Three Michigan men were arrested for racketeering today for their local roles in an alleged national Ponzi scheme that targeted senior citizens.
Robert Valeri Sr., 59, of South Lyon, Robert Antonio Valeri Jr., 32, of Canton, and Jeffrey Ron Mitchell, 39, of Walled Lake, were accused of cheating 125 Michigan seniors out of their life savings in a time-share Ponzi scheme.
“[They] allegedly participated with Indiana resident and scam mastermind Michael Kelly in a massive Ponzi scheme, selling time shares in the form of an unregistered security called a ‘Universal Lease’ through a company called Resort Holdings International,” prosecutors said.
The case was brought by Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, whose office recently has brought racketeering charges in two other fraud or Ponzi scheme cases.
“Our parents and grandparents spent their lives working hard to provide for their families and to build the Michigan we enjoy today,” said Cox. “They deserve to know that their investments are being made safely and that those who would steal from them are being held accountable.”
From left: Robert Valeri Sr., Robert Antonio Valeri, Jr., Jeffrey Ron Mitchell
Investigators said the alleged Resort Holdings International scheme “took in an estimated $350 million nationwide and as much as $9 million in Michigan. It imploded due to deliberate overselling of shares in the Universal Lease program, leaving investors with empty pockets and broken promises.”
Valeri Sr., Valeri Jr. and Mitchell were charged with Conducting Criminal Enterprise (Racketeering), a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $100,000. In addition, they were charged with Conspiracy to Sell an Unregistered Security, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.
Mitchell and Valeri Sr. also were charged with Selling an Unregistered Security and Omitting to Disclose Material Information during the Sale of a Security, both felonies punishable by up to 10 years in prison and/or a $25,000 fine.
The trio was arraigned in 19th District Court before Judge Richard Wygonik. Bond was set at $25,000. A court date is set for March 19.
Investigators said the men targeted “senior citizens and retirees with marketing efforts that illegally promoted the lease as a safe investment opportunity with the promise of large monetary returns.
“While seniors purchasing the lease were allegedly given the option to use the vacation property during specified times over a 25-year term, they were also given the option of having a purported third-party management company arrange for the rental of the unit during the same time period for a guaranteed 9 percent return — whether the unit was rented or not.
“They were encouraged to elect the latter option and everyone who purchased the lease did,” prosecutors said. “In reality, Kelly also controlled the third-party management company.”
Kelly, 60, a citizen of the United States, Mexico and Belize, was charged criminally three years ago today for his role in the alleged scheme. Additional criminal charges were filed against him in 2008, and he also has been charged civilly by the SEC. He is jailed, awaiting trial.
Michigan residents who believe they or a family member may have given funds to Mitchell, Valeri, Sr., Valeri Jr. or Kelly are asked to contact Cox’s office at 313-456-0180.
Federal prosecutors have seized an estimated $160 million to $175 million in property in the Kelly case, Cox’s office said.
On Dec. 3, in a separate Ponzi case, Rita Gosselin of Grosse Ile, Mich., was arrested by investigators from the Southgate Police Department and Cox’s office. Gosselin was charged with racketeering in an alleged real-estate Ponzi scheme.
In an alleged fraud scheme that targeted churches, Cox’s office brought racketeering charges against Michael J. Morris and William T. Perkins on Oct. 5.
A claim was made yesterday in a now-deleted Surf’s Up post that AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin “would not sell us out and he has stood his ground firm since August of 2008.”
It was a lie by Bowdoin through a shill. The source to prove the lie is Bowdoin himself. Bowdoin has acknowledged in his own court filings that he previously was “cooperating” with prosecutors and investigators so he “could possibly avoid a prison sentence.”
Bowdoin, in fact, advised a federal judge in his own sworn court filings that one of his meetings with the government “lasted three days.” Another meeting lasted at least one day. Bowdoin advised U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer that he had “revealed significant information against my interest.”
The meetings were held in December 2008 and January 2009. Bowdoin’s affidavit implies that the December meeting was the one that lasted three days. So, Andy Bowdoin met with the government for a period of at least four days and revealed “significant information” against his interests and presumably the interests of others — and now Bowdoin, through his Surf’s Up shills, is trying to tell the membership that “he has stood his ground firm since August of 2008.”
It was all there in black and white at Surf’s Up yesterday — until it was deleted, of course.
There was no mention of the proof to the contrary: Bowdoin’s sworn affidavit.
Two Whoppers Since September
This was the second time since late September that Bowdoin has lied to the membership. During a Sept. 21 conference call, Bowdoin told listeners that the tens of millions of dollars seized in the wire-fraud, money-laundering, securities-fraud and Ponzi scheme case belonged to the members. The U.S. Secret Service listened to this call, transcribed it and presented it to the judge.
