Shooting Champion Matt Burkett Arrested, Accused of Fraud

[HCM]

It appears predator Tactical was a Ponzi scheme.

Shooting Champion Matt Burkett Arrested, Accused of Fraud Related to Scottsdale Firearms Firm


Arizona pistol-shooting champion Matt Burkett was arrested this week following a fraud indictment related to his Scottsdale firearms manufacturing business, Predator Tactical.

Burkett stands accused of ripping off his customers, according to a six-page federal grand jury indictment from February 1 filed in the U.S. District Court of Missouri.

He was picked up and booked into federal custody on Tuesday on an arrest warrant. At a hearing on Thursday, Arizona U.S. Magistrate Judge Michelle Burns ordered him to be released from detention. He's being represented by a federal public defender.


http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/shooting-champion-matt-burkett-arrested-accused-of-fraud-related-to-scottsdale-firearms-firm-predator-tactical-9285149

[GardoneVT]

We're in for a rash of these,I'm sure. Scams propped up by inflated sales tend to fold once times get lean.

[jeep45238]

I'm always hesitant if a fully custom pistol built personally (assumed by hand) by one person in 3 months - seems to bark back to the cheap fast food triangle. A polymer gun maybe, but I can't see one person keeping that pace for 2011s


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[blues]

Doesn't matter the endeavor, there's always someone waiting for an opportunity to prey upon someone or someones for illicit personal gain.

[Clusterfrack]

There were lots of rumors about Burkett's drug habit a few years back. Maybe there was some truth to them?

[45dotACP]

Here's my shocked face...

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[Sherman A. House DDS]

That's too bad. I've trained with Matt before and hung out with the guy. He's a character but I never thought of him doing anything maligned...except for making/selling 4 grand 1911's.


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[PNWTO]

There were lots of rumors about Burkett's drug habit a few years back. Maybe there was some truth to them?

This was confirmed to me from a well-known and respected instructor, that's all I will say on an open forum.

[TNK]

We're in for a rash of these,I'm sure. Scams propped up by inflated sales tend to fold once times get lean.

Yes.

[Paul Sharp]

That's too bad. I've trained with Matt before and hung out with the guy. He's a character but I never thought of him doing anything maligned...except for making/selling 4 grand 1911's.

This. Matt was really cool to me starting back in the late 90's on the old GlockTalk forums continuing through until recent times when my dad died from Pancreatic Cancer.

I'll wait to see what comes out in the long run. Having been the subject of what was essentially a press release disguised as an article in December, I believe nothing the press has to say about anything or anyone.

[Sherman A. House DDS]

This. Matt was really cool to me starting back in the late 90's on the old GlockTalk forums continuing through until recent times when my dad died from Pancreatic Cancer.

I'll wait to see what comes out in the long run. Having been the subject of what was essentially a press release disguised as an article in December, I believe nothing the press has to say about anything or anyone.

Exactly.

As the old saying goes, "You can indict a ham sandwich."

Doesn't mean it will stick. And custom gun manufacturers, taking money, managing it less than optimally, and delivering the goods late...how is this still news in the firearms industry in 2017?


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[GuanoLoco]

According to the indictment, Burkett didn't begin manufacturing Land's weapon until he after he knew he was being investigated by law enforcement.

Land wrote about his experience (http://www.doodieproject.com/index.php?/topic/882-worst-gun-builders/page-32) in an online forum in 2015, before Burkett shipped him the lower-quality gun.

An imfamous Doodie thread referenced in a news article... Too funny.

[GardoneVT]

Exactly.

As the old saying goes, "You can indict a ham sandwich."

Doesn't mean it will stick. And custom gun manufacturers, taking money, managing it less than optimally, and delivering the goods late...how is this still news in the firearms industry in 2017?


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Given the small-business nature of most custom gunmakers ,frequent cash only deals and little direct oversight the opportunity for fraud is big enough to sail an aircraft carrier through.

[Drang]

Given the small-business nature of most custom gunmakers ,frequent cash only deals and little direct oversight the opportunity for fraud is big enough to sail an aircraft carrier through.

ISTR from one of the interminable classes I had to take as a First Sergeant that fraud is one of the few crimes where ignorance of the law may actually be a defense . Pretty sure that wasn't just a Uniform Code of Military Justice thing; in order to convict for fraud you must prove intent.
If poor business practices constituted fraud then every small businessman who fails would be subject to indictment for fraud.

[GardoneVT]

ISTR from one of the interminable classes I had to take as a First Sergeant that fraud is one of the few crimes where ignorance of the law may actually be a defense . Pretty sure that wasn't just a Uniform Code of Military Justice thing; in order to convict for fraud you must prove intent.
If poor business practices constituted fraud then every small businessman who fails would be subject to indictment for fraud.

