UPDATED 5:18 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) A Florida company and four individuals have been charged with securities fraud by the SEC, amid allegations they fleeced investors in a children’s book company known as “Winning Kids.”
Charged in the case were Winning Kids Inc. of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla; Christian Hainsworth, Winning Kids’ chief executive officer and founder; and sales agents Robert Comiskey, Edward Tamimi and Victor Selenow. The SEC alleged the defendants sold unregistered securities to as many as 190 investors, raising $1.9 million in the scheme.
The litigation is centered in Palm Beach County, an area U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder visited three weeks ago to discuss the Obama administration’s Interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.
Hainsworth was accused of receiving $541,000 over the course of the unregistered offering, “through checks he issued to himself and his wife and ATM withdrawals,” the SEC said.
Meanwhile, Comiskey, Tamimi, and Selenow received about “$322,000 of the offering proceeds as selling commissions,” the SEC said.
Hainsworth, Tamimi and Selenow had previous run-ins with regulators, the SEC said.
“In 1995, the Kansas Securities Commission entered a consent order against Hainsworth to cease offering to sell unregistered securities in that state,” the SEC said.
Hainsworth was also a subject of the South Dakota cease-and-desist order earlier this year, stemming from the business practices of Winning Kids, according to records.
Tamimi, 33, of Palm Beach Gardens, was filed $5,000 by the National Futures Association (NFA) in 2006 “for making misleading sales solicitations and using high-pressure sales tactics,” the SEC said.
He received $194,250 in sales commissions from Winning Kids between May 2007 and September 2008, the SEC said.
Selenow, 48, of Royal Palm Beach, was charged with securities violations by the SEC in 2002 and ordered to disgorge $30,000. The 2002 case involved a company known as “The Gaming Factory Inc.,” according to records.
In 1995, according to records, the NFA fined Selenow $50,000 “for making misleading sales solicitations and using high-pressure sales tactics,” the SEC said.
Selenow received $41,500 in Winning Kids’ commissions between April and December of 2007, the SEC said.
Comiskey, 62,of Palm Beach Gardens, received $86,975 in Winning Kids’ sales commissions between April 2007 and September 2008, the SEC said.
Holder spoke in South Florida Jan. 8, saying the area was altogether too familiar with financial fraud and using an event at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches to spotlight the Interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.
Only three weeks after Holder left, the SEC filed the Winning Kids’ action. The litigation once again puts Palm Beach County in an unwanted spotlight. It is the home of each of the Winning Kids’ defendants and the same county in which Holder spoke, describing the area as “Ground Zero” of financial fraud.
Each of the defendants was familiar with securities laws and held various securities licenses over the years, the SEC said.
“Winning Kids marketed its securities offerings primarily through a radio advertisement Hainsworth placed on a station covering New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut,” the SEC said. “The ad provided a toll-free number for interested investors to call. Hainsworth hired Comiskey, Tamimi, Selenow, and other sales agents to speak with potential investors.”
Prospects were told “that Winning Kids was a “dividend yielding investment” to be paid out on a quarterly basis,” the SEC said.
Lies were part of the scheme, the SEC alleged.
“The sales agents told investors they were vice presidents of Winning Kids, and Hainsworth provided them with business cards stating that,” the SEC said.
In reality, however, the SEC said, “they were independent contractors that received commissions based on the sale of Winning Kids securities.”
Sales agents were paid “cash commissions of 15 to 20 percent of each sale they made,” the SEC said. “In addition, Selenow received for a few months 5 percent of the sales proceeds the other sales agents raised.”
Hainsworth, the SEC said, “paid the entire 20 percent at the time the sales agent made each sale.”
Hype also was part of the scheme, the SEC charged.
Winning Kids’ pitch included claims the company “was starting an acceleration phase of extraordinary growth,” the SEC said. “In reality, Winning Kids generated almost no revenue from the sale of its books or any other product from 2004 through 2008. In addition, Winning Kids spent most of 2007 redesigning the books rather than trying to actively sell them.
“Furthermore,” the SEC said, “Winning Kids did not actively try to sell its books for most of 2008.”
Winning Kids suggested in offering materials that “for each $10,000 [customers] invested, they could expect to get back $30,000 a year — in other words, a 300 percent annual return,” the SEC said.
Winning Kids based is assertions on unrealistic projections, while also misleading investors on how the company would use their money, the SEC said.
Although Private Placement Memoranda “represented that 90 percent of the offering
proceeds would be used for product development, manufacturing, advertising, marketing, and working capital,” the SEC said, “Hainsworth and the sales agents received at least 40 percent of the $1.9 million Winning Kids raised.”
Winning Kids and Hainsworth have consented to the entry of a final judgment that permanently enjoins them from committing or aiding and abetting future violations of the above provisions, and orders them to pay disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and a civil penalty.
Winning Kids and Hainsworth neither admitted nor denied the SEC allegations, in consenting to the judgment.
UPDATED 2:46 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) And to think a cheerleader for AdSurfDaily once boasted online that Megalido was “offshore” and therefore safe from government meddling, after earlier suggesting that ASD members who did not support the company after Ponzi allegations surfaced perhaps would get dragged off in handcuffs while supporters remained free.
To further chill ASD defectors, the cheerleader even shared his version of lyrics from the television program “COPS.”
“Bad Boys, Bad Boys, Whatcha Gonna Do?” he chanted on the now-defunct AdSurfZone forum, a predecessor site to the Pro-ASD Surf’s Up forum. “Whatcha Gonna Do>WHEN<THEY COME FOR YOU ?!!!”
Could an adult be so out of touch he actually believed law enforcement did not have a clue about how fraudsters operate and had no experience at all investigating intricate and elaborate crimes that touched all 50 U.S. states, Canada, the Caribbean and other parts of the world?
The plain answer is yes.
Even as the apologist chanted, however, the FBI was in the seventh year of one of the most intricate and exhaustive probes in its history, a history that dates back to 1908.
Now the FBI, which has 456 satellite offices in the United States and 60 offices overseas, says it is “wrapping up” a penny-stock investigation “that was so massive it took the better part of a decade to unravel.”
Operation “Shore Shells†included probes into 40 separate schemes and, to date, has resulted in 40 convictions, the agency said. The FBI and partner agencies chose the “Shore Shells” name because the probe originated on New Jersey’s Atlantic coast and involved “fake” companies or “shell” firms.
Targeted in the probe were CEOs, stock brokers, CPAs, financial advisers and attorneys who conspired to pump up the price of penny stocks with bogus news releases, false postings on Internet forums and fraudulent information delivered in newsletters, the FBI said.
Perhaps the most notable conviction to date was that of Robert P. Gordon, 57, of
St. Petersburg, Fla. Gordon was sentenced in New Jersey to 20 years in prison, after a jury found him guilty of conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money-laundering.
Investors lost $15 million in the pump-and-dump scheme, which included company names such as TeleServices Internet Group Inc. (TSIG) and Phoenix Information Systems Inc.
