Some of you may remember the story I posted back in February about 29 year old GunPal CEO Benjamin Phillip Cannon who was arrested for allegedly impersonating a police officer.
Well I’m glad to report today that the case was dismissed, and here are some words from the man himself:
I was arrested and my house raided for allegedly pulling someone over with a red light and badge somewhere in or near Santa Rosa. None of what was found at the scene of the alleged crime was found in my possession – yet prosecution commenced.
Trouble is I was 100 miles away in Sacramento that entire day with multiple witnesses, Cellphone GPS records, phone calls, and text messages, and signed credit charge receipts to prove it.
Source – Calguns.net
It will be interesting to hear more about this story. I’m still curious as to why he was on the sheriff’s violent crimes unit radar in the first place.
By the sounds of it, Ben is going to be bringing a lawsuit of his own to those that tried to smear his good name.
Thanks to Kestryll and DavidC from Calguns for letting me know.
UPDATE:
To Quote DavidC, when I asked about solid proof the case was dismissed:
Journalists seldom report when someone’s name is cleared, but they sure are quick to drag someone through the mud when they are accused.
I think that really rings true in mainstream media. I try to “make right” whenever possible on my blog when it comes to situations like this. I can think of nothing worse then being proven innocent, or having the charges dropped, and a majority of people still thinking you were guilty just because they were not informed. Hopefully we will see some coverage from the big news stations that reported on the original arrest, but I’m definitely not holding my breath.
Comments
62 responses to “GunPal CEO Ben Cannon – Case Dismissed”
[…] arrested for impersonating a police officer and pulling someone over. Turns out, not so much. All charges dismissed. And, apparently, made […]
He was on their radar because they seem to like ranking gun activists in the same group as terrorists. How could they not pass up a chance to put this hard core danger to society in jail. They just failed to do their homework. Cops in general are not police because of their IQ.
I’d certainly be interested in hearing more about this story. I guess I’m a little more skeptical than some about the notion that the police were trying to frame him for this, or that they arrested him without cause. Maybe they did, or maybe the comments about suing someone meant he was going after the person who identified him. Of course, that only works if he can prove that it was malicious and intended, and not just a case of mistaken identity.
It is unfortunate that news agencies only tend to report the sensational headlines about someone being arrested and accused, and fail to follow up with news about charging being dismissed. Likewise, it’s too bad that you never seem to get the full story to begin with. This whole thing just leaves me with a lot of questions. What led the police to him (if it wasn’t entirely the woman making the complaint)? Were the charges dismissed with or without prejudice? To whom is a civil lawsuit to be directed? Did the woman make a false claim? Does he intend to try to prove that police arrested him without cause? Is this really some conspiracy or a simple good-faith mistake made by the woman and/or police?
Plenty of story left to tell here.
Because he’s a high-profile pro-gun guy. He’s one of the original founders of CalGuns and one of the first to open the floodgates in CA to legal “Off List Lowers” – those AR lowers that are legal to own in CA since the “Roberti-Roos List” of *ooga-booga bad guns* was frozen in time by judicial decisions, precedent, and court-fighting.
[…] for a link to the arrest and it seems that the charges were dropped. GunPal CEO Ben Cannon – Case Dismissed | Gun Blog __________________ The commies had very little respect for pistols, so which pistols they used […]
[…] a comment » Good news has been brought to my attention by Everyday, No Days Off. The CEO of GunPal, Ben Cannon, had all charges against him […]
The man is a monumental BADASS!
Ben Cannon may have done some okay things for the gun movement (he’ll be the first to point them out) but the man’s got a pretty scummy side and no doubt there’re a laundry list of people who would like to see him discredited. If you know Ben you know what I’m talking about. I can’t see ben doing what the police charged him with however. That doesn’t seem like his deal.
I’ll buy into the “legend” that Kes and the CG crew are spreading about Ben’s super-macho lawsuit response when I see the papers filed. There’s got to be more to this story and god knows there’re much bigger fish to fry in the CA gun movement then the likes of Ben Cannon. All the BS about PayPal being behind it is tinfoil hat crazy and smacks of some real desperation. The rest of the “theories” and “explanations” floated by the team-CG would make even the hackiest fiction writer laugh. Paul and his CalGuns cronies have done a good job making the rounds and having references to Ben Cannon’s arrest removed from forums and adding comments to blogs such as this that further the story their telling on their own site. I’d actually be curious if there was any pressure on you to delete these entries. How about this; if a lawsuit is filed and won regarding this “event” I’ll come back here and update my comment. Hell, I may even open a GunPal account (maybe).
