Category: Uncategorized

  • Quebec Issues Warning On ‘Affluential Group Corp.’

    cautionflagThe Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) says an entity known as “Affluential Group Corp.” is soliciting illegally in Quebec.

    AMF conducted cybersurveillance and discovered online ads for Affluential Group and is seeking “orders to cease the solicitation, remove the ads and close Affluential Group Corp.’s website,” the agency said.

    In addition, the agency said, AMF is seeking “to impose administrative penalties on the firm and its two officers, Ali Haida Tarafdar and Sean Pugliese.”

    “Advertisements posted on classified ad websites target consumers with $20,000 to $25,000 to invest, and promise investment returns of 12% to 25% within six months,” AMF said.

    From an AMF statement (italics added):

    Neither Affluential Group Corp. nor its representatives or directors, Ali Haida Tarafdar and Sean Pugliese, are registered with the AMF, and are therefore not authorized to solicit Québec consumers for investment purposes.

    Google search results show that at least one Affluential Group ad appeared on Craigslist before being deleted.

  • FOR SPANISH-SPEAKERS: Telemundo 39 (Dallas) Report On WCM777

    From a WCM777 pitchfest. Source: Telemundo (Dallas.)
    From a WCM777 pitchfest. Source: Telemundo (Dallas).

    Here is a link to a Telemundo 39 (Dallas) report on the WCM777 “program.”

    Link.

    The unofficial total of jurisdictions or regulatory agencies filing actions or issuing Investor Alerts against WCM777 stands at seven: The country of Peru, the state of Massachusetts, the state of California, the state of Colorado, the state of Louisiana, the state of New Hampshire, the province of New Brunswick.

    In addition, the Canadian Securities Administrators — an umbrella organization of 13 provinces/territories of Canada that is responsible for developing a harmonized approach to securities regulation across the country — has published the New Brunswick warning. The Better Business Bureau, meanwhile, has given WCM777 an “F,” its lowest score.

    Despite the regulatory actions, WCM pitchfests are continuing online.

    NOTE: Our thanks to a reader who let us know about the Telemundo report.

  • CBS-MIAMI: Man With Sword Threatened Supermarket Customers And Was Shot By Security Guard

    cbsmiamiArmed with a sword, Hector Hechavarria walked into the Presidente Supermarket in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, threatened to kill shoppers, knicked a customer in the elbow, assaulted a security guard — and eventually was shot by the same guard, CBS-Miami is reporting.

    The guard, according to the station, was Antonio Mendoza, 47. Police said his actions were heroic.

  • Anti-Defamation League, One Of First Groups To Warn Public About AdSurfDaily Figure Kenneth Wayne Leaming, Now Says ‘Sovereign Citizens’ Are Forming ‘Vigilante Grand Juries’ And Harassing Public Officials In New York, Florida And Elsewhere

    americaatrisk4Kenneth Wayne Leaming, the AdSurfDaily Ponzi story figure and purported “sovereign citizen” now serving eight years in federal prison in part for filing bogus liens against public officials involved in the 2008 ASD case, once claimed the federal judge in Washington state who presided over his criminal trial owed him 208,000 ounces of “99.9% fine silver.”

    Among Leaming’s bizarre claims was that the judge was “operating [a] SLAVERY SYSTEM, etc.” Leaming earlier tried unsuccessfully to sue President Obama and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Among his bizarre claims in that now-dismissed case was that he and a co-plaintiff — a man in prison on federal tax charges — were owed 12,000 ounces of gold.

    After Leaming’s conviction in a 2013 trial in which federal prosecutors said he was channeling deceased cop-killer Christopher Dorner in the courtroom, the judge ordered the forfeiture of items seized from Leaming during an FBI probe of his activities in 2011. Those items included six firearms and police equipment, including badges, credentials, law-enforcement identification documents, light bars, crime-scene tape, handcuffs, vests and nightsticks.

    Leaming “client” files also were ordered forfeited. (Some ASD members said Leaming was performing legal work for them, even though he is not an attorney.)

