Archive for February 2015

EDITORIAL: Case Against Alleged New York Scammer With Eye-Pleasing Website Could Help Educate ‘Achieve Community’ Members And Newcomers Who Encounter The Ponzi Boards — If They Choose To See

EDITORIAL: Case Against Alleged New York Scammer With Eye-Pleasing Website Could Help Educate 'Achieve Community' Members And Newcomers Who Encounter The Ponzi Boards -- If They Choose To See

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one to think about if you’re an “Achieve Community” fan who’s moved over to the “Rockfeller” Ponzi-board scam while asserting its professional-looking website puts you at ease — even though you don’t know who’s running the purported company and apparently have formed the irrational belief that engaging a “chat” attendant through […]

BULLETIN: Zeek Receiver Sues Alleged ‘Winners’ In New Zealand And British Virgin Islands

BULLETIN: Zeek Receiver Sues Alleged 'Winners' In New Zealand And British Virgin Islands

BULLETIN: (9th update 9:57 p.m. ET U.S.A.) Zeek Rewards receiver Kenneth D. Bell has sued alleged “winners” with residencies in New Zealand and the British Virgin Islands. One BVI winner is alleged to have gained more than $2 million from Zeek’s combined Ponzi- and pyramid scheme. Bell identified her as Agnita Solomon of Road Town, […]

‘Achieve Community’ Now Serving Up Spectacle In Which Confusion Reigns; Video On Sign-Up Instructions For Purported New Processor Goes Missing From YouTube, As Report Of New Investigation Surfaces

'Achieve Community' Now Serving Up Spectacle In Which Confusion Reigns; Video On Sign-Up Instructions For Purported New Processor Goes Missing From YouTube, As Report Of New Investigation Surfaces

3RD UPDATE 4:02 P.M. ET U.S.A. The “Achieve Community,” an 800-percent ROI Ponzi-board “program” apparently hamstrung by problems with payment processors, now is serving up a spectacle in which confusion and delay are the only consistent themes. BehindMLM.com reported late last night (or early today, depending on your time zone) that the office of Michigan […]

In Response To Search Warrant In TelexFree Case, YouTube Delivers 45GB Of Data

In Response To Search Warrant In TelexFree Case, YouTube Delivers 45GB Of Data

2ND UPDATE 9:18 A.M. ET FEB. 13 U.S.A. On Oct. 16, 2014, Google was served a search warrant in the TelexFree criminal case against accused operators James Merrill and Carlos Wanzeler, according to joint court filings by federal prosecutors in the office of U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz of the District of Massachusetts and Robert […]

IN MEMORY: Bob Simon, 1941-2015

IN MEMORY: Bob Simon, 1941-2015

American journalism has lost a legend. Bob Simon, the veteran CBS News correspondent, was killed early last evening when the cab in which he was riding was involved in a horrific crash on West Side Avenue, the New York Daily News reported. Simon was 73. CBS broke into programming to report the news. Tributes poured […]

‘ACHIEVE COMMUNITY’: Stranger And Stranger, Murkier and Murkier

'ACHIEVE COMMUNITY': Stranger And Stranger, Murkier and Murkier

UPDATED 11:41 A.M. ET U.S.A. On Nov. 12, 2013, an entity known as “The Universal Church of Charitable Life Inc.” filed articles of incorporation in Florida. It listed its base of operations at a street address in Saint Petersburg, a city in the Tampa region. Its nonprofit mission, according to the Florida filing, was to […]

BULLETIN: Judge In Zeek Clawback Cases Grants Receiver’s Motion To Certify Class Of 9,400 Alleged Winners; Todd Disner Faces Default; Phil Piccolo May Be Background Player

BULLETIN: Judge In Zeek Clawback Cases Grants Receiver's Motion To Certify Class Of 9,400 Alleged Winners; Todd Disner Faces Default; Phil Piccolo May Be Background Player

BULLETIN: (Updated 11:11 p.m. ET U.S.A.) Senior U.S. District Judge Graham C. Mullen has certified a class of more than 9,000 alleged “winners” of more than $1,000 in the Zeek Rewards scheme. Receiver Kenneth D. Bell sued more than 10 named “winners” in February 2014 in a case styled “Kenneth D. Bell v. Todd Disner, […]

‘Achieve Community’ Huckster Rodney Blackburn In New Ponzi-Board HYIP Scam: Rockfeller Asset Management Limited

'Achieve Community' Huckster Rodney Blackburn In New Ponzi-Board HYIP Scam: Rockfeller Asset Management Limited

UPDATED 9:54 P.M. ET U.S.A. It’s called “Rockfeller.” Like the massive TelexFree scam in Massachusetts, it is using the address of a Regus office center — only this time the facility is in London. A Ponzi-board scheme similar to Rockfeller — Profitable Sunrise — may have swindled tens of millions of dollars before disappearing two […]

Purportedly Based In Hong Kong And Offering Equity Positions, ‘MyCoin’ Bitcoin Exchange Reportedly Goes Missing; Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars May Be At Stake

Purportedly Based In Hong Kong And Offering Equity Positions, 'MyCoin' Bitcoin Exchange Reportedly Goes Missing; Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars May Be At Stake

“MyCoin’s” bitcoin exchange might have operated as a “pyramid-style Ponzi scheme packaged as bitcoin trading,” potential victims plan to tell Hong Kong authorities Wednesday, the South China Morning Post is reporting. The news comes as bitcoin-themed schemes or “programs” that claim to accept bitcoin appear on Ponzi boards such as MoneyMakerGroup, raising continuing questions about […]

Court Filings Show Self-Identified Church Sent $10,000 To Zeek Rewards 9 Days Before Collapse; 2 Other Checks From An Individual Were Marked ‘Blessing’

Court Filings Show Self-Identified Church Sent $10,000 To Zeek Rewards 9 Days Before Collapse; 2 Other Checks From An Individual Were Marked 'Blessing'

UPDATED 8:42 P.M. ET U.S.A. Members of the faith community joining MLM HYIP schemes is a problem. It happened with the $119 million AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme and the $72 million Legisi scam in 2008, for example. It’s happening currently with the “Achieve Community” scheme. Earlier, members of TelexFree  — an alleged $1.8 billion pyramid scheme […]

Feb. 5 TelexFree Bankruptcy Conference Is Canceled; Judge Orders Public Posting Of Trustee’s Report

Feb. 5 TelexFree Bankruptcy Conference Is Canceled; Judge Orders Public Posting Of Trustee's Report

UPDATED 5:42 A.M. ET FEB. 5 U.S.A. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Melvin S. Hoffman has canceled a status hearing set for tomorrow in the TelexFree bankruptcy case. Hoffman further has ordered the report filed yesterday by TelexFree Trustee Stephen B. Darr to be posted publicly. Although the report already was posted, Hoffman’s order appears to underscore […]