No Immediate Comment From Federal Reserve On Claims Related To Emerging BitClub Network ‘Program’
UPDATED 12:27 A.M. EDT SEPT. 22 U.S.A. The PP Blog today contacted the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, owing to claims concerning the emerging BitClub Network “program” that is being pitched by certain members of the $850 million Zeek Rewards Ponzi- and pyramid scheme.
Known in shorthand as the Fed, the Federal Reserve is the central bank of the United States.
Someone is posting on the RealScam.com antiscam forum as “Fedman” and purporting to be “Steve,” a “Vice President” of a federal reserve bank. Fedman purports to have been employed by the Fed “for over 30 years,” to “manage large operations” and to “work with monetary policy.”
Fedman appears to be defending pitches for BitClub Network by Brian Spatola, a New Jersey-based alleged “winner” in the massive Zeek scheme that may have affected hundreds of thousands of people. The court-appointed receiver in the Zeek case is suing more than 9,000 alleged Zeek winners in the United States and has said he’ll also sue international winners in the “program.”
The Fed did not immediately comment on the claims being made by Fedman.
It is sometimes the case in HYIP schemes that promoters and defenders of “programs” drop the names of individuals and entities that have no ties whatsoever to a “program” as a means of sanitizing scams. The name-dropping associated with BitClub Network has been furious and now appears even to include the name of the U.S. central bank.
After missing a series of advertised launch dates — including one on Sept. 1, the 75th anniversary of the beginning of World War II and another on Sept. 10, the eve of the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks — BitClub Network now appears to have launched.
Promoters claim the scheme pays out between 0.3 and 0.8 percent a day for 1,000 days on invested sums of between $500 and $3,500. In addition, promoters claim there are recruitment commissions on top of the daily payout, a claim that accompanies many HYIP Ponzi- and pyramid swindles.
Among the BitClub Network promoters are Spatola and T. LeMont Silver, late of Zeek. Silver also promoted the OneX pyramid scheme, an exceptionally murky program that used an image of a bomb in its logo.
AdSurfDaily figure Kenneth Wayne Leaming, a purported “sovereign citizen,” was a Federal Reserve conspiracy theorist and an overall banking conspiracy theorist. Leaming was arrested by an FBI terrorism task force in 2011, after filing bogus liens against federal officials who had a role in the ASD Ponzi prosecution that began in 2008.
Leaming now is serving a lengthy prison sentence.
Jordan Maglich has a story about a different BitCoin ponzi scheme.
http://www.ponzitracker.com/main/2014/9/19/judge-fines-texas-man-40-million-for-bitcoin-ponzi-scheme.html
Thanks for this, Tony. Earlier PP Blog coverage on the Texas Bitcoin-themed Ponzi scheme here:
https://patrickpretty.com/2013/07/23/bulletin-sec-now-a-bitcoin-ponzi-scheme-operated-by-trendon-t-shavers-aka-pirate-and-pirateat40/
And link to earlier story by Jordan Maglich here:
https://patrickpretty.com/2013/08/07/recommended-reading-jordan-maglich-in-forbes-on-green-lighting-of-sec-lawsuit-in-alleged-ponzi-scheme-involving-bitcoin-and-why-zeekers-should-pay-attention/
Patrick
It’s also a federal crime to impersonate a Federal employee / official.
Employees of any of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks are not Federal Employees. None of the 142 people who hold a position that includes “Vice President” in their title is named Steve.
I kinda think the guy MIGHT be lying….
You mean I can’t trust his answers when he finally answers my questions? That’s a shame
Quick note: This (below) was posted at “02:36 PM” today at the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum:
__________________________________________________
Founders Pre-Launch Update
Date: September 22nd
Attention All BitClub Members,
This is our first corporate update!
We wanted to welcome you to BitClub Network and give you an update on what you can expect as we prepare for launch. You will see many updates on this page over the next few days and weeks keeping you informed so make sure you check back here often and spread the word to your team.
Updates include:
Quick Intro/Overview
Binary Placements on Wednesday (Be Ready)
All Commissions Paid on Friday
Mining Pools go LIVE October 6th
Quick Intro/Overview of BitClub Network…
So far the response has been MUCH bigger than we expected during this initial pre-launch phase. Our team has been working around the clock to ensure we are ready to launch and we really appreciate your patience during this time!
One of the key features of Bitcoin is the private and anonymous nature of it. It works without knowing who you are or where you live so that nobody can be discriminated against. It also requires zero trust from either party because everything is made public and verified across the entire network. Since there is no centralized location for these records nobody has the power to control or manipulate it.
