The Price of Exposing Fraud

A photograph taken at one of Mr. Down's many investor presentations, in this case a rent-a-jet service "Jet Steve"​, which never took off.

As many of you know, a fraud and Ponzi schemer named Steve Down came to town to "rescue" the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum out of bankruptcy back in 2016. I was asked to review information regarding the site and their business practices and immediately uncovered them for what they were - a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme masquerading as a "cause capitalist" event center chain. The fraud had many supporting characters including the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum Board, the News-Register, and many more. You can imagine when I exposed it as a massive fraud/Ponzi many were not happy, and have continued to attack me with false allegations. I was falsely sued for $20 million by Steve Down and his fraud The Falls Event Center as an intimidation tactic. The company made this immediately clear when they offered to drop the suit under the condition that I reveal my sources and apologize to the News Register, who sought to bolster Mr. Down and The Falls Event Centers' reputation as the new Evergreen Museum savior. In the subsequent bankruptcies of Steve Down's companies, the courts have clearly outlined the fraud and Ponzi of Mr. Down's companies. As a result, the suit against me has been officially dropped and I am free to speak without fear.

Steve Down's companies stole and lost investors over $200 million. As they hemorrhaged money, instead of facing the music Steve Down and his officers chose to lie and pay off old investors by raising new capital (a classic Ponzi scheme fraud). Steve Down was also cited and fined individually twice for defrauding investors by the SEC. In spite of this, the News-Register has continued to report that Steve Down's fraud schemes as "alleged investment frauds", and that he had "built the kind of business empire the others can only dream of" (the "others" being myself and an associate of mine). I attempted to bring clear evidence of Mr. Down's fraud to The News Register early on so they could speak the truth, but they instead chose to not only ignore the evidence of fraud, but attack myself and other newspapers who reported on the fraud, including the outright theft of several Evergreen Museum airplanes by Steve Down and his associates. On April 11th the Oregonian even ran an article citing the News Register stating that "many locals stood by Down". So much for local journalism.

The Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum Board, led by its Director John Rasmussen, also actively supported, lied, and covered up the fraud. It is important to note that Down was not the only option the museum could have chosen to take over the property in bankruptcy. At the time of the Evergreen Bankruptcy, the museum had a competing offer from George Schott (who already owned some of the museum's land) that was far superior to Down's, but the Museum Board and its then-director Bandon Roben lied to the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts to prevent them from choosing Schott over Down. Roben lied again in the frivolous suit brought against me to further protect and conceal Mr. Down's fraud. Had the Board not committed to this fraud, the Museum likely could have been on solid footing and have ownership (or at least control) of the entire Evergreen site. Instead, they chose the option which promised the least change and discomfort to their cushy board positions.

Hopefully Stoller Family Estate, who in turn bought part of the property as Mr. Down's companies have imploded, will take this opportunity to force the resignation of Rasmussen and the entire Board. A name change should be in order, along with a new profitable business plan that actually works and does more than support a decrepit board full of Dell Smith's old yes-men. Without substantial changes the Museum, which is currently losing over $50,000 a month, I have little doubt the organization will enter bankruptcy again.

With the dropping of the lawsuit, I am now free to sue Steve Down, his fellow fraudsters, and all his fellow conspirators. They have caused myself and my family significant grief and attempted to damage my reputation to protect themselves. If someone would be interested in a book or mini-series, my story would be a blockbuster.

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