REMEMBER PRAEBIUS? Penny-Stock Firm ASD Claimed Would Pump $200 Million Into Its Coffers Was Flogged By California Man In ‘Fraudulent Touting’ Scheme During Month ASD Announced ‘Joint Advertising Venture,’ Records Show
A California man and his company have been accused by the SEC of running a “Fraudulent Touting” scheme that pumped the penny stock of Praebius Communications, a company the alleged AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme once claimed would generate $200 million for its coffers through a joint “advertising” venture. Charged by the SEC with fraud were Songkram […]
GO FINRA! Regulator Tackles Online HYIPs; Issues Warning On ‘Social Media-Linked Ponzi Schemes’; References P2P, Genius Funds, ‘Con Artists’ And ‘Bizarre Substratum’ Of Internet
EDITOR’S NOTE: It has become increasingly clear that regulators and the law-enforcement community are rallying around a common theme that web-based promoters are using discussion forums and social-networking sites in bids to sanitize HYIP Ponzi schemes by positioning them as attractive investment opportunities and even a thrilling form of gambling that pays commissions. Today the […]
BULLETIN: Charges Upgraded Against Nevin Shapiro In Alleged $880 Million Ponzi Scheme; Prosecutors Say He Used Investors’ Money To Make Illegal Sports Bets And Enjoy Lavish Lifestyle
Charges against a Florida man accused of running a Ponzi scheme through a bogus wholesale grocery business known as Capitol Investments USA Inc. have been upgraded, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman of the District of New Jersey said. Nevin J. Shapiro, 41, of Miami Beach, originally was charged via criminal complaint in April with one […]
BULLETIN: Pedro de Sousa, Guillermo Rosario Arrested By FBI; CFTC Lays Out Yet-Another Florida Fraud Case
BULLETIN: Pedro de Sousa and Guillermo Rosario of FX Professional International Solutions Inc. (FXP) have been arrested by the FBI. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said the men operated a Forex fraud that issued false account statements, falsely claimed no losing months between 2005 and 2008 when they had lost money in 31 of […]
FIRST, TRUMP, OPRAH, APPLE: Now, PP Blog’s ‘Breaking News’ Graphic Used In Video Pitch For Data Network Affiliates’ MLM Program
A sales rep for Data Network Affiliates (DNA) used the “Breaking News” graphic from the PP Blog to supplement a sales pitch for a nonexistent cell-phone plan that touted “unlimited” talk-and-text service for $10 a month, plus a free phone. The unauthorized use of the Blog’s intellectual property in a sales pitch raises troubling, new […]
BULLETIN: Trevor Cook To Be Given Lie-Detector Test; Sentencing In $190 Million Ponzi Case May Be Delayed
BULLETIN: The FBI will administer a lie-detector test to Ponzi schemer Trevor Cook. Meanwhile, his July 26 sentencing date may be delayed, a source told the PP Blog. The date upon which the test will be administered was not immediately clear. The source, however, suggested that Cook could be subjected to the polygraph as early […]
EDITORIAL: MLM’s Great Race To The Bottom? While FTC, SEC, CFTC Warn About Affinity Fraud, Data Network Affiliates Says Its Mortgage-Reduction Program Is A ‘Church Fundraisers DREAM Come True’
Apparently tithing, bake sales, quilting bees, church-sponsored dinners, flea markets and car washes by Christian teens to raise money for projects have gone the way of the dinosaur. Building on an earlier claim that churches have a “MORAL OBLIGATION” to pitch its purported mortgage-reduction program, Data Network Affiliates (DNA) now says the program is a […]
WANTED: Feds Ask For Assist In Locating Accused Pyramid Schemer Jason P. Unangst; Missing Indictee Listed As ‘Fugitive’ After Hatching Plot To Sell Mobile Homes To Hurricane Victims
A Pittsburgh-area man indicted in June 2009 is now listed as a fugitive in a pyramid-scheme and money-laundering case, federal prosecutors said. Jason P. Unangst, 34, formerly lived in the Pittsburgh suburbs of McCandless Township and Wexford. His last verifiable address was listed as Virginia Beach, Va., prosecutors said. He was indicted on charges of […]
UPDATE: Delaware AG Beau Biden Says Credit USA Pyramid Scheme Cost Two State Residents More Than $100,000; Victims Asked To Contact Prosecutors
The alleged Credit USA Inc. multilevel-marketing (MLM) pyramid scheme cost two Delaware residents more than $100,000, Attorney General Beau Biden said. Biden has asked other potential victims to contact his Investor Protection Unit at 302-577-8424. A state indictment announced two days ago charged Terrel Alexander, 41, Nicole Alexander, 41, and William Love III, 39, with […]
MLM Firm Credit USA Inc. Hammered By State Attorneys General Amid Pyramid Scheme, Securities Allegations; Terrel Alexander, Nicole Alexander, William Love III Indicted
UPDATED 3:07 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) State prosecutors in Delaware and New Jersey have lowered the boom on an alleged multilevel-marketing (MLM) pyramid scheme known as Credit USA Inc. Credit USA purportedly sold credit-repair and “identity protection” services, and operated the company to enrich three criminal defendants unjustly, prosecutors said. Criminal indictments were handed up in […]
DEVELOPING STORY: Douglas Ballard, Banker Accused Of Lending Money For Guy Mitchell’s Alleged ‘Private Island In The Bahamas,’ Pleads Guilty; Case Part Of $1 Billion Failure Of Integrity Bank
A Georgia banker accused of lending a now-accused Florida real-estate fraudster money to buy a “private island” in the Caribbean has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and to receive bribes, and to a single count of tax evasion, federal prosecutors said. Douglas Ballard, 40, of Atlanta, formerly was the executive vice president […]