“Gordon and several of his co-conspirators executed fraudulent agreements between TSIG and offshore entities, which they secretly controlled,” prosecutors said. “Typically, the offshore entities were located in the Cayman Islands.”
The elaborate scheme involved fraudulent consulting agreements with other entities, and co-conspirators “caused millions of shares of the TSIG stock to be issued in the name of the entities,” prosecutors said. The conspirators attempted to skirt securities laws, and
fraudulently received shares that were laundered in Canada and the United States.
“Afterward, the ill-gotten proceeds were often laundered by wire transferring those funds from the brokerage accounts to an attorney trust account located in Denver and then dispersed to the co-conspirators,” prosecutors said.
Investors dump their life savings into pump-and-dump schemes, which deliberately are designed to be elaborate to line the pockets of insiders.
Now the FBI has disclosed some details about the victims — the people the AdSurfZone poster would have ASD members believe were the “Bad Boys” for not cheerleading for the international scammers.
Here, according to the FBI, are some victims’ stories in brief:
A man suffering from multiple sclerosis. His stockbroker liquidated the man’s pension and IRA, “and left him nearly penniless.”
A woman who invested her savings and pension. She also took out a second mortgage to bolster her stake, and “lost everything.”
A husband and wife who both developed dementia during the probe. FBI agents spent hours with the victims and their family members at a nursing home, while also meeting with the victims’ accountants to reverse-engineer their losses.
A physician from a “prestigious hospital.” The doctor “began suffering from severe depression after learning of the scam and became unable to work.”
As operation “Shore Shells” expanded, it grew to include more than 100 seizure and forfeitures actions totaling more than “$70 million in cash, artwork, jewelry, homes, cars, and other valuables.”
The real “Bad Boys” have been ordered to pay more than $130 million in restitution.
“We expect millions more to be forfeited and repaid to the victims,” the FBI said. “We spent years interviewing more than 600 mainly elderly victims, painstakingly documenting their sometimes heartbreaking losses.”
Others convicted in operation “Shore Shells” include Gary Brown, 61, of Sarasota, Fla.; Joseph Morgan, of St. Pete Beach, Fla.; and Gary Brown, also of Florida, for their roles in a scheme involving a company known as Skylynx Communications.
Brown pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. His sentencing is set for for May 7.
“At his plea hearing, Brown admitted that beginning in May 2002 and continuing through October 2005, he operated a sophisticated scheme, involving more than five co-conspirators, which used deceptive and manipulative practices in connection with the fraudulent issuance, purchase, and re-sale of shares of stock of Skylynx Communications,” prosecutors said.
More than 50 Skylynx investors were defrauded. Brown admitted that he conspired with Morgan, who already has been sentenced to two years in prison, and McPhee, whose sentencing is pending, prosecutors said.
Brown agreed to forfeit about $650,000, as part of his plea.
EDITOR’S NOTE: If you’re keeping a “Bubba Blue” notebook on the ways to have a Ponzi scheme as opposed to having shrimp, here’s one you might want to list: an alleged “Nanny” Ponzi scheme.
In yet another case that couples Ponzi and affinity fraud, Razel Canedo was charged with targeting Filipino immigrants in Greater New York City in an alleged $1 million scheme that sold promissory notes by suggesting the proceeds would be used to pay expenses of nannies and nurses from the Philippines who wanted to work in the United States.
The scheme also used religious references, prosecutors said.
Canedo, 41, was charged with mail fraud and wire fraud. She was arrested in Atlantic City. Investigators said she used the aliases of “Razel Torres” and “Razel Agravante,” while operating companies known as “Lady of Lourdes” and “K&K Nannies.”
But Candeo did not invest the victims’ money in Lady of Lourdes or K&K Nannies, prosecutors said. Instead, she put the “bulk” of it in “overseas bank accounts or deposited it into domestic accounts and withdrew it as cash.”
“Ponzi schemes often target religious or ethnic groups to defraud them of their hard earned money,” said Ronald J. Verrochio, inspector-in-charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service. “Working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the community, the Postal Inspectors will combat these frauds to protect everyone in our community from falling victim.”
As often is the case in Ponzi schemes, investors were promised huge returns.
“Candeo told investors that they would earn a return on their investment of anywhere from 3 percent per month to 50 percent per year,” prosecutors said. “[She] told victims that the money invested in Lady of Lourdes would be used to pay for training, immigration expenses, and placement services for nurses from the Phillipines who wanted to work in the United States, and that the money invested in K&K Nannies would be used to pay for similar services for aspiring nannies.”
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the scheme was reprehensible.
“Razel Canedo preyed on members of the Filipino-American community who invested their hard-earned money into what they later learned was merely Canedo’s bank accounts,” Bharara said. “We will continue to work with our partners at the U.S. Postal Inspection
Service to pursue financial fraud and vindicate its victims.”
Some investors’ received payouts to sustain the deception, and others received checks that bounced, prosecutors said.
In recent affinity-fraud cases, former Christian Radio host Pat Kiley was implicated by the SEC and the CFTC in an alleged $190 million fraud in Minnesota. Also charged in the case was Trevor Cook.
Milton Retana of Huntington Park, Calif., was convicted in a Ponzi scheme that targeted Latinos. Investigators found $3.2 million in cash in the back of a religious bookstore owned by Retana’s wife.
Meanwhile, John Farahi, a host on Persian-language radio in Greater Los Angeles, was charged by the SEC of operating a financial scheme targeted at Iranian-Americans.
Investors were told they were investing in FDIC-insured certificates of deposit, government bonds or corporate bonds issued by companies backed by funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
Elsewhere, Gregg T. Rennie pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts to 13 counts of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud. He potentially faces decades in prison and fines in the millions of dollars.
Rennie hosted a radio show known as “Your Money†and targeted Christian listeners, prosecutors said.
NarcThatCar wants you to pay it $100 up front. For that fee, you become a “consultant” qualified to write down the license-plate numbers of 10 cars per month, input the information into a database and earn multilevel commissions by recruiting. After you pay the $100, you’re then charged $24.95 a month for a website, according to Narc That Car.
Some members of AdSurfDaily and Golden Panda Ad Builder now are promoting the NarcThatCar program, which says clients such as major automobile manufacturers, companies that have private liens against cars, banks, car dealerships that do their own in-house financing and commercial vehicle companies are interested in purchasing information from the database.
If the repo man, for example, is looking for a car and the owner is hiding it, NarcThatCar — relying on the input of its team of license-plate gawkers — will sell him a database entry on reported sightings of the car for $99 — and even provide a map of the reported sightings.
The repo man also has the option of offering a “finders fee for information which leads to the location of your collateral,” Narc That Car says. “This option sometimes helps the process along.”
NarcThatCar labels its license-plate gawkers “independent consultants.” It appears as though any independent consultant hit by a car or otherwise injured while while gawking at license plates and recording their numbers would need to rely on his or her own insurance.
The NarcThatCar website does not explain how consultants should proceed if, say, a local merchant calls the police to complain that a strange person appears to be walking around the parking lot and writing down license-plate numbers.
Who else can use the Narc That Car database?
