Another ‘Ken Russo’ Disaster: Team Of Feds Hammers Alleged Operator Of ‘Program’ Pushed By Ponzi-Forum Legend
UPDATED 7:51 EDT U.S.A. Let’s start by giving you the roster of federal agencies involved in the investigations and prosecutions of William M. Apostelos, 54, and Connie M. Apostelos, 50, his wife:
(1.) The Office of U.S. Attorney Carter M. Stewart of the Southern District of Ohio. (2.) Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation. (3.) The FBI. (4.) The U.S. Postal Inspection Service. (5.) U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General. (6.) U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration.
In addition to the six federal agencies, the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Securities joined in the probe that uncovered an alleged $70 million Ponzi scheme.
So, how does Ponzi-forum legend “Ken Russo” fit into all of this? Here we’ll turn to a Nov. 1, 2014, story at BehindMLM.com. The story quotes “Ken Russo” on yet-another scam he is pushing. (Italics added.)
I am very firm in my belief that this is the real deal and I get no sense whatsoever that any kind of scam is intended here. It is very seldom that we can find an opportunity as transparent and viable as the Genesis Acquisitions International, LLC. investment club.
It turned out that William Apostelos was linked to Genesis Acquisitions and a sorry cast of other companies, including WMA Enterprises LLC, Midwest Green Resources LLC and Roan Capital.
Connie Apostelos, also known as Connie Coleman, also operated and oversaw multiple companies in the Dayton area, including Coleman Capital Inc. and Silver Bridle Racing LLC, prosecutors said.
“These companies were allegedly operated through improper use of investor funds to William Apostelos’ companies,” Stewart’s office said.
From the statement (italics added):
William and Connie Apostelos are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, eight counts of mail fraud and 13 counts of wire fraud, each crimes punishable by up to 20 years in prison. They were also charged with two counts of money laundering, which each carry a potential 10-year prison sentence. They were also charged with one count of theft or embezzlement from employee benefit plan, which carries a maximum penalty of up to five years imprisonment. Finally, Connie Apostelos is charged separately with one count of making a false statement, which carries a maximum penalty of up to five years imprisonment.
See the PP Blog’s archive of story references to “Ken Russo,” perhaps the most prolific Ponzi pitchman on the planet.
Visit a recent “Ken Russo”-related thread at the RealScam.com antiscam forum for a “program” known as “MyBinaryProfits.”
How anyone believes a word that Ken Russo says anymore is beyond me. Everything he promotes is a Ponzi or an illegal cash gifting scheme.
And of course Ken claims he takes his due diligence seriously, cough, cough. Well at least he claims he does. Ken’s idea of due diligence is: is it paying, is the admin breathing and promises his program will last longer than 60 days, I am promised a better deal than others joining, and I’m promised to be paid back his initial spend plus a larger return than the others will receive. In return I will massively pimp it to as many as possible.
Ken also vouched for the honesty and integrity of William M. Apostelos and his team. About a good of a judge of character as he is in his the real deal, can’t miss, greatest program ever he pimps.
Department of Labor? Did these crooks took GOVERNMENT money?
Jordan Maglich of PonziTracker.com is publishing a document that speaks of a search warrant executed on Oct. 29, 2014:
Source: http://www.ponzitracker.com/main/2015/10/30/ohio-couple-charged-with-70-million-ponzi-scheme.html
SNIPPET:
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During the search, officers located many promissory notes executed between victims and APOSTELOS and/or the companies he controls. It appears that APOSTELOS would get money from victims, often out of their retirement account, and quickly after investing that money, or sometimes failing to invest that money, APOSTELOS would transfer the money to earlier investors as a return on their investments. During the investigation and search, it appears that APOSTELOS used most of the investors’ money to pay off earlier investments, or to fund his glamourous lifestyle.
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So, looks as though he was after retirement funds. One of his alleged claims was this:
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The OVO WEALTH MANAGEMENT business plan proposed that the principal officers would market their business and trading models with “a level of transparency, sophistication and performance that is literally unheard of by a large portion of the general population.” OVO WEALTH MANAGEMENT planned to market to the following areas:
*Our Principals will pursue their respective warm markets (above) in depth in the Dayton area with a focus on establishing networking contacts in surrounding cities.
*The Ohio Police/Firefighter Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP) program is an additional retirement fund last estimated in 2012 to involve over 4,000 retired workers totaling over 2 billion dollars. These funds are transferrable IRA accounts earning approximately 1.5% fixed return at this time. Several retired police solicitors are waiting to pursue this market on our behalf including … of the Ohio Police/Firefighter Retirement Association.
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Patrick
Quick note: The SEC also filed charges against William Apostelos:
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2015/lr23397.htm
Patrick
Does anyone know anything about Felmina Alliance ponzi scheme that Ken Russo was involved with. The ones that stole $15,000 from me!!!!!