The trouble with Bowdoin’s claim that the money belonged to members is that he told Collyer in three sworn documents he signed on Aug. 13, 2008, that the money belonged to him and his companies.
Bowdoin now is trying to have Collyer disqualified from the case. It is not the first time an effort evolved to force Collyer to step down. Curtis Richmond, an ASD member who has declared himself a “sovereign” being in other cases and has attempted to have judges and litigation opponents jailed, also tried.
A Devil In The Details
Here is how Bowdoin, the purported “Christian,” sought to rally members in August 2008:
“This is an attack of Satan because we were helping tens of thousands of people around the world,” members quoted Bowdoin as saying in describing the forfeiture case. “But we are more than over-comers, and we get our strength from God. And with God all things are possible. And we’re on our way to a miracle folks. I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that we’ll be back in business, stronger than ever. It’ll take all the doubts away from all these people about being a Ponzi, because it’ll be proven that we are NOT a ponzi.”
Of course, the same Andy Bowdoin solicited testimonials from the membership to assist in his battle to retain his money before all of the facts of the case were in. Thousands of trusting members — many of whom identify themselves as Christians and have described Bowdoin as a grandfatherly Christian — provided testimonials.
Only later did they find out that Bowdoin was “advertising” a failed, dissolved business in his own rotator to qualify for “rebates” and that Bowdoin had told the Secret Service that ASD had $1 million in a bank on the Caribbean island nation of Antigua in an account under a different name.
Let’s walk that one back: ASD, a purported “advertising” business, was so effective that even a company that no longer exists could make money. Prosecutors later said that Bowdoin paid an an employee to surf for Bowdoin’s son, so the son could make money.
Bowdoin apparently forgot to tell his own attorneys about the Antigua money. Prosecutors reminded him of it, though, after Bowdoin filed for emergency release of $2 million in seized funds, saying ASD could not pay its rent or hosting bills.
On or about June 10, 2008, less than two weeks after a May 31 ASD “rally” concluded in Las Vegas with Bowdoin talking about his relationship with God, Bowdoin’s wife and her son, George Harris, used money from two ASD Bank of America accounts and opened an account at a separate bank.
More than $157,000 of the opening deposit was used to pay off the mortgage on the Harris home in Tallahassee. In the following days, ASD money was used to buy jet skis, a Cabana boat, marine equipment and two automobiles, according to prosecutors.
Flash forward two months to August 2008 — and Bowdoin’s remarks that ASD had been on the receiving end of an attack from “Satan.”
“[O]n Friday August 1st we had a 9/11 but it was about 30 times worse,” ASD members quoted Bowdoin as saying on Aug. 12, 2008.
On the very next day, Aug. 13, Bowdoin signed the sworn affidavits saying the ASD money belonged to him and his companies.
Bowdoin did not mention the cars, the jet skis, the boat, the marine equipment and the paid-off Harris mortgage at the time. He did not tell members that he was paying an employee to surf for his son. His core message was to inundate the offices of investigators and lawmakers with letters that told the recipients what a poor job they are doing, how unfair they are being, that people are hurting because of the actions prosecutors had taken the previous week in freezing certain ASD assets.
Only 15 days prior to Bowdoin’s invocation of “Satan” on Aug. 12, 2008, ASD money was used to purchase a Lincoln luxury sedan for $48,244.03. About 16 days after Bowdoin invoked Satan and compared the Secret Service to the 9/11 terrorists, Bowdoin sent a check for $100 to his victims in an Alabama securities scheme a decade earlier.
At the time, the victims were owed about $45,000, about $3,244 less than the purchase price of the Lincoln.
God As A Stage Prop
Yesterday will go down in history as one of the oddest days in ASD’s odd history. Bowdoin, through a shill, told the troops he was still fighting the good fight. The Surf’s Up missive implored members to “get a little excited folks!â€
“Andy explained a few things to me of which I cannot share them all, but I can say that the government attorney’s ‘have’ finally admitted to some things that are totally in our (ASD) favor,†the email from the shill claimed.
Bowdoin, according to the email, just knew ASD would be back better than ever. The email did not reference a fresh ruling from Collyer that Bowdoin no longer even had standing in the forfeiture case.
In fact, the email treated the membership as simpletons. It did not acknowledge the proffer letter Bowdoin had signed in the case, his meetings with prosecutors in which he provided information against his interests, his acknowledgments that ASD was operating illegally, his cooperation with the government, his decision to submit to the forfeiture in January 2009 to maximize his chances of avoiding prison time.
What the email did was insist that Bowdoin had stood “firm” since August 2008, despite the overwhelming proof to the contrary. Indeed, the same man who invoked “Satan” and the 9/11 terrorists to destroy the reputation of the agency that guards the Treasury and the life of the President of the United States — the same man who tried to destroy the reputation of his defense counsel — is the same man who now is trying to have a federal judge removed from the case.