    The Anti-Defamation League, which warned the public about Leaming before his name even surfaced in the context of ASD in 2010, now says a different group of purported “sovereign citizens” on the other side of the country is harassing a judge and court clerk in rural Greene County, N.Y. Greene County, in the Catskills, has a population of fewer than 50,000, according to its Wikipedia entry.

    From the ADL (italics added):

     . . . common law grand juries claim to have signed a “true bill” charging the chief clerk in Greene County with numerous “crimes” related to her alleged failure to file paperwork for the “grand jury,” according to ADL. They also “fined” a Greene County judge the amount of “100 ounces of silver,” citing 23 separate “violations” for failing to provide demanded documents and refusing to speak to their “board of review,” and allegedly sent harassing documents to a number of judges.

    And there might be trouble elsewhere, ADL says.

    “[C]ommon law juries in Marion and St. Johns counties in Florida sent a ‘Writ of Mandamus’ to county officials demanding a budget of $1.5 million, office space and equipment and a meeting room with a conference table and chairs,” ADL reports.

    Marion County is in North Central Florida in the Ocala region and has a population of about 335,000. St. John’s County is in Northeast Florida in the Jacksonville region and has a population of about 190,000.

    There have been reports of violence and extremely menacing behavior involving “sovereign citizens” in Florida. In March 2013, purported “sovereign” Jeffrey Allen Wright was shot to death after pointing a pistol at a sheriff’s SWAT team in Navarre, situated in the Florida panhandle. Wright was wanted on a warrant for counterfeiting.

    In November 2013, Tampa-region “sovereign citizen” Eric Holtgard was arrested twice in less than 24 hours, amid allegations he was menacing people with guns. In May 2013, purported “sovereign citizen” Bruce Chalmers Hicks of the Tampa region was arrested on charges that he was carrying a sidearm on the property of Turkey Creek Middle School in Plant City.

    Larry M. Myers, a purported “sovereign citizen” and fugitive, was sentenced in 2012 to 78 months in federal prison. Authorities said he was was member of a bogus entity known as “The Constitutional Court of We The People In and For The United States of America” and the “Constitutional Common Law Court.”

    “Myers and his co-conspirators mailed a CLC arrest warrant to a Chief Judge of a Florida State court,” the office of the Treasury Inspector General For Tax Administration (TIGTA) said. “They also issued a CLC contempt of court order and ‘militia’ arrest warrant to a District Judge.”

    “Sovereign citizens” have been claiming judicial and jury authority for years. ADL suggests these elements of the purported “movement” might be gaining steam.

    “Adherents of the sovereign citizen movement are forming their own vigilante “grand juries” in counties across the United States in an attempt to exact pressure on local government officials to accede to their anti-government demands and whims,” ADL said yesterday.

    “The sovereign citizen group behind this attempt to form bogus grand juries is the National Liberty Alliance, formed in 2011 as the New York Liberty Alliance by sovereign citizen guru John Darash of Poughkeepsie, NY,” ADL says. “It recently launched a nationwide effort to recruit new members, and Darash and his followers have spent most of their time establishing ‘common law grand juries’ in counties across the country. The Liberty Alliance boasts of having 852 county organizers in 36 states and nearly 2,000 members from coast to coast.”

     

  • UPDATE: Alleged ‘PhoneCard USA’ Ponzi Schemer Once Arrested In Brazil On Narcotics Charges Now Charged In United States With Possessing ‘Improvised Explosive Devices’

    ponzinews1Istvan Merchenthaler, the U.S.-based alleged “PhoneCard USA” Ponzi schemer who reportedly was arrested on narcotics-trafficking charges in Brazil a decade ago and later was linked to pipe bombs found in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, has been indicted on charges of possessing “approximately 60 plastic PVC pipe improvised explosive devices” plus “approximately 400 cardboard tube IEDs, a 9mm Cobray M-11 semi-automatic machine pistol, and ammunition,” federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said.

    “IED” stands for “improvised explosive devices.” Such devices have been associated with terrorism and guerrilla warfare. A common form is the roadside bomb.

