Posted by peter lobnig at 1:09 PM 0 comments
I Peter K. Lobnig: latest victim of Cyber Extortionist and Internet Stalker Johnnie-Cornelius GREENE a.k.a. Nile ZURRI, David Pullman, Tom Burell
On this blog I, Peter K. Lobnig, would like to tell my recent experience as to becoming a victim to 'cyber extortion' and subsequent 'internet stalking'. Cyber extortion, more commonly used and a more wide-spread form is the threat of hacking into and damaging a company's protected computer system in order to extort monies or other things of value.
In my specific case cyber extortion applies to a lesser known form of extorting monies mostly from businesses and business owners or other individuals who are in the public eye. Cyber extortion in this case consists of the threat to publish potentially devastating and extremely damaging information - usually entirely fictitious allegations and accusations - about the intended target on the internet.
I have now experienced a vicious attack on the internet. The maliciousness of the perpetrator becomes apparent when he involved some of my family members, friends, acquaintances and business associates of mine in his smear campaign. Like myself he labelled entirely innocent individuals and companies as criminals who seemed all to be part of a major global conspiracy.
The individual responsible for these extortion attempts and the ongoing stalking via the internet
is Johnnie Cornelius GREENE a.k.a Nile ZURRI, Nile ZURI, Nile A. ZURRI, Ingrid GONZALEZ, Tom BURELL, David PULLMAN etc. Nile Zurri is a disgruntled ex-employee of one of my companies, a convicted felon, a known internet scamer, a proven I.D. thief and bank fraudster. (There is additional information on his criminal activities which I might disclose in the future...). Johnnie C Greene a.k.a. Nile Zurri is being sought by countless victimized individuals and by authorities in several countries.
I hope that this my story, which is a real-life experience, will help not only to alert the public of this dangerous individual but will hopefully contribute to put a stop at his criminal activities. This article should also be a lesson to everyone - not only in terms of the 'wild west' internet environment but also in terms of carefully selecting your friends, your associates or your employees... because what happened to me can happen to anyone....!
In early 2004 I developed and executed a new business concept customized for the cruise industry. At that time I was casually introduced to Nile Zurri who obviously made a very good impression in terms of presentation, personality and knowledge/expertise as I subsequently
hired him. I soon found out that he was a convicted felon which he downplayed by explaining that he sold a gadget which manipulates traffic lights over the internet. He claimed that he was not aware that this gadget was only permitted to use by ambulance drivers and law enforcement officers. I accepted his explanation without any further thought or action. Only after I severed my ties with Nile Zurri did I find out from my sources at a law enforcement agency that Nile Zurri did not really sell an actual traffic light changing device but a hand-drawn instruction paper for assembling some kind of a 'disco light'... Yes, he did time in prison for this intentional fraud... "A real piece of work... professional scamer... he could make it really big with his talents if he would stay on the right side of the law.. these are some of the comments from friends in law enforcement who have been dealing with him in the past.
http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2001/07/30daily25.html
http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=520 (Office of Inspector General)
http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=531 (Office of Inspector General)
http://tinyurl.com/2snowd (Florida Prison Search)
As I always try, in some ways, to help the down-trodden I was naively convinced that I needed to do a good deed by offering an opportunity for Nile Zurri, who I thought was 'let down by the system'. His African-American heritage only re-enforce my believe that he needed a helping hand and another fair shake and chance for his professional and social aspirations. That he was a devout follower and admirer of Nation of Islam (which he never mentioned) did obviously not influence my judgement of him at any time. Notwithstanding the fact that I personally do not agree with the stated and well publicized philosophy of this organization and its leaders - but, this is America, founded on the basis of religious freedom and I will always respect that and anyone's choice....
By 2006 I decided to discontinue that specific operation on amicable terms and mutual understanding with my cruise line client. Nile Zurri, who was supposed to be instrumental in the success of this business saw him self out of a job. By analyzing and dissecting the business concept we realized that this business has been sabotaged in different stages and segments of it rather short life span. To this day we have not figured out if Nile Zurri was doing the harm intentionally or just by being plain incompetent - we suspected at that time that it might have been a combination of both. In hindsight I remember all the warnings I received from literally anyone who crossed Nile Zurri's path when he was involved in my company: questions about his competency, traces of suppressed reversed racism, lack of trustworthiness and much more...