An honest business mistake is not fraud. Using customer revenue to pay for your tactical beard oil instead is.

[TAZ]

We're in for a rash of these,I'm sure. Scams propped up by inflated sales tend to fold once times get lean.

Don't know Burkette from a hole in the ground, but this sounds like a bit more asshattery than some small business running into hard times due to firearms sales getting lean. Hope I'm wrong, but am not holding my breath.

[GuanoLoco]

If this seems OK to you, please send me a check for $3500 and I promise I will jerk you around for a year or so then stop taking your calls.

Oops, does this offer belong in the Classifieds?

[TGS]

ISTR from one of the interminable classes I had to take as a First Sergeant that fraud is one of the few crimes where ignorance of the law may actually be a defense . Pretty sure that wasn't just a Uniform Code of Military Justice thing; in order to convict for fraud you must prove intent.
If poor business practices constituted fraud then every small businessman who fails would be subject to indictment for fraud.

Some things here:

1) "Fraud" is just a word in the dictionary. There are different statutes to charge various forms of fraud, and what is needed for each specific statute may differ.

2) Intent and ignorance are not the same thing. You can be ignorant of the specific statute that makes something illegal, but still be proven to have the intent to commit an action described in said statute (such as depriving someone of their money).

[Peally]

An imfamous Doodie thread referenced in a news article... Too funny.

Maximum professionalism

[LittleLebowski]

An imfamous Doodie thread referenced in a news article... Too funny.

It's just karma that folks at Doodie are keeping BEnos honest (screenshots of the "disappeared" threads). Doodie has a purpose, it's not my style, but it has effected some good things.

[NEPAKevin]

This was confirmed to me from a well-known and respected instructor, that's all I will say on an open forum.

That's a shame. Met Matt while handling the arrangements for him to teach a course at our range and on a personal level, I thought he was likable enough and first impression is that he is a natural salesman. The guys who took the course seemed to benefit from it and some even felt that they upped their game to the next level. The only issue that was mentioned to me was that between the two days, he went out with some of his fanboys and allegedly got pretty shitfaced and did appear to me to be hung over for the second day. FWIW, it was also mentioned that he was also going through a divorce? The one amusing thing I took note of was while delivering lunch on the first day, one of the class attendees was asking him about the importance of diet, and Matt was speaking very enthusiastically about the importance of proper nutrition, while gobbling down a slice of pepperoni pizza out of one hand with another slice in the other, literally dual wielding.

[Kirk]

Met Matt a few years ago. To say I'm unsurprised by this is an understatement. Decided not to buy anything from him and glad I did, whether the "fraud" charges are true or not.

[NEPAKevin]

I just noticed that I still have "Practical Shooting vol. 7 How to Practice" on my desk under a couple of SIG Armorer's DVDs. (My office is like a time capsule that was never sealed) :)

[jerryz06]

I just learned of this forum, thanks to the administrator(s) for approving my membership.

I'm writing this post in order to provide members with real, first hand information regarding the recent Matt Burkett indictment. I've seen a lot of on-line speculation and opinions, mostly negative. Matt does have a few defenders.....

First I recommend you all read the recent article from the Phoenix New Times.

The article written by Ray Stern (Phoenix New Times) is accurate. After about 2 years of trying to deal with Matt it became obvious to me that he was not operating "in good faith". Reading several posts on his Facebook page it was evident that there were other customers with similar problems. Some of those Facebook posts were damning and I found it alarming that he didn't seem to know or care to take them down.

Rather than act independently, I posted on the Brian Enos Forum. The purpose of my post was to identify other customers that were having similar problems with Predator Tactical. Between Enos and Facebook I quickly found 4 others. Enos shut me down, writing in a private email that his forum was not to be used to air "customer service issues". My claim, that I thought that he had a responsibility to protect his members from shady vendors was ignored. Anyway, the names and contact information of those 4 other customers (with their permission) was provided to the FBI.

The FBI had contacted me in April of 2015 seeking information about my dealings with Matt. At the time I had also been communicating with the Arizona Attorney General's office.

I finally did receive a 1911 from Matt but it was not the gun that was represented on his web site and/or the gun I handled at the NRA show in St Louis. The pistol had serious quality issues, for one thing the side safety was not functional. The only positive was that it was built on a Wilson Combat frame.

