PatrickPretty.com

Tag: Today Show

  • Image Of Famed Actor And Grammy-Winner Will Smith Appears In Club Asteria House Organ Just Above ‘JOIN NOW’ Button; No Immediate Comment From His Publicist

    "ABOUT US" and "JOIN NOW" buttons — each punctuated with exclamation points — appear below this image of actor Will Smith in Club Asteria's September 2011 house organ. The PP Blog has cropped this screen shot not to show Smith's face, but his face appears in the Club Asteria promo.

    UPDATED 1:47 P.M. EDT (U.S.A. OCT. 29, 2011.)  An image of famed actor and rapper Will Smith appears in Club Asteria’s September house organ, an online glossy used by the firm to recruit affiliates across the world. It was unclear if Smith had knowledge of the promo or had authorized Club Asteria to use his likeness.

    A link to the publication featuring the image of Smith appeared on the TalkGold Ponzi forum yesterday. TalkGold is referenced in federal court filings as a place from which international fraud schemes are promoted.

    Smith’s publicists at the 42West agency in Los Angeles had no immediate comment on the promo when contacted today by the PP Blog, which provided a link to the Club Asteria publication. The entertainer’s image appears on Page 7 of the September gusher.

    Buttons using the words “LEARN MORE!”  “ABOUT US! and “JOIN NOW!” appear a short distance below the image of Smith. But readers who press the buttons do not receive information about Smith. Rather, the buttons forward to Club Asteria’s website. The “JOIN NOW” button, for instance, takes readers to Club Asteria’s registration page.

    The presence of the image of Smith, the wording and design of the page and the positioning of the buttons lead to questions about whether the “Independence Day” and “Men in Black” star had endorsed the purported Club Asteria opportunity or whether Club Asteria was trying to create the impression among readers that he was a spokesman for the company.

    In May, Club Asteria promotions were banned in Italy by the Italian securities regulator CONSOB. The agency has published its orders and findings on Club Asteria affiliate websites in Italy.

    It is common for shady promoters of multilevel-marketing (MLM) “opportunities” to plant the seed in promos that a particular product or service is endorsed by a celebrity when no actual endorsement exists.

    A headline of “Will Smith Inspires the World With Enthusiasm for Life, Work & People!” appears above the image of Smith in the Club Asteria promo.

    A deck below the headline uses these words, “An Interview With Will Smith,” suggesting that Club Asteria itself had a direct connection to him. In a short blurb below the deck, readers are told that the “interview” and “discussion” with Smith will inform them about the wisdom he gained “throughout his journey to success” and that Smith will explain “the importance of extraordinary dreams.”

    A button to a video —  apparently one that appeared on YouTube and is being reframed inside the house organ — appears below the image of Smith. When clicked, the video loads footage of an interview with Smith conducted by 60 Minutes reporter Steve Kroft (NOTE: This paragraph was edited on Oct. 29, 2011, to reflect that Kroft, not Scott Pelley, conducted the 60 Minutes’ interview.) As the video proceeds, it loads footage of Smith being interviewed by broadcaster Charlie Rose. It then works in footage of a Smith interview on NBC’s Today show and a Smith interview on the “Ellen” show. Footage from other shows also are spliced into the video.

    Club Asteria reportedly recruited more than 300,000 members in a worldwide promotional blitz that traded on the name of the World Bank. Hundreds — if not thousands — of promos for the firm claimed Club Asteria was a program that provided a weekly return on investment of between 3 percent and 10 percent. The offers were targeted at the world’s poor, with Club Asteria positioned as a company that could lift them out of poverty.

    Club Asteria was widely promoted on forums associated with Ponzi schemes and the sale of unregistered securities. Members said Club Asteria first slashed weekly payouts to members in the spring and then eliminated them. Club Asteria announced in May that its PayPal account had been frozen, a development it blamed on members.

    In various promos prior to the PayPal freeze, Club Asteria affiliates preemptively denied Club Asteria was operating a Ponzi scheme. Club Asteria managing member Andrea Lucas, whom the World Bank said in March once held a staff position at the bank, last worked for the bank in 1986 — 25 years ago.

    Lucas was described in promos for Club Asteria as a former “Director,” chairman and vice president of the World Bank. Images of Hank Needham, another Club Asteria principal, appeared in 2008 promos for AdSurfDaily.

