Archive for March 2012

Federal Agents Arrest 77-Year-Old Pennsylvania Attorney Amid Swirl Of Ponzi Allegations; Anthony Lupas Charged With Mail Fraud; U.S. Secret Service, IRS Spearhead Probe

Federal Agents Arrest 77-Year-Old Pennsylvania Attorney Amid Swirl Of Ponzi Allegations; Anthony Lupas Charged With Mail Fraud; U.S. Secret Service, IRS Spearhead Probe

Another major Ponzi case appears to be brewing — this one in Pennsylvania, where federal agents were seen carting boxes from the Wilkes-Barre office of attorney Anthony Lupas. Lupas, the former solicitor of the Wilkes-Barre School District, is 77. He now joins a number of alleged swindlers over the age of 65 implicated in fraud […]

[DONATION POST]: PP Blog At The Brink Again . . .

Dear Readers, We last made a donation post on Jan. 28, two months ago. We got through February and March OK, but now are on the brink for April. Key bills are coming due, and core necessities are in short supply. We pass the hat reluctantly, but pass it we must. Please help keep the […]

Day After SEC Announces Judgments Totaling $4.2 Million Against Serial HYIP Pitchman, Another Serial Pitchman — ‘Ken Russo’ — Makes ‘I Got Paid’ Post On TalkGold For JSS Tripler/JustBeenPaid; Separately, McAfee’s ‘Site Advisor’ Declares JBP Pages ‘Dangerous’

Day After SEC Announces Judgments Totaling $4.2 Million Against Serial HYIP Pitchman, Another Serial Pitchman -- 'Ken Russo' -- Makes 'I Got Paid' Post On TalkGold For JSS Tripler/JustBeenPaid; Separately, McAfee's 'Site Advisor' Declares JBP Pages 'Dangerous'

In a 29-page court order announced yesterday by the SEC, U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh of the Eastern District of Michigan laid out the case of willful blindness against serial HYIP pitchman Matthew John Gagnon. That case now has resulted in court-ordered judgments of more than $4.2 million against Gagnon, who also was named […]

BULLETIN: FLORIDA — AGAIN: FTC Says ‘High-Pressure’ Telemarketers Conned Seniors In ‘Precious Metals’ Boondoggle; Federal Judge Issues Asset Freeze, Appoints Receiver

BULLETIN: FLORIDA -- AGAIN: FTC Says 'High-Pressure' Telemarketers Conned Seniors In 'Precious Metals' Boondoggle; Federal Judge Issues Asset Freeze, Appoints Receiver

BULLETIN: A federal judge has frozen the assets of three Florida companies and their operator, after the Federal Trade Commission alleged a “precious metals” telemarketing scam aimed at senior citizens was under way and had collected nearly $9 million. Named defendants in the case were Anthony J. Columbo, Premier Precious Metals Inc., Rushmore Consulting Group Inc. […]

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Legisi Ponzi-Scheme Pitchman Matthew J. Gagnon Ordered To Pay More Than $4.2 Million In Disgorgement, Penalties

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Legisi Ponzi-Scheme Pitchman Matthew J. Gagnon Ordered To Pay More Than $4.2 Million In Disgorgement, Penalties

UPDATED 10:35 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.)  Matthew John Gagnon, an HYIP huckster and promoter of the Legisi Ponzi scheme, has been hit with orders of disgorgement and penalties totaling more than $4.2 million, the SEC said. Gagnon, of Portland, Ore., and Weslaco, Texas, was described by the SEC as a serial promoter of fraud schemes through his […]

Former Mormon Bishop Who Presided Over ‘Friend’s Investment Group’ Charged In Alleged Connecticut Fraud Scheme Targeting Church Members; Former Broker Charged In Alleged Tennessee Ponzi Scheme

Former Mormon Bishop Who Presided Over 'Friend’s Investment Group' Charged In Alleged Connecticut Fraud Scheme Targeting Church Members; Former Broker Charged In Alleged Tennessee Ponzi Scheme

Julius C. Blackwelder, the 59-year-old former bishop of the Bridgeport Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Trumbull, Conn., has been charged with money-laundering, mail fraud and wire fraud. “This defendant is alleged to have abused his position of trust as a leader in his church to defraud fellow church members […]