Yea I don’t buy that lawsuit response either, sounds very cliche. I’ll eat my words though if its actually on the transcript. :P
Ben is probably going to be in cuffs again with the GunPal GPal ponzi scheme he’s got going
I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz about problems people were having. Do you have links to any threads on forums or anything, or are they all being deleted?
to robert, Yeah, funny how no one wants to report on this. Check out Auction Arms’ HELP forum, this GPAL BS has been going on for months, Kes is protecting GPAL on CALGUNS forums, he keeps telling everyone to post their complaints in the GPAL forum, which GPAL controls, thereby stifling any real criticism.
Interesting, i’ll have to look into that. Thanks d.
One tip when reading those forums. GPalVP ====> Ben Cannon. There are no VP’s at GPal. Need further proof? Look at the snide attitude, his word choices and the chronic lying. GPalVP is either Ben or his clone.
So… How does Ben explain the red light, siren, police scanner, and handcuffs that were seized from his BMW?
Oh, everyone in California has those items in their car…
I am very suprised none of this Gpal stuff has made the news yet. There are hundreds of people that have been waiting for their money for MONTHS. Auction Arms Help section has a lot, going back to May-June, and a steady list of complaints since then. Any site Cannon has access to, he censors, like Calguns. He only leaves up the posts made by people that he’s paid. He pays about two a week.
Even the posts that are from people who have been paid are edited. A memorable one went something like “I got my money today. I’ll probably never use gpal again but I do appreciate that they got me my funds, eventually.” That post now reads something similar to “I got my money today. Thank you gpal!!!” The post shows that it was edited by GPalVP and locked right afterwards.
GPAL is a fraud. No response, no money. I was duped, hoping for a pro-gun alternative to paypal. I don’t go away though. Any information on this man would be great.
I know this guy.
after finding out more information on Ben Cannon and his pyramid of lies… I am starting to wonder if there really was something to the impersonation accusations.
food for thought.
Our History with GPal
My name is Lisa Wolf & I am the wife of Jay Wolf of Elite Ammunition.
Up until May of this year we did not have issues with getting our funds into our company checking account. It wasn’t until May 14th when the name went from GunPal To GPal we started having all the issues with getting our funds from them.
When the issues began both Chad & Jeff were pretty good about responding and getting things resolved. Now it is a different story. I have emailed them and emailed them & Jay has left voice mails and they have all gone unanswered. While I know there are MANY people ticked off they have yet to receive their funds we are a company who depends on our customer sales not only for our company to function and survive but as a family to survive as well. I would love someone to explain to my 8, 5 & 4 year old why we can’t buy food or why mommy & daddy could possibly lose the only house they have ever known.
Below are EVERY Support Ticket Number we have had open with them. Have most been resolved? Yes, but they took at least 2 to 3 weeks to get resolved. But to say that we have not had many tickets opened with them is False.
These are posted Oldest to Newest
Support Ticket Opened [#962263]
Support Ticket Opened [#543718]
Support Ticket Opened [#925655]
Support Ticket Opened [#882860]
Support Ticket Opened [#145044]
Support Ticket Opened [#911900]
Support Ticket Opened [#733341]
Support Ticket Opened [#471926]
Support Ticket Opened [#941003]
Support Ticket Opened [#112108]
Support Ticket Opened [#142715]
Support Ticket Opened [#277901]
Support Ticket Opened [#246847]
Support Ticket Opened [#654443]
Support Ticket Opened [#466144]
I am not trying to start trouble here but now when it affects my children and our personal finances I tend to get very angry. And I honestly don’t think anyone here could blame me.
All we want is our money, that’s all. Is that too much to ask for? It is our money not theirs to keep.
Because of their antics we were forced to shut production now for the 4th week in a row and had to lay off the one employee we had.
That is so brutal :( Hope you get your money soon.
People, including Lisa Wolf & Jay Wolf of Elite Ammunition, are now claiming that this evening gpal CEO Ben Cannon called them and threatened them to “tone it down” on the internet or they’ll have to wait longer for their money. The threads were quickly locked and sanitized at calguns but Lisa and Jay are not being shy about posting about it elsewhere. Ben Cannon said he might sue in response.
This is really getting crazy. The other guy claiming to have been called goes by BigJim and he posted about it here and on his personal website:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showpost.php?p=998362&postcount=354
It’s interesting that all the parties claiming to have been called are using their real names, real business names, real contact info etc. These aren’t anonymous internet posters. These are real people that could easily be sued by gpal for these posts if they’re untrue.
The reaction at calguns is predictably sickening. That forum’s really gone to hell.
What does gpal have to say about all of this? Are they admitting to their wrongs, or is it still the same old “vast liberal conspiracy” trying to keep them down type thing.
