BULLETIN: Judge Orders Lee Bentley Farkas Detained After Conviction In $2.9 Billion Fraud Caper That Rocked Banking System; Former Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Chairman Once Bragged He Could Could ‘Rob A Bank With A Pencil,’ Prosecutors Say
BULLETIN: A federal jury in Virginia has returned guilty verdicts on more than a dozen counts filed against Lee Bentley Farkas, the former chairman of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW). A federal judge ordered Farkas, 58, taken into custody immediately. Farkas, accused of contributing to the U.S. mortgage meltdown and the failures of both TBW […]
FLORIDA — AGAIN: State, Local Authorities Say Marguerite Martial Jean Ripped Off Hundreds Of Haitian-Americans In Affinity-Fraud And Ponzi Caper That Targeted Churchgoers
Marguerite Martial Jean has been arrested in Florida on felony charges of operating a $3.4 million Ponzi scheme that targeted Haitian-Americans and churchgoers in the Sunshine State. Florida has been plagued by Ponzi schemes and other forms of financial fraud. The announcement of Jean’s arrest was made by Miami-Dade County State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. […]
FTC: Acai-Berry Scammers Created ‘Fake’ News Sites And Traded On Famous Name Of ‘Consumer Reports’ To Fleece The Masess; Letters ‘CNN’ Were Used In Web Domains In Illinois, State AG Says
EDITOR’S NOTE: If this federal and state action doesn’t get the attention of the out-of-control, direct-sales crowd that divines itself the right to plant the seed that an “offer” is endorsed by famous companies and people, well, perhaps nothing will. Even as this story is being written, affiliates of Club Asteria, a purported “passive” investment […]
BULLETIN: Receiver Seizes Website Of EclipseChannel.TV ‘Advertising’ Venture, Saying Recidivist Felon And Accused Ponzi Schemer Robert Stinson Jr. Hatched New Fraud Scheme After Asset Freeze; Cash Used To Pay ‘Mansion’ Rent
BULLETIN: A federal judge in Pennsylvania blocked the launch of an online venture known as EclipseChannel.TV after reviewing evidence that recidivist felon and securities huckster Robert Stinson Jr. was at the helm and had thumbed his nose at court orders and an asset freeze. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Inquirer, quoting federal prosecutors, reported that Stinson, who […]
BULLETIN: FLORIDA — AGAIN: FTC Seeks Contempt Sanction Against Firm That Allegedly Hawks Deceptive ‘Food Stamp’ Guide And Credit-Repair Services; Bizarre Website Linked To Defendants Rails Against ‘Greedy Politicians’
BULLETIN: The Federal Trade Commission has gone to federal court in Fort Myers to seek contempt sanctions against Florida companies accused of encouraging prospects to misrepresent information on applications to receive Food Stamp benefits. Prospects who followed the advice could be charged with a crime, the FTC said. The companies and their principal also are […]
A NEW WORLD SPEED RECORD? Alabama Jury Takes Only 28 Minutes To Convict Man Of Selling Unregistered Securities; Scott Frye Initially Fled To Philippines, But Small U.S. Community Wouldn’t Be Denied Justice
Want to mess with Alabamans in the securities fraud era? Don’t do it in Coffee County. A jury there took just 28 minutes to convict Scott Frye on five counts of selling unregistered securities or causing them to be sold. That’s an average of 5.6 minutes of deliberations per count. The case was prosecuted by […]
FDIC, Georgia Authorities Shut Down Bank That Once Held Proceeds From Alleged ASD/Golden Panda Ad Builder Scheme
Bartow County Bank, which once held deposits tied to Golden Panda Ad Builder and the alleged AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme, has failed in Georgia. The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance closed the small bank today and appointed the FDIC receiver. Bartow once held $644,266 linked to Golden Panda, federal prosecutors said in a December 2008 […]
BULLETIN: FTC Goes To Federal Court To Take Down Alleged Acai Berry Scam Operating On ‘Fake News Websites’; Some Domains Listed In Complaint Now Load Error Messages Or Blank Pages
BULLETIN: (Also see editor’s note below.) The Federal Trade Commission says a major law-enforcement initiative is under way to stop an acai-berry weight-loss scam that features “fake” news stories on websites that appear to be real media outlets but are really just sites that flog acai products. The agency appears to have filed at least […]
FEDS: Man Ran Theft Scheme From FTC Headquarters, Stealing More Than $218,000 From Consumer Watchdog Agency; Harold Hughes Faces Up To 10 Years In Prison After Guilty Plea
Two weeks after an employee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was accused of stealing confidential information from a government database to profit from illicit stock trades, another government employee accused in a separate case of taking advantage of his position to commit a crime has pleaded guilty. Harold Hughes, 58, of Arlington, Va., […]
BULLETIN: Corrupt MLMers Found Guilty Of Operating Pyramid Scheme And Stock Swindle; James A. Sweeney And Patrick M. Ryan Face Decades In Prison
BULLETIN: In a case that could have been taken from the MLM and security swindler’s playbook, James A. Sweeney and Patrick M. Ryan have been found guilty by a state jury in California of operating a pyramid scheme and stock fraud and stealing $8.2 million after soliciting business at “seminars.” The men face more than […]
Club Asteria Pitchman Uses Name Of Another Famous Bank In Ponzi-Forum Promo For ‘ThatFreeThing’; No Immediate Comment From JP Morgan Chase
UPDATED 10:51 A.M. EDT (U.S.A.) The name of JPMorgan Chase — one of the most prominent financial institutions in the world — is being used by “manolo” in a pitch for the ThatFreeThing (TFT) MLM program on the TalkGold Ponzi scheme and criminals’ forum. “manolo” also is promoting Club Asteria (CA), a highly questionable “program” […]