(Topic ID: 203700)
Linked Games
Alice in Wonderland
Zidware Pinball USA, 2013-
Celts
Haggis, 2021
-
Magic Girl
Zidware Pinball USA, 2017
-
Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland
Zidware Pinball USA, 2012
-
Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland (Arcade Edition)
Deeproot, 2020
-
Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland (Xtra Edition)
Deeproot, 2020
Topic Gallery
Sarasota, FL
Quoted from jeffspinballpalace:Ok we absolutely must create a script for a tv movie entitled - Robert’s Ruse. There is already an abundance of source material, but throw in SEC trial transcripts, sex it up a bit and send extravagant jewelry (in evidence room) to juror pool. I guess I’d really prefer a mock trial with Counselor Blueberry serving as head prosecutor. He will need to be on his toes against Defender Iceman. A man who would grudgingly waive his fees in exchange for the sample RAZA (in evidence room). Ben Heck will be played by a Wisconsin Honey Badger, as they don’t care and neither does he. Casting is open for lead roles of RM and JPOP. Send in video of why you would make for a good Robert Mueller or JPOP.
ALREADY DRAFTED, BABY! MACHO PLAYING LEAD PROSECUTOR. THE HAMMER FALLS, WINTER 2023!
Quoted from Mr68:Just made this my screensaver.
[quoted image]
It would make a great shirt for shows. Only the mutants on here would know what the hell it means.
I'm surprised so many people think the pinball part was a scam from day one, because it doesn't feel that way to me. Some thoughts:
- For most of the time, the pinball operations appear to have been a money sink rather than money generator for RM. First, he didn't need the pinball businesses to scam money. He already had a bunch of others that were working just fine for that, and the charging document asserts that Robert and Mrs. Robert were using various company cards for their spending sprees several years back (ps, why isn't Mrs. Robert also charged?).
- We know that Robert employed literally scores of pinball people for years. This is not pretend. I have dozens and dozens of their linkedins. Plus, he rented that massive, expensive building in Texas, and the studio in Utah. Why do all of that if the goal is just to scam? You could cut those expenses down to a tenth and still get just as many pre-orders for your crappy machine. That would leave more money for Mr. Mueller to play with or keep the bottom from dropping out longer so he could keep the real scam going. It seems the millions wasted on pinball were a major contributor to the unraveling of the bigger scheme. We know Robert sometimes didn't pay people. But we also know oftentimes, he did.
- I think playing pinball CEO with other people's money was another form of personal enrichment for Robert, different from dental work, divorces, and Hawaii condos. He didn't have to do all this crap. He wanted to and reveled in it. Plus, since Robert knows he's a super genius who's amazing at everything, he probably thought the pin biz would make him even richer when Deeproot trounced all the dumbass other companies that are stupid and don't know have the vision to be smart and awesome like deeproot was going to be.
- For the majority of their existences, Deeproot pinball and deeproot studios brought in next to no money. And, again, if he needed to expense fake things, he already had a bunch of extant companies for which he could (and apparently did) do that.
- Now, there is one known way in which Deeproot Tech and Deeproot Pinball actually did bring in millions: PPP loans. Four big ones. And it's illegal for that money to not primarily go to staff salary to prevent layoffs. Is that where the money went? Could be! Could also not be. And if it's not, that's certainly more than a drop in the bucket. And it will also add a new host of problems bigger than UL certification for Bobby Big Balls.
(P.S. P.S.A: Don't forget former and current deeproot employees, or anyone with inside knowledge of PPP funds malfeasance, you can submit a fraud complaint at https://sbax.sba.gov/oigcss/).
Quoted from benheck:At this point I think "SEC Battering Ram Proof" would be more useful.
Ah. Five months ago.
Always bet on Ben.
Quoted from blueberryjohnson:I'm surprised so many people think the pinball part was a scam from day one, because it doesn't feel that way to me. Some thoughts:
- For most of the time, the pinball operations appear to have been a money sink rather than money generator for RM. First, he didn't need the pinball businesses to scam money. He already had a bunch of others that were working just fine for that, and the charging document asserts that Robert and Mrs. Robert were using various company cards for their spending sprees several years back (ps, why isn't Mrs. Robert also charged?).
