PatrickPretty.com

Category: Alleged Ponzi Schemes

PP Blog Sustained By Readers: Why It Does What It Does

Dear Readers, I am updating this donation post at 11:30 a.m. (EDT) on Aug. 7. Donations have been received from 12 readers, and the Blog is back from the edge of the abyss. Thank you, dear readers. ** ____________________________ ** This Blog does what it does because its author — and many, many of its…

Aug 7, 2012
SENIOR FRAUD CAVALCADE CONTINUES: Ponzi Schemer, 86, Pleads Guilty; Stephen J. Klos Ripped Off Fellow Senior Citizens, Prosecutors Say

Stephen J. Klos, an 86-year-old church usher who sold elderly congregants in the Seattle area into a $3 million Ponzi scheme that began in 2004, has pleaded guilty to 10 counts of securities fraud, the office of King County Prosecuting Attorney Daniel T. Satterberg said. Klos “met several of victims at his church and told…

Jul 31, 2012
UPDATES: (1) HYIP Huckster ‘Dave’ Launches New Scams, Says He’s Gearing Up For ‘Auction’ Business; (2) BidsThatGive ‘Auction’ Site Says It Will Launch Tomorrow; (3) Zeek ‘Auction’ Business Names New Officers — And Affiliates Make ‘I Got Paid’ Posts As Purported Earnings Calculator Appears On Ponzi Forum

EDITOR’S NOTE: In Ponzi Land, HYIPs that suggested returns of 1 percent (or more) per day “worked” to line up lambs for the slaughter. So did autosurfs that planted the 1 percent a day (or more) seed. Now, 1 percent a day (or more) “auction” sites are “working.” Will they mushroom globally like HYIPs and…

Jul 31, 2012
Site Critical Of Zeek Goes Missing After HubPages Receives Trademark ‘Infringement’ Complaint Attributed To Rex Venture Group LLC — But North Carolina-Based Rex Not Listed As Trademark Owner; Florida Firm That IS Listed As Owner Says It Has ‘No Knowledge’ Of Complaint

“We are writing you today and requesting your assistance. It has come to our attention that your website Hubpages.com is broadcasting and delivering content that is both copyrighted and, [sic] Trademark Protected. In addition, the content constitutes a tortuous [sic] interference with us and our 1.2 million independent advertising reps around the world.” — From…

Jul 28, 2012
Jailed AdSurfDaily Figure Kenneth Wayne Leaming Sues Obama, Holder; Purported ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Claims President Not A U.S. Citizen And Demands Compensation In ‘Silver’ And ‘Gold’ For Alleged Unlawful Imprisonment

EDITOR’S NOTE: Just when you thought AdSurfDaily-related events could not get any stranger . . . ** _____________________________ ** Jailed near Seattle and awaiting trial in September on charges he filed false liens against at least five public officials involved in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi case, purported “sovereign citizen” Kenneth Wayne Leaming has sued “Barrack Hussein…

Jul 25, 2012
Zeek, The ‘I’ Word And The Weight Of History . . .

UPDATED 6:36 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) To hear some folks in HYIP Ponzi Land tell it, “opportunities” can avoid the long arm of the law by preemptively prohibiting affiliates from using certain words — “investment” and “security,” for two examples. Regardless, court records show that hucksters who played linguistic games to mask their fraud schemes confronted…

Jul 25, 2012
BULLETIN: Massachusetts Charges Purported Top 20 Shaklee MLM Distributor, Amid Allegations He Drafted Downline Members Into $10.4 Million Ponzi Scheme He Ran Through His Private Companies

BULLETIN: (UPDATED 5:03 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) The office of Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin has alleged that a man who described himself as a Top 20 distributor for Shaklee Corp. — a multilevel marketing firm — drafted members of his 50,000-strong downline into a $10.4 million Ponzi scheme and promissory-notes scam that he was…

Jul 24, 2012
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Florida Federal Judge Grants Government Motion To Transfer Lawsuit Filed By AdSurfDaily Figures Todd Disner And Dwight Owen Schweitzer To District Of Columbia; Ruling May Put Case In Hands Of Judge Collyer

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: A federal judge has granted the government’s request to transfer from Florida to the District of Columbia a lawsuit against the United States filed by AdSurfDaily figures Todd Disner and Dwight Owen Schweitzer. The ruling today by U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga of the Southern District of Florida deals…

Jul 23, 2012
EDITORIAL: Randy Schroeder Of Mona Vie Emerges As Zeek Critic And Asks MLMers To Open Their Eyes; Troy Dooly Takes Him To The Woodshed — And Plants Seed Zeek May Sue; JSS Tripler/JustBeenPaid ‘Defender’ ‘MoneyMakingBrain’ Dials Up Bizarre Intimidation Campaign, Plants Seed Frederick Mann May Sue

“It’s gonna blow up; it’s gonna be an ugly blow-up. It’ll probably happen sooner, not later. And it will leave a trail of devastation behind it. And I urge you to not even consider them.” — Comment on Zeek Rewards by Randy Schroeder, president of North America and Europe for Mona Vie, July 16, 2012 UPDATED…

Jul 22, 2012
PICTURE STORY: ‘OneX’ Scheme Says It Is Switching To I-Payout; Conference-Call Announcement Made On Same Day U.S. Senate Panel Grilled HSBC Executives And Said Bank Exposed United States To ‘Money Laundering, Drug And Terrorist Financing Risk’

Back in April, federal prosecutors described the purported OneX “program” as a “fraudulent scheme” and “pyramid” pushed by former AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin, the author of the $110 million ASD Ponzi scheme. Bowdoin, 77, now is jailed in the District of Columbia — in part because of his OneX pitches. He’d initially been free of…

Jul 19, 2012
EDITORIAL: Is AlertPay (Payza) FINALLY Doing The Right Thing? Scam-Friendly Payment Processor That Is Darling Of Global Wink-Nod Fraudsters And Ponzi Forums Says It Is Banning Programs That Offer A Return — But Questions Remain

EDITOR’S NOTE: Payza seems to have taken an important step Friday in the battle against online fraud. The payment-processing company perhaps deserves an accolade for that. But it’s too soon to heap praise on Payza. We are particularly concerned about the phrasing of a specific line in Payza’s altered User Agreement. More on that below…

Jul 16, 2012