Exotic FX, HYIP Promoted On Ponzi Scheme And Criminals’ Forums By Club Asteria Members, Collapses; Did Club Asteria Also Have Tie To Collapsed Imperia Invest IBC Fraud Scheme?

Exotic FX, an HYIP promoted on the Ponzi scheme and criminals’ forums by members of the Club Asteria HYIP, has collapsed. Exotic billed itself a “PRIVATE ASSET HAVEN.” The dollar value of member losses is unclear, and the firm’s website no longer loads.

Chatter on Ponzi boards such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup also suggests that ClubAsteria is in a free-fall, although the Virginia-based firm continues to wax on about its “deep philosophical commitment.” Some Club Asteria members have claimed a $19.95 monthly payment to the firm returns $400 a week.

Club Asteria lists its managing director as Andrea Lucas, “former Director of the World Bank.”

The news of the Exotic FX collapse comes on the heels of news that H. David Kotz, the inspector general for the Securities and Exchange Commission, opened a probe earlier this year into the actions of an SEC employee who was a member of Imperia Invest IBC, yet another fraud scheme promoted on TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup.

Imperia stole millions of dollars from thousands of deaf investors, the SEC charged last year.

In October, the PP Blog published a story about the dramatic, emergency action the SEC filed against Imperia. Some Imperia supporters came to the Blog to defend the firm and insist the SEC had no jurisdiction.

One of Imperia’s supporters claimed a “retireed (sic) exec of the World Bank” had vetted Imperia. The supporter did not identify the retired World Bank executive.

In the murky world of HYIPs, there often is connectivity among scams. Promoters race from scheme to scheme to scheme, injecting fraud proceeds from one scam into another scam. Because the scams “pay” in their early stages to build credibility — and because money from the scams get deposited into banks — the banks come into possession of fraud proceeds.

See Oct. 7, 2010, story on the SEC’s action against Imperia Invest. (Make sure you read the comments thread below the story.)