PatrickPretty.com

Author: PatrickPretty.com

Dennis Bolze, Tennessee Ponzi Schemer Who Fled After Fraud Was Exposed, Sentenced To 27 Years In Federal Prison

Dennis Bolze, a fraudster who silently bolted from Tennessee during the same month Bernard Madoff provided a glimpse of how a shocked nation would come to view Ponzi schemers, has been sentenced to 327 months in federal prison. Bolze, 61, was arrested in Pennsylvania on March 12, 2009, about three months after news of Madoff’s…

Aug 27, 2010
WRETCHED, TAWDRY AND CHEAP: AdSurfDaily Members Now Targeted In Pitches For An MLM 2X2 Cycler — One That Trades On Walmart’s Name While Affiliate Offers ‘Blessings’

UPDATED 7:11 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) When U.S. District Judge James Rosenbaum sentenced Ponzi schemer Trevor Cook to a quarter of a century in federal prison earlier this week, the judge used some powerful words to describe Cook’s colossal fraud. Rosenbaum described the scheme that bilked investors out of at least $158 million as “wretched, tawdry…

Aug 26, 2010
Now, A ‘B-Movie’ Ponzi Scheme: Producer Mahmoud Karkehabadi Charged With 89 Felonies, Faces $11 Million Bail, California AG Says

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you’re keeping a Bubba Blue notebook on how to have a Ponzi scheme — as opposed to shrimp — here’s one for your list. UPDATED AT 12:33 P.M. June 6, 2013. See Comments thread below. Mahmoud Karkehabadi has been sentenced to 27 years in state prison . . . A producer of…

Aug 25, 2010
BULLETIN: Trevor Cook Sentenced To 25 Years In Federal Prison; Victims Lost At Least $158 Million In International Forex Ponzi Scheme That Traded On Religion

BULLETIN: Ponzi schemer Trevor Cook has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for his role in an international Forex Ponzi scheme that gathered more than $190 million and fleeced victims out of more than $158 million. In ordering the prison term, U.S. District Judge James Rosenbaum sided with the prosecution’s recommendation of a…

Aug 24, 2010
UNACCEPTABLE: ‘Hopefully One Day He Will Pick The Wrong Target And . . . Someone Will Take A Shotgun To Him,’ Internet Marketer Says About ‘Salty Droid’ Author

DISCLOSURE: I was a volunteer Moderator at the Warrior Forum (WF) between December 2007 and July 2008. I learned what is best — and worst — about Internet Marketing at the WF. Just as my Mod days were coming to an end, the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme case was coming to the fore — and Internet…

Aug 23, 2010
COMING SOON: Author Of The ‘Salty Droid’ Blog Responds To Menacing Comment Made By Internet Marketer; ‘Shotgun’ Remark On Warrior Forum Seen As ‘Dangerous And Violent’

Many of our readers know that the PP Blog has been subjected to threats, menacing behavior and cyberstalking. Later tonight, we’ll publish an editorial on a highly disturbing incident that occurred last week at the Warrior Forum (WF). The Salty Droid, a Blog that unapologetically skewers highly questionable Internet Marketing practices and some of the…

Aug 23, 2010
KABOOM! Feds Release Info On ‘Alpha Trade Group’ Forex Scheme With Ties To Mexico, Panama; Records Suggest Scheme Was Collapsing Even Prior To Promos On TalkGold, MoneyMakerGroup Forums

Yet another HYIP scheme pushed on the TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup forums has been outlined by federal prosecutors — this time in Florida. The name of the scheme was Alpha Trade Group (ATG), and web records show that the scheme was pitched on TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup beginning on Oct. 7, 2009. Court records, meanwhile, show that…

Aug 23, 2010
BREAKING NEWS: Another Spectacular Ponzi Scheme Alleged In Florida; OLINT Operator David A. Smith Charged In Caribbean Forex Caper; Extradition To United States Expected

BULLETIN: A citizen of Jamaica has been charged by U.S. prosecutors in Orlando with operating a Forex Ponzi scheme alleged to have gathered more than $200 million from more than 6,000 investors. David A. Smith had help from unindicted co-conspirators in Florida, prosecutors charged. The office of U.S. Attorney A. Brian Albritton of the Middle…

Aug 19, 2010
BULLETIN: Church Pastor Was Running Forex Ponzi Scheme, CFTC Says; Agency Gets Emergency Asset Freeze Against Jeremiah C. Yancy

A church pastor targeted congregants in a Forex Ponzi scheme in which he misappropriated at least $462,000, the CFTC said. The pastor, Jeremiah C. Yancy, previously had been implicated by Idaho regulators in a real-estate swindle and scheme to sell unregistered securities that resulted in ruinous losses for investors, according to records. Yancy also is…

Aug 19, 2010
‘In God We Trust’ Securities Huckster Found Guilty In $17 Million Swindle; Byron Keith Brown Had ‘Fleet’ Of Luxury Cars; Feds Call Business ‘Tangled Financial Web Of Lies’

A Virginia man who traded on religious sentiments and the motto printed on U.S. currency to fleece investors in a $17 million Ponzi and securities swindle potentially faces decades in prison after being found guilty in Maryland of wire-fraud and money-laundering charges. Byron Keith Brown bought at least 16 luxury or high-performance cars with investors’…

Aug 19, 2010
DELAWARE: Woman Bilked In Investment Scam Later Bilked In ‘Investment Recovery Scam,’ AG Biden Says; Patrick A. Wiley Indicted On Racketeering, Securities-Fraud Charges

EDITOR’S NOTE: The indictment in Delaware against Patrick A. Wiley of Detroit illustrates the dangers of entrusting money to a person who claims he can help you recover money lost in a securities swindle. It also illustrates that a person who claims he can help you recover money lost to a securities swindle — and…

Aug 18, 2010