I am sorry to have to report that one of the members of this forum who posts fairly frequently has turned out to be a very dishonest person.

With the global financial situation and Nixon trying to fill his hunts, this person cut him to the quick for the cost of this safari. When he contacted me I told him I did not see any way he could go hunting for the animals he wanted and the prices he wanted to pay. I had him contact Nixon directly to finalize the costs. When I say he wanted cheap, I mean CHEAP! It was as bad as when the packers were offering farmers a few years ago $25 for a hog. I have also kept all of our e-mails.

This guy hunted with SSG Safaris/Nixon Dzingai in summer 2009. He hunted 13 days killing 2 Buffalo,2 Elephants,1 Leopard,2 Klipspringers, 1 Croc and 1 Giraffe. He did pay a deposit for the hunt before he arrived. When he left Zimbabwe he paid Nixon $9,000 in American Express Travelers Cheques. He promised to send Nixon the balance of the trophy fees for the animals he killed when he got back to the states. Not only has he not paid for the animals, but he reported the AmeX TC's "STOLEN"



This matter has caused big problems for SSG Safaris because they have had to pay the government for the animal's trophy fees this guy killed. This is a lot of money they have had to cover out of their own pockets! The total he owes is $26,490. I have held back posting this information in hopes that his concience would get the best of him and he would make good on his debt.

I will post his name when the time is appropriate.

I would like to know what you guys think of this situation. What should be done about this cheat and liar.

A very bad situation indeed.If a Ph/Outfitter gives a client a raw/bad deal he is outed on here very quickly and taken to task. Since the hunter has failed to live up to his end of the deal he should be taken to task too.This is probably really bad for SSG Safaris,hopefully they can weather this and continue on. I have heard really good things about them and the hunts they conduct.Not sure what can be done to a deadbeat hunter legally but one would hope that after seeing this post he would at the least set up a payment plan.Just my thoughts.

If your intent is really to hide the identity of the person, you should really remove the date of the hunt. It took me 2 minutes to figure out who you were talking about.

quote:

Originally posted by dla69:
If your intent is really to hide the identity of the person, you should really remove the date of the hunt. It took me 2 minutes to figure out who you were talking about.

Edited after this comment. Thank you.

The guy reported the TC's as Stolen, and got his money back? This hunt was from June and July-- we need to know who the Ass is if he posts here. He appears possibly guilty of several felonies.

Sucks that he has not paid his bill. Period.

And I cannot help but notice that he killed 2 eles, 2 buff, leopard, crock and PG and he only owes $26 large after the deposit. I don't know how much deposit he paid or if the eles were cows or bulls, but it still sounds CHEAP. Anybody have another package like that to sell?

I'm not suggesting that your post is anything but honest, but if the facts as presented are correct, without doubt the hunter has committed fraud by reporting the TCs as stolen and being reimbursed for them. He could and should be indicted for the crime. It should be a slam dunk to prove he hunted and owed the fees, partially paid by the TCs he has reported as stolen. Again, assuming true facts as presented, shame on him and I will help in any way I can to send him to jail.

This truly saddens me to hear news of something like this happening to Nixon.. I was booked to hunt with Nixon last August, unfortunately I was in a vehicle accident and injuries prevented me from being able to make my hunt date.. Upon contacting Duxdog and Nixon, Nixon graciously accepted the fact that "Sh*t happens" and generously rolled my hunt over to August 2010.. There are many out there that simply would have said, if we/you can't sell your spot deposit is forfeited. Everything I have heard and experienced confirms to me that Nixon is a true gentleman of the highest regard..

If he truely did pay for a product/service with travelers checks, then report them stolen he is guilty of a crime and in my state that amount would constitute a felony. Even if he settles up he still should be charged with a crime.

I'm not a lawyer. I didn't even sleep in a holiday in express but I'm pretty certain that falsely claiming that legitimately signed and surrendered travelers checks were stolen is going to carry not only civil but criminal penalties. This is not to mention that this is a international transaction.

If I were on the receiving end of that sort of transaction I would offer exactly one chance for the person to make good on the owed moneys and if not immediately paid I would proceed with filing criminal charges as fast as possible.

I sure hope this is just a misunderstanding that can be worked out in a civil manner. good luck

Just curious about jusidiction here;if the booking agent handled the money in the US;can the hunter be held accountable in in the US?

Does this protect the outfitter?

If so,is it in the state the agent is in?

