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Tag: ASD remissions

  • URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: AdSurfDaily Ponzi Schemer Andy Bowdoin Sentenced To 78 Months In Federal Prison — Maximum Under Plea Agreement

    Thomas A. "Andy" Bowdoin

    URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (UPDATED 5:20 P.M ON SEPT 4.) AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin has been sentenced to the maximum term in federal prison under his plea agreement: 78 months.

    The sentence was handed down minutes ago by U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer of the District of Columbia. ASD was a $119 million Ponzi scheme operating over the Internet between 2006 and 2008 and creating thousands of victims.

    Separately, Collyer issued an order that authorized the U.S. Department of Justice to reopen remissions, meaning that ASD victims who missed the January 2011 filing deadline will have an opportunity to gain a pro rata share of the remainder of ASD proceeds seized by the U.S. Secret Service in 2008.

    “Thomas Bowdoin was a master of fraud and deception, cheating victims out of their hard-earned money and savings with his get-rich scheme,” said U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. of the District of Columbia. “His actions cost his victims millions of dollars and now they will cost him his freedom. This sentence will protect the public from Mr. Bowdoin’s scams and hold him accountable for his crimes.”

    A top U.S. Secret Service official said the agency is using a variety of tools to bring scammers to justice.

    “Capitalizing on the strength of our financial task force partnerships, we aggressively pursue criminals using computer experts, forensic specialists, investigative experts and intelligence analysts,” said Dennis Ramos Martinez, special agent in charge of the Orlando Secret Service office.

    Machen’s office declined to comment today on whether the ASD probe was ongoing.

    Bowdoin is 77.

    In November 2011, ASD figure Kenneth Wayne Leaming was arrested by the FBI on charges of filing false liens against at least five public officials involved in the ASD case. Two of the officials were federal prosecutors. One was the lead Secret Service investigator.

    Machen’s office — without referencing the FBI allegations against Leaming — today praised the work of former Assistant U.S. Attorneys William Cowden and Vasu B. Muthyala. And Machen’s office also praised U.S. Secret Service agent Roy Dotson. All three men allegedly were targeted with false liens from Leaming, a purported “sovereign citizen.”

    Leaming, 56, is jailed near Seattle.

    Bowdoin’s sentencing today occurred against the backdrop of the collapse of Zeek Rewards, which was accused by the SEC Aug. 17 of operating a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that potentially affects more than 1 million people. Zeek’s business model was similar to ASD’s business model. The U.S. Secret Service also is investigating Zeek.

    Here’s what prosecutors in the District of Columbia said today about ASD’s business model (italics added):

    ASD’s business model promised members the opportunity to earn 125 percent (initially 150 percent) on each dollar paid into ASD, as long as the members viewed other members’ websites for a few minutes each day on ASD’s Internet page, commonly referred to as the ASD “rotator.” Bowdoin also promised members commissions for recruiting other members into the program.

    While a small percentage of ASD members who invested early in the program could earn the extraordinary rates of return, the promised opportunity was illusory for the vast majority of ASD members. Indeed, due to the fact that ASD’s pyramid-style business model relied entirely on an ever increasing influx of new money to fund the debt owed to earlier members, the vast majority of members could never earn the promised rates of return, making the promised opportunity fraudulent.

  • Rust Consulting, Claims Administrator In AdSurfDaily Ponzi Case, Says ASD Members Dwight Owen Schweitzer And Todd Disner Are ‘Impermissibly’ Seeking To Relitigate D.C. Forfeiture Case Before Florida Federal Judge

    UPDATED 2:57 P.M. ET (U.S.A., MARCH 11)

    Dwight Owen Schweitzer and Todd Disner — the two AdSurfDaily members from Miami who filed suit against the Justice Department and Rust Consulting Inc. in November 2011 — never filed remissions-claims forms, Rust said in a motion to dismiss the complaint.

    And Schweitzer and Disner are “impermissibly” seeking to relitigate the forfeiture action against tens of millions of dollars in the personal bank accounts of ASD President Andy Bowdoin before a federal judge in Florida, Rust asserted.

    The original civil case was brought by federal prosecutors in the District of Columbia and decided against Bowdoin/ASD by a federal judge in the District of Columbia.

    But Disner and Schweitzer now are seeking a Florida venue to “avoid or evade the earlier judgment in the Seizure Action, or to deny its force or effect,” Rust argued in its dismissal motion.

    The Florida court “lacks subject matter jurisdiction,” Rust argued. But even if the court concluded that it could preside over the the lawsuit, Schweitzer and Disner have not stated “a claim upon which relief can be granted against RUST, on the grounds that it constitutes an impermissible attack on the orders, rulings, and judgment rendered in the Seizure Action.”

    “Plaintiffs are effectively seeking to re-litigate the Seizure Action in this case,” Rust argued. “Their material allegations and demands for relief center on their desire for this Court to determine whether the USA presented sufficient evidence in the Seizure Action to justify the seizure and confiscation of property held by ASD, including and in particular Plaintiff’s alleged property . . . In other words, in this action Plaintiffs seek to challenge the court’s decisions rendered in the Seizure Action. This is impermissible.”