“Law-enforcement agencies, government agencies, missing persons and the Amber Alert program,” Narc That Car says in a video to recruit prospects.
Information on Amber Alerts, which are issued when a child goes missing, scrolls across the bottom of the NarcThatCar website.
The U.S. Department of Justice, which celebrated the 14th anniversary of the Amber Alert program Jan. 13 and maintains an official website on the program, did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the NarcThatCar program.
NarcThatCar does not list the names of any clients on its website. Nor does the company disclose information on how many database clients it has and how many of them are paying fees to receive a report on a target vehicle. Also unclear is whether Narc That Car imposes a fee if the government or the Amber Alert program wanted to use its database.
Narc That Car, however, does disclose that it has rounded up “thousands” of consultants to write down license plate numbers, enter the information in a database and potentially earn MLM commissions at least five levels deep.
The business is simple, Narc That Car explains.
“Narc a Few Cars,” the company says. “Teach Others How to Narc Cars.”
The company says members are required to act in a “lawful, ethical and moral manner” and perform “with honesty and integrity.” NarcThatCar adds that it provides instruction on federal and state privacy laws and “fundamental training on the the proper way to gather information.”
On “the online success zone,” a forum once known as “The Golden Panda Ad Zone,” a Narc That Car sponsor is promoting the program in a thread titled, “ANYONE CAN DO THIS…write down 10 license plates a month get paid.”
The Amber Alert program is referenced in the first sentence (18th word) of the Narc That Car pitch.
“A company out of Dallas needs to grow a data base of license plates to use for Amber Alerts and other reasons,” the pitch begins.
A year ago, members of AdViewGlobal and AdSurfDaily asked Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairmain of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to endorse Ponzi schemes and investigate the prosecutors in the ASD case. This year, members of the failed Gold Nugget Invest (GNI) HYIP are doing most of the early season cheerleading for reprehensible "programs," while sabotaging debate in the ranks and continuing to argue there is something noble about fraud schemes. Fifteen U.S. banks failed while GNI members were singing the praises of the HYIP in the opening days of 2010. GNI tanked earlier this month. Thirteen U.S. banks failed while AVG/ASD members were conducting a letter-writing campaign to Leahy in the opening days of 2009.
The new year is starting out like the year that just passed. Banks are failing, unemployment is high, money is not trickling down to small businesses that need capital to expand and create new jobs — and the Ponzi pimps are still putting lipstick on pigs, pushing autosurfs and HYIPs and cheerleading for them even when they fail.
Gold Nugget Invest (GNI) quickly has become this year’s equivalent of last year’s early season favorite, AdSurfDaily (ASD), among the apologists. As was the case a year ago with ASD, the GNI faithful and delusional members of the failed HYIP have emerged to lead the cheers, make the excuses, confuse the issues, sabotage legitimate discussions and set the stage for even more people to lose tremendous sums of money to practiced online schemers.
Web records suggest that at least 57 percent of funds directed at GNI originated in the United States, and there are claims that GNI had 11,000 members. GNI tanked earlier this month, directly on the heels of an HYIP known as “Cash Tanker,” which used images of Jesus Christ in its marketing materials.
Yes, even an HYIP that called itself Cash Tanker and used a revered figure as though he were just another hamburger salesman on TV was able to collect untold sums from investors by relying on HYIP cheerleaders to spread the gospel of robbing Peter to pay Paul.
First, a brief look at the banking environment.
Five U.S. banks failed Friday, bringing the year-to-date total to 15. That’s ahead of last year’s pace. Through Feb. 14, 2009, 13 U.S. banks had failed. Twenty-five failed in all of 2008, and only three failed in 2007.
By the time the banking bloodletting had ended in 2009, a total of 140 banks had failed. With 15 failures already this year, the United States is on pace to record 180 in 2010. The FDIC insurance fund fell into the red last year under the weight of the failures, and the agency is replenishing the fund by requiring banks to prepay fees for insurance.
A Year Ago
Most notable among the Ponzi pimps a year ago at this time were the promoters of ASD and its offshoot, the AdViewGlobal (AVG) autosurf. They hailed AVG as a cure for what ailed the U.S. economy, even though ASD had been implicated in a wire-fraud, money-laundering, securities fraud and Ponzi scheme that resulted in the federal seizure of tens of millions of dollars.
AdViewGlobal, which tanked in June 2009, formally launched a year ago this week. It was pushed by ASD members who positioned AVG as an “offshore” alternative.
Almost a year ago, the Pro-ASD Surf’s Up forum led a campaign to Sen. Patrick Leahy that sought the Senate’s endorsement of Ponzi schemes — it seems incredible, but it’s true — and also sought to have the Senate investigate the prosecutors and agents who were investigating the alleged ASD Ponzi scheme.
Incredibly, last year’s Surf’s Up campaign, which piggybacked off a campaign by ASD mainstay “Professor” Patrick Moriarty, came to the fore during a time in which 13 U.S. banks were failing in the opening days of the year; the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme ($65 billion) was still a fresh news item; the Tom Petters’ Ponzi scheme ($3.65 billion) was in the news; the alleged Allen Stanford Ponzi scheme ($8 billion) was in the news; the alleged Arthur Nadel Ponzi scheme ($350 million/$400 million) was in the news; the alleged Paul Greenwood/Stephen Walsh financial scheme ($553 million) was in the news; and the alleged Nicholas Cosmo Ponzi scheme ($370 million) was in the news. There were others, of course.
At the same time the events cited in the paragraph above were making fresh news, autosurfs and HYIPs also were falling like dominos and taking investors’ money with them. Notable among them were MegaLido, Noobing, Frogress, Daily Profit Pond, Premium Ads Club and Aggero Investment. All of them were pushed by promoters who also were pushing AVG (and had pushed ASD).
Some of the promoters simultaneously tried to sanitize the “industry” through the letter-writing campaign to Leahy, asserting, for example, that the schemes actually were legitimate opportunities and that the government did not understand the technology or the math behind the schemes.
Despite the headlines of spectacular Ponzi fraud in the mainstream press, despite the fact that it was impossible to miss news about Ponzi schemes unless you lived a life of blissful ignorance or had chosen to be willfully blind, despite the fact that sites such as Scam.com and WorldLawDirect and the PP Blog had published tons of information on autosurf and HYIP Ponzi schemes, despite the fact that the U.S. and other governments had published warnings about the frauds and had filed both civil and criminal cases against the fraudsters, despite the fact that no autosurf or HYIP ever has stood the test of time and survived, the schemers closed ranks and continued to shill and shill and shill and shill.
They’re still shilling a year later.
GNI Becomes The New ASD In Opening Days Of 2010
This year’s early season ASD is GNI. Instead of writing letters to Leahy, though, some of the apologists are saying that the HYIP critics and doubters in the GNI ranks should quit complaining and starting donating money to Haiti earthquake relief. As was the case with ASD, all of the cheerleading is occurring blindly. Not a shred of evidence has emerged that anything about GNI was real.
