PatrickPretty.com

Category: Alleged Ponzi Schemes

ZEEK-BEATER: TelexFree LLC Filings In Alabama Say Firm Posted ‘Total Income’ Of Nearly $700 Million In 2013; Thursday Hearing On Telecom Application In State Delayed At Company’s Request; Firm May Be Filing Cookie-Cutter Applications With Regulators

UPDATED 4:50 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) The TelexFree LLC branch of the TelexFree enterprise posted more than $691 million in “total income” last year, according to a filing with the Alabama Public Service Commission. (The PP Blog retrieved the filing today and saved it as TelexFreeAlabamaApplication.pdf. See link below.) TelexFree asked that the document be “FILED…

Apr 8, 2014
TelexFree, An Alleged Pyramid Scheme, Promotes Itself During Probes By Wrapping Logos Of Local Fox, CBS, ABC, NBC Affiliates Into Video

In this article: In its role as a watchdog for consumers, the FTC has sued third-party companies and individuals who have published the logos of prominent news agencies and falsely traded on their trusted identities to sanitize a purported product or opportunity. (See screen shot of Evidence Exhibit from one FTC case below.) In a…

Apr 7, 2014
TelexFree’s Name Appears In Federal Court Filings In The SEC’s Pyramid And Ponzi Case Against WCM777

UPDATED 8:51 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Already under investigation in Massachusetts, is TelexFree destined to encounter trouble from state regulators in California and perhaps the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)? At least by Nov. 14, 2013, the California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) was asking questions about the TelexFree MLM scheme, according to filings in…

Apr 4, 2014
EDITORIAL: Uproar In TelexFree’s Billion-Dollar Broom Closet

UPDATED 12:15 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) The Boston Red Sox were at the White House Tuesday to receive recognition for winning the 2013 World Series. There were plenty of smiling faces, perhaps particularly when slugger David Ortiz, the MVP of the series, posed for a selfie with President Obama. But back home in Massachusetts, particularly in…

Apr 3, 2014
BULLETIN: Federal Judge Freezes At Least 54 Bank/Vendor Accounts Linked By SEC To Alleged WCM777 Ponzi/Pyramid That Targeted Asians And Latinos; Court Authorizes Saturday Depositions And Orders Protection Of Records And Assets To Be Repatriated

BULLETIN: What happens if it is alleged by law enforcement that you’re a Ponzi schemer/affinity fraudster, a business associate of a Ponzi schemer/affinity fraudster or a vendor of a Ponzi schemer/affinity fraudster? A federal judge has frozen at least 54 bank or financial accounts the SEC has linked to WCM777, an alleged $65 million Ponzi-…

Mar 29, 2014
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: SEC Takes Down WCM777; Says Purported Opportunity Is ‘Worldwide Pyramid Scheme,’ Ponzi And Offering Fraud; Federal Judge Signs Asset Freeze

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (16th update 5:42 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) The SEC has gone to federal court in Los Angeles, alleging that the WCM777 “program” is a “worldwide” pyramid scheme, a Ponzi scheme and an offering fraud that targeted Asian and Latino communities and gathered more than $65 million. A federal judge has granted…

Mar 28, 2014
MORE MLM WHACK-A-MOLE: (1) Quebec Securities Regulator Issues Warning On Karatbars International; (2) Cross-Border Colleagues Follow Suit; (3) Former Zeek Ponzi Scheme Pitchman Defends ‘Program’ As Others Push It Alongside TelexFree

UPDATED 12:21 P.M. EDT (MARCH 28, U.S.A.) Whack-A-Mole. Here’s the latest disturbing incarnation: On March 20, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) published a warning on a gold “program” known as Karatbars International GmbH. BehindMLM.com spotlighted the warning yesterday. From the AMF warning (bolding added): “With the company’s ‘Affiliates’ program, investors can make Internet-based purchases…

Mar 26, 2014
UNBELIEVABLE: Bundle Of 550 TelexFree ‘AdCentrals’ Advertised For $16,760, A Purported Discount Of $8,190; Purchaser Will Receive ‘Minimum’ Guaranteed Payout Of $56,100 — And Maybe Even $110,000, Pitch Claims

UPDATED 12:14 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Being under investigation in Brazil and Massachusetts and getting kicked out of Rwanda apparently isn’t viewed in MLM La-La Land as a strong-enough clue that it’s time to give up the TelexFree ghost. Or maybe it is — and the TelexFree-related fire sales have begun. It wouldn’t be the first…

Mar 24, 2014
TelexFree, WCM777 (Etc.) — In Pictures

California-based WCM777, an MLM “program,” got booted out of Massachusetts in November 2013, amid allegations of securities fraud and affinity fraud targeted at the Brazilian community through hotel pitchfests. WCM777, purportedly operated by Ming Xu and recruiting affiliates to conduct business over the Internet, later got booted out of California. In addition to the Brazilian…

Mar 22, 2014
Washington State Rejects TelexFree Bid To Register As Telecommunications Firm

The Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission has rejected a bid by TelexFree LLC to register as a telecommunications company. TelexFree LLC is not registered as a corporation in Washington state and therefore is ineligible to be registered as a telecommunications firm in the state, the commission said in a finding dated March 13. How…

Mar 18, 2014
Government Of Rwanda, Citing Pyramid And Money-Laundering Concerns, Bans TelexFree Enterprise After Joint Probe With Nation’s Central Bank

The Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Republic of Rwanda has announced that a TelexFree enterprise has been banned in the country after a joint investigation with the National Bank of Rwanda, the nation’s central bank. Central banks control monetary policy in their respective countries. Other examples of central banks include the Bank of…

Mar 18, 2014