RhinoPro

So I want to get right into it. This business is called RhinoPro, and it was for two Mexican nationals that essentially were marketing what they said was a franchise system under Uberwurx. But when we reviewed this business back in 2018, it wasn’t a franchise, it was a license model. So that’s an initial red flag. If a business says that it’s a franchise, but it’s not actually a franchise, there’s no FDD (Franchise Disclosure Document), it’s not registered in the proper states, that’s a huge red flag.

And there was another E2 visa scheme. Again, targeting Mexican nationals that the perpetrators I think are still under arrest. And there was a similar situation in Las Quesadillas Franchise, where it was being marketed as a franchise.

And franchising is much more regulated in the United States than a typical licensing agreement. So big red flag. If something says it’s a franchise, make sure that you get an FDD.

So you have Juan Carlos Martinez, 51 years old. He’s the owner of Mobile Coatings Management. And he was a part-owner, president at Uberwurx. They were doing business as RhinoPro, a spray-on truck bed liner and truck accessory company. And then his associate Karina Hernandez, 41 years old, was part of the Texas Franchise and Business Consulting group.

Business Fraud

And I remember there would be events and our clients would talk about seeing the consulting group, and RhinoPro came across our desk numerous times from immigration attorneys, migration agents, actual visa franchise clients, as well as prospective visa franchise clients.

But, essentially, what they did was with these 120 or so investors from 2017, all the way up until this year, they offered a guarantee return on their investment. And they also said that you don’t have to do anything and that they would manage the operations fully. And that wasn’t what these E2 visa investors put into their applications.

So big no-no. If you tell the government you’re doing something, you better do it. And I’d be really aware of guaranteed returns. I don’t like guaranteed returns. It’s something if Starbucks corporate or a public corporation’s giving you a guarantee on your investment in the form of a bond.

But for a small business investment to a small company, it’s much better to just take that risk and really know what you’re getting into. Instead of relying on some guarantee, some promise of future returns. Some of the reviews on Google too dating three-plus years back just scream fraud. And it’s sad… We’ll add below just a lot of these issues.

With being overcharged for services, not getting money back, depositing money in an escrow account, inquire before risking your capital. And these comments are going back three years.

“Two Mexican nationals were arrested in Texas on criminal charges business fraud related to their alleged involvement in an E2 visa franchise scheme.”

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdtx/pr/mexican-businessman-arrested-30m-fraud-scheme

Juan Carlos Martinez Cecias Rodriguez (Martinez), 51, is the owner of Mobile Coatings Management (MCM) and part owner and president of Uberwurx, doing business as RhinoPro, a spray-on truck bedliner and truck accessory company. Karina Hernandez, 41, is part owner of Texas Franchise and Business Consulting (TFBC). TFBC mainly targets and markets to Mexican nationals interested in starting businesses in Texas.

Martinez marketed himself and Uberwurx as providing a way for investors to gain E2 visas for legal entry into the U.S.

Martinez worked with Hernandez to market and sell the Uberwurx franchise to Mexican national investors but failed to make many guaranteed payments to investors.

Martinez’s company, MCM, managed the Uberwurx franchises instead of the investors doing so in violation of E2 visa requirements. Martinez instructed investors to omit from their E2 visa applications the fact that MCM managed the franchises.

Martinez and Hernandez allegedly defrauded at least 120 different investors between January 2017 and December 2021 with a loss of more than $30 million. Sadly at Visa Franchise, we have spoken to many investors and attorneys of investors who were defrauded in this scheme.

If convicted, Rodriguez and Hernandez face up to 20 years in prison on each of the wire fraud counts and up to 10 years in prison on each of the encouraging illegal immigration counts.

Google reviews of TFBC show signs of business fraud dating back 3+ years:

Texas Franchise and Business Consulting, LLC
8930 Wurzbach Rd #240, San Antonio, TX

Rating: 1/5
2 years ago
(Translated by Google) I am writing on behalf of Dr. Juan Manuel Velasco to report that I was defrauded by these people who run the company. Be careful investing with them, I write from this account since I have been blocked from my personal account and it is very likely that they will delete this comment soon, since they do not want them to know who they really are.