One of the NZ guides posted about a hunter stiffing him.Don't think he was able to chase it down ever.

Sorry to here that there are bad hunters as well as outfitters.Damn,I've never had credit for trophy fees extended to me,guess outfitters trust the perceived well healed clients...

If this individual is trafficking in stolen TC's that constitues a Federal Offense. Contacting a US Attorney with the facts would create a possible criminal case against the individual. This is a very serious situation If this person is a US citizen or left from the USon this trip with USD TC's he may be liable and or prosecutable in a US Court IF he knowingly dealt in stolen TC's. IF it was inadvertent, and he did not report it and get it corrected, he still has some serious problems possibility violating Federal law.

Another possibility is the Lacey Act. If he took any of the trophies out of the country without paying for them it may be possible to charge him with a violation of the Lacey Act.

In other words there are some serious legal remedies and/or actions that can be taken.

The most significant criminal exposure is the reporting of the checks as stolen upon return to the states. That act most probably occurred on US soil, after returning from the safari, and would have been a felony that could be prosecuted and punished in the state where the untrue communication occurred.

Nixon v. the non-paying client rings of a criminal case of theft of services or theft by deception, but most state and federal prosecutors are not going to get too fired up about indicting an American over the fall out between him and his Zimbo safari operator. They'd likely tell him to go to civil court and sue the non-payor.

Finally, Amex would go crazy on a deal like this. I think they'd sue or prosecute someone who fraudulently reported their travelers checks as stolen. Plus, they'd likely pay Nixon the $9k on the checks.

Down side to all of this is time. Courts are slow. Some lawyers are slow. Maybe, however, the threat of legal action would produce a fast payment of the balance.

For what it's worth, I'm licensed in Alabama if, by chance, the culprit lives in my jurisdiction.

assuming the facts are as stated, why give this guy a chance to redeem himself? he is obviously a crook and should be outed as such. hope he ends up in the Iron Bar Hilton where he belongs(again i state that is if the info as presented is factual) WHAT'S HIS NAME???

So he goes to Zim, stiffs the PH, then comes back to the U.S. (?) and reports the very cashier checks he (partially) paid the PH with as stolen? If so, he's indeed a bozo first-class. If he was smart (from a criminal point of view) he would have reported them stolen on the way home in Amsterdam or England to really muddy up the jurisdiction issue.

That said, good luck getting a U.S. Federal Prosecutor interested in the case. To them cases involving 25K is for the most part treated like the theft of a candy bar. It would make for an interesting 'witness list' and getting everybody gathered up for a trial a real daunting task.

How about indentifying the individual and then witholding judgement until we hear his side of the story. I'd like to hear how he explains it all.

P.S. Sure, somebody can sue somebody and you can win too! But the devil is in the collecting. And most lawyers quickly figure out if there is a money in it for them at the end of the day. Otherwise they want money up-front. I personally know a guy that spent over 10K sueing some people (three of them) and was eventually awarded $1 from each of them.

As an old country lawyer once told me..."Son, the court house is plastered with judgements that are not collectable".

It occurs, to me that AMEX likely has an arbitration agreement as a part of their TC program for all TC-related disputes. Nixon might be able to obtain a telephonic arbitration through AMEX to determine who is entitled to the 9K.

Also, the TC Rules per AMEX:

IMPORTANT
Read this Agreement carefully. By either buying, signing, accepting or using these American Express® Travelers Cheques (“Cheques”), you agree to everything written here: You agree
(a) To sign your Cheques immediately in the upper left corner,
(b) Not to resell, consign, or take any similar action to transfer your Cheques to any other individual, company or entity for resale or reuse.

REFUND
American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (“Amexco”) will replace or refund the amount shown on any lost or stolen Cheque in accordance with applicable laws and only if you meet all of the requirements below:

BEFORE LOSS
You have signed the Travelers Cheque in the upper left-hand corner in permanent ink.
You have not signed the Cheque in the lower left-hand corner.
You have not given the Cheque to another person or company to hold or keep, or as part of a confidence game.
You have not used the Cheque in violation of any law, including as part of an illegal bet, game of chance or other prohibited action.
Your Cheque has not been taken by court order or by government action.
You have safeguarded the Cheque as a prudent person would safeguard a like amount of cash.