Mia Culpa - I guess I was overly eager in my attempt to create a success story for a 'down-and-out' individual which in my opinion had great talent and potential.
I did allow Nile Zurri to continue using an office space as he seemed to be working on a new project of his. He than tried to get me interested in assisting him to set up an internet-based recruiting firm targeting cruise ship crew members. He was hoping for me not only to assist him financially in this venture but thought that my impeccable background and reputation in this industry would give his business a better chance to compete. In addition he expected me to hire some of his potential recruitees for work onboard M/V Island Adventure/SeaEscape etc. From the onset I told him in no uncertain terms that this kind of venture will always be seen as a 'scam' - because that's what it is. Everyone familiar with the cruise industry knows that this kind of recruiting (money for jobs) hardly ever yields any employment as it only acts as a vehicle to enrich some unconscious 'scumbag' who preys on the vulnerability of unemployed workers in developing countries. Any aspiring crew member will only be hired through legitimate and certified crewing agencies or through cruise companies' HR departments directly. Although he relentlessly tried to convince me that his 'business model' is absolutely legitimate I refused to assist him in any way. When he approached me of officially renting him office space in order to register his new company I knew I had to part ways with him. As anyone who knows me, I have been directly and indirectly affiliated within the cruise industry for many years and I pride myself to have legitimately hired many crew members. I therefore could not afford to have any association with Nile Zurri and his new 'business model'...
I soon thereafter found out that he did in fact start this business: http://www.ecruiseshipjobs.com/ (finally this site has just recently been removed from the web and is presently 'under construction').Unfortunately he somehow managed to secretly access to my existing crew/personnel files and subsequently integrated some of the extracted information into his web site. He used some of my crew member's names, photos and employment positions as 'testimonials' that they were successfully hired by his recruiting firm. I also found out at the time of parting with him that he had gained unauthorized access to my personal bank account by initiating some payment transfers to pay for some of his personal expenses such as phone and light bills etc. Fortunately I immediately noticed these transactions before any further damage could occur. I discussed these I.D. theft, bank fraud and breach of privacy with my bank manager and a high ranking friend at Miami Police Department. Both urged me to press charges but the prospect to have him arrested the very next morning was not very palatable to me and I decided not to pursue him any further at that time. I, at that time also informed my friend about his website he is working on which in my opinion is just a money making scam. Although the friend from the MPD offered to assemble a task force to investigate Nile Zurri's venture I did not pursue it any further either at that time as it would have required me to get together with the different cruise line's HR offices to gather specific information. Honestly, I did not want to bother with Nile Zurri any longer and hoped that his venture would never really get of the ground anyway... At the same time he has vanished from his residence and could not be found anywhere in Miami. Please note: it was at that time during my conversation with the MPD officer that he made me aware of the real circumstances surrounding Nile Zurri's previous arrest and prison term.
Once Nile Zurri disappeared he did not contact me again until late summer of 2007. He left me overly friendly messages on my voice mail and somehow got my e-mail address. He than sent me lengthy messages which included his notion that he is doing very well now in his new host country Colombia. He mentioned about his new business opportunity which according to him was absolutely legitimate and was making him good money already. In order to further realize the full earnings potential of his new venture he just need some help and assistance and he thought that I might be interested. He wanted to meet with me wherever I would be in order to verbally explain the business. As I did not show any interest he finally explained this 'opportunity' through lengthy emails... again, it was about the same recruiting scheme.... He explained that he need someone like me as the figure head and fronting partner because of his criminal back ground. He also need an investing partner in order to take advantage of some rather large agreements he apparently had with two crewing agencies. And last but not least he wanted me to hire 9 Jamaicans from the get-go so he could prove the credibility of his venture. Needless to say that he overwhelmed me with his assurances that this is legitimate recruiting business. At that same time I was contacted by an investigator who tracked Nile Zurri's email movements and noticed that among others he had contacted me. He was hired by 2 crewing agencies in Jamaica and by families of victimized crew members to help finding Nile Zurri in order to stop him from further victimizing potential crew members and to recover large sums of monies which the two agencies apparently already fronted to Nile Zurri. He asked for my cooperation and assistance to help him in his quest and I gave him any information about Nile Zurri and his criminal back ground as well as my own negative experience with him. He also asked me to keep in contact with Nile Zurri as this way he would able to track his movements. He already found out that Nile Zurri had just left Colombia over the Venezuelan border. I than informed him that Nile Zurri contacted me from Madrid where he was hoping to catch up with me on my way to or from Africa. I then told him that I might plan to be in London soon, that's when Nile Zurri suddenly contacted me from. Unfortunately he used public phones and internet cafes and pleaded with me to help him as he has run out of funds and nobody would exchange Venezuelan Bolivars... He also needed urgently my help in order to salvage his business relationship with the crewing agencies. At one point the owners of the crewing agencies must have told him that I have strongly advised them to discontinue any relationship with Nile and gave them all the reasons for doing so. From that point on I only received some understandably angry messages to which so far I have refused to respond....
