BREAKING NEWS: Prosecution Seeks More Than $65.8 Million From Andy Bowdoin’s Bank Accounts; Asks For Default Entry
Federal prosecutors have filed an affidavit that seeks to give the government permanent control over more than $65.8 million seized from 10 bank accounts in the name of AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin.
Prosecutors already have permanent control over money seized from the bank accounts of Golden Panda Ad Builder in the same case.
Today’s move against ASD’s bank accounts followed quickly on the heels of a ruling Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer that Bowdoin would not be permitted to reassert claims to the money. Prosecutors said they intend to implement a restitution program for victims of the alleged ASD Ponzi scheme.
“[T]he time for filing pleadings to intervene has expired,” said Barry Wiegand, one of the prosecutors handing the case, in today’s affidavit.
In all, the government seized $65,838,999.70 from Bowdoin’s bank accounts, according to court filings.
The largest Bowdoin account contained more than $31.6 million. Another Bowdoin account contained more than $23.7 million. A third Bowdoin account contained more than $4.99 million. (An additional $107 would have made it an even $5 million.)
Three Bowdoin accounts contained the exact same amount: $1,000,338.91. Three other accounts contained smaller amounts, and one additional account contained more than $1.088 million. Bowdoin’s smallest account contained $13,286, prosecutors said.
Bowdoin surrendered claims to the money in January. He attempted to reassert his claims in February. Collyer ruled Tuesday that he would not be permitted to reenter the case.
Today’s affidavit by the prosecution asks the Clerk of Court to enter a default notice. The default would become finalized with a formal order of forfeiture from Collyer, meaning the government would perfect its title to the money.
In July, Collyer signed an order of forfeiture against assets once held by Golden Panda Ad Builder, giving the government formal title to more than $14 million seized from Golden Panda. Golden Panda ‘s assets were seized as part of the ASD probe.
Golden Panda President Clarence Busby’s five accounts — some of which also included the name of his daughter, Dawn Stowers — contained $14,045,598.07 in total, prosecutors said. The largest account contained exactly $6 million. Another Busby account contained more than $3.007 million. A third Busby account contained more than $2.282 million. A fourth Busby account contained more than $1.642 million. Busby’s smallest account contained more than $1.112 million.
In May, prosecutors tallied the ASD money as follows:
(a) $1,088,246.48 from account #[deleted by this Blog] at Bank of America, in the name of
Thomas A. Bowdoin, Jr., Sole Proprietor, DBA ADSURFDAILY;
(b) $31,674,039.13 from account #[deleted by this Blog] at Bank of America, in the name of
Thomas A. Bowdoin, Jr., Sole Proprietor, DBA ADSURFDAILY;
(c) $937,470.18 from account #[deleted by this Blog] at Bank of America, in the name of
Thomas A. Bowdoin, Jr., Sole Proprietor, DBA ADSURFDAILY;
(d) $13,286.89 from account #[deleted by this Blog] at Bank of America, in the name of
Thomas A. Bowdoin, Jr., Sole Proprietor, DBA ADSURFDAILY;
(e) $403,791.04 from account #[deleted by this Blog] at Bank of America, in the name of
Thomas A. Bowdoin, Jr., Sole Proprietor, DBA ADSURFDAILY;
(f) $4,999,893.00 from account #[deleted by this Blog] at Bank of America, in the name of
Thomas A. Bowdoin, Jr., Sole Proprietor, DBA ADSURFDAILY;
(g) $23,721,256.25 from account #[deleted by this Blog] at Bank of America, in the name of
Thomas A. Bowdoin, Jr., Sole Proprietor, DBA ADSURFDAILY;
(h) $1,000,338.91 from account #[deleted by this Blog] at Bank of America, in the name
of Thomas A. Bowdoin, Jr., Sole Proprietor, DBA ADSURFDAILY;
(i) $1,000,338.91 from account #[deleted by this Blog] at Bank of America, in the name
of Thomas A. Bowdoin, Jr., Sole Proprietor, DBA ADSURFDAILY;
(j) $1,000,338.91 from account #[deleted by this Blog] at Bank of America, in the name
of Thomas A. Bowdoin, Jr., Sole Proprietor, DBA ADSURFDAILY.