    In August of that year, the U.S. Secret Service seized tens of millions of dollars from the personal bank accounts of ASD President Andy Bowdoin, alleging that he was presiding over an international Ponzi scheme.

    Bowdoin was arrested on criminal charges of wire fraud, securities fraud and selling unregistered securities in December 2010. His trial is pending. Like Club Asteria, ASD also was promoted on Ponzi boards such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup, which is listed in federal court filings as a place from which the alleged Pathway To Prosperity and Legisi Ponzi schemes were promoted.

    ASD, Pathway To Prosperity and Legisi created tens of thousands of victims globally and fraudulently obtained a combined total of about $250 million, according to court filings.

  • NEWS/UPDATES: Feds Charge Donald Young In Massive Ponzi In Pennsylvania; Matthew Pizzolato Pleads Guilty In Louisiana; Jeffrey Mowen Loses Cars In Utah; ‘Today’ Show Interviews Daughter Who Turned In Mom For Ponzi

    A grand jury has returned an indictment against a suburban Philadelphia man, accusing him of operating a Ponzi scheme that gathered at least $95 million and fleeced investors of more than $25 million.

    Charged criminally with mail fraud and money-laundering was Donald Anthony Young, who also has been sued by the SEC.

    Meanwhile, Matthew Pizzolato has pleaded guilty in a separate Ponzi case targeting senior citizens in Louisiana, prosecutors said.

    Pizzolato, 26, of Tickfaw, pleaded guilty to 21 counts of mail fraud, three counts of money-laundering, and single counts of wire fraud, securities fraud and witness tampering. In all, Pizzolato pleaded guilty to 27 felonies. He also was sued by the CFTC.

    At the same time, accused Ponzi schemer Jeffrey Lane Mowen has lost his monstrous collection of vehicles in Utah. The U.S. Marshals Service began selling the 210-vehicle collection at auction yesterday — April Fool’s Day.

    Marshals were authorized to sell the cars because the bill to store them cost $21,000 a month. Mowen, 47, was arrested in Panama in 2009, extradited to the United States and jailed in Utah on Ponzi charges. He later was charged in an alleged murder-for-hire plot in which he was accused of trying to recruit a fellow prisoner to kill witnesses in the Ponzi case.

    The auction had been delayed twice, but proceeded yesterday. It was billed by Erkelens & Olson Auctioneers as the “Largest collection of Muscle, Collector & Exotic vehicles ever [offered] in Utah!”

    Elsewhere, NBC’s “Today” show this morning featured a daughter who turned in her mother in a Ponzi scheme. The mother ultimately was not charged because authorities came to view her as a victim who had been recruited to sell the scheme.

    Authorities busted the California scheme, operated by Pastor Robert Jennings and Henry Uliomereyon Jones, a magnetic figure. The affinity-fraud scheme involved investments in coal and a bogus international gold deal.

    Jones was arrested in Hong Kong and extradited to the United States. He and Jennings were convicted last year.

    Kim Flanigan told Today that she reached her limit when she observed her mother, a widow, trying to recruit a widow with nine children into the Ponzi scheme. Both widows attended the same church.

    “That was my breaking point,” Flanigan told Today. (See link to story below. NBC’s “Dateline” program will feature Flanigan tonight 9 EDT.)

    In the Donald Anthony Young case in Pennsylvania, prosecutors said Young stole from investors so he could live in the lap of luxury.

    “Ponzi schemes are usually a vehicle for an unscrupulous person to live high off of someone else’s wealth,” said U.S. Attorney Michael L. Levy. “According to the indictment, this defendant helped himself to others’ fortunes, living a life of luxury, with little or no regard for the damage to our financial markets, our economy, and the reputation of the investment advisors who follow the rules.”

    A veteran FBI agent said the agency was committed to destroying Ponzi fraud.

    “The FBI views these types of financial investment Ponzi fraud schemes as significant criminal problems, because of the devastating effect they have not only on the individual victims who are preyed upon but also the effect they have on financial markets and on the overall economy,” said Janice K. Fedarcyk, special agent-in-charge of the Philadelphia Division of the FBI.

    Prosecutors and agents involved in the Pizzolato case, meanwhile, also said Ponzi fraud will not stand in the United States.