    Merchenthaler, 43, additionally was indicted  in Maryland on two counts of being a fugitive in possession of firearms and ammunition and one count of possessing an unregistered destructive device. Further south, in North Carolina, Merchenthaler was indicted on two counts of being a fugitive in possession of firearms and ammunition and one count of possessing an unregistered destructive device.

    The IEDs, machine pistol and ammunition were found after the first of two Ponzi indictments against Merchenthaler was handed down in 2012. The Maryland and North Carolina cases have been consolidated and will be heard by U.S. District Judge Robert F. Kelly of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

    From a statement by the office of U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (italics added):

    [F]rom at least about May 2006 to about February 2013, Merchenthaler claimed to be the founder of PhoneCard USA, a company that was purportedly a “premier distribution source” for prepaid phone cards and cell phones.  Merchenthaler, who used a number of aliases, falsely claimed that PhoneCard USA had “lucrative contracts” with major retail chain stores including Walmart, 7-Eleven, and BJ’s Wholesale Club.  Further, Merchenthaler falsely claimed to have friendships with executives at Walmart and 7-Eleven.  In reality, Merchenthaler operated a “Ponzi” scheme, stealing over $2 million from over 200 investors and using much of these funds for his own benefit and to perpetuate his scheme.

    Merchentaler allegedly possessed pipe bombs.

    In at least one promo by an apparent affiliate of the uber-bizarre MPB Today MLM “program” in 2010, pipe bombs were referenced — in the context of Walmart. An online promo for MPB Today claimed this (italics added):

    If you “hate Walmart and have written a 603 page manifesto on how Walmart is trying to take over the world and steal your soul,” you should “stop making that pipe bomb and read how you can avoid Walmart and still make bank,” according to the pitch.

    Like Merchenthaler allegedly did with PhoneCard USA, some MPB Today promoters claimed that the “program” had been endorsed by Walmart. It is common for scammers to imply ties to famous businesses.

    Indicted alongside Merchenthaler in the IED case was Ryan Joseph Hribick, 32, of Coatesville, Pa. He was charged with count of possession of unregistered firearms, one count of manufacturing and dealing explosive materials, one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice and one count of witness tampering.

    Hribick, prosecutors said, “instructed and conspired with others to destroy and conceal cardboard tubes and flash powder – which Hribick was using to manufacture IEDs – so as to keep that evidence from federal agents and the federal grand jury.”

    And Hribick “attempted to influence the testimony of a federal grand jury witness regarding the destruction and concealment of evidence,” prosecutors said.

  • Hawaii Prosecutor Says ‘Women’s Gifting Circles’ Pyramid Scheme Operating In State — Plus, Update On ‘Blessing Gold Club’

    recommendedreading1“Women’s Gifting Circles” or “Women Empowering Women Circles” pyramid schemes are operating in Hawaii, said Kauai Prosecuting Attorney Justin F. Kollar.

    “These schemes are marketed as a way to entice women through a tiered investment model, often using language that speaks in terms of ‘empowering’ women spiritually or financially,” Kollar said. “The people at the top of the pyramid collect money from those at the bottom of the pyramid, plain and simple. The people at the bottom are promised future rewards that are based on recruiting additional followers to start new circles. These schemes are illegal and are designed by predators to extract money from people who trust them.”

    A similar scam led last year to federal prison sentences for two Connecticut women. There were reports that  “Women’s Circle” scheme also was operating in British Columbia in Canada.

    From a statement today by Kollar’s office (italics added):

    In many cases, women who are being recruited are told not to talk about the circle for various reasons, or are told that the practices are legal as long as the dollar amounts are under a certain threshold. However, violators can be subject to criminal and civil penalties under State securities laws.

    In other cash-gifting fraud news, a source told the PP Blog today that members of a cash-gifting scam known as BlessingGoldClub are trying to offload “units” in the Better-Living Global Marketing HYIP scam for $500. The units purportedly are being discounted from $1,295.

