PatrickPretty.com

Author: PatrickPretty.com

  • UPDATES/NEWS: ASA Ponzi Forum Now Redirects To CashX.com; Arthur Nadel Gets 14 Years In Florida Ponzi Case Brought By Obama Task Force; Former Indiana Pastor Who Bilked Christians Convicted Of Securities Fraud

    President Obama formed the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force in November 2009. He later became the subject of an attack ad by an affiliate of the purported MPB Today "grocery" MLM.

    UPDATED 10:56 A.M. EDT (U.S.A.) The ASA Monitor Ponzi and criminals’ forum now is redirecting to a website operated by CashX.com, a Canadian payment processor that hawks MasterCard debit cards and says it permits customers to withdrawn money to Liberty Reserve.

    Liberty Reserve is a Ponzi-friendly payment processor purportedly headquartered in Costa Rica after earlier operating from Panama.

    Meanwhile, confessed Ponzi schemer Arthur Nadel — who briefly went on the lam from Florida in early 2009 as his $390 million scheme was disintegrating and became known as one of the original “mini-Madoffs” — has been sentenced by a federal judge in New York to 14 years in prison.

    It is effectively a life sentence for Nadel, who is 77 and one of several senior citizens implicated in U.S. Ponzi schemes.

    At the same time, a former clergyman from Indiana who told congregants it was their “Christian responsibility” to become pitchmen for his then-undiscovered bond scheme has been convicted of nine counts of securities fraud.

    Vaughn Reeves, 66, is scheduled to be sentenced next month. The jury deliberated only four hours before returning the verdict against Reeves, himself a senior citizen. Congregants believed they were helping raise money for church-building projects, but it was a scam that led to foreclosure proceedings against eight places of worship. (See link to AP report below.)

    Claims made by Reeves are similar to claims made by the Data Network Affiliates (DNA) MLM program, which told members that churches had the “MORAL OBLIGATION” to help bring business to the Florida-based firm and qualify for commissions ten levels deep. DNA purports to be in the license-plate data collection business, claiming it can help law enforcement and the AMBER Alert program recover abducted children.

    Incongruously, DNA also purports to sell a “protective spray” that shields cameras from taking photographs of license plates. Equally incongruously, the company said that it could offer a free cell phone with unlimited talk and text for $10 a month. The company later backtracked on the claim, bizarrely saying it studied pricing structures only after announcing it had become the world’s low-price leader while acknowledging it hadn’t vetted its purported vendor for the service.

    DNA figure Phil Piccolo later threatened to sue critics. Earlier, Dean Blechman, who said he was the company’s CEO before resigning in February, threatened to sue critics. DNA withheld the announcement of Blechman’s departure for nearly a week and then misspelled his name. DNA also described Blechman as the “future” CEO, even though Blechman had described himself as the current CEO.

    Blechman complained to the PP Blog about “bizarre” events at DNA.

    ASA Monitor, which is referenced in court filings as a place from which the alleged Pathway To Prosperity (P2P) Ponzi scheme was pitched and was a site from which the purported “grocery” MLM operated by Florida-based MPB Today was pitched, suddenly announced on Oct. 12 that it was closing.

    Like MPB Today, DNA also was pitched from Ponzi and criminals’ forums.

    The ASA Monitor closure announcement coincided with a flap in which an ASA forum moderator sought to muzzle critics of the MPB Today program, which is being targeted at Christians, foreclosure subjects, Food Stamp recipients, senior citizens, people of color and members of the alleged AdSurfDaily (ASD) Ponzi scheme.

    ASD also operated from Florida before the U.S. Secret Service seized tens of millions of dollars in August 2008, amid allegations of wire fraud and money-laundering. Robert Hodgins, an international fugitive wanted by Interpol in a narcotics-trafficking and money-laundering case filed after an undercover probe by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Connecticut, provided debit cards to ASD, members said.

    Nadel’s scheme, meanwhile, operated in the Sarasota area.

    “Through his massive Ponzi scheme, Arthur Nadel greased his own pockets and financed his lavish lifestyle, using money his clients relied on him to invest,” said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of the Southern District of New York.

    “He cheated his elderly and unwitting victims out of their retirement savings and consigned others to poverty,” Bharara said. “The message of [yesterday’s] sentence should be loud and clear — we will continue to work with our partners at the FBI to find the perpetrators of financial fraud and use every resource we have to bring them to justice.”

