The date was Feb. 15-16 at the Aurola Holiday Inn in San José. The event was a real estate expo and conference. The only problem: The man who collected money from would-be participants seems to have disappeared without ever holding the expo, the participants allege.

“He took our money for the event but never organized it,” said Jan Kozak, marketing manager of the Hacienda El Dorado condos in Santa Ana. “If there were 10 of us, that would add up to a fraud worth $16,000.”

At least a handful of businesses say they gave money to U.S. citizen Calvin A. Robinson Jr., who said he represented Suncoast Investors Realty LLC. That company was dissolved in 2007 by the state of Florida for failure to file its annual report.

Robinson could not be reached for comment.