This website is dedicated to making the public aware of Michael Todd Osborn aka Michael Osborn Ison. In the past, Osborn has performed cons under the guise of Commissum Universes, LP; Principal Capital Group, Inc., Legacy Capital Group, Inc, ThePumpTracker.com, AbuseOfLaw.org, PantheonTraders.com, AnonymousAdvisory.com, WallStHype.com, and AgedDebt.net. Currently, he runs his confidence schemes under Commify Technology Corp. Here, you will enter the world of this confidence man and gain insight into his scams. Hopefully, some of Osborn's future targets will benefit from the experience of others.

KNOWN ASSOCIATES PAST AND PRESENT:
Harold Gregg, Virgil Williams, Corey Engelen, Jehu Hand, Aniko Kaye, Anthony Hruska, Michael Porter, Christopher Laursen, Clinton Greyling, Thomas Parilla, Alexandre Scheer

SCAMS MICHAEL HAS PARTICIPATED IN:
AgedDebt.net, Fortitude Group, Inc. (FRTD), ThePumpTracker Fund, Victory Capital Holdings Corporation, Principal Capital Group, Inc., Virtual Gaming Enterprises, Commissum Universes, LP, Las Vegas Airlines

MICHAEL'S CURRENT SCAMS : Commify Technology Corp., Genesis Gives, VW Win Century, Inc. (OTC Pink: VWIN), Star Alliance International Corp. (OTC Pink: STAL), Inbit Corp. (OTC Pink: INBT)

KNOWN ALIASES: Jerry Lambert, Michael Lamont, Tom Furlong

Friday, July 23, 2010

JUSTICE HAS FINALLY ARRIVED!

Over 8 long years ago, I was introduced to a man who was characterized as a shrewd businessman, a money machine and one of the brightest investment minds this side of Wall St.

Today, all because this man lied to the wrong guy, he was sentenced to 32 months in prison.

Michael Osborn aka Michael Osborn Ison was sentenced to a total of 32 months in prison today for his conviction of 2 counts of automobile theft, 2 counts of intent to defraud and 2 counts of writing bad checks. He received a 2 year sentence for each count of automobile theft and check fraud. Three of those two year sentences will run concurrently while 1/3 of one of the check convictions will run consecutively. This means that Michael has been sentenced to a total stay at the county's expense to 2 years and 8 months. Were I to guess, I would say he will serve about a year. That is assuming that the current FBI and SEC investigations don't bring new charges.

Prior to pronouncing sentence, both Michael and his wife Shanney addressed the court. Their performance as a husband and wife comedy team was worthy of Lucy and Desi, George Burns and Gracie Allen, or Sonny and Cher.

First came Shanney. Those who were employed by the Osborns' ill-fated scam, Principal Capital Group, Inc, will tell you that Shanney was not the know-nothing, husband-trusting bystander that she would have all believe. She was an authority in the office to be reckoned with and, in fact, she listed herself as a corporate officer with the City of Fullerton Chamber of Commerce. These people will also find it laughable when they hear that Shanney offered that it was not beneath her to clean houses for a living.

But on this day, Shanney played the helpless mouse. First she blamed Michael's upbringing and went as far as to incriminate his mother whom, "made him watch cartoons all day, when they weren't homeless and sleeping in churches". Shanney claimed that Michael was taught by his grandmother to, "Fake it until you make it". Then she claimed that Mike is a wonderful husband and father. She told the judge that her children cry for Michael and tried to tug at hearts with the line, "When is DaDa coming home?" What is amusing here, is that not 5 minutes earlier, the judge had announced that he reviewed several submissions to the Probation Office including one from Mike's ex-wife. They had also created two children and Kristen's submission painted Mike as a dead-beat Dad who had had several warrants out for his arrest for failure to pay child support and, in fact, was once arrested on such a warrant while he was in court on the auto theft charges. Kristen painted a picture of a belligerent, abusive alcoholic, who could not provide a stable home or secure environment for his family. Note to Shanney: Michael is (was) around for your kids because you are together. Ask his previous wives what happens once the marriage is over.

Equally funny, as you will see below, was Shanney's claims that Mike had taken ownership of his "mistakes". She also took the blame for creating the situation under which he moved to San Diego (to live with a fellow con-man and pal) and took the stolen cars with him.

