UPDATE: Louisiana Joins Growing List Of States That Have Issued Investor Alerts On ‘Profitable Sunrise’; [UPDATE: Tennessee, Too]
EDITOR’S NOTE: Information from Tennessee was received after this story was published. The Tennessee info is published in the Comments thread below . . .
UPDATED 8:18 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Louisiana has issued an Investor Alert on the Profitable Sunrise HYIP, joining a growing list of U.S. states and Canadian provinces to have done so.
Profitable Sunrise has a presence on well-known Ponzi-scheme forums such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup. The “program” purportedly is operated by Roman Novak and is trading on Bible verse.
“Consumers who have invested with Profitable Sunrise are encouraged to contact the Securities Division of the Office of Financial Institutions at (225) 925-4512,” the office of Louisiana Commissioner of Securities John Ducrest said.
With Louisiana’s action, the unofficial total of U.S. states or Canadian provinces issuing Investor Alerts or cease-and-desist orders against Profitable Sunrise now stands at 27. (See current list here.)
From the statement by Ducrest’s office (italics added):
Investments are purportedly used to provide short-term loans to companies at 3% interest per day. The company’s website also states that investors may earn money by recruiting others through a referral program that pays 5% of deposits generated from recruits.
Consumers should be aware that neither Profitable Sunrise, nor its investment products, are registered in Louisiana as required by the Louisiana Securities Law. High-yield investment programs often have common red flags of fraud that consumers should be looking for, such as unusually high yields; lack of information regarding the investment operator; unclear methodology for achieving returns; off-shore operations; incentives to recruit new investors; and online advertisements containing typographical errors and grammatical mistakes.
Link to Louisiana news release.
Quick note: It perhaps is worth pointing out that one of the prospective class-action lawsuits against the Zeek Rewards “program” was filed last year in Louisiana.
Zeek, according to the SEC, duped people into believing it was paying an average of 1.5 percent a day legitimately.
Of course, the Profitable Sunrise “Long Haul” plan with the purported Easter payout advertised 2.7 percent a day.
Patrick
Quick note: Have seen a promo for Profitable Sunrise on a Louisiana classified-ad site.
Headline: “Earn Passive Income Online with Profitable Sunrise”
Body copy in part:
“YOU SHOULD REALLY TAKE A LOOK AT THIS. NOTHING COMPARES WITH THIS OPPORTUNITY BECAUSE YOU ARE REALLY GUARANTEED TO MAKE MONEY DAILY… YOU HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO MAKE MONEY EVERYDAY WITH THIS. JUST WATCH THE SECOND SHORT VIDEO ON THIS PAGE. GUARANTEED To Make Money EVERYDAY For Doing Absolutely NOTHING! YOU WILL BE VERY HAPPY THAT YOU TOOK THE TIME TO WATCH THIS SHORT VIDEO.”
The URL for the video throws an error message, but the video appears to be available on the root of the domain.
Included in the video is the obligatory happy parents with small children — with an upscale home (mansion?) in the background.
Among the claims in the 3:43 video:
“HOPE FOR ALL! JOIN US TODAY!”
And: “TIME IS OFF THE ESSENCE”
And: “UNLIMITED WEALTH!”
A stack of $100 bills is counted . . .
And: “FINANCIAL FREEDOM!”
There is a photo of an easy chair on the beach with the waves rippling in . . .
And: “EVERYONE WINS!”
It seems as though the soundtrack of “Life” by Beckah Shae is dubbed into the Profitable Sunrise promo. Beckah Shae is a Christian artist. The song is really catchy.
OK, back to the classified site . . .
There are ads for two other “programs.” One has this headline:
“Quit your job for a steady income! $1000+ a week!Free to join!”
The other has this headline: “Ultimate Cycler-Your Money Machine!”
Patrick
Update on the server:
Profitable Sunrise Update
http://www.empowernetwork.com/rlohr34/blog/profitable-sunrise/
So the only web host they could find that would host them is in China. Apart from BlockDOS, not even the ponzi friendly web hosts would touch them? And there are still ponzi apologists touting for punters.
This just in from Tennessee:
Securities Division cautions investors about possible fraud involving Web-based company
NASHVILLE, TN – The Tennessee Securities Division wants to alert Tennesseans to actions being taken by other states’ securities regulators against an Internet-based company alleged to have promoted unregistered investment plans.
According to a temporary cease-and-desist order filed Feb. 27, 2013, by the Securities Division of the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State, Roman Novak, Radoslav Novak and their company – Inter Reef Ltd., doing business as Profitable Sunrise – are promoting at least five “investment plans” through a website that offers rates of return ranging from 1.6 percent daily to 2.7 percent daily for 180 to 240 days. The filing ordered the respondents to cease and desist from offering for sale, soliciting offers to purchase or selling, in or from North Carolina, any securities unless and until such securities have been registered and until Roman Novak, Radoslav Novak, and Inter Reef Ltd. d/b/a Profitable Sunrise become registered as dealers or sellers of securities.
The cease-and-desist order found that Roman Novak, Radoslav Novak, and Inter Reef LTD d/b/a Profitable Sunrise offered investment contracts in the form of investment plans, made available through their website http://www.profitablesunrise.com, in violation of the North Carolina Securities Act. The Temporary Order to Cease and Desist gives Respondents 30 days in which to request a hearing. If no such request is made during that time, the Temporary Order to Cease and Desist shall become final. To read the Temporary Order, please visit http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/sec/actions.aspx#.
None of the companies, promoters or investments is registered with Tennessee’s Securities Division. Investor alerts are being issued in other states, as well. Commerce & Insurance Securities Division officials have determined Tennessee addresses listed by the company to be illegitimate.
“These allegations are serious enough that we want to caution Tennesseans to be wary,” Tennessee Securities Assistant Commissioner Daphne D. Smith says. “Regardless of how an investment opportunity comes to you or how attractive it may appear, it should be scrutinized for legitimacy. It always pays to “investigate before you invest.” “This situation illustrates the importance of checking out the licensing statuses of investments and the people who sell them before you invest,” she says. “Before doing business with anyone, check with us to determine the licensing status and to see if there have been complaints or disciplinary problems with the individuals or company.” Complaints and investigations are confidential under the Tennessee Securities Act of 1980. Smith urges any Tennessean who has invested with Profitable Sunrise to contact the Securities Division at 800-863-9117 or to visit http://www.tn.gov/commerce/securities.
The Securities Division is part of the Department of Commerce and Insurance, which works to protect consumers while ensuring fair competition for industries and professionals who do business in Tennessee. http://www.tn.gov/commerce/, @TNCommerceInsur (Twitter), http://on.fb.me/uFQwUZ (Facebook), http://bit.ly/ry1GyX (YouTube)
Source:
http://news.tn.gov/node/10426
My husband and I joined Profitable Sunrise several months ago and would like to join any class action lawsuit against them. Is there any going on and how do I get to them to add us on the list?