Collyer can’t be fair, Bowdoin says — and he apparently says it with a straight face, just as he did when he said this on May 31, 2008, in Las Vegas:
“We need to have an attitude of gratitude with God.
“And I always say, ‘Thank you, God, for developing me into a money magnet.’ And I see myself as a money magnet in attracting money and, I say, attracting large sums of money.â€
Only 11 days later, the money was deposited to pay off the Harris mortgage.
UPDATED 5:34 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) In a development reminiscent of a claim made more than a year ago on the Pro-AdSurfDaily Surf’s Up forum that prosecutors had acknowledged behind closed doors that ASD was not a Ponzi scheme and refused to admit it publicly because of embarrassment, a new email missive surfaced today that suggested Bowdoin was on the verge of winning the forfeiture case.
Like previous unsubstantiated claims that the government was losing the case, today’s email was published on the Surf’s Up forum. Threadbare of supporting details, the email cited a third-party conversation with Bowdoin and implored ASD members to “get a little excited folks!”
“Andy explained a few things to me of which I cannot share them all, but I can say that the government attorney’s ‘have’ finally admitted to some things that are totally in our (ASD) favor,” the email claimed.
No mention was made as to what the government purportedly admitted that was helpful to ASD’s case. The email was posted a short time after news broke that U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer refused to step down from the ASD forfeiture case.
Collyer’s refusal came in response to a Dec. 17 motion filed by Bowdoin to disqualify her, but Collyer said Bowdoin no longer had standing in the case to make any additional claims or to reassert old claims.
Today’s Surf’s Up email did not address the judge’s fresh ruling, which was docketed only hours before the new round of unsubstantiated claims was made in the email published on Surf’s Up.
“Andy said that in cases such as the ASD one the government usually pushes so hard until they get a plea deal. He said that this happens 98% of the time,” today’s email claimed. “But, Andy would not sell us out and he has stood his ground firm since August of 2008 and because of that things are starting to turn around for ASD. This is something the government did not expect.”
Prosecutors called Bowdoin “delusional” in September 2009, asserting he was telling members one story and Collyer another. They asserted in earlier filings that he has “followers.”
Despite repeated claims on Surf’s Up beginning in the fall of 2008 that prosecutors had admitted ASD was not a Ponzi scheme, no such proof ever has surfaced. In fact, in December 2008, prosecutors filed a second forfeiture complaint against assets tied to the firm, again alleging that ASD was a Ponzi scheme.
Even though Surf’s Up claimed the government had admitted ASD was not a Ponzi scheme, no attorney for ASD ever argued a similar claim in court — in either the December 2008 or August 2008 forfeiture cases against the firm. There is not a single entry in the public record of the case that the government ever acknowledged ASD was not a Ponzi scheme.
In April 2009, prosecutors said Bowdoin signed a proffer letter in the case and had acknowledged the material allegations against ASD were “all true.” Bowdoin had at least two meetings with prosecutors over a period of at least four days last winter, and admitted ASD was operating illegally, according to court filings.
In September 2009, Bowdoin said in his own court filings that he had admitted “significant information against my interest.”
Today’s email urged ASD members to search for videos that might have been taken at ASDÂ functions, suggesting the videos could be used to prove the prosecution is lying.
“The reason Andy was calling was to get some help from the members. So, here it is…
“Andy wants to know if any of you took Videos and/or Audios of ‘him’ speaking at any of the ASD Rallies,” the email said. “The government is stating that Andy said certain things during the rallies and Andy is confident that he did not, but he does not have the proof without being able to provide the video/audio footage.
“Please share this message with your entire organization so that we can get it out to the
masses yet today hopefully to see if someone has the supporting evidence for Andy,” the email urged. “If any of you DO have the video footage (or audio recording) then transfer it to DVD and and contact Catherine Parker at [email address deleted].”
In August, some of Bowdoin’s supporters claimed that Collyer had ordered the prosecution to prove by Aug. 28 that ASD was a Ponzi scheme or dismiss the charges. A similar claim was made in April.
Collyer has never issued such an order.
Today’s email asked ASD members to send warm thoughts to Bowdoin and his wife, Edna Faye Bowdoin. Edna Faye Bowdoin and her son, George Harris, were named beneficiaries of ASD’s illegal conduct in the December 2008 prosecution filing.
Prosecutors alleged that Edna Faye Bowdoin and Harris used money from two ASD Bank of America accounts in June 2008 to open an account at a third bank into which more than $177,000 in illegal proceeds was deposited. Of that sum, more than $157,000 was transferred by wire to yet another bank and used to pay off the mortgage on the Harris home in Tallahassee.
