PatrickPretty.com

Category: Alleged Ponzi Schemes

The Cross-Border UFunClub Menace

UPDATED 7:57 A.M. EDT U.S.A. UFunClub and its purported digital currency known as UToken are the latest examples of grandiose absurdities in the MLM/network-marketing HYIP sphere. These transnational schemes pose an untenable economic and political danger. They must be destroyed. To the people of Thailand and likely an incredibly large number of people in other…

Apr 28, 2015
BULLETIN: Receiver Seeks Default Judgments Against Key Zeek Rewards’ Clawback Defendants

BULLETIN: (6th Update 8:34 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) Zeek Rewards’ receiver Kenneth D. Bell has gone to federal court in the Western District of North Carolina, seeking default judgments against key clawback defendants and alleged “winners” Trudy Gilmond and Jerry Napier, a figure in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi-scheme story. Bell is seeking more than $2.129 million from…

Apr 24, 2015
RECOMMENDED READING: ‘Bank Of The Underworld’

UPDATED 12:12 P.M. EDT U.S.A. A thoughtful reader sent this along this morning. It’s a story by Jake Halpern in The Atlantic titled, “Bank of the Underworld[:] Liberty Reserve was like PayPal for the unbanked. Was it also a global money-laundering operation?” Here’s a snippet (italics added): Costa Rica was also increasingly known as a…

Apr 23, 2015
UFUNCLUB: Securities Division ‘Will Look Into The Extent Of A Colorado Connection’

UPDATED 10:52 A.M. EDT U.S.A. The Colorado Division of Securities said it “will look into the extent” of promotional ties the UFunClub “program” now under investigation in Thailand may have in the state. Whether other U.S. states would follow Colorado’s lead was not immediately clear. Earlier cross-border MLM/network-marketing schemes such as Profitable Sunrise and WCM777…

Apr 22, 2015
BRIEF: ‘Digadz’ Admin Reportedly ‘Paralyzed’

“Beejay,” the purported “admin” of a “program” known as “Digadz,” is “seriously injured and [his] whole body is paralyzed,” according to chatter circulating on Facebook and on the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum. The purported cause was an automobile accident at an unspecified location, according to the chatter. Beejay purportedly was the admin of a previous scheme…

Apr 20, 2015
COLORADO: ‘Achieve Community’ Subject Of ‘Order To Show Cause’

UPDATED 6:17 A.M. EDT APRIL 21 U.S.A. The Colorado Division of Securities has directed an “Order to Show Cause” to “Achieve Community,” alleged in February 2015 by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to be a combined Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that gathered at least $3.8 million. Colorado’s order cites a “Division Case No.” of…

Apr 20, 2015
PP Blog Addresses Change In Google Search Algorithm To Accommodate ‘Mobile’ Readers

The PP Blog has been experimenting with ways to render the Blog better on mobile phones. This has occurred in response to an upcoming change in the Google search algorithm. “Starting April 21, Google Search will be expanding its use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal,” Google said. “This change will affect mobile searches in…

Apr 19, 2015
In Conference Call For ‘SVM Global Initiative,’ Speaker Makes Veiled Reference To UFunClub Cross-Border Scheme Under Investigation In Thailand: Are North American ‘Sovereign Citizens’ At Work?

Are “sovereign citizens” immersed in the “SVM Global Initiative” and “UFunClub” cross-border, network-marketing schemes? “Sovereign citizens” may have an irrational belief that laws do not apply to them. It is not unusual for them to be involved in financial fraud, and some “sovereigns” have been linked to MLM HYIP frauds and securities offering frauds. Individuals…

Apr 19, 2015
EDITORIAL: SEC Announced TelexFree Prosecution 1 Year Ago Today, But Many MLMers Have Missed Or Ignored The Lessons

UPDATED 7:10 A.M. EDT APRIL 18 U.S.A. A year has passed since the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced the prosecution of TelexFree. Here’s the lede from the PP Blog’s story on April 17, 2014: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against the alleged TelexFree pyramid scheme and a federal judge…

Apr 17, 2015
After Seeing Photos Of Its Players On ‘GooBets,’ National Basketball Association To Turn Matter Over To ‘Legal Department’

As the PP Blog reported yesterday, photos of National Basketball Association players and team jerseys are appearing on the .com (https://www) website of “GooBets,” a purported betting entity in which recruits are being told “Everybody Makes 25% to 31% Per Week. Period!!!” The NBA said today that the matter had been forwarded to “our Legal…

Apr 15, 2015
BULLETIN: SEC Hits Another Ponzi-Board Scam; Action Against CashFlowBot (DollarMonster) May Cause Restlessness Among ‘Small’ Operators

BULLETIN: The SEC has gone to federal court in Atlanta, charging the alleged operator of CashFlowBot (DollarMonster) with operating a Ponzi scheme. The “program” had a presence on Ponzi-scheme forums such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup. James A. Evans, 33, of Villa Rica, Ga., has been charged with selling unregistered securities and securities fraud. The SEC…

Apr 14, 2015