    “[Pizzolato’s]  plea demonstrates our resolve, along with our partners in federal law enforcement, including the FBI, IRS and U.S. Postal Inspection Service, to aggressively investigate and pursue those economic predators who seek to take advantage and prey upon the most vulnerable among us, including our senior citizens who most desperately need our protection,” said U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.

    Letten thanked the Office of the Louisiana Commissioner of Securities for its assistance in the Pizzolato case.

    An FBI agent said the case sends a signal.

    “This guilty plea represents once again, the FBI’s resolve to aggressively investigate financial crimes which victimize our most vulnerable citizens,” said David Welker, special agent in-charge. “It is reprehensible that Mr. Pizzalotto would target senior citizens and defraud them of their life’s savings. The FBI, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to identify and investigate frauds such as this.”

    An IRS investigator said authorities would leave no stone unturned to expose financial fraudsters.

    “This investigation shows that the appearance of success can be a mask for a tangled financial web of lies,” said Michael J. DePalma, special agent in-charge of the IRS New Orleans’ office.

    “No matter what we call this type of crime, the bottom line is that Mr. Pizzolato robbed over a hundred investors of more than $19 million and spent just about all of it,” DePalma said. “Special Agents of IRS Criminal Investigation will continue to work with our federal and state law enforcement partners and the United States Attorney’s Office to pursue evidence of criminal activity wherever it leads, leaving no financial stone unturned.”

    Visit the Today show site to read about Flanigan’s experience.

  • Data Network Affiliates Now Says Launch Is ‘Beta Test’; Adds ‘JK Wedding Entrance Dance’ Video To Sales Pitch; Former CEO May Make Statement This Week

    After delaying its launch twice in February and finally settling on a March 1 launch date, Data Network Affiliates (DNA) now describes tomorrow’s launch as a “Beta Test.”

    Meanwhile, the company has added a hugely popular YouTube video known as “JK Wedding Entrance Dance” to its website, using the video to promote DNA.

    On the YouTube site, the video and a related webpage that solicits donations for the Sheila Wellstone Institute are are used to create awareness about domestic violence. Because the video is is miniaturized on DNA’s site, the violence-prevention message is not visible unless viewers expand the size.

    At the same time, a person who identified himself as Dean Blechman, DNA’s former chief executive officer, has emailed the PP Blog, saying he no longer is affiliated with DNA in any way.

    “I am no longer the CEO of DNA,” the email said. “I have no affiliation with the company whatsoever.”

    The email could not immediately be confirmed as authentic, but the PP Blog believes the sender was Blechman. The sender did not respond immediately to a request to explain matters pertaining to DNA, saying via email  he was on vacation with his wife until Tuesday and adding that he would contact the Blog again after he returns home.

    DNA does not explain Blechman’s departure on its website, which lists an address in the Cayman Islands. Nor does the company explain why it now is describing the launch date as a “Beta Test.”

    The company, which says it is in the business of recording license-plate numbers for entry in a database, repeatedly has advertised various launch dates. Critics have raised questions about privacy matters and the propriety, safety and legality of DNA.

    Some critics have said that Phil Piccolo, a notorious figure in multilevel marketing, is associated with the firm.

    It was not immediately clear if DNA was authorized to post the “JK Wedding Entrance Dance” video on its website and use it in the context of advertising DNA. The video has received more than 43.7 million views on YouTube. Its producers created the video to share the joy of their wedding, and also to create awareness about domestic violence, according to a message linked to their YouTube website.

    An email to the producers — Jill and Kevin Heinz — by the PP Blog was not immediately returned. Among other things, the couple has appeared on the Today Show to explain their joyous, music-rich video, which features the entire wedding party dancing to the altar and has been a spectacular hit on YouTube — one with a serious message attached.

    In a page that accompanies the couple’s video, Jill is described as a PhD candidate whose work focuses on breaking cycles of violence in society. Kevin is described as a law student with a passion for social justice. The site includes a link to donate to the Sheila Wellstone Institute.

    Sheila Wellstone was a human-rights advocate. She and her husband, Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., were killed in a plane crash in 2002. Their daughter, Marcia, died in the same crash.

    DNA’s site does not reference the serious message associated with the YouTube video. Instead, it uses the video to promote DNA, under a headline of “WARNING: What happens when The Wedding Party found out about D.N.A. 5 minutes before THE WEDDING WAS TO TAKE PLACE…”