Bowdoin described George Harris as head of ASD’s real-estate division, according to court filings. He also talked about establishing a business presence in South America. Only months later, the AdViewGlobal autosurf was born, purportedly operated from Uruguay and owned by George Harris and his wife, Judy Harris.
‘I asked Andy how Faye was doing and he was quiet for a moment and then said she is not doing so good,” today’s email said. “She is in a very severe depression and has been for quite some time ever since this whole debacle started.
“So, I have a personal favor to ask of you all. Can you take a few minutes to send her a card or a nice note at the very least to let her know that the members are still thinking about her and Andy?” the email urged.
Some ASD members immediately questioned why Bowdoin himself had not sent the email and instead relied on a third-party communication to ask for a favor. At the same time, members questioned what had become of Sara Mattoon, reportedly ASD’s official spokeswoman.
Prosecutors also made a veiled reference to the AVG autosurf in a September filing. In June, RICO attorneys suing Bowdoin for racketeering made a direct reference to AVG.
In the prosecution’s September 2009 filing, the government suggested an AVG prosecution could be in the offing.
“ . . . it may be the case that Bowdoin never intended to plead guilty when he agreed to debrief, and was just buying time while searching for a different exit strategy that failed to materialize. Maybe Bowdoin thought that before the government brought its charges he (like some of his family members) could move to another country and profit from a knock-off autosurf program that Bowdoin funded and helped to start,” prosecutors said.
AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin has filed a motion to disqualify U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer from hearing the civil-forfeiture case against tens of millions of dollars seized from ASD last year.
Collyer reponded by issuing an order in which she refused to disqualify herself. Collyer said Bowdoin no longer had standing in the case.
“If Mr. Bowdoin is displeased with a ruling of the Court, he has a right to appeal,” Collyer said. “If Mr. Bowdoin wishes to file a complaint against the Court for perceived judicial misconduct, he may address such complaint to Mark J. Langer, Clerk of Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.”
Bowdoin’s motion was filed Dec. 17 — the same date ASD members said they received what purported to be an emailed Christmas greeting from ASD and Bowdoin. The email suggested Bowdoin planned to continue his legal fight and that 2010 would be the year ASD would prove it was not a Ponzi scheme after having failed to do so either in 2008 or 2009.
In September, prosecutors said Bowdoin was “delusional.”
In an affidavit in support of the disqualification motion, Bowdoin claimed Collyer had a “deep seated animosity” toward him and that the judge “has a personal bias and predudice” against him.
Among Bowdoin’s assertions in the sworn affidavit was that an order Collyer issued last month proved she was biased against him.
“The Honorable Judge Collyer evidenced personal bias and prejudgment, stating that if I were found eventually guilty of the criminal charges now being investigated by a grand jury, but upon which no indictment has yet been issued, Bowdoin ‘will face a term of incarceration for sure,” Bowdoin said.
Charles A. Murray, a Bowdoin attorney, filed the disqualification motion.
“Judge Collyer has, prior to trial on the merits on potential criminal charges, already foreclosed the possibility of parole, or probation, evidencing precisely . . . ‘a deep-seated favoritism or antagonism’ which renders ‘fair judgment impossible,’” Murray argued.
Collyer, though, said she was not stepping down.
Noting that Bowdoin formally withdrew his claims to the seized funds in January 2009 and then attempted to reassert the claims a month later, Collyer said she ruled in November 2009 that she was not going to reverse herself and permit Bowdoin to reaasert his claims.
“[O]n November 10, 2009, finding that he knowingly and voluntarily released his claims with respect to Defendant properties, the Court denied his motion to renew those claims,” Collyer said. “Thus, Mr. Bowdoin is no longer a party to this action. The Court therefore will deny Mr. Bowdoin’s motion for disqualification due to lack of standing.”
All that glitters was not gold in the seedy world of Gold Quest International (GQI), according to the receiver in the GQI Ponzi scheme case.
Corrupt money was given to a ministry in the form of a gift, and other corrupt money is part of a homicide investigation in Los Angeles, according to court filings.
Receiver Larry Cook has informed a federal judge that he has accepted a settlement of $100,000 from Charles Capp Ministries, saying the Oklahoma-based Christian organization unwittingly received fraudulent transfers of “at least” of $201,517 between January 2006 and August 2008 from the Ponzi scheme, according to court filings.
“No allegations of fraud or securities violations were alleged against Charles Capps Ministries in the complaint filed by the SEC in this action,” Cook said. “Based on the information and belief of the receiver, Charles Capps Ministries was the unwitting recipient of investor funds from Defendant David Greene. Upon learning of the source of the funds it received from Greene, Charles Capps Ministries agreed to return the $100,000 settlement amount.”
David Greene also is known as “Lord David Greene.” He is one of four named defendants in the SEC case. The others are GQI, John Jenkins and Michael McGee. The SEC filed the action in May 2008, and was hit almost immediately with a bizarre effort to undermine the prosecution.