    Moreover, Rust argued, “it cannot be ignored that Plaintiffs admit they were afforded means in the Seizure Action to submit claims for their alleged property, but elected not to do so.”

    In bringing their case in November, Schweitzer and Disner claimed an affidavit filed in the forfeiture case by the U.S. Secret Service in the District of Columbia was flawed and that the government hired Rust to implement a remissions program “designed to collect evidence and coerced admissions from the plaintiffs to be used by the government” at the criminal trial of ASD President Andy Bowdoin.

    Disner and Schweitzer also took issue with government agents joining ASD prior to the August 2008 seizure and allegedly violating the ASD membership agreement, including an undercover agent who placed his undercover “MySpace” page in ASD’s advertising rotator. In 2008, the government alleged that “ASD did not require, or even verify that the agent “had any product or service to sell.”

    Had the agents “lived up to the obligations they took on by becoming members of ASD they should have reported their own violations of the ASD terms of service with the result that the sites they foisted upon ASD would have been removed and the benefits to them as advertisers’ would be forfeited as the ASD rules mandated,” Disner and Schweitzer argued.

    As of yesterday, the government had not responded to the lawsuit, which was brought by Schweitzer and Disner in the form of a complaint for declaratory relief that alleged Constitutional violations.

    Whether Schweitzer and Disner properly served the government in the case is an issue.

    U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga has given them an extension of five days — from March 7 to March 12 — to demonstrate the government has been properly served.

    If Schweitzer and Disner have properly served the government, it is possible that the Justice Department may move for dismissal on grounds similar to the grounds cited by Rust.

    Not only were final orders of forfeiture entered by U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer in the District of Columbia, her orders were upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals months before Schweitzer and Disner turned to the Florida federal court.

    In September 2011 — weeks before Schweitzer and Disner brought their complaint — the government returned about $55 million to ASD members who demonstrated a loss through the remissions process administered by Rust.

    When the government announced the return of the money, the U.S. Secret Service described ASD as a “criminal enterprise.”

    In their complaint, however, Schweitzer and Disner argued that ASD was a profitable venture, in stark contrast to assertions by the government that ASD was insolvent because it created a liability of $1.25 for each dollar it took in through the sale of purported “advertising.”

  • EDITORIAL: As Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force Website (StopFraud.gov) Spotlights AdSurfDaily Prosecution, Bizarre Email Circulating Among ASD Members Raises New Conspiracy Theories

    UPDATED 10:31 A.M. EDT (U.S.A).

    ASD case subject of discussion in Washington’s highest power corridors: The Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force was formed by President Obama in November 2009. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, a member of the President’s cabinet and the chief law-enforcement officer of the U.S. government, presides over the Task Force.

    Secret Service is charter member of Task Force. The U.S. Secret Service, whose duties include protecting the President of the United States, the integrity of the economy and the financial infrastructure of the nation, is a member of the Task Force.

    Among the allegations in the ASD case is that members were falsely trading on the name of then-President George W. Bush to sanitize a $110 million Ponzi scheme, that ASD President Andy Bowdoin encouraged the false claims and arranged to spend Ponzi proceeds to retire the $157,000 mortgage on a home in Tallahassee occupied by his wife’s son and the son’s wife, purchase a lakefront home in Florida, purchase an $800,000 building (for cash), purchase jet skis, a Cabana boat, haul trailers and marine equipment — all while owing restitution to victims of an Alabama securities caper in the 1990s and “thousands of dollars” to an ex-wife.

    Some of the purchases occurred within days of Bowdoin’s return from a May 2008 ASD “rally” in Las Vegas at which he defined himself as a Christian “money magnet” and encouraged others to follow him in thanking God and becoming like-minded “money magnets.” At the rally, Bowdoin urged members not to miss the opportunity to provide ASD with money by the tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time, according to records.

    “Thank you, God, for destining me to great wealth,” he exhorted the Las Vegas crowd to internalize and recite during the day.

    And he exhorted members to picture themselves wealthy.

    “See a big check coming in from AdSurfDaily,” he urged. “I signed a check the other day, about $22,000. See those checks like that coming for you constantly, just flowing to you.”

    One of Bowdoin’s business partners — Walter Clarence Busby Jr., the operator of the Golden Panda autosurf — was implicated by the SEC in three prime-bank schemes in the 1990s, according to records. Golden Panda, according to Busby, was hatched after he went fishing with Bowdoin on a Georgia lake in April 2008. Just days after the fishing expedition, Bowdoin boarded a plane and flew to Costa Rica, according to court filings.

    Weeks after his return from Costa Rica, Bowdoin headed to Washington, D.C., to rub elbows with politicians, according to court filings.

    Read the full news release on the AdSurfDaily case here. It is published on StopFraud.gov, the Task Force website.

    New conspiracy theory emerges after government compensates ASD victims. As often has been the case, some ASD members appear not to have taken the clue that top Justice Department officials and perhaps the White House itself are being briefed on developments in the ASD case. The ASD case became a national-security case when the U.S. Secret Service discovered in 2008 that Andy Bowdoin, a recidivist securities swindler in his seventies who allegedly had “earned no significant income from legal employment in the twenty years prior to his commencement of ASD’s operation,” suddenly was sitting on tens of millions of dollars and had handed out some of it to political rainmakers.