I’ve heard from someone in the know that this isn’t the first time Ben’s been busted for impersonating a cop. It’s being looked into right now. Thoroughly looked into. If true, we’ll email you with the docs. Ben’s been a bad, lying boy and everybody with a secret that’s been too afraid to talk is starting feel like it’s okay to open their mouths.
Sounds good. If it can be backed up by evidence i’ll definitely post it.
Why have people been too afraid to talk up until now?
Look what happens to people that have pointed out inconsistencies in Ben’s resume before over at CalGuns. They’ve been mocked and banned. If you’re in CA and want to stay on CalGuns (which has become a real dump BTW) you’ve got to toe the party line and part of that is “Ben Cannon is a Unimpeachable Champion of the California Gun Movement.” Check out your own posts on Ben. Who came running here as fast as they could? Ben’s army of enablers from CalGuns to yell “Ben’s innocent” as loudly as they could. It’s pathetic that they’re doing so as they know that Ben’s been in trouble for this sort of thing before and they HAVE to know what a liar he his.
Also, Ben loves to threaten to sue. His supposed comments in this article threaten litigation (whatever happened to that?). People had no reason not to believe that Ben was a millionaire surrounded by a ring of lawyers and would go after anyone who crossed him. Now that everyone knows that he’s not the rich, successful, Ferrari driving playboy that he’s been made out be but rather a 29 year old business failure who lives with his parents he’s suddenly become less threatening. A lot of old timers in CA could give two craps about being a part of CalGuns.net any longer so the problem of being banned there for mentioning the golden one isn’t really a big deal.
That’s why. All the image and hype and nonsense cultivated by Ben and parroted at CalGuns.net and elsewhere. Ben’s been defanged. Now he’s screwing with gun owner’s money and guess what, a lot of gun owners are retired LEO with a lot of time on their hands. You think we’re just going to sit on our hands?
Interesting… Something is definitely fishy over there at calguns … I’m surprised they would want to tarnish their reputation over trying to cover up something like this.
If they just told people what was happening, I’m sure there would be a lot more understanding if they knew they would get their money.
Look at what a PI posted about Ben based on public information he found on the internet:
I found this on Calguns – the below information are not my words
A little background is in order so what follows is understandable.
GPal’s agreement page and web pages state they are not a bank, they operate by pooling all of the funds of the members of GPal into one or more FDIC pass through insured bank accounts. The money goes in and out of the account(s) via Automated Clearing House transfers, meaning via a system the banks use to move money. Including credit cards and bank transfers. For clarification, that FDIC pass through insurance only covers the GPal bank account(s) if their bank folds, not the members if GPal folds.
The key here is the GPal bank account(s) with the pooled money. Also important is the ACH transfers take 3-4 bank days. Both in and out of the account(s).
What follows is from public records available to anyone online.
On 05 Mar 2008 in Santa Rosa Municipal Court, Sonoma County, CA American Express Centurion Bank received a judgement against Benjamin Cannon for $8,436.00 (Case #2008019692).
On 29 Apr 2008 in Santa Rosa Municipal Court, Sonoma County, CA American Express Centurion Bank received a judgement against Benjamin Cannon for $33,143 (Case #2008038742).
Both of these cases became liens against Mr. Cannon.
Public property tax records indicate Ben Cannon has never owned any real estate. Anywhere. The public phone book shows he lives with his parents. Confirmed by 2010 arrest information for which the charges subsequently were dropped. Ignore this arrest, it’s irrelevant, meaningless, and distracts from the issue, GPal.
The liens remained in force as Mr. Cannon did not pay them, and American Express did not locate any assets worth seizing.
When Mr. Cannon opened the GPal bank account (singular) where the pooled money of members would be temporarily maintained until paid to intended recepients, apparently he was unaware the contents of that account would be subject to seizure to pay off the two liens. His story about the bank lying to him may have been a contributing factor, if it’s true. GPal’s track record in this mess has not been consistent reliable truth. Not slander, a fact I also experienced personally on more than one occasion.
Had the account had $41,579.00 or more in the account when it was opened, it would have just lost the money owed American Express by Ben Cannon. If the account did not have this money, American Express would start seizing the money being deposited in the account via the ACH transfers, with the result being the ACH payouts wouldn’t happen. Which sounds a lot like what we have been seeing.
A pause for a moment, there’s more.
I don’t know Ben Cannon or any of his investors, friends, or fellow employees at GPal. I do not want this coming across as an attack on Ben or anyone else. Had they said it, I wouldn’t have had to investigate them. No one paid me to investigate them, I did it on my own. But I do have a California PI License (Mock Investigations Lic #PI 26431) and my work is limited to corporate investigations and identifying and locating all parties involved. I developed certain investigative abillities during a carreer as a cop (now retired) that have helped me in retirement.
Now that I’ve been honest, I expect someone to try to shoot the messenger. But, my integrity doesn’t allow me to post something like this without putting my name on it and who I am. It’s bugged me Gpal VP hasn’t been indicating his name in his communication. No offense, I just have a different approach to damage control, or lack thereof. And I’ll tell you upfront I was forciby retired after 19 years on an industrial disability retirement for post trauma stress disorder and concerns on the PD’s side that I’d gone nuts and was a danger to many. Wife divorced me, I went bankrupt (out of it now). That’s all there is to find on me. I may be 5150, but I’m not a criminal.
Back to GPal.
$41,579 doesn’t seem like it would set GPal back too far, and cause the amount of money they now owe people. Until you examine the ACH system delay of 3-4 days and money being seized out of the account on more than one occasion over a period of time, as it comes in.
The amount of time it is taking for GPal to pay the people they owe money is a big clue as to how long and how much that hit on the bank account set them back.
In a previous post on this thread I made the statement GPal is robbing Peter to pay Paul. Take a look at the response by GPal VP and ask yourself, did he address the statement in a professional manner befitting a professional online financial operation. Also, his reaction confirmed to me in my mind my statement had some truth to it. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been attacked and his response would have been a lot less emotional and more professional. Why would their website say nothing of any of this and continue to operate like business as usual, when they know the money coming in will not be paid out for months?
Damage Control
Obviously GPal has been doing damage control.
That bank account taking a hit could have been dealt with in 3 ways. Find another investor to cover the losses until they can catch up. Declare bankruptcy. Neither of these have happened, which takes us to the third option. Conitinue taking in ACH transfers form new transactions to pay the money owed from the earlier transactions and hope business continues enough to recover the $41,579 with the money GPal charges. And keep trying to find someone to invest in them to help them catch up.
FYI, Ben has never filed for bankruptcy, has never been sued in Federal Court, and has no Federal arrest records. Ditto GunPal and Gpal. Ditto Ben’s previous companies that are now no longer in business, some of which their corporate license was suspended, one of which is a partnership in a construction company that’s still active but has had their State license revoked for something related to failure to pay Worker’s Comp insurance. All of this is public records anyone can verify, if you know where to look.
If GPal had the money in their bank account, which is still ACH enabled in both directions, the transfers would go through. No bank takes money into an account and not pay out, unless there is a darn good legal reason for it. Now, after the liens have been collected, as the money comes in from new transactions, they are able to pay you. Their gamble is they will be able to catch up before everyone stops doing business with them.
After this event broke, GPal was able to issue checks which they mailed via FedEx. Clearly they had access to funds not accessible to American Express, as the checks didn’t bounce. When those funds dried up, they stopped issuing checks and went back to stall tactics. I’ll leave it to you to figure out where the money for the checks may have come from.
They may have changed banks or started another account, as one phone rep indicated to me, by someone other than Ben Cannon.
Step back and take a good honest look at all the damage that’s happened that no one other than GPal has been responsible for. Significant would be an understatement. And who has it happened too? People who are gun owners and want GPal as an option. Have you seen anything from GPal or their management that takes ownership of these problems? Most of what I have seen has been blaming it on someone or something else. Why? Think about it.
A note about public records. Not every city, county, and state makes their court records available to the public. Federal records, yes. There may have been other liens, but I did not find any in the public records.
I do not know what started the lawsuit by American Express Centurion Bank against Ben Cannon. According to Hoover’s … “A subsidiary of credit card and travel giant American Express, the company issues and services its parent company’s revolving credit cards, including the Blue, Blue Cash, and Blue Sky cards. (Revolving cards carry no annual fees, but levy finance charges on revolving balances.) The bank also issues consumer charge cards, raising funds for all of its lending activities by selling short- and medium-term debt and securitized assets. It offers CDs to retail and institutional customers as well. The company mainly markets its cards via direct mail, the Internet, and television.”
I cannot and do not do credit history checks.
All of this is just public information. I’ve avoided putting addresses, phone numbers, or making threats. My belief is those who think they can try to “get even” don’t comprehend there is no such thing. All that can be done by that behavior is to make things even more uneven. Leave Ben alone. Either do business with him, or don’t. Your choice.
What I don’t understand is why Ben and GPal didn’t just explain what happened. Clearly they have a lot of people who want to support them and have GPal survive. Myself included. Their version of damage control leads me to believe there are more things someone at GPal does not want known.
I don’t know anywhere near everything about GPal or Ben Cannon. The window I have looked through does not provide inside information that might clarify some of this.