Early February of 2008 I have been shown an e-mail by my friend and attorney which was also sent to several of my friends, associates and business affiliates (even the concierge of my residence building received one....). The sender was a David Pullman from a 'cashforstories' website claiming that on behalf of Nile Zurri he has prepared a three-part series of newspaper articles of which part one to be published that upcoming Sunday in 'The Gazette' (non-existing paper) unless I make a payment of $ 30,000 to Nile Zurri. These newspaper articles included the wildest accusations and and most unbelievable criminal allegations of me and also of any of my members of my family and any of my friends and business associates. Through his past employment with me he was introduced to some of my family and friends as well as business associate. Suddenly all of these individuals and companies became now the totally innocent targets of his attempt to extort Peter K. Lobnig. Following are some samples of his global conspiracy theory involving me and my social and professional circle of individuals: major drug dealing operation in Colombia, Russian Mafia, indictments in several African countries (arms dealing?), millions of dollars missing from a major cruise line, even ex-President Bill Clinton has been thrown into the mix..., collection of Ferraris and Lamborghinis, Italian luxury yachts, close connections with secret services such as the CIA and other 'friends in the highest places'.... He states that 'Peter Lobnig gets away with all these activities because of his friends in high places and the CIA as well as his closeness with other law enforcement agencies...' In addition Nile Zurri placed a web link to two websites which would give his 'story' a more official appearance: http://www.federalfraud.com/ and some whistleblower.org site. A call to the proprietors of federalfraud website revealed a law firm in New York and its owners are not aware of a David Pullman, Tom Burell or Nile Zurri. As a matter of fact they are not aware of anybody or anything in this 'story'...
Since the onset of Nile Zurri's smear campaign it was apparent that neither David Pullman nor Tom Burell existed - they are just another a.k.a. and/or alter ego of Nile Zurri. At one time Tom Burell appears as a retired federal investigator and on a different occasion he introduces himself as a 'reporter'. By email he heads WWS Investigations...
I do admit that I am guilty of ignoring Nile Zurri's extortion attempt now for too long over these 5 past weeks. Although sometime in February, before his internet stalking started, I did send him an e-mail to meet me in Miami so we could discuss any issues of his. In return I was sent by 'David Pullman' on behalf of Nile Zurri wiring instructions to an account in Georgia: Justin Greene, at the heritage Bank on 300 South Main St., in Hinesville, Georgia. This transaction had an ultimatum attached: 10:00 am that very next morning of February 19, 2008. His ultimatum also was attached to an e-mail note and read as follows: 'February 14 has officially become my unlucky day...' . The name Justin Greene and the bank account are being investigated... (Justin Greene appears to be either his father or his younger brother).
Of course there was no legitimate newspaper to print this kind of entirely made up trash. Correction: one of my friends, Michael Mouyal, did in fact pay $ 1 million in fines in Canada when he owned one of the world's largest international call center operations. As a matter of fact Nile Zurri previously worked for him temporarily and sold unauthorized a $ 50,000 piece of communication equipment for his own gain...
As Nile Zurri's initial extortion attempt via the fake newspaper articles did not yield any response from anyone he than brought 'Tom Burell' of WWS Investigations into the picture (keep in mind, Tom Burell is Nile Zurri...). One of his many threatening e-mails which he sent to me but also to many of my family members and friends and business affiliates reads as follows: 'This time the window of opportunity is closing very fast and Peter Lobnig's well documented criminal conduct will lead to public humiliation within the commercial business arena'. In one of his emails he also announced that my name has been put into Google...
One of his recent emails contained the following warning: 'the world is flat, there is no place to hide'.
