‘Paperless Access’ Video May Seal Bowdoin’s Slide Into Infamy
Andy Bowdoin
UPDATED 10:45 A.M. EDT (U.S.A.) History may record that ASD President Andy Bowdoin’s final slide into infamy began last week with the release of a video for Paperless Access, a new surf company.
Some ASD members, including members of the Pro-ASD Surf’s Up forum, reacted with anger and horror. Surf’s Up predictably went into damage-control mode by ending debate on the subject, but it was too late. This genie refused to go back in the bottle.
Incredibly, Bowdoin positioned PaperlessAccess as a way members could recapture funds federal agents seized in August as part of the ASD Ponzi scheme investigation. Although insisting he was not involved with the Paperless Access business, Bowdoin did not name the company owners in his video pitch. Nor did he say where the company was located.
Nor did Bowdoin describe how the company was legal, choosing instead to make the vague claim that Paperless Access employed a business model “based solely on outside revenue.” Bowdoin didn’t mention his own name in the video. Nor did he mention the name of ASD.
No, with nothing that resembled clarity, Andy Bowdoin told members to sign up for Paperless Access — and this only a few days after he acknowledged in court filings that ASD was operating illegally when agents seized tens of millions of dollars last summer.
One of the ways the video can be construed is as a fail-safe for Bowdoin: He is a defendant in a private racketeering lawsuit brought by ASD members. One question, of course, is whether he is trying to minimize the number of plaintiffs against him by telling people they can get back their money by joining Paperless Access.
Another question the video raises is whether Bowdoin is trying to limit the number of complaints ASD members file with the government, which intends to implement a refund program.
Within hours of the release of the Paperless Access video, web records surfaced that showed Paperless Access was using virtually the same template ASD used in June 2007 — right down to the FAQs. The company called itself an “Income Generator”; ASD had been a “Cash Generator,” and Paperless Access used “viewing earnings” to describe what ASD called “rebates.”
Surf’s Up, doing what it does, deleted complaints about Bowdoin’s decision to turn over the ASD database to Paperless Access. Members’ private information now is in the hands of people Bowdoin wouldn’t identify.
Think about what just happened: Bowdoin, who said he spent $800,000 to try to get back money the government seized from him, submitted to the forfeiture in January. He didn’t tell members. They found out about it in the newspaper and by reading Blogs. Nor did Bowdoin tell members about a second forfeiture complaint that had been filed against assets tied to ASD in December.
The December forfeiture complaint described how Bowdoin’s family members used company money to buy cars, water equipment and haul trailers — and then used company funds to pay off the mortgage on the home of Bowdoin’s stepson, George Harris.
Harris is a trustee in AdViewGlobal (AVG), yet another autosurf with ASD ties.
Members again learned about unsettling events from the newspaper and Blogs. Bowdoin didn’t tell them; he simply vanished from the stage. While he was off-stage, some of the Surf’s Up Mods created a promotional site for AVG — after receiving ASD’s official endorsement in November.
In late February, Bowdoin resurfaced. He blamed his defeat on his paid attorneys. He changed his mind about submitting to the forfeiture and started acting as his own attorney — all while AVG announced it was receiving advice from Pro Advocate Group.
A man named Karl Dahlstrom is associated with Pro Advocate Group, which says it can help people practice law without a license. Dahlstrom was sentenced to 78 months in prison in the 1990s for securities fraud.
Securities fraud is one of the elements in the ASD case. It could be one of the elements in any future case that might evolve against AVG or Paperless Access.
All of this was done while Bowdoin was choosing not to respond to the RICO lawsuit filed against him by ASD members. In a prospective class-action, the members accuse Bowdoin of racketeering — and Bowdoin’s response was to ignore the lawsuit and star in a video for Paperless Access.
The theory behind the RICO lawsuit is that Bowdoin, ASD attorney Robert Garner and Golden Panda Ad Builder President Clarence Busby engaged with unnamed parties in a conspiracy to defraud. The plaintiffs claim the defendants committed indictable racketeering offenses.
Now Bowdoin is starring in a video for unnamed parties at Paperless Access, as controversy swirls around every square inch of the ASD and AVG operations.
For its part, one of the first acts by Paperless Access was to turn over its brand to Andy Bowdoin, a convicted felon and suspected racketeer. The decision boggles the mind.
Bowdoin, however, has lost what once was a considerable support base, his celebrity days at an end, the vestiges of his reputation propped up by Surf’s Up Mods and a handful of remaining loyalists.
People want their money back. They’re growing increasingly tired of Bowdoin’s pro se legal pleadings, and the release of the Paperless Access video well may be recorded as the singular event that cemented his place in infamy.