And instead of Madoff, Nadel, Cosmo, Stanford and the other Ponzi notables cited above being the preeminent contextual backdrop a year after the Surf’s Up campaign, figures such these have replaced them: alleged Ponzi schemers Trevor Cook and Christian radio host Pat Kiley ($190 million); proven Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein ($1.2 billion); proven Ponzi schemer Milton Retana ($62 million/$3.2 million in cash found in back of religious bookstore); proven Ponzi schemer Gold Quest International (about $29 million; ruled a Ponzi and a pyramid scheme by Canadian authorities); proven Ponzi schemer and former Christian clergyman Brian David Anderson ($4 million, link to Flat Electronic Data Interchange (FEDI), whose operator, Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari, also known as “Michael Mixon,†was convicted in September 2009 of financing terror and fleecing investors in the FEDI scheme); alleged Ponzi schemer Arthur Leroy Heffelfinger ($2.02 million, including alleged theft from woman in 90s with dementia): alleged Ponzi schemer Mariana Montes (at least $682,000 in combo Ponzi and fraud case, including alleged theft from 90-year-old widow); proven schemer John Anthony Miller ($15 million, tried to flee United States by using identity of deceased Catholic school classmate); proven schemer Bradley L. Ruderman ($25 million, mostly from family and friends); alleged schemer Edmundo Rubi (operated $24 million “Knights Express†Ponzi scheme earlier in decade, sentenced to prison, emerged from jail with new scheme targeting original customers); proven Ponzi schemer Marcia Sladich ($15 million, scheme targeted churchgoers); alleged Ponzi schemer Steve Salutric (at least $1.8 million, including more than $400,000 from 96-year-old widow with dementia).
There are others, of course, and the names constantly change. What hasn’t changed is that the autosurf and HYIP shills continue to shill and shill and shill, even as one bank after another is failing and one Ponzi schemer after another is making one headline after another.
We can’t think of anything that matches the level of disconnect or demonstrates the same level of greed and wanton criminality — not even Rothstein’s Bugatti and collection of other fine automobiles purchased with Ponzi proceeds.
David Krywenky of KINGZ Capital Management: Source: Marketwire
UPDATED 5:25 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) KINGZ Capital Management Corp. (KCM) might have been used or contemplated for use as a tool in two far-reaching, incredibly elaborate Ponzi schemes, according to an analysis of public records and other information.
One of the schemes ultimately appears to have consumed tens of millions of dollars in a squalid venture that used a royalty theme trading off the name “Crown.” It involved purported forex trading in Switzerland under the name “Crown Forex SA” and an American namesake called “Crown Forex LLC” allegedly set up to confuse investors and perhaps authorities.
The other scheme, which appears to have been nipped before it could mushroom on a grand scale, sought to kickstart a rapidly collapsing autosurf believed to be an offshoot of an existing criminal enterprise desperately seeking to extend its reach from the United States into the Caribbean, Central America, South America and perhaps Europe to keep itself alive.
The first scheme, which included other confusingly similar corporate names such as Oxford Global Partners LLC and Oxford Global Advisors LLC, became the subject of fraud charges filed by the SEC and the CFTC in November. Investors appear to be out tens of millions of dollars.
Charged in the $190 million November case were Trevor Cook, former Christian radio host Pat Kiley and several other companies. The allegations paint the picture that Crown Forex LLC set up a U.S.-based bank account to siphon money investors believed was destined for the Swiss entity, which they knew as Crown Forex SA.
“Cook and [Pat] Kiley, directly and acting through others, deposited checks from many investors, into a U.S. bank account in the name of a domestic shell company, with a name — Crown Forex, LLC –Â that was misleadingly similar to the Swiss firm Crown Forex, S.A.,” the SEC said.
Cook was jailed earlier this week for violating a court order that required him to turn over assets.
Separately, the National Futures Association (NFA) charged KCM in September with permitting Cook — who was not accredited and previously was disciplined by NFA for highly questionable business practices — to manage a KCM fund that purportedly contained “somewhat above and below $300 million” between September 2008 and July 2009.
KCM now has been permanently banned from NFA membership. David Krywenky, KCM’s vice president, has been banned for three years.
It’s anybody’s guess how much money the fund actually contained and what happened to the money. The SEC, the CFTC and a court-appointed receiver are turning over numerous domestic and international rocks to find assets of Cook and Kiley’s alleged epic fraud.
NFA’s allegations against KCM are disturbing. Not only was Cook managing a KCM pool known as KCI, according to the allegations, Cook’s Oxford Global Partners “appeared to be the only investor” in the KCI pool and all of the pool’s money was dumped into Crown Forex SA, a company in which Cook purportedly owned a majority stake and a company Swiss authorities declared bankrupt.
Was Cook At The Intersection Of A Second Scheme?
The second scheme to which KCN’s name has been linked was called AdViewGlobal (AVG), an autosurf purportedly headquartered in Uruguay but believed actually to have operated from inside the United States, most likely from Florida but perhaps also from Arizona. Autosurfs pose as “advertising” companies to skirt securities laws, authorities say.
AVG had close family, membership and promoters’ ties to AdSurfDaily, a Florida company implicated by the U.S. Secret Service in a $100 million Ponzi scheme. Federal prosecutors are well aware of AVG. So are attorneys suing ASD President Andy Bowdoin and ASD attorney Robert Garner for racketeering.
KCM’s tie to AVGÂ — according to AVG — was as the surf’s new facilitator of offshore wire transfers after AVG earlier had lost access to a bank whose name was not disclosed. AVG, among other things, claimed to own a payment processor known as eWalletPlus.
Records suggest eWalletPlus was an extension of corporate shells in Nevada and Arizona. At least two other companies claimed to own eWalletPlus during the same time period in which AVG claimed ownership. In March 2009, AVG announced its back account had been suspended. Problems with eWalletPlus were reported at the same time.
AVG identified KCM as its new wire facilitator on May 4, 2009, the same day the Obama administration announced a crackdown on international financial fraud. KCM denied AVG’s claim on May 7, saying it believed AVG had targeted it in a scam and perhaps was tying to use a third company based in Florida to route money to itself.
KCM identified the third company as Living Legacy One LLC. Records in Florida identified Gerald Castor as Living Legacy One’s principal, and a communication from AVG identified Castor as an employee of the surf’s “Compliance” department.
Michael P. Krywenky, David Krywenky’s father, denied any AVG ties in an interview with the PP Blog. The interview was conducted in May 2009, after Michael Krywenky contacted the Blog and asked it to remove a story citing AVG’s wire claim.
The Blog declined to remove the story. Instead, it published a story about Michael Krywenky’s denial. The story was based on an interview the Blog conducted with Michael Krywenky and an email Michael Krywenky sent the Blog on May 7, 2009.
“I think that we may be victims of a scam here and we are investigating this further at our end as well,” Michael Krywenky said in the email. “Thank you for bringing this to our attention. In the meantime, we please (sic) remove this posting since it contains false information that is detrimental to our company.”
