PatrickPretty.com

Day: February 10, 2012

  • DEVELOPING STORY: U.S.-Based Website Listed In JSS Tripler-Related Action In Italy Suddenly Will Not Resolve To Server; Redirect To The Netherlands No Longer Works

    Are the Ponzi clouds darkening for JSS Tripler?

    On Feb. 4, the PP Blog reported that a JSS Tripler-related website listed in an action by CONSOB, the Italian securities regulator, was based in the United States and had been programmed to redirect to the Netherlands several days after CONSOB announced the action.

    That domain — JSS-Tripler.com — now is throwing a server error and no longer is redirecting the traffic to Europe. The site generates an “Unable to connect” message in the Firefox browser and an “Unknown error: 1214” message when pinged, meaning the server is in a black hole.

    The circumstances under which the server went dark are unclear. It is not known, for instance, if law enforcement, the hosting company or the JSS Tripler affiliate — purportedly a woman — caused the domain to stop working. Its registration is valid until Feb. 24, according to records.

    Earlier this week, the site was directing to a JustBeenPaid subdomain styled “marketing.” JustBeenPaid and Frederick Mann are the purported operators of JSS Tripler, which advertises a return of 2 percent a day. The return computes to an annualized return of 730 percent.

    Despite the CONSOB action, cheerleading for JustBeenPaid/JSS Tripler continue on the Ponzi cesspits such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup.

    Just BeenPaid/JSS Tripler makes members affirm they are “not an employee or official of any government agency.” In addition, it makes them affirm they are not “acting on behalf of or collecting information for or on behalf of any government agency” and not “an employee, by contract or otherwise, of any media or research company.”

    The Terms alone appear to be an invitation to join an international financial conspiracy. Regardless, the Ponzi-forum cheerleading continues.

    JustBeenPaid has traded on the names of American icons Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, Benjamin Franklin, Mark Zuckerberg — and even the name of fictional spaceman “Mr. Spock” from the Star Trek series on American television.

    Frederick Mann was a cheerleader for the alleged AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme in 2008, according to promos. ASD was based in Florida.

    In May 2008, Mann asserted that “[p]ast performance indicates a strong probablility (sic) that ASD will continue to perform as advertised,” according to a promo.

    Two months later, the U.S. Secret Service seized tens of millions of dollars from bank accounts linked to ASD President Andy Bowdoin and others.

    Some ASD figures are known to have ties to so-called “sovereign citizens” — and any number of ASD members have invested in crackpot legal theories such as all commerce is lawful as long as parties agree to a contract.

    Such bizarre constructions would legalize slavery, securities fraud, tax fraud, Ponzi schemes and narcotics-trafficking, among other pursuits.

    And because some “sovereign citizens” believe they can divine a contract out of thin air and demand a litigation result from judges, prosecutors, investigators and creditors, bizarre courtroom clashes have been occurring across the United States.

     

  • Eugene (Ore.) Police Ask For Help In Unraveling Alleged Swindle; Local Businessman James Scott McKee Arrested On Securities-Related Charges Of Aggravated Theft

    EDITOR’S NOTE: Although federal and state agencies get most of the headlines when a securities investigation occurs, local police agencies also find themselves opening securities probes and pursuing alleged offenders — as the story below demonstrates.

    James Scott McKee, a businessman and financial planner, was arrested yesterday by local police in Eugene, Ore., on charges of aggravated theft in an alleged securities swindle.

    McKee, 44, was taken into custody by the Eugene Police Financial Crimes Unit, amid allegations he scammed investors out of at least $584,000.

    His businesses included Ventis, Uptown Development, Quality Financial Group, McKenzie Funding, and Bedrocks, Eugene police said. Details about the businesses were not immediately clear.

    “The investigation has found so far that between February 2008 and the present, McKee
    committed Aggravated Theft by Deception and Fraud with respect to securities or securities business including: the sale of unregistered securities, the unauthorized liquidation of monies from investment accounts by a financial planner, the unauthorized deposit of those funds into the financial planner’s personal bank account and the subsequent concealment of that liquidation,” Eugene police said.