    U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl ordered Nadel to forfeit $162 million, five airplanes, a helicopter and real estate in Florida, North Carolina and Georgia.

    The prosecution of Nadel was brought in coordination with President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder traveled to Florida earlier this year to warn fraudsters that the United States was serious about putting scammers in prison.

    By September, an affiliate of MPB Today had created a video in which Obama was depicted as a left-handed saluting Nazi who cowered to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was depicted as a drunk. First Lady Michelle Obama, the mother of two daughters, was depicted as having experienced an embarrassing gas attack in the Oval Office after sampling beans at a Sam’s Club store.

    Clinton, depicted in the sales promo as “Hitlary,” knocked out Michelle Obama after barging into the Oval Office bawling and carrying a bottle of wine. Clinton, the mother of one, was the first woman ever appointed to the Walmart board of directors.

    Some MPB Today affiliates have claimed Walmart is affiliated with MPB Today and that the government backs the MLM program, which appears to have accounts at at least two banks in the Pensacola area. One of the banks is operating under a consent agreement with the FDIC.

    Read the AP story on the Vaughn Reeves scheme in Indiana.

  • Did MPB Today Have Predecessor Company Known As ‘MyPremierBiz’ In 2009? Wellness, ‘Apps’ Programs Pitched From Ponzi Boards Last Year Prior To Birth Of ‘Grocery’ MLM

    This video promo from June 2009 hawks "My Premier Biz," a site now associated with the MPB Today "grocery" program. My Premier Biz was pitched on Ponzi forums more than a year before promos for MPB Today began to appear on the Ponzi forums. MyPremierBiz was a purported opportunity for distributors to pay up to $3,456 to have wellness products associated with MPB Today operator Gary Calhoun placed in retail stores.

    A website known as MyPremierBiz.com was hyped on Ponzi boards last year and videos were produced to drive traffic to a confusing “opportunity” that included both a straight-line and a 2×2 matrix cycler and a hard-to-decipher sales and compensation program.

    Affiliate links were created for the program, which was purported on the MoneyMakerGroup forum to gather between $312 and $3,456 from distributors to place “Pro Packs” — cases of wellness products — in retail stores. The more a prospect sent in to acquire purported retail space for “Pro Packs,” the more he or she purportedly would earn. As of yesterday, some of the links redirected to the website of the purported MPB Today “grocery” program, research shows.

    The product line-up for the MyPremierBiz opportunity is associated with products offered by Gary Calhoun of MPB Today. One promoter on a Ponzi board claimed MyPremierBiz had lined up “outlets” that are “independent nutrition and health food stores, specialty wellness shops, holistic or independent pharmacies, spas, salons, etc.

    “We have a certain number right now, but NOT ENOUGH members to cover the sales! Talk about a GROUND-FLOOR OPPORTUNITY!” the affiliate exclaimed. “As this gets rolling, you will be a part of a small, elite nucleus of people who will have THOUSANDS of STORES in your downline within 12-36 months!”

    Incongruously, a video on YouTube displayed photos of several retail outlets, but included a disclaimer in tiny type that “Stores shown are for example only and are not affiliated with our company.”

    The root of the domain — MyPremierBiz.com — displayed this message this morning: “MPB Today is off-line for site maintenance.” However, other URLs at the site served pages, including a page that included a link for the MPB Today “grocery” program. The fate of the “Pro Packs” offer first advertised last year was not immediately clear.

    The development strongly suggests that MPB Today, which itself is being promoted on the Ponzi boards, had a predecessor site more than a year ago that also was pitched from the Ponzi boards. Receipt of any revenue from Ponzi schemes or criminal business opportunities is potentially catastrophic for MPB Today because the company could be paying members with proceeds from other online schemes.

    Separately, MPB Today Inc. has canceled its Florida incorporation, according to documents on file in the state. The company now is known simply as “MPB Today” — without the “Inc.” designation — according to  a filing dated Sept. 24. MPB Today is operating as a fictitious entity owned by Le330 Inc., another entity associated with MPB Today operator Gary Calhoun.

    Whether MPB Today Inc. actually ever was incorporated in Florida is unclear. A filing by the firm in July suggests the fictitious entity assigned itself a corporate designation under Le330’s designation. Checks recently received by MPB Today members no longer have the “Inc.” designation. Earlier images of checks posted online by affiliates included the “Inc.” designation. New checks simply list “Mpb Today” as the account-holder.

