PatrickPretty.com

Category: Alleged Ponzi Schemes

UPDATE ON DECEMBER 2009 SPECIAL REPORT: 3 Figures In Philip R. Lochmiller Sr. Ponzi Case Will Go To Federal Prison; ‘Elderly Victims Were Financially Devastated,’ FBI Agent Says; Case Involving Recidivist Fraudster Drew Comparison To AdSurfDaily

In a case that drew comparisons to AdSurfDaily because of recidivism, undisclosed bankruptcies and ties to Utah, the three principal figures of the Philip R. Lochmiller Sr. real-estate Ponzi scheme in Colorado will be going to federal prison. Lochmiller Sr., 63, was found guilty in July after a 10-day trial in which the jurors returned…

Oct 19, 2011
ANOTHER MYTH-BUSTING CASE: On The Lam From Greater Los Angeles For 5 Years, Ponzi Fugitive John Chiyuan Lee Arrested In Thailand And Extradited To The United States

One of the enduring myths of the Ponzi boards — “offshore equals safe” — has been shattered again. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department says it got its man — with help from the government of Thailand, the U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Ponzi scheme suspect John Chiyuan Lee became…

Oct 19, 2011
BULLETIN: Michigan Ponzi Schemer Keith Epstein, Who Sanitized Caper With Charitable Donations While He Ripped Off Senior Citzens And Spent Their Money On Strippers, Sentenced To Federal Prison

Keith Epstein, 56, told senior citizens they could trust him with their money. Some of his investors believed him — and they liquidated legitimate holdings and gave the cash to Epstein. But Epstein, of Farmington Hills, Mich., was running a $4 million Ponzi scheme, the FBI said. He took the cash from his victims, spending…

Oct 18, 2011
INCREDIBLE: Month After Will Smith Debacle, Club Asteria Turns To Mahatma Gandhi To Drive Traffic — And Misspells Name Of Assassinated Champion Of Freedom While Turning Him Into A Pitchman; House Organ Also Includes Photo Of Richard Branson

Last month, it was famed actor Will Smith. This month, it is Mahatma Gandhi, the civil-rights champion and beacon of freedom in India who was assassinated at a prayer meeting in 1948. After placing a “JOIN NOW” button under an image of Smith in its September house organ and later removing both the image and…

Oct 18, 2011
UPDATE: ‘JustBeenPaid’ Promos Trading On Name, Likeness Of Oprah Winfrey; ‘Click On The Oprah Banner Below,’ Ad Instructs

UPDATE: In addition to trading on the name of Warren Buffett, the JustBeenPaid “program” is trading on the name of entertainment icon and business titan Oprah Winfrey. Actor Charlie Sheen’s name also has been referenced in Ponzi forum chatter about JustBeenPaid, an “opportunity” whose braintrust once recruited members for Florida-based AdSurfDaily. ASD, according to the…

Oct 17, 2011
UPDATE: Andy Bowdoin’s Fundraising Site Still Down

The continuing outage of a fundraising site for accused Ponzi schemer Andy Bowdoin of Florida-based AdSurfDaily now has exceeded 80 hours — more than three full days. The site first was reported to be offline Thursday at 11:09 p.m. EDT. What caused the outage and why the site remains offline are unclear. Bowdoin, 76, had…

Oct 17, 2011
RECOMMENDED READING: St. Louis Post-Dispatch Quotes Lynn Edgington Of Eagle Research Associates In Piece On Steering Clear Of Fraud Schemes

Lynn Edgington, the founder of Eagle Research Associates Inc. and a regular contributor to the PP Blog, is quoted in an article in tomorrow’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch. An online version of the article by reporter Stephen Deere is available here. Eagle, a nonprofit that battles online fraud schemes, is based in Mission Viejo, Calif. The…

Oct 15, 2011
Andy Bowdoin’s Fundraising Website Offline; Reason Why Unclear

A website through which accused Ponzi schemer Andy Bowdoin of Florida-based AdSurfDaily hoped to raise $500,000 to pay for his criminal defense has been offline for at least 11 hours. The reason why is unclear. The site — known as Andy’s Fundraising Army — launched on July 26 after weeks of prelaunch hype and after…

Oct 14, 2011
EDITORIAL: ENOUGH! Payments For ‘JustBeenPaid’ Purportedly Routed Through Canada From BigBooster.com Email Address Linked To Frederick Mann At Domain That Uses Street Address In South Africa; Pitch Site Features Repurposed Video Of Warren Buffett And Prompt To Register With Gmail Address — Even As YouTube Removes Some Video Pitches; Alert Pay-Enabled Site Once Touted AdSurfDaily

There are the deliberate shills for JustBeenPaid — serial Ponzi board hucksters such as “10BucksUp,” for example. And there are the unwitting shills whose celebrity is stolen without their knowledge to sanitize the over-the-top fraud that promotes absurd returns — people such as famed investor Warren Buffett. Buffett’s only tie to JustBeenPaid is that he…

Oct 13, 2011
BULLETIN: Recidivist Huckster Jailed In Florida In ‘Body Scan’ Securities Swindle Masterminded Separate Ponzi Scheme In California That Netted $11 Million, SEC Says; Jerry Aubrey Charged Amid Allegations He And Brother Peeled Off Millions For Basketball Tickets And Lavish Home Featuring ‘Giant Fish Aquariums With Miniature Sharks’

Jerry L. Aubrey first came on the SEC’s radar screens in 1998, when he was hawking “securities in a fictitious cruise ship,” records show. By 2007, he’d been charged criminally in Florida with securities fraud for selling shares of a bogus “body scan imaging business” between December 2000 and October 2003. He was convicted of…

Oct 12, 2011
SPECIAL REPORT: SMOKING GUN? MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi Forum Post Made During Same Month Grand Jury That Indicted AdSurfDaily’s Andy Bowdoin Convened May Tie AdViewGlobal To International Penny-Stock Scheme And Collapsed Payment Processor In Arizona

EDITOR’S NOTE: Longtime readers of the PP Blog will recall that the purported AdSurfDaily (ASD) spinoff known as AdViewGlobal (AVG) and some of its members engaged in particularly bizarre behavior in May 2009. The absurdities included announcing (and then unannouncing) a puported deal with a new offshore wire facilitator, announcing (and then unannouncing) a new…

Oct 10, 2011