Finally and irrelevantly, she cried to the judge as she claimed that I had made their lives miserable and she could not believe that what I was doing was even legal. I'll answer that claim to Shanney right here:

DAMN STRAIGHT SISTER!

Then came Mike's contribution to the show. First, he generously admitted that he has made multiple mistakes. But then he claimed that he was only guilty of owing money and that "the last time I checked, there is no debtor's prison". He also boasted of restitution being made to Car Max and the receiver of one of the bad checks. Well yeah, but that was the day before trial. Gee, I wonder what his motivation was there.

Michael attempted to sell his bad check habits as a disease with statements like, "Giving me a checkbook is like giving an alcoholic a bottle of booze" and "I let my pride write checks that my body couldn't cash". He offered several guarantees (like we haven't all heard any of those before) including, "I promise not to work in the finance industry again" and "I promise I will never own another business or personal checking account". In a shallow attempt to show remorse, Michael recognized that he had humiliated himself, his family and the court. But then, he tossed in the ol', "It's George Sharp's fault" gambit. Although he "didn't want to dignify my actions", he joined Shanney in criticizing the methods which led to his ultimate demise.

Fortunately, the Judge was not buying any of this. He told Mike that there would have to be a consequence and that while it was in his power to grant the probation that Michael requested, the schemes that were in play were far too sophisticated. He cited Michael's history of bad checks but also seemed to try and justify some leniency by pointing out that Michael was not guilty of violent crimes and that some restitution had been made.

I expect to have the transcript of today's hearing within a week and will post it at that time.

Now I'm going to Vegas for some well-earned fun. Who's buying?

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Shanney Osborn Files for Bankruptcy

Attorney Evan Ginsburg announced today that Shanney Osborn aka Shanney Gallegos has filed for bankruptcy. The announcement came one day before Shanney was due to appear in Orange County Superior Court for a court ordered Judgment Debtor Examination. While the filing stays her appearance for the examination, its timing is dubious at best. Shanney has done whatever she can to avoid this examination.

The filing also comes days before her husband, Michael Osborn, is scheduled to be sentenced for his conviction of multiple counts of automobile theft, intent to defraud, and check fraud. It is thought that he may face as much as 10 years in prison.

Shanney's BK filing will be opposed because it comes in relation to my judgment for fraud conducted by Michael and she will be carefully examined in Bankrputcy Court to ascertain whether any ill-gotten goods were funneled to her. Although Shanney was not a party to the original fraud that Michael conducted against me, she did agree to become a responsible party on one of Michael's payoff agreements. Furthermore, as she is Michael's spouse, the laws of community property apply so she will not be able to relieve herself of the responsibility to pay me.

Shanney may have also filed because there are bound to be multiple lawsuits resulting from Michael's incarceration. Victims continue to come forward with tales of lost fortunes due to Michael's recent schemes. In fact, Michael's most recent associates, Anthony Hruska and convicted felon Corey Engelen, now also claim to be victims of Michael. This is laughable, of course, since these gentlemen had ample warning of with whom they were jumping into the proverbial bed. In fact, in an email to me on March 30, 2010, Mr. Hruska stated that he was more than satisfied with his dealings with Michael. Well I guess some people have to be hit over the head 10 or 20 times before it hurts.

More details to come and the bankruptcy filing will be posted shortly.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

District Attorney/Probation Dept. Ask for Comments!

The District Attorney is asking for comments on Michael's activities to be submitted to the Probation Department for consideration during Michael's sentencing hearing on July 21, 2010.

Here is a copy of the email I received today from Deputy District Attorney Renee Jones:

Mr. Sharp,
In preparation for sentencing, the probation department is preparing a sentencing report, wherein they are requesting written comments from interested parties to the case. The court will read and consider the written probation report, in determining an appropriate sentence. Please forward any information you would like to be considered to the assigned probation officer, Kristen Blunt, at the following address:
Orange County Probation Department
P.O. Box 10260
Santa Ana, CA 92711
I would suggest that comments be submitted within the next week in order to give plenty of time for their consideration prior to the hearing. Include complete details of your experience, any stories that Michael has told you, and the losses you incurred. Please assume that the readers are not investment experts and make your submission clear and concise. Include all of your contact information. Mail your submission to the address above, and email a copy to me at info@michael-osborn.info. I will forward your submission to Ms. Jones. Please let me know if you do not wish me to publicize your story. I honor all such requests.

return to michael-osborn.info


Friday, July 2, 2010

GUILTY!!!!!!

