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Thread: Business Partner is Sketching me out...possible illegal activity...what to do?

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    Featured Member Odette's Avatar
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    Default Business Partner is Sketching me out...possible illegal activity...what to do?

    So I've been working on a start up for over a year now, and for a while I've been debating getting out of it because my partners are slow at getting things done and seemingly don't like money...they refuse to follow a lot of my advice and go after larger orders for our product, instead wanting to make smaller, individualised sales which generate us little to no profit. I've been questioning their intelligence for a while, but one guy in particular, I've been thinking now might be kind of sketchy. The dude spends money like it's water and I don't understand where it is coming from, and it's starting to concern me that he might be involved in questionable activities. He has had one legitimate business for a while, and while he is successful, the amount of money he spends is baffling...house, new car, new condo, second home in Europe, fancy furniture and decorations, the list goes on. Second red flag is that he is travelling all over the world every month or two. England, Spain, Italy, Dubai, Mexico, LA, etc. And I'm just sitting here like...how? Finally, this guy owns a "share" in a bar, and when I asked our other partner about the rich one and how he makes his money, his answer is "I don't know, I see the cash cut he gets every night at the bar...but other than that I don't know." Every night? What kind of business gives out profit shares on a daily basis and in cash if there is no sketch factor? I don't know many other people who get cash daily other than adult industry workers, servers, and drug dealers/other shady businesspeople. Most business that operate on commission/percentage of sales payout will payout monthly or bi-weekly following monthly financial reports. It finally hit me today that maybe this rich guy is not a complete fucking idiot, but in fact a pretty smart criminal and has other purposes for this business other than making legitimate profits. It could be as simple as a means to claim tax losses, or maybe something more complicated like money laundering for illegal profits from??? I don't even want to know. I think something isn't adding up, and it's making me pretty uncomfortable. I don't want to come out and just accuse anyone of anything because I don't know this rich partner very well and I think it good life policy to not piss off ambiguously rich people...also I could be wrong. But start-ups and small businesses are always prime targets for this kind of activity. Am I being super paranoid or does anyone else smell some bullshit too? I don't want to be involved in any shady businesses...that I am part owner of...working for a shady club is one thing because you're an independent contractor but this could get really messy if my hunch is right. Thank god I haven't signed any ownership/partnership agreements with them yet.
    "We can't expect you to just know all the secrets of our top-secret-titty-club!" --Jenna Marbles

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    Default Re: Business Partner is Sketching me out...possible illegal activity...what to do?

    Basic rule of business transparency:

    Does the business serve an "above the law client" like DoD or Intel? Then don't worry about it. In ALL other businesses the lack of transparency has a direct inverse correlation to success. Perhaps not in the short term, but always in the end.

    2nd rule of business:

    If it seems shady, it is. Do yourself a favor and gently extricate yourself. Announce you are going back to school part time and will have less time. Any real partner or employer would be happy for you. JMHO.

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    Default Re: Business Partner is Sketching me out...possible illegal activity...what to do?

    I'd leave. In some states you'd already have worries since you have associations already IF they are trafficking illegally (drugs, humans, etc..) My neighbor in my hometown served time for helping to traffic smallish amounts of drugs....He got the book thrown at him.

    Also...what is it about you that would make people like that want you to be part of the business? I'm sure they "looked into you" as a person before they approached you. Gangsters and hustlers are the kings & queens of not wasting any moves. What is their angle with you...?

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    Featured Member Odette's Avatar
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    Default Re: Business Partner is Sketching me out...possible illegal activity...what to do?

    ^That's exactly what concerns me. I don't want to be associated with shady people outside of hustling them at the club for lapdances. My vanilla career is something I want squeaky-clean, and I have no desire to be a part of any level of illegal anything. As for an angle I don't know what you mean for sure but I really have no idea...they know that I have a large student loan and have wanted to own a business in the field forever. Maybe they think I'd "look the other way" for those reasons? In which case they'd be wrong because I have my dancing career to finance those. Who the hell knows though.
    "We can't expect you to just know all the secrets of our top-secret-titty-club!" --Jenna Marbles

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    Thumbs down Re: Business Partner is Sketching me out...possible illegal activity...what to do?