    Some of the handouts, which came in the form of contributions to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), occurred in early 2007, even as the first Ponzi scheme iteration of ASD was collapsing and the firm’s original members were left holding the bag while Bowdoin explained $1 million had been stolen by “Russian” hackers. Bowdoin did not file a police report about the purported theft because he did not want to draw the attention of law enforcement, according to court filings.

    The NRCC handouts continued in 2008, after Bowdoin had changed the name of his collapsed autosurfing venture from AdSurfDaily to ASD Cash Generator, plumbed it with new cash from a new group of suckers, started a second Ponzi venture known as LaFuenteDinero, arranged with Busby to form a third Ponzi-in-waiting  (Golden Panda) and had flown to Costa Rica with a “North Carolina lawyer” (and co-owner) of LaFuenteDinero, according to court filings and Federal Election Commission records.

    In a bizarre email that began to circulate among ASD members yesterday, the seed was planted that that the government was trying to recruit witnesses by luring them with remissions payments — and that prosecutors might claw back the remissions money if  the member “did not cooperate in testifying against ASD.”

    The date upon which the email was written could not immediately be determined, but the email appears to be the second in a two-part series sent after ASD members began to receive remissions payments late last week.

    The content of the email, which was described as “insider information” and attributed in part to an unamed third party who purportedly overheard a conversation involving a federal prosecutor at an unspecified location, was titled, “Important Warning: ASD/Golden Panda.”

    Among the suggestions in the email was that the government planned to “force” ASD members who received remissions distributions to testify against Bowdoin in his upcoming criminal trial on charges of wire fraud, securities fraud and selling unregistered securities. The email was signed “Sara.”

    Here is the email verbatim (italics added):

    “Hi Everyone-

    Since I sent the last email update about ASD/Golden Panda monies being received by members, I received some very important insider information you should know. This is an important warning.

    The information (these are not quotes) I am sharing with you was spoken by and was heard directly from an attorney for the government, in relation to the ASD legal case. I must protect the source but I can assure you it is reliable (it is not Andy). I was told that the person heard the government attorney say they had hired the Rust Company to send a remission form by email and US-mail to ASD and Golden Panda members. The form was to be sent under the pretense that the member would get their money back if they filled out the form to request a remission of their ASD/Golden Panda monies seized by the government on 8/1/08. Those members would then receive their remission monies directly into their bank accounts, but the attorney said that their names would go onto a list and they would then be summoned by the court (at the members own expense) to testify against ASD. They would be forced to testify against ASD even if they did not believe that ASD was illegal, because the form they signed was set up in such a way that the member was essentially stating that ASD victimized them in an illegal business. I’m imagining a typical scenario in court would be: The attorney for the government would read statements from the form and the member’s answers and then say something like, “Is this your signature?” to force the member into saying that the statements were theirs.  And, take note, that it was also mentioned by the attorney that the direct deposit into the member’s account could be reversed at any time if ASD should eventually lose the case or if the member did not cooperate in testifying against ASD. If the money isn’t in the account anymore, it would be money owed back to the government, so moving the money would not help. The addendum that I was advised to suggest to you if you were drawn to fill out the form (sent by the Rust Company on behalf of the government) that stated that you did not make an investment in ASD/Golden Panda, but rather bought advertising, would apparently protect you from the government’s tactics, but I honestly do not know that for sure.

    Many of us had major red flags when we read the form as it was obvious what the government was trying to do. That’s why it was advised that members add the addendum to their form, to protect themselves from the government’s deceptive practices. So pray about how you should proceed. Please don’t ask me. I can’t make this decision for you.

    God’s Blessings,

    Sara

    The email appears to have followed the email below, which divines a construction by which  the government seized ASD money illegally and set up the remissions program only because ASD members outraged at the illegal seizure demanded the return of their funds (verbatim/italics added):

    “Dear ASD & Golden Panda Members-

    I have some news! ASD and Golden Panda Members have recently received a “remission” of the money that was in their ASD and/or Golden Panda accounts, deposited directly into their personal bank accounts by the government; amounts like $50,000 and $60,000 and it was apparently 100% of the money that was owed to them!

    Personally, I am stunned. My experience over the last decade or more has been that the government has never fulfilled their obligation to return money they have seized from programs they deemed illegal. My opinion is that they are scrambling to do this in order to diffuse the outrage ASD members have felt toward the government from their (in my opinion, illegal) seizure of members’ account funds, so that members will have less opposition toward the government during the eventual ASD trial.

    But, for whatever reason the government is doing it, it is irrelevant to those relieved members who are finally receiving justice from this (in my opinion, illegal) seizure.

    If you have not received your remission, you can go to this website to fill out the form there: adsurfdailyremission.com. You can also call the following toll free information line for more information and even talk to a customer service agent in person to ask any questions you might have about this process: 888-398-8214. The following email address has also been provided to communicate about this: info@adsurfremission.com You will notice that, in the recorded message, the government does NOT back down in their assertion that Golden Panda and ASD were illegal ponzi schemes, but that is obviously not stopping them from returning members’ funds.

