PatrickPretty.com

Day: September 23, 2010

  • A CEP PONZI SCHEME TIE? MPB Today Member Says ‘Trevor Reed’ In His Organization; No Immediate Comment From USDA

    This promo lists the names of 20 purported MPB Today affiliates, including the name of "Trevor Reed." It is unclear if the "Trevor Reed" included on the list is the same Trevor Reed who operated the judicially declared CEP Ponzi scheme.

    UPDATED 1:03 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Two days ago the PP Blog reported that a Sept. 20 “news release” for MPB Today’s purported “grocery” program solicited financially strapped Americans to sell $200 worth of Food Stamps to raise cash to join the Florida-based MLM.

    The Blog further reported that a name referenced in the news release (as the author) appears on page 21 of a distribution plan by the court-appointed receiver in the judicially declared CEP Ponzi scheme. The person referenced in the document is scheduled to receive a distribution of $125, which is expected to be issued Sept. 30.

    Today the PP Blog is reporting that a separate MPB Today affiliate who referenced the federal Food Stamp program in a July sales pitch also informed prospects that a person by the name of “Trevor Reed” is in his MPB Today organization.

    It was not immediately clear if the “Trevor Reed” referenced in the MPB Today promo is the same Trevor Reed charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission in a complaint filed July 9, 2007. The complaint alleged that Reed was committing fraud and selling unregistered securities through a company known as CEP.

    A judge later declared CEP a Ponzi scheme. A judgment of more than $1.5 million was placed against Reed and others on Nov. 18, 2008, according to court records. The order was signed by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge James E. Massey.

    On Oct. 27, 2007, Trevor Reed invoked his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination in the CEP case. In September 2008 — less than a year after Reed invoked the 5th Amendment — Andy Bowdoin, the alleged operator of the AdSurfDaily (ASD) Ponzi scheme, also took the 5th.

    Records show that ASD advertised that it accepted payments from a payment processor known as CEP Trust, which was linked to the CEP Ponzi scheme. ASD members are being targeted in sales promos for MPB Today.

    On Nov. 19, 2008, U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer ruled that ASD had not demonstrated it was a lawful business and not a Ponzi scheme, a ruling that dealt a crushing blow to ASD. Just one day earlier — on Nov. 18, 2008 — Massey entered the financial judgment against Reed and others in the CEP Ponzi case.

    Massey ruled CEP a Ponzi on May 22, 2008 — less than three months prior to the federal seizure of tens of millions of dollars in the ASD case. Court records show that CEP had invested money in at least 26 online opportunities, primarily autosurfs.

    “The [CEP] Websites were investment programs that promised cash returns exceeding the amounts paid into the programs,” Massey ruled. “Debtors did not, however, operate or own any underlying business or assets whose profits could fund the promised returns. Although Debtors did place a relatively small amount of money in similar ventures operated by others, the evidence shows they made no profit from those investments. Most importantly, Debtors paid investors with cash received from new investors.”

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which is conducting a “review” about claims made in the MPB Today program, had no immediate comment on potential links to the CEP Ponzi scheme.

    “Take a look at my stats just a few days in!” the MPB Today affiliate urged members in a July forum post. The post included names of 20 downline members, including the name “Trevor Reed.”

    “Trevor Reed’s” MPB Today ID was listed as 150532. It was unclear if “Trevor Reed” is actively promoting the MPB Today program.

    What is clear is that the affiliate pitch in which the name “Trevor Reed” was referenced as an MPB Today downline member also referenced the Food Stamp program.

    “Great opp,” the pitch reads in part. “Just opened affiliated with WAL MART and EBT FOOD STAMPS (GOVT. ACKNOWLEDGED!) TAKE THE TIME TO READ THIS EMAIL IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!”

    Walmart has not responded to a request from comment about the MPB Today program.

  • MPB TODAY SPONSOR ATTACKS FELLOW MEMBERS: Join My Group Because Other Uplines ‘Lying’ To Prospects; ‘People Are Gonna Try To BS You To Try To Get You To Join’

    At the 2:54 mark in this video that includes a guitar as a backdrop, an MPB Today sponsor informs prospects that the company includes uplines that lie to recruits to get them to join.

    An MPB Today sponsor is asserting in a YouTube video that his upline is honest — but that other uplines in the company consist of liars who are “gonna tell you whatever they think you’re gonna want to hear” in a bid to get you to join the Pensacola-based multilevel-marketing (MLM) program that purports to sell groceries.

    How any MPB Today payments to members could be considered untainted if the company collected money based on lies and misrepresentations by sponsors was not explained in the 4:26 video.

    “And you’re going to see so many videos here, telling you, ‘Join us, we have a large upline, large [upline],’” the video’s narrator intoned.

    “They’re lying to you,” he continued. “I know that ours is the second-largest upline in the company. Don’t be . . . People are gonna try to BS you to try to get you to join. They’re gonna tell you whatever they think you’re gonna want to hear.”

    MPB Today is being promoted on YouTube and other social-networking sites. It also is being promoted on known Ponzi scheme forums such as ASAMonitor, TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup.

    It is believed that some of the promoters have ties to the judicially declared CEP Ponzi scheme, the alleged AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme, the alleged Pathway To Prosperity Ponzi scheme, the alleged Regenesis2x2 Ponzi scheme and other Ponzi and pyramid schemes.

    Ponzi ties are potentially catastrophic to MPB Today because promoters could be using criminal proceeds from other schemes to join the company. A public claim by a promoter that the company has upline sponsors who lie to members also is potentially catastrophic because it could be construed as an acknowledgment that the company is coming into possession of money based on falsehoods told by its own members.

    Meanwhile, some MPB Today members have posted purported “proof” videos that the company is legitimate. Some of the videos show images of checks drawn on a Florida bank that is operating under an FDIC consent agreement.

    At least one video shows an MPB Today member cashing a check from the MLM at an FDIC-insured bank while audiotaping the bank teller’s voice. Research suggests the affiliate’s account is at a bank in Utah.

    Federal officials have said that Utah is plagued by Ponzi schemes, including schemes targeted at people of faith.

    If MPB Today has come into possession of money from Ponzi schemes and is gathering money based on the lies of its members — and if affiliates are cashing or depositing MPB Today checks at banks across the United States — it means that banks external to MPB Today’s bank may be in possession of tainted money.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture is conducting a “review” of claims about the MPB Today program. In July 2009, the U.S. Secret Service, which opened a probe into ASD’s business practices a year earlier, said it also was investigating a 2×2 cycler program known as Regenesis2x2.

    MPB Today also operates a 2×2 cycler. It is known that at least one MPBToday affiliate also promoted Regenesis2x2.