    Like promos for MPB Today, promos for MyPremierBiz were filled with hype and began with a proposition.

    In March 2009, a poster at MoneyMakerGroup wrote, “Would you spend $312, ONE-TIME ONLY, to EARN at least $360 in PROFIT, from Retail Store sales, year after year?”

    MPB Today uses a similar pitch to plant that seed that a $200, “one-time” purchase can lead to free groceries for life.

    MyPremierBiz was positioned last year as “a new division of a six-year-old company that is turning heads both on and off the internet,” according to a promoter writing on the MoneyMakerGroup forum. MoneyMakerGroup is referenced in court filings in the Pathway To Prosperity (P2P) case, amid allegations that P2P was an international Ponzi scheme that fleeced more than 40,000 participants across the globe.

    Writing about MyPremierBiz on MoneyMakerGroup in June 2009, a promoter said that “I am the #2 person in the company. I’m building the TOP Team and I want you to have the same success. Together, I KNOW we can do it!

    “We have SO MANY ways you can get paid and I am going to get you off to an INCREDIBLE START with my MPB Team Build,” the promoter continued. “Here’s what I will do for you. I’ll put two people under you and that will get you off to a ROCKET START! If you join MPB, you will pay $11.50 for the annual website fee, plus $20 for your first monthly order, plus a little shipping for that order, and you can also purchase your way right into our 2 x 2 matrix for only $50 (just one part of our comp plan, but a VERY exciting and rewarding part). So your total expense, to get started is only $89. And you will now be part of several PASSIVE RESIDUAL Compensation Components, and you will be earning a check the very NEXT week!”

    One of the Ponzi-forum references to MyPremierBiz included a tie-in to a program known as “Froggy Apps,” which purported to be a downloads service.

    “FROGGY APPS are HERE!” a pitchman roared on the MoneyMakerGroup forum on July 9, 2009. “APPS are just getting started. People are downloading them at an ASTOUNDING rate, and iPhones, and other ‘Smart Phones’ are selling at a PHENOMENAL CLIP!”

    Links to the MyPremierBiz promos placed in the MoneyMakerGroup forum during the summer of 2009 redirect to the current MPB Today grocery program. So do links to the FroggyApps program.

    All three websites — MyPremierBiz.com, MPBToday.com and FroggyApps.com — are registered behind proxies. When the PP Blog visited the FroggyApps site, it was redirected to the MPB Today site.

    Not all affiliate links formed under the MyPremierBiz domain, however, appear to resolve to an MPB Today affiliate site. The PP Blog clicked on an old MyPremierBiz affiliate link yesterday, and was sent to a page that said, “The page or associate name was not found on this server. Please click the link below to continue.”

    The link below led to the MPB Today site.

  • Bogus Claims Of Google Affiliation Gave Scam ‘False Auru Of Legitimacy,’ FTC Says; Case Leads To $29.5 Million Judgment; Defendants Lose Cash, Cars, Motorcycle, Boat, Gun Collection

    So, you want to plant the seed that your business “opportunity” is backed by a famous company or that the company approves of your use of its trade name in a domain name you registered?

    Eight defendants in a fraud case filed by the FTC have been hit with a judgment of $29.5 million in a settlement with the agency. A ninth defendant was hit with a judgment of $741,900.

    The case mixed financial fraud in the form of unauthorized charges being drawn from customers’ bank and credit-card accounts — and misuse of Google’s name to sanitize the scam, the FTC said.

    The defendants were forced to give up assets that totaled about $3.5 million: cash, two cars, interests in a Harley Davidson motorcycle, a boat and a gun collection “in partial satisfaction of the judgment,” the FTC said.

    Among those hit with the $29.5 million judgment were Jonathan Eborn; Michael McLain Miller; Tony Norton; Infusion Media Inc.; West Coast Internet Media Inc.; Two Warnings LLC; Two Part Investments LLC; and Platinum Teleservices Inc.

    Stephanie Burnside was hit with the $741,900 judgment.

    None of the defendants is able to pay the judgments, which will be suspended unless it is determined that they “have misrepresented their financial condition,” the FTC said.

    A big part of the case was “bogus” claims of ties to Google, the FTC said. The agency brought the action last year as part of “Operation Short Change,” which was targeted at “scammers taking advantage of the economic downturn to bilk vulnerable consumers through a variety of schemes.”

