When Ernie Stefkovic, Dan Leader, and Jerry Mavallia decided to create Guardian Asset Management during the sale of Asset Management Specialists (AMS) in early 2013 to Mortgage Contracting Services (MCS) they realized they needed the best angle possible to clean up the Non Compete Agreement (NCA) Stefkovic signed. Lo and behold, Margarida Leader, a Central American and the wife of Dan, miraculously provided the solution. And like a magic wand waived by Mickey Snow, the convicted arsonist and sexual predator that all NAMFS members worshiped and worked with — simply type his name in the Search Bar — Margarida founded DGG RE INVESTMENTS LLC. It was a setup that Somporn Tongsua would have been proud of and certainly did not happen without their knowledge.
While the record shows that Guardian was born in 2007, that is not exactly the case. It began its aging process, much like a fine wine. In fact, Margarida has never seen the inside of an office since Guardian’s formation and certainly never during the HUD M&M FSM Contract.
By late 2013, the Woman Owned Economically Disadvantaged Minority Business Enterprise was aged and things were looking good. Stefkovic’s legal battles with Concentric Equity Group and TDR Capital were gearing up, but he had time. After all, Stefkovic didn’t FORMALLY become a Director of Guardian until 2016 due to a lot of the depositions that came down the pike. Some were due to HUD’s refusal to transfer the M&M FSM Contract to MCS and others due to their book rigger Lee Mertins and his hijacking of Visneta which was MCS’ property. All told, between 2013 and today, without Margarida ever stepping foot in an office or performing any of the work that her status had obtained, Guardian raked in $176.1 Million in Awards from 429 transactions with the US government alone. None of them, though, mattered until the AMS Team arrived. To say that this was an extreme conflict of interest is putting it mildly. Criminal? Probably. But, that is how NAMFS did business then, when Guardian was a member, and NAMFS still does business today.
Now that we have set the stage for how Guardian came about so rapidly and precisely whom put it in play, it is time to talk about 2016 – 2018. By 2016, Stefkovic and come onboard and was kicking into high gear his final exit strategy. His wife came from money and the $120+ Million he sold AMS for had problems. For example, in August of 2016 there was the potential for $160 Million in damages for employee misclassification which Bennett Vinson eventually settled for several million dollars. It was one of those fortune cookies that lay around like ticking time bombs when hedge funds do not perform their due diligence — e.g.; the Littlejohn & Co. purchase of MCS, after their default of over $400 Million, as well as the antitrust mess when they decided to purchase GIS Field Services, as well. I digress.
If you click the above image, you will see the price paid for Guardian and split amongst several people only. It came on the heels of New Residential Investment Corp.’s purchase of Guardian. And with that came HUD’s allowal of a foreign nationally controlled entity — NewRez is controlled by Fortress, which is controlled by Japan’s SoftBank — to take over the HUD M&M FSM Contract. It was the crown jewel. In fact, it is clear in this link, of whom is owned by who when it comes to the US government contracts.
Look, a lot of this is rehashed. It would have stayed buried had it not been for the bad faith of Dan Leader in his negotiations pushed out month, after month, after month. When Fannie Mae originally increased the interior and exterior inspection pricing, back in March, there were promises made about increasing pricing. And they never were followed through. And when Freddie Mac increased interior and exterior pricing — all told they are now $35 for exterior inspections and $45 for interior inspections — promises were made and none were kept. In fact, after the Freddie Mac price hikes, the ability to even speak with Leader had ground down to a once a month discussion with the perpetual, “Let’s talk next month,” bait and switch.
Stick and move with a dash of the Tennessee Two Step. And until I got the below email yesterday,
I’ve read your stuff for years. You might remember me back from the Pat Romano days. I saw the spreadsheet you sent over and I’m telling you, they are going to fuck your people, man. You have been spot on for the years I have read you and loved your Mertins stories and believe me they were true! We know something is going down the way they are hovering all over everything and huddling all over. And you were right, Dan hasn’t been on trips for months. He had a couple for a couple of days here and there and that should tell you all you need to know. I know you are into all that electronic shit and if you out me, the info stops. And believe me I have tons you want!
Whether or not this will work out for Guardian and Labor is completely up to Leader. The refusal to discuss specifics, issues pertaining to Artificial Intelligence, and the multitude of inspections has me concerned. More concerning, though, is the fact that no calls could ever happen until after business hours. And with the legal requirements for SOX Act compliance, that always stuck out to me.
And just as FYI: Guardian’s revenue has exponentially increased YoY since their purchase from NewRez at the rate of $27.6 million and $34.3 million, respectively.
Tomorrow, we will dig deeper into the 10Q and 10K reports, over the past several years, and bring in the relationships dating back to Buczek Enterprises and begin tallying the fortunes made by similarly situated firms. The time has come for Labor to stand together and walk away from this. The time is now!