A month later, in June 2009, the SEC began to investigate the Cook/Kiley entities. By September 2009, the NFA was accusing David Krywenky and KCM of permitting Cook to manage an investment fund and not making a claim for money lost when the Swiss entity went bankrupt.
Whether NFA questioned David Krywenky and KCM about AVG is unclear.
“KCM and D. Krywenky failed to act in the best interests of KCI’s participants, both known and unknown, in that when they knew or should have known that funds on deposit at Crown Forex, SA were frozen pursuant to that firm’s bankruptcy they took no action on behalf of the KCI pool to participate in the bankruptcy as a creditor or otherwise protect KCI’s equity,” NFA said.
NFA further accused David Krywenky and KCM of turning a blind eye to Cook, now implicated with Kiley in a colossal fraud.
AVG, which shielded members from knowing the identities of its owners by signing communications “The AVG Management Team,” never explained how it had identified KCM as a possible facilitator. The surf also ignored Michael Krywenky’s public denial that it had any business relationship with AVG, explaining that the wire deal it had announced as completed only days earlier — up to and including providing detailed wiring instructions — had fallen through as a result of failed negotiations.
Meanwhile, the surf also did not address Michael Krywenky’s claim that AVG appeared to be trying to route money to itself through Living Legacy One, the entity associated with Castor.
Michael Krywenky said KCM was consulting with attorneys to address AVG’s false claims and that the company had taken steps to ensure AVG could not receive money through KCM. AVG spent the balance of May promoting the launch of a new website and telling both prospects and recruiters that they could earn matching bonuses of 200 percent for sending money to the company or causing money to be sent to it.
Like ASD, AVG used offshore payment processors such as Canada-based Solid Trust Pay.
AVG collapsed in June, taking an unknown amount of money with it. Before the collapse, AVG identified George and Judy Harris of Tallahassee, Fla., as its owners. They previously had been identified as “Trustees” of AVG’s “private association,” which had cited U.S. Constitutional protections while purporting to he headquartered in Uruguay.
AdSurfDaily members later said ASD President Andy Bowdoin was a silent partner in AVG, claiming that Bowdoin had dispatched George Harris to Switzerland to establish bank accounts.
George Harris is Bowdoin’s stepson. The Harrises were named beneficiaries by the U.S. Secret Service of ASD’s illegal conduct in December 2008. AVG formally launched two months later, in February 2009, after the Harrises and Bowdoin’s wife, Edna Faye Bowdoin, had been named recipients of ill-gotten ASD gains — and after a major court ruling went against ASD, and after Bowdoin had been named a defendant in a racketeering lawsuit brought by members.
In May 2009 — the month during which AVG purportedly had turned to KCM to establish a wire facility and during a period in which Trevor Cook allegedly was managing money for a KCM entity known as KCI — the alleged Cook/Kiley Ponzi scheme appears to have been collapsing.
Cook has not been publicly linked to AVG. At a minimum, however, someone within AVG appears to have identified Barbados-based KCM as a solution to the company’s wire problem — and the NFA allegations establish a tie between KCM and Cook.
At least for a few days in May 2009, AVG was sufficiently confident that its wire problem was solved, so much so that it provided members detailed wire instructions with KCM’s name and an account number.
Given the nature of NFA’s allegations that Cook somehow had wormed his way into KCM’s purported forex operations with KCM turning a blind eye, it is reasonable to ask whether Cook also somehow had wormed his way into an intersection at which he could have cherrypicked funds from other KCM customers — and whether AVG and other autosurfs and HYIPs had turned to KCM to solve domestic banking and wire problems.
Investigators might be interested in determining if Cook somehow positioned himself to cherrypick fresh autosurf cash and apply it to his alleged existing Ponzi scheme, thus funding it with proceeds from other Ponzi schemes. Indeed, it is reasonable to ask if Cook’s influence with KCM extended from the forex fund to other areas of the business.
Why?
Because KCM, which became an NFA member in November 2007, issued two news releases less than a year later — in October 2008 — announcing it was managing more than $330 million. In a release dated Oct. 15, 2008, KCM said it had “received investment subscriptions of $334,263,000.” In a release eight days later — on Oct. 23, 2008, KCM said “clients who participated in their first raise of just over $330 Million US . . . have reported a very steady and consistent cash flow and rate of return.”
The Star-Tribune of Minneapolis/St. Paul, quoting a lawyer for KCM, reported in November 2009 that Cook offered to provide KCM start-up funding. KCM executives met Cook at a function in West Palm Beach, Fla., according to the attorney. Florida has become Ground Zero for Ponzi schemes.
A Mysterious Investor
NFA asserted in this filing that Cook perhaps peeled off $75 million from the purported Swiss fund and directed it to a mysterious investor. Cook also was alleged to have changed “passwords” on KCI “accounts” as part of the scheme.
KCM, according to the NFA allegations, “permitted Cook to effectuate a purported $75 million withdrawal from KCI’s trading accounts for a purported [Oxford Global Partners] investor who was identified to them by Cook only as “Fased.”
KCM is said to be cooperating with investigators from more than one state and federal agency.
It is unclear if “Fased” is a person, a business, an acronym, a proper name, a misspelling of the word “phased” or a slang spelling of “phased,” an amalgamation of some sort or a complete fiction.
What is clear is that Cook allegedly was managing money for KCM, a company to which AVG said it had turned last year to facilitate offshore wire transfers. AVG’s announcement — and the subsequent actions by the NFA, the SEC and the CFTC, may put KCM at the intersection of two murky worlds — the worlds of underground currency-trading schemes and offshore autosurf and HYIP schemes that promise enormous returns.
It’s worth investigators’ time to check it out — if for no other reason than to rule out the possibility that Cook also was playing the autosurf and HYIP games either as an investor or by somehow positioning himself at an intersection in these noxious worlds to siphon funds and divert them to his alleged principal Ponzi scheme.
What’s more, an HYIP known as Gold Nugget Invest (GNI) collapsed earlier this month, several weeks after NFA brought its action against KCM, and the SEC and CFTC brought their actions against Cook and Kiley.
GNI reportedly was having trouble accessing needed funds in a European bank, but announced a “Re-organization” plan that would reduce payouts from 7.5 percent a week to a mere 20 percent a month.
No, it’s not a misprint. GNI purportedly launched in October 2006, the same month AdSurfDaily was preparing for launch. ASD promoters advertised returns of 1 percent a day for viewing “advertisements.” Prosecutors said it operated as a virtually pure Ponzi scheme.
Some GNI members have referred to money — or representations of money — in their “ewallets.” It is unclear if the “ewallets” to which they refer have any connection to eWalletPlus or if the term “ewallet” is being used as a generic.
What is clear is that HYIP, autosurf and forex schemes have many players in common — and that tremendous sums of money go missing routinely.
UPDATED 1:18 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) A company that denied any ties to the AdViewGlobal autosurf after AVG listed it as a facilitator of offshore wire transfers has been permanently banned by the National Futures Association (NFA) amid allegations that it failed to uphold high ethical standards and failed to supervise its operations.