    Federal officials made the announcement today, even as members of an online “opportunity” known as MPB Today were claiming the purported grocery MLM was backed by the government and Walmart. Some MPB Today affiliates have used Walmart’s name in domain names. Meanwhile, affiliates also have used Walmart’s branding materials and even have recorded commercials for MPB Today on Walmart property.

    Such dogs did not hunt in the case against in which bogus claims were made about Google, according to court filings.

    In June 2009, the FTC advised a federal judge that “The defendants’ use of the term ‘Google’ in the defendants’ business names, product names, and Internet domain names and the defendants’ use of logos that are identical to or confusingly similar to the logo of Google Inc. and its Internet search engine create a false aura of legitimacy by suggesting that the defendants are affiliated with Google.”

    Not even a disclaimer in small type by some of the defendants that there was no actual affiliation with Google spared them from the astronomical judgment, according to court filings.

    The defendants did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement agreements.

  • Name Of New Bank Appears On MPB Today Checks; Images Posted On .Org Affiliate Site; Other Affiliates Tape UPS Driver Delivering TV From ‘Grocery’ Program

    Images of two checks purportedly from the MPB Today MLM program are published on a .org website. The checks show Whitney National Bank of Pensacola as MPB Today's bank. Previous checks from the company showed the name of Gulf Coast Community Bank of Pensacola as the bank for both MPB Today and its purported parent company, Southeastern Delivery.

    An MPB Today affiliate’s site on a .org domain is publishing images of checks that suggest the purported “grocery” MLM in Pensacola either has switched banks or is using a second bank.

    The checks are dated Oct. 8 and bear the name of Whitney National Bank of Pensacola. Previous images of checks published by MPB Today affiliates showed the name of Gulf Coast Community Bank, a Pensacola bank that has been operating under a consent agreement with the FDIC since January.

    The checks purportedly drawn on Whitney show the name “Mpb Today” as the account-holder. Previous images of checks published online by MPB Today affiliates showed the names of “MPB Today Inc.” and “Southeastern Delivery LLC.”

    Southeastern is the purported parent company of MPB Today. Why the checks dated in October and purportedly drawn on Whitney did not use the “Inc.” designation was not immediately clear. Also unclear is why MPB checks published online by affiliates included three different names as bank account-holders: Mpb Today, MPB Today Inc. and Southeastern Delivery LLC.

    If MPB Today has switched banks at midstream, it may signal a change in the status quo. Changes in the status quo often are key markers of scams. Changes in MLM compensation plans also may signal a change in the status quo. MPB Today now says it is paying bonuses to certain members of the firm’s 2×2 cycler matrix.

    Some MPB Today affiliates have received Walmart gift cards as part of their compensation, while others have received Walmart “In Store Credit Cards” and prepaid Visa cards branded in Walmart’s name. Whether the varying payment methods represent changes in the status quo is unclear.

    Separately, a video on YouTube shows a 32-inch television set being delivered by UPS to a residence believed to be in Las Vegas. A narrator in in the video says the TV was paid for with a Walmart gift card “kind of, indirectly.”

    The video captures the actual delivery of the TV, showing the face of the UPS driver and also capturing his voice. Whether the UPS driver understood he was being videotaped for a commercial for MPB Today was unclear.

    This marks at least the second time that video promos for the MPB Today program have captured the faces and voices of people who may not have understood that they were being filmed for commercials for the “grocery” program. An earlier video by a separate MPB Today affiliate captured the voice of a teller at an FDIC-insured bank, the face of a Walmart employee and the faces of employees of a taco store.

    At least one other video for MPB Today has shown a TV purchased with proceeds from the “grocery” program — in this case, a 46-inch model manufactured by Samsung.

    This check, published on a Blog, shows the name of Southeastern Delivery.

    This check, published in a video, shows the name of MPB Today Inc.

    A UPS van drives off after after delivering a 32-inch television to an address believed to be in Las Vegas. A narrator in the video said the TV "kind of, indirectly" was paid for with a Walmart gift card from the MPB Today grocery MLM.
    The TV purportedly paid for with a gift card from the "grocery" program.

  • KABOOM! Florida — Again: Palm Beach Operators, Firms Charged With Running Scheme-Within-Scheme In Tom Petters’ Ponzi; More Than $1 Billion Plowed Into Rathole, SEC Says

    EDITOR’S NOTE: The SEC has been particularly active in Florida in recent weeks. Now, the agency once again has gone to federal court to allege a spectacular fraud involving people and companies in the Sunshine State. This one involves more than $1 billion and is linked to the Tom Petters’ Ponzi case in Minnesota.

