Wheeler Says, “Fresno Bee story erroneous!”
EFG Leasing President Ken Wheeler says Fresno Bee reporter Sandy Nax interviewed him in his leasing office, but didn't get the facts correct about any “alleged fraud.” He did confirm he was interviewed by the Fresno Police, but explained the three examples were not correct. He expects no legal action. The first from an un-named person regarding $15,000 centers around a $2.7 million lease secured with real estate that has run into some difficulties, but Wheeler was “still working on it, trying to over come some problems with it.” The reporting of California Churros was not fully explained as the transaction came to them for equipment in Los Angeles, but later confirmed with the president and his attorney appeared in his office and told him that after a “site inspection,” the equipment was to be shipped to the company's plant in Mexico. The third instance involved a transaction that he found out in the course of working on it that it had gone through three separate brokers before it reached him . His broker contract prohibited this action. He did admit business was down to $5 million for the current year, compared to close to $20 million the previous year. He also said he was difficult to reach as he is only in the office for a few hours each day. Vendors , seeking payment, who recently visited the office wrote Leasing News: “They are down to one inside sales person, and do not answer the phone. I am told Ken Wheeler comes in around 9:30 to 10:00am, stays to 11:00am, and then goes to his favorite restaurant-bar, returning at 2:00pm and then leaves around 3:00pm to 3:30pm every day. I am also told he has health problems.” “The office was described to me as a front desk then an office for Steve Davis and one for Ken Wheeler and a room of 12 cubicles. There is only one salesman left.” “...The receptionist Tamara said Steve Davis was sick and has not been in all week, but checking e-mails, “ Peter Bowen of “The Bowen Group Inc dba Concord Funding, wrote. “ It appears, and I can testify to this, that Ken Wheeler comes in between 9:45am and 10:00am, goes to his restaurant at 11:00am, returns around 2:00Pm, stays about an hour or so, then leaves for home.” Leasing News confirmed from Ken Wheelers that his hours are generally 9:30am to 11am, then 2:00 or 2:30pm to 4pm, and that he does go almost every day for lunch at the Elbow Room Bar & Grill.
Note: many awards for this Fresno establishment: http://www.elbow-room.com/awards.shtml “I meet my attorney and accountants, and also go over business there, “ Wheeler said. “I return to the office, work as long as I can, an hour to an hour and a half, then go home to bed.” He states his red blood condition is incurable.
Rumors that his son Sean Wheeler is the “wizard behind the curtain” are “untrue,” he states. Sean, once head of” OneLease “ (1lease—listed first in directories) who claimed when he turned the company over to a floral retail operator that they had reportedly “... over 240 satisfied brokers.” Many fundors had “reps and warrants” issues with the company, Commercial Equipment Lease had called his lease to his company in default, Dun & Bradstreet had issues regarding what he has reported to him, the Fresno police were investigating regarding a fire to his “fish sitting” business, and he had many other problems, not including that he and his father Ken Wheeler has been expelled by the National Association of Equipment Brokers. http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/sean_wheeler.htm Several ex-employees of EFG, vendors who sent salesmen to wait in the office until they were paid, told Leasing News Steve Davis was really Ken Wheeler's son Sean Wheeler. A broker owed money, Peter Bowen of “The Bowen Group Inc dba Concord Funding, who was involved in several EFG deals, made this statement: “ ...(our) rep was Brian Werner and I believed him to be a very straight forward guy. He told me that Steve Davis was Ken Wheeler's son.” A recent e-mail in reaction to one of our stories: “From the start of my brief employment with them, something always "felt" amiss. Indeed, Steve Davis is simply a pseudonym. He is none other than Sean Wheeler and this can easily be ascertained by local marriage records in the Fresno County Hall of Records, County Clerk's Ken Wheeler stated that Steve Davis was married to his son's ex-wife, concluding that he was also no longer employee at EFG Ken said his son was confined to his house because, Sean has agoraphobia. According to Ken, Sean is completely housebound and is even afraid to leave his room. A telephone call to Sean at his house confirmed from Sean this was true, and he claimed not to be Steve Davis. Leasing News confirmed this with a very reliable source, who is very knowledgeable about Ken Wheeler: “I was aware that Sean has agoraphobia. According to Ken, Sean is completely housebound and is even afraid to leave his room. My father suffered from the same affliction in his later years, but he was able to get out for walks in the neighborhood. He just couldn't stand to be in unfamiliar surroundings.” An ex-employee also stated,” From the start of my brief employment with them, something always "felt" amiss...Indeed, Steve Davis is simply a pseudonym. A perfect textbook example can be found on their "Terms of Use" portion of their existing website. Steve Davis/Sean Wheeler has modeled the "new EFG" in the image of the successful East Coast Leasing company, Marlin Leasing. He went as far as outright plagiarism and basically copied word-for-word, some if not all of Marlin's ad copy, including their terms of use portions of their material. Ken Wheeler denied this, stating the web site was designed and is maintained by a professional company, which Leasing News was not able to reach at press time. He stated the leasing contract was written by a professional attorney, who we have contacted in the past, who told us he didn't want to confirm or deny, or discuss anything on this subject, “and don't you dare print my name.” A vendor, who had sent a sales representative into the Fresno office, until he was paid for almost $100,000 for four leases via Ken Wheeler's “black” American Express card at $10,000 a day, the last one, originally denied by Ken Wheeler, but then allegedly paid, wrote: “I find it hard to believe that you trust anything any of those guys says...When... Mark Bixler (one of our employees)... was in Ken Wheelers office all day, Ken told him several times that Steve Davis was his son. He also said that he was the reason everything was messed up etc...We just thought that Steve Davis must have been a step son from his wife's previous marriage or something. Yesterday when I talked to their ex-sales manager he told me that Steve was Sean Wheeler (he offered this information to me, I didn't ask him for any of it). This makes much more sense now, especially since Ken Wheeler already told our rep that 'steve davis' was his son....it turns out he was telling the truth, but steve davis is really sean wheeler. “Why they went to such great lengths to hide this I do not know. I can only assume that "Sean Wheeler" has a bad name in the leasing industry so he could not use his own name.” John Nadeau At one point, as the payments were being made at $10,000 a day, a requirement by American Express, and then a dispute over the fourth lease occurred, not only asked Leasing News to print his complaint, but wanted to pay for an advertisement so he could explain what was happening to his company. Our agreement as ombudsman that is the issue is resolved, vendor or broker paid or money returned to the applicant, the complaint is not printed. Leasing News has two current complaints in the works, but they are from the vendor of the two separate deals. In each case, when the vendor was not paid, they took the lease elsewhere and used their own money for the advance payments. In each case, our requirement was for the complaint to come from the original party, as they are the party who signed the lease, and to be prepared that the contract may allow EFG to keep the advance rental as they went elsewhere. It also is our experience that the original party, the lessee, generally does not want their name printed, and more than likely is annoyed at the vendor, as they were the ones who started the process. At one point, Ken Wheeler contacted Leasing News that he had retained an attorney to file an “anti-trust” suit against the National Association of Equipment Brokers for what was being said about his company on their list serve. He later back out of the action, he told us, not only due to the cost involved, but the ability to prove what was harmful to he and his company that was said on the list serve. Previous stories on EFG Leasing: http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/EFG_Rumors.htm
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