Month: August 2010
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BULLETIN: Montana Declares ACN Inc. A ‘Pyramid Scheme’; Cease-And-Desist Order Issued Amid Allegations Deck Is Stacked Against MLM Participants
BULLETIN: ACN Inc., a North Carolina-based multilevel-marketing company that bills itself “The World’s Largest Direct Seller of Telecommunication Services,” has been accused by the state of Montana of operating a pyramid scheme. Monica J. Lindeen, Montana’s Commissioner of Securities and Insurance, has issued a cease-and-desist order against ACN and a Notice of Proposed Agency Action.…
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DEVELOPING STORY: Feds Make Major Arrest In Tax Case Linked To Offshore Forex Fraud Scheme Known As Tradex; Arthur A. Ferdig, Who Claimed To Be ‘Taught By Angels,’ Detained On Felony Warrant
DEVELOPING STORY: Arthur A. Ferdig, who purported to be “taught by Angels and other wonderful beings of light, including the Christ Energy, Holy Spirit and more,” has been arrested and is listed as “in transit” to an unspecified federal detention facility. Ferdig, 70, was indicted under seal in April 2009 for evading taxes on income…
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BULLETIN: ‘Genesis Fund’ Operator John S. Lipton Gets 70 Months In Prison; ‘Offshore’ Forex Scheme Presaged Frauds, Lengthy Global Probes To Come
UPDATED 2:18 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) John S. Lipton, an alleged founding member and principal manager of the Genesis Fund Forex Ponzi scheme, has been sentenced to 70 months in federal prison for conspiracy to defraud the United States and tax evasion. The Genesis Fund scheme traces its roots at least to 1994 and presaged Forex,…
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BULLETIN: DO NOT INGEST: ‘Miracle Mineral Solution,’ Also Known As ‘Miracle Mineral Supplement’ Or ‘MMS,’ Produces ‘Industrial Bleach’ And Causes ‘Serious Harm,’ FDA Says
“Serious harm,” including “life-threatening low blood pressure,” may come to consumers who drink “Miracle Mineral Solution” (MMS), an “an oral liquid also known as “Miracle Mineral Supplement,†the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned. The FDA warned consumers to “stop using it immediately and throw it away.” The product is being marketed online. When used…
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MORE BAD NEWS FOR PONZI PURVEYORS: Upstart Ponzi Operator Sued By SEC After Assists From FINRA, Texas State Securities Board, Agency Says; Gregory Todd Froning Confronts Civil, Administrative Actions
EDITOR’S NOTE: Online HYIP and autosurf purveyors and their fellow “mini-Madoffs” may find the brick-and-mortar case of Gregory Todd Froning at once unsettling and instructive. In yet-another development apt to create unease in the HYIP and autosurf Ponzi worlds, a new court action by the SEC demonstrates that even “small” operators in the universe of…
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Judge Extends Asset Freeze In Matt Gagnon Fraud Case; Issues Order To Preserve Evidence And Require Weekly Financial Report To SEC
A federal judge has extended the freeze on the assets of a website operator accused by the SEC of shilling for a Ponzi schemer and then trying to extort money from the schemer when the fraud was collapsing. Severe restrictions placed on Mazu.com operator Matt Gagnon by U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh of the…