    Two Florida men and their companies assisted convicted Ponzi schemer Tom Petters in keeping his $3.65 billion fraud afloat by hatching a scheme-within-a-scheme that assured hedge-fund investors that their money was safe, the SEC said in a lawsuit.

    The scheme occurred prior to the filing of criminal charges against Petters in 2008, according to court documents. Petters, who also faces an SEC lawsuit, was convicted of running the Ponzi scheme last year. In April, he was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison.

    SEC investigators now say Bruce F. Prévost, 50, of Palm Beach Gardens, and David W. Harrold, 51, of Del Ray Beach “falsely assured their investors and potential investors that the flow of their money would be safeguarded by collateral accounts and described a phony process for protecting their assets.

    “When Petters was unable to make payments on investments held by the funds they managed, Prévost, Harrold, and their firms concealed it from investors by concocting sham note exchange transactions with Petters,” the SEC said.

    Calling it a “betrayal” that had cost investors more than $1 billion, Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, said the Florida men parlayed the losses of others into gains for themselves.

    “Prévost and Harrold portrayed themselves as guardians of their hedge fund investors while in fact they facilitated Tom Petters’s fraudulent scheme through lies and deceit,” Khuzami said.

    The case was filed in Minnesota.

    Prévost, Harrold and their companies — Palm Beach Capital Management LP and Palm Beach Capital Management LLC — pocketed more than $58 million in fees from the scheme, the SEC charged.

    At the same time, they raised additional money to plow into the scheme “by borrowing money from two Cayman Islands funds that were also established by Prévost and Harrold,” the SEC charged. The agency identified the offshore funds as Palm Beach Offshore Ltd. and Palm Beach Offshore II Ltd.

    “From 2004 through at least as late June 2008, the defendants funneled money into the Petters Ponzi scheme by selling interests in the Palm Beach Funds to investors throughout the United States,” the SEC charged. “Investors in the Palm Beach Funds included individuals, foundations, family trusts and other hedge funds. The Funds invested all investor contributions into the Petters Ponzi scheme. Of the approximately $3.65 billion invested in the Petters Ponzi scheme at the time of its collapse, the Palm Beach Funds accounted for more than $1 billion.”

    Florida has been plagued by Ponzi schemes and fraud schemes. In January, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder ventured to the state to introduce President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.

    Holder announced the Task Force at a speech in the Palm Beach area, using the event at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches to drive home the message that Ponzi schemers, mortgage fraudsters and financial criminals are going to have many sleepless nights in the months ahead.

    “To those who see the victimization of others as an avenue to wealth, take notice,” Holder warned. “If you fabricate a financial statement, if you propagate an investment scheme, if you are complicit in an act of financial fraud, you are writing your ticket to jail.”

  • DEVELOPING STORY: A Second Reference To MPB Today ‘Rebates’; Domain Implies Company Offers Cash To Join; Email Address On Affiliate Site Associated With Defunct Company In Miami; No Immediate Comment From USDA

    A domain that redirects to an MPB Today affiliate site provided by the MLM company implies that the firm offers "rebates" to prospects who join. This screen shot shows the page that loads if prospects visit the "rebates" domain. The "rebates" domain that causes this page to load does not explain how MPB Today prospects can secure a rebate after joining.

    UPDATED 11:47 A.M. EDT (U.S.A.) An affiliate domain linked to the MPB Today “grocery” program implies the company offers “rebates” to prospects who join the MLM company. The domain redirects to an MPB Today-provided affiliate site, which includes an email address for the promoter. The promoter’s email address is associated with yet another domain — one whose registration data lists the name of a company in Miami that purports to provide services for “cardholders.”

    Florida records show that the “cardholders’” firm — an LLC — was administratively dissolved by the state last month for failure to file an annual report.  Other records show that the defunct company uses the address of a UPS store as its address.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said last month that it was investigating claims made about the MPB Today program, which has been targeted at Food Stamp recipients. USDA had no immediate comment this morning on the domain that implies MPB Today offers rebates.

    Two words appear in this domain name prior to the word "rebates." If prospects click on the URL in Google search results, they are redirected to an MPB Today affiliate site.