KINGZ Capital Management Corp. (KCM), which operates in Barbados and has corporate officers in Canada, was banned as a result of permitting Trevor Cook to manage an investment pool, according to NFA.
Cook is one of the two central figures in the alleged Cook/Pat Kiley Ponzi scheme in Minnesota.
AdViewGlobal (AVG) is not mentioned in NFA’s Business Conduct Committee complaint against KCM and its vice president, David M.S. Krywenky.
Michael P. Krywenky, president and chief executive officer of KCM, issued a public denial in May that KCM had any ties to AVG. Michael Krywenky’s denial came after AVG identified KCM as a newly acquired facilitator of offshore wire transfers.
AVG made the announcement that KCM was facilitating wire transfers on the same date — May 4, 2009 — the Obama administration announced a crackdown on international financial schemes. Three days later, on May 7, 2009, Michael Krywenky told the PP Blog that KCM had no connection with AVG, suggesting that AVG had tried to route money to itself through an account in the name of a separate company, Living Legacy One LLC of Florida.
Link To Alleged Cook/Kiley Scheme
David Krywenky let Cook take control of an offshore investment pool that a KCM-related entity known as KCI was supposed to be operating, according to NFA’s complaint. Cook was neither an NFA member nor properly registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), NFA charged.
NFA is a self-regulatory body.
“In July 2009, NFA received information that indicated that KCM had links to an intertwined group of NFA Member and non-NFA Member entities and individuals that had come under some scrutiny because of difficulties that some investors had encountered in trying to retrieve their investments,” NFA said in a Sept. 30 charging document.
As its investigation proceeded, NFA learned that a Cook-controlled entity — Oxford Global Partners — “appeared to be the only investor in KCM’s KCI pool and that all of the pool’s money had purportedly been deposited with an entity named Crown Forex, SA, a non-NFA Member firm that is regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority and that was put into bankruptcy by that body in May 2009,” NFA said.
Cook and Kiley later were implicated in an alleged Ponzi- and forex-fraud scheme involving at least $190 million, according to the SEC and the CFTC. A federal judge jailed Cook earlier this week until he turns over tens of millions of dollars linked to the alleged Cook/Kiley scheme.
NFA charged KCM with “cheating, defrauding or deceiving another person or attempting to do so.” The company consented to the permanent ban without admitting or denying the allegations.
David Krywenky also was charged with failing to uphold high ethical standards and failing to supervise. Like KCM, he neither admitted nor denied the allegations.
Should David Krywenky wish to become an NFA associate after his ban, he’ll be required to pay a fine of $25,000, NFA said.
AdViewGlobal Cited KCM Tie In May
In March 2009, AVG announced its bank account had been suspended because too many participants had wired transactions in excess of $9,500. The surf said it was working on a remedy.
Its purported remedy — routing wire transfers to itself with KCM as a facilitator — was announced with great fanfare on May 4, only hours after Obama appeared on national television to announce a crackdown on offshore fraud schemes.
AVG provided specific, detailed wiring instructions. Members were given the instructions under a headline titled, “BREAKING NEWS Fund your Advertising.†The instructions appeared on an AVG forum operated by some of the Mods and members of the Pro-AdSurfDaily Surf’s Up forum.
The instructions later were deleted, AVG members said. AVG never addressed KCM’s denial, choosing instead to explain that negotiations it had described as completed had broken down.
By June 25, AVG announced it was suspending members cash-outs and exercising its version of a “rebates aren’t guaranteed” clause, thus empowering itself to keep all money previously sent in by members who were expecting to receive not only 100 percent of their money back, but also a profit. AVG has close ties to AdSurfDaily, implicated in a $100 million Ponzi scheme.
Critics observe that the “rebates aren’t guaranteed” clause effectively is a license to steal. Autosurfs, which operate as virtually pure Ponzi schemes and position themselves as “advertising” companies, dangle the promise or suggestion of an investment return, sometimes gathering tens of millions of dollars.
Investigators say such clauses are designed to skirt securities laws.
Disbarred Florida attorney Scott Rothstein has pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy that included mail fraud and wire fraud, and to two separate counts of wire fraud.
“Today’s guilty plea is an important step in bringing to justice those who perpetrated a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme under the guise of operating a legitimate law firm,” said U.S. Attorney Jeffrey H. Sloman.
The case is far from over, even with the plea, Sloman said.
“The U.S. Attorney’s office will continue to pursue all leads and evidence as they are uncovered,” Sloman said. “Rest assured, those who are criminally culpable will be held accountable. Victims can also take comfort in knowing that the United States will do everything it can to identify, seize and equitably refund fraud proceeds.”
Rothstein, 47, of Fort Lauderdale, forfeited $1.2 billion, 24 pieces of real estate, luxury cars such as Bugattis, Rolls-Royces and Cadillacs, yachts, shares in businesses and more. He faces a maximum sentence of 100 years in prison.
The elaborate Ponzi fraud included bogus legal settlements, forged court documents, fraudulent promissory notes, fraudulent campaign donations and gratuities paid to “high ranking members of police agencies,” prosecutors said.
A senior FBI agent said Rothstein charmed millions and millions of dollars from investors.
“Scott Rothstein used a classic approach to mislead investors — an ostentatious lifestyle, a charismatic personality and guarantees of sky-high returns — all red flags in the world of Ponzi schemes,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge John V. Gillies.
“It is a lesson for all investors to learn that they need to look beyond the hype,” Gillies said. “We will continue to work with our partners to investigate investment fraud schemes.”
A senior IRS investigator said Rothstein traded on appearances.
“This case shows that the appearance of success can be a mask for a tangled financial web of lies,” said Daniel W. Auer, IRS Special Agent in Charge. ‘This investigation is not over, as we are committed to ‘following the money trail.’ We will continue to pursue the evidence wherever it leads, leaving no financial stone unturned.”
If a thousand people tell you the autosurf they’re promoting is the “real deal” and that they’ve done their “due diligence” — they are lying.
If you believe them, you are setting yourself up to be fleeced and perhaps even dragged into court, perhaps as a reluctant victim or perhaps even as a defendant in a fraud case.
If you promote the surfs, email prospects, attach your referral URL to forum and web posts, set up forums to pimp these miserable businesses, accept commissions, provide strategic advice or an “earnings calculator” or spreadsheet, tell people to “call” you for details, maintain a list of surfs that are “working” and surfs that are not, defend the surfs in forums, repeat Garbage In, Garbage Out (GIGO) from the program owners and claim you had no ill intent when the surf failed because you were relying on the assertions of your upline sponsor or the program owner, well, you are asking for trouble.
The SEC told you that three years ago with the 12DailyPro prosecution and the follow-up prosecutions of Phoenix Surf and CEP.
And the U.S. Secret Service told you that almost 18 months ago with the prosecution of AdSurfDaily, Golden Panda Ad Builder and LaFuenteDinero. Moreover, the President of the United States and the Attorney General of the United States told you that last year with the creation of the Interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.
Plan to defend your surf participation on the grounds people are free to make up their own minds and that the government has no right to interfere with commerce? Congratulations. You’ve just provided aid and comfort to securities fraudsters, narcotics traffickers, drug dealers and people engaged in human trafficking.
