A convicted con artist who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from Maryland renters may be doing it again. Lamondes Williams was convicted in a huge pyramid scheme nearly five years ago. But as ABC2 News Investigator Joce Sterman found out, victims claim he's back at it.
Confronted years ago by a Washington, D.C. news crew, Lamondes Williams unleashed some angry words. But his fury is nothing compared to the disgust some feel for him in this moment. One woman told ABC2, "I think he's scum." Another said, "I’m amazed. You're bold. He's really, really bold."
These women have strong words about Monte Williams. They claim their families have given him thousands in cash to rent upscale apartments for a heavily discounted price. Their contracts show rent even included cable, water, gas and electric.
But just a few months after moving in, they tell us the cable company pulled the plug, the lights went out and they got letters saying Williams' company hadn't paid the rent. As a result, the eviction process has begun. Rental managers confirm the same is happening to at least a dozen tenants in two complexes in Ellicott City and Owings Mills.
Tenant Jasmine Chapman is angry about the situation and at Williams, saying, "How can you sleep at night, sir, knowing that people may be on the street, a lot of people?" Chapman worked briefly for Williams and was also a member, saying she and her fiancée paid $6,000 for a year-long lease. She tells ABC2 she has guilt about recruiting as many as 40 people, friends and family. She claims they all signed contracts like hers that offered cheap rent on an apartment.
All renters say they had to do in exchange was supply a list of friends to refer for the same deal and pay a monthly membership fee. According to the contract it was part of a marketing plan for one of his companies, Digital Zone Electronics Warehouse. The mother of one tenant says she felt suspicious about a deal that sounded too good to be true. She asked not to be identified but told us, "It was a mother's instinct. It didn't sound right to me so I started doing my own investigation."
And so did we. It turns out Mr. Williams was busted back in 2005 for what prosecutors called the largest pyramid/rental scheme in Maryland history. And what he did then sounded pretty familiar to us. Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey says, "He damaged a lot of lives. He destroyed people financially with these scams and left families homeless."
It was Ivey's so-called “Fraud Squad” that busted Williams four years ago. Their investigation found he duped more than 60 people in a widespread rental scam. They found he stole about $200,000 from renters, reportedly renting apartments but not paying the bill. Williams was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. Ivey says, “I think the judge was offended by the conduct in this case. I thought the sentence was right. I thought it was appropriate in this case. Our hope was to get the message across so he wouldn't do it again."
But months after getting out of jail, it seems Williams could be up to his old tricks. Websites show he's actively recruiting new members for his company in exchange for cheap rent in nice areas. But as victims are finding out, the dream deal they sign quickly turns into a nightmare, just as it did back in 2005. And that’s got people angry, "For him to come out and do the same thing he was locked up for, he doesn't care."
For now, the tenants care about getting their money back, but many haven't been able to reach Williams. We tried too, sending emails, leaving messages and going to the Gambrills office he lists in his paperwork. It turns out that office is a post office box in a store. The store’s owner told us he closed the box after he was overwhelmed with suspicious mail, shut-off notices and court documents. All of that correspondence aimed at a man who may be giving his old scam a fresh start.
The rental issue isn't Williams only problem. Earlier this year, the Pennysaver took him to court for unpaid advertising. Williams lost and was ordered to pay the company more than $2,000. But their attorney says they haven't seen a dime.
STATEMENT FROM LAMONDES WILLIAMS
Diversified Marketing Concepts, Inc. (DMC, a Maryland company not to be associated with any other "DMC" in another state) does not rent or sublease apartments. We are a community based organization. We have a helped a lot of people lived positive, productive lives. As with any company some sales people are more productive than others. Some join the company for the long term, some for the short term. Some people have no plans on contributing to the company, some just want to take from the company! Apartments are given to our employees and sales people as a benefit or bonus for promoting or selling our telecom and electronics products with Digital Zone Electronics Warehouse (DZEW) and other telecom providers. We sell phones not apartments!