    Some of you will notice that this form is the one that many of you did not feel inspired to fill out when it was first presented to us. It really puts members in an uncomfortable position of stating that they were victims of ASD/Golden Panda when they don’t believe they were and many felt as if they were also being set up to incriminate themselves.

    At the time, I was advised to suggest to you that, if you felt drawn to fill it out, you include an addendum that stated that you understood that you were purchasing advertising, not making an investment. That continues to be the advice. Now that people are actually receiving their money back, perhaps some of you may feel more motivated to risk filling out the form. Just be careful not to incriminate yourselves. Be alert as you do it. Do not leave any question unanswered or it will be rejected. You must also provide documentation so hopefully you kept good records.

    You will notice on that website (upper left corner) that it says that you must fill it out and submit it by a date in January, 2011. The way around this may be to say that you just found out about it (you didn’t get their letter in the mail or an email from them) and therefore you are only responding to it now. You might want to make that clear to the Customer Service agent at the number above BEFORE you take the time to fill it out, to confirm that they are still accepting them. If not, take a stand for your right to your monetary remission and ask for a supervisor. I am hearing that they are swamped trying to keep up with the communications they are receiving from members, so please be patient.

    Blessings,

    Sara

    Read a January 2011 story about ASD-related emails. Read a November 2010 story. Read another November 2010 story. Read a December 2009 story.

  • URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: ASD Victim Says His Remissions Distribution Has Been Deposited — And That It Was 100 Percent

    URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING:  The PP Blog has received the first report from an AdSurfDaily Ponzi victim that Rust Consulting Inc. has deposited his remissions distribution into his bank account and that the sum was 100 percent of his ASD loss.

    The money appeared in the member’s bank account this morning. Rust is the Minnesota-based claims administrator in the ASD case.

    Developing . . .

  • MAJOR DEVELOPMENT: AdSurfDaily Remissions Payments Will Be 100 Cents On The Dollar; ‘Thousands’ Of Payments To Go Out; ‘Overwhelming Majority’ Of Claims Approved; Members React With Joy

    “Thousands” of AdSurfDaily Ponzi victims with approved claims will receive remissions payments of “100 percent” in the coming days, a source familiar with the process tells the PP Blog.

    It is quite rare “to have a remissions program that comes back with 100 percent,” the source said.

    The claims process was administered by Rust Consulting Inc. of Minnesota. The process was coordinated by the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Secret Service and the office of U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. in the District of Columbia.

    After three long years waiting for the process to be finalized after two forfeiture appeals by ASD President Andy Bowdoin and attempted pro se interventions by dozens of members who claimed the government was the bad guy, ASD members who stuck with the process expressed joy.

    “YAYAYAYAY!” exclaimed one. Another characterized the news as “amazing.”

    A small percentage of ASD members who filed claims will not receive compensation because they failed to demonstrate a loss, the source said.

    An “overwhelming majority” of claims were granted, the source said. Court records show that about 11,000 people filed claims.

    Payments are expected to begin within 15 days. The money will be deposited electronically into the accounts of ASD members whose claims were granted.

    In 2008, Bowdoin compared the prosecutors in the case to “Satan.” Other ASD members described the U.S. Secret Service as “Nazis” and “goons.” A poster on the now-defunct Surf’s Up forum said that the lead prosecutor in the case should be placed in a medieval torture rack and that ASD members should draw straws to determine who received the honor of carrying out the torture.

    A federal judge was called “brain dead” if she did not agree with ASD’s side of the case, and a purported “prayer” was circulated among ASD members calling for the prosecutors to be struck dead. One prosecutor was described derisively as “Gomer Pyle,” and rumors were unleashed on the Surf’s Up forum that the government had admitted secretly that ASD was not a Ponzi scheme.

    Some ASD members encouraged others not to file for remissions. Those who ignored the advice and were able to demonstrate a loss now will receive back 100 cents on the dollar.

    Remissions payments will be made from funds seized by the U.S. Secret Service in the earliest days of the ASD probe more than three years ago.

    Bowdoin filed appeals in the forfeiture cases, but lost. He is now soliciting funds to pay for his criminal defense to charges of wire fraud, securities fraud and selling unregistered securities.

    Some ASD members ignored the seizure and a parallel criminal investigation. They immediately joined other autosurfs, HYIPs and cash-gifting programs, claiming they were excellent ways to make up their ASD losses.

    In a March 2009 letter to ASD members on the Surf’s Up forum, Bowdoin chided prosecutors and the Secret Service, claiming his pro se filings in the civil portion of the case “should really get their attention.”

    A month later — in April 2009 — prosecutors revealed in a final response to a series of pro se pleadings by Bowdoin that Bowdoin had signed a proffer letter in the case and acknowledged that the government’s material allegations were all true.

    Bowdoin acknowledged in his own court filings that he had given information against his interests and had met with prosecutors over a period of at least four days in late 2008 and early 2009. In January 2009, he abandoned the forfeiture cases, releasing his claims to the seized money “with prejudice.”

    By the end of February 2009, however, Bowdoin reentered the case as a pro se litigant, claiming later that his decision was driven by a “group” of ASD members. He did not identify members of the group.

