A Trump University ‘professor’ who called himself one of its ‘top men’ is posing as a superhero for selfies with tourists for a living, DailyMailTV can reveal.
James A. Harris was already a felon when he was on the ‘faculty’ of Trump University, claiming to offer expert teaching in real estate.
Now DailyMailTV has found him in Playa del Carmen where he dresses as Superman and the Carribean Naked Cowboy, claiming he is unable to return to the U.S. because he would face arrest.
But he is also asking for $35,000 of donations to tell his ‘incredible life story’ and also operating get rich quick schemes which hark back to his days with Trump University.
Harris goes by multiple names such as ‘James Spencer Lives in Paradise’ and ‘Jim Fox’ where he considers himself a ‘Social Digital Marketer, Sales Funnel Expert, Super Online Coach, Speaker, Author.’
He uses a slew of social media accounts and posts that he is willing to give a ‘very high percentage from all book sales and movie/TV rights’ to anyone who pitches in.
But given Harris’ history, it looks more like just another con.
James A. Harris is a former faculty member at the defunct Trump University and currently lives in Playa del Carmen in Mexico where he dresses up a Superman and poses with tourists for tips
Harris, a convicted felon, also dresses up as the Caribbean Naked Cowboy to pose with tourists for tips in order to make ends meet as he is stranded in Mexico
Locals tell DailyMailTV that Harris has a ‘terrible reputation’ in the town and that he spends his days hustling on the beaches, offering his ‘expert’ advice for a price. This photo that he posted shows him clean shaven with a watch and a suit as if he were a successful businessman
Harris has set up a GoFundMe to pay his legal fees during a bitter divorce from his wife.
It’s another bizarre twist in the life of a man who was one of the top ‘professors’ at Trump University – which was not an actual university and was accused of misleading students into thinking they could get rich by buying and selling real estate.
Harris posts often online calling for people to buy into his get rich quick scheme, as locals say he walks the beaches offering his financial advice for cash
Some elderly victims paid up to $35,000 in tuition – the same amount he is after now on his GoFundMe page – and died before getting their money back.
Trump University was shut down in 2010 and resulted in a $25million settlement for the victims after it became a headache for Donald Trump soon after his election.
At the time New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who had sued the President personally, called it a ‘sham university’.
By the time Harris was hired by Trump University in 2008 he already had a conviction for aggravated assault.
According to court records he threatened to kill his ex-wife and was so unstable that when he went to pick up his children one day at school it went into ‘lockdown’.
But he was hired by Trump University after ‘falling through the cracks’ of a background check and was called its ‘number one instructor’ by other members of its ‘faculty.’
Donald Trump himself said in a sworn deposition that he had never met the instructors and did not know any of them, although his marketing material called them ‘the best of the best.’
Harris’ name was among those put to him during the deposition, when he was sued over allegations that Trump University was a con, trying to make ‘students’ fork out cash for get-rich-quick schemes. Trump settled for $25 million, without admitting the accusations, in 2017, saying he could ‘easily’ have won the case.
Trump’s presidency has however not been as good for his former ‘top instructor.’
Harris writes that he left the U.S. for a business trip to Singapore in March 2017 and has not been back since because there is a warrant out for his arrest for failing to pay his lawyers’ fees.
Essentially admitting he is a fugitive from the law, Harris writes: ‘THIS IS WHERE THE STORY REALLY GETS CRAZY because…
‘I have not been back to the USA ever since (today is October 27, 2019). Currently I am stuck in Mexico with NO PASSPORT!’
Harris is asking for $35,000 of donations on a GoFundMe page to tell his ‘incredible life story’ and help him get back to the U.S. from Mexico to pay legal fees from his divorce
Harris explains on his GoFundMe page that he has no passport and is stranded in Mexico
Harris claims he studied at Harvard University and appears to be in a relationship with a Peruvian woman named Ana Gabriela with whom he’s often pictured
He says he is working as a Superman on the streets to ‘make TIPS $$ to survive bbecause (sic) no one will hire me with NO ID or working papers’, followed by a sad face emoji.
THE TROUBLED HISTORY OF TRUMP UNIVERSITY
Owned and operated by The Trump Organization, Trump University was launched in 2005 and closed five years amid growing legal troubles.
It was a for-profit education company that ran a real estate training program and not a credited university.
Former students bashed the university as a scam that had robbed them of up to $35,000 apiece for useless real estate classes.
They say they were lured by false promises that Trump had ‘handpicked’ tutors for courses in real estate and claims seminars were more akin to infomercials and they were never given access to the businessman and his industry ‘secrets’ as promised.
Trump himself previously said that his university was full of ‘terrific people’ and that he hand-picked what he called ‘terrific brains’ to run the institution.