In summary I'd like to point out to Matt defenders that my case was not isolated. Within the past 6 months I was contacted by folks from Stumpies Custom Guns; they told me that they paid Matt 10K for work that was not accomplished. Look up "Stumpies" - it's owned and operated by combat veterans that lost limbs in service to our country. To Brian Enos and others that describe this conduct as a "customer service issue" I hold you in contempt.

If there are any members of this forum that are victims of Matt's business practices feel free to send me an email with details. I'm NOT an attorney but may have some recommendations to help.

[LittleLebowski]

Busted for meth.

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/feds-scottsdale-shooting-champ-gun-maker-matthew-burkett-busted-for-meth-9376156

[Peally]

Busted for meth.

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/feds-scottsdale-shooting-champ-gun-maker-matthew-burkett-busted-for-meth-9376156

So that's how he nails those reloads...

[andre3k]

So that's how he nails those reloads...

That's probably where all of his customers money went. In a pipe or up his nose.

[JohnO]

Busted for meth.

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/feds-scottsdale-shooting-champ-gun-maker-matthew-burkett-busted-for-meth-9376156

Does he know Heisenburg?
https://static1.seekingalpha.com/images/users_profile/047/439/673/extra_large_pic.png

[LittleLebowski]

So that's how he nails those reloads...

You hatin'?

[Paul Sharp]

You hatin'?

I'm definitely hating to see this happening to Matt.

jerryz06 I supposed I'm one of Matt's defenders in that I am hesitant to jump to conclusions or believe the first things I see come out of the press for the reasons I posted. I understand what it's like to be defrauded. For over 6 figures. For three years I paid rent to a property manager for a gym space. One day my brother and I show up to open the gym and find a chain with a padlock on the door, all of our equipment gone to include 8,000sq foot of mats, a cage, a boxing ring, 12 Thai bags, numerous top/bottom bags, 5 pro rated power racks, thousands of pounds of weights/dumbells, bars, and assorted boxing, MT, and jiujitsu gear found in our fully stocked pro shop. It was all gone. Evidently the property manager had been taking our rent money, which was a substantial nut each month, for the last 2 years and pocketing it while telling the property owners that we just weren't paying. Once the property owners, an out of state company, figured out what was up, and that it might be a tad bit odd that EVERY single tenant wasn't paying rent they looked into the property manager. They fired him, started criminal actions, and they filed legal motions to move on the clause found in all the tenants lease which states they can auction all the contents of the space for any rent, maintenance, or damage fees owed. The court battle that followed, combined with going through a divorce, gutted me financially. I never recovered my money. The property manager was given restitution.

So I understand being frustrated. I understand seeing people say this guy wasn't a bad guy, meanwhile my business was just sold from underneath of me with no options at that point by this nice family guy that's a stellar member of his church.

Again, my "defense" of Matt is the Matt I've interacted with which is obviously very different than your experience. From what I've been told by a reliable person, he dropped hot thus violating his bail/bond. That seems pretty cut and dry to me. He screwed up. He'll have to pay. I wish you the best in recovering your money.

[blues]

Paul Sharp, you are a good man and the kind of friend any man would be proud to have.

[Paul Sharp]

Paul Sharp, you are a good man and the kind of friend any man would be proud to have.

Thank you sir, I do my best to be. I understand to the degree I can folks being pissed, and how the last thing they want to see or hear is anyone say anything nice about a suspect/offender. I do remember standing outside court after hearing the property manager was getting community service, and the property owners were found to be in the right to take all our gear. I wanted to kill everyone, slowly. The property managers daughter came up to us and starts telling me her dad isn't a bad guy he's just got a gambling addiction, (going to a treatment program was part of his sentence...), and not to hate him. She was in her 20's so I told her to get away from me and if I ever run into him I'm going to break his legs. Every time I run into him. He could pay me or pay the ER but either way he was going to pay that money. She was horrified. Looking back I deeply regret being such a frikkin asshole to someone caught up in the mess. Regretted it to the point I've actually tried to find her to apologize.

However, hearing someone try to say something nice about that guy at that moment? I went blind with rage. I had to cash in my deferred comp pension to pay creditors for gear I no longer had because no gym meant no clients meant no income, and she wants me to see he's not a bad guy? I hope jerryz06 realizes I'm on his side to the degree that I want him to get his money restored to him as well as anyone else that was ripped off. I hope they get their money plus whatever else the courts will give them. I think it's possible to desire to see that for them while wanting to see Matt get help and be okay once he's paid for his crimes.

[Chance]

I had a similar experience (https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?13214-Looks-Like-Legion-Firearms-is-Shutting-Down-with-No-Rifles-and-No-Refunds) several years ago, and I'm still reluctant to draw conclusions about all that. I hope the guy gets help, and I hope his "customers" get their money back.