BULLETIN: Merrill, Wanzeler Charged With Wire-Fraud Conspiracy; Wanzeler Labeled ‘Fugitive’; Scope Of TelexFree Fraud ‘Breathtaking,’ Top Federal Prosecutor Says; Undercover Probe Had Been Under Way For Months, With ‘Intelligence Research Specialist’ Placing ‘Ads’ And Undercover Agent Mixing With Promoters

BULLETIN: (18th Update 8:15 a.m. EDT, May 10, U.S.A.) TelexFree figures James Merrill and Carlos Wanzeler have been charged criminally with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Merrill, 53, was arrested in Worcester, Mass. Wanzeler, 45, of Northborough, Mass., has been labeled a “fugitive.”

In similar prosecutions, U.S. authorities have notified INTERPOL about the subjects of U.S. arrest warrants in HYIP cases. How authorities intended to proceed against Wanzeler was not immediately clear.

“The scope of this alleged fraud is breathtaking,” U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz of the District of Massachusetts said. “As alleged, these defendants devised a scheme which reaped hundreds of millions of dollars from hard working people around the globe.”

From the criminal complaint and affidavit filed by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), an arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (italics added):

An analysis of the bank and credit card processing accounts behind TelexFree’s publicly-stated income and revenue figures shows that TelexFree was deriving less than 1% of its revenue from its VOIP products, about 99% from investments by new promoters, and that it could not meet its massive payment obligations to existing promoters without equally large infusions of cash from new promoters.

The complaint, among other things, reveals that an undercover probe into TelexFree was under way before the company and certain arms filed for bankruptcy protection in Nevada on April 13.

One undercover agent made a TelexFree purchase on April 9, four days prior to the bankruptcy filing. The complaint/affidavit describes the purchase bid as “cumbersome,” taking “over two hours, including unusual steps like setting up an electronic ‘eWallet’ and uploading to TelexFree copies of [the undercover agent’s] drivers license and credit card.”

Information in the affidavit/complaint shows that the undercover probe began at least by October 2013, months ago:

From the affidavit/complaint (italics/carriage returns/minor editing applied):

During the investigation, a law enforcement officer arranged to have him/herself recruited as a TelexFree promoter, to confirm how portions of the TelexFree system operated.

On October 15, 2013, an undercover HSI task force officer (“UC”) met with a TelexFree promoter (“Person A”). During the conversation, Person A told the UC that the UC could make $100 a week using an “AdCentral Family Package” to post online ads for TelexFree, and could earn additional money by recruiting other people to join TelexFree.

The UC met Person A again the next day, and successfully joined TelexFree as a new promoter. The UC bought the AdCentral Plan for $1,425 (a $50 membership fee plus $1,375 for the AdCentral package), using a check made payable to Person A.

Person B, an associate of Person A, helped the UC register and verify the UC’s new TelexFree “back office” account. This consisted of entering a name, date of birth, Social Security number, cellular telephone number, email address, and mailing/billing address. In order to access the back office, the UC created a unique log-in name and password.

Starting on October 21, 2013, using the UC’s access to the TelexFree system, an HSI Intelligence Research Specialist placed online advertisements as a promoter for TelexFree.

Following the system discussed above, the Specialist copied advertisements created by TelexFree and made available to the Specialist in the back office area of TelexFree’s site, and pasted them to another website TelexFree recommended. As required under the AdCentral Family plan, the Specialist did this five times a day. The entire process took about 25 minutes per day.

Between October 21, 2013, and the date of this affidavit, the Specialist posted more than 700 advertisements. The ads have resulted in no retail sales of TelexFree’s VOIP product. As described above, the sites on which these ads were posted contained page after page after page of hundreds of nearly identical ads placed by various TelexFree promoters for the identical VOIP service.

The document also asserts the government — once inside TelexFree — used an undercover bank account and tied it to a TelexFree “eWallet” — and began to receive payments from TelexFree.

One TelexFree huckster, according to the complaint/affidavit, told an undercover agent that “he [the huckster] had earned $1,600,000 as a TelexFree promoter, without selling a TelexFree product.”

“I am very proud of the tireless efforts of my special agents,” said Bruce Foucart, special agent in charge of HSI. “Investigating the flow of illicit money across U.S. borders and the criminal enterprises behind that money is one of our top priorities. While pyramid schemes are nothing new, the potential scope of this case will hopefully serve as an educational lesson for all. The main point is clear; if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

Undercover agents even attended a TelexFree rah-rah fest in Boston on March 9, the day TelexFree announced a new compensation plan. That plan, according to documents, led to an effective storming by affiliates of TelexFree headquarters in Marlborough on April 1.

See April 3, 2014, PP Blog editorial.

Bail information for Merrill was not immediately clear. Wire-fraud conspiracy is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.

The Massachusetts Securities Division has alleged TelexFree was a combined Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that gathered more than $1.2 billion. The SEC also has sued.