The three founders of a Bay Area real estate company have been accused of bilking elderly and other investors out of more than $21 million, in part by falsely claiming their developments benefitted charities and by siphoning off some of the invested money for their personal use, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Michael Sims, 58, of Gilroy, Sam Stafford, 56, of Campbell, and Melvin Russell "Rusty" Shields, 42, of Granite Falls, N.C., have been charged with conspiracy and fraud in connection with their firm S3 Partners, which the U.S. attorney's office said operated out of San Jose, Campbell, Palo Alto and North Carolina.
An indictment unsealed last week against the trio accused them of falsely claiming to investors that their real estate developments in Arizona, Texas and Florida would generate annual rates of return "as high as 10 to 16 percent," when in truth "they could not pay investors these rates."
Mission
S3 Partners is a family of companies focused on real estate, financial services and charitable businesses for the purpose of directing resources to impact our local and global communities.
Vision
God created us to do something for him. S3 Partners empowers people to ignite their passion, discover their purpose and fulfill the plan God has for their lives.
 By design, S3 Partners was created expressly to achieve extraordinary things. Our mission involves directing the combined resources of a family of companies toward making a positive impact in both local and global communities. We accomplish this mission through a synergistic integration of real estate, financial services, and charitable businesses, all working together for the express purpose of funding charitable endeavors.
S3 Partners ignites its vision for pursuing extraordinary achievement through its existing framework of successful companies, each led by accomplished business veterans, skilled in recognizing the pathways that lead to success in their chosen markets. As a collective company, we maintain a keen focus on the essential elements of our business, including the bottom line. However, that bottom line of revenues and profits, while crucial to continued success, is not the only bottom line we pursue. S3 Partners commits itself and its family of companies to pursuing a better bottom line for others, as well.
S3 Partners and its family of companies engage in their collective pursuit of excellence believing that there is, ultimately, one measure of our success: The impact of our company’s actions on the lives of people in our local neighborhoods, people in our global community and young people.
Examples of how we manifest this vision, which is a natural outgrowth of the elements of excellence under which all our companies operate, include: Actively assisting third world villages in becoming self-sufficient through developing their own employment and economy; Constructing homeless shelters and adoption centers in towns close to where you live; And uniting with ministries and agencies to provide positive, life-changing alternatives for young people drifting toward futures involving drugs and gangs.
It is our fervent hope that these actions produce positive change for the lives of those touched by these efforts. These actions, and others, are outward examples of the results produced by our pursuit of a better bottom line.
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Rusty Shields
Structured Finance
With an extensive background in finance, Rusty Shields’ previous experience includes tenures as the owner of a mortgage and insurance company, a successful international manager of hedge funds and a real estate developer. Currently in charge of Structured Finance at Alaris, Rusty also founded and operates a national non-profit ministry providing budget counseling and financial services to individuals, churches, businesses and other non-profit ministries.
Michael W. Sims
Development Equity
Noted for his acumen and expertise in wealth management and financial planning, Michael W. Sims has held CEO positions in the financial planning and mortgage banking industries for over 20 years. In addition to founding his own Northern California wealth management firm, Michael has lent his expertise to writing numerous articles for financial planning publications as well as appearing as an expert guest on radio and television. Numbered among the top 25 insurance planners every year since 2000, Michael has received honors and recognition from well established and nationally recognized financial companies such as ING, primarily for his work in advanced life insurance and guaranteed investments. His focus at Alaris is on structuring projects for equity investors.
Sam S. Stafford, CCIM, ULI
Principal Developer
Sam Stafford brings his considerable industry experience to bear in the mission of developing high-end retail centers and Aging In Place health management facilities. Skilled in financial feasibility studies and the due diligence required for the acquisition and development of potential sites, he is more than qualified for his role as Principal Developer. The highly regarded Certified Commercial Investment Manager (CCIM) credential is just one of the many prestigious honors earned by Sam. He also holds a development degree from the Urban Land Institute. |
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