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| Dr John Hewson |
Dr John Hewson is a highly
respected former Australian politician. He was at one point Leader of the
Opposition came very close to becoming Prime Minister. Dr Hewson has become an ‘advisor’ to CCF.
I suggest here that there are some questions Dr Hewson might like to ask
Scott Neeson.
Dr John Hewson
Suite 4
410 Burwood
Highway
Wantirna VIC
3152
2nd
November 2015
Dear Dr Hewson
You have
associated yourself as an advisor to the Cambodian Children’s Fund.
I wonder if you
are sufficiently well informed about certain aspects of CCF’s fund raising
modus operandi and with Scott Neeson’s tendency to play fast and loose with the
truth in order to promote both himself and CCF?
You will be
aware of CCF’s World Housing initiative? ‘Gifting’ homes to impoverished
Cambodian families. This seems (and reads) like a terrific idea, until you read
the fine print and realize just who is being ‘gifted’ these houses.
You need to
read the fine print, Dr Hewson, if your name is going to be used by CCF to
provide its activities with an imprimatur of respectability and integrity that,
perhaps, it does not deserve.
I trust that
what you read here will lead you to ask Scott Neeson and the Cambodian
Children’s Fund board a few questions.
A few months
ago I began to ask such questions. A record of them can be found online:
# 130 Questions
World Housing might like to ask the Cambodian Children's Fund Board
I started by
asking ‘World Housing’ in Vancouver, Canada a few questions.
Does ‘World Housing’ realize that the homes it donates to the Cambodian
Children’s Fund are not ‘gifted’ to poor Cambodian families but rented to them
by CCF at $15 a month?
Is ‘World Housing’ aware that because the houses are erected on
land owned by the Cambodian Children’s Fund that the impoverished families to
whom they are rented have no hope of ever owning their homes?
In this blog
entry I asked the CCF board the following questions:
Is the CCF Board committed to the precepts of transparency and
accountability?
If not, what are sponsors and donors to make of this fact?
Given how much of what is to be found on the CCF website is either
untrue or misleading, how can sponsors and donors be sure that their money is
being spent effectively and not in a way that is damaging to the very families
it is meant to assist?
The CCF board
did not answer my questions. The CCF board does not answer questions as a
matter of principle. Not just questions put to the board by myself, but
questions from any journalist who does not wish to provide a free public relations
service to CCF.
CCF operates in
a cloud of secrecy, only allowing the outside world know what is going on
behind closed door via hagiographic press releases and through Facebook.
My next attempt
to get answers to questions can be found at: # 131 Is 'World Housing' a
marketing scam designed to provide Scott Neeson with free houses he can then
rent to impoverished Cambodian families?
To quote one
part of this blog entry from publicity for the World Housing initiative:
World Housing is the world’s first “one-for-one” real estate
gifting model. For every home sold at one of our certified World Housing
condominium projects, the developer partner provides the funding for the
construction of a home in a Third World garbage dump community
overseen by one of our NGO-Builder Partners; this home is then gifted
to a qualified deserving family living in a Third World garbage
dump community. We connect people and organizations: developers, real estate
buyers, NGOs, builders and qualified home recipients….“ Five families received
brand-new homes this week. Soon, hundreds of people in the Steung
Meanchey community will have similar places to call their own. The
sturdily built homes come with a downstairs kitchen, access to a restroom and
provides a secure, healthy place for families to live. Such things were once
unattainable. The life-changing homes were made possible by World Housing,
a social venture inspired by the TOMS Shoes one-for-one model. For every condominium sold by a real
estate partner of Canada-based World Housing, they’ll provide a home for an
impoverished family at their project sites in the Philippines, Mexico
and Cambodia. As production ramps up in Cambodia, more than 20 homes will
be constructed monthly for families at Cambodian Children’s Fund” The
full story is to be found at:
I think that
most readers of both the CCF and World Housing websites could be forgiven for
believing that World Housing was giving homes to “hundreds of people in the
Steung Meanchey community”; homes that these impoverished families can “call
their own.” There is a problem here, however. Whilst World Housing is
‘gifting’ homes to the Cambodian Children’s Fund, Scott Neeson is not ‘gifting’
them to “hundreds of people in the Steung Meanchey community”. No, he is
renting the ‘gifted’ houses to families on land owned by CCF.