A litigant purporting to be the “attorney general” of a purported “sovereign” Indian tribe attempted unsuccessfully to file a lawsuit against the SEC for $1.7 trillion for enforcing securities laws. The GQI entity may have links to an extremist group — The Little Shell Pembina Band of North America — monitored by the Anti Defamation League.
The ‘Goldfinger’ Murder
Cook, who performed an international paper chase in the GQI case, further informed the judge that certain GQI assets are tied up in a homicide investigation in California.
“The owner of E-Bullion was arrested in August 2008 for arranging the murder of his wife, a co-owner of E-Bullion,” Cook said. “The Receiver and the Commission have made numerous inquiries regarding future access to the E-Bullion business records and funds, and we have been advised the U.S. Attorney’s office has not made a decision on when or how these records and funds will be administered.”
E-bullion was one of the payment processors used by GQI, which the SEC says operated a $28 million Ponzi scheme with Panamanian registration from Las Vegas. GQI purported to be immune from U.S. law because it was part of a “sovereign” Indian tribe in North Dakota.
More than 2,100 investors from the United States and Canada participated in GQI. Participants perhaps received as much as $19 million in Ponzi payments, according to investigators in the United States and Canada.
Cook reported that he had recovered only $389,145.57 to date by tracking money all over the world. Much of the money simply disappeared after making its way to New Zealand, he said.
“Defendant David Greene has testified that he believed that GQI was going to pay investors the returns promised to them via the profits earned by GQI’s investments in Topaz Group Ltd., an entity based in New Zealand,” Cook said. “The Receiver has identified approximately $3.15 million in payments to Topaz Group from the Tri Fund Inc. account, David Greene[‘s] personal account, and John Jenkins[‘] personal account.
“The Receiver identified and contacted the owner of Topaz Group Ltd., John Davies, in New Zealand,” Cook continued. “Davies advised the Receiver that the funds he received from David Greene were sent to him on behalf of David Greene. Davies stated that Greene always represented that the investment was Greene’s personal investment and it was not until February 2008 that Greene disclosed the funds belonged to an investment group. Davies stated the funds were not for a specific investment, but were used to fund the expenses of individuals working in Europe to complete various banking transactions that were scheduled to close and pay large profits. Davies further stated that none of these transactions were successful.
“The Receiver, with the Commission’s assistance, has obtained copies of the Topaz Group Ltd. bank account records in New Zealand,” Cook said. “The Receiver has examined and analyzed this account and determined the majority of the funds transferred by Greene to Topaz were immediately transferred from the Topaz Group business account to the account of Wendy Smurthwaite Davies, the wife of John Davies. A small percentage of the funds Greene sent to Topaz were wired to the individuals identified by John Davies as working on the banking transactions in Europe, and the remainder appear to be used for Topaz Group’s miscellaneous expenses.
“The Receiver and the Commission have participated in conference calls with the New Zealand law enforcement authorities,” Cook said. “The Receiver has provided the New Zealand investigators with information concerning transfers of investor funds from Defendants Greene and Jenkins to Topaz Group Ltd.”
Cook also is the receiver in the case against Affiliate Strategies Inc., the parent company of the Noobing autosurf. Noobing pitched itself to individuals with hearing impairments.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Here is some recommended reading. Be prepared to be shocked. We will provide an introduction to the stories, but only a brief one.
Edna Coulic killed herself, worn down by the pressures of trying to get her money back from a Ponzi scheme, her family told the Calgary Herald.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and other authorities in America’s neighbor to the north are investigating the Ponzi case against Milowe Brost and Gary Sorenson.
Gold and silver production have played a prominent role in the case. Investors were shown bars being manufactured, but authorities said the scheme collapsed and investors were not paid.
Some U.S-based Ponzi schemes, including autosurf Ponzi schemes, have members linked to movements involving the purported production of gold and silver or the desire to trade in gold in silver, as opposed to paper currency.
Meanwhile, Shanghai Daily is reporting that a citizen of China has been sentenced to death for perpetrating a Ponzi scheme. The story, which appears to be based on on a report that originated with a government-run news service, could not immediately be confirmed independently.
But the story suggests that China is prepared to put Ponzi promoters to death for grand-scale fleecings of the population. Fraud laws and punishments vary from country to country.
In July 2008, a U.S.-based autosurf known as Golden Panda Ad Builder launched. It was described as the so-called “Chinese” option for members of AdSurfDaily. Federal prosecutors in the United States seized the assets of both Golden Panda and ASD in August 2008.
ASD also had a “Spanish” option known as LaFuenteDinero, “the fountain of money.”
Trevor Cook, the Minnesota man implicated with Christian radio host Pat Kiley in a Ponzi and currency-trading scheme that collected at least $190 million, already has taken the 5th Amendment in a civil case brought by the SEC.
