Andy Bowdoin Claims His ‘Army’ Is ‘Fighting Mad’; Bizarre Fundraising Effort By Accused Ponzi Schemer Whose Firm Has Ties To ‘Sovereign Citizens’ Continues

Thomas A. “Andy” Bowdoin, the accused Florida Ponzi schemer whose firm has ties to “sovereign citizens,” now says his fundraising “Army” is “Fighting Mad and growing fast!”

Bowdoin, 76, is accused of presiding over a massive Ponzi scheme involving at least $110 million at Quincy-based AdSurfDaily. He has been using military and Biblical references for weeks in an online campaign to raise $500,000 to pay for his criminal defense on charges of wire fraud, securities fraud and selling unregistered securities.

Formal fundraising for Bowdoin began on July 26, the date upon which he released a video that dissed a federal judge, federal prosecutors and his former defense counsel.

An email some ASD members received yesterday used a subject line of, “Let’s Fight the Gov. Injustice & Get Your Money Back!” Bowdoin did not explain in the email that the government already has civil judgments totaling about $65.8 million against money he claimed in court affidavits belonged to him, not to members.

Nor did Bowdoin explain that the government has another civil judgment against ASD-related assets totaling more than $14 million. Why Bowdoin is telling members the money belongs to them is unclear. Bowdoin made similar claims in September 2009, causing the U.S. Secret Service and federal prosecutors to allege to U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer that Bowdoin was telling her one story and members another.

Coinciding with Bowdoin’s email yesterday was an announcement by Rust Consulting Inc., the government-approved claims administrator for ASD victims, that the criminal prosecution against Bowdoin continues.

Rust, which is managing a restitution pot the government formed from seized assets, pointed ASD members to a website maintained for victims by federal prosecutors in the District of Columbia.

“The federal criminal prosecution of Andy Bowdoin is ongoing,” Rust said on its website. “The next hearing is scheduled for October 21, 2011. For updates regarding the criminal case, please visit the United States Attorney’s website at http://www.justice.gov/usao/dc/programs/vw/adsurfdaily.html

Bowdoin claimed an early victory this week, exclaiming in a separate email that “We Are Winning! Over $15,000 Raised So Far!” His purported email “blasts” are going out to the very people he is accused of scamming, and some ASD members have complained that Bowdoin is spamming them.

The bid by Bowdoin to collect money from ASD members has been marked by delays, including the postponements of two launch dates for the main fundraising website in July and as many as three postponements of the launch of an associated site on Facebook.

Bowdoin left ASD’s corporate registration lapse in September 2009, even as he was telling members he had exciting plans for the company’s future. ASD members complained prior to the August 2008 seizure that the firm’s website often was inaccessible for days if not offline altogether and that payments to the company were not posted in timely fashion.

Bowdoin claimed in 2009 that his battle against the government — now entering its fourth year — was inspired by a former Miss America who did not give up despite repeated losing bids to wear the crown.

Bizarre claims have marked the ASD case, including a claim by two ASD figures that the government owed them $29 TRILLION — more than double the U.S. Gross Domestic Product in 2009 — for its actions against ASD.

They’d take the money in “silver,” Kenneth Wayne Leaming and Christian Oesch explained.

Curtis Richmond, another ASD mainstay, claimed Collyer was operating a “Kangaroo Court” and was guilty of “TREASON.”

Like Bowdoin himself, Richmond sought unsuccessfully to have Collyer removed from the case.

Leaming and Oesch filed a lawsuit against the government in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, but a judge dismissed the case last year.

There have been repeated efforts by some ASD members to dissuade fellow members from filing for restitution through Rust Consulting through a process known as remission. Some of the efforts had a threatening tone.