ACHIEVE COMMUNITY’S TROY BARNES: ‘I Am Guilty Of Being Ignorant’
In a letter to a U.S. Magistrate Judge, Troy Barnes of “The Achieve Community” claims he is ignorant and will prove it.
UPDATED 10:10 P.M. EDT U.S.A. His Achieve Community cycler colleague Kristi Johnson now charged both civilly and criminally, Troy A. Barnes is professing ignorance.
In a June 22 letter to U.S. Magistrate Judge Craig B. Shaffer of the District of Colorado, Barnes offered reasons for missing a June 3 conference call with the court. The letter was docketed June 26.
Starting off by advising the judge he “meant no disrespect” by missing the call, Barnes explained that he has a sick child who has been hospitalized since May 4.
Barnes, 52, of Riverview, Mich., went on to explain that he did not have counsel and was “Guilty of being ignorant” in the SEC’s civil case filed in February in which he and Johnson both are charged.
Saying he desired to cooperate, Barnes ventured that “I would prove that I am very guilty of being ignorant but still I want to do the right thing.”
Barnes previously has claimed to be a target of a federal criminal investigation.
The SEC’s civil case was brought in the District of Colorado. The criminal charges against Johnson are filed in the Western District of North Carolina.
In a 17-page complaint that was filed under seal on Feb. 12, the SEC described the Achieve Community as a “pure Ponzi and pyramid scheme” whose revenue “has consisted entirely of investor-contributed funds.”
“Johnson and Barnes have made no effort to generate profits from any legitimate business operations from which they could repay earlier investors,” the SEC charged. “Instead, the sole source of repayments to earlier investors is funds contributed by newer investors.”
Whether Barnes continues to be a subject of a criminal probe is unclear.
Johnson, 60, of Aurora, Colo., was charged criminally with wire-fraud conspiracy earlier this month and agreed to plead guilty, federal prosecutors in North Carolina said. The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Secret Service, which also is investigating Zeek Rewards.
NOTE: Our thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.
he tied to pull the ‘sick kid’ excuse when people started asking for their money yet he was still out gallivanting around. We discussed it on realscam.
and let’s see him claim ignorance when he has to explain his asking people for their personal information that he really didn’t need like their employers name and address.
Some background here, Whip:
https://patrickpretty.com/2015/02/13/achieve-community-now-serving-up-spectacle-in-which-confusion-reigns-video-on-sign-up-instructions-for-purported-new-processor-goes-missing-from-youtube/
Patrick
here’s a copy of the facebook post he put up the day after using the ‘extremely sick kid’ excuse:
http://www.realscam.com/f9/achieve-community-huge-ponzi-scam-3524/index10.html#post80897
one would have thought more important things should have been on his mind like they allegedly were June 3rd. I have no sympathy for this lying turd.
Ignorantia juris non excusat or ignorantia legis neminem excusat (Latin for “ignorance of the law does not excuse” or “ignorance of the law excuses no one”) is a legal principle holding that a person who is unaware of a law may not escape liability for violating that law merely because he or she was unaware of its content.
European-law countries with a tradition of Roman law may also use an expression from Aristotle translated into Latin: nemo censetur ignorare legem (nobody is thought to be ignorant of the law) or ignorantia iuris nocet (not knowing the law is harmful).
Quick note: Kristi Johnson pleaded guilty to the criminal charge today in North Carolina. A sentencing date has not been set.
The judge walked her through the plea agreement, and Johnson asserted that she in fact was guilty.
Text/video report from wsoctv.com here:
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/local/woman-accused-multi-million-dollar-ponzi-scheme-pl/nmpN8/
Also see ASD Updates:
http://asdupdates.com/wordpress/archives/6530
Patrick
Criminal Charges Filed Against Co-Founder Of “Triple Algorithm” Ponzi Scheme
http://www.ponzitracker.com/main/2015/11/3/criminal-charges-filed-against-co-founder-of-triple-algorith.html
Thanks for this, Tony. PP Blog got a mention in the Charlotte Observer’s coverage and a link to the story above.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article42708453.html
Patrick