Golden Panda money was tallied as follows in May:
(k) $2,282,999.72 from account #[deleted by this Blog] at Bank of America, in the name of
Clarence Busby Jr. and Dawn Stowers, DBA Golden Panda Ad Builder Deposit
Account;
(l) $1,112,978.42 from account #[deleted by this Blog] at Bank of America, in the name of
Clarence Busby Jr. and Dawn Stowers, DBA Golden Panda Ad Builder Operating
Account;
(m) $1,642,039.08 from account #[deleted by this Blog] at Bank of America, in the name of
Clarence Busby Jr. and Dawn Stowers, DBA Golden Panda Ad Builder Cashout
Account;
(n) $6,000,000.00 from account #[deleted by this Blog] at Bank of America, in the name
of Golden Panda Ad Builder; and
(o) $3,007,580.85 from account #[deleted by this Blog] at Bank of America, in the name
of Golden Panda Ad Builder.
The government seized more than $79.88 million combined from the bank accounts of ASD and Golden Panda.
At the end of the day, this filing by the Prosecution leaves us with the same question on the tip of our tongues that we asked when the initial asset seizure took place.
“Where’s the rest of the money?”
How much money is there? I don’t know the answer, neither do the government. All they know is how much has been seized so far. One of the reasons it will take a long time for the victims to get any money back is because the scammers hide money in Antigua, for example. This money has to be traced and repatriated. Cars, water toys and buildings have to be liquidated (sold) – by law they have to get the best price possible, which can take time.
“Where’s the rest of the money?” – The CEP prosecution shows that it has most likely to have been spent and is unrecoverable.
One of the painful lessons the victims of Bowdoin/AdSurf Daily are going to learn is that there is no “rest of the money”
It must be remeembered that with no “outside sources of income” EVERY SINGLE cent expended from the inception of this fraud IS “the rest of the money”
If Bowdoin were to be believed, and there was, at some stage, 100,000+ members, then EVERY SINGLE CENT any one of them received from ASD was drawn from someone elses’ deposit.
I have no doubt there IS money/ies hidden, but, the very nature of the ponzi beast means it is highly unlikely to be anywhere near the “rest of the money” in total.
alasycia: “Where’s the rest of the money?â€
I was thinking the same thing.
Why is it and/or how is it that the uncashed cashier’s cheques that were seized by the secret service and supposedly deposited into a seperate account(s) continuously go unmentioned and unaccounted for?
Here is the original secret service press release regarding additional monies seized
http://www.secretservice.gov/press/GPA16-08_ASDRelease.pdf
Where are these funds?
Ummmm……
Is there any proof whatsoever that there is/was a pile of uncashed cashier’s checks? Lots of speculation, and really the only evidence are Bowdoin’s off-the-record words to the members. Nothing has ever appeared in any court documents, either by the government or by Bowdoin et al. Hmmmm….. could it be Andy lied again? Could it be there never were these mysterious uncashed checks? See PP’s article from March 30 for more speculation…..
In my opinion, the prosecution had been dealt 4 aces and a joker. Bowdoin has nothing.
1. The average Ponzi prosecution takes 4 years, we are a bit over 1 year into this saga.
2. The civil matter, pending appeal, has just been settled. Bowdoin delayed the proceedings by 10 months but ultimately lost on all points. In addition, he’s made statements that can be used against him in any criminal prosecution. He’s shown that he is has no intention of co-operating unless he gets to decide the outcome, namely he gets to name the terms of the settlement. The judge ruled as much in her decision.
3. Who says the prosecution is showing their hand? The additional accounts and monies may be the subject of criminal charges going forward. The prosecution has the civil ruling in hand and can introduce it as evidence. Bowdoin has shown no inclination to co-operate in any way with the investigation. The prosecution will need to show intent by Bowdoin to get favorable rulings to their motions. Bowdoin’s lack of co-operation and demonstrated “gamemanship” could easily be a factor in granting prosecution motions which could be key to prosecuting not only Bowdoin, but others as well.
