PatrickPretty.com

Month: March 2013

  • URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Alabama Issues Warning On ‘Profitable Sunrise’

    breakingnews72URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: The state of Alabama has issued a warning on Profitable Sunrise. The move follows on the heels of a cease-and-desist order issued last week by North Carolina.

    The warning comes in the form of an “investor alert” issued by the office of Joseph Borg, the director of the Alabama Securities Commission.

    “We want to make our citizens aware of the potential perils of web-based investment marketing,” said Borg. “As with all investment opportunities, investors should thoroughly scrutinize any offer, especially if it comes from a foreign country,” Borg said. “Most investment offerings, as well as the person making an investment offering, must be registered with the Alabama Securities Commission. This is a critical first step in protecting the public from con artists and investment fraud.”

    Borg urged “anyone in Alabama who has invested with Profitable Sunrise to contact the ASC’s Enforcement Division at 1-800-222-1253.”

    From ASC (italics added):

    An investigation of Roman Novak, Radoslav Novak and their company, Inter Reef, Ltd., doing business as Profitable Sunrise, revealed that the men allegedly promoted at least five different “investment plans” through a website that offered rates of return ranging from 1.6% per business day to 2.7% per business day for periods of from between 180 to 240 business days. Investors were told that their money would be used to fund short-term, “risk-free” loans to businesses, and that “all funds deposited with us are insured against loss” by a leading investment bank. Further investigation revealed that victims had been instructed to wire money to financial institutions in Eastern Europe, including one bank identified as being in the Czech Republic. ASC records revealed that neither of the men, nor the company they represent, are registered to conduct securities business in Alabama, as required by the Alabama Securities Act.

    Read the ASC warning.

  • HIGH POINT (N.C.) ENTERPRISE: Zeek Reached Out To Pluck Utah Man; 1 Downline Had 1,500 Members, Victim Tells Paper

    Zeek Rewards likely had a presence in all 50 U.S. states, plus U.S. territories. The High Point Enterprise, a publication in Zeek’s home state of North Carolina, today has a story about a Utah man who joined the “program” just prior to the SEC bringing allegations in August 2012 that Zeek was a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme.

    From the Enterprise (italics added):

    During recruitment meetings at a house in Richfield, Olsen said he was approached with a soft-sale pitch to become part of Zeek Rewards. Olsen was told that his $10,000 “would build my credit in the business” and allow him to reap greater income. The recruitment of Olsen took place over a period of months, and the approach was to build a relationship of trust rather than “twist my arm,” he said. The Zeek Rewards affiliates that Olsen met emphasized that the money he provided wasn’t an investment. But when the Securities and Exchange Commission shut down Zeek Rewards, the federal agency called it an unregistered securities business.

    “They said that they would be in trouble if they called it investing,” Olsen recalls.

    Read the full story in the Enterprise, which described Olsen as an individual who’d just lost his job and discussed a plan with his wife by which the couple would sell a family vehicle to join Zeek.

    See “Zeek, The ‘I’ Word And The Weight Of History . . .,” an editorial published by the PP Blog on July 25, 2012.

    EDITORIAL NOTE: Ponzi schemes cause real pain to real people. Regardless, the Ponzi-board apologists for Zeek continue to demonize the court-appointed receiver, continue to engage in wordplay to sanitize “opportunities” and continue to fuel schemes such as Zeek by parroting disclaimers such as “don’t spend more than you can afford to lose.”

    Blaming victims or insisting no victims exist is one of the most odious practices of the serial Ponzi pitchmen.

     

  • North Carolina Secretary Of State: Profitable Sunrise ‘A Real Danger To The Investing Public’

    recommendedreading1EDITOR’S NOTE: Reproduced below is the full news release by the office of North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall on the cease-and-desist order issued last week to “Profitable Sunrise.”

    Even as the state has raised serious concerns about the “program,” Profitable Sunrise “defenders” have been seeking to minimize the issues. Some people even are hurling insults at North Carolina regulators while blanketing Ponzi-scheme forums such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup with “I got paid” posts.

    That a program “pays” is not evidence that no fraud scheme is occurring. (Bernard Madoff “paid” — right up until the day he didn’t.)  Along those lines, collapsed “programs” such as Zeek Rewards, AdSurfDaily, Legisi, Pathway To Prosperity and Imperia Invest IBC — all of which advertised outsize returns  — all had a presence on the Ponzi boards.

    Some “defenders” of Profitable Sunrise appear to be scurrying to describe the alleged investment “program” as the recipient of “loans” from customers. The “loan” claims may raise altogether different issues — such as whether Profitable Sunrise is engaging in unlawful banking while commingling assets and operating as an unlawful investment pool. And despite “defenders’” claims that Profitable Sunrise is  not the issuer of “securities” as investment contracts, Profitable Sunrise has advertised five investment schemes on its own website, including a bizarrely named plan known as the “Long Haul” that purported to pay 2.7 percent a day. The Legisi HYIP scheme  sought to escape scrutiny in the United States by calling itself a “loan” program. Federal prosecutors described Legisi operator Gregory McKnight’s  wordplay as “semantic obfuscation.” The SEC earlier described U.S.-based Legisi pitchman Matthew John Gagnon as a threat to the investing public.