Whereas a bank for example you have to “trust” them to keep your money safe and hope they provide an accurate ledger for your account. The bank can do whatever they want because they have full control over your account and they can see everything you spend money on. But with Bitcoin and other digital currencies nobody controls or regulates the accounts and all the details are kept private, secure and anonymous.
Because of these principles we don’t need to know “who” you are, and we will never ask for any of your personal details. Likewise, the team behind BitClub Network will remain anonymous too. There is no benefit in sharing any personal details because it will only create security risks and unwanted attention that could ultimately lead to attacks by hackers, regulators, or other organizations. So we are staying anonymous to protect this business model for everyone.
This concept may be hard to understand, but rest assured BitClub will be fully transparent with all business transactions and dealings. We won’t ask you to “trust” us or take our word for anything. Instead we will provide full details so you can verify our mining pools, stats, and everything else we are doing. All stats and resources will be made available after launch and we will continue to keep you informed with the facts.
Binary Placements…
Starting on Wednesday September 24th at 7:00pm GMT the Binary will go live and everyone will start being placed.
Since this is the first time we are placing the Binary tree we require EVERYONE to place their own personally sponsored members. You will have full control over who you place and where they fall under you. Everyone will be sitting in a holding tank until they are placed into the binary tree, once a member is placed they can immediately begin placing all of their personally sponsored members immediately.
How to do a Binary placement? Once your position is locked in the tree go to Binary Tree View and click on the next available empty space under you and select any member from your personal enrollment tree. Confirm you want to place this member and submit the form.
Commissions Paid Friday…
After the Binary is live you will have 48 hours to empty your holding tank and place all members. After this 48 hour period ends (Friday 7:00pm GMT) the system will calculate all commissions and show them available in your wallet.
We are currently working on the Level-up Team Bonuses and will have updates posted before the Friday cut-off so you can maximize your team and set yourself up to get paid.
How do you get paid? All commissions are paid in Bitcoin and will be made available in your BTC Wallet to withdrawal. All you have to do is request the withdrawal to your Bitcoin Address account and it will be paid automatically.
Due to the speed and velocity of Bitcoin we will be able to pay commissions in near real time (stay tuned for updates)
Mining Pools Launch October 6th…
The final piece to launch is our three Mining Pools that will pay back daily profits to all shares outstanding. Each pool will be live and payments will begin on October 6th based on the total shares and payout structure of the pool. To start off we have 40 Terra Hash (Th’s) of scrypt equipment available for each mining pool. After the launch you will see each pool growing independently based on the amount of shares purchased and the time frame to add new equipment.
You will be able to verify our mining operation very easily in the public BlockChain where all transactions are kept. We will provide tools and stats on the various coins we are mining and share the true results of each mine on a daily basis.
Stay tuned for more updates and make sure you are ready to go on Wednesday!
Sincerely,
-BitClub Network Support
__________________________________________________
BehindMLM has a story on it:
http://behindmlm.com/companies/bitclub-network-staying-anonymous-to-avoid-regulators/
Quick note: Tony (above) referenced the Bitcoin Savings and Trust (BTCST) Ponzi scheme of Trendon T. Shavers.
Here is a link to the full SEC statement (Sept. 22) on the final judgment in the BTCST case:
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2014/lr23090.htm
SNIPPET:
___________________________________________
The Court further found that, even as he publicly denied the Ponzi scheme on the Bitcoin Forum, Shavers knowingly and intentionally operated BTCST as a sham and a Ponzi scheme, and repeatedly made materially false and misleading representations to BTCST investors and potential investors concerning the use of their bitcoins, how he would generate the promised returns, and the safety of their investments.
___________________________________________
Like BTCST, BitClub Network is preemptively denying it is a Ponzi scheme. We covered that there:
https://patrickpretty.com/2014/09/16/launch-of-murky-bitclub-network-program-appears-to-be-under-way/
Prior to the SEC’s action against Zeek Rewards in 2012, Zeek preemptively denied it was a “pyramid scheme.”
Patrick
Every scam denied it’s a scam right up to the point authorities shut it down.
TVI Express head Tarun Trikha, when reached by South African IOL news, denied he’s running a scam too in 2011, even as South African authorities authorized forensic audit team that estimated the TVI Express scam to reach 1 BILLION rand in South Africa alone. And a year later Tarun Trikha was arrested when transiting through Delhi airport in 2012 by Indian police.