    ASD is known to have so-called “sovereign citizens” in its ranks.

    Bowdoin has not referenced the proffer letter in his fundraising bid. Nor has he referenced a racketeering lawsuit filed against him in January 2009 by some members.

    It was not immediately clear how many members destroyed their chances to receive remissions after coming under the influence of various crackpot theories spun by certain ASD members. One of the theories held that all commerce is lawful if a contract exists. Another held that members should include notes on the claims forms that explained Bowdoin was conducting business lawfully.

    Another theory held that the government had invested approximately $80 million seized in the case, had earned a return in excess of  $1 billion — and that prosecutors were partying with the money. Still another held that a federal judge was conspiring with another federal judge to deny ASD justice and that at least one of the judges was guilty of 60 felonies.

    Yet another theory held that ASD members should not cooperate with investigators and should not file remissions forms.

  • URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: AdSurfDaily Remissions Distributions Are Beginning

    URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: UPDATED 5:21 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Remissions payments to AdSurfDaily members fleeced in an alleged global Ponzi scheme are beginning, a source tells the PP Blog.

    It was not immediately clear how Minnesota-based Rust Consulting Inc. — the government-approved claims administrator — would roll out the compensation plan and how long it would take for all members with approved claims to be notified that their payment will be on the way.

    But the PP Blog has confirmed that an ASD member in Minnesota has received a formal notification that the member’s claim has been approved and that funds will be electronically deposited within the next 15 days. (See screenshot below.) The payments are being funded from money seized by the U.S. Secret Service in the civil portion of the ASD case.

    Separately, AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin — who faces criminal charges of wire fraud, securities fraud and selling unregistered securities — continues to flog away on Facebook and a separate fundraising site to raise $500,000 to pay for his criminal defense. After nearly two months of nonstop fundraising, Bowdoin reportedly has fallen 95 percent short of his goal.

    He’ll now be issuing his appeals even as ASD members he is accused of defrauding are receiving remissions payments from the proceeds of his alleged $110 million Ponzi scheme. In sworn court filings, Bowdoin has claimed the money seized in the case belonged to him.

    At least 11,000 people have identified themselves as victims of Bowdoin’s Ponzi scheme, according to court filings.

    Screenshot: Remissions payments to AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme victims are beginning, according to this letter the PP Blog obtained today from a source.

  • UPDATE: His Fundraising Goal 95 Percent Short Of The Mark, Accused Felon Andy Bowdoin Asks The People He’s Charged With Defrauding For ‘Positive’ Testimonials; ‘I Warmly Invite You To Write Your Personal Viewpoint’

    Andy Bowdoin

    A Florida man’s weeks-long, nonstop efforts to raise defense funds from the people he is accused of defrauding in a $110 million Ponzi scheme have fallen flat, leaving him 95 percent short of his $500,000 goal.

    But AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin says he still wants members to send him money — and he’s asking for one more thing: “positive testimonials . . . for a new page on the fundraising website.”

    In a strangely worded email filled with bizarre bullet points some ASD members have received, Bowdoin said this:

    Each of you, who have already donated to the Legal Defense Fund, are thanked by me, and I warmly invite you to write your personal viewpoint and testimony in answer to one, or more or all of the following topics:

    • Why you want to help us fight back against the Govt injustices.
    • Why you think this Fundraising Army is an excellent way to join forces and do something about it.
    • Why you donated your small contribution and why you think all ASD members should do the same quickly.
    • Why you feel positive and hopeful that I can win my court case AND be found “Not Guilty” by the Jury.
    • Why proving to the jury that ASD is not a Ponzi Scheme is so important.
    • Why you want us to win the case and what you will do when ASD gets back in business again.
    • Why you are hopeful that ASD members can get their advertising money back from the US govt.

    The accused felon said in the email that he’d gathered only $24,400 of the $500,000 needed. His formal bid to raise funds began on July 26 after weeks of prelaunch hoopla for his website, which is known as Andy’s Fundraising Army.

    In August 2008, the U.S. Secret Service seized tens of millions of dollars from Bowdoin amid allegations he was presiding over a massive international fraud caper. Federal prosecutors say Bowdoin is well aware he was conducting a Ponzi scheme.

    The money was seized in civil-forfeiture actions, and U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer issued final orders of forfeiture and judgments in the government’s favor last year. Prosecutors have established a remissions program from which victims of ASD will receive compensation from seized funds.

    More than 11,000 people have filed remissions claims, prosecutors said in court filings.

    Bowdoin claimed in court filings that the seized money belonged to him. In a September 2009 conference call, he told members it belonged to them — despite what he had told Collyer.

    The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld Collyer’s forfeiture orders.

     

  • SPECIAL REPORT: PROSECUTION: More Than 11,000 Remissions Claims And 150,000 Pages Of Documentation Received In AdSurfDaily Case; Number Of Claims Greatly Exceeds Population Of ASD’s Home Base Of Quincy, Fla.

    Andy Bowdoin

    UPDATED 12:09 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Federal prosecutors effectively advised U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer last month that enough people to fill a small city had filed remissions claims in the AdSurfDaily autosurf Ponzi case.

