I regret having to add this page to my website.
I have been defrauded by a fluorescence dealer in USA to the extent of tens of thousands of dollars.
That dealer is Darwin Warriner (aka “mineralman”) of Redding, California.
In a nutshell, here is the situation: In Feb 2012 Darwin and I agreed that he would sell my Australian fluorescent rocks on consignment, with proceeds from sales divided 50% for him and 50% for me. Since then I have consigned more than 1800 lb of Australian rocks to him, most of which he has sold and is continuing to sell. In October 2012 he asked me if he could delay paying my 50% until his financial position improved. He said he would keep careful records of all his sales. I thought he was a good honest friend, and agreed. However, six years later, he has only paid me a tiny fraction of money he has received from his sales, and now ignores all my attempts to contact him.
I’ve reluctantly taken this NAME & SHAME action in the hope that Darwin will honour his commitments before legal action is required.
CLICK HERE TO SEE A DETAILED ACCOUNT OF DARWIN WARRINER’S FRAUD.
[ If you want to contact me, please use email (graham@fluoromins.com.au). Please don’t post to the Fluorescent Minerals Facebook page as the Moderator has indicated that is not the place for discussion of personal disputes. ]
UPDATE – MARCH 2019
Darwin Warriner (Mineralman) is still selling my Australian rocks on eBay and from his website without paying me any of the 50% he agreed to. Despite his having sold well over 400 of my rocks on eBay alone (easily verified), he continues to lie about the quantity of my rocks he received on consignment, telling people at the recent Tucson Show that he only only received a couple of buckets of them. He still blocks my attempts to contact him.
If you value honesty and integrity in our hobby I earnestly ask you not to buy Australian rocks from him. Those rocks are mine, not his (apart from the few he took back to the US in his luggage in Nov 2015).
UPDATE – JANUARY 2020
No change. No hope now.
UPDATE – FEBRUARY 2020
This man was once a trusted friend, but he has turned out to be a serial liar. He has posted this on his eBay page:
“GF from Oz has stolen 2 thousand pounds of fluorescent rock from me and I advise fluorescent rock collectors to avoid him in Tucson. He has been quick to denigrate me so for more details and a dose of reality contact me directly.”
This is a defamatory lie. What on earth would I do with 2000 lb of his rock? Almost all the rocks I sell at Tucson are self collected in Australia or Namibia and container-shipped to the US. I’m only in the US for Tucson. Where would I put 2000 lb of rocks? When could I steal his rocks and where would I steal them from? Did I fly or bus from Tucson AZ to Redding CA, sneak in in the middle of the night and take them somewhere in my pocket or checked bags? Where does he think they are now?
He has made this ridiculous untrue assertion with no evidence at all, because there isn’t any. In contrast you can read a complete documented account of all his dealings with me by clicking here. It is a pathetic attempt to get back at me for revealing and making public his fraudulent sales of rocks I gave him on consignment in the days when I trusted him. In particular, note his 304 eBay sales of my rocks (listed on HIS OWN eBay page until he realised I had seen them) from which he received $30,088.24 and paid me $1,641.90 instead of the agreed 50% or $15,044.12. And that’s only up to 2016. He’s kept on selling my rocks since then and paid me nothing. He’s the worst of the three fraudsters who took advantage of me in the USA.
UPDATE OCTOBER 2022
No change. Ridiculous defamatory stuff still on his website.