What all this
means is that millions of dollars worth of homes that appear, in Neeson
inspired publicity releases, to have been given to poor families are, in fact,
being given to the Cambodian Children’s Fund. This is a scam, Dr Hewson. Take a
close look at the facts yourself, ask the kinds of questions I have asked, and
see if you can find any other way of describing it.
My next foray
into exposing this scam is to be found at:# 132 'World Housing' & Scott
Neeson's CCF housing scam
A quote from
this blog entry:
World Housing and the Cambodian Children’s Fund have conspired, using
deliberately misleading language on your respective websites, to create the
illusion that impoverished families are the beneficiaries of free housing.
This, as you know Graham, and as you have known for a long time, is not so. You
have deliberately mislead developers –the builders of condominiums – into
believing that they were providing homes to impoverished families that they
could call their own. Instead, you have provided Scott Neeson’s Cambodian
Children’s Fund with $840,000 of free housing. You, and your World Housing
compatriots, have exploited the poverty of desperately poor families in
Phnom Penh for your own personal gain. In the case of Scott Neeson the gain has
been financial: 300+ free houses at $2,800 per house.
Dr Hewson, when
I post blogs such as these I am accused online of being ‘jealous’ of Scott
Neeson and have a variety of very colourful epithets thrown at me. As you will
be familiar, from your life in politics, those who cannot sustain a decent
argument in defense of their position, will shoot the messenger. If, upon
taking a close look at CCF’s World Housing initiative – from an economic,
humanitarian and public relations point of view – and can argue that Scott Neeson
is not involved in a scam, I would love to hear the argument. And I would, in
the interests of transparency and accountability, publish it on my blog.
best wishes
James Ricketson
You forget to mention Ricketson, that the homes are reportedly built for $1000, and that the remaining $1800 goes into CCF's coffers, even before the homes are rented out to the impoverished!!
ReplyDeleteCant help yourself can you Ricketson attacking Neeson for helping people when all you want to do is knock him down. When are you gong to stop you fucking loser?
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous 3.47
DeleteYou can call it 'attacking' if you like. I call it 'holding accountable.'
Neeson is accountable to no-one. He can accuse another man of 'grooming' young girls but is not held accountable by anyone, other than myself, for his statement. He can play a significant role in having another man jailed for 10 years without being held accountable.
When will I stop exposing Neeson as a liar and a fraud? Perhaps when he plants a significant role in seeing to it that Mr Fletcher gets a fair trial.
Very funny that when you states FACTS, that Team Neeson accuses you of attacking? I think that they don't like the facts being exposed as it doesn't put them in a very good light! Keep up your good work!
DeleteJames, is that 'sewer water' in the photo that people have to walk through to get to their home?
ReplyDeleteYes, raw sewage.
DeleteI do so wish that the Khmer Times would apply journalistic thoroughness of the kid displayed in this excellent article to the activities of Scott Neeson and the Cambodian Children's Fund.
ReplyDeleteWith apologies to Khmer Times for the theft of this article:
"DOG TRAINER ACCUSED OF CRUELTY, FRAUD, ABUSE
Khmer Times/Jack Laurenson Tuesday, 03 November 2015 2924 views
SIHANOUKVILLE (Khmer Times) – Many employment relationships end badly in this coastal resort town, but few culminate in a former employer attempting to hire a convicted murderer to hunt the ex-employee down.
But that is just one of many accusations against Leo Clifton, the British owner of K9 Cambodia – a dog business he started, allegedly after his previous venture selling nitrous oxide gas to partygoers was no longer viable.
On its website, the company describes itself as an elite dog training and breeding facility – the best in Cambodia – but its growing army of critics, that includes former clients, employees and business associates, say it is little more than a complex scam.
Mr. Clifton is accused of a numerous acts of criminality, cruelty and negligence by dozens of individuals who have spoken to Khmer Times and are now rallying against him.
Alleged Fraud
“Lying to customers was routine when working for Leo, it was part of the business plan,” said Wouter Symons, a dog trainer who says he left after he had had enough of Mr. Clifton.
“He doesn’t subscribe to any kind of ethics we’d consider normal. He has his own set of special rules.”
