley but neither Presley nor his company were licensed as mortgage brokers or mortgage loan originators.
And neither was Damante.
But that didn't stop "ifundumm" from proclaiming (in broken English, apparently):
Our areas of expertise and knowledge are embedded in high end financing including: High rise condos, Casino's, Commerical buildings, Raw land and construction to perm loans as well.. We have fallout contacts with Turnburry Towers, Trump International, and many loft devolpments. I am also great at retrieving financing for harder to qualify people, and or LLC's.. Our srevice is never overlooked as well as the Disconcerning Buyer will tell you," Without the loan,There is no home"! As we are a Banker and a Broker we have many resources to finding what the client needs as their expectations!
Oy!
Damante’s partners in Sinymante included Sean Sinykin (left), a California realtor and mortgage broker with a petty theft background and California insurance agent (and future Equity Investment Management and Trading Inc. Ponzi king) William Sassman.
Roughly six months before Damante formed Changing the Planet, Sinykin and Damante had convinced a Henderson realtor, Douglas Johnson, to invest $1,000,000 in a "gold mine deal".
Court records reveal that Damante told Johnson that if he invested the $1,000,000 towards Sinymante’s purchase of an $80 billion dollar gold mine, Damante and Sinymante would reimburse Johnson his million dollars—and kick in an additional $1,000,000 and then cut Johnson in for a percentage of the mining claim.
Damante assured Johnson that he would use his $1,000,000 to form “corporate bonds and other financing instruments” for the mine purchase.
In early August 2008, Damante greased the skids for the Johnson deal by arranging a meeting with a prominent businessman described in court documents only as “SR”. Damante claimed that SR was a Sinymante partner, although that was just part of the con.
On August 14, 2008, Johnson delivered $1,000,000 by interstate wire transfers and a cashier’s check to a Sinymante account controlled by Damante.
Later that day, Damante used nearly $250,000 of Johnson’s money to buy himself a 2006 Ferrari F430 F1. Four days later, on August 18, 2008, Damante plunked down $113,000 to buy another car—a brand new 2009 Mercedes Benz SL550. Damante continued to make cash withdrawals from the Sinymante account, using approximately $88,000 of additional money from Johnson’s investment.
And on August 15, 2008, Damante finally cut his partner, Sean Sinykin, in.
Damante wired nearly $500,000 to Sinykin, who did not use the money to finance the purchase of an $80 billion dollar gold mine.
Court documents reveal that Sean Sinykin used Johnson’s $500,000 for his own personal uses and uses unrelated to the purported gold mine.
In mid-November 2008, Damante allayed Johnson’s suspicions about his “investment”, telling Johnson that he’d used Johnson’s funds for payment of “securities lawyers’ fees, to register the asset, and to pay expenses related to the investment.”
Johnson apparently bought the explanation, and Damante moved into another con, one he called “Changing The Planet”.
(The account with Johnson’s investment, controlled by Damante, was finally closed on November 12, 2009—with $202.09 remaining.)
CHANGING THE PLANET...ONE MILLION DOLLARS AT A TIME
Damante used Changing the Planet to market fraudulent high-yield investments he called “'medium term notes'' through a private placement program.
On January 23, 2009, Robert Buckhannon’s Arcanum Equity Fund wired $1,000,000 of investor money from its Las Vegas Wachovia bank account to a Wells Fargo account controlled by Dave Damante’s Changing The Planet LLC.
And, except for a “personal property” declaration on AEF’s April 9, 2010 bankruptcy claiming a “$1,250,000 Changing The Planet Note”, that’s where the money trail ended.
Or did it?
A couple months later, flush with cash plucked from the pockets of Robert Buckhannon's investors, Damante convinced two Japanese investors, identified in court documents as T. Kokuban and K. Hurota, to invest $2,000,000 in “medium term notes” through Changing The Planet’s “private placement program”. Damante claimed that his proprietary (and non-existent) trading program would yield a return of 25 percent per month over 40 trading weeks.
On March 17, 2009, Damante and Kokuban executed a “Collateral Asset Supply Agreement” establishing Changing The Planet’s obligations and return on Kokuban’s investment. On April 1, 2009, Kokuban and Hurota wired a $2,000,000 United States Treasury Bill from a bank account in New York to Changing The Planet’s Wells Fargo account in Las Vegas—the same account Buckhannon wired $1,000,000 to less than three months before.
Damante made three payments of $125,000 each to Kokuban and Hurota, but failed to make any additional payments due consistent with the “Collateral Asset Supply Agreement”.
But Damante did not place the money into an investment, nor did he use the money as collateral for an investment. Instead, on April 9, 2009, Damante transferred the $2,000,000 (minus fees) to another Wells Fargo Changing the Planet account. After routing the $2,000,000 through several bank accounts, the defendant eventually sent $750,000 to his wife’s personal Bank of America account, and $125,000 to a Changing the Planet Bank of America account.
