Guilty Pleas Entered In eAdgear Ponzi- And Pyramid Criminal Case

UPDATED 1:10 P.M. EDT U.S.A. Two eAdGear Ponzi- and pyramid-scheme figures have pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges of structuring transactions to evade bank-reporting requirements and conspiracy, according to court filings and records in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

The SEC charged eAdGear in September 2014, alleging it had gathered $129 million. Among the named defendants were Charles S. Wang of Warren, N.J., and Francis Y. Yuen of Dublin, Calif. In December 2014, news broke that Wang and Yuen had been indicted criminally. They were charged criminally in a superseding information filed on May 26, 2015.

A application for a preliminary order of forfeiture filed by federal prosecutors July 17 says Wang and Yuen pleaded guilty to the structuring charges on May 27. The superseding structuring complaint alleged they made structured deposits — typically in amounts below $10,000 — and caused others to do so.

The cases appear to have been resolved via a plea agreement that led to the guilty pleas.

Structuring is a crime that occurs when individuals make deposits in a way that may dupe banks into not filing Suspicious Activity Reports, thus providing scammers more time to carry out a fraud scheme.

Structuring also may be an element in the TelexFree MLM scheme, according to Massachusetts investigators.

The maximum prison sentence for structuring is 10 years. Conspiracy in the context of structuring carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Both crimes can lead to large fines.

Though the plea agreements appear not to be instantly available, the forfeiture application says Wang and Yuen have agreed to pay a money judgment of $731,405.33. This sum represents the alleged amount of structured transactions that passed through banks in California and New Jersey.

Also see Sept. 28, 2014, PP Blog Special Report: eAdGear ‘Program’ Allegedly Traded Falsely On Names Of Famous Companies And Brands; SEC Contacted Google, Yahoo, Target, Victoria’s Secret (And More) To Refute Claims . . .

Also see March 19, 2015, PP Blog report: SEC Enforcement Chief References Investor Alert On ‘Pyramid Schemes Posing As Multi-Level Marketing Programs’ In Congressional Testimony Today, Says ‘Coordinated Effort’ To Disrupt Them Under Way

NOTE: Our thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.