“He sells people the wrong dogs for extortionate prices, advertises them as pedigrees from abroad when they’re actually inbred and from Cambodia or Bangkok puppy farms,” says Damion McCollum, one of Clifton’s most disgruntled customers.
Former associates and employees allege that Mr. Clifton often forced them to sell sick, sub-standard and inbred dogs. “He even continues to advertise and provide veterinarian services when he has no qualified vet on site. It’s disgusting,” adds Mr. Symons, who now trains dogs freelance.
Mr. Clifton is also accused of levying additional taxes on the sale of his dogs and services – which can cost thousands of dollars – before he had a registered business that allowed him to levy taxes, according to multiple former employees and former business partner Andrew Turley.
Former clients are also complaining that their dogs simply were not trained properly, despite paying fees in the thousands and having surrendered their animals for months on end.
“We paid around $10,000 for advanced protection training for our dog that was supposed to take two months,” says Yulia Khouri, who runs her own company in Phnom Penh.
“But after 10 months she was still untrained and we drove down to Sihanoukville to demand our dog back. Then we discovered he’d also been using painful electric shock collars on her without our permission.”
Ms. Khouri and her partner – two of Mr. Clifton’s former customers pursuing legal action against him – say he should be forced out of business.
…TO BE CONTINUED….
…CONTINUING…
DeleteAnimal Cruelty
Among the most disturbing accusations levelled against K9 Cambodia is cruelty against the dogs under its care.
One former employee said she stayed at K9 Cambodia because she felt an obligation towards the animals. She said that they had little to no medical care. “Clifton put me in some very difficult and uncomfortable situations where I had to assist an unqualified and unlicensed Khmer guy do urgent surgeries because Leo refused to spend money on the local vet,” she said.
Dogs were routinely diagnosed and treated by untrained staff, including Mr. Clifton himself, former employees and clients said. This resulted in multiple deaths of dogs, which Mr. Clifton blamed on other causes.
“He’s a barbarian that’s forcing employees to do things they’re not capable of or qualified to do,” said Ettiene Urgell, a former veterinarian at K9 Cambodia who quit in protest. “He constantly ignored my professional advice, preferring instead to rely on Google or simply prescribe cannabis oil [for treatment],” the vet said.
One dog, who had his intestines removed and operated on by unqualified staff – allegedly at the orders of Mr. Clifton – died after a “torturous” procedure that required the dog to be seen by another local vet who could not save him, former staff of K9 Cambodia said.
“Smear Campaigns”
Former employees or clients who have spoken out against Mr. Clifton say they have suffered smear campaigns and psychological warfare in response. Some have been labelled mentally ill or simply been shrugged off by Mr. Clifton as disgruntled former associates.
As the weight of criticism against him mounted earlier this year, however, three senior employees left K9, two of whom decided to start their own business.
Mr. Clifton responded by attempting to hire a “hit man,” they said. “After [we left] Leo became increasingly unstable around his staff and essentially threatened the life of a female employee. It became clear to some of us that we had to leave,” said Ross O Siochain, K9’s former sales and marketing manager. “It was then that I realised that Leo was not just a paranoid fantasist, but a dangerously unstable man.”
“Hit Man”
Khmer Times has been provided with evidence that Mr. Clifton attempted to hire a “hit man” to “deal” with employees who had left his company and started a rival business.
Mr. O Siochain and his partner said messages from K9’s Skype account – which they were still logged into after they left the company – appeared on their smartphones showing a conversation between Mr. Clifton and a Bangkok-based “hit man.”
Mr. Clifton attempted to hire the man – who had previously been jailed for murder – to hunt down the couple. Mr. Clifton simultaneously bragged to his brother in another Skype chat about what the “hit man” would do to them. “He’s due a good kicking and she’ll be so scared that she’ll pack up and leave Cambodia,” he said in a message shared with Khmer Times.
“This is not the sort of man that you hire for his mediation skills,” the couple told Khmer Times. “We watched as Leo agreed to pay [him] the money. Once he had received some sort of signed contract, at this point we contacted the Thai police.”
“The last message that we saw was [name removed] reporting to Leo that he had been stopped and interrogated by Thai authorities.
We don’t know if he was allowed into Cambodia and eventually he [Mr. Clifton] changed the Skype password,” they said.
As allegations of fraud, animal cruelty and abuse mount, Mr. Clifton faces calls for criminal investigations – in Cambodia and abroad – as well as private lawsuits against him.