In addition, the Damante made $344,995.64 in payments to buy cars, and another $44,635.67 to buy a boat. The defendant made a $375,000 payment to middle-man described in court documents as "DO", who helped broker the deal for the purposes of making payments to K.H. under the written agreement. The defendant also made a $25,000 payment to his mother, $165,000 in charitable donations, and withdrew $30,000 in cash from one of his accounts.
David Damante was finally arrested in Scottsdale, Arizona on February 23, 2011, and charged with wire fraud and aiding and abetting.
The indictment alleged that Damante “fraudulently obtained $1 million from one victim and $2 million from two other victims through false representations that the funds would be invested and that the victims would receive substantial profits on their investments.”
Funny, no mention of the $1,000,000 Damante received from Robert Buckhannon’s Arcanum Equity Fund. Wonder why the "crooked chiropractor" didn't even show up in Damante's indictment? And why was that loss ever mentioned during any of Buckhannon's SEC negotiations?
Because Damante resided in Arizona, he was supervised by the United States Probation Office in the District of Arizona. In early October 2011, Pretrial Services for the District of Nevada was informed that Mr. Damante obtained two new financial obligations -- he attempted to purchase a car and was conditionally approved for a $3 million home loan -- without prior approval from Pretrial Services.
An Arizona detective conducted research regarding the home loan. According to the detective, the alleged creator of the pre-approval letter for the home mortgage indicated that she had never met Mr. Damante, and upon reviewing the document, stated that it was a fraudulently created document.
On October 14, 2011, Damante was arrested for violating of Pretrial Services release conditions, and made his initial appearance on that date before Magistrate Judge Burns. Magistrate Judge Burns released Mr. Damante on amended conditions of release. The amended terms of release included all previously imposed conditions of release as set by the District of Nevada as well as an additional term:
Defendant shall not enter into any financial accounts to include bank accounts, money market accounts, stock accounts, credit union accounts, and credit card accounts, and shall also not enter into any financial obligations to include secure transactions, purchase agreements, any financial applications in excess of $1,500, with the exclusion of appropriate legal defense expenditures, without prior notification and approval of Pretrial Services.
But Damante didn't stop.
On October 27, 2011, Damante requested permission from Pretrial Services to attend his father-in-law's funeral. Before granting the request, Pretrial Services requested specific information about Mr. Damante's travel plans. It learned that Mr. Damante would travel to California from October 28, 2011-November 1, 2011 and would stay at the home of Dr. Scott Zawaba, a friend of his. Dr. Zawaba verified Damante’s plan to stay with him during this time period.
Pretrial Services advised Damante that he must return to the District of Arizona no later than 3:30 PM on Wednesday, November 2, 2011, and that he must check-in in person with Pretrial Services at that date and time.
However, on November 2, 2011, Pretrial Services contacted Dr. Zawaba and was informed that Mr. Damante did not stay at his residence while he was in California, nor had he heard from Mr. Damante "since last week." Pretrial Services then contacted Damante’s wife, Lea Denee Damante, who informed Pretrial Services that Damante stayed with her and her mother in Applegate, California all week. Ms. Damante informed Pretrial Services that her husband was on his way back to the District of Arizona.
However, later that day Mr. Damante contacted Pretrial Services and informed that he was in Los Angeles with only $6 in his pocket, and therefore could not make it back to Arizona by 3:30 PM. He then requested that he be allowed to relocate to Laguna Niguel, California for employment purposes.
Pretrial Services requested that Mr. Damante provide the contact information of the friend he planned to live with in California and information regarding his potential employer for verification purposes. However, Damante failed to provide this information to Pretrial Services, so his request for modification of pretrial release was not immediately granted.
On November 2, 2011, Damante appeared telephonically before Magistrate Judge Foley on a Hearing on Defendant's Motion to Modify Conditions of Release. Judge Foley denied Defendant's request. At a November 21, 2011, hearing on Defendant's Motion to Modify Conditions of Release, Judge Foley added several conditions to Mr. Damante's release conditions.
But Damante still didn’t stop conning.
On January 9, 2012, Mr. Damante contacted his supervising officer in the Central District of California and requested permission to obtain a loan for $160,000 "against one of my Ferraris," which had been seized by the government. The request was denied on January 10, 2012. On January 11, 2012, Mr. Damante contacted his supervising officer and indicated that he would like to purchase a home in Newport Beach for $5 million.
He requested permission to obtain this new financial obligation. On January 18, 2012, Mr. Damante's supervision officer contacted him and advised him that his requests to obtain a loan on his seized Ferrari and/or to purchase a home in Newport Beach were both denied. Pretrial Services informed Mr. Damante that his requests were denied because he failed to provide the Office with verification and documentation regarding the financial transactions.