    Here, below, the statement by Marshall’s office . . .

    ** ______________________________________________ **

    Raleigh – North Carolina Secretary of State Securities officials have issued a Temporary Order to Cease and Desist to Roman Novak, Radoslav Novak and Inter Reef LTD d/b/a Profitable Sunrise to bar them from offering and selling or attempting to sell securities in the form of investment contracts to North Carolina’s investing public.

    Secretary of State investigators say the respondents promoted five different “investment plans” through a website that offered rates of return ranging from 1.6-percent per business day to 2.7-percent per business day. Investors were told their money would be used to fund short-term loans to businesses. Investors were also told their investments were “risk-free,” “with a certain rate of return and no chance of default,” and that “all funds deposited with us are insured against loss.”

    Secretary of State investigators have also discovered that victims were making wire transfers of money to financial institutions in Eastern European countries.

    However, the respondents were never registered with the North Carolina Secretary of State’s Securities Division to sell securities and the investment itself was not registered as a security in accordance with the North Carolina Securities Act.

    “We have issued this Cease and Desist Order because we believe this solicitation poses a real danger to the investing public,” Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall said Friday. “Proper registration of securities and the individuals selling securities is fundamental to protecting the public from con artists and investment fraud. That is why it is so important to call our Securities Division before investing your hard-earned money to make sure that the investment you are considering is registered. This case also demonstrates the perils of web-based investment marketing.”

    Marshall urged anyone in North Carolina who has invested with Profitable Sunrise to contact the Secretary of State’s Securities Division at 1-800-688-4507.

  • British Fraudster Running Investment Swindle And Conducting Pitchfests In Utah Sent Email To Undercover Agent, Feds Say; John S. Dudley Pleads Gulity To Wire Fraud

    ponzinews1John S. Dudley, a citizen of Great Britain, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud in federal court in Utah in an investment-fraud case that featured the presence of an undercover agent who’d received email from Dudley, the office of U.S. Attorney David B. Barlow said.

    The agent — from the Utah Department of Commerce’s Division of Securities — was described as “UA” in court papers, prosecutors said.

    As part of a plea agreement, Dudley will not contest a restitution order for more than $6.8 million, prosecutors said. When Dudley completes his sentence, prosecutors expect to deport him under the terms of the plea. Prosecutors have recommended a prison sentence of five years.

    Dudley was accused in 2011 of a Ponzi scheme that married multiple components, including pitchfests for “various investment programs, including a foreign exchange trading program, mining speculation, European and domestic stock options and commodity trading, and a human jetpack rocket suit,” prosecutors said at the time.

    The pitchfests were described as “bounce nights” or “Tashi group meetings,” prosecutors said at the time.

    From a statement by prosecutors on the Dudley guilty plea (italics added):

    The indictment alleged Dudley made a variety of representations to potential investors, including telling them they could expect monthly returns of 5-10 percent; that he had not suffered a trading loss since 1978; that investors’ funds would be used exclusively for investment purposes; that he had personally done very well in his investments and had never made less than 5 percent per month over the last 30 years; that investors’ money was backed by a “senior life settlement policy” that reduced or eliminated investors’ risk of loss; and that investing with him was an exclusive opportunity with only a limited number of investors allowed to invest with him at one time.

    As a part of the plea agreement reached with federal prosecutors, Dudley admitted he sent an e-mail to an individual, identified as U.A. in the plea agreement, with the subject line “Re: Castle Creek Bank Details.” He admitted that the e-mail was a part of his attempt to execute the fraud scheme by obtaining money under false representations. Investor U.A. is identified in the indictment as a Utah Department of Commerce’s Division of Securities investigator acting in an undercover capacity in the indictment.

  • ‘NewGNI,’ Apparent Knockoff HYIP Scam Promoted By Zeek And ‘Profitable Sunrise’ Cheerleader ‘Ken Russo,’ Appears To Have Collapsed

    kenrussozeekgni2The website of “NewGNI” has not resolved to a server for days. The “program” is believed to have been a knockoff of a predecessor scam known as “GNI” or GoldNuggetInvest, which collapsed in early 2010 after being promoted by members of the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme.

