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SEC: Man Switches Company Name For Offering, Buys Autodialer And Database For 17K, Targets Wealthy Investors, Racks Up $1.4 Million Before Scheme Collapses

UPDATED 6:15 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) A California man ordered by five states to cease and desist from selling unregistered securities started using a different corporate name, bought an autodialer and database with the names of wealthy investors for $17,737 and used it for at least six months to fleece clients before the scheme collapsed in…

Jan 8, 2010
KA-BOOM! SEC Files Emergency Action In Alleged Richard Elkinson ‘Uniform’ Ponzi Scheme; U.S. Attorney General Warns Fraudsters, ‘You Are Writing Your Ticket To Jail’

Ka-boom! A federal judge has frozen the assets of alleged Ponzi schemer Richard Elkinson, accused of fleecing investors in Massachusetts by telling them he brokered deals for government uniforms and uniforms worn by Olympic athletes. Meanwhile, the attorney general of the United States ventured to Florida today and gave a dramatic speech at the Forum…

Jan 8, 2010
News, Notes And Updates: Jailed And Disbarred, Former Massachusetts Attorney Who Fleeced 95-Year-Old Client Arrested On New Charges

EDITOR’S NOTE: This post distills recent news and development on the fraud and Ponzi fronts. CHARGED: Six people — including a disbarred attorney already in prison — have been charged in Massacuusetts in an elaborate mortgage-fraud scheme. Bruce Namenson, the former lawyer, was charged with 18 counts of of larceny for arranging bogus loan closings,…

Jan 8, 2010
Now, A ‘Concert’ Ponzi Scheme: FBI Says Miko Dion Wady Of Arizona Claimed Bogus Tie To The Rolling Stones, Barbra Streisand, Mary J. Blige To Lure Investors

If this were Forrest Gump and the subject were Ponzi schemes instead of shrimp, Benjamin Buford “Bubba” Blue might say something along these lines: There are ‘advertising’ Ponzi schemes, ‘printing’ Ponzi schemes, CD Ponzi schemes, ‘billboard’ Ponzi schemes, Ponzi schemes claiming that ‘uniforms’ are being purchased for prisons and police agencies, ‘Big-Box Retailer’ Ponzi schemes,…

Jan 7, 2010
EDITORIAL: In The End, Surf’s Up Demonstrated That All Its Members Were Expendable And That Its Heart Beat Only For Bowdoin And A Limited Few

On Nov. 27, 2008, just eight days after a federal judge ruled that Florida-based AdSurfDaily had not demonstrated it was a lawful business and not a Ponzi scheme, ASD gave its official endorsement to the Surf’s Up forum, which suddenly went missing last week after shilling for ASD President Andy Bowdoin 24/7 for more than…

Jan 7, 2010
Judge Signs Forfeiture Order In AdSurfDaily Case; Gives Government Title To $65.8 Million In Bowdoin Bank Accounts; Case Resolved In ‘Entirety’

After more than 17 months, more than 165 court filings and more than $1 million in legal fees, ASD President Andy Bowdoin has lost the August 2008 civil forfeiture case and the government has been granted title to $65,838,999.70 seized from Bowdoin’s 10 Bank of America accounts. U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer, whom Bowdoin attempted…

Jan 7, 2010
Massachusetts Secretary Of State Seeks C&D Order, Disgorgement Against Individuals, Company That Helped Richard Elkinson Sell Alleged Ponzi Scheme

In a case that may cause worry among autosurf and HYIP enthusiasts who earn sales commissions, Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin has sent the state Securities Division after the profits earned by two individuals and a company that recruited investors into the alleged Richard Elkinson Ponzi scheme. Galvin’s office filed civil papers today that…

Jan 6, 2010
Toronto Police Department Seeks Assistance In Locating Alleged Ponzi Suspect Weizhen Tang; Says He Purported To Be The ‘Chinese Warren Buffet’

Police in Canada are looking for Weizhen Tang, 51, to arrest him in an international investment-fraud case. The Toronto Police Department says investigators believe Tang duped more than 100 investors in a $30 million Ponzi scheme. A warrant has been issued for Tang’s arrest. Investigators say fraud victims exist “across Canada,” and in the United…

Jan 6, 2010
BLOCKBUSTER ARREST: MLM Pyramid Scheme Operator Charged With Laundering Drug Money; David Murcia Extradited From Colombia To Stand Trial In New York

EDITOR’S NOTE: Finding the United States an unfriendly environment, the so called autosurf and HYIP “industries” increasingly are relying on offshore money-exchange businesses and debit cards to entice participants, advising them that the offshore locations are “safe” havens that “shelter” U.S. residents from regulators and law-enforcement agencies. In August 2009, we reported that a Dallas-based…

Jan 6, 2010
Massachusetts Man, 76, Becomes Latest Senior Citizen Implicated In Ponzi Scheme; Richard Elkinson Accused Of $29 Million Fraud; Investigators Find Millions Of Dollars In Las Vegas Casino Transactions

A Massachusetts man has been arrested in Mississippi and charged with orchestrating a $29 million Ponzi scheme by tricking people into believing they were investing in a company that provided uniforms for the Winter Olympics, the Pan American games and the government. Ironically, Richard Elkinson told investors he provided prison uniforms — and also uniforms…

Jan 5, 2010
DEVELOPING STORY: Scott Rothstein To Plead Guilty In $1.2 Billion Ponzi Scheme

BULLETIN: Scott Rothstein, the Fort Lauderdale attorney charged with racketeering last month and disbarred amid allegations he orchestrated a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme involving bogus legal settlements, is expected to change his plea to guilty.

Jan 5, 2010