Are ASD Members Waging Ongoing Misinformation Campaign To Suppress Victims’ Count And Obstruct Justice? Note Instructs Members NOT To File For Restitution
Andy Bowdoin
The now-defunct Surf’s Up forum was AdSurfDaily’s officially endorsed news venue. It became so on Nov. 27, 2008, a little more than a week after a key court ruling went against ASD, a Florida company implicated by the U.S. Secret Service in an alleged $100 million Ponzi scheme. Surf’s Up routinely deleted posts that challenged ASD President Andy Bowdoin, and routinely suppressed information unfavorable to ASD.
Surf’s Up was known for conflating fantastic realities to accommodate unpleasant fact sets. Among the unanswered questions as the ASD investigation proceeds is whether the forum and some of its members were/are engaging in efforts to obstruct justice by asking victims to spread misinformation.
Some ASD and Surf’s Up members recently received the email below, which fractures facts and appears to encourage members to spread misinformation and not to participate in the federal restitution program. (Italics and carriage returns added. PP Blog’s Notes in Bold.)
“Please pass this on to your group and ask them to pass it on to others who were in ASD. The lawsuit filed against ASD, Andy and his wife Faye was decided in ASD’s, Andy’s & Faye’s favor a few months ago. (PP Blog Notes: The lawsuit was not decided in favor of ASD, Andy Bowdoin or Faye Bowdoin. Florida dropped the lawsuit “without prejudice,” meaning it can be refiled. The state said it had turned over a victim’s list to the federal government for the purposes of securing restitution from funds seized by the U.S. Secret Service.)
“In October the state of FL dropped all charges against ASD. (PP Blog Notes: See note above.)
“The Federal charges are all that is left to be addressed and progress will be made on that this month. Unfortunately if members respond to this notice and file a claim, they will be contributing to ASD losing its case because the government will use it as evidence that ASD created these “victims.” (PP Blog Notes: Is this a deliberate attempt to suppress the victims’ count and a bid to obstruct justice? Beyond that, Andy Bowdoin’s appeal of the forfeiture of money he advised a federal judge belonged to him is hardly the sole, unsettled legal issue. It is known, for example, that a criminal grand-jury probe has been under way. Bowdoin references the criminal probe in his own court filings. It is possible that criminal indictments against multiple individuals could be returned.)
“I have told this man that but he persists because he will make money from ‘helping.’ If ASD loses its case, THEN it would be appropriate to follow up these options, but not until then.
“My husband was hit by a car while he was bicycling and I have been struggling to care for him at home alone. I am 63, 105 lbs and he is functionally quadriplegic (which means that there is much to be hopeful for but, in the meantime, it is very challenging). For this reason I am unable to keep everyone updated as I had hoped to do and I have been unable to spearhead a member campaign to help the effort as I had also hoped to.
“God’s Blessings,
Sara”
(PP Blog Notes: The section of the note above even could bring things such as practicing law without a license into play because it introduces an “if, THEN” proposition that lays out a legal strategy. For example, “if” ASD loses the forfeiture proceeding in the appeals court, only “THEN” should victims register for the restitution program. One of the core problems is that there may be no way of knowing precisely when the appeals court will issue its ruling (oral arguments scheduled for this month have been canceled, and the appeals court will decide the issues based on briefs from both sides). Meanwhile, the restitution/remission forms victims must file are due by Jan. 19, 2011. Victims who follow the advice in the email could be denied a refund.)
See related story.
By all means, the more people that do not file claims will result in the rest of us getting more moeny returned. Thanks for the help, Sara Mattoon !!!!!!
Actually this letter/E-mail does more to make the government’s case than anyone filing a complaint form would. That is what is so ironic and moronic about this being sent.
Reminds me of the time when on the Surf’s Up forum they said that Cowden had admitted privately that ASD was not a Ponzi, and he was just trying to find a way-out that would not embarrass law enforcment to dismiss the charges. It was total BS and misinformation just as this letter/E-mail is total BS and misinformation.
I noticed she did not put the website back up but chose this means of communicating to the ASD membership. Makes you wonder why, doesn’t it?
I wonder what they are going to say now that their fearless leader has lost his latest appeal????