In 2017, a judge approved an agreement for President Donald Trump to pay $25million to settle lawsuits over the now-defunct university.
The ruling settles two class-action lawsuits and a civil lawsuit by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
Schneiderman had previously called Trump University a ‘fraud from beginning to end.’
Trump settled the lawsuit shortly after claiming the presidency, but insisted that he could have won it easily.
Harris claims the $35,000 is to pay off his legal bills and fly back home to help his mother and father as they are ‘getting old and need my help’.
He writes: ‘I am also seeking Funds to get my Life Story Published which I know will sell Millions of Copies and be set up for a MOVIE or Reality Show GUARANTEED!
‘I will gladly pay a very high percentage % from all Book Sales and Movie/TV rights to the Investors who help Fund Me : )’
Locals in Playa del Carmen told DailyMailTV they were skeptical and said they were already sick of Harris.
They said that he has a ‘terrible reputation’ in the resort town and that he spent his days hustling on the beaches, offering his ‘expert’ advice for a price.
Harris has set up a slew of social media accounts to make it look like he is living a dream life in paradise.
In photos and videos he appears wearing sunglasses, sitting by the beach, working on his laptop by a pool and diving in for a swim.
Harris claims he studied at Harvard University and appears to be in a relationship with a Peruvian woman named Ana Gabriela who poses wearing a bright pink bikini.
In one photo Harris, 50, writes ‘I really love my son’ and a young boy appears in a number of Instagram posts.
But the get rich quick schemes are there too and he claims to be able to help make people ‘$300 – $3000 a day’.
His various aliases and websites include New Wealth Generator and My Super Coach Online.
In a YouTube video he claims: ‘I traveled around the world and met with all the (financial) gurus and spent tens of thousands of pounds to figure this all out’.
His Twitter account, Perfect Paradise Solutions, says: ‘Hey this is Super Coach James if you would like to learn how to Earn over $1000 + everyday Online just send me a message and I will show you my System : )’
One post on Instagram shows him clean shaven with a watch and a suit as if he were a successful businessman.
The text reads: ‘Facebook wants you to Make THOUSANDS DAILY posting on FACEBOOK a… YES REALLY !!! IF YOU DO NOT CURRENTLY MAKE $10,000 MONTHLY on FACEBOOK … LISTEN UP … How Would you Like to LEARN how to Earn GREAT MONEY in your Spare Time’.
The three steps to wealth are to ‘watch my secret system video training, jump on a live strategy called and start making money’, Harris claims.
Harris claims online that he can help make people ‘$300 – $3000 a day’ through his schemes, while posting pictures of him partying in Mexico
He has set up a slew of social media accounts to make it look like he is living a dream life in paradise and often posts with this woman, Ana Gabriela
Harris writes: ‘TRUST ME & BELIEVE ME you can make BIG MONEY in your Spare Time! Just COPY my BRAND NEW Secret System created by Online Millionaires and start Making Money in 1 Day’.
Sometimes Harris appears to admit he is a conman and under a post which says people can ‘copy my money making scheme in 22 minutes’, he writes: ‘I can help show you how I SCAM People. Say F*** and I will show you’.
There are scant mentions of Trump but Harris did post one photo of the President on Instagram meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Trudeau is sitting with his legs close together while Trump’s are apart.
The caption reads: ‘What keeps a man’s knees from touching when he sits? Balls’
Harris grew up in Pompton Plains, New Jersey, and was living in Georgia during his marriage.
After Trump University he carried on bragging about it during the 2016 Presidential campaign.
At one event, he said: ‘I used to work for Donald Trump, I was his number one trainer in the country. Now he built a network of lenders who can lend you money to flip real estate’
Harris rarely makes references to President Trump but did post this meme of the President on Instagram meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Among Harris’ critics is an Instagram page called James_Harris_con_man which details attempts by his alleged victims to get their money back.
The lawsuit also unearthed shocking emails from Harris to a colleague at Trump University.
One read: ‘I just spoke to Austin and Irene the older retired couple who had to pull the $30k balance for the GOLD AND SHE SAID IT IS DONE and should be in by Mon so that will B another $35K … We will easily have another $100K hit by Friday. Yahoo!’
His associate wrote: ‘We’ve always been a dangerous team, brother man!! These peeps don’t have a chance against us :)’
When Trump settled the lawsuit brought by the victims of Trump University the President insisted that he could have won it easily.
Yet back in the 2000s Trump said that Trump University was full of ‘terrific people’ and that he hand-picked what he called ‘terrific brains’ to run the institution.
Reached via WhatsApp, Harris told DailyMailTV ‘we can do a call’ but did not follow through on his offer.