    BLGM members have been fretting about not getting paid. The “program” is similar to the Zeek Rewards’ Ponzi scheme.

    TelexFree figure Scott Miller also has been a proponent of cash-gifting. Miller’s Facebook site for TelexFree, alleged in Brazil to be a massive pyramid scheme, appears not to have been updated since Jan. 10.

  • BULLETIN: Tata Group, Famous Business Concern In India, Says Fraudsters Trading On Its Name To Push HYIP Scheme; Purported Agriculture ‘Program’ Has Presence On The Ponzi Boards

    The purported TataAgro entity had a presence on the Ponzi boards and appears to have used trading screens to dupe the worldwide investing public. Image source: Google cache.
    The purported TataAgro entity had a presence on the Ponzi boards and appears to have used trading screens to dupe the worldwide investing public. Image source: Google cache.

    BULLETIN: (3rd Update 8:32 a.m. ET, Feb. 20 U.S.A.) The Tata Group, a global conglomerate based in India, says its name has been stolen by an HYIP Ponzi scheme. The fraud scheme is associated with a domain styled TataAgro.com and has a presence on the MoneyMakerGroup, TalkGold and DreamTeamMoney Ponzi forums, according to search results.

    Like the recently exposed WCM777 fraud scheme, the TataAgro scam claims a business presence in the British Virgin Islands. WCM777 also traded on the names of famous companies, including Siemens, the German conglomerate. Siemens issued statements warning the public about WCM777. Tata now has done the same thing with the purported TataAgro entity.

    The TataAgro website “claims that ‘Tata Agro Holding is a subsidiary of the globally known Tata group, [and is] one of the top 10 agro investment players in Asia’s financial market,’” the real Tata says. “It goes on to offer a wide range of investment plans with a monthly profitability of up to 100%.

    “Members of the public are hereby cautioned that the information provided on the website is absolutely false, misleading and intended to defraud innocent and unwary members of the public,” the real Tata says. “Neither Tata Sons nor any other Tata company has any connection whatsoever with the aforesaid Tata Agro Holding. Tata Sons is initiating appropriate action in the matter.”

    PonziTracker.com was among the first outlets to report the news of the Tata warning.

    The TataAgro site appears not to be loading.

    It is somewhat common for fraud schemes to try to steal the identities of major figures on the world financial stage. CONSOB, the Italian securities regulator, regularly publishes information on purported “opportunities” that adopt the names of legitimate firms to create confusion and fleece the masses.

    A post dated Dec. 3, 2013, at the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum claims the purported TataAgro entity pays “1.9-3.1% daily for 15-90 days” and accepts Perfect Money, BitCoin, EgoPay and Qiwi.

    Meanwhile, a post dated Dec. 17 at the DreamTeamMoney Ponzi forum makes this claim (italics added):

    Tata Agro is an agricultural investment company founded in 2012 in British Virgin Islands. We are a subsidiary of transcontinental conglomerate Tata Group that has been established in India back in 1868 and now boasts the combined market capitalization of $96 bln.

    We have retained only the best things from a rich and long experience of our ancestor: the unique corporate culture, client-oriented and customized approach, and understanding of the market through retrospective analysis. Our fundamental aim is to help you grow your capital.

    We work with assets like barley, soya, soya oil and meat, corn, wheat, and livestock and currently operate in CME Group, TOCOM, and MGEX exchange houses.

    We are eager to offer you four investment plans with the daily ROI of 1.9% to 3.1% and investment term of 15 to 120 days. You can invest from 5 to 10,000 USD. Apart from that, we offer you a profitable referral program that lets you earn more and work side by side with your family and friends.

    A post dated Dec. 17 at the TalkGold Ponzi forum makes these claims (italics added):

    • Invest 5 to 100$ for 15 days and earn 1.9% ROI daily;
    • Invest 100 to 1000$ for 30 days and earn 2.3% ROI daily;
    • Invest 1000 to 5000$ for 60 days and earn 2.5% ROI daily;
    • Invest 5000 to 10,000$ for 120 days and earn 3.1% ROI daily.