    Although prosecutors did not reveal a precise number, they said in court filings that more than 11,000 people had filed claims and provided more than 150,000 pages of documentation. ASD was based in Quincy, Fla.

    Remissions is a form of restitution. Prosecutors have said for more than two years that the government intends to compensate ASD victims from funds seized by the U.S. Secret Service in civil-forfeiture actions against ASD-related assets in 2008. Collyer issued civil judgments in the government’s favor totaling about $80 million in 2009 and 2010. Bowdoin was charged criminally with wire fraud, securities fraud and selling unregistered securities in December 2010.

    ASD created Ponzi victims all over the world, prosecutors have said. The claims number alone greatly exceeds the Gadsden County community of Quincy’s population of roughly 7,000. It also greatly exceeds the population of Perry, the 7,000-inhabitant Florida town in Taylor County Bowdoin once represented as a council member and mayor.

    The claims number would consume nearly 80 percent of combined populations of Perry and Quincy. Looking at the number a different way, had ASD’s membership consisted only of residents of those two communities in separate counties, only one in five inhabitants — 20 percent — would be left untouched by the scheme.  Had the 80 percent of residents who filed claims lost significant sums in ASD, the economies of both cities could have been brought to their knees.

    Among the core dangers of autosurf schemes is that criminals — domestic and international — establish means by which they can tap into bank accounts, payment processing accounts and credit accounts at the local level. When a scheme collapses, it may affect commerce far and wide while also putting banks in multiple communities in possession of tainted cash. By some accounts, large numbers of members of individual churches became ASD members.

    A collapsed autosurf scheme not only may affect individual churches, it may affect the finances of the church itself and the commerce stream in reach of the church and its members. One 2008 promo for ASD and a purported “millionaire” advertising co-op viewed by the PP Blog as part of its reporting encouraged members (verbatim, text coloring added by PP Blog) to:

    Go to your nearest ATM machine
    Use your Debit card to withdraw the necessary cash for your payment OR
    Use your Credit card to make a “cash advance” of the necessary funds for your payment. Note: there is usually a much higher Annual Percentage Rate for a credit card cash advance. Take the cash to your nearest branch of Bank of America and deposit the cash amount in the AdSurfDaily, Inc. account, using the following information:

    The promo appeared on a website linked to Tari Steward, whom Bowdoin has identified as a potential defense witness and the Internet Marketer behind an effort by Bowdoin to raise funds to pay for his criminal defense.

    Screen shot: From a 2008 promo for an ASD millionaire co-op.

    The U.S. government warned in December 2010 that securities schemes such as AdSurfDaily and Imperia Invest IBC that spread virally on the Internet were creating tens of thousands of victims at a time. Imperia, which was smashed by the SEC in October 2010, was targeted at people with hearing impairments and gathered millions of dollars.

    Noobing, an autosurf that became popular after the ASD-related bank-account seizures in 2008 and collapsed in 2009 after the FTC took action against its parent company, also was targeted at the deaf community. Internet-based crimes and scams are creating victims in numbers America’s largest sports stadiums cannot accommodate, according to records.

    ASD gathered at least $110 million in its scheme and may have created 40,000 or more victims, prosecutors have said, asserting in January 2011 that “as far as the Government is aware, there is no available accurate compilation” of all individuals or entities that lost money in the scheme.

    “It appears from the investigation that there may be members who provided funds to ASD but whose information ASD did not enter into its database,” prosecutors said in January.

    Bowdoin, with Steward’s reported assistance, has busied himself since June to raise funds online for his criminal defense from the members he is accused of defrauding. A web entity known as “Andy’s Fundraising Army” has been sending “blast” emails for weeks to a list of ASD members that purportedly contains 77,000 names.

    Bowdoin also announced plans to complement his “Andy’s Army” fundraising efforts with a Facebook site, but no such site appears to have launched on the popular social network. At least three advertised launch dates for the Facebook site were missed.

    Meanwhile, the  “Andy’s Army” bid appears to have fallen flat, with Bowdoin stuck more than 95 percent short of his $500,000 goal after five continuous weeks of formal fundraising. Some ASD members have said they had received multiple fundraising appeals from Bowdoin in a single week.

    Screen shot: From the 2008 "millionaire" co-op promo.

     

  • UPDATE: ASD’s Bowdoin Claims Hurricane Irene Knocked His Fundraising Website Offline; Accused Ponzi Schemer Says He’s Confident Jury Will Acquit Him; Messages Follow Earlier Claims From ASD Figures That May Raise Questions About Whether An Effort To Obstruct Justice Was Under Way

    Andy Bowdoin

    In recent emails to members, accused Ponzi schemer Andy Bowdoin of Florida-based AdSurfDaily has predicted that a jury in the District of Columbia will acquit him based on the testimony of expert witnesses.

    Bowdoin, 76, has been appealing to members he is accused of defrauding in a $110 million scheme to pony up $500,000 to pay for his criminal defense on charges of wire fraud, securities fraud and selling unregistered securities.

    Formal fundraising efforts have been under way since July 26 — after weeks of online hoopla that preceded Bowdoin’s  bid raise to money from the people he is accused of scamming. Those efforts have not gone well: Bowdoin said last week that he had raised only $19,300 and was $480,700 short of his goal of raising half a million dollars.

