Jonathan Idema - Business Interests

Business Interests

Several years after he left the Army, Idema became involved in the paintball business, opening a paintball supply and equipment company in Fayetteville, North Carolina named Idema Combat Systems. He later segued that business into a paramilitary clothier and supply company operating under the same name.

Sometime in the early 1980s Idema founded Counterr Group (also known as US Counter-Terrorist Group), a business entity which, according to its website, specializes in expert training for counter-terrorism, assault tactics and other security-related services.

Counterr Group's legal status and ownership is questionable – according to a Soldier of Fortune article published in 2004, Idema is mentioned as the owner. The company website lists a PO Box address in Fayetteville, but there is no record of the company's registration in that state. However, a company called "Counter Group, Inc." was incorporated in 1997 by William L. London, a lawyer who has represented Idema in several lawsuits. (The status for this company is listed as "suspended" as of 2004.)

The only company in North Carolina registered to Jonathan Idema is Idema Combat Systems, which according to state records was incorporated in January 1991 and dissolved in July 1994. Moreover, the websites for Counterr Group are registered to Thomas R. Bumback, a business associate of Idema's who is believed to be the company's current director. There is a record of Counterr Group being formed in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1983, but the company is listed as "inactive."

Idema also owned a company called Special Operations Exposition and Trade Show Inc which hosted organized conventions for military equipment suppliers.

There are two other known companies – Isabeau Dakota, Inc. and Star America Aviation Company, Ltd. – that have connections to Idema. The latter claims to be an aviation support company founded in July 2008 with operations based out of Dubai. Both companies are registered to William "Skip" London in North Carolina, but Isabeau Dakota is listed a shell company; its last annual report, filed in 2002, identifies "H. John Idema" (Idema's father) of Poughkeepsie, New York as president and sole officer, and it lists no significant assets or business activity. The website for Star America Aviation is also registered to Bumback and the websites for Counterr Group and Star America Aviation are very similar, including the use of imagery depicting Idema, while he was in Afghanistan and prior to his arrest.

According to his father's obituary notice, Idema is said to be a "Green Beret with an organization involved in the War on Terror." Idema's former Afghan charity "Northern Alliance Assistance" at 450 Robeson Street, Fayetteville, NC 28302 is now listed as a dog kennel.

Idema became a proprietor of Blue Lagoon Boat Tours out of Bacalar, Mexico. using the false name of "Jack Black". He was charged by his wife Penny Alesi of attempted murder and infecting her with HIV. His arrest warrant and publicity surrounding the wife beating charges were picked up in a number of local Mexican newspapers and the US media. Specifically Wired Danger Room, Virginian Pilot and Rachel Maddow on MSNBC as well as other blogs.