# DRI "Boss" in American Mafia article



## tso216 (Feb 13, 2014)

Steven J. Cloobeck is mentioned in this AmericanMafia.com article:

http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_177.html

Once there, scroll down to the 9th paragraph from the bottom to see who donated to Torricelli's legal defense.  But don't forget to backtrack and read the entire article as it provides some good insight.

One wonders how Steven J. Cloobeck could graduate from college in 1983 and in just a few short years have accumulated millions of dollars; enough to purchase several resorts.

Is it possible that this was accomplished through connections?


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## Fern Modena (Feb 13, 2014)

Most of the article is very old information.  There was one mention of Cloobeck in the entire article, as far as I could see.  There were many other people mentioned as well.

As for the "few short years" since Cloobeck graduated, its 30 years ago. I don't know where his money came from, if he invested in real estate or stocks, worked, was a trust fund baby, or whatever. And evidently neither do you.

Fern



tso216 said:


> Steven J. Cloobeck is mentioned in this AmericanMafia.com article:
> 
> http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_177.html
> 
> ...


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## tso216 (Feb 14, 2014)

When one does not want to explore the truth (a form of denial), then one often resorts to attacking the messenger.

Understanding that it is not easy for someone to accept what s/he does not want to hear, it is easy to forgive the attack.


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## dougp26364 (Feb 14, 2014)

Many years ago I was an insurance agent in Kansas City. Some of my business dealings where with people who's pictures are in the Vegas black book. I knew some of the characters in the movie Casino and have a friend who was escorted out of the Stardust by Lefty himself. So are you saying that I'm mafia by association? 

I think if you actually dug a little further, you'd likely find he and his father were in property development long before he purchased the bankrupt Sunterra for pennies on the dollar. DRI was a Timeshare development company back in the 80's when they started Polo Towers. At that time is was just Diamond Resorts. The International was added later. Dig a little more and you'll find Mr. Cloobeck's dad developed Jockey Club after it failed as a full ownership condo complex. Mr. Cloobeck's money isn't anything new. He's been in property development LONG before he took the risk of buying Sunterra, a move many bet would bankrupt him. 

Before you go jumping off bridges, maybe you should do a little more research into Mr Cloobeck and/or his father. I'm not shooting the messenger. I'm just suggesting you haven't done anymore research than reading one blurb in one article, then jumping to conclusions.


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## tso216 (Feb 14, 2014)

Where there is smoke, there is usually fire.


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## Fern Modena (Feb 14, 2014)

I think the FIRE with DRI and Mr. Cloobeck is within *you*. Looking at your previous TUG posts it appears you have some sort of a thing against them.

What Dougp says about the source of Mr. Cloobeck's money is true; I had just disremembered it for a while.

'Fern



tso216 said:


> Where there is smoke, there is usually fire.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Feb 14, 2014)

tso216 said:


> Where there is smoke, there is usually fire.



good thought.  Let's run with that, notion.

Hypothesis: you are carrying a grudge and an agenda and are ready to embrace anything negative about Cloobeck without thinking about it objectively.

Smoke: your posts about the company.

Since, by your supposition, where there's smoke there's usually fire, then it's clear that nobody should take seriously anything that you post about DRI and Cloobeck.

Hoisted on your own petard, methinks.


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## Zephyr88 (Feb 14, 2014)

Rent_Share said:


> the DRI faithful, they are a loyal group...



Hmm... seems there is a lot of truth in Rent_Shares flippant comment.

Seems that some are faithful to the point of becoming nasty if their icon's feet of clay are examined.  Not as open minded, tolerant or interested in finding out the truth as I would have thought.  

Thanks for posting the link tso216.

Happy Valentine's Day All!


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## YOOPERGALS (Feb 14, 2014)

A little fact-checking would help here.  Cloobeck is referred to as a "casino owner" in the referenced piece on this very glitzy and unsophisticated web site.  To my knowledge he's never been a casino owner nor operator.  The rest of the article - a very old compilation of facts from hither and yon - does nothing to support the accusation made here.


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## tso216 (Feb 14, 2014)

Sorry to have touched a "raw nerve" when it comes to questioning Cloobeck's donations and associations.  I am amazed at the strong emotional response.

Thanks for the support Zephyr88.  But watch out - you're amongst the party faithful.


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## winger (Feb 14, 2014)

Mr. C comes from a family with construction business background, which I presume helped him get started early on.


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## pedro47 (Feb 15, 2014)

This article was written in 2001. Why are we reading it.


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## Rent_Share (Feb 15, 2014)

Zephyr88 said:


> Hmm... seems there is a lot of truth in Rent_Shares flippant comment.
> 
> Seems that some are faithful to the point of becoming nasty if their icon's feet of clay are examined. Not as open minded, tolerant or interested in finding out the truth as I would have thought.
> 
> ...



Don't bring me into this fight,my issues with DRI were from watching his arrogance on Undercover boss, knowing how much they overcharge and then make resales less than worthless by their restrictions. When I voiced an opinion I was shot down because I am not in one of the clubs.

Additionally I have only been to two timeshare inquisitions DRI Maui and Lake Tahoe - Standard lies, omissions and half truths

The only DRI property I have stayed at is Sedona and they tried to pull the mandatory "tour" crap

 No better/ no worse than Wyndham, wyndham just hasn't put a face and a name with their overpriced product.


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## Beefnot (Feb 19, 2014)

The DRI clique is a clannish lot...


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## dougp26364 (Feb 19, 2014)

I think, if any would actually take the time to look, you'd quickly realize that I have been very critical of DRI in the past. To the point that Mr Cloobeck sent me an E-mail stating he didn't think I should be an owner anymore to which I replied I'd be glad to sell my timeshares back to DRI under the previous agreement we had with their discontinued buy back program. 

The fact is, DRI has become a well run timeshare program but has some of the highest fees to go with it. Developer sales are treated well but their are a lot of poison pills for resales, making their product nearly worthless if you ever want to get out. Their points based reservation system is one of the most flexible but the fees have skyrocketed over the last 5 years to a point I question it's value for our family. Thir elite tiers have been good but this year benefits have been degraded and additional fees imposed. The first thing DRI typically does when it takes over a failing organization is increase MF's followed within a year by using those increases to make needed repairs, followed by upgrades to bring those resorts up to DRI stmadards. 

It's not all wine and roses with DRI but it's also not fair to make half baked accusations of mafia money, just because your not happy. Stick to REAL complaints and you'll find more support.


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