I’ve seen enough for myself that I do not put any trust in GPal’s CEO to operate a business like I would like to see GPal become. Just my opinion, best thing that could happen, even if all of this can be explained, is someone who is capable and experienced with the banking industry and online ACH transfers to buy Cannon out and take over the business. The damage that’s been done, GPal may or may not recover financially. It’s moot to me, they’ve lost my trust.
Jim Mock
Torrance, CA
Holy that is sinister. Thanks a lot for that bob.. keep me posted.
This has nothing to do with me, If you need to know more – ask Jim. I am sure calguns folks will remove his post from the site to, now his information can live here.
You seem to forget that I mention that I can only go according to what the caller said and he said he was Ben Cannon. And that I have never spoken to Ben Cannon on the phone only email conversations via Facebook so I could not confirm or deny the fact it was him or not.
But I am passed the point of wanting to speak to him. I was left a message on my personal cell by someone calling themselves George Hammond working for GPal and asked me to contact them via the same email address everyone under the sun is emailing looking for their money. No direct email address like others I have been in contact with at GPal and no direct number to call them like others I have actually spoken to at GPal.
They were more concerned about the Voice Mails that have already been turned over to the proper California Authorities then they were about the main priority of getting us our money. And their last email to me was not from them same person, you could tell it was dictated by an attorney. So I told them to cease all email communication in regard to the voice mails. Only contact me when I am expected to get the money that is ours. I even offered to have my legal counsel look into and file against the said banks in his network that were not disbursing the money to us and everyone else and they totally ignored this offer.
What GPal’s “Network of Banks” as they say is the problem has done to not only us but to many, many others is inexcusable and not communicating with their customers only fuels the fire more.
There are somethings I can forgive, but not communicating and getting to the root of the banking problems after 5 months is something I can’t forgive. Especially now when it affects my children.
Coming up 30 days on the current request of funds and still no money from GPal.
This has caused us to be down so far for 6 weeks which really pissed me off. Luckily I went to our friend’s shop on Monday and ran our orders. They should be cutting me a check in the next day or so. Gee who would of thought a bank releasing the funds within 72 hours…..hmmmmmmmmm
Although I will have to wait a couple of day for it to clear so it will bring me to the middle of next week before I can order supplies (and pray they have them in stock) and then another few days for them to get here before we can pull down and fire up the machines.
So total time down because of the GPal **** will be about 8 weeks if not longer depending on what supplies I can get.
But luckily I spent all day Saturday until about 2 a.m. Sunday & all day on Sunday sending out emails explaining the situation and Jay following up on the phone Monday.
Well giving an update:
http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=341885
Well
GPalVP posted 09-23-2010, 5:37 PM
“All of your withdrawals have already been sent to your checking account ending in 2649.”
I posted 09-24-2010, 9:02 AM
Well I checked this morning and no funds yet
So I emailed the President of our Bank a few minutes ago.
Gotta love small town USA where everyone knows everyone, not to mention the fact his wife is my son’s kindergarten teacher.
Me
“So this was a response from them at 5:37 P.M. 9/23/10
All of your withdrawals have already been sent to your checking account ending in 2649.
Do you know long this will take to get deposited into our account? And can you see anything on your end to support GPal’s claim of this?”
Bank President’s Response
“Lisa,
I show no deposits from GPal on 9/23/10. It is a direct deposit, which means it would be done immediately. And since you received this message after 2pm (our cut-off), I would have expected to see it come in this morning’s processing. Maybe check online later today, after 2 to see if it has dropped, otherwise, I’m not sure where the deposit is at.”
So I will check back again after 2 and give an update to this.
Well it’s 2:10 here and the cut off time has come and gone for my bank. And unfortunately no funds in our bank account. Saturday marks 30 days and counting
Terrible. :( I was crossing my fingers for you Lisa. I thought maybe GPal would unexpectedly pull through. I wonder what their excuse is going to be this time?
I was hoping so too.
Thank God, I just realized I can unsubscribe to this post! I’m tired of my BlackBerry buzzing telling me I have an email only to find out it’s about this story that’s 6 months old… YAWN
heh yea. The story is old, but the problems are very current. I should really create a new post just for people to leave comments on.. thanks for the idea Josh.
Well, great, the unsubscribing didn’t work! After I did it, it was back to normal at the bottom, with the check box to click if you wanted to follow this story. Now it’s back to saying I’m subscribed to it. I must be in hell.
hehe well I just removed your subscription to this post manually so you wont get any updates.