Mr. Clifton declined to comment.
I so miss the ignorant comments from Team Neeson! Their logic is always good for a laugh with my morning coffee! Oh wait, it is Saturday, maybe they can only spray their stupidity when they are working.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 7:24, maybe Team Neeson doesn't have much to say about Neeson's housing scam??
Delete@Anonymous November 6, 2015 at 7:24 PM
DeleteThe Team Neeson defender was busy enjoying a weekend on the coast (perhaps)
You are a moron Ricketson for publishing that Neeson keeps houses for intended for the first impoverished, then rents them to families living at the dump! What a fuckwit you are for exposing Neeson!!
ReplyDeleteRicketson, how dare you uncover more scams by Neeson? Asking questions and everything! Who do you think you are??
ReplyDeleteIf you want headlines James why don't you visit the slums that are owned by Global Village Housing in Cambodia. I visited them last week and they make the photos you took of Cambodian Childrens fund housing look like absolute palaces. If you want to have a real go at anybody who's renting slums out then this is the NGO to take a look at. I am not sure if the Cambodian government knows about Global Village Housing but they sure as hell should be notified. The places were totally flooded out, raw sewerage everywhere and many of the tenants I saw appeared to be off their heads on drugs. The kids living there looked as if they were at risk so if you are in Cambodia at the moment I highly suggest that you take a look and write a blog on the state of their homes.
ReplyDeleteNot a chance. Ricketson is only interested in bagging Neeson. Don't expect him to be balanced or objective. Per Ricketson, all of Cambodia is a paradise and the only evil here is Neeson.
DeleteThis whole blog is a bore to everyone except the usual bar stool sex-pats.
Dear Anonymous 9.22
DeleteThe theory has been advanced that I have put the amount of time and energy I have into this blog because I am jealous of Neeson. Do you subscribe to that theory or do you have some other idea as to why I am bothering with all this.
Far from wanting to 'bag' Neeson I wish that he would start to use the power he wields, the enormous financial resources he has at his disposal, to help children within a family and community context and not, in the case of the 700 or so in institutional care, as 'orphans'. All of the research makes clear just how damaging institutional care is to children and yet here is Scott Neeson removing children from their families on an industrial scale and pronouncing himself to be a hero for doing so and being given an enormous amount of money from donors and sponsors who think the removal of children from their families to be a good thing.
You seem to be very quiet James on the 700+ kids that Friends International have in captivity. Out of interest why do you never comment on the children they are keeping from their families, why is it only CCF you seem to write about ?
DeleteCCF is wrong on so many fronts!!!
DeleteI'm sorry James but you ARE simply out to bag Neeson. Your silence on every other NGO, with residence or not, can mean one of 2 things: you are out to bag Neeson OR you feel all the other NGO's here are doing fine work except CCF. Have you ever met Neeson? No. Ever been inside a CCF facility? No. Your ongoing claim that children are kept from their families is complete rubbish. I have been there on many, many occasions and there is no children kept from parents or in captivity. It is a lie you started and the small group of bar-stool ex-pats bark at. In Ricketson-land, all the media - including Wall St Journal, The Australian, ABC and dozens more - and professionals who HAVE visited CCF, are wrong and have been fooled by Neeson. Only you know the truth, based on 3rd party info from low-lifes. Please!!!
DeleteJust an observation James, Don't you think that all the people you complain to do actually research the issues to ensure they are not exposed to being connected to a bodgy organization? Clearly then having researched your allegations they are perfectly happy they are without substance because they maintain a relationship. If they are happy why aren't you?
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous 6.24
DeleteNo, I do not think that those who get caught up with charities and NGOs necessarily do any research into what they are donating to. There are several books that have been written this past 30 years about 'charity scams' but it seems that every year a new lot of very good hearted and generous people are prepared to believe whatever the glossy brochure tells them.
If journalism was just about being 'happy' under the circumstances you describe, there would be little point in it. Think of all the occassions, all over the world, when journalists were not 'happy' just because everyone else seemed to be but kept asking questions, annoying people, in order to get to the truth. Such people are not going to be liked by anyone who is happy with (or has a vested interest in) the status quo.
what ever happened to the Leo Clifton accusations? Seems he is still operating in Cambodia.
ReplyDelete