AFTER LOSS
You promptly notify Amexco of the loss or theft of the Cheque.
You promptly report all facts of the loss or theft to Amexco and also to the police if Amexco asks you to.
You promptly inform Amexco of the serial number of the lost or stolen Cheque and the place and date of its purchase.
You promptly complete Amexco's refund forms and provide Amexco with acceptable proof of your identity.
You give Amexco all reasonable information and help requested to make a complete investigation of the loss or theft. Amexco reserves the right to investigate the loss or theft and to verify compliance with this Purchase Agreement and shall not be responsible for any delays resulting from such an investigation.
Please note that for quality assurance purposes your telephone call to Amexco may be monitored or recorded and that you consent to such monitoring and recording

Well, I got to this thread too late for the easy id from the posted checks but with a bit of research I am 99% sure I know who it is. I note that he did not post a hunt report if I have the right person.

I had a pretty good year last year,thanks to the stock market, made a few charitable donations including some to one of my favorites, Delta Waterfowl, but this kind of behavior really pisses me off. Struggling PH in a foreign country, doing the best he can, trusts an American hunter and gets fucked. I'm not nearly as well off as some in here but perhaps this will shake the crooked SOB off of some of his burgeoning ill gotten nest egg......

I'm offering US$5000 for the indictment AND felony conviction of said hunter for fraudulently reporting said TCs as stolen.
Reward is payable to SSG Safaris/Nixon Dzingai or anyone he designates.

This is a real deal offer, no strings, no BS except that the court process and felony conviction must be real with the conviction and resulting legal consequences in the US (I'm not crawfishing in any way, but I'm not at all sure a court conviction in Zim would have any real consequences). If anyone wants to add to it, so much the better.

All I can say is, the SOB better pay up quick or he may wish he had.

Gato

Bravo.

Your actions speak for the kind of man you are, and the best way for me to put it, and the best compliment I can pay is..

You are a Texan!

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:
Well, I got to this thread too late for the easy id from the posted checks but with a bit of research I am 99% sure I know who it is. I note that he did not post a hunt report if I have the right person.

I had a pretty good year last year,thanks to the stock market, made a few charitable donations including some to one of my favorites, Delta Waterfowl, but this kind of behavior really pisses me off. Struggling PH in a foreign country, doing the best he can, trusts an American hunter and gets fucked. I'm not nearly as well off as some in here but perhaps this will shake the crooked SOB off of some of his burgeoning ill gotten nest egg......

I'm offering US$5000 for the indictment AND felony conviction of said hunter for fraudulently reporting said TCs as stolen.
Reward is payable to SSG Safaris/Nixon Dzingai or anyone he designates.

This is a real deal offer, no strings, no BS except that the court process and felony conviction must be real with the conviction and resulting legal consequences in the US (I'm not crawfishing in any way, but I'm not at all sure a court conviction in Zim would have any real consequences). If anyone wants to add to it, so much the better.

All I can say is, the SOB better pay up quick or he may wish he had.

I share your desire to nail such a scumbag.
I can't afford to throwdown cash with you Gatogordo--but I really appreciate your conviction is this matter. My hat is off to you.

scumbags like this guy gives honest hunters a bad rap

I sincerely feel bad for anyone who is young and new in a business who gets taken advantage of. We are way to small a community for this to go on.

I would hope that if this person is exposed and is a poster here that he is shown the door from our forum as I don't think is the kind of guy any of us want to fraternize with.

dukxdog, how in the world is this guy trying to justify his behavior in this matter?

Does he think that the outfitter screwed him over somehow? Overcharged him? Did a poor job for him on the hunt?

Even if he was duly and royally screwed in some fashion or other - IMHO, he sure as hell picked a stupid and most likely illegal way to seek redress.

Not very smart, or very honorable, IMHO.

Aw Crap! What a lousy happening. Hope it works out and the right folks made whole.

A tip of the hat to Gatogordo! Mighty fine gesture indeed.

quote:

He hunted 13 days killing 2 Buffalo,2 Elephants,1 Leopard,2 Klipspringers, 1 Croc and 1 Giraffe

We could all only wish to get 'screwed over' this way.

As it has been stated above, if he did surrender the travelers check at the end of the hunt to settle a bill (or a portion thereof) and proceeds to report them stolen then it is an open and shut criminal case.

Gatogordo,

It is indeed a very generous offer from you. My hat's off to you sir.

Wow! How crappy. Good luck getting the money back!

Brett

OK - so how long are you going to give him before he gets named ???