    Both domains — the one that implies MPB Today offers rebates and redirects to the MPB Today-provided  affiliate’s page and the one associated with the “cardholders’” firm — are associated with the name of the MPB Today promoter. The domain that implies MPB Today offers rebates was registered on July 7, 2007, meaning it was in operation even before MPB Today and its purported parent company, Southeastern Delivery of Pensacola, were in operation.

    The domain that implies rebates are available and redirects to the MPB Today affiliate’s website does so immediately, and there appears to be no content that explains how one can get a rebate when joining the MPB Today MLM program, which operates a 2×2 matrix cycler. MPB Today does not promote a rebate program on its website.

    Why an affiliate would imply that it does is unclear.

    Second Reference To MPB Today ‘Rebates’

    An MPB Today “rebates” program also was advertised last week by a separate promoter — “Ken Russo” — on the ASA Monitor Ponzi and criminals’ forum. ASA announced it was closing only days after “Ken Russo” solicited prospects to send him a private message using the forum’s software to arrange to receive a rebate of $50 from a member of his MPB Today “team.”

    If any rebate transactions for MPB Today occurred as a result of the “Ken Russo” promo on ASA Monitor, they would have done so out of public view because private messages are not displayed to the forum’s readership at large. The ASA promo leads to a question about whether the forum was facilitating private MPB Today rebate transactions for “Ken Russo” during a period in which USDA was investigating claims about the firm.

    Meanwhile, the domain that implies MPB Today offers rebates and redirects to theMPB Today-provided affiliate’s site leads to a question about why affiliates apparently are seeking to lure prospects with cash payouts or the hint of cash payouts for joining the program.

    At the same time, the domain has been associated with yet another domain that purports to offer entrepreneurial “success.” The “success” website promotes six numbered “Projects.”

    A link for “Project 6” redirects to yet-another website that promotes MPB Today. This website features a check- and Walmart card-waving video, but does not reference rebates. A woman who appears in the video identifies herself as a member of the “MPB Power Team.”

    “Come on board and get your own checks and your own gift cards,” the woman said.

  • Yet-Another Website With MPB Today Promo Uses Walmart’s Name In Domain Name; Site Targets Spanish-Speakers; Waves Check, Gift Card; Displays Images Of Buffet, Trump, Walmart

    A website that promotes the MPB Today “grocery” program is targeted at Spanish-speaking prospects and uses Walmart’s name in its domain name.

    Like at least three other websites linked to Florida-based MPB Today’s 2×2 matrix cycler, it is unclear if the site’s operator has Walmart’s permission to use its name in a domain name. The site, which implies Walmart distributes cash, is not registered in the retail giant’s name.

    An English headline on the site urges viewers to “Eliminate Your Grocery Bills . . . Forever” by joining the MLM. The site then presents Spanish content, while linking to a video that uses images of business titans Warren Buffet and Donald Trump. A check drawn on the account of Southeastern Delivery is reproduced on the site, as are images of a Walmart gift card, a Walmart store and a Sam’s Club store.

    MPB Today removed images of Buffet, Trump and Walmart from the homepage of its website last month. Regardless, multiple MPB Today affiliates continue to use the images. Southeastern Delivery is MPB Today’s purported parent company.

    It is common for MLM participants to imply a “program” is endorsed by celebrities and famous companies.

    ____________________________________________________________________

    The check reproduced on the website is drawn on a bank that has been operating under a consent agreement with the FDIC since January. Walmart and the FDIC have not responded to a request for comment from the PP Blog on the MPB Today program. Neither has the bank upon which the check is shown to be drawn.

    Multiple MPB Today affiliates have produced check- and card-waving videos and websites to recruit prospects. Some of them have been online for months.

    MPB Today has been advertised on forums that promote Ponzi schemes, including the now-defunct ASA Monitor forum. Some MPB Today affiliates have claimed publicly that there are liars, thieves and scammers in the organization.

  • BULLETIN: Sean Mueller Charged With Racketeering In Colorado Ponzi Probe; Secret Service, State Securities Division Assisted Denver DA In Unraveling Alleged $71 Million Scheme

    BULLETIN: In yet-another alleged case of massive Ponzi fraud, Sean Mueller has been charged with violating the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act (racketeering).

    Mueller, 42, also has been charged with securities fraud and theft. The prosecution was brought by the office of Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, who credited the U.S. Secret Service and the Colorado Division of Securities for assisting in the Ponzi probe.

