Consider a possible alternate scenario:
Berwick is well-traveled and made connections in many places. He realized many people want citizenship in multiple countries and as an entrepreneur, he wanted to find a way to capitalize on that demand.
In his travels, he started talking to people about ways to fast-track citizenship in that country. Some people he spoke to about this saw an opportunity to con people out of money. They told Berwick "You know I hold this government position. I have the connections to get people citizenship in four weeks. Simply pay (bribe) me $10,000 per person, and I'll expedite that citizenship process."
Berwick then turned that into a business. He decided he'd charge people $15,000, and send the $10,000 bribe to the individual. With the remaining $5,000, he'd have to pay some overhead and the rest would be profit.
Things didn't go as planned. It turned out people were conning him. Or perhaps, the people he was in contact with were being misled by someone else in the transaction chain. At the end of the day, he's the public face of the business, so he gets blamed for stealing people's money.
I think a situation like this one is far more likely than him straight-up lying to and conning people.
It'd be one thing if there was only one or two stories, but it seems like any undertaking he's ever been involved in has left people scammed and angry at him. Couple that with his writing, and I just can't accept that he is a victim in all of this.
The evidence speaks otherwise. If you were right why did jeff not fess up and why did he keep lying
Do you have personal experience working with him?
I actually never propositioned how his business was being run. Anything is possible including your theory. His website is still up and running even though he indicated in his video that the business is "a disaster". It's really hard to face up your own reality when you're in a cloud of drunken delusions. Being an addict is certainly a huge part of what's going on, I believe. As I mentioned, I was an addict about 8 years ago and it truly clouded my grasp on reality. I can think a lot more clearly now. When Jeff goes on detailing he had 5 drinks to calm his nerves down when talking to people, I know exactly what he means. Addicts are constantly aware of stopping drinking, how many drinks it takes to talk to people, etc. It's classic addict speak.
I don't have personal experience working with him. You might be onto something with the drinking, though. In this Anarchast episode he was drunk off his ass.
He commented on the video, basically saying it was a wake-up call for him to stop drinking.
He seems to be taking care of himself now. I am sad people were taken advantage of. The way I see it is if he was lied to by the government officials, it seems that would make anyone drink(lol) when it falls back on you in the public eye. I did hear him say he was paying the people back. Is there any videos on that?
He has not paid anyone back a penny
Well, I would never buy into the passport thing. Government is a scam so why get papers for another scam when you are involved in one scam would be logic. And, as I understand it, should be Jeff's logic also.
However, I have bought a TDV subscription for 3 months (which to be fair was pricy, but I saw it as an investment) but overall I have the feeling that I got my money's worth out of it. It was my introduction to the crypto-space and I do not feel scammed. In fact, it helped me open my eyes to the possibilities of crypto. Could I have gotten that info for free? Maybe. Could I have found better info? Maybe?
The newsletters were short but I looked forward to reading them, so TDV seems to be a legit business. More or less.
The other stuff seems pretty fishy though. Or incredibly naive. One of the two. I hope he stays away from that kind of mischief in the future. His conference also seems to be legit. I have no clue and I have not been there, but it seems to me that he got better compared to the past.
As a closing remark; I would be pissed if I had invested in the passport thing, but personally I do not have a problem with Jeff.
I admit I am biased here, because I do not want to dislike him.
All in all, I say I am going to do more background research in the future and be more careful with my money.
Jeff was in the wrong after further research.
@geneeverett - additional research after you wrote this article?
IF yes, can you update us?
Thanks
If he got into btc at $3 like he constantly says, why not pay back the people who say he took their money??
That seems reasonable. I've heard him say that he told his subscribers about it at $3, but he didn't take his own advice.
How does he finance a boat and the house in Mexico then?
Just TDV subscriptions?
That does seem like a plausible story
that's the simplest explanation as to what happened.
Really? I just made that up; it seemed like a conceivable scenario.
I do not know.
He is still responsible for the outcome. If he is taking that kind of risk he should have some kind of insurance against that risk, or clearly disclose the risk to the customers. In the video on this site, he says "I would never scam someone" even though the guy hasn't accused him of scamming. That is a classic sign of a guilty conscience. I've subscribed to Berwicks TDV for almost ten years, and almost bought one of those Paraguay passports from them. I'm very glad I didn't.
So do you think the TDV advice is helpful to you or not?