It's theft. Plain and simple. There are no excuses for behavior like this and he should be outed, prosecuted as a criminal and banned from these boards and the hunting community as a whole!

Very generous offer Gato... you have my respect.

I have said it before on several occasions.

There are several more bad clients to every bad PH or outfitter.

Trouble is, they keep quiet about it.

But, this character needs to be named and shamed. This is the sort of behavior that will affect all of us.

This is bad enough under normal circumstances. However in this economy it has to be really tough.

What a scumbag.

It's astounding that anyone would be so dumb as to pay travellers cheques to someone and then report them stolen..... and in Zimbabwe of all places!

By doing so, (if true) he'd be laying himself open to no end of charges including defrauding the payee, the bank who issued the T/Cs and possibly also the bank in Zimbabwe...... to say nothing of serious breaches of the Lacey Act.

All in all, he's very probably facing some very serious jail time and financial penalties.

If true and if he's got any sense at all, he'll pay in full and possibly as bit more to cover additional incurred expenses, and apologise for his 'error' in the hope that the safari company will drop charges.

I'm sure if he doesn't, he'll almost certainly regret it.

could we maybe invite the SOB over to the comfort inn in dallas this weekend

So how long are we going to let this ride here without ousting him and then seeing what happens? This guy doesn't need to be cut any slack.

Am I being naive here, but how many outfitters allow a client to shoot upwards of $30,000 worth of game without some form of deposit or proof of payment? I have only been twice and I used broker escrow accounts both times so I have no personal experience with this, but I didn't think for the most part an outfitter would get himself in this position unless it was a well known repeat client. Couldn't everyone then potentially withold trophy fee payment until the trophies arrive if they wanted?

I was fortunate enough to hunt with Nixon in May of this year,and I can honestly say I had a fantastic hunt. Nixon is a hard hunter that gives 100% AT ALL TIMES... Why would anyone do this to a guy trying to make a living? This sickens me...it reflects on all of us if true...Duksdog and Nixon can count me in their corner...they both did exactly what they said they were going to do...whoever did this needs to respond with his side of the story, AND MAKE PAYMENT IN FULL IMMEDIATELY.I would hunt with Nixon and SSG Safaris anytime...NIXON IS A HONERABLE MAN!!! Acts like this shame all of us.

Dux,

If this guy is in or near SoCal, it would make my day to discuss this with him personally.

Let me know if you need help.

Best of luck to Nixon.

quote:

Originally posted by G L Krause:
Am I being naive here, but how many outfitters allow a client to shoot upwards of $30,000 worth of game without some form of deposit or proof of payment? I have only been twice and I used broker escrow accounts both times so I have no personal experience with this, but I didn't think for the most part an outfitter would get himself in this position unless it was a well known repeat client. Couldn't everyone then potentially withold trophy fee payment until the trophies arrive if they wanted?

I also hunted with the same outfitter this year. I ended up shooting more trophies than i planned on. Nixon simply asked me to send the money when i was home. Not like i was going to carry a extra $10000.00 in cash with just in case. There is something to be said for doing the RIGHT thing. In my business i have to trust people for a lot more money than any safari. I don't like it but thats how things work. And a honest man does pay what he agreed to.

99.9% of hunters (and outfitters) are completely trustworthy but sadly it's the other .1% that make it so important to have detailed contracts and full payment before departure from camp.

I wish Nixon all the best in this and if the client has any sense at all, he'll pay up immediately.....and hope the cops don't come knocking on his door.

With no name revealed, I'm concerned that someone who hunted with Nixon (and paid him in full) might be confused with the alleged culprit.

I guess it's kind of hard to say who it isn't, but I had two friends who went with Nixon, paid him and sing his praises.

Maybe revealing who the fellow is would keep unwarranted suspicion from painting a couple of innocents?

Gato,

you are my hero!!

If I were Nixon I would notify AMEX and then file suit in Zim. Then just post the URL where the court is. I think the Lacey Act is appropriate. We couldn't be lucky enough that he doesn't have the trophies in the US yet? Stop shipment if not.

Rich

Steve,

They are already knocking.

My experience with Nixon was also exemplary. Even after he was stiffed by the traveller's checks, he trusted both H Kittle and I to send funds once home to cover additional animals shot. And, that was no small amount of money.

If any of you have a phone number for a supervisor at Am Ex, I could use it to light a fire under some of their staff.