After deliberating for 7 days, a jury today found Michael Osborn guilty of 2 counts of automobile theft, 2 counts of intent to defraud and 2 counts of check fraud. Michael was immediately taken into custody and held without bail, pending a sentencing hearing on July 21, 2010. He is expected to be sentenced to a term of up to 10 years in prison.

Hopefully, this will provide some comfort to the people he has hurt over the last 15 years.

Jury Deliberates Michael's Immediate Future

It looks like Mike is going to spend the long weekend sweating, as the jury in his car theft and check fraud case enters its second week of deliberations.

Apparently, the panel is carefully weighing the evidence presented to them by Deputy District Attorney Renee Jones, who has been quoted as saying she expects Mike to be convicted on all counts and be sentenced to up to ten years in prison. Mike did get a bit of a break when the judge reduced four of the infractions to misdemeanors from felonies, but things are not looking good for him.

Amongst the evidence heard, was that the credit application signed by Mike listed his old Fullerton address on Catlin Avenue as his current address. As submitted into evidence, Mike had actually long been evicted from that home, under an Unlawful Detainer action brought by the landlady for non-payment of rent. The deputy DA used this fact to try and show that Mike had every intention to defraud Car Max out of the two cars in question.

Even more damning was the evidence of Mike's history of bad check writing, testified to by other recipients of bad checks. Mike had used bad checks as deposits for the two vehicles acquired from Car Max, further calling into question the honorableness of his intention.

Unbelievably, Mike is still able to collect investments for his newest schemes, courtesy of a network of brokers providing him with eager clients who are mesmerized by his pie-in-the-sky, too-good-to-be-true stories of lavish returns. I still get regular phone calls about his 10X Oscillator Fund.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

So Now I Am A Disgruntled Investor...

Came back from vacation this morning to face 631 emails, 122 of which were regarding our hero and 6 of which were with respect to his newest product (read: scam), The 10x Oscillator Fund. Near as I can figure, this fund is much like the CU Swing Equity Fund where Mike is claiming that he has bank funding to the tune of 10 times the investment principle. Uh, no! What Mike does have is a day trading account at Active Trading Network, which provides him (as most day trading accounts do) with 1000% leverage. Once again, Mike is claiming that the investor's principle will be returned within 30 days (15 by some accounts) and that profits from the trading scheme will be distributed on a bi-weekly basis. To underwrite the principle, Mike is once again binding a Fidelity Bond. In the past, Mike has not kept up the payments on these bonds and the investors are left holding the bag when he either loses the money or absconds with it.

More frequently, Michael keeps coming up against this blog when having to sells his marks on his schemes. His newest explanation of his adversary (me), is that I am a disgruntled investor. Well as disgruntled as I am, my gruntlement cannot be attributed to anything like a lost investment. As I have documented well here, Michael and Harold Gregg owe me approximately $500,000 on a judgment for fraud, their share of the pie in the Victory Capital Holdings scam. I am happy to say that I never gave these con artists a dime.

What is truly amazing here, is that Mike is so good at what he does, he still has suckers who are willing to take him at his word, even with everything posted on this blog. One such emailer, wants to believe Michael so much, that he has asked me to produce further evidence of my allegations. Well kids, I am not here to do your dirty work. I run this blog for free. I point you in the proper direction and the rest is up to you. But if I can find it so can you. Still, I'll throw you a bone and provide you with the link to a similar scheme that was run by Mike a few years ago, known as Principal Mortgage Fund. Within the link to the SEC filing, you can see that a binder was written for a Fidelity Bond. Guess what? Payments were not kept up here either. Furthermore, you will note that Osborn co-conspirator Harold Gregg, was identified as General Counsel for the Principal Mortgage Fund. Ladies and gentlemen, as I have tried to beat into your heads for some time now, Harold Gregg is not an attorney and has not been since 1978. Although Mr. Gregg would have you believe otherwise, a Juris Doctorate degree alone does not make you an attorney, does not give you the right to practice law, and most certainly does not give you the authority to act as General Counsel for anything.

