Bre-X, a penny-stock exploration company in 1992, acquired its interest in the worlds largest gold deposit at Busang, Indonesia in 1993. Rumours include supposed rope marks on de Guzmans corpse. A gas-powered generator rotates the barrels. De Guzman became a millionaire four times over, having cashed in stock options. Partner content is not updated. It is the centre of an unprecedented scam, the ideal location to manufacture a motherlode and sell it to voracious investors on the other side of the world. The money had been sent on Valentines Day de Guzmans birthday. The report, obtained by the Herald, theorizes de Guzman was forced to divulge confidential information about Busang, compelled to write his final will and suicide notes before being executed. Michael De Guzman is known for Jaws: The Revenge (1987), Amazing Stories (1985) and Hidden in America (1996). Bre-X president David Walsh, left, and vice-president John Felderhof. Though his face was not recognizable, there was a distinctive lump on the shoulder that she knew well. (Back then, Bre-X was projecting six to eight million ounces.). Its often been said that the story of Calgarys Bre-X Minerals had all the makings of a Hollywood script: gold, love, betrayal and mystery. David Walshs father and grandfather were both stockbrokers. The veteran Filipino geologist who couldn't get colleagues to take his wild theories seriously until he was credited with perhaps the greatest find of all time. These little vines with hundreds of little hooks on them, theyre barbed. They wanted answers. Engage via Email. He was diagnosed with hepatitis B and about to face tough questions about why a large independent mining company couldnt find gold at a remote site that was supposedly among the worlds biggest deposits. Its population of nearly three million is diverse, including indigenous Dayaks who are split into ethnic sub-groups with their own customs and dialects. Fax: 847-426-0299. But the humiliation of Bre-X goes deeper than that. Others later extrapolated that de Guzmans organs were cut clean off. Two decades after stock-market darling was declared a colossal hoax, the mining firms amazing tale is finally getting the celluloid treatment though loosely based on true events in a new film called Gold, starring Matthew McConaughey. He has denied any role in the fraud, and for a long time continued to insist there was gold in Busang. According to the official version of events, Bre-X's exploration manager threw himself from an Alouette helicopter on March 19, 1997, while it was cruising 800 feet above the Indonesian jungle. I believe he is dead.. I dont think there is anyone in this town who believes hes dead, says McBeth, still a reporter in Jakarta. The 32-year-old is the son of Sinaloa Cartel jailed kingpin Joaqun 'El Chapo' Guzmn. m***@sandiego.gov. It was hastily examined and cremated without confirmation of dental records. I really wish I could speak with him and ask him what really happened, says Jojo. Most recently, Mr. de Guzman was head of Philippines for Credit Suisse. The alleged drunkendriver whofatally struck an NYU studentwas more than 1.5 times over the legal blood-alcohol limit at the time of the crash and had to ask his passenger what he hit,court papers say. Most of them are/were in Indonesia, says Jojo. Despite the Bre-X trickery, there are still those who believe massive amounts of gold could kickstart a commercial mine in the jungle. 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Indeed, second wife Genie de Guzman claims she has twice received money from Michael since he vanished. This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Whatever he knew about the Busang heist, he took to the grave. Getting to Busang today is a tortuous journey that begins in Samarinda, the nearest major centre some 200 kilometres away as the crow flies. This story has been shared 121,776 times. Take Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings. The larger it got, the more difficult the exit plan became, he says. DWR's Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit Manager Sean de Guzman talks about big gains with California's snowpack on March 3's third snow survey at Phillips Station. This is just the latest in a series of events in the rags to riches story of Bre-X. That night, he went to a karaoke restaurant, belting out two or three tunes, including Paul Ankas My Way. Current food trends tell us that the best eating is local eating, but when suburban commercial areas are packed with big chains that source food from national suppliers, the eat local movement becomes inaccessible to a whole lot of people. Industry insiders spanning the oceans have their own conspiracy theories. by Michael de Guzman. In the end, de Guzman is killed to keep him quiet. The six-year statute of limitations for securities violations and insider trading has also elapsed, so even civil charges against de Guzman are out of the question. Look at my body, they are using black magic on me, his mother later told investigators. Sean was born December 8, 1946 in Long Island , NY to Paul Vincent de Guzman and Catherine Noone de Guzman. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images Known in the western world as Borneo, Kalimantan is the largest island in the Indonesian archipelago. Click here to try again. The helicopter dipped slightly and he looked back to see what was happening. He recently searched for someone spreading new lies in Manila about his brother, trying to stamp them out before they gained currency. Indonesian miner Alfred Maliangga separates gold from pyrite using mercuryand water. Could De Guzman have been tortured and murdered before plummeting from the helicopter? His works are unique and easily recognizable because of the unique style he has adopted in producing them. The price of gold was high so everybody was talking of greener pastures, says geologist Bobby Ramirez, who was later named in a forensic investigative report as a co-conspirator with de Guzman in the Bre-X tampering scam. Presented by the Coalition for Medicare Choices. Ian was sent to work farther away, in an area known as Busang II. Michael de Guzman, 49, had a blood-alcohol content of .13 when he plowed his2017redCamaro into aspiring doctorRaife Milligan,21, on East Houston Street in Manhattans East Village around 2:45 a.m. Monday,according to the criminalcomplaintagainst him. Thompson attended a Bre-X presentation a year ago and was impressed, he says, by the Calgary companys low-keyed pitch and by what his geologist contacts were telling him about the company underestimating the size of the deposit. SOLD FEB 8, 2023. When she did, the woman found $200,000 US. Bre-X issued a news release, which said officials at New Orleans-based Freeport confirmed to Bre-X president David Walsh that they are still conducting their due diligence at the Busang site in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, and have not commented on the progress, to the press, in this regard.. When Bre-X went up in flames, the conspiracy theories took off. o fim do tubaro pela quarta vez. March 22, 1997 Investors mercilessly pounded shares of Calgarys Bre-X Minerals Ltd. Friday, after an Indonesian newspaper reported the companys Busang gold discovery may not be as large as estimated and may not be worth mining at all. Bre-X was a group of companies in Canada. Its unlikely the former Bre-X employee would recognize the place today. Office: 847-426-0227. Freeport spokesman Garland Robinette said the drilling program to evaluate the size and exploitability of Busang known as due diligence is incomplete. We encountered an issue signing you up. In the days that followed, Lilis de Guzman whom hed married a year earlier saw photographs of the corpse and was convinced it was her husband. Maich, Steve. That is the problem, says Syakerani. River panning is one thing; extracting gold from the land is another story. De Guzman pleaded with Felderhof for more time and soon, Busangs drilling results turned up stunning levels of gold. Making the stuff generates so much adrenaline, spending it can only seem anti-climactic. A message was relayed that Genie should check her bank account. ( 1 ) $6.99. We would say many thanks if there is (someone) from Canada to invest again.. It was trading at around $2 and could well, said the broker, go to $5. . He cares about his students a lot., Another student who also refused to give his name called de Guzman a great guy.. Its not a nail salon, Im not there to,like, feed your ego, he says. But his career demanded constant travel to distant mining outposts, giving him plenty of opportunity to indulge his affection for the opposite sex. But no one can say for sure; the money was never found. For more than eight years, that was all we knew about the mysterious death of Michael de Guzman. It made fools of us all: the analysts and journalists who breathlessly reported the faked results, the executives who clamoured to partner with Bre-X, the investors who got sucked in to the hype, and the authorities who were seemingly powerless to do anything about it. When they were done, they dumped the body in the jungle. Beginnings: According to an independent study by Toronto-based Strathcona Mineral Services, the salting or the act of adding outside gold dust to rock before it can be tested in a laboratory is believed to have begun as early as 1993 in Busangs central zone using a combination of gold and copper. A groundskeeper tends to the flower beds at the grave of Michael de Guzman in Manila. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. Phone Number: (530) 821-**** Michael R Guzman, age 46 View Full Report Address:***** Palace Green Ct, Katy, TX. Last fall, Indonesian officials ordered a shotgun marriage between Bre-X and Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corp. to put Busang into production. . But Thompson is hanging on to the rest and is advising his clients to do the same. For de Guzman, Busang was the pinnacle of an otherwise unremarkable career, much of it spent chasing gold deposits along fault lines and spent volcanoes in Southeast Asia with his buddy John Felderhof, a Dutch-born prospector who would become chief geologist for Bre-X. East Kalimantan, the province where Busang is found, is dubbed the national coffer due to its vast reserves of oil and gas, coal, forests and gold. The scheme later became more sophisticated, relying on finer- quality river gold obtained from local Dayak panners. Michael De Guzman is a Fire Captain at City of San Diego based in San Diego, California. The U.S. company found insignificant amounts of gold in Busang, an area touted as one of the biggest deposit in the world. Then after Cesar closed the hole, they signed it with a yellow flag.. Its gold reserves are 38 million ounces. Three have graduated college and three more are still in school. Nearby homes similar to 933 S Oakley Blvd have recently sold between $465K to $880K at an average of $285 per square foot. The buildings situated in a once-cleared area are now hidden, reclaimed by the jungle. Once described as a geologists dream, this is the far-flung place where the nightmare began the remote Indonesian jungle location where the Calgary-based company convinced 40,000 investors theyd struck an underground fortune. Indeed, the process of extracting invisible bits of gold is back-breaking. But just four weeks later, Bre-X's geologist at Busang, Michael de Guzman, exited his helicopter that was 250 meters in the air at the timean evident suicide. Photos; Reviews & Ratings; Other Michael Deguzman's; Trusted Connections, Since 2002. . 