Finally, at this time, as he starts to bombard individuals and business entities such as Poseidon International and SeaEscape Cruises among others with his outrageous statements in order to advance his extortion racket I have forwarded all information to the pertaining law enforcement agencies. I will keep it posted...
PLEASE NOTE: A REWARD OF $ 30,000 WILL BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY
this reward will be offered for information about the where-abouts of Johnnie-Cornelius Greene a.k.a. Nile Zurri, Nile A. Zurri, Nile Zuri, David Pullman, Tom Burell, Ingrid Gonzalez. An e-mail address for this purpose and for further information will be published shortly.
As of March 11, 2008 Johnnie C Greene a.k.a. Nile Zurri has not legally re-entered the United States. By all accounts his actions are not only criminal but those are an obvious indication of a mentally seriously challenged individual.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Friday, August 1, 2008
Celebrity Cruises issues recent reply regarding Peter K. Lobnig & Ocean Vineyards
Hello Tom,
Based on the information you sent via e-mail, this is a matter involving Ocean Vineyards. We suggest you contact them for comment, not Celebrity Cruises.
Thank you,
Liz
Elizabeth Jakeway
Director, Brand Communications
Azamara Cruises/Celebrity Cruises
TEL 305.539.6127
FAX 305.536.0140
ejakeway@celebritycruises.com
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Patrizio Clerici, Peter K. Lobnig, Deadbeat Employers & Slavery on the high seas.
Hello Tom,
Based on the information you sent via e-mail, this is a matter involving Ocean Vineyards. We suggest you contact them for comment, not Celebrity Cruises.
Thank you,
Liz
Elizabeth Jakeway
Director, Brand Communications
Azamara Cruises/Celebrity Cruises
TEL 305.539.6127
FAX 305.536.0140
ejakeway@celebritycruises.com
Based on the information you sent via e-mail, this is a matter involving Ocean Vineyards. We suggest you contact them for comment, not Celebrity Cruises.
Thank you,
Liz
Elizabeth Jakeway
Director, Brand Communications
Azamara Cruises/Celebrity Cruises
TEL 305.539.6127
FAX 305.536.0140
ejakeway@celebritycruises.com
Monday, July 21, 2008
Patrizio Clerici: Rumored Money Launderer and Peter K. Lobnig
The wines were marketed by Celebrity Cruises as exclusive, award winning and hand selected by a panel of wine connoisseurs. Wines imported from Australia, France, Italy, Spain, South Africa, and Chile. The appeal? Wines could be delivered directly to your door step regardless of where you live in the country! The average price for a collection of 6 bottles was $450.00 and from 2004 to 2006 well over a million dollars of wine was sold by Celebrity Cruises via a concession agreement with Ocean Vineyard, Wine Auctions at sea. The only problem was the scam, and the fraud behind the gavel! Most of the wines were sold in clear violation of Federal and State laws!
Tom Burell who has spearheaded the investigation has stated emphatically that "Celebrity Cruises willfully and knowingly engaged in partnership with criminal conduct masterminded by Michael Mouyal a convicted telemarketer, and headed by CEO and President Peter K. Lobnig. Connie Lobnig, Patrico Clerici, and Joseph Chiamante were also principals involved with the scheme".
Burell, a former government special investigator, current private investigator and expert on white collar fraud states “the actions engaged in by Celebrity Cruises and Ocean Vineyard amounts to clear cut wire fraud, mail fraud, and tax fraud. All Felonies and in clear violation of Title 18, USC Section 1341, 1342, and 1343 respectively, and all offenses are felonies and punishable by individual fines and imprisonment or both.”
During the time of the fraud, Dietmar R. Wertanzl was the SVP of Celebrity Cruises Fleet Operations, Peter K. Lobnig's long time best friend from Austria, facilitator of the scam, and overseer of the Concession Contract which governed the financial and operational guidelines for Ocean Vineyard. Dietmar is also the best friend of cruise industry multi-millionaire Philip Levine (305-673-9500). Levine was the best man at Dietmar’s wedding; he is a renowned Democratic fund raiser and is a personal friend of former President Bill Clinton.
Our investigation reveals that during the time of this collective fraud, Brooke Patterson (305-539-4002) bpatterson@rccl.com (now Manager of Onboard Revenue for Celebrity Cruises) was the official liaison for Celebrity Cruises and Ocean Vineyard, reporting directly to Dietmar Wertanzl for operational compliance. “Celebrity Cruises participation amounts to criminal ATF offenses”, says Burell. Celebrity Cruises via Dietmar R. Wertanzl’s authority and Brooke Patterson’s supervision reflects willful complicity.