While you are at the SEC website, why not also look up Principal Capital Group. This was another funding source for Michael's day trading habit and high lifestyle. In one year, Michael lost $2 million of investor funds and was subsequently kicked out of his posh offices and fancy house both in Fullerton, CA and both for non-payment of rent. Still, he was left with a beautiful BMW and Range Rover, amongst other investor funded luxuries.

P.S. I was disappointed to hear that Investment Broker Anthony Hruska is still enabling Michael's schemes, including the 10X Oscillator Fund. It appears like many before him (see Attorney Sean Morrissey and Detroit Restaurateur Gregg Gedda, amongst countless others), Mr. Hruska is letting himself be mesmerized by tales of untold riches, while refusing to look at the clear view in front of him.

Invest wisely. Do your homework.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Stories From The Master Story Teller

Those of you who know Michael, know that he comes up with a lot of excuses for not keeping his commitments. "The baby is sick". "The baby is in the hospital". "My grandmother had a stroke". "The bank screwed up". "I didn't get to the bank on time". "I'm waiting for confirmation of the funds". "I couldn't get to the bank because I had to babysit". etc., etc., etc. Michael is also famous for concocting phony wire transfer documents, proof of funds documents, and (according to at least one ex-wife) phony marriage licenses.

Recently, I've had reports of Michael's two newest excuses. Apparently, March 19, 2010 was an Osborn milestone for payment to at least two of his victims. Well wasn't it convenient that he had to appear in court that day and I was able to arrange for his arrest. That was the day Mike was handcuffed in the courtroom for not appearing at his dead-beat Dad hearing in Los Angeles.

Here's the kicker. Osborn used the arrest as an excuse for his non-performance. He let everyone concerned know that he spent over 24 hours in the hole. However, rather than admit he was a dead-beat Dad, the circumstances for his arrest, according to his account, was that he was found in Contempt of Court for mouthing off to a Judge.

Another story Mike has been telling lately also regards his inability to make the payments that are due to the participants in his current Ponzi scheme. According to him, I have obtained a Writ of Execution which has been tying up his bank account as a result of "bullshit" lawsuit that should have been against a Nevada corporation, and that his lawyers are now resolving. Well I have no lawsuit outstanding against Mike. What I do have is a 5 year old, irreversible judgment against him in excess of $500,000 for (you guessed it) fraud. I would love to have a Writ of Execution tying up his bank account but he won't tell me where it is.

If Mike told me the sky was blue, I would be positive that it was red.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Two Con Artists Are Better Than One

Birds of a feather...Seems that Michael's current sidekick and partner in the Commissum Universes Swing Equity Fund fraud is a convicted felon. Corey Engelen who operates under Infinite One, LLC, was convicted in 1995 of 11 counts of making a false statement to a financial institution and sentenced to 22 months in prison. In spite of every effort to overturn the ruling, including blaming his lawyer for not telling him to take the plea bargain (he did), Engelen's appeal was ultimately denied by an Appellate court which unanimously upheld the trials court's finding.

Apparently, Engelen was successful in keeping his past in the past until now, because he has had some success accumulating funds from retail investors. It's hard to believe that an informed investor who has any sort of respect for his money would entrust his assets to someone who has been convicted of defrauding a bank.

But then again, Osborn keeps finding suckers, so who knows.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Introducing Commissum Universes, LP

Well Michael is at it again and he is now running his schemes under the non-entity, Commissum Universes, LP. It is a non-entity because it is not registered with any government body, be it at the State or Federal level. Also unregistered, is one of Osborn's hot schemes, the CU Equity Swing Fund. Through this fund, Michael (who falsely and fraudulently claims to be an SEC registered prime broker) collects funding from retail investors to run his day trading operation. He tells his dupes that their investment will be leveraged 1000% and that the principal is insured by a Loss Policy in order to take all risk away from the funder. Although Michael presents a bound insurance policy, what he doesn't tell his investors is that he doesn't pay the insurance premiums. Thusly, at the end of the day, the investors are plum out of luck if Michael's trades are unsuccessful or if he just decides not to pay the dividends.

