An ESS Investor's Story

Yesterday I received a truly heartbreaking email from the granddaughter of a woman that was scammed by David Feuerborn and Thomas Jennings.  After a few back-and-forth emails she gave me permission to post her story.

Her story begins when her grandmother was informed that some of her friends from church attended a presentation given by David Feuerborn and Thomas Jennings.  She decided to attend one of David’s and Tom’s many presentations, and was impressed by the table top demonstration and the claim that the chemical was environmentally safe and non-toxic. (Now we all know that they use carcinogenic, toxic chemicals which could never be used in a commercial process.)

The granddaughter went on to tell me, “My grandmother was told that she would make millions of dollars off a small investment of just a few thousand.”  She went on to say, “My grandmother even asked to meet with Dave personally before investing in ESS.  Dave came to her house and told her that he had a vision from God which told him how to create his ‘miracle chemical’.  I assume he saw the Christian icons hanging around her small house and decided to use this story to persuade her to invest.  Dave also told my grandmother that she should ‘pray on this investment’, and even prayed with her in order to induce her to invest.  My grandmother was so impressed by Dave’s religious zeal that she decided to invest half of what was left over in her retirement savings into ESS ($30,000).

Eight months after her investment, my grandmother attempted to contact Dave and ESS.  Her calls went unanswered.  Then my mother tried to get information from ESS.  All her calls were ignored as well.  When we had finally realized that this was a scam we attempted to call various state agencies in what became a futile attempt to get her money back.  Little did we know that Dave had taken the money and purchased his sports cars, condominiums, and everything else the IRS has recently discovered.  My grandmother became very sick, and her last days on earth were spent struggling to pay medical bills while Dave and Tom were spending her money on BMWs and Porches.  Even if they are claiming that the money they used was a ‘loan’, how does that make what they did right?”

I was speechless after I read her story.  It is truly heartbreaking, and I am sure there are many more like it.  David and Tom are said to have scammed more than six hundred people and tens of millions of dollars with this chemical scam.  I look back to the last sentence from her email, "Even if they are claiming that the money they used was a ‘loan’, how does that make what they did right?"  I keep asking myself the same question.  

I am sure each investor has a story to tell.  We may never get our money back, but at least we can have some hope that these men will be behind bars, and will never be able to scam anyone ever again.  My sympathies go out to this granddaughter and her family.

-ESS Investor