Albert Molina met with Peter K. Lobnig for an initial meeting at Don Shulas restaurant in Miami Lakes in order to discuss the potential of the Wine Auction at Sea enterprise. Subsequently in a bid to buy out Ocean Vineyard purportedly on behalf of Albert Molina, Mick Maspons Esq. (then partner of Carlton Fields Attorneys At Law, currently with Abadin Cook Trial Attorneys, and owner of Maspons funeral home; purportedly operating as a proxy management layer on behalf of Albert Molina of Park West Galleries, another concessionaire for Carnival Cruises) upon standard due diligence of the Ocean Vineyard business , unsuccessfully attempted to gain a tactical negotiating advantage. Mr. Maspons made clear to Mr. Lobnig that the Ocean Vineyard method of operations at that time was illegal. With this awareness Maspons attempted to compel a shrewd buyout of Ocean Vineyard, which CEO of Ocean Vineyard Peter K. Lobnig subsequently refused.
Lobnig prevailed in the show-down by reminding Maspons of the iron clad Non Disclosure and anti Compete agreement endorsed between both parties prior to the exhaustive due diligence process. Reminding Maspons and his team of this agreement eliminated the worry from Peter K. Lobnig of any accidental “leak of information” which could have disrupted the business operation and expose Peter K. Lobnig and his partners to criminal prosecution.
In an unrelated published account, Celebrity Cruises president Daniel J. Hanrahan stated; “Dietmar Wertanzl and Celebrity Cruises mutually agreed to end their association in 2006”. Simon Worgotter (President of Rolling Pin Cruise Magazine former VP of NCL Cruises and best friend of Peter K. Lobnig) stated to an Ocean Vineyard staff member that Dietmar Wertanzl was involved in a long trail of sophisticated embezzlement valued at millions of dollars, the details of which have been internally suppressed; motivated by corporate image preservation and shareholder scrutiny. Confirmed sources reveal that Wertanzl’s departure from Celebrity Cruises had nothing to do with Ocean Vineyard.
Mr. Burell has confirmed that Connie Lobnig was banned from all Celebrity ships via email by Brooke Patterson as a result of continued obnoxious behavior complaints prior to the discontinuation of the Ocean Vineyard business. According to documented accounts, Connie Lobnig had a reputation for being a tyrant and a bully to her Ocean Vineyard staff and Celebrity Cruises staff. “Rude and condescending” was the comment provided by a current crew member who preferred to remain anonymous.
The Ocean Vineyard wine auction at sea concept was the brainchild of Michael Mouyal and implemented by Peter K. Lobnig, Mouyal's close friend. Michael Mouyal pleaded guilty Monday Nov, 20, 2006 to running one of the biggest illegal telemarketing rings ever investigated in Canada. His schemes are believed to have bilked companies and non-profit organizations in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada out of more than $100 million from 1994 to 2001. Mr. Mouyal was also the architect and designer of the Ocean Vineyard telemarketing resale program. This program solicited via telephone onboard wine buyers to re-purchase more wines and to join the Ocean Vineyard wine club.
According to Burell, this conduct was fraudulent telesales and illegal trafficking of alcohol since Ocean Vineyard was a completely unlicensed seller of the wines during this time and processed credit card payments over the telephone.
During a period of sales modifications, Albert Mouyal (elder brother of Michael Mouyal) was dispatched to Celebrity's Galaxy ship to enhance the Ocean Vineyard sales process. Update: (Albert Mouyal was convicted on the morning of February 26, 2008 of bilking American companies out of more than 70 million dollars and is awaiting sentencing)
A confirmed source has indicated that, Patricio Clerici (Ocean Vineyard Corporate officer, major shareholder and Mouyal associate) despite legitimate appearances is also a rumored drug trafficker and money launderer, living in Miami at the Santa Maria Brickell. Among other interest, Mr. Clerici also owns International Cruise Duty Free Inc. ICDFUSA.com and divides his time between Miami and Colombia South America Clerici warehoused the illegally marketed and shipped wines out of the ICDF warehouse facilities in Doral Florida, after compliant shipping agreements were terminated with Ocean Vineyard. Clerici is renown in the Miami area for his collection of Lamborghinis and Ferraris and his taste for Italian yachts. Mr. Clerici was introduced to the Lobnigs’ as a private investment and shipping source by Michael Mouyal.