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved. . Sign up to receive daily headline news from the Calgary Herald, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. The nearest sign of civilization is about five kilometres away in the village of Mekar Baru, home to about 700 Dayaks. In 2012, August, he took another workshop specializing in Fine Arts black and white landscape and he was taken into the process. "Bre-X Geologist Mike de Guzman Rumoured to be Alive. De Guzman was part of the team with fellow geologist John Felderhof, now vice-chairman of Bre-X, that discovered the deposit the company says might hold up to 200 million ounces of gold. He enjoys long exposures, especially during bad weather and he loves staying under the heat of the sun for hours to achieve the image he wants. Hes seemingly unconcerned, or unaware, the highly toxic mixture could kill him. By Suzanne Wilton, with files from Tony Seskus and Eva Danayanti. prospect, Ponzi conviction vital to Canadas fight against white-collar crime, Matthew McConaughey to star in Hollywood film based on Bre-X scandal, Gold: The movie about the Bre-X mining scandal that isnt about Bre-X, director Stephen Gaghan and star Matthew McConaughey turned Calgarys Bre-X scandal into a fable about the American west, Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account, Get exclusive access to the Calgary Herald ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on, Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists, Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists, Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword, Access articles from across Canada with one account, Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments, Get email updates from your favourite authors. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Busang had been sporadically explored in the 1980s, and in 1989 an Australian company called Montague gave up on the property and walked away. Filipino Onel de Guzman, now 44, says. Out of Stock. The tiny nugget that remains is placed under a blowtorch to burn off impurities. So far these are just unsubstantiated rumors, but its easy to understand why investors are nervous, said Richard Cohen, a mining analyst with Goepel Shields in Vancouver. Former vice-president John Felderhof once speculated there could be as much as 200 million ounces of gold at Busang. Bolinao Sunset by Michael de Guzman Taken: Jul 20, 2013 Uploaded: over 9 yrs ago Beach of Patar, Bolinao, Pangasinan Highest Pulse Highest Pulse Pulse is a score out of 100 points that measures how popular a photo is. She felt the couple should at least have a nest-egg. Read More. Me and Mr. Zane Grey. Versatile & detail-oriented Microsoft Certified Software Developer with 9+ years of experience in Application, Web & API development, integration, delivery & support. Apr 7, 2014 2:00 PM EDT. Law Office: Michael De Guzman Law Pllc San Antonio Law Firms Law School: St. Mary's University School of Law, J.D. The man who drove his staff mercilessly in pursuit of glory and wealth, and to whom deception came as naturally as his easy smile. 2011 Status: In Good Standing Licensed: 10 years 210-593-1507 Profile LAWPOINTS 19 / 100 LAWPOINTS measure the overall completeness of a Lawyer's profile. This provider currently accepts 22 insurance plans including Medicare and Medicaid. Many local villagers worked at the company during Busangs glory years. When it started, I dont think anybody envisioned that it would grow into the humongous enterprise it became.. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited. The Bre-X crew in Borneo, circa 1997, from left: site manager Jerome Alto, senior vice-president John Felderhof, exploration manager Michael de Guzman and geologist Cesar Puspos. . Bre-X Minerals Ltd., a major part of Bre-X based in Calgary, was involved in a major gold mining scandal when it reported it was sitting on an enormous gold deposit at Busang [], East Kalimantan, Indonesia.Bre-X bought the Busang site in March 1993 and in October 1995 announced significant amounts of gold had been discovered, sending its stock price . The Bre-X hoax was revealed just days later, and it quickly became clear that some of the world's most sophisticated analysts and executives had been sucked in by a deception so simple, a child could have conceived it. He discovered his passion for shooting in 2011 when he attended a workshop on Landscape Photography. P Michael de Guzman is on Facebook. Today, he would collect DNA and make a positive identification himself. This article was originally published in Macleans magazine on June 13, 2005. He started shooting near infrared and color but he always has a different feeling for black and white. IS MICHAEL de GUZMAN DEAD OR ALIVE? Simon Sembiring says its simply too convenient for him to die just as the fraud was uncovered. ". The material was bagged and hauled down the mountain, along a slippery footpath about 500 metres from the former Bre-X camp headquarters. Many people believe de Guzman is alive and living off his Bre-X fortune. 2,928 Sq. He was married, with six children. Dr. Michael De Guzman, is an Ophthalmology specialist practicing in Charleston, SC. My books are about kids who populate the margins of conventional society, who have something big to face in life, who take action on their own behalf, and who are aided by adults who live on the margins themselves. In the days following his death, the National Bureau of Investigation in the Philippines had trouble matching his fingerprints and identifying the corpse. The next year, my phone rang in the middle of the night on March 19, 1997 from one of my most trusted Indonesian contacts, John McBeth, the famous journalist based in Jakarta who wrote for the Far East Economic Review. There used to be four similar sites in the area.