    Quote Originally Posted by Odette View Post
    So I've been working on a start up for over a year now, and for a while I've been debating getting out of it because my partners are slow at getting things done and seemingly don't like money...they refuse to follow a lot of my advice and go after larger orders for our product, instead wanting to make smaller, individualised sales which generate us little to no profit. I've been questioning their intelligence for a while, but one guy in particular, I've been thinking now might be kind of sketchy. The dude spends money like it's water and I don't understand where it is coming from, and it's starting to concern me that he might be involved in questionable activities. He has had one legitimate business for a while, and while he is successful, the amount of money he spends is baffling...house, new car, new condo, second home in Europe, fancy furniture and decorations, the list goes on. Second red flag is that he is travelling all over the world every month or two. England, Spain, Italy, Dubai, Mexico, LA, etc. And I'm just sitting here like...how? Finally, this guy owns a "share" in a bar, and when I asked our other partner about the rich one and how he makes his money, his answer is "I don't know, I see the cash cut he gets every night at the bar...but other than that I don't know." Every night? What kind of business gives out profit shares on a daily basis and in cash if there is no sketch factor? I don't know many other people who get cash daily other than adult industry workers, servers, and drug dealers/other shady businesspeople. Most business that operate on commission/percentage of sales payout will payout monthly or bi-weekly following monthly financial reports. It finally hit me today that maybe this rich guy is not a complete fucking idiot, but in fact a pretty smart criminal and has other purposes for this business other than making legitimate profits. It could be as simple as a means to claim tax losses, or maybe something more complicated like money laundering for illegal profits from??? I don't even want to know. I think something isn't adding up, and it's making me pretty uncomfortable. I don't want to come out and just accuse anyone of anything because I don't know this rich partner very well and I think it good life policy to not piss off ambiguously rich people...also I could be wrong. But start-ups and small businesses are always prime targets for this kind of activity. Am I being super paranoid or does anyone else smell some bullshit too? I don't want to be involved in any shady businesses...that I am part owner of...working for a shady club is one thing because you're an independent contractor but this could get really messy if my hunch is right. Thank god I haven't signed any ownership/partnership agreements with them yet.
    I'd totally GTFO, ASAP if I were you..as suggested, don't let on you know or are suspicious. Not that I'm an expert here, but that's my take. Good Luck.


    MANY MEN WANTED TO LAY ME DOWN, BUT FEW WANTED TO LIFT ME UP

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    Default Re: Business Partner is Sketching me out...possible illegal activity...what to do?

    Is there any way I can try and find out if these worries have a real basis? I'd hate to be wrong and burn bridges and piss people off.
    "We can't expect you to just know all the secrets of our top-secret-titty-club!" --Jenna Marbles

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    Default Re: Business Partner is Sketching me out...possible illegal activity...what to do?

    Quote Originally Posted by Odette View Post
    ^That's exactly what concerns me. I don't want to be associated with shady people outside of hustling them at the club for lapdances. My vanilla career is something I want squeaky-clean, and I have no desire to be a part of any level of illegal anything. As for an angle I don't know what you mean for sure but I really have no idea...they know that I have a large student loan and have wanted to own a business in the field forever. Maybe they think I'd "look the other way" for those reasons? In which case they'd be wrong because I have my dancing career to finance those. Who the hell knows though.
    Yeah student loan debt is the perfect way to reel in someone who is "straight" but maybe situationally greedy. Rich guys are scared of having hood girls around them b/c they figure one of them will get "smart" and set up robberies, etc. If you have a "squeaky clean" background they might have brought you in b/c ...well, no headaches for them.

    Can you afford to hire a PI?

    I have sooo many stories of how I found out I needed to bail on certain employers...Basically if you don't feel good about something, pay attention to your gut feeling...

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    Default Re: Business Partner is Sketching me out...possible illegal activity...what to do?

    Is it possible that he comes from money, so his personal earnings are somewhat irrelevant to his financial situation? Alternatively, he could be in massive debt, especially credit card debt with all the travel he's doing. That said, you'd a smart girl and if you've got a bad gut feeling, there's probably something to it. From what I recall, he hasn't exactly been an ideal business partner with the shadiness aside, so maybe it's for the best to slowly phase out from the partnership? Like, I feel that you've constantly had to push to get things done, so if you stopped doing that, maybe nothing would happen and it would just all fizzle.

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    Default Re: Business Partner is Sketching me out...possible illegal activity...what to do?

    please stay out. I'm still owed thousands from walking out of a shady situation. I'll take it-just glad not to be in federal prison, where I could have landed by association. PLEASE be careful!
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    Close contact, for an hour, for $40? And I guess I'll have to make conversation with them too?

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    Default Re: Business Partner is Sketching me out...possible illegal activity...what to do?

    At this point the business is not worth enough to me to warrent investing in a PI...I've mostly just invested time at this point and the (lack of) profits vs time investment given the current structure (that I have advised against repeatedly)...I don't even know if I want to invest anymore of my time, let alone funds, however, I've been doing my own digging today.