Joseph Chiamante (Ocean Vineyard major shareholder and longtime friend of Connie Lobnig) also a rumored drug trafficker living in Ft. Lauderdale divides his time between Ft. Lauderdale Florida and Costa Rica, and keeps a relatively low profile.
In fairness to Mr. Clerici and Mr. Chiamante, admittedly these rumors, individual speculations and conjectures are unsubstantiated by evidence. The opinions expressed are those expressed to several senior Ocean Vineyard staff members by Connie Lobnig.
Peter K. Lobnig is also the president of Poseidon International Maritime Inc. which has a multi million dollar a year Food and Beverage contract on the Sea Escape gambling ship, which sails out of Port Everglades Florida. Our investigation proves that Peter K. Lobnig illegally used half a dozen foreign workers from his Sea Escape contract to pack and illegally ship wines, and as his own painting, storage and moving service, all in Federal violation of each individual worker’s employment contract in connection with Sea Escape Entertainment Inc. and Federal immigration laws. According to Burell, this fraud falls under the U.S. Department of State office of the Inspector General (OIG) and provides civil and criminal penalties.
The two prior owners of the Sea Escape gambling ship (Glenn Gallant and Douglas Baetz) were recently sentenced to 10 years in Federal prison for multiple counts of bank fraud and wire fraud valued at over 200 million dollars.
Peter K. Lobnig, Connie Lobnig, and Ocean Vineyard, are able to remain exempt from prosecution, swindle the public, and defraud 3 employees by failing to pay their arrears base salaries as agreed totaling $51,850.00.
All reasonable people would agree that involuntary free labor or work without compensation is a form of slavery. Many months of around the clock labor were gained by Ocean Vineyard and Celebrity Cruises, yet several employees were swindled out of their base compensation by Ocean Vineyard and never paid.
Lobnig claims to have friends in high places. Among friends Lobnig boasts the word “finagle” to describe his underhanded and fraudulent methods. A confirmed source has indicated that Lobnig has demonstrated and boasted of his close ties with CIA, FBI, and Miami PD officer Jeff (305-710-5222) to achieve his standard of “finagling”. Lobnig is also aided by the legal assistance of Gordon C. Watt Esq. another longtime friend and rumored former Ocean Vineyard shareholder and asset.
Further investigations reveal that Peter and Connie Lobnig are also the owners of East Africa Investment Corp. with offices in Miami, Panama, Austria, Addis Ababba and Petro Palm Corp. They reside at the Four Seasons Brickell Avenue Miami. Peter K Lobnig (mobile (305-785-8041) and Cornelia Lobnig mobile (305-298-1414) 1425 Brickell Ave Suite 47-B Miami Fl 33131.
Burell states that although Ocean Vineyard ceased operations in 2006 the statue of limitations for the alleged criminal offences indicated remains 5 to 7 years; accordingly all are currently vulnerable to federal and state prosecution.
Celebrity Cruises recently celebrated it's third year at number one in the prestigious Conde Nast Travelers Annual Readers Poll, for the Top Cruise Ships in the world category. With this distinct reputation, it is difficult to imagine some of it's recent strange concessionaire partners.
PT-2: Celebrity Cruises the best in the world! The outing of a rogue CIA agent another convict, and how they all came together!
PT-3 Connie Lobnig's Secret Drug addiction on the high seas, and the end of Ocean Vineyard.
Tom Burell who has spearheaded the investigation has stated emphatically that "Celebrity Cruises willfully and knowingly engaged in partnership with criminal conduct masterminded by Michael Mouyal a convicted telemarketer, and headed by CEO and President Peter K. Lobnig. Connie Lobnig, Patrico Clerici, and Joseph Chiamante were also principals involved with the scheme".
Burell, a former government special investigator, current private investigator and expert on white collar fraud states “the actions engaged in by Celebrity Cruises and Ocean Vineyard amounts to clear cut wire fraud, mail fraud, and tax fraud. All Felonies and in clear violation of Title 18, USC Section 1341, 1342, and 1343 respectively, and all offenses are felonies and punishable by individual fines and imprisonment or both.”