On January 25, 2012, Mr. Damante contacted his supervising officer in California to request permission to open a bank account at US Bank in order to obtain a $2 million loan. When the supervising officer requested the name and contact information of Mr. Damante's friend at US Bank whom would provide him the loan, Mr. Damante became agitated and refused to provide the information. Pretrial Services denied Mr. Damante's loan request. Mr. Damante later requested permission to obtain a $2.5 million loan through Deutsche Bank.
Because of Mr. Damante's several requests to obtain large financial obligations, on February 9, 2012, the Court amended the terms of Mr. Damante's pretrial release, determining that Damante enter into financial transactions in his own true lawful name and must gain approval from the Court, and not Pretrial Services, before entering into any financial obligation over $1,500.
On May 24, 2012, a FBI agent informed Pretrial Services that it had been contacted by a man named Mike Krasowki, Mr. Damante's friend. Krasowski indicated that Damante was in the process of purchasing a home at 33 Vista Montemar, Laguna Niguel for $1.5 million. On June 1, 2012, Mr. Damante's supervising officer in California instructed Mr. Damante to report to Pretrial Services by 4:00 PM to sign the required documents for Pretrial Services to obtain the relevant escrow information, which Mr. Damante had not provided to Pretrial Services. Mr. Damante did not report to the office as instructed.
On June 1, 2012, Pretrial Services submitted a Violation Memorandum to Magistrate Judge Foley and a warrant for Defendant's arrest was issued. Mr. Damante was taken into custody and made an initial appearance on June 8, 2012.
He was subsequently released on an Appearance Bond of $50,000. Magistrate Judge Foley added a further term of release: Defendant must sign a release of financial information form.
On June 13, 2012, Mr. Damante appeared before Magistrate Judge Hoffman for the Initial Appearance on the Revocation of Pretrial Release.
Damante was ordered released on the same conditions as previously imposed pending the Revocation Hearing.
Damante was also ordered to appear before Magistrate Judge Foley on the Revocation Hearing on July 11, 2012. However, Damante failed to appear. A bench warrant was then issued for his arrest.
According to Mr. Damante's supervising officer in California, Mr. Damante traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday July 13, 2012, and self-surrendered to the United States Magistrate Judge on the outstanding warrant. Mr. Damante then appeared before Magistrate Judge Hoffman on July 16, 2012, and was ordered detained pending the Revocation Hearing before Magistrate Judge Foley.
On July 23, 2012, Foley revoked Damante’s pretrial release and ordered him taken into custody, where he remained until he accepted a plea deal on November 11, 2012. Damante pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud.
On February 19, 2014, Damante was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison.
He’s asked that he serve his time in Arizona. (And people in hell want ice water!)
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MILLION DOLLARS ROBERT BUCKHANNON WIRED TO DAMANTE?
It appears that the money just went into Damante's account, and didn't play a role in his federal trial.
However, could Damante have withdrawn the cash, transferred it to another account, or used the cash to start an off-the-books business with Buckhannon?
Yes, each one is possible...and the only ones who know aren't talking.
And what about Lea Denee?
She was not charged in the case, and divorced Damante and moved back to California. Miss Fortune thinks Miss Lea looks strong enough to take care of herself, thank you very much!
Is The Republican Party of Canada a Fake Political Party?
Since the early days of the pandemic all of Canada’s traditional parties have been supportive of cracking down on the rights of Canadians in order to curb the spread of COVID 19; on the other hand, the alternative parties such as the Libertarian Party, the PPC, and the Maverick Party have been very vocal of their opposition to such measures.
Though, one party has stood out in particular as a new face on the political stage, the Republican Party of Canada (RPC). RPC leader Rob Carbone, a self-implied “billionaire” despite little evidence to this fact, introduced Canadians to the Republican Party, and largely himself, during the 2019 federal election.
At the time it appeared to be just another small party from Canada’s right-wing, dissatisfied with the Conservatives move to the left; yet, over the months, as the lockdowns went on, their presence in certain online political circles seemed to be growing but some issues seemed to be coming to the surface.
Despite never registering his party or running as a candidate in the 2019 election, Carbone did attempt to get his name out there and accepted donations for his political aspirations. He set up a website and began campaigning as if he was an independent candidate, despite also trying to recruit supporters to a political party and recruit additional candidates.
Photo from Sean Craig’s posting of Rob Carbone’s 2019 campaign material on Twitter.
Carbone often portrayed himself as on the level of federal political leaders like Justin Trudeau who could become Prime Minister while being an independent who never even ran. It also is rather strange that as an independent “candidate” (who has yet to run for office) he runs Facebook ads all over Canada when logic would suggest he should target them to the riding he wants to run in.