If you were the prosecution, would you show all your cards at once if had no need? Not me. I’d save them for the big hand. In my opinion, the upcoming criminal prosecution will not be limited to Bowdoin and will, hopefully, have some far reaching implications for those who promote these schemes.
How’s Andy paying for his high-priced legal talent?
I agree that there’s been lots of speculation and little documented besides what’s been introduced in the civil case.
Personally, I think the civil matter was just the tip of the iceberg and that the speculated upcoming criminal case will contain much more of interest. The prosecution seized the funds after little more than a month of investigation into ASD. They’ve now had over a year to gather evidence and follow the money trail.
I refer you to my previous post.
http://www.secretservice.gov/press/GPA16-08_ASDRelease.pdf
There is nothing speculative about the Secrect Service having seized a total of $93.5 million dollars. That’s $27.7 million more that what PP has reported as money deposited in BOA accounts owned by Andy Bowdoin. Again, I ask, where are these additional funds? And, Where did they come from if not from monies(i.e. checks) sent by members to ASD that were seized before they could be deposited into an account owned by Bowdoin.
arnet,
Let me add to my March 30 column. Here’s the URL. Under the URL, I’ve added some things to think about:
https://patrickpretty.com/2009/03/30/the-mystery-of-some-of-the-asd-money/
I have seen various reports — virtually exclusively from ASD members — that the cashier’s checks totaled approximately $40 million. This figure appears to have been arrived at by comparing the seizure amount reported initially — $53 million — to the total ($93.5 million) cited in Secret Service news release issued August 18, about two weeks after the initial seizure.
So, the presumptive math in that case looks as follows:
$93.5 million – $53 million = $40.5 million — or roughly $40 million, as reported by ASD members, with the roughly $40 million purportedly being the cashier’s checks.
Prosecutors have not spoken to this issue. There may be a reason why:
CAUTION: Readers are cautioned I am speculating here.
On Aug. 18, 2008, the Secret Service said it “has identified and frozen additional funds, raising the total of assets seized to more than $93.5 million.”
The Secret Service did not identify the source of those funds — but it did note they were “frozen.”
I do not know if the source of those funds was the cashier’s checks.
What I DO know is that the government, in May 2009, announced it had placed $79.88 million in a U.S. Customs Suspense account. That figure appears to represent the total amounts in the 15 bank accounts held by Andy Bowdoin (ASD) and Clarence Busby (Golden Panda.)
If the sum of $79.88 million DID NOT include cashier’s checks — meaning it consisted ONLY of the money already on deposit in the bank accounts at the time of the Aug. 5 formal seizure — then it PERHAPS suggests that “only” about $13.62 million in cashier’s checks was seized.
I arrived at that number by subtracting $79.88 million (Suspense account) from $93.5 million (Secret Service report about seizure total.)
BUT — and this is a BIG BUT — a discrepancy of $13.62 million might not actually exist.
Why? (Again, this is speculation.)
* Some banks MIGHT have permitted customers to stop payment on the cashier’s checks. It is POSSIBLE that, when the government deposited the checks, some of them bounced because the banks had stopped payment.
* This, coupled with various other reconciliations, COULD HAVE wiped away the seeming discrepancy of $13.62 million, thus making the $79.88 million figure the remaining balance AFTER all reconciliations were performed.
IT ALSO IS POSSIBLE — and I stress POSSIBLE — that the case actually is proceeding on TWO separate tracks, one civil (forfeiture) and one criminal — and that the CRIMINAL portion of the case is UNDER SEAL.
The Secret Service citation of $93.5 million COULD INCLUDE MONEY THAT WAS SEIZED in the CRIMINAL matter, in addition to the forfeiture matter. Some ASD members have reported that the Secret Service seized bank accounts in addition to the 15 accounts held by Bowdoin and Busby.
If this is so, IT IS POSSIBLE THAT MONEY IS BEING HELD SEPARATELY IN THE CRIMINAL CASE and is not part of the $79.88 million in the forfeiture case.