During the time of the fraud, Dietmar R. Wertanzl was the SVP of Celebrity Cruises Fleet Operations, Peter K. Lobnig's long time best friend from Austria, facilitator of the scam, and overseer of the Concession Contract which governed the financial and operational guidelines for Ocean Vineyard. Dietmar is also the best friend of cruise industry multi-millionaire Philip Levine (305-673-9500). Levine was the best man at Dietmar’s wedding; he is a renowned Democratic fund raiser and is a personal friend of former President Bill Clinton.
Our investigation reveals that during the time of this collective fraud, Brooke Patterson (305-539-4002) bpatterson@rccl.com (now Manager of Onboard Revenue for Celebrity Cruises) was the official liaison for Celebrity Cruises and Ocean Vineyard, reporting directly to Dietmar Wertanzl for operational compliance. “Celebrity Cruises participation amounts to criminal ATF offenses”, says Burell. Celebrity Cruises via Dietmar R. Wertanzl’s authority and Brooke Patterson’s supervision reflects willful complicity.
Albert Molina met with Peter K. Lobnig for an initial meeting at Don Shulas restaurant in Miami Lakes in order to discuss the potential of the Wine Auction at Sea enterprise. Subsequently in a bid to buy out Ocean Vineyard purportedly on behalf of Albert Molina, Mick Maspons Esq. (then partner of Carlton Fields Attorneys At Law, currently with Abadin Cook Trial Attorneys, and owner of Maspons funeral home; purportedly operating as a proxy management layer on behalf of Albert Molina of Park West Galleries, another concessionaire for Carnival Cruises) upon standard due diligence of the Ocean Vineyard business , unsuccessfully attempted to gain a tactical negotiating advantage. Mr. Maspons made clear to Mr. Lobnig that the Ocean Vineyard method of operations at that time was illegal. With this awareness Maspons attempted to compel a shrewd buyout of Ocean Vineyard, which CEO of Ocean Vineyard Peter K. Lobnig subsequently refused.
Lobnig prevailed in the show-down by reminding Maspons of the iron clad Non Disclosure and anti Compete agreement endorsed between both parties prior to the exhaustive due diligence process. Reminding Maspons and his team of this agreement eliminated the worry from Peter K. Lobnig of any accidental “leak of information” which could have disrupted the business operation and expose Peter K. Lobnig and his partners to criminal prosecution.
In an unrelated published account, Celebrity Cruises president Daniel J. Hanrahan stated; “Dietmar Wertanzl and Celebrity Cruises mutually agreed to end their association in 2006”. Simon Worgotter (President of Rolling Pin Cruise Magazine former VP of NCL Cruises and best friend of Peter K. Lobnig) stated to an Ocean Vineyard staff member that Dietmar Wertanzl was involved in a long trail of sophisticated embezzlement valued at millions of dollars, the details of which have been internally suppressed; motivated by corporate image preservation and shareholder scrutiny. Confirmed sources reveal that Wertanzl’s departure from Celebrity Cruises had nothing to do with Ocean Vineyard.
Mr. Burell has confirmed that Connie Lobnig was banned from all Celebrity ships via email by Brooke Patterson as a result of continued obnoxious behavior complaints prior to the discontinuation of the Ocean Vineyard business. According to documented accounts, Connie Lobnig had a reputation for being a tyrant and a bully to her Ocean Vineyard staff and Celebrity Cruises staff. “Rude and condescending” was the comment provided by a current crew member who preferred to remain anonymous.
The Ocean Vineyard wine auction at sea concept was the brainchild of Michael Mouyal and implemented by Peter K. Lobnig, Mouyal's close friend. Michael Mouyal pleaded guilty Monday Nov, 20, 2006 to running one of the biggest illegal telemarketing rings ever investigated in Canada. His schemes are believed to have bilked companies and non-profit organizations in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada out of more than $100 million from 1994 to 2001. Mr. Mouyal was also the architect and designer of the Ocean Vineyard telemarketing resale program. This program solicited via telephone onboard wine buyers to re-purchase more wines and to join the Ocean Vineyard wine club.
According to Burell, this conduct was fraudulent telesales and illegal trafficking of alcohol since Ocean Vineyard was a completely unlicensed seller of the wines during this time and processed credit card payments over the telephone.