I have not only gotten 1 but 2 emails for charge backs from GPal today. Here is the first one. I will not post others as the only difference in the emails is the amount of money
From:
Date: Sat, Sep 25, 2010 at 1:22 PM
Subject: GPal Chargeback Notification (Transaction ID: BA5F7ED0E4C680)
To: [email protected]
GPal Logo
Greetings Elite Ammunition,
You are receiving this email because your buyer for Transaction ID: BA5F7ED0E4C680 for $91.15 has filed a chargeback with their credit card company.
Once a chargeback occurs, the money involved in the chargeback is debited from GPal right away by the credit card company. At the same time, we place a temporary hold on the same amount in your GPal account balance. A chargeback will cause the following chain reaction; The buyer’s bank will pull funds from GPal’s merchant bank, GPal’s merchant bank will then pull the funds from GPal, finally GPal will pull the funds from the seller and assess a chargeback fee (The assessed chargeback fee is temporary until the matter has been fully resolved). Please note that if the dispute is found in favor of the seller, the disputed funds and assessed chargeback fee will be credited back to the sellers account.
So that we can respond to the chargeback notification we need you to provide us with some information regarding this transaction, including but not limited to a tracking number, the Signature Confirmation of Delivery to a confirmed GPal address and any communication between the involved parties. We require this information immediately as the majority of chargebacks are irrevocable if we cannot respond in time. Please provide all requested information within 5 business days by replying to this email.
If GPal and the seller win the dispute, the credit card company will reimburse GPal for the chargeback, and GPal will release funds held from the seller. Depending on the credit card company involved, this process can take up to 75 days.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Please visit your GPal account by clicking HERE or by copying “https://www.gpal.net/gp” (without the quotes) into your web browser.
Kind Regards,
The GPal Team
GPal is an online payment processing alternative that donates a portion of the proceeds from every transaction to a Non-Profit Organization or Charity
GPal does not discriminate based on the nature of your transaction, requiring only that the merchandise or services you buy and sell be legal. See our User Agreement for more information.
I tried to retrace the GPal charge via their website there is no name attached to the trans #. But so conveniently I have been LOCKED OUT of my GPal account.
But lucky for me I keep every piece of paper and every email and was able to track the customer. I have sent an email to the customer and am waiting for a response.
I am waiting on responses from both of these customers.
Ben Cannon you created this mess and YOU NEED TO FIX IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lisa Wolf
Elite Ammunition
Well I checked my account today and holy crap 2 of my 3 withdraws hit my account.
You guys are still missing GPal Transaction ID: BA5F7ED33B1064 for $71.00.
And this in no way changes my views on GPal.
As I stated before it was a great idea but poorly executed.
nice! Did that other transaction come through in the past few days?
I too am a PI, but I am over 2k miles removed from California (thank God). I would like to personally thank Mr. Jim Mock of Torrence, CA for doing the research I was about to do. I was initially under the impression that this entire thing was a con’ game, but what Mr. Mock said makes sense. Fortunately, I have only lost $500.
Interestingly enough, I got this email from GPal this morning…
“Dear XXXX,
At GPal, we take our responsibility to provide you with a fast and safe way to transact on the web very seriously.
It has come to our attention that several GPal users have been contacted on phone numbers not listed at GPal by persons with blocked caller-IDs, claiming to be our CEO Ben Cannon leaving derogatory or even threatening messages, or asking for user information. Â These sorts of attacks may be an attempt to gain your personal information in order to access your GPal account.
GPal has already initiated legal action against the perpetrators involved, however if you have received any such calls or other suspicious contact, please report it and provide all information you have to [email protected] immediately.
Remember: GPal will never contact you on any phone number not listed on your GPal account, or any email address not listed on your account.
When we do contact you, it will be from [email protected] or our 800 number 800.813.GPAL (800.813.4725) Â Please report any other contact from anyone claiming to be GPal directly to us at [email protected] and/or your local law enforcement and do not divulge any personal information.
A reminder, GPal representatives will never ask you for your password via email or phone.
Thank you for using GPal.
Legal Team
GPal, Inc.”
This is almost comical. I doubt there is any truth to this email as it sounds like a red herring and the beginning of a legal defense. I am contacting the NRA today to see what they can do. After all, the NRA can move congress without saying a word.
Good luck to anyone reading this who needs to get their money. It is a damn shame that Ben Cannon has left the gun community with such a black eye.
Very disappointing.
LOL @ that email. The plot thickens…
Working with my bank to retrace the original transfers so I can find out what bank Ben uses. Then maybe I can get somewhere with this problem. Hey, Ben! If you are reading this, I just want you to know that I am coming after my money and I will get. On the other hand, you could just start returning your phone calls and emails and quit being a punk and talk to the people who’s businesses you are harming.
I will be back to post a telephone number here where anyone who has information on Ben can leave a message. You will be able to remain anonymous, I just want intell.
