BULLETIN: Receiver For WCM777 MLM ‘Program’ Says California Lobbying Firm Received $750,000

Ming Xu is called “DPMX” in this purported contract with a lobbying firm. Source: Federal court files. Red highlight by PP Blog.

BULLETIN: (7th update 6:59 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) The court-appointed receiver in the SEC’s WCM777 pyramid- and Ponzi-scheme case says she is seeking court approval to pursue claims against a California lobbying firm that allegedly received $750,000 from accused scammer Ming Xu and performed no work.

Some WCM777 MLM affiliates claimed $14,000 sent to the “program” returned $500,000 in 52 weeks.

Ming Xu also is known as Phil Ming Xu and Dr. Phil Ming Xu. The receiver, Krista Freitag, has shown a federal judge a document that purports to be a contract between Governmental Impact Inc. (GII) and Xu, who is described in apparent shorthand as “DPMX” in the contract.

James Dantona is listed on the contract as the president of GII. Under the contract terms, either party could terminate the agreement with 30 days’ notice and no refunds would be given Xu by GII.

“DPMX shall not be entitled to any refund for any reason,” the document allegedly specified. Given the nature of the allegations against Xu and WCM777, such an agreement could have deepened the Ponzi.

It is unclear whether Xu holds a doctorate, and there are claims Xu and enablers tried to plant the seed he was affiliated with Harvard, the famous Ivy League school. The receiver’s claim that Xu negotiated an advocacy contract dated Jan. 30 with GII just weeks after the WCM777 “program” got kicked out of Massachusetts and just days after it was issued a Desist and Refrain order in California adds another bizarre layer to an already-bizarre case.

Xu was photographed in 2013 with celebrities such as former Vice President Al Gore and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. He also purportedly was listed as a member of the Inauguration Committee of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, son of the famed prosecutor Gil Garcetti.

Filings by Freitag suggest Xu, through the 2014 GII contract, was seeking to buy access to American politicians. It is not unusual for Ponzi schemers to seek to surround themselves with politicians and to use politicians and famous companies to create a veneer of legitimacy. WCM777 and its purported parent — World Capital Market Inc. — also claimed ties to scores of famous companies.

One of them — Siemens — specifically refuted WCM777’s claims in October 2013, during a period in which WCM was being pitched in California churches.

Some of the money Xu directed toward GII ended up at a company called ZHB International Corp. and was used to pay for the personal mortgage of ZHB’s Zayda Aberin, Freitag contends.

Through GII, Freitag contends, Xu sought help in “locating and securing legislators, obtaining access to such legislative leaders in California and Washington, D.C., and communicating and recommending advocacy strategies and effective public relations programs with the government.”

Xu’s plan appears to have backfired. After actions by Massachusetts and California, the SEC sued Xu, alleging he was at the helm of a massive international fraud.

Visit the receiver’s website. Read the receiver’s declaration.