PatrickPretty.com

Day: March 9, 2011

  • THIS AFTERNOON: 9 Visitors From 6 Countries Arrive At PP Blog Within 5 Minutes; All Pull Exact Same September 2010 Story About MPB Today Multilevel Marketing Program, Then Vanish

    In a highly unusual — and statistically improbable occurrence — nine visitors from six countries arrived on the PP Blog within five minutes today and sought unsuccessfully to pull the exact same story on the MPB Today multilevel marketing program. With the apparent aid of a script, all of the visitors also attempted unsuccessfully to pull a story about an alleged Ponzi caper in New Jersey.

    The MPB Today story was nearly six months old, and the New Jersey story was nearly seven months old. The visitors left as quickly as they came, and appear not to have sought to pull any other stories.  Although it is common for individual visitors to pull “old” stories, it is decidedly uncommon for multiple visitors to attempt to pull the same “old” stories from the Blog’s archives of nearly 1,100 stories virtually simultaneously.

    Because the pattern suddenly ceased and no other individual reader outside the subset of “sudden” visitors sought to pull the same stories, it does not appear likely that the URLs for the stories appeared on a common website today through which visitors all sought to load the same pages virtually simultaneously.

    Readers routinely post links to the PP Blog on forums. But as the forum posts age and are buried by new posts, the Blog receives fewer and fewer visits from the older links.

    MPB Today is based in Florida. It purportedly operates a “grocery” program, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture said last year that it was investigating certain claims made about the firm.

    The circumstances and motives surrounding the visits were not immediately clear. The Blog recorded visits from IPs in the United States, Russia, Brazil, Spain, Thailand and South Korea. Logs suggest a script of some sort was used, and that the visitors sought to pull an MPB Today story that was published Sept. 25.

    Logs also suggest that the same visitors sought to pull  a story that appeared Aug. 12 about Eli Weinstein. Weinstein was charged in an alleged Ponzi caper that may involve $200 million or more.

    The PP Blog’s Weinstein story included a reference to Nevin Shapiro, who was arrested in New Jersey in April 2010 on charges of running an $880 million Ponzi scheme involving a bogus wholesale grocery business.

    In October and November, the PP Blog experienced sustained DDoS attacks. During one three-hour window, the Blog received more than 6 million “hits.” The attacks were reported to law enforcement, and coincided with the Blog’s reporting on MPB Today and Ponzi scheme and criminals’ forums.

    The PP Blog also has been subjected to email spoofing, virtually relentless spamming, YouTube attacks, threats of “war” and threats to start “fires” because of its reporting about the alleged ASD Ponzi scheme, and a false registration to a “program” in which the Blog was referred to as “Rat Bastard.” The “Rat Bastard” reference appears to have been associated with a cash-gifting program.

  • U.S. Marshal John Perry Dies From Gunshot Wounds Sustained After Ambush Attack By St. Louis Fugitive; Attorney General Issues Statement; Perry Is Second Marshal Slain Since Feb. 16

    UPDATED 2:58 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) Deputy U.S. Marshal John Perry, who was critically wounded early yesterday in an ambush in Missouri in which another marshal and a St. Louis police officer were wounded, has died, the U.S. Marshals Service announced.

    Perry, 48, died at 7 p.m. yesterday at Saint Louis University Hospital. He had been a marshal for 10 years.

    Carlos Boles, a fugitive wanted for assaulting a police officer and drug possession, was killed in the exchange of gunfire.

    Deputy Marshal Theodore Abegg, 31, suffered a bullet wound to the leg. Abegg has been with the marshals service for three years.

    The St. Louis police officer, whom authorities did not identify, suffered a wound when a bullet struck his face. He was treated and released from a hospital.

    Abegg remains hospitalized.

    “Our people and our partners are well trained and prepared, but it is impossible to predict when a wanted individual will make a fateful choice that results in the loss of life or injury,” said Stacia A. Hylton, director of the U.S. Marshals Service.

    “When that happens, and the life lost is a law-enforcement officer or other public servant, it is an immeasurable tragedy felt by all,” Hylton said. “Today, unfortunately, we again feel that pain. Our thoughts and prayers are with our fallen deputy as well as the injured and their families.”

    U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder issued a special statement on the death of Perry.

    “Yesterday’s tragic shootings in St. Louis are yet another solemn reminder of the dangers that United States Marshals confront on a daily basis,” Holder said. “These brave men and women routinely put their lives on the line in their work to combat crime and gun violence, to apprehend dangerous criminals, and to help bring fugitives to justice. Yesterday’s actions by two Deputy U.S. Marshals and local police officers in St. Louis reflect the dedication and courage that defines America’s law-enforcement community.