UPDATE:
I finally received an email back from GPal regarding the “Security Issue.” Apparently, emails regarding my money are not important enough to respond to. Here is the reply. I find quite a bit of irony in the signature line…
“Hello Troy, can you give us a written narrative of what happened? We will need it in writing. Please include the phone number you were contacted on, the caller ID (if any) of the caller, and what was said. If you have a recording or voicemail that would be incredibly valuable.
Thank you, and please accept our apologies for the trouble.
—
Your business is extremely important to us and we sincerely hope this response has answered your questions. If not, please reply directly to this email or create another ticket via the support request on the GPal website.
Need help NOW? You can call GPal toll free at 1-800-813-GPAL(4725) for friendly telephone support Monday through Friday, 9am till 5pm only.
Thank you for choosing GPal — the leader in transaction-neutral payment processing.
http://www.gpal.net/
[email protected]“
AS PROMISED…
THE BEN CANNON INFORMATION HOT LINE – (704) 360-0821
To anyone having information regarding Ben Cannon:
If you have information regarding Benjamin Phillip Cannon AKA Ben Cannon or any officers or legal representation of GunPal or GPal Inc, please call (704) 360-0821 and leave a message. You may also call this number to tell about your experiences with any of the above mentioned people or entities. If you choose to leave your personal information you will be contacted by a licensed private investigator who will take your statement.
To the public:
I am an NRA Life Member, NRA Training Counselor, Concealed Handgun Permit Instructor, and I am a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment. My business relies on the prompt payment of my customers, and credit card transaction vendors such at GPal/GunPal. . I do not wish any ill intent to Mr. Cannon or any other representatives of GPal/GunPal. I work hard for my money and I expect to be treated fairly, especially by others who claim to have such a love for this country’s constitution.
To Ben Cannon:
If you or one of your representatives are reading this blog, you are welcome to call the number and leave a message as to how I may contact you directly to resolve my issues and others that this posting will likely generate.
This post can be copied in its entirety and re-posted at will. The original post created on October 17th, 2010 will be located at: https://www.everydaynodaysoff.com/2010/03/16/gunpal-ceo-ben-cannon-case-dismissed/comment-page-1/#comment-17033
I am not responsible for any re-scripting of this post.
[…] entirety and re-posted at will. The original post created on October 17th, 2010 will be located at: GunPal CEO Ben Cannon – Case Dismissed | Gun Blog I am not responsible for any re-scripting of this […]
Kestryll at CalGuns now looks like a complete fool, but continues to defend Ben Cannon and GPal whilst vehemently denying that Ben is owner/director of CalGuns.net.
Kestryll puts these denials across as if the reason he has to do that is due to confusion. Yet, Ben Cannon has consistently claimed to be the owner/director of CalGuns in just about every place on the internet where you can find his credentials.
GPal is certainly finished as a result of this mess, whether intentional fraud or not. And Kesryll looks like an even bigger idiot that he probably is.
Paul is more then a fool. He’s been allowing GPal employees to shill for GPal on CalGuns.net. Once someone spilled the beans about one of them (Nathan Wolanyk, pullnshoot25) Kestryll’s response was to delete the information and lock the post. These GPal employees have also been using the GPalVP account to communicate with customers while at the same time shilling with their real accounts. By shilling I mean promoting GPal and beating up on people who are owed money. Paul refuses to allow any of this to be posted and he refuses to out the shills.
The shill I mentioned above actually posted a comment on this story. Here it is:
Nathan says:
March 20, 2010 at 2:54 pm
“The man is a monumental BADASS!”
Nobody’s been picking up the phones at GPal for days now and there’s a rumor that GPal’s broke and looking for outside investment. That might be tough when a Google search for “GPal” or “Ben Cannon” turns up all the info any sane person would need to head for the hills. Nobody in their right mind is going to give money to a crossdressing poser with a fake resume and documented track record of total failure.
The people who have “kept the dream alive” for Ben are his friends at Calguns. Without them covering for him and lending cred to his BS cover-story GPal would never have got off the ground and a lot of people would have been spared a ton of grief. Look at their posts on this very blog to see what I’m talking about. Here’s the GPal “about us” page just so no one forgets how we got here:
http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/4439/gpalaboutus128452119172.png
BEN, IF YOU OR YOUR MINIONS ARE READING THIS, I URGE YOU TO REPLY WITH SOMETHING SUBSTANTIAL!
My next step is to take this to the maid stream media. You are an abomination to the 2A community!
once again, the HotLine number is (704) 360-0821.
I talked with one of the LEO guys investigating this piece of crap. He told me that they will be charging old Ben with multiple felony theft counts in about 4 – 6 weeks. Can’t wait till they throw his ass in jail and shut his site down.