I have not seen any document yet that shows the appeals court has ruled on the August 2008 forfeiture case. I have seen an order that dispenses with the oral arguments and says the appeals court will base its decision on briefs filed by both parties — the government side, and the ASD side.
There does not appear to be a decison yet. No decision on the case appears on the “Most Recently Released Opinions” website maintained by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Patrick
Ha…the obligatory tale of woe to finish out the scam email. Classic.
……hmmmmmmm
I wonder if any of the victims will place any creedence in the words of Petty Criminal (fraud division) Sara Mattoon’s words…..although I suppose she is somewhat more credible that her fellow serial criminal fraidsters from Surf’s Up (that’s you, Kathyrn Milnar of Cinncinnati)
If so, at this late stage, I suppose they don’t really deserve restitution. Hopefully the friendly powers that be who are investigating this will see our friend Sara’s post and disqualify her from restitution. Of course, it is highly likely that she is a criminal winner in ASD……
It is a safe guess that Sara Mattoon, Barbara Alford, Kit Milner and many of the other “leading propaganda-mongers” of ASD all had members recruited into their groups/downlines who lost their life savings, retirement funds, medical funds, school funds etc to the ASD fraud.
Quite apart from the fact that they clearly couldnt give a care to the sufferings of those victims and their chances of retrieving something back, they will also have an interest that these same people do not talk to the authorities.
During the hey day of ASD, “close” relationships were built between promoters and their downlines, and these people probably know too much for comfort.
Hello Entertained,
As you’ve pointed out before, some of the ASD purveyors/apologists also potentially have exposure to lawsuits from their downlines. There also is the RICO lawsuit to worry about.
Meanwhile, it’s possible that the Feds already have moved against some ASD members through court actions that are not publicly known. It is clear from the existing filings that both the government and the RICO attorneys believe a conspiracy was under way.
Elsewhere, these words appear in the FAQs on the remissions site (emphasis added):
____________________________________________________________________________
How much money has the government recovered from Ad Surf Daily and related schemes?
A federal judge in Washington D.C., has declared forfeited to the United States approximately $79 million in funds associated with the schemes. ADDITIONAL FUNDS and property from the schemes HAVE BEEN SEIZED, but those assets are subject to PENDING LITIGATION and have not been declared forfeited.
____________________________________________________________________________
As you’ll recall, there were unconfirmed reports on Surf’s Up in early 2009 that the Feds had seized certain assets as some ASD members were setting up shop as AdViewGlobal members. I haven’t found a paper trail on that, but it does not mean that one does not exist. These reports appeared at roughly the same time Andy Bowdoin was morphing into a pro se litigant after meeting with members of a “group” purported to be smarter that his paid attorneys.
Along those lines, the remissions process appears to have been set up deliberately in favor of the real victims — not the serial fraudsters and the criminals participating in an ongoing conspiracy.
Among other things, the remissions form expressly states that “Investors that did not suffer a net loss are excluded from this remission” and that “The persons who participated in or benefitted from the crimes underlying the forfeitures are excluded from this remission.”
The remissions form also notes that the government has “company records and other documents obtained from the criminal investigation.”
Some readers may find value in this PP Blog post from Jan. 24, 2009:
https://patrickpretty.com/2009/01/24/editorial-adsurfdaily-refund-procedure-takes-weapon-away-from-serial-promoters/
Patrick
Hi Lynn,
You’ve just touched on one of the most remarkable things about the ASD case.
Not only was this bogus seed that the government had secretly admitted ASD was not a Ponzi scheme planted during the run-up to the evidentiary hearing, it was shown to be a cancerous seed at the hearing itself.
Not even that, however, stopped the seed from being spread. In December 2008, the government went back to court, alleging in a second, separate forfeiture allegation that ASD was a Ponzi scheme.
One would think that Surf’s Up and ASD’s serial apologists would get the clue — but NO. The tale that the government secretly acknowledged ASD was not a Ponzi scheme continued to be told.
And who can forget the dozens of templated filings by ASD members who claimed the government had no evidence even AFTER evidence was tested in open court at a hearing ASD members themselves testified?
Some readers may find this post informative:
https://patrickpretty.com/2009/10/20/editorial-the-real-meaning-of-treason/
Patrick