    “Less than a month after Deputy U.S. Marshal Derek Hotsinpiller was killed in the line of duty in Elkins, West Virginia, our thoughts and prayers now are with the families of Deputy U.S. Marshal John Perry, who made the ultimate sacrifice, as well as with Deputy U.S. Marshal Theodore Abegg and the St. Louis police officer who were injured yesterday,” Holder said. “Their service, their courage, and their willingness to risk their own lives to protect the safety of others will not be forgotten. As we mourn this devastating loss, we also reaffirm that the Justice Department’s commitment to supporting our law-enforcement partners — and to ensuring officer safety — will continue to be a top priority.”

  • BULLETIN: SEC Charges Jason Bo-Alan Beckman In Trevor Cook Ponzi Scheme; Judge Freezes Assets; Agency Says Investors’ Cash Used To Make Child-Support Payments And Puchase ‘Luxury Homes’ And Cars

    BULLETIN: Jason Bo-Alan “Bo” Beckman has been charged civilly by the SEC in the Trevor Cook Ponzi scheme in Minnesota and named a “leading” figure, according to court filings. The case against Beckman was brought as an action separate from the civil action against Cook, who also was charged criminally and is in federal prison serving 25 years after pleading guilty last year.

    The SEC’s complaint suggests other defendants may follow.

    “His fraud was part of a bigger scheme orchestrated by and with Trevor Cook and several associates,” the agency said, alleging that Beckman raised about $47.3 million of the $194 million gathered in the overall fraud — roughly 25 percent of the overall total. Former radio host Pat Kiley previously was charged civilly.

    Chief U.S. District Judge Michael J. Davis has frozen Beckman’s assets.

    One individual — a 41-year old nurse — submitted a sworn affidavit to Davis that Beckman promised him “guaranteed” annual returns of “12% or greater.”

    The nurse, an inexperienced investor who put $130,000 into the scheme, asserted he learned about the purported currency-trading program from Hollie Beckman, Beckman’s wife. Hollie Beckman has been named a relief defendant amid assertions she received ill-gotten gains. Her assets also have been frozen.

    Another inexperienced investor — a 60-year-old man who previously was retired but has returned to work because his life savings of nearly $750,000 were wiped out in the scheme — said in a sworn affidavit that Beckman promised him a “guaranteed”  return of 10.5 percent. Like the nurse, the man was given a tour of the Van Dusen Mansion, the landmark Minneapolis estate from which Beckman and Cook conducted business.

    This man rolled over his 401K account and liquidated his pension fund to become an investor, according to an affidavit.

    Yet-another inexperienced investor — a 62-year-old man who works as a water-plant operator — said he put $99,300 into the scheme by liquidating an account at Bear Stearns. Beckman promised him that his “fixed” account would generate about 13 percent annually, according to a sworn affidavit.

    All told, the SEC charged, “Beckman’s investors ultimately lost over $39 million by investing in the Currency Program and putting their money in his hands.” About 143 investors gave Beckman their money.

    Luz M. Aguilar, an SEC investigator, said that $85 million of the $194 million “was never invested in any type of foreign currency trading.”

    And Aguilar alleged that “the Beckmans deposited approximately $7.7 million into their personal joint accounts.” The funds originated “from accounts containing funds of investors,” according to Aguilar.

    More than $61,000 was used to make child-support payments, Aguilar alleged.

    But most of the money went to fuel an extravagant life-stlye, according to Aguilar. Here is a list of some of the spending:

    • $210,828 for automobile payments. The fleet allegedly included a 2010 Jaguar, a 2008 Land Rover, a 2006 Land Rover, a 2008 Mercedes, a 2008 Suzuki and a 2000 Mercedes.
    • $1.49 million for payments “toward the purchase” of luxury homes in Minneapolis, Texas and Florida.
    • $695,000 for credit-card payments.
    • $180,000 for a suite to watch hockey games.
    • $36,000 to “resorts.”
    • $76,000 to a country club.
    • $108,000 for cash withdrawals.
    • $224,000 for construction and repairs.
    • $997,000 for payments to seven law firms.
    • $223,000 for taxes.

    “Beckman was in a position to know the truth about the Currency Program,” the SEC charged. “He worked side-by-side with Trevor Cook at the Van Dusen mansion. Red flags waved all around him. For example, he knew — by April 2008, over a year before the scheme collapsed — that investors’ funds were pooled and were not in segregated accounts at all. He also learned from Trevor Cook that the location of investors’ funds was ‘not a black and white situation.’ The warning signs were glaring. Yet Beckman kept [quiet] — and kept taking tens of millions of dollars from investors . . .

    “Now that the Currency Program is over — and the money flow has stopped — the Beckmans apparently are struggling to make ends meet. Their expansive home in the Minneapolis suburbs is in foreclosure,” the SEC said.

    The SEC asked Davis to halt a sheriff’s sale set for March 14, and the judge issued an order blocking it.

    Even though Beckman had serious doubts about Cook, he kept them to himself, not sharing with investors information they needed to make informed decisions, the SEC charged.