Guillo is one of hundreds of former students of the now-defunct Trump University; an entity the New York attorney general says was a grand scam that put $5 million in Trumps pocket.
As soon as I attended the first workshop, I knew I had been scammed, Guillo said. Every single workshop, they charged you another amount. Everything was to get you to spend more and more and more.
Instead, according to lawsuits filed in New York and California, students got repeat come-ons to run up credit card debt to buy increasingly expensive mentorships topping out at nearly $35,000 per person.
Students were even advised to fudge their income to persuade credit card companies to increase their credit limits, the lawsuits charge.
An internal Trump U. document titled surefire script to more purchasing power suggested deliberately inflating actual income by adding in projected income from businesses that did not yet exist.
Students were told to make up a name of this fictional business, but not to include real estate in its name.
Be vague, the internal Trump U. document states.
In the end, according to the lawsuits, hundreds of students saw their credit scores damaged and worse.
Kathleen Meese of upstate Schoharie said in a sworn affidavit that a Trump U. mentor pressured her to buy a $25,000 elite program.
When she balked, telling him she needed to support her son with Down syndrome, he told me that I had to sign up for Trump Gold Elite for $25,000 to help my family. He said he had a son, so he knew how family meant everything to me.
He promised shed make the $25,000 back within 60 days, and she put the program on her card. When she again balked, he promised to personally work with her. After the three-day period for seeking refunds passed, he told her he was sending over another mentor.
Two years later, she was still paying off her credit card debt to Trump U.
Nelly Cunningham of Staten Island says she emptied her savings account for Trump U. and couldnt get a refund.
I wasted my entire life savings on Trump, she said in an affidavit. I spent $1,495 on the Trump three-day seminar and $24,995 on the Trump Gold Elite mentorship package, only to be demeaned and belittled. I feel like such a fool.
In a lawsuit pending in Manhattan Supreme Court, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says 600 ex-Trump U. students in the state were defrauded. Trump Organization counsel Alan Garten defended the school as a substantive, real program that offered people valuable training, valuable courses and valuable mentorships.
He provided sworn affidavits of eight students praising the school, with some saying theyd initiated successful real estate deals as a result of their training.
So far, Judge Cynthia Kerr has found Trump violated state education laws by calling his entity a university when it wasnt licensed as one. She will decide on possible restitution after a yet-to-be scheduled hearing.
Meantime, two more class-action lawsuits are pending in California.
Trump U. claimed to help some of the working stiffs who Trump has expressed concern for on the stump by turning them into real estate tycoons via experts who were allegedly hand-picked by Trump.
And who were these ambassadors to extravagant wealth?
One was a graphic designer. Two mentors had filed for protection from creditors under the bankruptcy act after running up huge debts in failed real estate adventures, according to bankruptcy court documents.
I dont think that someone had a downturn on a business deal means that they are not experienced, said Trumps counsel, Garten.
Students say Trump U. presenters told them Trump didnt get a penny and that all the fees went back into the school. Schneiderman says Trump personally pocketed $5 million.
So what do unhappy Trump U. students think of his plan to make America great again?
For Guillo of Manhasset, L.I., who demanded but never got a refund of his $34,995, its all a great big joke.
Donald Trump has charisma. Hes got the greatest persona of any of the Republican candidates and even the Democratic candidates, Guillo said.
And if youre not sophisticated, he makes a pitch before the Iowa fair and he gives a speech, they believe all this stuff.
But when it comes down to solutions, hes not specific about anything. And people are buying it.
Nora Hann, 62, of Seagate, Brooklyn, isnt buying it anymore. She tried for months to get a refund after putting a $34,995 Gold Elite mentorship on her credit card.
I went through hell and back, she said. I kept calling them, sending them emails, nothing happened. Ignoring me. Email after email. They kept sending me emails saying how everything is progressing.
Amex told her the Trump charge had already gone through. Then her mentor stopped taking her calls. She finally got him to pick up by using a friends cell phone. He agreed to a refund.
This experience left Hann with serious doubts about a potential President Trump.
I dont think hes going to make it. He has a big mouth. Hes just stirring up trouble, she said. I think theyre a bunch of frauds. They told us that he was going to be there. He wasnt there. This is not $3,500. This is $35,000. Its crazy.
Arlene Cohen, 59, who lives in Forest Hills, Queens the borough where Trump grew up paid $1,495 for a three-day seminar because she admired him.
Pressured to buy far more expensive mentorships, she walked away. Her view of Trump soured somewhat when her refund request was rebuffed.
Although I think hes an amazing person and he might even be a good President, this is different, she said.
He sold out for the money.
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