PatrickPretty.com

Month: April 2012

UPDATE: AdSurfDaily’s Andy Bowdoin Faces May 8 Bond-Review Hearing

With federal prosecutors in the District of Columbia now saying AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin was involved in multiple fraud schemes after the U.S. Secret Service seized $65.8 million from his personal bank accounts in August 2008 in a Ponzi probe, the ASD patriarch now faces a bond-review hearing in Washington. U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer…

Apr 30, 2012
PP Blog Experiences Computer Meltdown

Dear Readers, I drove to my sister’s house this morning to make this quick post. The past few days have brought about a crisis . . . On Friday, both of the computers used to publish the Blog developed problems with condensation. Precisely how and why this happened remain a mystery. Our desktop machine became…

Apr 29, 2012
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: [UPDATED]: Government Says It Has Tied Andy Bowdoin To Failed AdViewGlobal Autosurf; Prosecutors Also Cite AdSurfDaily Patriarch’s ‘OneX’ Sales Pitch, Calling Program A ‘Fraudulent Scheme’

UPDATED 11:40 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Federal prosecutors say they’ve tied AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin to the failed AdViewGlobal autosurf and intend to introduce evidence of “uncharged misconduct” at Bowdoin’s trial for the alleged ASD Ponzi scheme. Meanwhile, prosecutors say “OneX” — a “program” Bowdoin said he was pitching to help pay for his criminal defense…

Apr 26, 2012
[DONATION POST]: PP Blog At Brink Again As May Approaches (And Publication Passes 1,600-Post Milestone)

With May approaching , the PP Blog once again is at the edge of an abyss. In July 2011, the Blog enabled a donation button. We’ve stayed online to fight the good fight — thanks to readers. As was the case last month, key bills are coming due and core essentials are in short supply.…

Apr 26, 2012
MOST UN-‘WISE’: 2 Ponzi Schemers Ride Their Wordplay To Prison Sentences Totaling More Than 33 Years; Judge Declares Crime ‘Evil’

“Defendant Trebor Company (Robert spelled backward) is a sole proprietorship owned by [Robert C. Brown Jr.] and is the name he has used for his ‘investment group.’” — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in civil complaint against Trebor and Brown, July 23, 2008 “Evidence at trial established that much of the investor money was funneled…

Apr 26, 2012
UPDATE: 3 Women Sentenced To Jail For Ponzi Swindle In California; Scam Involved Bogus ‘Milk’ Sales To Disneyland And Allegedly Targeted Parents Of School Children

The three California women who hatched a Ponzi scheme involving purportedly “exclusive” milk sales to Disneyland and allegedly recruited investors from the ranks of local PTA members at an elementary school in the Los Angeles region now have been sentenced to jail terms. (PTA stands for Parent-Teacher Association.) The PP Blog first reported on Maricela…

Apr 25, 2012
INCREDIBLE! SEC Says Recidivist Huckster And Felon Allen E. Weintraub Is Scamming Again — This Time With Purported Facebook Shares; Court Grants Asset Freeze And Agency Publishes Phone Number To Take Complaints

BULLETIN: The SEC is tackling another bizarre securities-fraud case in which the alleged elements read like fiction. In May 2011, the agency charged Allen E. Weintraub of Aventura, Fla., in a bogus “tender offer” caper in which he fraudulently claimed to have backers to purchase (for purported billions of dollars) Eastman Kodak Co. and AMR…

Apr 25, 2012
UPDATE: John Chiyuan Lee, Scammer Whose Case Shattered Ponzi-Board Myth, Sentenced To California State Prison And Ordered To Make Restitution

In fleeing to Thailand, becoming a fugitive listed by INTERPOL and leaving dozens of U.S. victims in his wake when his Ponzi scheme collapsed, John Chiyuan Lee shattered the Ponzi-forum myth that “offshore equals safe.” “Safe — for a while while INTERPOL is beaming your picture 24/7 and U.S. authorities at the local, state and…

Apr 25, 2012
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: JSS Tripler Banned By Italian Securities Regulator CONSOB; ‘Marketing The Offering’ Is ‘Prohibited,’ Agency Announces

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: CONSOB, the Italian securities regulator, has banned promos for JSS Tripler, the purported arm of a “program” known as JustBeenPaid that has advertised a daily return of 2 percent and a monthly return of 60 percent. In an English translation on CONSOB’s website this morning, the regulator described JSS Tripler…

Apr 23, 2012
RECOMMENDED READING: Prospective Class Action Against Accused Ponzi Schemer Ephren W. Taylor II Names Alleged Facilitators And Raises Specter Of Crime Spigot Involving ‘Self-Directed’ IRAs

EDITOR’S NOTE: As America’s fraud plague continues, some of the scammers are polluting the free market with incongruous and even bizarre schemes — even as they purport to represent the best that freedom offers. The PP Blog highly recommends that readers check out this September 2011 document from the SEC that warns about scammers targeting…

Apr 21, 2012
Husband And Wife (And Purported ‘Sovereign Citizens’) Jailed In Georgia; Edgar Lee Rodgers And Diane Rowe Charged With Racketeering Amid Allegations They Tried To Sell Homes That Did Not Belong To Them

Bond has been set at a combined $130,000 for a Georgia couple arrested Thursday by Atlanta police on charges they tried to sell homes that did not belong to them in an alleged paperwork scam involving bogus courthouse filings. In recent years, Georgia has been near the top of the list in both bank failures…

Apr 21, 2012