    “This is an important example of how agencies can work together to protect investors in Colorado,” said Fred Joseph, commissioner of the Colorado Division of Securities.

    Mueller, who is believed to be cooperating with authorities, is expected to surrender by Friday. Bond has been set at $2 million cash.

    Among the victims of the $71 million Ponzi scheme was John Elway, the former quarterback of the Denver Broncos and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, prosecutors said.

    Prosecutors at both the state and federal levels have used racketeering statutes to bring down Ponzi schemers in recent months, according to court filings.

    Mueller was operating a bogus hedge fund, prosecutors said. At least 65 victims entrusted Mueller with their money, which he spent to live a luxurious lifestyle and to buy tony homes, expensive cars and country-club memberships.

    It was a “classic” Ponzi scheme in which Mueller was upside down on his obligations to investors by a factor of nearly five-to-one, owing about $45 million but having less than $9.5 million to cover redemption requests, prosecutors said.

    The scheme was exposed in April, when Mueller threatened to jump off a parking garage in Greenwood Village, Colo., according to court filings.

  • BULLETIN: ASA Monitor Ponzi And Criminals’ Forum Says It Is Closing; Threads Go Missing En Masse; Closure Coincides With Undercover Operations By Law Enforcement And USDA Probe Of MPB Today

    BULLETIN: UPDATED 7:37 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.): The ASAMonitor Ponzi and criminals’ forum — the forum from which the purported MPB Today “grocery” program was being promoted and countless other fraud schemes were being promoted — suddenly has announced that the forum is closing.

    The announcement, which appeared today in red type, was made by “Wanrou,” whose ID says he is “ASA Administrator.” Content from the forum appears to have been deleted or hidden en masse.

    “ASA forum has been a place where members can get information, discuss, share, debate, to educate and be educate about possibilities and risks of online money making programs for the last few years,” the Wanrou post said.

    “Sadly we can no longer keep it online as a free discussion forum because of time consuming and financial reasons,” the post continued.

    “Thanks you all for your long time support and best wishes to your present and future online endeavors.”

    The forum’s sudden closure coincided with reports in recent months that U.S.-based law-enforcement agencies were conducting undercover stings both online and offline and using informants to bring both criminal and civil charges against financial fraudsters.

    It was not immediately clear if ASAMonitor would seek to reopen as a so-called “private” forum. Court records show that undercover operations also have infiltrated “private” forums and that members of the forums who had been scammed have provided helpful information to investigators.

    The sudden closure of ASAMonitor also coincided with yet-another flap in the MPB Today thread. An antiscam poster was specifically warned by a moderator yesterday to refrain from his efforts to inform ASA members about developments in the MPB Today story and his reading of events at MPB Today.

    Specific claims about MPB Today are being investigated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The program has been pitched to Food Stamp recipients, people of faith, Ponzi scheme victims, people of color, senior citizens, college students and opponents of President Obama, among others.

    Obama created an entity known as the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force in November 2009 to do battle with fraudsters. In January, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder warned in Florida that the U.S. government was serious about putting scammers in prison.

    ASAMonitor previously closed the MPB Today thread after warning an antiscam poster to back off from challenging “Ken Russo,” a poster promoting the MPB Today program. The thread later was opened after what a Mod described as a “cooling off period” had passed. In an earlier closure of the thread, links to the PP Blog’s coverage of the MPB Today story were deleted from the forum and later restored.

  • KABOOM! More Bad News For Fraudsters: ‘FBI Undercover Operation’ Leads To Florida Fraud Busts; 20 Charged In Alleged Schemes, Including ‘CHiPs’ Actor

    An undercover sting conducted by the FBI has resulted in fraud charges being filed against 20 individuals or companies. The sting was centered in southern Florida. Among those charged was Larry Wilcox, one of the stars of the long-running television program “CHiPs” in which Wilcox played the role of a California police officer, the SEC said.

    Records suggest Wilcox agreed to become a government informant after becoming implicated in the probe.

    Wilcox, 63, of West Hills, Calif., was among a group charged both civilly and criminally. The case was brought after the FBI conducted an undercover probe into penny-stock schemes.

    “Securities fraud is an equal opportunity crime — it runs the gamut from very large to very small publicly traded companies,” said U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida.

    Ferrer noted that “even microcap companies are plagued by fraudsters who seek to manipulate the stock market to line their own pockets.”