During a period of sales modifications, Albert Mouyal (elder brother of Michael Mouyal) was dispatched to Celebrity's Galaxy ship to enhance the Ocean Vineyard sales process. Update: (Albert Mouyal was convicted on the morning of February 26, 2008 of bilking American companies out of more than 70 million dollars and is awaiting sentencing)
A confirmed source has indicated that, Patricio Clerici (Ocean Vineyard Corporate officer, major shareholder and Mouyal associate) despite legitimate appearances is also a rumored drug trafficker and money launderer, living in Miami at the Santa Maria Brickell. Among other interest, Mr. Clerici also owns International Cruise Duty Free Inc. ICDFUSA.com and divides his time between Miami and Colombia South America Clerici warehoused the illegally marketed and shipped wines out of the ICDF warehouse facilities in Doral Florida, after compliant shipping agreements were terminated with Ocean Vineyard. Clerici is renown in the Miami area for his collection of Lamborghinis and Ferraris and his taste for Italian yachts. Mr. Clerici was introduced to the Lobnigs’ as a private investment and shipping source by Michael Mouyal.
Joseph Chiamante (Ocean Vineyard major shareholder and longtime friend of Connie Lobnig) also a rumored drug trafficker living in Ft. Lauderdale divides his time between Ft. Lauderdale Florida and Costa Rica, and keeps a relatively low profile.
In fairness to Mr. Clerici and Mr. Chiamante, admittedly these rumors, individual speculations and conjectures are unsubstantiated by evidence. The opinions expressed are those expressed to several senior Ocean Vineyard staff members by Connie Lobnig.
Peter K. Lobnig is also the president of Poseidon International Maritime Inc. which has a multi million dollar a year Food and Beverage contract on the Sea Escape gambling ship, which sails out of Port Everglades Florida. Our investigation proves that Peter K. Lobnig illegally used half a dozen foreign workers from his Sea Escape contract to pack and illegally ship wines, and as his own painting, storage and moving service, all in Federal violation of each individual worker’s employment contract in connection with Sea Escape Entertainment Inc. and Federal immigration laws. According to Burell, this fraud falls under the U.S. Department of State office of the Inspector General (OIG) and provides civil and criminal penalties.
The two prior owners of the Sea Escape gambling ship (Glenn Gallant and Douglas Baetz) were recently sentenced to 10 years in Federal prison for multiple counts of bank fraud and wire fraud valued at over 200 million dollars.
Peter K. Lobnig, Connie Lobnig, and Ocean Vineyard, are able to remain exempt from prosecution, swindle the public, and defraud 3 employees by failing to pay their arrears base salaries as agreed totaling $51,850.00.
All reasonable people would agree that involuntary free labor or work without compensation is a form of slavery. Many months of around the clock labor were gained by Ocean Vineyard and Celebrity Cruises, yet several employees were swindled out of their base compensation by Ocean Vineyard and never paid.
Lobnig claims to have friends in high places. Among friends Lobnig boasts the word “finagle” to describe his underhanded and fraudulent methods. A confirmed source has indicated that Lobnig has demonstrated and boasted of his close ties with CIA, FBI, and Miami PD officer Jeff (305-710-5222) to achieve his standard of “finagling”. Lobnig is also aided by the legal assistance of Gordon C. Watt Esq. another longtime friend and rumored former Ocean Vineyard shareholder and asset.
Further investigations reveal that Peter and Connie Lobnig are also the owners of East Africa Investment Corp. with offices in Miami, Panama, Austria, Addis Ababba and Petro Palm Corp. They reside at the Four Seasons Brickell Avenue Miami. Peter K Lobnig (mobile (305-785-8041) and Cornelia Lobnig mobile (305-298-1414) 1425 Brickell Ave Suite 47-B Miami Fl 33131.
Burell states that although Ocean Vineyard ceased operations in 2006 the statue of limitations for the alleged criminal offences indicated remains 5 to 7 years; accordingly all are currently vulnerable to federal and state prosecution.
Celebrity Cruises recently celebrated it's third year at number one in the prestigious Conde Nast Travelers Annual Readers Poll, for the Top Cruise Ships in the world category. With this distinct reputation, it is difficult to imagine some of it's recent strange concessionaire partners.
PT-2: Celebrity Cruises the best in the world! The outing of a rogue CIA agent another convict, and how they all came together!
PT-3 Connie Lobnig's Secret Drug addiction on the high seas, and the end of Ocean Vineyard.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)