    Investors and persons with information are asked to contact Det. Mercy McDonald at 541.682.5169

  • Investigators Outline Darren Berg’s Ponzi Haul: ‘Stunning’ Greed, Top Prosecutor Says; ‘No Moral Compass,’ Judge Comments When Ordering Washington State Schemer To Spend 18 Years In Jail

    “The greed in this case is stunning. [Frederick Darren Berg] stole and squandered the dreams of hundreds: dreams of retirement, dreams of homeownership, dreams of a college education for their children and grandchildren. While we could not restore those dreams, today he was held accountable for his acts.” — U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan, Western District of Washington, Feb. 9, 2012

    Frederick Darren Berg gestures during his sales pitch for his Ponzi scheme in 2009. Source: YouTube.

    It was the largest fraud scheme ever prosecuted in the Western District of Washington. Before his Meridian Group of funds collapsed into a pile of Ponzi rubble, Frederick Darren Berg ensconced himself in the lap of luxury.

    Among other things, prosecutors said, Berg had acquired:

    A $1.95 million condominium at Second and Union in Seattle.

    A $1.25 million house in La Quinta, Calif.

    A $1.4 million condominium in San Francisco.

    A $5.475 million waterfront home on Mercer Island in Washington state.

    Two Lear jets for $5.5 million, including operational costs.

    “Several” yachts that consumed $3.6 million through “purchase, operation and frequent modification.”

    Even after he was caught, the lies and profligate spending continued, prosecutors said.

    Berg concealed about $400,000 from bankruptcy trustees while claiming to be cooperating. He sold a home he did not disclose in his bankruptcy filing, pocketing the proceeds and depositing the undisclosed windfall “into a series of bank accounts he concealed from the trustee.”

    While his investors were left holding the bag, Berg used the cash to make lease payments on a Porsche Cayenne and Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet. In addition, prosecutors said, he paid a year’s rent up front on a Los Angeles apartment, bought an Audi S5 convertible, purchased insurance for “jet skis” and a yacht — and plunked down a retainer for a criminal defense attorney.

    Berg was charged criminally in November 2010 with wire fraud, money laundering and bankruptcy fraud. He pleaded guilty in August 2011.

    “Those who peddle false investments and prey on investors for their own personal financial benefit need to understand that law enforcement will not sit by and let it happen,” said Kenneth J. Hines, IRS special agent in charge of the Pacific Northwest.

    It was a case of “unadulterated greed,” a top FBI agent in Seattle said.

    “Mr. Berg took advantage of hopeful investors — many of them senior citizens who depended on their carefully built savings to afford assisted living, medical care, and higher educational opportunities for future generations,” said Steven M. Dean, assistant special agent in charge of the Seattle office.

    The day of reckoning for Berg, 49, came yesterday.

    Prior to sentencing Berg to 18 years in federal prison, U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones told Berg “he had ‘reckless disregard for his victims . . . and had no moral compass,” prosecutors said, quoting the judge.

    Restitution is still being compiled. Prosecutors said it is expected to top $100 million, noting that Berg’s real-estate and financial swindle took in $245 million between 2001 and 2009 and consisted of schemes within schemes.

    Without investors’ knowledge, about $45 million was peeled off to acquire buses and to operate a transportation company known as MTR Western and subsidiaries.

    The long-running Berg swindle defrauded more than 800 investors, prosecutors said.

    Here is an outtake from the government’s sentencing memo. (Italics added):

    “Indeed, many of Mr. Berg’s victims will be forced to make significant changes to their lifestyle and that of their families such as foregoing retirement, taking additional jobs to support their children’s’ education and selling their homes. Others are likely to be forced into bankruptcy and may also lose their homes because of the financial devastation Mr.Berg’s fraud has caused.”

    Read a Seattle Times story on Berg’s sentencing and courtroom comments. Visit the YouTube site of the Times to see a Berg Ponzi sales pitch. (He references Bernard Madoff while addressing the audience.)