    I talked to one of my oldest friends who knows both of my partners, and got some more info. Basically the rich dude is not so rich (his family is not well-off...that's what I was thinking the first year or so that I knew him but it became clear from various social media posts over time that he is self-made). He does have a lot of debt. But he is also frauding the gov't with the other legitimate businesses he owns...most of what he owns is apparently under the names of various businesses, allowing him to claim large expenses and losses for non-business related expenditures essentially combined with a lot of under the table earnings. These other two business partners were fighting in the last couple months and that's how she found out. She also mentioned when I asked that she could see it being a possibility that the illegal activity doesn't stop there. Doesn't know for sure at all, anything more is being kept super hush hush, but that's enough to confirm that he's involved in sketchiness at least on some level. She advised that I restructure profits from them in a way so that I wouldn't be legally tied to the business if I want to move forward, instead of a % ownership, be a contractor for my various duties.

    I have a couple other start ups I have begun working on recently so it's seeming like it's best to just cut my losses with this company because my hourly contracting rate is...fine, but in order to justify me taking the time away from my other job and dancing, I would prefer to be investing my time in something with the potential to grow...given the lack of progress in the first year, and this confirmed sketchy behaviour, my time is probably best spent elsewhere...it's a real shame to give up on all that time investment...I suppose I could price my contracts so that it's more worth my time investment and explain that since I am no longer willing to be a partner that is why...but my involvement will be short term as they will either most likely contract out somewhere else cheaper or just put the business under entirely.
    "We can't expect you to just know all the secrets of our top-secret-titty-club!" --Jenna Marbles

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    Mind Blowing Re: Business Partner is Sketching me out...possible illegal activity...what to do?

    Quote Originally Posted by SweetJulia View Post
    please stay out. I'm still owed thousands from walking out of a shady situation. I'll take it-just glad not to be in federal prison, where I could have landed by association. PLEASE be careful!
    Yep.^ W/Fed time, you do every minute..no early release, whatsoever.
    Sorry you lost, but sounds like you're realizing it's better to move on & cut your losses.


    MANY MEN WANTED TO LAY ME DOWN, BUT FEW WANTED TO LIFT ME UP

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    Default Re: Business Partner is Sketching me out...possible illegal activity...what to do?

    it's seeming like it's best to just cut my losses with this company
    Agreed !!!!! 'Discretion is the better part of valor'. You can always find alternate ways to earn money. But you can never recover time ( and reputation ) lost as a 'guest' of the government !!!

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    Default Re: Business Partner is Sketching me out...possible illegal activity...what to do?

    Ughhh how awful. At this point I would just up and leave for your sake. I bet he was grooming you to take out more loans & then rip you off.

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    Default Re: Business Partner is Sketching me out...possible illegal activity...what to do?

    ^Just out of curiosity what do you mean by that? Like have me take out loans for the business under my name and then take off with the cash or something? He must be pretty dumb to think I'd be that stupid to take on more personal debt right now.
    "We can't expect you to just know all the secrets of our top-secret-titty-club!" --Jenna Marbles

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    Default Re: Business Partner is Sketching me out...possible illegal activity...what to do?

    Quote Originally Posted by Odette View Post
    ^Just out of curiosity what do you mean by that? Like have me take out loans for the business under my name and then take off with the cash or something? He must be pretty dumb to think I'd be that stupid to take on more personal debt right now.
    It's been done before. Just be glad he didn't marry you & do it that way.

    Some con men and sociopaths are masters of the "long con" & he might have been planning to wait to hit you up after you paid your student loans off. AKA You would have just been another laundering tool...

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    Default Re: Business Partner is Sketching me out...possible illegal activity...what to do?

    Great! Sounds like there are some real assholes out there outside of the SC...I'm thinking your idea of a PI might not be too far off base for future potential business partners depending on the cost vs expected time investment vs expected return ratio.
    "We can't expect you to just know all the secrets of our top-secret-titty-club!" --Jenna Marbles

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    Default Re: Business Partner is Sketching me out...possible illegal activity...what to do?

    My rule of thumb: Only enter business relationships with those that feel 100% comfortable with, and if that level of comfort alters after you have entered into the relationship....address it and correct it. If it can't be corrected....dissolve the relationship. Every business relationship requires certain responsibilities from those involved (time, money, talents, connections, etc.) and should be discussed and agreed upon upfront, with a complete understanding of the purpose and goals of the business. Always feel that you should be able to voice your opinions during the relationship (without being afraid to do so, or questioned if you do) and if at any time you feel that something doesn't feel "right", change it, if you can, and if you can't....dissolve the relationship. There are plenty of business opportunities available to waste time in one that seems "wrong" or with people that you have "questionable feelings" about. Better to cut your losses than encounter greater ones!

    Your comment about not having anything in writing is concerning. Always have things in writing, whether it is a partnership, LLC or otherwise, document everything (who the partners are, what they own, who contributed what, what is hoped to be gained, etc.)

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