The SEC now is seeking a contempt ruling against Cook, amid allegations he violated the asset freeze and receivership orders entered by a federal judge last month.
A hearing on the contempt allegations began Dec. 11, but was continued to Jan. 5. The SEC said Cook, whom investors said bought a submarine on eBay for $40,000 and used it to access a private island he bought in Canada, hid assets from the court “by using an undisclosed credit card to make thousands of dollars of retail purchases.”
Screen shot: Deposition in the Trevor Cook case.
Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis ordered Cook to surrender his passport.
The Star Tribune of Minneapolis – St. Paul, which finds itself covering at least three major Ponzi scheme cases in the state, reported that Cook bought “gift cards” after the asset freeze.
An attorney for the SEC argued that the gift cards smack “of money laundering,” the newspaper reported.
The gift-card purchases occurred after the asset freeze was ordered, the SEC said. The agency also alleged that Cook failed “to turn over assets to the Court appointed receiver, to repatriate assets held in foreign countries, and to produce an accounting of investor funds.”
Several PP readers reported Thursday and Friday that they’d received a prayerful email purportedly sent as a Christmas greeting by AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin.
We did not receive a single correspondence from a reader who was happy about receiving the email. In one way or another, the readers questioned the prudence of sending such an email.
“Does this mean he is fighting the govt. and there will be more court dates over the next year?” one reader inquired.
“I just received an email Christmas Card from Andy,” another reader wrote. “He wishes me a year of prosperity and believes that this year he will prove that ASD is NOT a ponzi and that they will be back in business during 2010. If you did not receive it, I will be happy to forward it to you.”
We are skeptical that the email came from Bowdoin, despite the fact ASD’s address in Quincy, Fla., appears at the bottom. Regardless, Bowdoin, so far, has not publicly refuted the authenticity of the email. The more time that passes, the more it will look like Bowdoin sent the email, authorized it to be sent or could not prevent it from being sent.
It’s bad news for him whether or not he is the author.
If Bowdoin waits too long to issue a statement, then people will question why he did not refute the authenticity of the email earlier and why someone other than Bowdoin seems to have control over the ASD database. If he acknowledges the email came from him, then he’ll appear to be every bit as delusional as federal prosecutors said he was in a September court filing.
Some ASD members say they are viewing the email as a sick joke by an unknown person. Others say they believe that Bowdoin actually sent it, speculating that he is so out of touch that he actually believes that ASD will return to business next year, as the email suggests. The email also implores members to rely on their religious faith.
A few lines in the email don’t strike as Bowdoin-like, perhaps particularly an exultation that ASD will rise again and “will blow your socks off.”
That sounds more like a prankster or amateur than it does Bowdoin. Even so, it would have to be a prankster or amateur who had access to names and email addresses in an ASD database.
Or it might not be a prankster at all. ASD was fundamentally corrupt from top to bottom. The email could be from someone who has the database in whole or in part and is testing it to achieve an end that is unclear.
There are lots of interesting possibilities — something always in play with ASD because of its history of sending impossibly mixed messages. Although it purports to be a professional communications firm, the company has displayed remarkable tone-deafness and a tin ear for anything even remotely resembling an understanding of real-world PR.
If there is a lightning rod, ASD will touch it. If there is a speeding train bearing down on ASD, the company will not step out of harm’s way. In September, for instance, Bowdoin informed members in a conference call that the money the government has seized in the Ponzi scheme forfeiture case was seized from participants, a story completely at odds with a story he told a federal judge in court filings.
Indeed, Bowdoin had insisted in sworn court documents that the money belonged to him, not the members. The U.S. Secret Service transcribed the conference call and presented it to the judge in a filing.
Bowdoin’s erratic behavior and history as a con man leads to all sorts of questions about the purported Christmas greeting. Could Bowdoin or someone else be using the ASD database to test support or weed out perceived spies and critics to eliminate them from the database?
Could people who respond to the email with anything other than “You rock, Andy!” be deleted for posing a continuing danger to the next enterprise?
Paranoia runs high in the ASD enterprise and among its promoters. The only truly safe members under this scenario are those who can be relied on not to rat. Some of ASD’s more ardent supporters have used thuggish language, calling critics and doubters “rats” and “maggots” and “cockroaches,” for instance.
Such words generally are not used by legitimate enterprises or enterprises that have a core understanding of public relations. They are more consistent with enterprises that are trying to enforce cohesiveness through fear of reprisal.
Could another form of deception be in play? Could it somehow serve a useful purpose for Bowdoin to have sent the email or silently approved its sending, only to refute it later and suggest others within the enterprise have hijacked the business?
