Month: June 2011
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OH, UTAH: SEC Alleges Business Executives Used Bogus Press Releases — And Disbarred Attorney — To Sanitize Precious Metals Fraud Scheme
BULLETIN: The SEC has gone to federal court in Utah to seek penalties against a precious metals company and associated firms and individuals, amid spectacular allegations that a PR firm sold the unregistered securities of its own corrupt penny-stock client and a disbarred attorney enabled the scam by issuing a bogus opinion letter. Utah has…
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ATTORNEY GENERAL: ‘Staggering Volume Of Money Being Stolen Online . . . Has The Potential To Threaten . . . Security Of Our Nation . . . [And . . .] Integrity Of Our Government’
NOTE TO READERS: The headline of this news brief is excerpted from remarks made in Indiana today by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Read Holder’s full remarks here. The attorney general was speaking at a summit on cybersecurity. His remarks may be the clearest sign yet that the United States is dialing up its efforts…
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FTC: California Internet Marketer Duped Brits By Making Them Believe He Was Operating In United Kingdom; $500,000 Judgment Entered Against Jaivin Karnani And ‘Balls of Kryptonite’
UPDATED 12:15 P.M. ET (U.S.A., FEB. 6, 2012) An Internet Marketer based in Calfornia used domains with “co.uk” extensions and duped British customers into believing they were doing business with a firm based in the United Kingdom, the Federal Trade Commison said. The actions of Jaivin Karnani and his associated firms, including a company known…
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BULLETIN: Nevin Shapiro, Operator Of $930 Million ‘Grocery’ Ponzi Scheme, Sentenced To 20 Years In Federal Prison; Fraudster ‘Used Other People’s Money To Live A Fantasy Life,’ U.S. Attorney Says
BULLETIN: Nevin Shapiro, the Florida-based operator of a bizarre “grocery” Ponzi scheme that gathered nearly $1 billion and caused losses approaching $100 million, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison. Shapiro, 42, was charged by federal prosecutors in New Jersey last year after investigations by the FBI and the IRS. He pleaded guilty…
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BULLETIN: Thanh Viet Jeremy Cao Pleads Guilty In False Liens Case; Ponzi Schemer Admits He Filed 22 Bogus Claims For Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars Against Public Officials
BULLETIN: Thanh Viet Jeremy Cao, the California Ponzi schemer sentenced last month to 30 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $12.4 million in restitution, has pleaded guilty in a separate fraud case. Federal prosecutors in Nevada alleged last year that Cao filed nearly two dozen bogus liens against SEC attorneys, federal judges, federal…
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FLORIDA — AGAIN: Postal Inspectors Say Recidivist Felon With 24 Bank Accounts And Undisclosed Criminal History Bilked Investors In $20 Million Scam; James Risher Arrested Before He Could Take Flight To Bermuda
A recidivist securities felon tied to at least 24 bank accounts had an airline ticket for Bermuda last week but was arrested in Florida before he could get offshore after scamming investors in a long-running fraud scheme that had gathered $20 million, according to law-enforcement officials. Charged in a criminal complaint by the U.S. Postal…
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URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Club Asteria Promoters Blocked By CONSOB, Italian Equivalent Of SEC; Agency Issues Suspension Order; Is ‘Opportunity’ Described As ‘Passive’ Investment Being Targeted At Deaf?
BULLETIN: UPDATED 7:35 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) The Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB), the Italian equivalent of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, is conducting a probe into claims made about Club Asteria and has issued a 90-day suspension order that bars promoters from trading in Italy. Club Asteria is based in…