- We know that Robert employed literally scores of pinball people for years. This is not pretend. I have dozens and dozens of their linkedins. Plus, he rented that massive, expensive building in Texas, and the studio in Utah. Why do all of that if the goal is just to scam? You could cut those expenses down to a tenth and still get just as many pre-orders for your crappy machine. That would leave more money for Mr. Mueller to play with or keep the bottom from dropping out longer so he could keep the real scam going. It seems the millions wasted on pinball were a major unraveling of the bigger scheme. We Robert sometimes didn't pay people. But we know oftentimes, he did.
- I think playing pinball CEO with other people's money was another form of personal enrichment for Robert, different from dental work, divorces, and Hawaii condos. He didn't have to do all this crap. He wanted to and reveled in it. Plus, since Robert knows he's a super genius who's amazing at everything, he probably thought the pin biz would make him even richer when Deeproot trounced all the dumbass other companies that are stupid and don't know have the vision to make be smart and awesome like deeproot was going to be.
- For the majority of their existences, Deeproot pinball and deeproot studios brought in next to no money. And, again, if he needed to expense fake things, he already had a bunch of extant companies for which he could (and apparently did) do that.
- Now, there is one known way in which Deeproot Tech and Deeproot Pinball actually did bring in millions: PPP loans. Four big ones. And it's illegal for that money to not primarily go to staff salary to prevent layoffs. Is that where the money went? Could be! Could also not be. And if it's not, that's certainly more than a drop in the bucket. And it will also add a new host of problems bigger than UL certification for Bobby Big Balls
(PS PSA: Don't forget former and current deeproot employees, or anyone with inside knowledge of PPP funds malfeasance: You can submit a fraud complaint at https://sbax.sba.gov/oigcss/).
I generally agree. I think he might have been dumb enough to believe that he could pay back his fund with profits from pinball. He could have stolen money for years without the pinball operation.
He's just a piss-poor decision maker. I'm sure his wives would agree.
Toronto, ON
Quoted from iceman44:Congratulations for you.
It was NOT a complete and utter scam from the beginning.
The Raza Jpop story was OVER years ago until DR stepped in and made it a possibility again.
It didn’t work out. Pinball is just part of a MUCH bigger story here.
As bad as it looks for Robert he didn’t set out looking to steal $58 million. At least I don’t believe that
Stupid and horrendous management? No doubt
I don’t post here anymore but felt it was necessary this one time just to tell you what a piece of shit you are. Have at it moderators.
Quoted from starfighter:Fixed it for ya...
[quoted image]
Perfecto!
80C598DA-B2FE-43D6-892E-1851DFA6A28B.gif
Quoted from blueberryjohnson:why isn't Mrs. Robert also charged?
pretty sure once you divorce someone, you are no longer legally bound to anything they are involved with (not unless her name is specifically mentioned on one of the businesses)
Quoted from cooked71:I feel particularly sorry for the Pinball newbs that bought put deposits down partly because of the hype that was on Pinside. No sympathy for the old barnacles like Ice and Yelo as they went in eyes wide shut and had plenty of opportunity to pull out.
Btw, did any of the (3) smart people that asked for refunds get their money back?
And, why the f*ck did only (3) people ask for refunds!?!?! Zero sympathy for anyone who stayed in after that, newb or not.
[quoted image]
Some of them actually paid in full back in December according to their posts in Raza pre ordered thread, even though deeproot was only asking for 10%. Not sure why or what they were trying to prove?
Quoted from pipes:I don’t post here anymore but felt it was necessary this one time just to tell you what a piece of shit you are. Have at it moderators.
Also they won’t charge witnesses they intend to use against him. Since they are not married anymore, there’s no spousal immunity
Quoted from toyotaboy:pretty sure once you divorce someone, you are no longer legally bound to anything they are involved with (not unless her name is specifically mentioned on one of the businesses)
It comes full circle back to Arrested Development
BB3F82C9-9D73-45F7-936E-38BBE0D40637.gif
Quoted from gprotein:Some of them actually paid in full back in December according to their posts in Raza pre ordered thread, even though deeproot was only asking for 10%. Not sure why or what they were trying to prove?
paying in full got you to the front of the line... the line to losing your money
Quoted from TreyBo69:Maybe Robert got some money in selling life insurance policies, and learned dead people can’t spend money or their estate may not be able to go after relatively small amounts individually in court.