Bowdoin and a progeny autosurf known as AdViewGlobal (AVG) have a history of blaming members for unsettling developments in the companies. Prosecutors said Bowdoin had at least one “silent” partner in ASD, which leads to the possibility there was more than one. Meanwhile, ASD members now say Bowdoin was the silent head of AVG.
In March 2009, AVG blamed the reported suspension of its bank account on members. It later blamed members for its inability to pay members. At one point, AVG appeared to be using some of the same arguments ASD had used to explain troubling events, suggesting that members who questioned the company and insisted AVG operate in transparent fashion by identifying its owners and managers and providing proof of its geographic location were responsible for the company’s troubles.
Is someone using the ASD database to try to build an All-Criminal Team or to determine the identities of members who’d be most inclined to do business with criminals?
Could Andy Bowdoin be the victim of a practical joke or an effort to make him look as bad as possible in the eyes of the membership at large?
We don’t know.
What we do know is that the very nature of ASD has led to scores of questions, a laundry list of possibilities and one unqualified PR and legal disaster after another.
For now, we’re going with the theory that a person or entity unknown to the email recipients is trying to determine the identities of ASD members most inclined to do future business with criminals.
That would be very useful information — so useful, in fact, that it could aid an unknown person or entity to create a list consisting of the names of people who don’t mind doing business with criminals. That would not be a bad thing if prosecutors could obtain such a list and use it as a filter to segment the names of criminal perpetrators from the names of actual victims of ASD’s corruption.
Key statistics about reader interaction with the PatrickPretty.com Blog have plunged dramatically during the past 30 days.
Comments posted by readers during the 30-day statistical snapshot have decreased markedly from 10.2 per day to 3.8 per day. Meanwhile, the number of words in comments has fallen more than 1,000 — from an average of 1,462 per thread to just 431.
The drop-off coincides with the holiday season, a period in which readers may have less time to interact with the Blog. It also coincides with a harassment campaign being conducted on YouTube against the Blog by the cyberstalker “unclefesta26.”
Some readers have expressed a reluctance to share their comments, citing concerns that “unclefesta26” would nuisance them on YouTube.
The 30-day snapshot suggests “unclefesta26” is contributing to a significant decay in reader interaction and having a chilling effect on speech. “unclefesta26” has dialed up his cyberstalking campaign against the Blog and some of its readers during the period.
In a new video today, “unclefesta26” heckled posters who congratulated the Blog for surpassing the 500-post milestone in the past year.
“Some of his posts are simple one- or two-liners,” unclefesta26 said about the Blog.
There are few — if any — one- or two-line posts on the PatrickPretty.com Blog. The Blog has produced 380,258 words — enough to fill two or even three novels — between Dec. 18, 2008, and Dec. 18, 2009. The average post length during the 12-month period was 751 words, the typical length of a newspaper column.
During the past 30 days, the Blog has produced 38,396 words, an average of 738 words per post. Since December 18, 2008, the Blog has published 740,010 words from readers — almost three-quarters of a million words from the Blog’s audience.
All of the content on the Blog’s main page and in its archive is free. “unclefesta26,” who has been banned by multiple websites for chronic nuisancing and once used the handle “Hugh Jorgan” on one, has repeatedly railed against the Blog for publishing advertisements and offering a paid product for $27. A Family License that accommodates six users is available for $47.
The PatrickPretty.com Blog averages 42.2 article-length posts per month — all free. Between the Blog and its readers, PatrickPretty.com has published more than 1.12 million words in the past 12 months — all free.
In addition to researching, writing, reporting and providing a forum for readers, PatrickPretty.com manages maintenance of the Blog. The Blog has received 17,480 spam communications since December 2008, while also receiving and reading thousands of legitimate communications from readers. Many of the communications from readers require return correspondence.
PatrickPretty.com has received numerous communications from readers whose lives have been affected by Ponzi schemes. The Blog has become an important resource to them.
“unclefesta26” was blocked from posting on the Blog in June 2009 for posing a chronic maintenance problem. He responded by pilloying the Blog on YouTube, sending the Blog a message to “Enjoy!” his work. In November, upon the Blog’s release of a paid information product, “unclefesta26” dialed up his YouTube attacks on the Blog, again sending links to his videos that skewer the Blog.
Also known as “Pistol” and “Pistol’sPal” — an identity he created after being blocked from posting here — “unclefesta” has been blocked from posting on at least three websites for disruptive behavior. He attempted to re-register at one site from which he was banned 12 times on a single day, according to the website manager.
You’ve seen the ads or heard the pitches trying to persuade you to put money in “offshore” ventures such as the AdViewGlobal, AdGateWorld and MegaLido autosurfs. You’ve been told they were safe. You’ve been told the people who run them are out of the reach of U.S. securities regulators and law-enforcement agencies.
And you’ve been told your investment, which the surf purveyors call an “advertising” purchase, provides shelter from the FTC, the SEC and state attorneys general.