That’s their argument, and that makes you their intellectual soulmate. It also was the argument for slavery in the 19th century and earlier. Society rejected the argument long ago. It was far too taxing on the intellect and the human soul to be assigned any continuing credibility. The poison you deliver through your Ponzi is at least the equal of the poison the man hiding in the shadows of the school yard wants to deliver to your child.
Selling a Ponzi? You are selling people into financial bondage. You might as well sell human beings to the highest bidder on Public Square: Ponzi = Slavery To Money Lost. That’s what you’re selling, and it consumes human souls.
Willful Blindness
Still an autosurf player? There you are, still ignoring information published in the open, still flailing, still pimping, still telling people this one is “different,” still pretending that the enterprises are wholesome or a “game” or a nontraditional investment, still persuading yourself daily that there is no way that any of the money gathered by these schemes could fall into the hands of people who’d sooner drop a bomb on your office than assign you or your family members and friends any worth as human beings.
Perhaps you’re even signing your emails with a “God Bless” or a religious reference. Maybe you’re even including a disclaimer of some sort, perhaps not recognizing that you’re setting the stage to be labeled an affinity fraudster in addition to being labeled a financial fraudster — and providing investigators the evidence of “consciousness of guilt” by all the ducking and weaving and dancing you’re doing in your bid to find words to insulate yourself from liability.
“God bless” makes you look like a crook in the context of autosurfs and HYIPs. The disclaimer makes you look like a common fraudster who’s made a cold calculation and arrived at the conclusion you’re smarter than the cops and the regulators.
You likely haven’t seen a disclaimer along these lines, but here is what the standard disclaimers mean — no matter how they’re dressed up, no matter how polite the language:
I am a common fraudster, but I’d like you to think I’m an “industry” expert and a thoughtful sponsor. Basically I’m a parrot: I repeat what the program owners tell me. Usually I’m better with words than they are, so I dress it up. I’m smart enough to know that no real due diligence is possible with these things. They don’t publish financials. They all use offshore payment processors. There is no real way to check on any financial claims. I got “paid” and others got “paid” is good enough for me. I’m willing to take the risk that the money generated by the surfs will be used for peaceful purposes, rather than building bombs.
Every autosurf (and HYIP) I’ve pitched has failed. Some of the operators are the subjects of criminal actions and lawsuits filed by the government and members of the surfs. Some of the participants had criminal records, had been arrested for felonies, had been charged civilly with securities fraud or had been sued for other wrongdoing. I didn’t bother to tell you these things because I didn’t really know and, besides, it was not my job to do the research. My job is to be willfully blind. My job is to show you what’s out there and let you make up your own mind — you being an adult and thus free to make your own choices. I just want your money.
Don’t come crying to me if the surf fails after you’ve signed up under me. I’m a victim, too, but I won’t whine about it. Too much risk of getting caught. Stick with me and we’ll become victims in one scheme after another. For now, I’ll make the most money because my list is bigger than yours and I run a forum and am an active participant in other forums. Follow my lead. Build your surf list. Start a forum — and you can be a victim just like me!
You are on thin ice for even participating in a surf. This ice becomes thinner yet if you make the decision to become a pimp. You could find yourself all alone — in need of an attorney.
Under The Microscope
Have you read any of our coverage of the alleged Trevor Cook/Pat Kiley Ponzi scheme in Minnesota? We have published a number of stories demonstrating that local communities are paying close attention to the Ponzi players in their midst. Neighbors and local cops are putting the alleged schemers under the microscope.
Cook was videotaped in a grocery store after the Ponzi allegations surfaced because a loss-prevention specialist thought he just might be using the store to deplete assets of the receivership estate. His wife also was videotaped. The 71-member police department in Eagan, Minn., contacted the receiver in the case to report Cook was using a credit card after his assets were frozen.
The general public and its representatives have connected the dots autosurf and HYIP promoters refuse to connect, let alone acknowledge: Ponzi = Pain, and Ponzi = Scrutiny — even by the local cops and grocers and retailers.
Trevor Cook now has been jailed for contempt of court. A federal judge has ordered him to turn over tens of millions of dollars investigators have traced to the alleged scheme. Jamie Solow was ordered to jail in Florida for trying to hide assets in the Cook Islands in another fraud scheme.
Still undecided on where you stand on the issue of autosurfs and HYIPs? Ask yourself if you want to be videotaped when you go into the store to buy a loaf of bread — or videotaped as you return to your car. Ask yourself if you want to be sitting in court watching a video produced by a camera that even captured the numbers on your license plate.
That’s how much regard society has for Ponzi schemers these days. If you get named in a Ponzi complaint, you’re going to be on TV, in the newspapers, on the radio, on the Internet. You’re even going to be on the video the store detective is shooting because he figures you’re up to no good.
And if you are promoting autosurf and HYIP schemes today, you are sticking out like a sore thumb. You may be putting your freedom at risk because you cannot say no to the money and continue to believe that, if there’s a hole, you can wiggle out of it with your command of language or by playing the victims’ card.
You are not a victim if you are continuing to promote autosurfs and HYIPs. You are a perpetrator.
‘Offshore’ Beacon Signals The Crime
Ever receive a pitch highlighting the advantages of an “offshore” surf or HYIP enterprise? The people who send you such pitches want you to think that “offshore” equals “safe.” You should regard such pitches as clear evidence you are being scammed by a criminal, one who is willing to lie to separate you from your money and perhaps even make you part of a court case.
The three so-called AdSurfDaily clones — BizAdSplash, AdGateWorld and AdViewGlobal — all have tanked. Each launched in the aftermath of the federal seizure of tens of millions of dollars from ASD. Each domain name for the clones was registered after the seizure. Each of the clones highlighted “offshore” locations. Promoters preached the gospel of having learned from ASD’s mistakes.
Like a bunch of Stepford children, ASD members lined up to promote the clones. The clones filled their “membership” rosters with ASD members looking for a way to retrieve their ASD losses.
Andy Bowdoin put some ASD members in desperate straits. All three of the clones traded off that misery, positioning themselves as cures for what ailed ASD, while they also benefited from Bowdoin’s antigovernment missives. He fanned the flames, told the troops that the U.S. Secret Service — the agency that guards the President and the Treasury — was comprised of Nazis and terrorists responsible for losses 30 times greater than the 9/11 losses.
We’re of the mind that very few true BAS, AGW and AVG victims exist. There is good reason to believe that most of the earliest members of the clones also belonged to ASD. Their participation in the clones speaks of a willful blindness — and also of a desire to enrich themselves by trading off the misery of those who would come later.
It is particularly galling — almost galling beyond measure — that some of the earliest members of the clones were complaining about “slow” refunds in the ASD case. They were perfectly willing to see themselves as ASD “victims” if it meant getting back a share of their money from restitution proceeds. At the same time, they were perfectly willing to rail against the members of law enforcement who stopped the ASD scheme from mushrooming — all while they were trying to help the clones mushroom to pocket commissions and make up for ASD losses.