(Original)
Escribo en nombre del Dr. Juan Manuel Velasco para informar que yo fui defraudado por estas personas que manejan la compañía. Tengan cuidado en invertir con ellos, escribo desde esta cuenta ya que he sido bloqueado de mi cuenta personal y es muy probable que borren este comentario pronto, ya que no les conviene que sepan quienes son en realidad.

Rating 1/5
3 years ago
(Translated by Google) These consultants seem to me that they have very little seriousness in trying to sell businesses by force, I would not recommend them and would rather look for more serious options.

(Original)
Estos consultores me parece que tienen muy poca seriedad tratando de vender negocios a fuerza, yo no los recomendaria y mejor buscaria opciones mas serias.

Due Diligence

Back in 2018, this business did not pass our due diligence with the following comments:

• Little information on the founder / CEO Juan Carlos Martinez besides his LinkedIn profile. There is also nothing to be found on the management team anywhere
• No testimonials of customers nor investors. Odd that they do not have reviews. This is also not a good sign
• Vertically integrated company that is a licensing structure. This means that the parent company has all the incentives to charge high prices for the products that it sells to the licensees/investors
• That fact that they aren’t a franchise after achieving over 30 units is quite odd. I think could be a way that they avoid oversight and franchise disclosure regulations
• The fact that they just target foreign national investors is another bad sign

So a simple Google search on either Texas Business, it’s the name of the firm, Texas Franchise and Business Consulting would show you these reviews dating back three-plus years, as well as on RhinoPro Mobile Coatings Management.

Investment Business Fraud

You can see that these businesses are not franchises. And they were being oversold for their capacity clearly. These guys are in big trouble. As I mentioned, they’re facing some pretty serious counts that could land them in prison for…if they’re guilty if they’re convicted of up to 20 years. Again, 120 different investors between January 2017 and December 2021 with a loss of more than $30 million.

So, again, we spoke to some of these investors at Visa Franchise. One client in particular I know had invested in RhinoPro, had to keep injecting more capital. There was no guarantee repayment, and essentially he fell victim of a business fraud sadly. We got this the first time in 2018, and talking internally, I’m looking at an email trail, this has all the signs of a scam.

One of our researchers said that they couldn’t find any information online about the founder CEO, Juan Carlos Martinez, besides his LinkedIn profile. Nothing to be found on the management team anywhere. No testimonials of customers nor investors, and it’s odd that they don’t have reviews.

That’s not a good sign. It’s also a vertically integrated company that has a licensing structure. This means that the parent company has all the incentives to charge high prices for the products that it sells to licensees and investors.

This is very similar in some pyramid schemes where they’re just essentially making money from those further down the totem pole. The fact that they say they’re a franchise, but they’re not legally registered as a franchise, and they’ve said that they have over 30 units is quite odd. It needs to be regulated.

Financial Stability

And in terms of just their presence online, they’re solely targeting foreign nationals. No Americans, no businessmen or businesswomen that are already in the services industry, the truck bed lining industry. They were just going after foreign national investors.

So we even had a promoter keep reaching out to us where it was a direct quote, “I have also made this a very rich deal where you can make a lot of money. Give me a call, and we can discuss.

Rhino has more than 30 E2 visa approvals from 8 countries, L1 visa approval, and many EB5 submitted.” I responded, “Thanks. We’ll be in touch if we want more information on RhinoPro Mobile. We care much more about the financial stability and the return for the investor than the visa approval records.”.

Of which he responds, “That is kind of a weird response. If you don’t care about visa approvals and only about financial stability, why be in immigration? RhinoPro is a 30-year old company that is an industry leader, not a startup. Anyway, we have a few more projects as well.”

So this business, I mean, had business fraud all over it. My regret is that we didn’t report it to the appropriate agency when we started getting these red flags. I guess, how I viewed it at the time, it’s kind of like they could be a potential competitor of some of the franchise awards that we have on the greater Vetted Biz and Visa Franchise network.