Helping Osborn execute his schemes, is a relatively new cohort, Corey Engelen and his firm Infinite One, LLC. Mr. Engelen has stated within documents obtained by this author, that Osborn is a partner in Infinite One. While Infinite One sells the CU Swing Equity Fund offering, it is yet undiscovered whether it owns the trading account manipulated by Osborn.

In the past few weeks I have been inundated with complaints from dupes who claim they have been taken by these "partners". Of course they all express regrets at not having done their due diligence on Michael sooner.

Another common denominator in some of the schemes is Nine Asset Management, LLC. and specifically, principle Anthony Hruska. It should be noted that some believe that Hruska should not necessarily be painted by the Osborn-Engelen brush, and that he is merely mesmerized by their intelligence, gift of gab, and tactics, three important qualities commonly found in con men. Nevertheless, whether he is complicit in these current Ponzi schemes or not, Hruska can be credited with providing some (and attempting to provide even more) of the ill-gotten booty obtained by Messers Osborn and Engelen. At a minimum, Hruska is negligent with funds, not a quality you want in an investment consultant.

One of the schemes Mr. Hruska has bought into is Osborn-Engelen's purported ability to fund bonds courtesy of Warner Films, LLC an arm of Warner Brothers. The boys have been representing that they have access to $500,000,000 in funding and are looking for brokers, like Mr. Hruska, to file applications on behalf of their clients. It is yet not totally clear what angle has been concocted to press their advantage, but given Osborn's history of nefarious acts, the rule of caveat emptor could not be more applicable. If indeed Warner Films has this funding available, they would be well advised to find new representatives for their money.


return to michael-osborn.info






Friday, March 19, 2010

Michael arrested AGAIN!

Well it happened again! Michael appeared at his Trial Setting Conference on March 19, 2010 in Fullerton Court to set the date for trial of his Automobile Theft/Check Fraud charges. That hearing was continued to April 30 but during his visit to the courtroom, Sheriff Deputies again slapped the cuffs on him and held him on an outstanding warrant for his failure to appear at a Dead-Beat Dad hearing in Los Angeles. After being a guest at Orange County's Hotel for Fugitives for over 24 hours, Osborn was released and order to appear in front of a Los Angeles Judge.

Osborn, ever resilient, used his arrest to his advantage and explained to those who were looking for him (and money), that delays were caused by the incarceration. Some accounts have Osborn explaining his arrest as not having been for being a Dead-Beat Dad, but for mouthing off to a Judge and thus being held for Contempt of Court.

Always look to this forum for the true story.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Arrested During Trial!

Michael was in court on Thursday to hear that the Judge, who had heard his preliminary trial two weeks earlier, found that there was enough evidence to bind him over for a jury trial on 8 of the ten charges filed against him for various counts of car theft and check fraud. This came as no surprise to anyone, least of all Michael's flamboyant attorney, Evan Ginsburg.

As soon as the judge was finished ordering him back for an arraignment on February 24, the attending bailiff, who is also a deputy sheriff, ordered Michael to stand up and slapped the bracelets on him. Michael was arrested on the warrant that was issued against him for failing to appear at the judgment debtor examination I was conducting in an attempt to collect the half a million dollars that he, his wife Shanney Gallegos Osborn, and Harold Gregg owe me. At last word, the Sheriff's office was preparing to pick up Shanney at her mother's La Habra home on a warrant issued for her own failure to appear.

Michael spent almost three hours in a holding cell while waiting for an available judge to deal with this development which, to say the least, came as a complete shock to Mike. Unlucky for him, Commissioner Leverson ended up attending to the charge. Leverson, who was already familiar with Michael's tendency to not show up for court, reprimanded Michael for "having no respect for judicial authority". He ordered Michael held on $50,000 bail and ordered him to appear in Commissioner Myers courtroom the next morning to answer for his multiple failures to appear in her courtroom for the judgment debtor exam.

After spending the night as a guest of the county, Michael bailed out at 6:00am and headed to Commissioner Myers courtroom where he was ordered back to complete my examination of him on April 15.

A note to Shanney and Harold: Ask not for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.