    Collapsed fraud schemes such as Zeek Rewards, AdSurfDaily, Legisi, Pathway to Prosperity, Profitable Sunrise, Imperia Invest IBC and many more also had a presence on the Ponzi boards.

    The TelexFree “program” currently has a presence on the Ponzi boards.

  • TELEXFREE LA-LA LAND: Promo For Alleged Pyramid Scheme’s International Convention Is Voiced By Former SEC Defendant (In Pyramid-Scheme Case) — And Uses Images Of Pyramids Of Giza And American MLM Lawyer

    In a bizarre promo, Egyptian pyramids are being used as an art element by cheerleaders for TelexFree, an alleged pyramid scheme.  Source: ConventionTelexFree.com. Red highlight by PP Blog.
    In a curious promo, Egyptian pyramids are being used as an art element by cheerleaders for TelexFree, an alleged pyramid scheme. Source: ConventionTelexFree.com. Red highlight by PP Blog.

    U.S.-based TelexFree, alleged in Brazil to be a massive pyramid scheme, is serving up a heaping helping of strangeness.

    For starters, a promo for TelexFree’s International Convention set for Spain next month is being voiced by Sann Rogrigues, whom the SEC successfully sued in 2006 amid allegations he was operating a pyramid scheme and engaging in affinity fraud aimed at the Brazilian community.

    The promo curiously is playing against the backdrop of an image of the Pyramids of Giza. For good measure, images of other famous world landmarks are thrown in. These include St. Basil’s Cathedral (near the Kremlin) in Moscow; Big Ben in London; The Eiffel Tower in Paris; the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty in New York; the Leaning Tower of Pisa; and the Burj al Arab Hotel in Dubai.

    TelexFree operates out of Marlborough, Mass., and Las Vegas in the United States. Its convention is scheduled for March 1 and 2 in Madrid.

    The promo in which Rogrigues dispenses the TelexFree convention wisdom appears on a website styled ConventionTelexFree.com. Among the claims on the site is that American MLM lawyer Gerald P. Nehra will be among the “Special Guests” at the rah-rah fest in Spain.

    American MLM lawyer Gerald Nehra will be a special guest at TelexFree's International Convention in Madrid next month, according to ConventionTelexFree.com.
    American MLM lawyer Gerald Nehra will be a special guest at TelexFree’s International Convention in Madrid next month, according to ConventionTelexFree.com.

    Serving as an expert witness for AdSurfDaily in 2008, Nehra opined that ASD was not a Ponzi scheme. ASD operator Andy Bowdoin, now serving 78 months in federal prison at the age of 79, later disagreed with his own expert. In 2012, Bowdoin admitted that ASD was a Ponzi scheme that had gathered $119 million and said the “program” never operated lawfully from its inception in 2006.

    ASD promoted a return of 1 percent a day. Some TelexFree promoters say that “program” triples or quadruples money in a year. Some promos solicit sums of $15,125.

    Nehra’s law firm also was touted by Zeek Rewards. In 2012, Zeek was accused by the SEC of operating a massive international Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that gathered hundreds of millions of dollars by planting the seed that returns would average 1.5 percent a day. At least two Zeek figures potentially now face prison sentences after pleading guilty for their roles in the scheme.

    The court-appointed receiver in the Zeek case says he’s on the brink of filing lawsuits against thousands of Zeek promoters.

    TelexFree appears recently to have begun operating under the name TelexFree International. Precisely where TelexFree International is based is unclear.

    In the past, Nehra has described himself an an attorney for “TelexFREE in the USA,” according to BehindMLM.com. Whether he represents the TelexFree International derivative is unclear. Convention promoters, however, appear to believe he does.

     

  • Why California’s WCM777 Action May Spell Trouble For HYIP Promoters On You Tube

    As a reporter interviews a Peruvian official at the scene of a police raid against a WCM777 outlet, an image of American pitchman Harold Zapata flashes on the screen. Source: YouTube.
    As a reporter interviews a Peruvian official at the scene of a police raid against a WCM777 outlet in Lima, an image of American pitchman Harold Zapata (left) flashes on the screen. Source: YouTube.

