In Vague Claim, AVG Says Bank Problem Being ‘Rectified’
In yet another vague claim, AdViewGlobal (AVG) said a problem that resulted in the suspension of its bank account is being “rectified.”
AVG did not describe how the problem was being solved. Nor did it provide a date by which it expected the problem to be solved. Instead, under a three-exclamation point headline of, “AVGA Breaking News: Thanks and Good News!!!,” the company said sales were brisk.
“Tuesday member purchases continued to be good thanks to those purchases made with cash balances,” AVG said. “We appreciate your continued cooperation and purchases through cash balances through the end of the week.
“If you have had difficulty making purchases through the bank, you will be happy to know that the difficulty is being rectified.”
The company then cited unspecified banking regulations, claiming changes in the regulations limited online purchases to $2,500.
AVG previously blamed its bank-account suspension on members who wired too many transactions in excess of $9,500.
“Changes in banking regulations require that you limit online purchases to $2500 plus the processing fee of $9.00,” AVG said. “Strict banking regulations require that we eliminate bank wires and ACH transactions. We will continue to take all money orders and cashier/bank checks. To speed up the cash out process, we are eliminating all manual cash out transactions which includes checks and bank wires. We will use the debit card, Strict Pay and Solid Trust Pay. All three methods are automated.”
Unlike previous announcements about its banking problem, AVG this time included the name of the employee making the announcement: Gerald Castor.
Castor was said to be employed in AVG “Compliance.”
See this previous AVG story.
Also, see this one.
AVG has been running a 200-percent, matching-bonus program. The company has close ties to AdSurfDaily Inc., a Florida firm federal prosecutors said was operating a $100 million Ponzi scheme.
Gary Talbert, AVG’s chief exeutive officer, suddenly resigned last week. Talbert is a former ASD executive.
The resignation was announced Friday. On Monday, the banking problem was announced. Members have not been told whether the two events are connected. AVG has not said when the banking suspension occurred.
I think “rectified” means that members will be told to “shove it” when they ask for a refund or have their ads run. Isn’t that par for the course?
In thinking through the statements by AVG about their bank account being suspended, I was reminded of another similar situation like this but it was thousands of miles away in Malaysia. The same terminology was used by this company just like AVG.
What transpired in that case was the “clearing house bank,” the one resonsible for clearing all bank wires, was the bank who “suspended” handling wires for the company’s bank, not the company.
It is my understanding all banks must have a clearing house bank to handle their wires, if they are not designated as a clearing house wire bank themselves. Since we do not know the name of the bank, it is possible their bank does not have the “clearing house” authority for wires, and has to rely on another major bank to handle all wires for them. In that case, the word suspension is correct, but not in the context in which AVG used it. AFG’s bank account was not suspended, but their bank (if not a clearing house bank), would have had their account suspended by the clearing house bank for handling their wire tranfers. I hope that made sense.
The way they may be “rectifying” this is by having their bank use another clearing house bank, just like the company in Malaysia tried to do. Only problem is that when a major clearing house bank suspends an account, it is hard for the bank to find another clearing house bank to handle the wires. To resolve this it may require them to open a new account with another bank using a different company name so the previous suspension of wire transfers would not be discovered.
Having said all of this, it will be interesting to see how they “rectify” their banking dilemma. Every time I see them use the word “rectify,” I think of a low body part, and how crappy all of this is. Sorry, couldn’t resist the pun.
Hi Lynn,
With wordplay having been such a big part of the ASD scam, it’s easy to believe it’s also in use with AVG.
Appreciate your thoughts on this matter — and I was able to follow them. :-)
Thing is, there is virtually no doubt that at least part of AVG’s operation is being run from inside the United States, right in Florida.
Customer-service is taking place from there, at a minimum. And some employees appear to have U.S.-based gmail addresses. As a practical matter, wires that run through the U.S. are being used, and U.S. consumers are being targeted.
The SEC today halted yet another Caribbean Ponzi scheme, a $68 million operation run through Millennium Bank — a CD scheme, just like Stanford in Antigua.
A reader shared some details, and we wrote about it on Ponzi News. It’s worth a mention here, too. You’ve been advising about the dangers of these purported offshore “opportunities” for a long time, and pointing out the SEC’s efforts to safeguard U.S. customers.
Regards,
Patrick
P.S. I’ll pass on the pun. :-)
From Terralynn’s AVG site:
“We would like to clarify the previous notice stating that eWalletplus would be suspended starting March 27th. eWalletplus will stop taking in new transactions on March 27th but eWalletplus will still be available so all pending transactions will be completed. After March 27th all new purchases should be made through Solid Trust Pay or Strict Pay.
AVGA Management”
So in light of the “suspension” they are shutting down their own in house payment processor and giving up all the transaction fees to someone else.
Hi GlimDropper,
Hmmm. Were there TWO suspensions — the bank account and the eWalletplus account?
What I’m not clear about is cause-effect, mostly because the AVG announcements are so hard to follow.
AVG stated officially that a “bank” account had been suspended. From your post, I glean this bank-account suspension had a downstream consequence with eWalletplus.
It sounds as though an e-Gold like problem might be coming into play — operating domestically without a license and 50-state U.S. compliance.
Hope I didn’t confuse you.
Regards,
Patrick
[…] for 1st Credit Solutions and Living Legacy One LLC, according to records in Florida. See our March 25 story in which AVG, which purports to be headquartered in Uruguay, identifies Gerald Castor as a […]