He then took it to the next level by targeting older people’s retirement nest egg figuring they’d die before they could figure out they lost it all.
The evil genius of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme was that he targeted a lot of charities and large university endowment. They were places that only needed an annuity paid out and were unlikely to ever suddenly cash out.
I wonder if Robert thought some of his investors would die off before it became an issue for him to own up to
Truly despicable stuff.
Not to suggest his actions weren't despicable; however, it doesn't appear that they were selling policies (there is a different set of licensing needed to sell life insurance). My understanding is the fund was supposed to purchase 'bundles' of life insurance policies from insurance companies below the value based on actuarial calculations. It is similar to companies that purchase bundles of mortgages from banks at below market. It appears, based on a quick skim of the SEC filing, that while they had the ability to invest some $ in other more speculative investments (like pinball), this was supposed to be a small %. Instead, they burned through way too much money on Pinball, putting them in a precarious position. Then as the five year term started to expire for some of the original investors, DR needed to pony up principal. They tried to move money between funds to help but eventually they had to start borrowing money to address the shortfall. Surprise, they weren't able to get cheap money. At this point they had to 1) make the recurring investment fund payments of 7% a year 2) start to reimburse principal for investors that hit the end of the five year term, and 3) make the payments on the money they were borrowing to cover 1 and 2.
Quoted from toyotaboy:pretty sure once you divorce someone, you are no longer legally bound to anything they are involved with (not unless her name is specifically mentioned on one of the businesses)
Yeah, but it doesn't absolve you of anything you were involved with, and wouldn't it qualify her as doing the nasty (so to speak) if she's spending ill gotten gains herself? Surely she would understand that her expenses were not business expenses.
SPECIAL REQUEST: Are there any stand-up, non-squelching-on-a-gentlemen's-agreement lawyers with Pacer access on this thread who'd be willing to pull some case files for me to review and share with our fabulous community? I have all the info neatly organized and ready to send to someone who can grab the goods. Thanks!
Quoted from blueberryjohnson:SPECIAL REQUEST: Are there any stand-up, non-squelching-on-a-gentlemen's-agreement lawyers with Pacer access on this thread who'd be willing to pull some case files for me to review and share with our fabulous community? I have all the info neatly organized and ready to send to someone who can grab the goods. Thanks!
I look forward to making a new Bluberry “Pepe Silvia” Johnson meme
Few new names in that SEC document that bring up some results…
Quoted from blueberryjohnson:I'd love to see the original Blueberry Johnson, Michael Showalter, reprise his role for this classic character's next chapter. And I'd gladly sign on as a consultant to give him behind-the-scenes perspective for his performance ("Well first I did a googled a bunch of stuff. And then I googled some more. And after that, I googled some other stuff.").
If however Robert ends up defending himself, I want wall-to-wall coverage a la https://www.heinetwork.tv/the-trial/.
The State is a top 3 all-time show for me. So many amazing sketches. To this day, when my wife asks me to add stuff to the grocery list, I always write- $240 worth of pudding.
Deeproot presents: 575 Ramen Noodle Investment Fund. Here's how it works:
1) Spend your book at canteen on Ramen Noodles.
2) Bring noodles to cell 64A
3) African mining expert Robert Mueller will log your Ramen into a bank with the following payback schedule:
a) One pack of Ramen per year for every 20 packs invested.
b) Two packs of Ramen every five years for every 20 packs invested.
4) deeproot Ramen Management, LLC will invest your ramen in a variety of growth markets including but not limited to:
a) paying off gangs to not beat his ass
b) extra phone time with Jpop
c) Shivs
5) At the end of the term all your Ramen will be gone and you'll be left with nothing.
Invest today!