    Still using social-media sites to promote massive fraud schemes — even after the AdSurfDaily, Zeek Rewards and Profitable Sunrise debacles?

    Thanks to his presence on social media, Harold Zapata, a WCM777 YouTube pitchman named a respondent in a Desist and Refrain order announced last month by California’s Department of Business Oversight, may be trapped between a rock and a hard place.

    Zapata is a California resident. Not only does the state know about his YouTube presence — indeed, his promos are referenced in the D&R — so do authorities in Peru. Whether Zapata ever has ventured to Peru is unclear. What is clear is that Peruvian media have used snippets of his U.S.-based promo as a backdrop to video reports about a police raid against a local WCM777 outlet in Lima.

    Whether he likes it or not, Zapata has become one of the American faces for WCM777.  In one video, Zapata identified himself as a WCM777 “director . . . working directly with our founder, CEO, chairmans [sic], leaders in our WCM777 organization.”

    WCM777 executives include Ming Xu and Zhi Liu, California said. Both men are named in the D&R. Zapata also is named.

    California’s action against WCM777, its executives and Zapata may signal trouble for other YouTube pitchmen for highly questionable MLM “programs” or outright scams. For starters, YouTube commercials for HYIPs sometimes are copied and used by promoters of the same purported “opportunity,” thus saving fellow pitchmen the time and trouble of making their own videos. This can happen with or without permission, perhaps with an eager recruit using the video of another sponsor but inserting a URL to the recruit’s page in a companion text pitch below the actual video.

    Beyond that, some fraud-scheme pitchmen openly share their YouTube promos with downline recruits as a means of driving more business to a scam. Such approaches typically are portrayed as the acts of a helpful sponsor who wants to see his or her recruits thrive by providing them the “tools” they need to succeed.

    At least one YouTube pitchman for WCM777 appears to be using Zapata’s video to drive traffic to WCM777 and possibly other “opportunities.”

    Zapata appears to have noticed this at least two months ago and placed warnings in Spanish and English on the YouTube site of the fellow WCM777 pitchman.

    Here’s how the warnings read (italics added):

    Por favor quite este video inmediatamente o me veo obligado a reportarte por infracción de copyright, de este video.

    Please remove this video immediately or I will be forced to report this video for copyright infringement.

    The video nevertheless remains. It shows Zapata pitching WCM777 in English, even after the California action and the raid in Peru. The title of the video on the fellow WCM777 pitchman’s site is “WCM777. FULL PRESENTATION IN ENGLISH.”

    It is unclear from Zapata’s warnings whether he was upset that the video was being used without his permission or whether he was concerned that the fellow WCM777 pitchman was using the video to cherry-pick Zapata’s earnings.

    Regardless of Zapata’s specific concerns, however, the continued appearance of the video shows the vulnerability of MLM pitchmen who promote “programs” on YouTube. Such promoters not only may lose control over their own content, they literally may lose control over their own faces.

    Even if Zapata has stopped promoting WCM777, the video published by the fellow WCM777 pitchman makes it appear as though Zapata still is promoting the purported opportunity, which California publicly declared a scam last month. Last week, the state asked residents who invested in WCM777 to contact the DBO immediately.

    At least 5,500 Californians plowed money into the WCM777 scam, the state said.

    “The California Department of Business Oversight has seen a surge of high-yield investment schemes that take advantage of social networks to market illegal investments,” said Jan Lynn Owen, commissioner of the Department of Business Oversight. (Bolding added by PP Blog.)

    In 2010, FINRA called the HYIP sphere a “bizarre substratum of the Internet” and issued a warning that such schemes were spreading on social-media sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Zapata’s experience demonstrates that some HYIP pitchmen either missed the warning or chose to ignore it.

    BehindMLM.com is reporting that WCM777 — now operating as Kingdom777 — appears now to be engaging in ham-handed wordplay to continue its duping of the masses. The “program,” BehindMLM reports, now is using the word “members” and trying to steer clear of the word  “investors.”

