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DONATION POST: A Year Ago On The PP Blog . . .

Dear Readers, A year ago this week, the PP Blog suffered the first of a series of vicious electronic attacks that knocked it offline. The attacks continued into November of 2010 — and then followed the Blog into the new year. The attacks coincided with the Great (And Continuing) Publishing Slump, bringing on higher costs…

Oct 23, 2011
Authorities In Virginia Neither ‘Confirm [N]or Deny’ That Investigation Into Club Asteria Is Under Way; Firm Whose Growth Was Fueled On Ponzi Boards Before Cashout Suspension And CONSOB Probe Is Not Registered To Sell Securities In The State

UPDATED 4:14 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Club Asteria, the offshoot of Virginia-based Asteria Corp. and the apparent braintrust behind an emerging entity known as the Asteria Philanthropic Foundation, is not registered to sell securities in Virginia, the state said Thursday. Neither is Asteria Corp., according to state records. Citing confidentiality laws, the state declined to say…

Oct 22, 2011
BULLETIN: General Counsel’s Office Of American Red Cross Investigating Potential Case Of Brand Leeching By Club Asteria After Red Cross Logo Appears On Purported ‘Philanthropic’ Site And Inside Club Asteria’s October House Organ

BULLETIN: The Office of the General Counsel of the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C., has opened a probe into the potential misuse of the Red Cross logo and name by Club Asteria and an entity known as the Asteria Philanthropic Foundation or the Asteria Foundation. Depending on how the investigation evolves in the coming…

Oct 20, 2011
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
UPDATE: JustBeenPaid Also Is Using Image Of Star Trek’s ‘Mr. Spock’; Fictional Spaceman Joins Oprah, Warren Buffett As Unknowing Pitchmen For Global Ponzi Scheme

UPDATE: The PP Blog reported here that Warren Buffett had become an unknowing pitchman for the global JustBeenPaid Ponzi scheme whose promoters also pushed the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme on the public. Meanwhile, the Blog reported here that Oprah Winfrey had met the same fate at the hands of the JustBeenPaid henchmen. The Blog now is…

Oct 18, 2011
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: FDA Chemist Cheng Yi Liang Pleads Guilty In Insider Trading Case; ‘Shocking Abuse Of Trust,’ Feds Say Of Schemer’s Plot To Use Database To Harvest Illegal Profits

>> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Cheng Yi Liang, the FDA chemist accused in March of mining the agency’s database for drug approvals or denials and using the information to make insider trades, has pleaded guilty to securities fraud and failing to disclose illicit profits. Liang, 57, of Gaithersburg, Md., faces a maximum term of 25 years in…

Oct 18, 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