    In an email some members received today, Bowdoin said he encountered more trouble over the weekend.

    “Our Website was down most of the weekend, due to power outages caused by [H]urricane Irene that took our server Offline,” Bowdoin advised members.

    But he assured them that the site now was back online — and that he was confident he would be acquitted.

    “When you watch my Good News Update video and read the 3 Expert Witness testimonies on our Website, you will understand why we are so confident the Jury will come back with a Not Guilty verdict on all counts against me and ASD,” Bowdoin said.

    The email was titled, “More TRUTH – Why We Will Be Found “Not Guilty”! A largely similar email ASD members reported receiving on Aug. 26 was titled, “The TRUTH – Why ASD is Not a Ponzi Scheme!”

    Why Bowdoin asserted ASD had been charged with a crime was unclear. Bowdoin was indicted as an individual in December 2010. The government already has at least three civil judgments against about $80 million seized from ASD-related bank accounts in 2008 — and has implemented a program in which ASD members who filed for remission and provided the required documentation will be compensated through the seized funds described in the civil judgments.

    The indictment against Bowdoin, which has been a public record since he was arrested in December, does not name ASD a criminal defendant. After his arrest, Bowdoin was warned by a judge not to tamper with witnesses or the jury and not to obstruct the investigation.

    Within days of Bowdoin’s arrest, some ASD members received an email that encouraged them to contact the remissions administrator and “write that you knew this was not a investment and you where (sic) purchasing advertising.”

    The email was attributed to Gary Talbert, a former ASD executive, and purported to have been based on an email conversation with Bowdoin after his arrest.

    “Got a email from Andy and he told me to go ahead and send this email out to everyone,” noted the email attributed to Talbert.

    Various email missives have encouraged ASD members either not to file for remissions or to insert addendums on the official remissions form.

    Also see this story from September 2009. Meanwhile, see this story from November 2010 — just days prior to Bowdoin’s arrest.

  • Two Days Before Remissions Deadline, ASD Members Receive Yet-Another Confusing, Highly Questionable Email That Suggests Victims Seeking Restitution Should Tell Administrator That Program Was Not An Investment

    Andy Bowdoin.

    Some AdSurfDaily members have received an email that appears to be attributed in part to Sara Mattoon, the embattled autosurf firm’s former spokeswoman. The most recent correspondence fractures facts, suggests the government has no credible witnesses or evidence in its wire-fraud and securities-fraud case against ASD President Andy Bowdoin and implies suggestions given to recipients are a legal “opinion” from a qualified expert.

    The date upon which the email was sent was unclear. At least one former ASD member reported receiving a copy of it today.

    Like previous emails, the content of the email appears to be a compendium in which Mattoon and perhaps others assembled information and passed it along as though it were fact.

    Among the claims are that federal prosecutors are creating victims out of thin air, that the government is engaging in trickery, that a pyramid-scheme case filed against ASD in Florida “was decided in ASD’s” favor, that “the government is in a very bad position to win a jury trial,” that prosecutors have “have no material tangible evidence and no credible witnesses to prove their case” — and that the remissions program is a “scam.”

    Contrary to the claims in the email, the pyramid case brought by the state of Florida was not decided in ASD’s favor. The case did not go to trial, and no judge ruled that the government’s case was fatally flawed. Moreover, no judgment was issued in ASD’s favor.

    State prosecutors said they dismissed the Florida civil case because two final orders of forfeiture already had been entered by U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer in civil litigation in federal court and that victims had a compensation remedy through the federal remissions program.

    The deadline for filing a claim through Rust Consulting Inc. — the official claims administrator — is Jan. 19. There have been repeated attempts by some ASD members to discredit Rust, which is under contract with the U.S. government to administer the program.

    A list of Florida victims already had been submitted to Rust, Florida prosecutors said. In October 2010, Florida confirmed it had dismissed the state-level pyramid case. Two months later, in December 2010, Bowdoin was charged criminally under federal law with wire fraud, securities fraud and selling unregistered securities. An investigation into his business practices has been under way since July 2008.

    Regardless, the most recent email suggests that government evil is afoot.

    “And we all need to be very pragmatic about this,” the email read in part, citing a purported “opinion” without providing the source of the opinion. “We purchased advertising legitimately. … Now it’ll be up to a real jury, and if ASD/Andy have lawyers that are even remotely competent, the verdict will be not guilty.”

    Bowdoin was arrested Dec. 1. Federal prosecutors accused him of operating a Ponzi scheme that had gathered at least $110 million. Bowdoin, 76, is free on bail.

    In the email, the criminal charges against him were pooh-poohed, apparently by the author of the “opinion.”

    “But the bottom line on all of this is twofold,” the email read. “First, the government is in a very bad position to win a jury trial – they have no material tangible evidence and no credible witnesses to prove their case. Second – all these ‘scams’ including the Rust group are ploys, most likely instigated by the government to try and turn up ‘witnesses’ who will say they have been victims of investment fraud. But those who will say that can be torn apart by the ‘Terms and Conditions’ they agreed to during Defense cross-examination. The other witnesses – the government agents (or informers) can also be torn apart during cross examination. The vote by the jury must be unanimous in a felony case BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT and the government knows that they simply don’t have the evidence or the witnesses to get by that.”