Why two tracks? It’s POSSIBLE that taxes are unpaid, and that the government MAY BE CONTEMPLATING MAKING ITSELF AS WHOLE AS POSSIBLE FROM PROCEEDS HELD IN THE CRIMINAL CASE, as separate and distinct from funds held to compensate victims in the forfeiture case (CIVIL).
It would make sense. Victims get paid from the forfeiture funds, and the government gets paid from a separate fund in the criminal matter.
NOTE: I could be WRONG ABOUT ALL OF THIS.
Criminal complaints against X number of people could exist under seal. ASD acted more like a confederacy than a business, and people appear to have been in position to cherry-pick funds before they even arrived at ASD. Those cases COULD be proceeding on a track separate from the forfeiture case.
I have not seen search-warrant applications in the ASD case and search-warrant inventory returns. This tells me that X number of records may be filed under seal in a bid to maximize the size of the estate and minimize the opportunity for DEFENDANTS to hide/spend money.
Now, amid all this speculation, let me conclude that I believe there is ZERO chance that the government has squirreled away ASD money for some nefarious purpose.
I know full well that some ASD members desperately need to believe that the government is in the wrong here and is partying with the money.
Haven’t seen one shred of evidence that anything untoward has occurred on the government side. What I have seen is a bunch of ASD crackpots and conspiracy theorists doing their best to demonize the prosecution — and this after ASD could not demonstrate meaningful revenue beyond members’ payments at the 2008 evidentiary hearing.
Patrick
I have no doubt there IS money/ies hidden, but, the very nature of the ponzi beast means it is highly unlikely to be anywhere near the “rest of the money†in total.
Right. I have no difficulty in believing that. There are millions paid into to ASD that have never appeared anywhere. The last rallies alone brought in a declared 95$ million and according to other sources the figure was nearer 150$ million. When ASD was raided there was nothing like that amount in the accounts. Thousands of people were sending in money through the BoA and other means.
You are right. None of the ASD victims will ever see a cent of the rest of the money. That ids long gone and far away. It doesnt change the question though – Where is the rest of the money? And the answer is that Bowdoin and Friends knew and probably spent or salted it away and the victims of ASD will receive the percentage of what was seized and the rest will never be recovered.
Thanks Andy.
Patrick,
Thank you for your speculative theories. I guess in the end it will all become crystal clear or at least I am hoping that some reasonable explanation will eventually be given by the prosecution. I believe, in this land of the free, those innocently and negatively affected by this fiasco are at the least entitled to that.
Arnet
Additionally, ASD supporters report that several promoters have had their bank accounts seized. It’s likely those accounts are not part of the accounting in the civil case as the seizure happened at a later date. How much did people such as Fava, Bales, Shoop and others receive?
Bales was interviewed in an Iowa newspaper and was glowing regarding her profitability. In each Ponzi I have followed, the early birds and insiders flash large checks to prove they were paid. The seminars would likely not have been as successful if people were not shown some sort of “proof”. Each of the seminars were reported to have brought in more than $20 million.
Personally, I believe that millions were paid out to the insiders, early birds and other promoters. Whether those funds are recoverable or not only the prosecution knows at this point. As the court documents to date only mention accounts under Bowdoin’s control, I strongly believe that other accounts will be part of the criminal prosecution but that’s speculation.
Also speculation but rumored is that at least some cash was channeled to destinations unknown. It could easily be sitting in a safe or safety deposit box. Who knows.
What is known is that Bowdoin has had the means to pay his attorneys even after his accounts have been seized.
Patrick, some of that $13 million could be made up of the value of property, cars, water toys, PCs and other stuff. Other money could be hidden away in eg. Antigua or StrictPay or even the CEP payment processor.
arnet,
You are of course right wrt the $93.5 MM vs. what has been reported, and the Secret Service post is revealing for what it does not say. It in no way alludes to “cashier’s checks left laying around” as claimed by the Surf’s Up people. Instead, it refers to assets seized. As Patrick speculates, these assets could be in a variety of forms, including seizures from the accounts of insiders. Still, it is curious that we’ve yet to hear about what those extra seized assets are and who they purportedly belonged to……
Arnet,
I agree that ASD members are entitled to a reasonable explanation by the prosecution. I believe they’ll get one at an appropriate time.