If I knew whaere he lived I’d show up there and video them carting him away.
I am one of the Most recent victims of Mr Ben Cannon and Gpal and I have filed the criminal complaints from here in Delaware. Of interest is the response I got back from an email I sent to Calguns.net regarding this. They seem to have changed their story on this. They still claim to have no affiliation with Cannon ( one only needs to look at the Motorcycle Team they funded with him to know that this claim of no affiliation is not true). But now much to my surprise they claim that they have also been a victim to the tune of $15000. I am out $582.90 ( which is not as much as some others but as a service memeber getting ready to deploy it makes things a little tough for me and my family). I do believe that when the law catches up and sorts this thing out, more than just Ben Cannon may find themselves in an uncomfortable position. I do not think I will ever see my money but I can only hope that this will get resolved soon.
The owner of Calguns as well as many of the members on the Calguns Foundation board of directors are Ben’s best friends and strongest supporters. Without their support GPal would never have happened. Ben Cannon was an obvious fraud and liar. All this was out in the open well in advance of his creating GPal. The Calguns people didn’t care and marketed GPal for Ben anyway. Ben was on the Calguns Board as well. Even now, at this late date when GPal has obviously become a Ponzi scheme, several on the Calguns Foundation board still publicly support Ben and his business endeavors.
If the owner of Calguns.net is out $15,000 then there is a bit of justice in this world. Paul (Kestrel) devoted a great deal of time to deleting posts critical of Ben and deriding those who were out money from GPal or had questions about the other scams Paul let Ben run on his forum. Paul let Gpal employees use multiple accounts to hide their identities and shill for GPal. A couple of those employees are/were Nathan Wolanyk (pullnshoot25) and Andrew Mendez (AndrewMendez). Of course Ben was also doing the same thing with Paul’s blessing.
I too hope the law catches up with Ben. The “crimes” of the CGF Board Members are more moral then actionable but I don’t think they should be forgotten. The lack of moral character they displayed and their willingness to lie to defend Ben (as evidenced in these very comments where they lie about the “facts” of Ben’s arrest) is enough to make me wish they’d get out of the gun rights biz.
Here’s a complete list of Ben’s most ardent supporters:
http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/4439/gpalaboutus128452119172.png
Really hate to be the buzzkill, but we won’t see his name being “cleared” on the news for a huge number of reasons – absolutely none of which have anything to do with firearms. If there was an ounce of controversy in it, or the smallest chance of viewer retention in the story it might air, locally. But to be frank, nobody cares, except those involved or directly affected. I am often perplexed by the obsessive paranoia associated with guns rights advocates that causes them to worry about every possible thing that might be subvertly and purposely working against guns that is often completely unjustified – where there are very serious things going on elsewhere in regards to gun rights. It’s a waste of time, and not pointing out this article in particular, just a general comment.
What matters of course is why this guy was suspected in the first place. Don’t white knight something when you don’t know any of the details, it’s not a good idea.
Most of those positive comments were left by Ben’s amy of fans from Calguns.net. It turns out that Ben Cannon’s been arrested for impersonating a cop before, along with trespassing and theft. Make of that what you want.
This message is more about the dishonesty of Lisa Marie Wolf of Elite Ammunition and her husband, Joseph Jay Laurence Wolf.
Beware when doing business with them; everything they’ve accused Gpal of doing they themselves have done many, many times.
The owners of this business, Joseph Jay Laurence Wolf and Lisa Marie Wolf, are, in my opinion, exceptionally dishonest people and they conduct exceptionally dishonest business transactions. They are also cyberstalkers, thieves, identity thieves, impostors, and again, in my opinion, mentally ill. As evidence I place these websites URL’s, where you can read their own words and judge for yourself. http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=835652
http://jaywolfcyberstalker.blogspot.com/
http://lisawolfcyberstalker.blogspot.com/
On top of these issues of turpitude, they have also been complicit in acts of stock fraud, notary fraud, financial crimes, mail fraud, violations of the Federal Gun Control Acts, unlawfully manufactured and sold armor piercing ammunition, and have stolen customers money to pay for two homes, vehicles and their childrens private school education.
http://www.eliteammunition.net/f/Warrant_July_2011.pdf,
Ben is probably going to be in cuffs again with the GunPal GPal ponzi scheme he had going
Yea? Keep us posted if you have any articles or inside info!
3. The Board of Supervisors will consider the following in closed session: Conference with Legal Counsel – Existing Litigation – County of Sonoma v. Ben Philip Diaz Cannon, SCV 259605. Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(1).
Is this the same Ben Cannon? County supervisors discussing this on Feb 14th