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Author: PatrickPretty.com

BULLETIN: Another Ponzi Scheme In South Florida; SEC Alleges $28 Million Fraud Against Trade-LLC

A Florida company — Trade-LLC — and its operators have been accused of running a $28 million Ponzi scheme that fleeced members of three investment clubs. Named defendants by the SEC were Trade-LLC and its managing members, Philip W. Milton and William Center. The scam operated in the Palm Beach Gardens area, and affected more…

Jun 22, 2010
UPDATE: Renner Begins Sentence In Tax Case; INetGlobal Operator Housed In Minnesota

Steve Renner, the operator of the Minneapolis-based INetGlobal autosurf, is an inmate at the Federal Prison Camp (FPC) in Duluth, Minn., according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBP). Renner, 55, was sentenced in May to 18 months for income-tax evasion. He was indicted in September 2008 and convicted in December 2009. The Duluth FPC…

Jun 22, 2010
Prosecution, INetGlobal Strike Interim Agreement That Frees Money To Pay Employees, Insurance Under Court Supervision

UPDATED 6:14 P.M. ET (U.S.A., JAN. 20, 2011.) Employees of an Internet company under federal investigation amid allegations it was operating a Ponzi scheme have received some good news: a sum of $125,000 has been released to pay their past-due salaries and $25,000 has been released to pay their past-due healthcare benefits. Meanwhile, $200,000 per…

Jun 20, 2010
U.S., German, British, Canadian Provincial Regulators Cooperate In Probe Of Alleged ‘Oil And Gas’ Fraud Scheme Operating In Florida, Texas And Aruba; SEC Sues Justin Solomon And Affiliated Firms

A Florida man selling “joint ventures” in oil-and-gas businesses in Texas to overseas clients through corporate arms in the United States and Aruba has been accused of fraud by the SEC. Named defendants in the case were Justin Solomon of Deerfield Beach, Fla., and three affiliated companies: Seisma Oil Research LLC of Boca Raton, Fla.,…

Jun 18, 2010
BULLETIN: KABOOM x 1,215! Feds Announce ‘Operation Stolen Dreams’ Mortgage-Fraud Sweep; 1,215 Defendants Charged In Largest Mortgage Scammer Takedown In U.S. History

BULLETIN: UPDATED 1:10 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) At least 1,215 criminal defendants have been named in “Operation Stolen Dreams,” which U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder described as a “three and a half month takedown of mortgage fraud schemes throughout the country.” The mortgage-fraud operation began March 1 and is the largest-such undertaking in U.S. history, Holder…

Jun 17, 2010
KABOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM! 5 Separate Federal Probes Lead To Dozens Of Fraud Arrests In Multiple States; 1 Case Alleges Nearly $2 Billion Scheme

BULLETIN: The U.S. government has announced charges against at least 43 defendants in five separate financial-fraud schemes, the largest of which allegedly involved $1.9 billion and contributed to the collapse last year of a bank with 346 branches and a mortage-lending company in Florida. Smaller schemes in cases outlined by federal prosecutors today involved tens…

Jun 16, 2010
New Jersey Woman Charged In Alleged $45 Million Ponzi Scheme; Antoinette Hodgson Faces Decades In Prison If Convicted

A New Jersey woman was arrested this morning on charges she fleeced more than 20 Greater New York investors by engineeringÂ a $45 million Ponzi scheme involving purported real- estate flips, the FBI said. Antoinette Hodgson, 58, of Montclair, New Jersey, was accused of conspiracy and wire fraud amid allegations she recruited clients by telling…

Jun 16, 2010
INetGlobal Operator Steve Renner In Custody Of U.S. Marshals Service To Begin Sentence In Tax Case

Steve Renner is in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, the agency said this afternoon. Renner, 55, was the operator of the INetGlobal autosurf. He was convicted of income-tax evasion in December 2009. On May 5, he was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank to 18 months in prison, although Renner was not…

Jun 15, 2010
INetGlobal Enters Objection To Magistrate Judge’s Ruling Permitting Government To Approach ‘Current And Former’ Employees In Ponzi Probe

The investigation into the business practices of INetGlobal is turning into a legal slog reminiscent of the AdSurfDaily autosurf Ponzi scheme case. In April, attorney Paul Engh filed a motion, saying he represented INetGlobal employees. Among other things, Engh sought an order that effectively would have blocked the U.S. Secret Service from interviewing the employees,…

Jun 14, 2010
Richard Elkinson Ordered To Pay $29 Million In Ponzi Case; 77-Year-Schemer Still Jailed After Arrest At Mississippi Casino In January

A 77-year-old man who fleeced clients by telling them he brokered contracts for a Japanese company that provided uniforms for the Winter Olympics, the Pan American games and the government has been ordered to pay $29 million in a civil case brought by the SEC. Richard Elkinson is jailed in Massachusetts after being arrested at…

Jun 14, 2010
Long Prison Terms Ordered In California Ponzi Scheme Cases In Which Operators Threatened Or Attempted Suicide; Roberto Heckscher Gets 20 Years; Patricia Morgen Gets Nearly 16 Years

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a brief on two Ponzi cases in California that led to suicide attempts or threats. Among other things, the case of Roberto Heckscher demonstrates both the danger to life that collapsing Ponzi schemes pose and the fallacy that no Ponzi scheme exists as long as people are getting “paid.” The fallacy…

Jun 14, 2010