Patrick
Patrick:
If my memory servers me right then I missing checks were mentioned at the hearing that Andy requested and did not show up for. In that hearing one of Andy’s supporters said that he had found a box of checks after the raid and that he had tried to give them to the Secret Service and they told him to send them back to their owners. To the best of my knowledge they were never sent back. Therefore that might be what Andy is living on.
Jack,
Here is what Andy said about the Secret Service in an Aug. 12, 2008, conference call, according to a transcript circulated by members:
“Now, to show how inefficient they were in doing their search at the office, they overlooked several piles of cashier’s checks.
“There was one that was made out for several hundred thousand dollars. Federal agents were present at the bank, and one of our people turned them in and said, ‘Here, you overlooked these.’ They went ahead and made a deposit so that they could seize that money.
“The next day [employees] found a little over a million dollars in checks that [the Secret Service] had missed. And they took them to the Secret Service office in Tallahassee and gave that to them. Monday, back in the office, they found a few more checks at the office totaling about $40 thousand to $50 thousand. They took those to the Secret Service office in Tallahassee, and they said they didn’t want any more money. They said to send it back to the members.
“Now, why didn’t they send all the cashier’s checks back that they took, back to the members? Why didn’t they do that, if they were looking out for the people? If they had been concerned about the people, they would have. The government has done a great injustice to these people by taking those cashier’s checks and cashing those checks into the U.S. Treasury.â€
Patrick
Somehow I don’t think our government agencies are that lackadaisical in their duties. lol.
There is a simple solution to this. All that has to be done is have Bob G. post what happened. After all, he knows EVERYTHING about all these hidden monies, bank accounts, etc., etc.. I think Bob should post all he knows here, don’t you? I mean, he is always bragging about how much he knows, here is his chance to actually prove it.
Wait, I know the answer to why he won’t. Other than because he can’t, he is under an NDA and can’t disclose anything. Right Bob?
Future historians, should they ever look back at the “era of the internet ponzi” will doubtless puzzle at how so many people persistently believed a single, solitary which came out of the Bowdoin/ASD camp as being “fact”
How those who, having been made aware of, and superficially accepting the fact the whole saga was a scam from beginning to end, still question the integrity of the prosecutors.
Here we have a fraudster who managed to even deceive people as to the address from which he operated, yet people believe HIS story of the supposed “missing” $90+ million.
People, even those supposed “converts” are prepared to believe the Secret Service, IRS or DoJ somehow spirited away $90million+ dollars based on:
“Bowdoin said”
“According to people who were there”
“Based on the number of people at the rallies”
‘Bob Guenther told me”
“OK, so Bowdoin lied about the medal, his criminal record, it was a fraud, what he did with the money, the Russian connection, the fact it was HIS money and the actual address of the shop, but he’s not lying when he talks about $90million dollars laying around in boxes”, OH, and the SS, IRS, FBI, DoJ ARE lying”
For goodness’ sakes, do the math.
When an “autosurf” has no outside income and is paying out 125% of members deposits, and claims 100,000 members AND rakes off money from the top AND pays out insiders AND operates for 18 months AND pays out expenses AND buys jewelery and toys AND buildings AND phantom credit card fees AND god knows what else
T
There is little or no money left, anyway.
The fact that there was ANY cash in the accounts is an anomaly in itself.
That’s just how a ponzi works when it’s “paying” such high rates.
The Madoff ponzi was an exception only because Madoff managed to draw a balance between what was being “paid,” the going rate of the financial markets which DID give him some income and the incoming deposits.
Bowdoin had no such checks and balances in place, but, instead kept the outgoings at the 125% rate at all costs.
[…] See Nov. 13 story on prosecution filing. […]
[…] in a single bank account from his alleged “advertising” Ponzi scheme. It’s also less than one-half the total sum ($65.8 million) the U.S. Secret Service seized from 10 Bowdoin bank […]
Got all my ASD money back from the AG office last year! I wished all Ponzi scheme investigation was as efficient as the Florida AG office. Still waiting for Legisi….