Are MPB Today Members Posing Security Risk To Bank That Is Operating Under FDIC Consent Order? 2×2 Matrix Cycler Fans Publish Check-Waving Videos On Websites, YouTube

As giddy members of Florida-based MPB Today flock to YouTube to post check-waving videos as “proof” of the MLM’s legitimacy, the bank used by the purported grocery company is operating under an FDIC consent order issued in January, records show.

The FDIC had no immediate comment when asked this morning by the PP Blog about the videos, which clearly show the names of MPB Today and its purported grocery arm, Southeastern Delivery of Pensacola, along with the name of Gulf Coast Community Bank of Pensacola.

A call to Gulf Coast for comment was not immediately returned. The Blog left a detailed voicemail message with a bank official, and also left a message with an employee who answered the phone.

MPB Today appears to have paid members by issuing checks drawn on both its name and the name of Southeastern Delivery. The checks are drawn on Gulf Coast accounts, according to the videos on YouTube and other sites. Affiliates say the business opportunity has attracted more than 16,000 members since April.

Affiliates reportedly receive checks for $300 drawn on Gulf Coast when they “cycle” by recruiting new affiliates and causing $1,200 of business within an MPB Today downline group. Affiliates also receive $200 Walmart gift cards or “In Store Credit” cards.

The Walmart cards also are prominently featured in the videos that display Gulf Coast’s name.

Gulf Coast is rated “zero”stars by Bauer Financial, the tracking firm’s lowest rating on a scale of zero to five stars. The Blog confirmed the rating with Bauer this morning.

Gulf Coast is listed on the FDIC website as a party to a January consent order that raised the issue of unsound banking practices. The bank was given time to comply with the order and implement new business procedures to address the FDIC’s concerns.

Some Florida banks are being battered by the recession and a surge in nonperforming loans and mortgage foreclosures. It was not immediately clear if Gulf Coast now is operating to the satisfaction of the FDIC.

Also unclear is whether the bank knows that its name is being used on YouTube in promotions for MPB Today, and under whose authority MPB Today affiliates are acting when displaying the checks drawn on Gulf Coast.  At the same time, the volume of the business MPB Today and Southeastern conduct with the bank is unclear.

MPB Today uses a 2×2 cycler matrix, a business model the U.S. Secret Service referenced in court filings in a Ponzi scheme probe last year in Seattle that involved a company known as Regenesis2x2.

Regenesis2X2 was promoted on known Ponzi forums such as ASAMonitor, TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup. MPB Today’s 2×2 matrix is being promoted on the same forums. At least one of the promoters of the alleged Regenesis2x2 Ponzi scheme also is promoting MPB Today, and some of the MLM’s affiliates are targeting churches in sales pitches. Others are targeting Food Stamp recipients, foreclosure subjects and victims of the alleged AdSurfDaily (ASD) Ponzi scheme.

In August 2008, the Secret Service alleged that ASD, which also operated in Florida, was conducting a Ponzi scheme that gathered nearly $100 million from investors. The agency seized Bank of America deposits totaling at least $79 million in the ASD case.

Meanwhile, the ASAMonitor, TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup forums are specifically referenced in a criminal case filed by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in May. The case, which was filed in the Southern District of Illinois, alleges that a firm known as Pathway To Prosperity was operating an international Ponzi scheme that attracted more than 40,000 investors and gathered more than $70 million.

In July, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued an alert about online fraud schemes that use forums and social-media sites to spread virally.

MPB Today is a subject of a “review” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) amid affiliate claims the company is an attractive option for Food Stamp recipients and is endorsed by the government. Some affiliates also have claimed that Walmart, the retail giant, endorses the program.

Walmart has not responded to a request for comment from the PP Blog. MPB Today removed the images of a Walmart store from its website last week. Also removed from the site were images of business titans Donald Trump and Warren Buffet. It is unclear if Walmart, Trump and Buffet forced the removal.

MPB Today is operated by Gary Calhoun. Calhoun was the subject of a 2006 inquiry by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about the marketing of a product that claimed to treat Lou Gehrig’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s, among other serious medical conditions.

Calhoun was ordered by the FDA to stop violating provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. His company, Trim International, later failed. Southeastern Delivery began to operate in Florida in January 2010, according to state records. The firm previously was known as William Lindsay Properties LLC.

A number of MPB Today affiliates have posted check-waving videos that clearly show Gulf Coast’s name and other identifying information. The videos potentially expose MPB and the bank, which has a high ratio of troubled assets, to security breaches.  The video posters potentially are exposing themselves to identity theft.

In January, Gulf Coast agreed to a consent order that required its board of directors to meet at least monthly to review reports of “income and expenses; new, overdue, renewal, insider, charged-off, and recovered loans; investment activity; operating policies; and individual committee actions,” according to the FDIC.

Florida has one of the highest rates of bank failures in the United States and one of the highest foreclosure rates.

“Within 90 days from the effective date of this ORDER, the Bank shall have and retain qualified management,” the FDIC ordered on Jan. 28.  “Each member of management shall have qualifications and experience commensurate with his or her duties and responsibilities at the Bank.”

Gulf Coast consented to the order “without admitting or denying any charges of unsafe or unsound banking practices, or violations of law or regulation relating to weaknesses in asset quality, capital adequacy, earnings, management effectiveness, liquidity, and sensitivity to market risk,” according to a stipulation.