    Repeated claims have been made by some ASD members for months that the government lacked both witnesses and evidence. Despite the claims, the government announced last week in court filings that it had gathered at least 500,000 pages of emails and at least 100,000 pages of bank records as part of the probe.

    Meanwhile, prosecutors said the U.S. Secret Service had identified at least 40,000 potential ASD victims.

    Like a previous email, the most recent email also suggested that ASD members should use the remissions form to claim ASD was not an investment program. Such an approach potentially could result in a situation in which participants disqualified themselves from receiving restitution from assets seized in the case by the U.S. Secret Service.

    Prosecutors alleged that ASD was an investment business masked as an advertising company.

    Even so, some ASD members are sticking with an assertion that ASD was a legitimate advertising firm.

    “If you feel that you want to fill it out, [the claims form] must be mailed to [Rust] by 1/19/11,” the email read. “If you do choose to fill it out, then where your signature would be, you may want to write the words ‘See Addendum.’ Then attach a statement something like this (in your own words):

    ‘I am very clear that this was not an investment and that I was purchasing advertising. And, since the government shut down my advertising company and I therefore did not get the advertising I paid for, I would like to get my advertising money back from whomever is holding it now.’

    “Sign it and send it in with the forms supplied by Rust,” the email advised recipients.

    At the same time, the email solicited prayers and cautioned against working with AnShell Financial Services, a company that says it is helping some ASD members fill out the remissions form for a fee.

    Rust, the official claims administrator, has specifically disclaimed any affiliation with AnShell and has urged caution in dealing with the firm, which is approved neither by Rust nor the government.

    Some ASD members appear to be as paranoid about the work AnShell is doing for certain members as they are about the government and Rust.

    “The form you received from Sheldon Drobny, CPA/AnShell Financial Services is someone who was retained by a group of ASD/Golden Panda members to get their money back from the government,” the most recent email read. “This is the company that is holding the conference calls. If you feel you want to participate, be careful here also. Use the same attitude there: you didn’t make an investment; you purchased advertising. There is danger that this could be used against ASD also. Pray about it and decide for yourself if you want to participate.”

    The email ended by citing the name “Sara” as the sender.

    “That’s all I have for now,” the email concluded. “I am still very swamped caring for my husband and I am not a lawyer so I can’t really advise you further and answer any questions. Hope this is helpful. I still haven’t been able to process all the emails I received from ASD members in the Fall of 2009, giving me their change of e-address, so please pass it on to all ASD members you know. God’s Blessings, Sara.”

  • Now, Highly Confusing, Competing Claims About The AdSurfDaily Remissions Program Appear On RipoffReport.com; Post Fractures Facts; DON’T BE CONFUSED

    Andy Bowdoin

    First, don’t be confused. Rust Consulting Inc. is the official claims administrator under contract with the U.S. government to handle claims from victims of the alleged AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme. ASD also is known as ASD Cash Generator.

    See this document at Justia.com. It is signed by Ronald C. Machen Jr., the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, and appears on the court docket of U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer. The document lists the URL for the official claims site: http://www.adsurfdailyremission.com

    Today a highly confusing report appeared on RipoffReport.com suggesting that, not only was ASD a ripoff,  but so is the claims program. The PP Blog became aware of the report after receiving a message from Google Alerts, which the Blog uses to track mentions of ASD Cash Generator across the web.

    The PP Blog sought to contact Rust about the Ripoff Report, but it was past business hours. The Blog left a detailed message for the firm.

    Here is the headline of the Ripoff Report: “Asd cash generator ad Surf daily remission administrator Beware…scam, Internet . . .”

    Meanwhile, the report says this, “do not reply to remission forms that says from secret services asking for your bank account and social security number informations. secret services do not send out such forms asking specific account numbers. and secret services do not use post office box numbers address.”

    At the same time, the report urges readers to “report your forms to your better business bureau.”

    Other mistakes dot the Ripoff Report — for example, the Minnesota address of the claims administrator is listed as the address for ASD and the URL for the official claims site is incorrect.

    The U.S. Secret Service conducted the ASD investigation. Rust, the government-approved claims administrator, is using a Post Office Box to receive completed claims forms. The company specifically informs ASD members on the remissions site that it is asking victims to provide bank-account information so they can receive restitution by electronic deposit.

    “Payment will be disbursed by electronic funds transfer after all Remission Forms are decided,” the company notes on the website. “Therefore it is necessary to ensure that the section requiring your banking information is completed in full on the Remission Form in order to receive a remission payment.”

    The official remissions form also asks for a Social Security number or Employer Identification Number (EIN).

    Why a poster on RipoffReport.com appeared to imply that the “secret services” did not authorize the information to be gathered was unclear. The U.S. Secret Service has the duty of assisting the U.S. Department of Justice in reviewing the claims.

    The ASD case has been marked by one bizarre event after another. In recent weeks, some ASD members have tried to confuse others about the remissions process.

    ASD President Andy Bowdoin, who was indicted on felony charges earlier this month, is scheduled to make his first court appearance in the District of Columbia tomorrow.