Those positions are irreconcilable. They speak compellingly of egregious intent to defraud.
Looking for your BAS, AGW or AVG money? Good luck. It could be in the pocket of an insider or a serial promoter. It could be in any number of offshore banks or payment processors — or it could be hidden practically anywhere. The cash is not in plain view, to be sure.
We sincerely hope the investigators dug down deep into the filthy laboratories of these schemes — and just observed and observed and observed and interacted with the “players” undetected, using the intelligence they gathered to set the stage for a spectacular autosurf and HYIP takedown to come.
In the near term, members of BAS, AGW and AVG who also were members of ASD should be excluded from the proposed ASD restitution fund. The days of willful blindness and wink-nod need to come to an end.
The Biz Ad Splash (BAS) autosurf has tanked, taking participants’ money with it, members said tonight.
Members reported receiving a platitude-filled email from Clarence Busby announcing the surf’s closure. The email, which included a pep talk and invoked God, did not say if, when or how members would be compensated.
“Now what about the future?” the email said. “No matter what, there is a future. There are many things on the internet that will help you in this future, so don’t give up. Make the effort and success is just right around the corner. May your life be full of faith, hope and love. This is where you will find your best rewards. May God bless you all!”
Busby’s name appeared at the bottom of the email, which carried a business address of Acworth, Ga. The surf, which purported upon its 2009 launch to be headquartered offshore, came to life in the wake of the seizure of tens of millions of dollars from AdSurfDaily Inc. and Golden Panda Ad Builder. Busby is the former president of Golden Panda, which ceded more than $14 million to the government in the ASD/Golden Panda case.
Known for syrupy communications, Busby described the BAS staff as “sad,” according to the email.
“Our staff has been sad, not just because of losing a job, but because they have developed friendships with many of you and are very sad to ‘break up the party,’” the email said. “With anything that has had life, it is very sad to have that life taken away.”
Busby was identified in the email as the owner of BAS. In earlier communications, he was identified as “chief consultant.” It was not immediately clear how he purportedly had ascended from consulting work to ownership.
“As owner of this company, I have had many, many hours that I sincerely enjoyed working with you, and of course, a few ‘witching’ hours that were just plain scary,” the email said. “After many sleepless nights over the past few weeks, trying to come to the correct conclusion, I have made a decision to ‘pull the cord and turn out the lights.’ The party is over.
“No decision like this comes easy, at least not for me,” the email continued. “I know many people have had tremendous success, while others have just learned another of life’s lessons in their loss. With a heart that is very heavy and sad, I have come to realize that not every plan brings success. But I do know that every failed plan does bring you a tremendous amount of knowledge in lessons learned, that will bring you closer to the success you are reaching to achieve.”
One BAS member who contacted the PP Blog said her family was out tens of thousands of dollars with the closure — and also out the value of advertising they purchased.
“I am retired and I did not get involved in this company just to give money away for we need the money to retire,” the member said. “Mr. Clarence Busby is nothing but a dishonest crook.”
Busby, who used the title “Rev.” at least 120 times in a court filing involving Golden Panda last year, was implicated by the SEC in three prime-bank schemes in the 1990s, according to records. He agreed not to break securities laws in a settlement with the SEC.
Despite the failure of BAS and the problems Golden Panda had that resulted in the seizure of more than $14 million in five Busby/Golden Panda bank accounts, Busby had he was better for having operated BAS.
“Please accept my humble appreciation to all of you who have encouraged, supported and worked so diligently with all of us this past year. Also, for those who prayed for me when I was in the hospital, I will never forget your calls, your letters and your friendships. It really did help move me to get well.”
BAS paid out more than $2 million during its operations, according to the email. The email did not say how much the surf had taken in.
“Biz Ad Splash has been online as an internet advertising business for one year this very week,” the email said. “During that time, BAS has paid out over $2,000,000 in commissions and has almost 9000 members.
“This year has brought many new friends who have believed in BAS and whose efforts gave BAS a chance for success,” the email continued. “Your encouragement and commitment was well received, and with sincere appreciation for the opportunity we had working with each of you, we honorably salute you.
“You are the reason that we have delayed this closing, hoping that there would be enough that believed in the program to see it through,” the email said. “The past 120 days BAS’ balance sheet as continually gone in the red, and at this time, we do not have the funds to continue with our program. The past few weeks our sales have not been strong enough to pay out reasonable commissions with our RRSP program, or enough funds to handle overhead and continue operations.”
Our new poll asks a simple question: “Is The Average Autosurf/HYIP Promoter Smarter Than The Average FBI Agent, Secret Service Agent, Postal Inspector, IRS Investigator Or SEC/CFTC Investigator?”
You may vote only once. There is an option of “Other” in this poll if you don’t want to limit yourself to a “Yes” or “No” answer.
This poll was sparked by comments we’ve read on the Ponzi boards in recent days. It often seems as though the autosurf and HYIP promoters ignore the possibility that they could get dragged into a major investigation quickly, perhaps assuming that the mere fact they do not own or operate the “program” lets them off the hook from civil and/or criminal liability.
Serial promoters race from program to program in the “industry,” pocketing commissions and other profits despite the fact one program after another crashes and burns, participants get hurt, families get torn apart, friends turn against friends — and the government has a history of destroying the programs and forcing particpants to pay back ill-gotten gains.
The days of plausible deniability might be coming to an end for promoters of electronic Ponzis. If you’ve paid any attention at all to the AdSurfDaily case, it is obvious that the government has gleaned valuable intelligence. The men and women who guard the President of the United States and the Treasury started the prosecutorial ball rolling in the ASD case.
In the ASD case, prosecutors have cited previous autosurf prosecutions by the SEC — namely 12DailyPro and PhoenixSurf. With the bad publicity Ponzi schemes are receiving these days — and with Ponzi headlines constantly in the news and the creation of the Interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force — the days of “wink-nod” in the autosurf and HYIP Ponzi universes may be coming to an end.
Did you know that “Damages,” the popular TV drama starring Emmy-winning actress Glenn Close (as Patty Hewes), is wrapping its third season around a fictional Ponzi scheme? It’s a takeoff on the Madoff scheme, and here, in part, is what the New York Times says:
The “Madoff scenario is a more plausible and inviting crime than the sinister energy-corporation conspiracy that Patty eventually took down last season,” the Times opines. “That story line presumed that corporate titans were not just greedy and murderous but also brainy, and that’s a bit much to swallow in the current economy.”
Did the Times just call the fraudsters brainless? You decide.
Here, now, our poll. It also will be in the sidebar to the right:
Feel free to argue your points in the Comments section of this post. Meanwhile, go here to read what the Times says about “Damages.”
Cable viewers are going to get plenty of Ponzi in the weeks ahead — not only on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News — but also on “Damages,” Monday night at 10 ET and PT, 9 CT, on FX.
UPDATED 5:18 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) A Florida company and four individuals have been charged with securities fraud by the SEC, amid allegations they fleeced investors in a children’s book company known as “Winning Kids.”