STATUS QUO CHANGE IN ‘PROGRAM’? Conference-Call Recordings Of ‘Carl Pearson’ Go Missing From JSS Tripler/JustBeenPaid Website; Development Explained Away As Response To Potential ‘Hackers’ — Although Frederick Mann Recordings Remain

STATUS QUO CHANGE IN 'PROGRAM'? Conference-Call Recordings Of 'Carl Pearson' Go Missing From JSS Tripler/JustBeenPaid Website; Development Explained Away As Response To Potential 'Hackers' -- Although Frederick Mann Recordings Remain

It sometimes is the case in the corrupt universes of HYIPs that a change in the status quo signals panic or devastating news. It’s also sometimes the case that significant developments get explained away as meaningless or part of a plan that had been in place all along in response to explosive growth. It is […]

Appeals Court Upholds 20-Year Prison Sentence Of Seng Tan, Mercedes-Driving Pyramid Schemer Who Blamed Hurricane Katrina For Payment Delays And Told Members That The ‘Gods’ Had Sent Her To Make Them Millionaires

Appeals Court Upholds 20-Year Prison Sentence Of Seng Tan, Mercedes-Driving Pyramid Schemer Who Blamed Hurricane Katrina For Payment Delays And Told Members That The 'Gods' Had Sent Her To Make Them Millionaires

EDITOR’S NOTE: Simply put, the World Marketing Direct Selling (WMDS) and OneUniverseOnline (1UOL) pyramid scheme of James Bunchan and Seng Tan was one of the ugliest — if not the ugliest — in U.S. history. Bunchan eventually was implicated in a a murder-for-hire plot in which 12 witnesses and a federal prosecutor in Massachusetts were […]

BULLETIN: Ronald James Davenport, Purported ‘Sovereign Citizen,’ Sentenced To 41 Months In Federal Prison After Filing ‘False Liens’ Against Public Officials And Trying To Attach Their Real Estate and Personal Property

BULLETIN: Ronald James Davenport, Purported 'Sovereign Citizen,' Sentenced To 41 Months In Federal Prison After Filing 'False Liens' Against Public Officials And Trying To Attach Their Real Estate and Personal Property

BULLETIN: Ronald James Davenport, the Washington state “sovereign citizen” convicted in November 2011 of filing false liens for billions of dollars against four public officials, has been sentenced to 41 months in federal prison, the Justice Department said today. Davenport was convicted of the false-liens charges during the same month AdSurfDaily figure and purported Washington […]

BULLETIN: 2 Men With Hyped Credentials At Helm Of $51 Million Ponzi Scheme, Alberta Securities Commission Alleges; May Appearance Date Set For Dale Joseph Edgar St. Jean, Gregory Dennis Tindall; Defendants Also Linked To Alleged U.S. Fraud Scheme That Triggered Hedge-Fund Collapses

BULLETIN: 2 Men With Hyped Credentials At Helm Of $51 Million Ponzi Scheme, Alberta Securities Commission Alleges; May Appearance Date Set For Dale Joseph Edgar St. Jean, Gregory Dennis Tindall; Defendants Also Linked To Alleged U.S. Fraud Scheme That Triggered Hedge-Fund Collapses

BULLETIN: Two men, including one who’d filed for bankruptcy when a previous “sales training” venture collapsed, were at the helm of a Ponzi scheme that gathered $51.6 million and left investors with nothing, the Alberta Securities Commission said. Appearance dates for Dale Joseph Edgar St. Jean and Gregory Dennis Tindall have been set for May […]

Illinois Man Faces Up To 5 Years In Federal Prison After Pleading Guilty To Selling Unregistered Securities Via Mail/Email; Case Brought By Postal Inspectors, IRS, State

Illinois Man Faces Up To 5 Years In Federal Prison After Pleading Guilty To Selling Unregistered Securities Via Mail/Email; Case Brought By Postal Inspectors, IRS, State

An Illinois man hawking a Yukon gold-mining venture via postal mail and email has pleaded guilty to selling unregistered securities, federal prosecutors said. Jeremiah D. Jacob, 32, of Columbia, faces up to five years in federal prison, a fine of $10,000 and three years’ supervised release, the office of U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Wigginton of […]