Don’t tell John and Marian Morgan of Florida that “offshore” means “safe” and that “offshore” provides a blanket of protection from law enforcement.
And don’t tell it to Jeffrey Lane Mowen, either.
John and Marian Morgan were charged by the SEC in June with running a prime-bank scheme. They skipped the country rather than appear for a hearing in July, first going to Europe and later to Sri Lanka.
Guess where they are now?
John and Marian Morgan are in separate cells in a U.S. jail. In addition to the SEC’s civil charges, they now face criminal charges after being indicted by a federal grand jury. They did not outmaneuver the SEC. They did not outmaneuver the U.S. Marshals Service. They did not outmaneuver the FBI. They did not outmaneuver the IRS. They did not outmaneuver Interpol.
Nor did John and Marian Morgan outmaneuver the government of Sri Lanka. They were arrested and jailed on the island, which is situated about 20 miles off the southern coast of India, in August. Sri Lanka deported them, and the United States brought them home earlier this month.
It’s big news in Sarasota — and it should be big news among the autosurf or forex/HYIP schemers who are telling you the United States is powerless to act against “offshore” enterprises or people inclined to start a get-rich-quick program and then scurry offshore one step ahead of what surf promoters derisively describe as the “sheriff” or “Big Brother.”
Do yourself a favor and read this story in the Sarasota Herald Tribune. Longtime opponents of the autosurf “industry” — in this upside-down world, the opponents are called “naysayers” and the Ponzi advocates are called “leaders” — will recognize the utter absurdity.
Sadly, though, most of the “leaders” likely will be too busy “leading ” the troops to even bigger and better catastrophes to take the time to read it.
Or they simply won’t care because leading people into catastrophes pays too well.
A company known as Unlimited Wealth Associates operated Ponzi and pyramid schemes that obtained at least $7 million, New York’s top prosecutor said today.
“While this company promised unlimited wealth, our investigation found seemingly limitless fraud and deceit as they went after investors’ savings,†said Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo.
Prosecutors “will continue to have zero tolerance for financial schemers trying to set up shop in New York,†Cuomo said.
Unlimited Wealth Associates is controlled by Robert Donald and Annette Stuart Donald, Robert Donald’s wife. Investigators obtained an asset freeze amid allegations that the Donalds were running a “series of get-rich-quick schemes” from their home in Brooklyn.
Company names under which the schemes operated included Unlimited Wealth Associates, United Wealth Associates, Unlimited Enterprises and Wealth Associates Group, prosecutors said.
Among the allegations were that the Donald-connected companies had been operating Ponzi and pyramid schemes since at least 2004 and violating a state securities law known as the “Martin Act.”
More than 1,000 investors across the United States were affected, prosecutors said.
When the schemes began to collapse, Robert Donald lied to keep investors at bay, prosecutors said.
Investigators determined that “Donald was covering up the fraudulent operation by informing investors that their investments have been lost or stolen by those with whom Donald purportedly invested the victims’ funds,” prosecutors said. “Donald told victims that he was raising new funds that would be invested so that both new and old investors would recover their principal and receive handsome profits.”
As part of the probe, prosecutors said, investigators obtained “emails, newsletters and Web site pages” showing the companies “routinely made false and misleading representations that investors could earn enormous profits on modest investments, with little or no risk involved.”
The website for Unlimited Wealth Associates now appears to be throwing a server error.
Prosecutors said the scheme included over-the-top hype. Investors in one program were told that $5,000 could turn into $1.2 million in 18 months.
Here is how investigators described the false claims:
Investors in a so-called “Wealth Units†program were falsely informed that they would “earn 2% per business day, payable every 60 business days, for a total of 180 business days.â€
Investors in an “Infinite Cycle of Wealth†program were falsely informed that the program “provides you with UNLIMITED INCOME FOR LIFE! You can receive thousands of dollars over and over again – to INFINITY!†and “With a ONE TIME INVESTMENT contribution of $5,000 you can earn over $1.2 million, once you complete 7 phases which takes approximately eighteen months.â€
Investors in a “Capital Growth Program†were falsely informed that they could “receive up to 100% return every month†and would “have the opportunity to MAKE WELL OVER $500,000 for each $1000 that you deposit, within 15 months from the day the funds enter into trade.â€
Investors in a “40 Week Proposal†were falsely informed that their expected return would be “40 payments of UP TO 50% for each $1000 contribution. That’s a total of $20,000 per $1000.â€
Many of the representations falsely claimed that there was no risk involved in the investments. One such false statement promised “The Unlimited Wealth Units is an ingenious RISK FREE way to LET YOUR MONEY WORK FOR YOU!†(emphasis in original).
The SEC and U.S. Postal Inspection Service assisted in the probe.
