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Tag: Heriberto C. Perez Valdes

Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho, Accused In Alleged DFRF Enterprises Ponzi Scheme, Made Donation To 2012 Obama Campaign: What Is Platinum Trade Bancorp?

Federal Election Commission records list this donation from Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho to the 2012 reelection campaign of President Obama. Filho’s employer is listed as Platinum Trade Bancorp. Red highlight/redaction by PP Blog.

In 2012, Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho, purportedly an employee of an entity known as Platinum Trade Bancorp and using the address of a mansion in Boca Raton, Fla., made a $250 campaign contribution to Obama for America, according to Federal Election Commission records.

The PP Blog is declining to publish the address of the 6,742-square-foot (est.) waterfront property, which appears not to have been owned by Filho. Records suggest the six-bedroom home has at least 6,200 square feet with air-conditioning and a separate quarters for domestic staff.

It sold for $2.025 million in August 2013, but Filho was listed neither as buyer nor seller. If he ever lived in the mansion, it appears he was a tenant, not an owner.

The donation to President Obama’s reelection campaign in Filho’s name (and listing the address of the Boca Raton mansion) was recorded on Oct. 16, 2012, just three weeks before the Nov. 6 general election that returned Obama to the White House for four more years. Obama is a Democrat.

Filho, now implicated criminally and civilly by the FBI and the SEC in the alleged DFRF Enterprises Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that traded on an international gold-mining theme, is not a U.S. citizen, according to court filings. Rather, he is a citizen of Brazil.

Campaign donations by “foreign nationals” are illegal under U.S. law. There is an exception for U.S. residents who have a green card “indicating his or her lawful admittance for permanent residence in the United States,” according to the FEC.

It is unclear whether Filho has a green card and is in the country lawfully. Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts described him July 22 as an Orlando resident and fugitive arrested the day before “coming out of a restaurant in Boca Raton.”

Sann Rodrigues, a defendant in the epic TelexFree Ponzi- and pyramid case and an alleged Filho business associate, was arrested in May 2015 on a charge of immigration fraud. Like Filho, Rodrigues is a citizen of Brazil. Prosecutors said Rodrigues lied to get a green card.

Both men have listed addresses in Florida and Massachusetts and have been implicated in alleged frauds targeted at people who speak Portuguese or Spanish.

FEC records show that the donation in Filho’s name lists him as “Chairman of the Board” of Platinum Trade Bancorp. Where the purported business was based is unclear. No such company appears to exist in Florida.

The name of the purported firm, however, is similar to the name of Platinum Swiss Trust, a company the SEC said played a role in the DFRF fraud.

Platinum Swiss Trust, the SEC alleged, is a “purported Swiss private bank that is not actually authorized to conduct banking activities in Switzerland.” It purportedly is associated with Heriberto C. Perez Valdes, 46, of Miami. Valdes is a DFRF codefendant in the SEC’s civil case.

DFRF, the agency said, advanced a story that it has a $3.1 billion line of credit with Platinum Swiss Trust and used investors money to “leverage the credit line and generate a total return of 600%.”

Darren Covar, a Florida immigration attorney who appeared with Filho and others in a DFRF promo, is listed in FEC records as a contributor to Democratic causes. He has not been accused of wrongdoing.

FEC records lists Covar as having made $2,800 in 2012 contributions, though none to Obama. These contributions consisted of $300 to the Democratic Executive Committee of Florida, and $2,500 to the Kristen Jacobs for Congress campaign. Jacobs, a Democrat running for seat in the U.S. House, lost the race to Democrat Lois Frankel, the former mayor of West Palm Beach and the former minority leader of Florida’s state house.

Whether bail has been set for Filho is unclear. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Massachusetts did not return an inquiry on the matter.

Filho made an appearance in federal court in the Southern District of Florida yesterday. Miami defense attorney David A. Howard made a “temporary” appearance for him, according to the docket of the case.

Howard did not immediately return an inquiry for comment on Filho’s bail status.

Court records suggest he is in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and will be returned from Florida to face the DFRF-related criminal charge of wire fraud in federal court in Massachusetts.

NOTE: Our thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.

Jul 29, 2015
BULLETIN: ‘The DFRF Fraud Is Much Larger Than It First Appeared,’ SEC Tells Court

BULLETIN: (2nd Update 9:46 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) The SEC has gone to federal court in Boston, alleging that “the DFRF fraud is much larger than it first appeared.”

The agency also alleges that at least one DFRF investor told investigators that he first heard of DFRF in May or June 2014 from TelexFree Ponzi- and pyramid figure Sann Rodrigues, who attended the same church. If the information is correct, it would mean that Rodrigues had knowledge about DFRF within weeks of becoming a defendant in the SEC’s April 2014 action against TelexFree.

SEC investigators initially tied Rodrigues to DFRF and alleged operator Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho in a complaint last month. New documents filed by the agency yesterday hint that other DFRF insiders also were involved in TelexFree.

Filho, described by federal prosecutors in Boston as a fugitive, was arrested July 21 in Boca Raton, Fla. on a DFRF-related charge of wire fraud. The FBI is leading the criminal investigation.

From an SEC investigator in a July 23 filing in the agency’s civil case against DFRF Enterprises, Filho, Wanderley M. Dalman of Revere, Mass.; Gaspar C. Jesus of Malden, Mass.; Eduardo N. Da Silva of Orlando, Fla.; Heriberto C. Perez Valdes of Miami; Jeffrey A. Feldman of Boca Raton; and Romildo Da Cunha of Brazil (italics and bolding added/light editing performed):

Another investor (hereafter “Investor B”) told me that he and his spouse invested a combined $61,000 in DFRF. He first heard about DFRF in May or June 2014 from Sanderley Rodrigues de Vasconcelos (“Rodrigues”). (Rodrigues is the subject of a 2007 consent judgment in a Commission enforcement action concerning the “Universo Foneclub” pyramid scheme and a defendant in the Commission’s pending action concerning the “TelexFree” pyramid scheme.) Investor B knew Rodrigues from his participation in TelexFree and as a fellow member of his church.

Rodrigues told Investor B that the minimum investment in DFRF was $50,000. Investor B decided not to invest at that time.

Investor B told me that in July or August 2014, defendants Dalman, Jesus and Silva approached him about investing in DFRF. He knew the three men through TelexFree, because when TelexFree was operating, he would meet with individuals involved in the company on a weekly basis at a hotel in Revere.

Dalman, Jesus and Silva told Investor B about DFRF, explaining that Investor B could earn up to 15% per month. They also told him that he could earn a 10% commission for referring others to DFRF.

Investor B told me that Dalman, Jesus and Silva invited him to meet with Filho at a hotel in Boston, Massachusetts in July or August 2014, which he did.

Investor B told me that, in September 2014, he and his spouse went to a meeting at DFRF’s offices at 60 State Street in Boston. Six to ten other potential investors attended this meeting, at which Dalman, Jesus and Silva spoke about DFRF. Filho later joined the meeting and gave a presentation about investing in DFRF. One of the other attendees asked Filho how DFRF could afford to pay 15% per month. Filho responded that he could take the investors’ money and grow it by a factor of six.

The Rodrigues tie to DFRF now brings the number of fraud schemes in which he has been involved at least to four: Universo, TelexFree, DFRF and IFreeX, described last year by Massachusetts investigators as a TelexFree reload scheme. By victims count, TelexFree may be the largest Ponzi/pyramid scheme in U.S. history, rivaled only by Zeek Rewards in 2012.

Rodrigues, a Brazilian, is not a U.S. citizen. He was arrested at a New Jersey airport in May 2015, upon his return from a trip to Israel. He was charged criminally with immigration fraud, amid allegations he lied to get a green card.

Like DFRF’s Filho, Rodrigues had addresses in Massachusetts and Florida. Filho also is a Brazilian.

Prosecution filings today in the criminal case against Filho assert that he is not a U.S. citizen. He has not been charged with an immigration crime and apparently has a driver’s license issued by a U.S. state, given that he has been seen driving a Lamborghini in Florida.

SEC: DFRF Fraud Numbers Rise

The SEC initially pegged DFRF last month as a fraud that had hauled about $15 million. But further investigation has led to higher numbers — in both total haul and the sum Filho is alleged to have siphoned.

Dealing with Filho first, who was alleged last month to have siphoned more than $6 million. From an SEC filing yesterday (italics added):

The documents we reviewed indicate that, since June 2014, Filho has taken more than $8.6 million from DFRF accounts for himself or his family: He has withdrawn more than $2.7 million in cash. He has used DFRF funds to pay more than $2.2 million of personal and family expenses. He has used DFRF funds to pay more than $2.5 million for luxury automobiles (a 2014 Rolls Royce, a 2015 Lamborghini, a 2014 Lamborghini, a 2013 Mercedes, a 2012 Ferrari, a 2006 Ferrari, a 2015 Cadillac, and a 2014 Cadillac) and automotive-related expenses. He has used DFRF funds to pay nearly $250,000 to members of his extended family. He has used DFRF funds to send more than $1.1 million to the IOLTA account of an attorney in Hollywood, Florida. On June 30, 2015, he used DFRF funds to wire more than $1.1 million to an entity in the Bahamas that is believed to be a law firm. Some of these figures are probably too low, because the documents we have received to date are insufficient to classify approximately $3.5 million of withdrawals from DFRF corporate accounts in June 2015.

Now, dealing with DFRF, alleged last month to have hauled $15 million. From an SEC filing yesterday (italics added/light editing performed):

The documents we reviewed indicate that, from June 2014 through June 2015, DFRF received approximately $22.8 million from more than 1,750 investors: The total may be slightly low, because the documents we have received to date are insufficient to classify approximately $160,000 of deposits to DFRF corporate accounts in June 2015.

The documents we reviewed indicate that none of the investors’ money has been used to conduct gold mining in Brazil and Mali, and that DFRF has received no proceeds from gold mining operations.

The documents we reviewed indicate that DFRF has received no proceeds from a line of credit with Platinum Swiss Trust and has had no banking transactions at all with that company.

The documents we reviewed indicate that DFRF has spent nothing on charitable activities in Africa or anywhere else.

The documents we reviewed indicate that, from June 2014 through June 2015, DFRF had no independent source of revenue except the money received from investors.

The documents we reviewed indicate that, from June 2014 through June 2015, DFRF paid approximately $1.94 million to approximately 250 likely investors for the return of investor principal or purported monthly payments.

Heriberto Valdes, who allegedly hauled $551,403 out of DFRF, has not been served the complaint, the SEC said.

“Valdes is the only defendant who has not been served and whose location is unknown,” the agency said.

Records suggest that Valdes, like Feldman, has a criminal record.

NOTE: Our thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.

Jul 24, 2015
What MLMers/Network Marketers Can Learn From BCSC’s ‘Bossteam’ Case And Similar Cases — Including The SEC’s DFRF Enterprises Action
Let’s say you’re an MLMer or network marketer. Your email inbox begins to fill up with offers for a scheme that purports to be an “advertising program” favored by famous brands. Spammers are trying to blast their way into your social-media accounts.

The messages: You’re going to be rich in no time. Beyond that, you’re going to receive valuable shares in a startup.

This was Bossteam E-Commerce Inc. — and it was a noxious Ponzi fraud whose “Inc.” designation was meaningless and served as a reminder that a corporate registration is not proof no scam is occurring.

AdSurfDaily ($119 million) was an “Inc.” running a fraud. Bernard Madoff was at the helm of an LLC involved in the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history. (NOTE: MLMers/network marketers should think about these things that next time they point to an “Inc.” or “LLC” designation” as proof of legitimacy. TelexFree, accused of operating a combined Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that gathered on the order of $1.8 billion, was both an “Inc.” and an “LLC.” Rex Venture Group “LLC” operated the Zeek Rewards scheme believed to have gathered on the order of $897 million. At one point in time, promoters of ASD, TelexFree and Zeek pointed to corporate registrations as proof no scam was occurring. The same thing happened with DFRF Enterprises, currently in the news.

As the PP Blog reported in May 2012, the Bossteam “program” surfaced in British Columbia and allegedly sold memberships for up to $5,000 each. Prospects allegedly were told they’d get paid for clicking on ads and could exchange purported “private” shares through a purported “internal trading platform.”

But “Bossteam committed fraud when they created the false impression that Bossteam members and well-known local and international businesses were paying Bossteam to advertise on its websites,” a panel of the British Columbia Securities Commission found in a decision dated yesterday. “This was untrue, as the majority of ads appearing on Bossteam’s websites were associated with Bossteam’s own accounts, and not to accounts for parties that had paid Bossteam to post their links.(NOTE: Bossteam is hardly alone in this category. Remember EAdGear?)

ASD, Zeek and TelexFree also had purported “advertising” elements.

It gets worse — and MLMers/network marketers need the learn from this history.

From the BCSC panel’s decision yesterday (italics/bolding added/spacing approximated):

The panel found that each of the respondents breached the Act by:
- distributing securities of Bossteam without first having filed a prospectus, contrary to section 61(1);
- engaging in conduct that perpetrated a fraud on those who purchased securities of Bossteam, contrary to section 57(b);
- withholding information concerning the sale of securities of Bossteam in response to a demand for production issued under section 144 of the Act, contrary to section 57.5; and
- attempting to conceal or withhold information concerning the sale of securities of Bossteam by instructing others to deny Bossteam had offered such securities to the public and to refer to the concept of online trading as being planned for the future, contrary to section 57.5.
Put another way, Bossteam first ripped off its members and then tried to draft them into an international conspiracy to cover up the fraud scheme.

The decision involved the conduct of Bossteam, Guan Qiang Zhang (also known as Victor Zhang) and Yan Zhu (also known as Rachel Zhu).

Among the panel’s conclusions was that “Zhang contravened section 57.5 of the Act by attempting to conceal information concerning the sale of Bossteam securities when he instructed others to stop referring to Shares as shares and instead call them consumer credits.”

It is common for HYIP scammers to try to tweak language to skirt securities laws. Both before and after the tweaks, the scammers may seek to dupe the fleeced masses into doing the same thing — a circumstance that leads to a flood of misinformation on the web.

One of the classic fraudulent tweaks occurs when a scheme purports to be morphing from a private offering into one that soon will trade on one or more public stock exchanges. Here is part of what the BCSC said in its May 2015 Investor Alert on the DFRF scheme.

The BCSC has become aware that [Daniel Fernandes Rojo] Filho is offering investments to British Columbians with returns of up to 15% per month. Filho is also promising that DFRF will soon be listed on a public stock exchange, after which the value of members’ investments will triple within 30 days. Members will continue to receive up to 15% per month on their investment. These returns are economically impossible. Also, when selling securities, it is illegal to represent that those securities will be listed on an exchange without certain conditions being met.

Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho also has been cited in filings as Daniel Fernandez Rojo Filho.

The SEC announced its action against Filho, DFRF and others last week. Here is part of what the agency said (italics added):

The SEC alleges that Filho and others began selling “memberships” in DFRF last year through meetings with prospective investors primarily in Massachusetts hotel conference rooms, private homes, and businesses. DFRF promoted the investment opportunity through online videos in which Filho falsely claimed that the company had registered with the SEC and its stock would be publicly traded. As DFRF’s marketing reach widened, membership sales dramatically increased from under $100,000 in June 2014 to more than $4 million in March 2015 alone.

And from the SEC’s complaint (italics added):

Since late March 2015, the defendants have claimed that DFRF is registered with the Commission, its stock is about to become publicly traded, and current investors may convert their membership interests into stock options at $15.06 per share. At first, Filho represented that public trading would start in mid-April 2015. Since then, he has announced several delays and offered various excuses. On June 17, 2015, he claimed that, although public trading has not begun, the value of DFRF stock now exceeds $64 per share.

DFRF and Bossteam were not precisely alike, but both schemes allegedly were offering frauds that operated as Ponzi schemes and duped investors with talk of trading shares. Bossteam allegedly lined up about $14 million, with DFRF coming in at about $15 million.

Bossteam has been cease-traded. Zhang and Zhu have been banned from the British Columbia securities trade. Fines and disgorgement against the pair total $28 million.

Many current online HYIP schemes share a common story of above-market returns, with shared wealth being enjoyed by the masses. These may be advanced as private or public offerings, with references to in-house platforms or public stock exchanges. The term “IPO” also is used in some schemes.

In recent years, the schemes have led to losses that cascade across the globe. The schemes may be positioned as “offshore” and therefore safe or even guaranteed. There may be accompanying claims prestigious banks or insurance companies provide financing or a guarantee against losses.

Among the SEC defendants in the DFRF case is Heriberto C. Perez Valdes, 46, of Miami. The SEC alleged that he is a manager of a Massachusetts DFRF entity “with responsibility for “all administrative and executive work.’”

The agency further alleged that Valdes also is “an administrator of Platinum Swiss Trust, a purported Swiss private bank that is not actually authorized to conduct banking activities in Switzerland. (Emphasis added.) “He has made materially false and misleading statements about DFRF in public meetings and videos posted on the internet.”

How deep did the deception go? Perhaps deep into Boston Harbor.

“On October 16, 2014, DFRF sponsored a public event on a cruise ship in Boston harbor,” the SEC alleged. “Several videos of the event were posted on the internet. In one video, Filho states that DFRF makes a gross profit of 100% on its gold production in Africa, it needs the investors’ money to ‘leverage’ its credit line in Switzerland and triple its available funds, it pays 15% per month to investors (but cannot promise to do so without violating the law), and the investors’ money is fully insured. In a second video, Valdes states that the investors’ money is held in Switzerland and is fully guaranteed.”

Like other schemes (including TelexFree), an insurance company was said to provide DFRF members a safeguard against losses.

Here is part of what the SEC alleged against DFRF defendant Jeffrey A. Feldman, 56, of Boca Raton, Fla. (Italics added.)

He is the sole officer and director of Universal Marketing Group, Inc., a Florida corporation. He claims to be the U.S. representative of Accedium Insurance Company (“Accedium”), which is based in Barbados and London. In July 2007, he filed for personal bankruptcy. In 1998, he was found guilty of fraud and forgery for having received $2.5 million in premiums from a rental car chain for insurance policies that he did not actually obtain. In 1996, the state of Florida revoked his license to sell insurance after he pleaded no contest to charges that he submitted false insurance claims for losses he supposedly suffered from Hurricane Andrew. He has made materially false and misleading statements about DFRF in public meetings and videos posted on the internet.
Jul 7, 2015
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: SEC Charges DFRF Enterprises In Ponzi- And Pyramid Scheme Case; Agency Ties TelexFree Figure Sann Rodrigues To Charged DFRF Operator Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (15th Update 4:43 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) The SEC has gone to federal court in Massachusetts, charging DFRF Enterprises and alleged operator Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho with operating a combined pyramid- and Ponzi scheme targeted at “Spanish and Portuguese-speaking communities in Massachusetts, Florida, and elsewhere in the U.S.”

Six alleged promoters also were charged.

In its complaint, the SEC ties Filho to Sann Rodrigues, a figure in the TelexFree Ponzi- and pyramid-scheme case filed by the agency last year in Massachusetts.

A stunning allegation from the SEC complaint (italics added/light editing performed):

. . . Filho has caused DFRF to pay more than $310,000 for the benefit of Sanderley Rodrigues de Vasconcelos (“Rodrigues”). Rodrigues is the subject of a 2007 consent judgment in a Commission enforcement action concerning the “Universo Foneclub” pyramid scheme, and he is a defendant in the Commission’s pending enforcement action concerning the “TelexFree” pyramid scheme. On March 21, 2015, Filho caused DFRF to pay $50,000 to a business belonging to Rodrigues. (The payment was made less than one month after Filho publicly denied any link between DFRF and TelexFree.)

On March 30, 2015, Filho caused DFRF to pay $100,000 to the same business. On April 2, 2015, Filho caused DFRF to supply more than $160,000 so that another business belonging to Rodrigues could purchase a 2008 Lamborghini sports car. There is no evidence that Rodrigues provided any services or other benefit to DFRF.

All in all, according to the SEC, Rodrigues received more than $310,000 from DFRF’s fraud scheme. He has claimed he received at least $3 million from TelexFree.

After Rodrigues was arrested in the United States in May on charges of immigration fraud, he asserted his current income was $80,000 a year, according to court filings. He also claimed to own two homes — one in Massachusetts and one in Florida — free and clear.

The PP Blog reported on June 30 that a wanted notice on INTERPOL’s website said Rodrigues was being sought by Brazil for “Tax Evasion and not obey[ing] a Judicial Order.” Though granted conditional bail in the immigration case, Rodrigues now is being held in the United States on Brazil’s warrant.

He also is implicated in a scheme known as IFreeX, the subject of a warning by the Massachusetts Securities Division last year.

The British Columbia Securities Commission issued a fraud warning against DFRF in May.

In the SEC complaint filed under seal June 30 and made public today, the agency described DFRF as an ongoing offering fraud and Filho as a thief who had siphoned investors’ outlays from the scheme.

“Filho has also used the investors’ money for his personal benefit,” the SEC charged in its 22-page complaint. “Since June 2014, he has siphoned more than $6 million out of DFRF — approximately 40% of the total received from investors. This includes more than $1.8 million in cash withdrawals, approximately $1.8 million for personal expenses (including $500,000 for travel), and almost $2.5 million to acquire a fleet of luxury automobiles.”

The scheme allegedly gathered about $15 million, the SEC charged.

“DFRF and its operators falsely claimed that they were running a lucrative gold mining business when in reality they were operating a Ponzi and pyramid scheme that preyed on investors in particular ethnic communities who stand to lose millions of dollars,” said John T. Dugan, associate regional director of the SEC’s Boston Regional Office. “Investors were not given the full story about the true value and security of their investments.”

Charged promoters include Wanderley M. Dalman of Revere, Mass.; Gaspar C. Jesus of Malden, Mass.; Eduardo N. Da Silva of Orlando, Fla.; Heriberto C. Perez Valdes of Miami; Jeffrey A. Feldman of Boca Raton; and Romildo Da Cunha of Brazil.

On Jan. 19, 2015, the PP Blog reported that DFRF was the apparent sponsor of an event in Florida that featured an appearance by Brazilian racing legend Emerson Fittipaldi. Sann Rodrigues — now jailed in the United States on a warrant from Brazil — also was seen with Fittipaldi.

Like Rodrigues, Filho is a Brazilian who has conducted business in the United States. He previously was linked to the noxious Evolution Market Group/Finanzas Forex case in 2010. The PP Blog first wrote about Filho more than five years ago, in May 2010.

A federal judge has approved an asset freeze in the DFRF case, the SEC said.

BehindMLM.com reported in May 2015 that DFRF had dropped the names of the SEC and the FBI in a YouTube sales pitch uploaded in December 2014.

From a statement today by the SEC (italics added):

The SEC alleges that DFRF Enterprises, named for its founder Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho, claimed to operate more than 50 gold mines in Brazil and Africa, but the company’s revenues came solely from selling membership interests to investors and not from mining gold. With the help of several promoters, they lured investors with such false promises as their money would be fully insured, DFRF has a line of credit with a Swiss private bank, and one-quarter of DFRF’s profits are used for charitable work in Africa. The scheme raised more than $15 million from at least 1,400 investors by recruiting new members in pyramid scheme fashion to keep the fraud afloat, and commissions were paid to earlier investors in Ponzi-like fashion for their recruitment efforts.

Rodrigues is not listed as a codefendant in the SEC’s case against Filho and the other defendants.

But the agency alleged that DFRF also had paid those defendants. Since June 2014: “approximately $521,000 to Valdes, $252,000 to Feldman, $221,000 to Silva, $56,000 to Jesus, $51,000 to Dalman, and $33,000 to Cunha.”

As was the case with TelexFree, some investors paid their sponsors directly, instead of paying DFRF, the SEC alleged.

“The amount of checks and cash that the individual defendants collected directly from investors is currently unknown,” the agency said.

Included among a “a fleet of luxury automobiles” acquired by Filho from investors’ money were a 2014 Rolls Royce, a 2015 Lamborghini, a 2014 Lamborghini, a 2012 Ferrari, a 2006 Ferrari, a 2013 Mercedes, a 2015 Cadillac and a 2014 Cadillac, the SEC charged.

Read the SEC’s DFRF complaint.

Jul 2, 2015