Archive for August 2010

BULLETIN: Ponzi Scheme Figure William Walters To Be Extradited From Argentina, FBI, Colorado AG Say; Another ‘Offshore’ Myth Exposed

BULLETIN: Ponzi Scheme Figure William Walters To Be Extradited From Argentina, FBI, Colorado AG Say; Another 'Offshore' Myth Exposed

BULLETIN: (UPDATED 9:32 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) William L. Walters has been extradited to the United States from Argentina to face Ponzi scheme charges in Colorado, prosecutors announced. “This extradition is the culmination of years of work and cooperation between my office and the FBI,” said Colorado Attorney General John Suthers. “In this case, justice delayed […]

BULLETIN: Ponzi Suspect Kills Self, New York Newspaper Reports; Ashvin Zaveri Was Implicated In $35 Million Swindle

BULLETIN: Ponzi Suspect Kills Self, New York Newspaper Reports; Ashvin Zaveri Was Implicated In $35 Million Swindle

A New York man implicated by the FBI and the IRS in a Ponzi scheme has killed himself, the Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester is reporting. It is at least the second Ponzi-related suicide in the United States in recent weeks. Florida Ponzi suspect Wayne McLeod, suspected of bilking federal employees, killed himself in Florida […]

Dennis Bolze, Tennessee Ponzi Schemer Who Fled After Fraud Was Exposed, Sentenced To 27 Years In Federal Prison

Dennis Bolze, Tennessee Ponzi Schemer Who Fled After Fraud Was Exposed, Sentenced To 27 Years In Federal Prison

Dennis Bolze, a fraudster who silently bolted from Tennessee during the same month Bernard Madoff provided a glimpse of how a shocked nation would come to view Ponzi schemers, has been sentenced to 327 months in federal prison. Bolze, 61, was arrested in Pennsylvania on March 12, 2009, about three months after news of Madoff’s […]

WRETCHED, TAWDRY AND CHEAP: AdSurfDaily Members Now Targeted In Pitches For An MLM 2X2 Cycler — One That Trades On Walmart’s Name While Affiliate Offers ‘Blessings’

WRETCHED, TAWDRY AND CHEAP: AdSurfDaily Members Now Targeted In Pitches For An MLM 2X2 Cycler -- One That Trades On Walmart's Name While Affiliate Offers 'Blessings'

UPDATED 7:11 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) When U.S. District Judge James Rosenbaum sentenced Ponzi schemer Trevor Cook to a quarter of a century in federal prison earlier this week, the judge used some powerful words to describe Cook’s colossal fraud. Rosenbaum described the scheme that bilked investors out of at least $158 million as “wretched, tawdry […]

Now, A ‘B-Movie’ Ponzi Scheme: Producer Mahmoud Karkehabadi Charged With 89 Felonies, Faces $11 Million Bail, California AG Says

Now, A 'B-Movie' Ponzi Scheme: Producer Mahmoud Karkehabadi Charged With 89 Felonies, Faces $11 Million Bail, California AG Says

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you’re keeping a Bubba Blue notebook on how to have a Ponzi scheme — as opposed to shrimp — here’s one for your list. UPDATED AT 12:33 P.M. June 6, 2013. See Comments thread below. Mahmoud Karkehabadi has been sentenced to 27 years in state prison . . . A producer of […]

Pyramid Scheme Operated From Building Known As ‘One Pyramid Center’; Pennsylvania AG Says; Universities, Nonprofits Swindled In Alleged Caper With Offshore Tentacles

Pyramid Scheme Operated From Building Known As 'One Pyramid Center'; Pennsylvania AG Says; Universities, Nonprofits Swindled In Alleged Caper With Offshore Tentacles

Four Pennsylvania residents have been charged in an alleged pyramid-scheme caper that gathered more than $7.5 million and bilked universities, nonprofits, local governments and other clients, investigators said. Charged in the case were Brian James Murray, 67, of Scranton; Murray’s wife, Diane D. Murray, 66; Christine M. Oliver-Shean, 51, of Scranton; and Oliver-Shean’s husband, Timothy […]

BULLETIN: Trevor Cook Sentenced To 25 Years In Federal Prison; Victims Lost At Least $158 Million In International Forex Ponzi Scheme That Traded On Religion

BULLETIN: Trevor Cook Sentenced To 25 Years In Federal Prison; Victims Lost At Least $158 Million In International Forex Ponzi Scheme That Traded On Religion

BULLETIN: Ponzi schemer Trevor Cook has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for his role in an international Forex Ponzi scheme that gathered more than $190 million and fleeced victims out of more than $158 million. In ordering the prison term, U.S. District Judge James Rosenbaum sided with the prosecution’s recommendation of a […]

UNACCEPTABLE: ‘Hopefully One Day He Will Pick The Wrong Target And . . . Someone Will Take A Shotgun To Him,’ Internet Marketer Says About ‘Salty Droid’ Author

UNACCEPTABLE: 'Hopefully One Day He Will Pick The Wrong Target And . . .  Someone Will Take A Shotgun To Him,' Internet Marketer Says About 'Salty Droid' Author

DISCLOSURE: I was a volunteer Moderator at the Warrior Forum (WF) between December 2007 and July 2008. I learned what is best — and worst — about Internet Marketing at the WF. Just as my Mod days were coming to an end, the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme case was coming to the fore — and Internet […]

COMING SOON: Author Of The ‘Salty Droid’ Blog Responds To Menacing Comment Made By Internet Marketer; ‘Shotgun’ Remark On Warrior Forum Seen As ‘Dangerous And Violent’

COMING SOON: Author Of The 'Salty Droid' Blog Responds To Menacing Comment Made By Internet Marketer; 'Shotgun' Remark On Warrior Forum Seen As 'Dangerous And Violent'

Many of our readers know that the PP Blog has been subjected to threats, menacing behavior and cyberstalking. Later tonight, we’ll publish an editorial on a highly disturbing incident that occurred last week at the Warrior Forum (WF). The Salty Droid, a Blog that unapologetically skewers highly questionable Internet Marketing practices and some of the […]

KABOOM! Feds Release Info On ‘Alpha Trade Group’ Forex Scheme With Ties To Mexico, Panama; Records Suggest Scheme Was Collapsing Even Prior To Promos On TalkGold, MoneyMakerGroup Forums

KABOOM! Feds Release Info On 'Alpha Trade Group' Forex Scheme With Ties To Mexico, Panama; Records Suggest Scheme Was Collapsing Even Prior To Promos On TalkGold, MoneyMakerGroup Forums

Yet another HYIP scheme pushed on the TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup forums has been outlined by federal prosecutors — this time in Florida. The name of the scheme was Alpha Trade Group (ATG), and web records show that the scheme was pitched on TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup beginning on Oct. 7, 2009. Court records, meanwhile, show that […]

BREAKING NEWS: Another Spectacular Ponzi Scheme Alleged In Florida; OLINT Operator David A. Smith Charged In Caribbean Forex Caper; Extradition To United States Expected

BREAKING NEWS: Another Spectacular Ponzi Scheme Alleged In Florida; OLINT Operator David A. Smith Charged In Caribbean Forex Caper; Extradition To United States Expected

BULLETIN: A citizen of Jamaica has been charged by U.S. prosecutors in Orlando with operating a Forex Ponzi scheme alleged to have gathered more than $200 million from more than 6,000 investors. David A. Smith had help from unindicted co-conspirators in Florida, prosecutors charged. The office of U.S. Attorney A. Brian Albritton of the Middle […]