The Amira Chronicles (Dealing with Creditors)

Oh great, the Daily Mail has cannibalized my Washington Post magazine story about Michele Ballarin, the Virginia woman who fancies herself the savior of Somalia. As I've hinted in earlier posts, there is much more to her than I could fit into my story (Even Mark Mazzetti's excellent work only scratches at the surface). For example, let's return to the time in the early 2000s when Ballarin got into selling body armor. The venture proved unsuccessful, but her company Select Armor put her on the map as a military contractor in the Beltway. Select Armor in the mid-2000s reconstituted itself to be a wannabe Blackwater-like company, specializing in military protection and training services. Ballarin recruited professionals from the military and intelligence community to give the company a sheen of credibility. Those who seeded Select Armor and (other similar businesses of hers) with their own money and services never recouped their investments. Public records reveal that Ballerin came under financial duress in the 2000s, as numerous vendors and creditors filed claims and lawsuits against her. How Ballarin dealt with one credit card company pursuing her for lapsed payments is notable. In 2003, she appealed to the company chairman and CEO with a personal letter (using stationary from her boutique investment company, Cambridge Management Services firm), explaining why she was in arrears: