Massachusetts Securities Division

PP Blog Tag archives on references to "Massachusetts Securities Division."

Merrill’s U.S. Plea Requires Him To Cooperate With Brazilian Federal Police

Merrill's U.S. Plea Requires Him To Cooperate With Brazilian Federal Police

If Brazil’s Federal Police wish to ask him about TelexFree’s involvement in wire fraud and an underlying conspiracy, James Merrill is required to provide a “complete and truthful proffer,” according to the terms of his plea agreement with U.S. prosecutors in Massachusetts. Merrill, 55, of Ashland, Mass., also is required to cooperate with U.S. agencies that […]

TELEXFREE: Prosecutors Docket Prospective Witness List And Exhibits Against James Merrill: Understanding The Background

TELEXFREE: Prosecutors Docket Prospective Witness List And Exhibits Against James Merrill: Understanding The Background

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story, which easily could be titled “What NOT To Do In MLM,” summarizes a few of the witnesses and exhibits the U.S. government may use against TelexFree’s James Merrill when his trial gets under way Oct. 24 in Massachusetts. The background provided below is based on research by the PP Blog. Prosecutors filed their witness/exhibit […]

‘WINGS NETWORK’: Court Orders Disgorgement Of Tens Of Millions Of Dollars In Pyramid/Ponzi Case — Plus, Prison Sentences Ordered In eAdGear Case

'WINGS NETWORK': Court Orders Disgorgement Of Tens Of Millions Of Dollars In Pyramid/Ponzi Case -- Plus, Prison Sentences Ordered In eAdGear Case

Back in February 2015, the SEC brought a Ponzi- and pyramid action against the alleged operators of “Wings Network,” alleging a cross-border MLM fraud that had gathered tens of millions of dollars. Massachusetts Commonwealth Secretary William Galvin, head of the Massachusetts Securities Division, charged Wings Network and some individuals in 2014. The SEC announced today […]

BULLETIN: SEC Of The Philippines Calls EmGoldEx A Ponzi Scheme That Spawned Cascading Frauds

BULLETIN: SEC Of The Philippines Calls EmGoldEx A Ponzi Scheme That Spawned Cascading Frauds

EDITOR’S NOTE: Officials in the Philippines not only are using securities laws in the EmGoldEx prosecution, but also a relatively new law against cybercrime in that nation. This potentially could stiffen penalties. As noted below, EmGoldEx also caused trouble in the United States. UPDATED 10:43 A.M. ET U.S.A. EmGoldEx was a Ponzi scheme that morphed into entities known […]

TelexFree Members In Massachusetts Get Payout From Bank Fund

About 14,000 TelexFree members in Massachusetts have received a payout from a $3.5 million fund set up last year as a result of a settlement between the state Securities Division and Fidelity Co-Operative Bank, the office of Commonwealth Secretary William Galvin said today. “While this money does not make the TelexFREE victims whole, the distribution does […]

Sann Rodrigues Released On ‘Conditions’

Sann Rodrigues Released On 'Conditions'

TelexFree and IFreeX promoter Sann Rodrigues has been released on “conditions,” including “the surrender of his passport and the passports belonging to his family members, a $200,000 secured bond, 24-hour electronic monitoring, and home confinement.” A U.S. Magistrate Judge in the District of New Jersey imposed the conditions on Rodrigues, according to a statement today […]

WCM777: More Theft And Money Laundering MLM-Style

WCM777: More Theft And Money Laundering MLM-Style

“Many investors gave cash to the company and to their leaders (or upline sponsors) who then deposited the cash along with other investor funds.” — Krista L. Freitag, court-appointed receiver in the WCM777 pyramid- and Ponzi case, Feb. 27, 2015 EDITOR’S NOTE: Tens of millions of dollars allegedly flowed through WCM777 and related entities. At […]

EDITORIAL: Creeping Up On MLM Perdition

EDITORIAL: Creeping Up On MLM Perdition

EDITOR’S NOTE: The MLM “program” known as Wings Network is alleged to have operated through two business entities that used the name “Tropikgadget.” The SEC’s case, announced Friday, is filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. That’s the same venue in which the agency’s epic TelexFree case was filed last year. There […]

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: SEC Calls ‘Wings Network’ A ‘Ponzi And Pyramid Scheme’; Firms, Executives And A Dozen Promoters Charged

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: SEC Calls 'Wings Network' A 'Ponzi And Pyramid Scheme'; Firms, Executives And A Dozen Promoters Charged

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (14th update 3:19 p.m. ET U.S.A.) The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has gone to federal court in Massachusetts, alleging the “Wings Network” MLM “program” is a Ponzi and pyramid scheme that gathered at least $23.5 million. Wings Network purported to offer “digital and mobile solutions to customers, including apps […]

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Bankruptcy Trustee Says TelexFree Was ‘Pyramid Scheme’ That Gathered As Much As $1.8 Billion

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Bankruptcy Trustee Says TelexFree Was 'Pyramid Scheme' That Gathered As Much As $1.8 Billion

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (10th Update 8:53 p.m. ET U.S.A.) In his first formal report to the Massachusetts bankruptcy court, TelexFree Trustee Stephen B. Darr calls the company a “pyramid scheme” that may have involved 1 million or more participants globally and gathered as much as $1.8 billion through arms in the United States […]

TelexFree/iFreeX Figure Sann Rodrigues Appears In Car With Emerson Fittipaldi; Is Brazilian Racing Legend Being Duped By MLM Huckster?

TelexFree/iFreeX Figure Sann Rodrigues Appears In Car With Emerson Fittipaldi; Is Brazilian Racing Legend Being Duped By MLM Huckster?

UPDATED 2:14 P.M. ET U.S.A. It is not unusual for financial fraudsters to seek to rub elbows with famous people or to imply ties to them as a means of sanitizing purported “opportunities” or accenting their own bona fides. Recent examples of this include Florida-based Ponzi-schemer/racketeer Scott Rothstein, who mixed with the elite as his […]