    The collapse of the original GNI was about as bizarre as they come in HYIP land. Critics were told to concentrate on earthquake relief in Haiti, rather than questioning the HYIP scheme. GNI’s collapse purportedly occurred after its operators sought “a crystal clear vision of our financial vortex.“

    Among the pitchmen for both GNI and NewGNI was Ponzi-board legend “Ken Russo,” also known as “DRdave.” Earlier, “Ken Russo” had promoted the $119 million ASD scheme. He later turned to ClubAsteria, which was trading on the name of the World Bank to reel in suckers. ClubAsteria promos came under the lens of CONSOB, the Italian securities regulator. “Ken Russo” also emerged as a pitchman for Zeek Rewards, which the SEC described in August 2012 as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme operating from North Carolina.

    Among “Ken Russo’s” latest ventures is “Profitable Sunrise,” now the subject of a cease-and-desist order from North Carolina regulators.

    Profitable Sunrise purportedly is operated by Roman Novak. The “program” is being targeted at people of faith, some of whom appear to be defending it by weaving impossible tales. Any number of Ponzi-board taunts have been aimed at the Securities Division of North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, even as ProfitableSunrise advertises a risk-free, preposterous return of 2.7 percent a day in its bizarrely named “Long Haul” program with a purported Easter holiday payoff.

    “lol @ NC officials,” says one post at MoneyMakerGroup. Another compares Marshall’s office to “Deputy Barney Fife,” an iconic TV character played by Don Knotts in the Andy Griffith Show.

    Even after the government of Belize issued a warning against GNI in 2009, scammers continued to promote it — virtually to the very day it collapsed and took an unspecified sum with it. The collapse triggered a bizarre series of conspiracy theories.

    GNI was operating concurrently with a now-collapsed scam bizarrely known as “Cash Tanker,” an “opportunity” aimed at Christians. Cash Tanker used an image of Jesus Christ in its promos and purported to pay 2 percent a day.

  • URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: AdSurfDaily Figure And Purported ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Kenneth Wayne Leaming Found Guilty Of Filing False Liens, Possessing Weapons Illegally — And More

    Kenneth Wayne Leaming
    Kenneth Wayne Leaming

    URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: AdSurfDaily figure and purported “sovereign citizen” Kenneth Wayne Leaming has been found guilty in the Western District of Washington of filing false liens against public officials, harboring fugitives and being a felon in possession of firearms, federal prosecutors said tonight.

    Leaming associate David Carroll Stephenson also was found guilty of filing false liens.

    The PP Blog will have a full report when more information becomes available. The case was prosecuted by the office of U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan.

  • URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: North Carolina Orders ‘Profitable Sunrise’ To Cease And Desist; State Calls It An ‘Immediate And Significant Danger’

    americaatrisk4URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: The state of North Carolina — home base to the alleged $600 million Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme — has ordered a purported offshore “opportunity” known as “Profitable Sunrise” to cease and desist from doing business in the state.

    Profitable Sunrise purports to be a hard-money lender and investment opportunity. It appears to have attracted some Zeek members both before and after the August 2012 collapse of Zeek. Zeek was under investigation by North Carolina, the SEC and the U.S. Secret Service at the time of its collapse.

    In its cease-and-desist order, North Carolina described Profitable Sunrise as “an immediate and significant danger” that is using multiple investment schemes to attract money, including a purported “Long Haul” plan.

    The offer is being targeted at people of faith through web-based promoters, some of whom described themselves as Christians. Offering materials for the “Long Haul” plan have advertised an Easter holiday payout.

    The company itself has advertised “risk free” payouts with “no chance of default,” according to the North Carolina order. And Profitable Sunrise also claims “investments are insured by a leading investment bank.”

    As the PP Blog reported in December, Profitable Sunrise appeared to qualify investors based on their views on hot-button issues, including abortion.

    North Carolina’s order names Roman Novak, Radoslav Novak and Inter Reef LTD (doing business as Profitable Sunrise) as respondents, amid allegations by the Securities Division of the office of North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall that Profitable Sunrise is selling unregistered securities as investment contracts.

    Profitable Sunrise lists a business address in the United Kingdom. Regardless, the enterprise is soliciting funds to be sent to Raiffeisenbank AS in the Czech Republic, according to North Carolina investigators. An entity known as Melland Company SRO was listed in Profitable Sunrise wiring instructions as the beneficiary, according to the order.

    A credit union used by a North Carolina-based Profitable Sunrise investor blocked at least one transaction directed toward the Czech bank, citing suspicions of fraud, according to the order.

    Marshall’s investigators noted that the Profitable Sunrise investor believed that the”Long Haul” plan would pay “interest of 2.7% daily, compounded at 100%, for 240 days.”

    Other Profitable Sunrise plans also promised high interest rates in compressed time frames, reaching for sums of between $10 and $2,500 and advertising interest rates of between 1.6 percent and 2 percent a day, according to the order.

    Zeek planted the seed that it paid an average of 1.5 percent a day, the SEC said on Aug. 17. On Aug. 4, Zeek claimed on its news site that unspecified “North Carolina credit unions” were creating problems for it.

    Read the North Carolina order against Profitable Sunrise.

    Visit Profitable Sunrise thread on RealScam.com.