An update…

Hello everyone,

It’s been a long time in between posts. But something happened over the weekend, and it is too gross to not share.

But, first things first. The question that I get asked most often – where is Brett now? He lives in Wharton, Texas with his wife Stephanie and their daughter. Stephanie used to be a police officer, but was fired from 2 separate stations for misusing police resources to assist her husband. Prior to living in Wharton, they lived in Richmond, Texas, where he conned his employer and eventually left town. He frequents Olivia, Texas often, and has a company called “B St Investments LLC” which was set up in late 2020. Take note of that company name – I’ll get back to that shortly. He continues to use the pictures of another man to con people online using dating apps and the like but that seems to be his side hustle now days, but Ill get to that shortly.

Here are some of the messages I have received over the past year or so:

• “We did a job for him and he claims that he boys and renovates houses for resale. And he has a scooter business called B St Investments LLC. For 5 weeks he kept saying he was waiting on a loan. The police know about him and are watching him.”

• “He is frequenting a small area called Olivia. He is already trying to con people out of property here.”

• “He is currently in Olivia, Texas. He is marred with a kid. We have all wondered where he is getting the money to buy property in this little community, guess now we know. He is also suing several neighbours under false pretences and has NOT made any friends around here.”

• “I almost got my family involved in a business deal with Brett Joseph. As of 2022 he is in Texas. I was helping my mom lease out her commercial building when we were approached by a charming Australian man who made us a deal that was too good to be true. He wanted to outright by my family’s building (we weren’t willing to sell), but we agreed to lease it to him since he would be opening up an Antique store as a “hobby”. Brett made me believe he was a successful residential and commercial developer who flips properties. He told me his wife was a Sheriff’s detective and he even brought along his daughter.

Over the past few months I have been in contact with him regarding the building and progress that had been made to get it ready for the June 1st deadline. He stated that he would not meet on the 1st since him and his family were on vacation. We pushed it back to today June 4th with intentions to collect payment and sign the lease. Well, 10 minutes before we were to meet, he had truck trouble. He called AAA, they told him his alternator was out and it needed to be repaired. He said that he would be able to meet tomorrow but I held firm. I offered to drive to him, or he could Uber. He was reluctant. He asked to see the lease, which I was going to present to him in person. He stated, will I have to be stuck in 1 year lease? What if my business does not go well and I would like to get out. I held firm and stated the lease had to be a minimum of 1 year. He then replied that he needed a new lease drafted up so that his attorney could sign off on it. It was at that point I realized he was all talk and not serious about proceeding with the deal. I told him we would not be proceeding, and then blocked him.

My mom and I were upset but we had no idea that he was a conman. It wasn’t until after the fact that I googled him after hearing some not so great things. Word travels fast in a small town. I was told that he had a store in a neighbouring town, and had to be formally evicted for not paying rent. I was told he is a conman. When I got online and saw your website my mind almost exploded. I felt like a fool but I was thankful that I held firm and did not cave to his demands. I could kick myself for not seeing the red flags along the way but he was a smooth talker. He wanted to buy a bookcase shelf in the building and offered me $200. He stated he would Zelle me the money but he never did. I texted him asking for the money, and he never sent it. I assumed he would pay me when he signed the lease and paid his rent and deposit. After finding out the truth, he probably doesn’t even have $200 to his name.

He told me he is living in Wharton TX. He frequents Rosenberg, TX which is where my family’s building is located. He did use his real name and gave me the name of his company, B St. Investments, LLC and wanted to name his store The Salvage Station. “

But here is the really concerning part. I received a message over the weekend, which was what pushed me to write this update:

“I have a friend who is in his 80’s that came to me for help. He was kidnapped and held prisoner in a town a couple hours away. He ended up escaping and once he made it back home he had found that his home had been gone through. Brett and another person were the ones responsible for this. Brett pretended to be trying to help the old man and convinced him that in order to protect him from things like this happening again he needed the man to sign a bunch of papers. He wouldn’t tell him or show him what they were just the signature pages only and was aggressive to getting him to sign. Turns out it was paperwork allowing Brett to take the man’s assets. Vehicles, house, etc….

Brett is tapped into the man’s Facebook and email which is all he has so he asked me to come over and talk in person. When I went to his home he started telling me all the things going on an the doorbell rings. It was Brett. He came in and introduced himself to me at Brett Jacob. He told me several things that sounded like lies. One of them was that his wife was a sheriff’s deputy for Wharton County. I called and checked into that and found out he was lying as well as other things I checked on. I ran his license plate and found it registered to a “Joseph Brett”. That is how I found out who he really is.

Now that he has been exposed he is making threats to the man, refusing to let him have his things, and is again attempting at falsely imprisoning him. Police from all counties involved have been notified but no action has been taken.

Brett is living in Wharton, TX. He is spending a lot of time in Olivia, TX. I met him in Olivia. I have his home address and confirmed it’s where he lives. He drives a roughly 2008-2011 Chevy four door truck that is silver. He was not dressed well. He is still using the story of having several large cattle ranches in Australia and coming from a wealthy family. He claims to have a large company here in the US acquiring property and building a large real estate portfolio. Once I figured out some of what he was saying was not true I tried to confront him and he ran away.

He has taken the homes of at least 5 old people in Olivia. He has 2 stolen vehicles at his house too. He knows that I know about him and he is trying to convince my friend that what is online is not true.”

Here is where the plot thickens – remember the company name – B St Investments LLC – all of the homes he has acquired from these elderly people are on B Street, Olivia, Texas. Coincidence? I think not.

I have been told that Brett controls the water wells, therefore the access to water, for these properties. I am advised that at least 2 of the houses have had their water cut off because the elderley occupants haven’t complied with Brett’s demands. I am told that those who haven’t had their water cut off (including the man in the message above) are so afraid of Brett’s threats and that he will cut off their water that they wont speak to the police. But there are people working to change that as we speak.

So it appears that the con has shifted from trying to con people using dating apps and romancing them to conning the elderly and most vulnerable – just when you thought he couldn’t get any more disgusting.

He seems to be in very deep with this con, and has a lot of people watching him. Could this be the con that lands him in an American prison? Watch this space!