There is currently an exodus from the traditional parties in Canada, and as such the alternative parties have seen significant growth, which will only continue as the pandemic rages on and Canadians become more dissatisfied with the mistakes their leadership has made. It appears that the Republican Party of Canada, and Mr. Carbone, are looking to capitalize on this situation in order to become a real presence in Canada.
Carbone has been trying to craft his public persona for decades now with mixed success. Prior to starting his political “career”, he tried to sell himself as a successful businessman making all kinds of big-money deals, with very little details regarding what, how, or with whom these deals were made.
Rob Carbone in a live stream with anti-lockdown activist Chris Sky. (Screenshot from video on the Republican Party of Canada’s Facebook page)
The address listed for his company London Burke Inc. is in an office building at 23 Bedford Road, in Toronto. This fairly run-of-the-mill area of Toronto seems a strange choice for a man running a business that apparently can give out hundreds of millions in private loans. Some online sources state they’ve been able to contact the property owners and have confirmed that Carbone does not have, and never has had, office space at 23 Bedford Road; although I was unable to reach anyone for comment.
Prior to this, not much is known regarding Carbone, other than some news back in the early 90s when he was reportedly found to be part of a group of men caught up in a scheme to marry off Soviet strippers so they could immigrate to Canada.
Upon starting on his political path Carbone apparently wiped all information off of the website for London Burke Inc, claiming that this was to protect himself from “TROLLS and the Radical Left”. Other than the contact form, there is only one page on the entire site, with the words “Billionaires Only” at the top, and the statement screen-captured below.
Despite his current attempts to paint himself as Canada’s Donald Trump, going so far as to use the slogan “Make Canada Great Again” and photoshopping himself with Trump in ads, it doesn’t appear that Carbone actually holds any positions that would be in line with his party’s American counterpart.
In 2018 Rob Carbone announced he would be starting the Progressive Party, a party that would be looking to provide Canadians with free Wi-Fi, vaccinate all pets, protect unions, strengthen the Canadian military, including the intelligence service (CSIS), and provide all ATMs in the country with 24-hour armed security.
In 2019 the party was relaunched as the Republican Party of Canada, yet the policies remained in line with a far more progressive party than the American Republican Party, with whom Carbone is looking to build an appearance of association.
By definition, a republic is a state which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch, yet the RPC states they do not oppose the monarchy:
CARBONE will be running for Prime Minister of Canada, at which time he will announce his new political party, the Republican Party of Canada. CARBONE has no plans to abolish the British Monarchy.
The RPC platform also includes free tuition, universal daycare, as well as covering all medical and vaccination costs for pets, they wish to enhance the state-funded health care system, provide dental care, increase the old age security (OAS) pension and cover all health-related costs to seniors.
Screenshot of the “Coalition” section of RobCarbone.com
Other than being vocal against the lockdowns, which has been painted as a far-right position, it appears as though the Republican Party of Canada platform is a confusing mixture of mostly left-wing and some right-wing policy positions.
In a now-deleted Facebook post on Monday, the Republican Party of Canada page attacked members of the End the Lockdown Caucus, Maxime Bernier, Derek Sloan, Randy Hillier, and others, as parliamentarians and not Republicans. A statement which is strange seeing as anyone who knows the political landscape would understand that those two things aren't mutually exclusive; there is such a system as a parliamentary republic.
It seems strange for the RPC to attack supposedly like-minded, right-wing, anti-lockdown individuals as not republican enough when it’s clear that the party and its leader don’t understand or support republicanism themselves.
Following this post, many of those who were following the RPC page on Facebook took to the comment section to voice their displeasure with the division being created among Canadians who need to work together now more than ever, at which point the post was deleted.
A message followed this decision:
Another statement that was met with backlash from supporters, as a party with supposedly “Republican” values began censoring those who had been voicing their displeasure with the party. This was not simply the work of the admins, but Carbone himself.
Once again he cited “trolls” as a major concern of his, which seems like something he perceives as a large issue in his life, but based on the comment section of the posts prior to their deletion it appears as though Carbone is simply shutting down criticism. A move that was widely criticized as going against the values the party claims to seek to uphold.
It appears as though Rob Carbone is simply attempting to use whatever means he can to cultivate his image. The lavish businessman never caught on, he clearly couldn’t find room to edge his way into the already over-represented Canadian left wing with the “Progressive Party”, and has now pivoted all the way in the other direction and began marketing to the political right.
Carbone implying that he and the RPC are in a position to removed Trudeau from office despite not being a real registered party in Canada and having no affiliated independent candidates to put himself in a position to become prime Minister.
Carbone seems to be simply attempting to associate himself with the Trump phenomena, which many Canadians have taken to, along with the anti-lockdown movement to obfuscate his true positions. The Republican Party of Canada at this point seems to not resemble a real political party in any way outside of the collecting of donations (during the 2019 election), sales of branded merchandise, and gathering of people’s contact information.
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