    Such wordplay bids foreshadowed doom at both AdSurfDaily, a $120 million Ponzi scheme, and Zeek Rewards, which allegedly gathered at least $850 million.

    As the PP Blog reported in June 2012, here is part of what the U.S. Secret Service said in a filing in the ASD Ponzi-scheme case in February 2009 (italics’bolding added):

    [ASD operator Andy] Bowdoin and his sponsor knew that it was illegal to sell investment opportunities to thousands of individuals; thus, they were careful not to call participants “investors” but rather referred to them as “members.” Moreover, there were careful not to call payments to “members” “return on investments”; rather, they referred to the income program as a “rebate” program . . .

    The document cited above is available at the top this PPBlog story about the then-active Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme: EDITORIAL: A Friday Evening In MLM Radio La-La Land. (Document courtesy of the ASD Updates Blog.)

    For whatever reason, HYIPs and their pitchmen apparently continue to believe they can duck or circumvent securities regulations and laws against the sale of unregistered securities by calling an investment something else.

    Prosecutors made short work of the Zeek and ASD wordplay, saying both “programs” engaged in linguistic games to describe an investment as something else.

    WCM777 even may dialing up the HYIP wordplay madness. From BehindMLM.com (italics added):

    A “dividend” [at WCM777/Kingdom777] is now a “bonus”… cuz well, a bonus could be anything… including an investment “return”, which is now also just a “bonus”.

  • BULLETIN: California Asks Residents Who Bought Into WCM777 To Contact Department Of Business Oversight ‘Immediately’; State Says Thousands Of Locals Bought Into Scam

    breakingnews72BULLETIN: (UPDATED 6:38 P.M. ET U.S.A.) The state of California, which last month issued a Desist and Refrain order against the WCM777 MLM “program” and called it an “investment scam,” now is asking residents who invested in WCM777 to contact the Department of Business Oversight “immediately.”

    At least 5,500 Californians plowed money into the scheme, the DBO said.

    The state has ordered WCM777 to halt is operations in California.

    “The California Department of Business Oversight has seen a surge of high-yield investment schemes that take advantage of social networks to market illegal investments,” said Jan Lynn Owen, commissioner of the DBO. “We encourage anyone who dealt with WCM777 to immediately contact the Department.”

    Affinity fraud is part of the WCM777 mix, the state said.

    “Relying on Biblical themes to lure investors, the WCM777 scheme offers securities in the form of memberships that allegedly provide purchasers with up to a 60 percent profit in 100 days,” the state said.

    WCM777 now is operating as Kingdom777.

    From a DBO statement (italics added):

    All California investors in WCM777 are strongly encouraged to contact the Department of Business Oversight to file a formal complaint at (866) 275-2677 or online at: www.dbo.ca.gov/Consumers/consumer_services.asp. The January 8 order is available on the Department’s website at http://www.dbo.ca.gov/ENF/pdf/2014/WorldCapitalMarketInc_dr.pdf.

    Named in California’s order are executives Ming Xu and Zhi Liu, and YouTube pitchman Harold Zapata, all with addresses in California  Also named are World Capital Market Inc., WCM777 Inc. and WCM777 Limited.

    Police raided a WCM777 outlet in Peru last month. At least one Peruvian TV station showed snippets of Zapata’s YouTube pitch as part of its coverage of the raid. The development signals that HYIP pitchmen operating from the United States or other countries and using YouTube to help a fraud scheme go viral now may find their faces plastered on TV both locally and in faraway lands.

    FINRA issued a warning on HYIP schemes that use social-media sites in 2010.

  • Suspect Arrested In Tennessee Package Bombing That Killed 2

    Jon Setzer, a 74-year-old attorney and country preacher, was killed when a package bomb exploded at his home Monday. His wife, Marion, 72, was seriously injured in the explosion. She died yesterday.

    See CNN report on an arrest made today. Richard Parker, 49, has been charged in the alleged murders. He is the son-in-law of the Setzers.