It’s a shame the discussion on Surfs Up was closed for further posts, but at least the discussion is still acessible for reading, although now buried on page 2 of discussions.
For some the video for PaperlessAccess was bad enough, but the statement the database has been given/leased/sold to an unknown entity started by unknown founders infuriated many who had the opportunity to repond before the discussion was shut down.
As you wrote, Patrick, Andy might be “trying to limit the number of complaints ASD members file with the government, which intends to implement a refund program,” but what he’s done by this action was actually to move some people to contact the FTC, FBI, and William Cowden with statements expressing concern over possible identity theft.
Patrick:
Having watched the video several times, a few things came to my attention.
1. Andy claims he has nothing to do with Paperless Access, yet he is being the spokesman for Paperless Access.
2. Paperless Access has the ASD database, and I seriously doubt Andy gave it to them out of the goodness of his pea-picken heart. In short, I believe he sold it. I think he sold it because he needs cash. But the mere fact Paperless Access has the database means that Andy is a part of them regardless of what he claims.
3. Andy just seemed to be going through the motions, and there was no real passion in it. I am sure he was also paid to do this video. Thus again making him a part of Paperless Access contrary to his statements.
4. Why would Paperless Access want him as their spokesperson if he was not a part of them, especially with his reputation? One of the jobs of a spokesperson is to make people want to buy, join, or have what the spokesperson is offering. After seeing this video, did you feel inspired, a need to join, or excited about joining? At least he didn’t claim that Paperless Access was going to make 100,000 Millionaires, well at least not yet.
5. I think that Andy has totally under estimated his lack of credibility with the whole ASD membership. His “Trust Me” mantra doesn’t sell now. All the “Thank You’s” from the Surf’s Up forum made him believe the majority of the members were still behind him, but now he will soon learn they are a very, very small minority now; and even those numbers have gone down with this latest move of his.
6. Why did Paperless Access think having the database would be of any value? You have AVGA, AGW and BAS all competing for the same membership base of ASD, all had a giant headstart on Paperless Access, and it is believed they too had the ASD membership database. I think that Andy still believes he has the support of almost all of the membership, and thus they would flock to this new venture because he was pitching it. For Paperless Access to believe this means they have not done their homework for Marketing 101, or any due diligence. To be honest, I don’t even think they know what the term due diligence means.
Now what would be really interesting is to see just how much he sold the database for, if he indeed sold it, or he gave it to them. The reason why this would be interesting to know is the “faithful” would finally see just how much value the 100,000+ member database was really worth. They all seem to believe the database is what would attract major corporations to want to do business with ASD, when reality is this database is nothing more than a speck to a major corporation’s advertising targets. If he didn’t sell it to Paperless Access, this is even more revealing as to what value Andy placed on the membership and the database. Revealing this would be the final straw some need to understand ASD was not this super duper advertising giant Andy tried to portray it to be, and they believed it to be.
I believe the bulk of the money he had in the bank in Antigua has been frozen due to the Stanford investigation going on there. The amount of money he can remove is very limited and he needs more than they are allowing him to withdraw at this time.
I also think Andy is jealous and feels if Busby can start up a new venture, then he should be able to do so too. After all, they were both running illegal companies, so why should Busby get a free pass and not him? He hoped by saying he had nothing to do with the company would keep him out or hot water with the Feds and the Florida AG. Of course they can always request the corporate documents, bank account statements, etc. to find out if he is or isn’t involved as claimed.
Andy’s involvement with Paperless Access is far more than he is willing to admit, or wants known. That is just my opinion. It is possible one day the truth will be known, and that should prove very enlightening.
Hi Marie,
Thanks for your note. As you point out, people were steamed about the database transfer. And to think that it was transferred to people Bowdoin didn’t even identify.
It makes a person shake his or her head.
Patrick
Hi Lynn,
Wow. Thanks for sharing your compelling thesis. It must have taken some time to do that. Very much appreciated.
It would be interesting to know if Bowdoin got the money out of Antigua before the Stanford collapse and the ripple effects across the Caribbean and into Central and South America.
The three so-called clones — AVG, BAS and AGW, have been in full bonus mode for weeks now. AVG, I believe, currently is pitching a 200 percent, matching-bonus deal.
How exciting . . .
Thanks, Lynn.
Patrick
With every step he takes, Andy Bowdoin loses a few more supporters.
What is still worrying is that he still has some – the hard core – who, for whatever motives they may have, as still playing the “trust me” card, on their own account and are still pulling in victims.
One suspects that the amongst the few there may be some of the most desperate victims from ASD who are trying to recoup their losses, as well as the usual players. The amorality is chilling.