And as you can see, the glass and playfield pivot up very easily so you can stuff all the cash from your Deepfunds 575 ponzi scheme inside. When the SEC comes banging on your door and they ask to see what's inside the pinball machine, you can just tell them "Oh that old retro thing? I haven't opened it up in years, I lost the key".
deeproot_cash_storage (resized).png
Section 54
54. Despite telling the Funds’ investors through the PPMs that both Funds would
invest primarily in life insurance policies, Mueller and deeproot have not purchased a single life
insurance policy since at least September 2017. Since that time, however, they have raised
approximately $43 million from 575 Fund and dGRD Fund investors and diverted the majority
of it to the Relief Defendants and Mueller’s own pockets, contravening the investment allocation
strategy of the Funds presented to investors.
Quoted from starfighter:Section 54
54. Despite telling the Funds’ investors through the PPMs that both Funds would
invest primarily in life insurance policies, Mueller and deeproot have not purchased a single life
insurance policy since at least September 2017. Since that time, however, they have raised
approximately $43 million from 575 Fund and dGRD Fund investors and diverted the majority
of it to the Relief Defendants and Mueller’s own pockets, contravening the investment allocation
strategy of the Funds presented to investors.
A fantastic section. Waiting for the next sec drops will be tougher than trying to go to sleep on Christmas Eve. Can anyone who knows about this kind of stuff give us an anticipated timeline for what to expect when?
Quoted from Oldgoat:My understanding is the fund was supposed to purchase 'bundles' of life insurance policies from insurance companies below the value based on actuarial calculations.
The SEC filing explains they proposed to buy ongoing life insurance policies from people that cashed out on them early. If you continue to pay the premiums, the insurance policy is still active and you eventually get paid at the moment of death. The other investments were needed to bring revenue until the bastards started to die in sufficient numbers.
Quoted from Beechwood:Why does everyone believe Bob when he said 3 people requested refunds.
He's a liar.
Continue...
He's obviously a liar, but there were only a couple of people who posted in the preorder thread saying that they requested a refund.
Quoted from blueberryjohnson:I'm surprised so many people think the pinball part was a scam from day one, because it doesn't feel that way to me.
I think that many of us thought it was just another pinball manufacturer business that was going to implode in on itself.
I don't think too many of us suspected that it was going to be part of a big $58m ponzi-like scheme that the SEC would pounce on.
Quoted from blueberryjohnson:- I think playing pinball CEO with other people's money was another form of personal enrichment for Robert, different from dental work, divorces, and Hawaii condos. He didn't have to do all this crap. He wanted to and reveled in it. Plus, since Robert knows he's a super genius who's amazing at everything, he probably thought the pin biz would make him even richer when Deeproot trounced all the dumbass other companies that are stupid and don't know have the vision to be smart and awesome like deeproot was going to be.
Insecurity tends to breed bluster.
There's evidence of deep-rooted insecurity here (pun intended).
Perhaps his St. Mary's University Law School degree, with its rock-bottom tier rank, combined with his other lackluster academic credentials, fueled his perceived psychological need to create something extraordinary.
I've known several JD/MBA joint degree holders and JD/MD dual degree recipients over the years. They tended to struggle with both disciplines, never mastering either, particularly the law hemisphere of their education.
Who knows what drives a person towards self-destruction. I cannot divine why RM embarked into this madness. But, I suspect that those demons are more internal than external and they are probably quite primal as well.
https://www.redfin.com/HI/Koloa/2611-Kiahuna-Plantation-Dr-96756/unit-7E/home/148504938
Screen Shot 2021-08-21 at 3.43.40 PM (resized).pngQuoted from thechakapakuni:So the only thing that’s strange is generally charges like this involve an arrest. Was Robert arrested? The complaint appears to be a criminal complaint vs a civil one
It's a civil suit.
Hopefully others will follow
deeproot chipped in 135k and later 59k on renovations
Probably didn’t even take in that much with preorders on pinball.
Robert saw what JPop was doing and said hold my venti double shot frappuccino
https://arcadeheroes.com/2021/08/21/good-news-cactus-canyon-remake-bad-news-raza-for-pinball/
Sydney
Quoted from ZNET:Insecurity tends to breed bluster.
There's evidence of deep-rooted insecurity here (pun intended).
Perhaps his St. Mary's University Law School degree, with its rock-bottom tier rank, combined with his other lackluster academic credentials, fueled his perceived psychological need to create something extraordinary.