    Separately, the SEC said the sting was conducted “in such a way that no investors suffered harm” — an announcement that could send shockwaves across the fraud universe because it demonstrates that investigators are infiltrating schemes and relying on informants to unmask the schemers.

    Wilcox, for example, believed he was doing business with a “corrupt trustee,” according to court filings. Records suggest that Wilcox entered a deal with the government in July in which he would cooperate in an ongoing probe.

    “These corrupt promoters meticulously planned their schemes down to the last detail, except for the possibility that they were walking into an undercover operation,” said Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “This joint law enforcement effort is a stark warning to those who embark on securities fraud schemes that we may be listening and we may be watching.”

    Whether the SEC and FBI were performing similar stings in the corrupt worlds of HYIPs, autosurfs and 2×2 matrix cyclers as promoted on Ponzi forums was not immediately clear. The Justice Department, however, has made it clear in court filings that it is infiltrating criminal forums and is using undercover operatives.

    The U.S. Secret Service also has made it clear that it is using undercover operatives in its investigations of corrupt enterprises such as HYIPs, autosurfs and 2×2 matrix cyclers.

    Read the SEC’s statement:

    Read the statement of U.S. Attorney Ferrer and remarks from the FBI:

    Read a story about a Secret Service probe in which undercover operatives were used to infiltrate criminal forums:

  • Another MPB Today Site Uses Walmart’s Name In Domain Name; Positions ‘Grocery’ Biz As ‘Freedom Club’ In Domain Hidden Behind Proxy; Uses Images Of Buffet, Trump And Late Sam Walton

    This pitch for MPB Today positions it as the Walmart Freedom Club. The pitch misspells the word "prosper" as "prospour." The website registration is hidden behind a proxy, and uses Walmart's name in the domain name. It is unclear if Walmart authorized the domain name or the use of its intellectual property in the MPB Today promo.

    Yet-another domain linked to the purported MPB Today “grocery” program is using Walmart’s name in its domain name. The domain name is registered behind a proxy and uses images of Warren Buffet, Donald Trump and Sam Walton to position the opportunity as a “Freedom Club.”

    Sam Walton is the late founder of Walmart. It is unclear if the owners of the website have Walmart’s permission to use its name and the likeness of Sam Walton in a pitch for the MPB Today program. Also unclear is whether the website owners have the permission of Trump and Buffet to use their images in promos for MPB Today.

    Separately, yet another pitch for MPB Today features a narrator who notes that food is necessary to stay “alive” and laments, “I wish we could sell air too.” The “air” video is on a restricted YouTube site maked as “unlisted.” An unlisted video “means that only people who know the link to the video can view it (such as friends or family to whom you send the link,” according to YouTube.

    MPB Today is a multilevel-marketing (MLM) program based in Pensacola, Fla. The “opportunity” is tied to a grocery business in Pensacola known as Southeastern Delivery. Both companies are linked to Gary Calhoun, who has a poor track record with the Better Business Bureau and was the recipient of a warning letter from the Food and Drug Administration for his marketing of a product that purported to be a treatment for Lou Gehrig’s disease, Herpes and Alzheimer’s, among others.

    The new domain that uses Walmart’s name is at least the third linked to the MPB Today program — and the second to position MPB Today as a “club” tied to Walmart.  The domain was registered Sept. 9, after MPB Today itself removed images of Walmart, Buffet and Trump from the homepage of its website.

    Other MPB Today-linked websites branded with Walmart’s name imply the retail giant offers free groceries or that Walmart is partnered with MPB Today.

    Meanwhile, still-other websites linked to the MPB Today program position it as a “Grocery Assistance” program and a program linked to the Food Stamp program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. MPB Today also is being pitched from known Ponzi and criminals’ forums such as ASA Monitor, TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup.

    On Wednesday, the SEC filed an emergency action in federal court in Utah to stop a program known as Imperia Invest IBC dead in its tracks, amid allegations it had fleeced millions of dollars from thousands of Americans with hearing impairments. Like MPB Today, Imperia was promoted on the Ponzi forums.

    Among the allegations in the Imperia case were that the operators were using trademarks and the intellectual property of a major company — Visa Inc. — without the company’s authorization. All in all, more than 14,000 Imperia investors were fleeced, the SEC said.

    In this separate promo for MPB Today, a narrator notes that food is necessary to stay "alive" and laments that he wishes members also could sell "air" through the MPB Today MLM program.