Check the FDD (Franchise Disclosure Document)

But at the end of the day, sadly, 120 investors with accumulated investment of $30 million across these 120 investors. Pretty much lost a lot of their capital. They haven’t disclosed it yet. The U.S. government, if they lost all their money, but you can only presume for the worse. So, again, a few key lessons from this.

Do your due diligence, search on Google, find out the name of the principles, their prior history. If it’s being sold as a franchise as RhinoPro, then check and get their franchise disclosure document.

If you do not get a franchise disclosure document, you should probably report that business to the FTC, the Federal Trade Commission. Because the business is promoting itself as a franchise where it is not a franchise.

And if you’re paying a royalty, an initial fee to start, it’s probably going to be in the box of a franchise. And not necessarily in the box of a licensed business. Besides an immigration attorney, you need to have a corporate attorney by your side doing this type of due diligence on your behalf and legal due diligence to pick up some of these issues.

Especially before you sign any documents. So, yes, you need an immigration attorney if you’re applying for the E2 visa, but you’re also going to need a corporate and/or a franchise attorney depending on the business that you select. If it’s a franchise, definitely go with a specialist that’s a franchise attorney.

Reviews online, the major agency that was selling these licenses had as of 2018, 2019 a one out of five stars with multiple reviews. Pretty much everyone leaving a Google review was saying they fell victim of being scammed somehow through their escrow account or whatever.

Finding the Right Advisor

Spend your time, google the people that you’re working with. Have the right advisor, you need an attorney.

You should have two attorneys if you’re applying for an E2 visa. An immigration attorney and then the corporate/franchise attorney.

Even with the prior representation, it falls on you as an investor to take the information required. To make an informed decision before you send over $200,000. This is a real business investment. And, sadly, a lot of these business frauds, it’s oftentimes a foreign national selling to another foreign national. We saw this a lot in South Florida.

With a trucking business fraud where there were Argentinians selling two or three trucks that were not even working to other Argentinians. We’ve seen the same thing with alleged fraud in Texas with Mexicans selling an alleged franchise that’s not actually a franchise. So it’s not actually alleged, it’s not a franchise, Las Quesadillas, to other Mexican nationals.

And with RhinoPro, this lining business, there were a lot of Mexicans that invested in this E2 visa project. So have your guard up, especially if someone speaks the same language as you and has the same nationality. Because your guard is probably going to be lowered naturally. And just be aware of that.

There are some really important factors that you need to consider before investing in buying a business, starting your own business, starting a franchise. The U.S. is a great market. There’s a lot of potential to make money, have a great quality of life, education for your kids. It’s also a very competitive environment, and some bad actors are looking to take advantage of foreign nationals.

Franchise Opportunities

So, a lot of lessons learned from this type of business. And I do regret not reporting them to the FTC and the appropriate authorities earlier. Because it did look like a scam when we saw it.

Again, we reintroduced this opportunity through immigration attorneys. At least a couple of immigration attorneys brought this deal to our attention. This prospective franchise opportunity, foreign migration agents that were looking to promote this project.

At least one Visa Franchise client brought this to our attention. And then also some prospective clients that sadly had already gotten the E2 visa through a RhinoPro bed lining business. But the renewal was coming up, and they were just sinking more capital into a failing project.

So do your due diligence, don’t rush into anything. And be really comfortable about what you’re getting into. And if someone guarantees you a return on your investment, that better be Starbucks, McDonald’s, or Burger King. Some large corporations, and not some individual that has a couple of small businesses that might not even weather the next recession.

So those are some items to look out for. I hope we hear many less stories about these E2 visa business fraud and victims, and let’s learn from the lessons today so you can avoid the potential issues tomorrow.

If you’re looking for actual franchise opportunities on Vetted Biz in the franchise directory, it’s only franchises that have a franchise disclosure document. And as of this video, December 2021, there are about 1,800 franchise opportunities to explore, many of which are eligible for the E2 visa. So, again, do your due diligence, and I’m very sorry to hear about the victims. And hope that it can be resolved and have some closure for them.