I've known several JD/MBA joint degree holders and JD/MD dual degree recipients over the years. They tended to struggle with both disciplines, never mastering either, particularly the law hemisphere of their education.
Who knows what drives a person towards self-destruction. I cannot divine why RM embarked into this madness. But, I suspect that those demons are more internal than external and they are probably quite primal as well.
He was definitely trying to be the Elon Musk of pinball.
Quoted from TreyBo69:deeproot chipped in 135k and later 59k on renovations
Probably didn’t even take in that much with preorders on pinball.
Robert saw what JPop was doing and said hold my venti double shot frappuccino
Hmm, a little confused here. That listing (at an address it appears two relief defendants reside) is for a condo in Kauai built in 2018 and purchased in 2019. That all sounds good except for these details from the charging document chapter 68:
68. Between November 2016 and August 2018, Mueller also spent or transferred
almost $330,000 of investor funds for the benefit of the MB Hale Ohana Revocable Trust, a
Mueller family trust for which Relief Defendants Mueller (in his capacity as co-trustee), his
father Jeffrey L. Mueller, and his stepmother Belinda G. Breen serve as co-trustees. In
November 2016, he wired $135,000 from a Policy Services bank account to purchase a Kauai,
Hawaii condominium that was titled in the name of the trust. In March 2017, he paid for
renovations to that property using a check for over $59,000 drawn on deeproot’s account. Then,
in August 2018, he wired an additional $135,000 directly to the trust from Policy Services’
account.
I could see wiring money for a purchase well in advance of a purchase, but it reads as if the condo itself existed and was purchased prior to 2018. Not sure what's going on.
Quoted from blueberryjohnson:Hmm, a little confused here. That listing (at an address it appears two codefendants reside) is for a condo in Kauai built in 2018 and purchased in 2019. That all sounds good except for these details from the charging document chapter 68:
68. Between November 2016 and August 2018, Mueller also spent or transferred
almost $330,000 of investor funds for the benefit of the MB Hale Ohana Revocable Trust, a
Mueller family trust for which Relief Defendants Mueller (in his capacity as co-trustee), his
father Jeffrey L. Mueller, and his stepmother Belinda G. Breen serve as co-trustees. In
November 2016, he wired $135,000 from a Policy Services bank account to purchase a Kauai,
Hawaii condominium that was titled in the name of the trust. In March 2017, he paid for
renovations to that property using a check for over $59,000 drawn on deeproot’s account. Then,
in August 2018, he wired an additional $135,000 directly to the trust from Policy Services’
account.
I could see wiring money for a purchase well in advance of a purchase, but it reads as if the condo itself existed and was purchased prior to 2018. Not sure what's going on.
Im guessing he paid the down deposit for the house to be built and it took a few years before they built that phase of the development. Then renovated a brand new condo because YOLO
Scandell my friend!!!! What's Farewell Dinosaur????
Quoted from ForceFlow:I think that many of us thought it was just another pinball manufacturer business that was going to implode in on itself.
I don't think too many of us suspected that it was going to be part of a big $58m ponzi-like scheme that the SEC would pounce on.
I felt like this was the inevitable outcome. He was spending money like it wasn’t his - oh wait, it wasn’t. If it was his own money, he would have been waaaay more frugal and smart with it.
BTW, at what point does Pinside remove DR as a manufacturer & RAZA as a game?
Quoted from Rarehero:I felt like this was the inevitable outcome. He was spending money like it wasn’t his - oh wait, it wasn’t. If it was his own money, he would have been waaaay more frugal and smart with it.
BTW, at what point does Pinside remove DR as a manufacturer & RAZA as a game?
How dare you. These threads are just getting started. And deeprootpinball.com is still online. And it's common knowledge there are 53 games that are at least 60% or more finished.
Quoted from benheck:Hey leave Robert's two, soon to be three ex wives out of it! They already had to bear the indignity of being married to the guy and the confusion of him screaming JOHNNNNNNN during sex.
Man I don’t have a dog in this fight but Bwahahaha this is gold
Promoted items from Pinside Marketplace and Pinside Shops!
Reply
Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!
Donate to PinsideGreat to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!