At no time have I threatened any one's life that works for DMC or DZEW or living in our corporate housing, but thanks to your news story many have threatened mine! I have four concerns I would like to address:
(1) It seems like every one has "wreck less disregard for the truth" now a days. You stated in your original e--mail, "This sounds similar to claims made by individuals back in 2005, when Mr. Williams was brought up on charges for reportedly running a pyramid/rental scheme...", but allegations by States Attorney Glen Ivey reported by your sister station (channel 7) illegally stated in various subpoenas that "Williams scammed over $400,000 from people and...PAID NO RENT" was proven in court to be totally false and misleading! Not only did I (PSG) pay over $500,000 in rent and related expenses,and not only was I not (and still not) not an agent of any property management company. I was subsequently found NOT GUILTY involving theft to any property management companies! In that case, just like now, my company was a victim of several ILLEGAL EVICTIONS. Unfortunately, in violation of my sixth amendment rights, I was never given the right to defend myself and that case is going through the state and federal appeal process. In that case around July 7, 2004 AIMCO properties (Sping Hill Lake Apartments) in Greenbelt,Md. had off duty police going around posing as PG County sheriffs attempting to do illegal evictions at 6AM in the morning which started a panic, which caused severe financial loss to PSG and our distributors. We had over fifty witnesses for that case who would have support our defense and who also was scared to testify because of the illegal evictions that was going on by different landlords.
(2) That case is very similar to this case in that we had several attempts of ILLEGAL EVICTIONS by several properties such as Reserve at Stone Gate in Woodlawn, Md. and McDonough Township in Pikesville, Md. XXX** at the Reserve has repeatedly tried to do illegal evictions since September 6, 2009. She told our sales reps. living in our apartments "that we were a scam" and that our rent was late and that they were going to be evicted in two days! Several days later she told one of our sales reps. along with someone posing as a sheriff, "someone in your company just got evicted...you're next!" I am sure you can understand that this caused an unnecessary PANIC and is clear violation of landlord/tenant law. After doing a little research, XXX* has a history of illegally harassing Stonegate tenants for variety of different reasons. Stonegate management has refused to to return all calls regarding these illegal tactics. XXX* at McDonough Township did same thing in early October to one our sales reps. She literally posted an eviction notice the night before an eviction, sat outside the occupant's apartment in a truck at midnight trying to intimidate them to move out and then refused to take the rent money. The sheriff had to make her take it (there are a lot of complaints about XXX* and her god complex on the internet "apartmentratings.com") In these two cases (just like other cases in certain areas) landlords intimidate tenants to move out when they are late on their rent or as it called in the industry "skip out". PAYING YOUR RENT LATE IS NOT ILLEGAL IN THIS STATE OR ANY OTHER STATE!
(3) We are marketing company that markets cell phones, laptop computers, calling cards, debit cards and other products and services. WE ARE NOT A PYRAMID SCHEME, APARTMENT SCHEME OR ANY OTHER SCHEME! We have help hundreds of people get cell phones and earn extra money selling our different products and services! Occupants in our apartments have been given notices reminding them of their sales production performance obligations to the company and what their options are. Unlike your sister station, channel 7, please do a thorough investigation into these "illegal evictions scams" that commonly done in low-mid income neighborhoods for years! Sure our company is late paying some rents (in which all 80 plus apartments was current as of 8/31/2009), but is due to the financial loss from the lack of moral of our sales force from these illegal evictions (or threat thereof) and other vicious rumors!
(4) Any employee or sales rep. living in corporate housing was re-explained in a letter a couple of weeks ago about our manager training program and their contractual obligations to be productive in terms of promoting or selling various products and services and becoming a qualified sales manager in our company.
(5) Some sale reps. and managers have been terminated for misrepresenting our company and our business opportunity including a Jasmine Chapman among others.
We take this matter seriously, anyone who has been unfairly evicted we can place them other housing if they are interested in working our company. If you have any more questions feel free to contact our corporate attorney, Jesse Ingram at 410.992.6603 . My attorney has been given a copy of this letter. This letter is also being mailed to all of out distributors and is posted on our website, "myshopD2Z.com" for all to see. We are also forwarding this letter and all supporting documents to the NAACP and Maryland Attorney General for investigation into these illegal evictions by various property management companies.
Yours Truly,
Lamondes Williams
Diversified Marketing Concepts, Inc.
(Names removed by WMAR/ABC2 are shown with an XXX*)
ADDITIONAL STATEMENT FROM LAMONDES WILLIAMS
Anyone requesting a refund can contact
memberservices@digitalzoneelectronicswarehouse.com The email should include a copy of the reciept, the members full name, their uplines name, and what they were told when they signed up.
