Category: The Economy
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BULLETIN: ‘Fugitive’ TV Analyst And Commodity-Pool Operator Now Faces Order Demanding $12.5 Million In Restitution And Penalties In CFTC’s Civil Case; Brian Kim Was Indicted In February
BULLETIN: A trader and TV analyst declared a “fugitive” in February by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. now faces a restitution order and penalties totaling more than $12.5 million in a lawsuit filed by the CFTC. Brian Kim, 35, the operator of a hedge fund known as Liquid Capital Management LLC, appeared on…
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The Coloradoan: Man, 72, Accused Of Ripping Off Fellow Seniors In Ponzi Scheme — Including 100-Year-Old Man
The Coloradoan, citing an arrest affidavit, is reporting that Richard Horace Mayfield, 72, has been charged with ripping off 22 people in a Ponzi scheme. One of the alleged victims is a 100-year-old man. “Most” of the victims were senior citizens, the newspaper reported. Website visitors were told that “Jesus” was the answer to overcoming…
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BULLETIN: Judge Orders Lee Bentley Farkas Detained After Conviction In $2.9 Billion Fraud Caper That Rocked Banking System; Former Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Chairman Once Bragged He Could Could ‘Rob A Bank With A Pencil,’ Prosecutors Say
BULLETIN: A federal jury in Virginia has returned guilty verdicts on more than a dozen counts filed against Lee Bentley Farkas, the former chairman of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW). A federal judge ordered Farkas, 58, taken into custody immediately. Farkas, accused of contributing to the U.S. mortgage meltdown and the failures of both TBW…
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FLORIDA — AGAIN: State, Local Authorities Say Marguerite Martial Jean Ripped Off Hundreds Of Haitian-Americans In Affinity-Fraud And Ponzi Caper That Targeted Churchgoers
Marguerite Martial Jean has been arrested in Florida on felony charges of operating a $3.4 million Ponzi scheme that targeted Haitian-Americans and churchgoers in the Sunshine State. Florida has been plagued by Ponzi schemes and other forms of financial fraud. The announcement of Jean’s arrest was made by Miami-Dade County State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.…
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FTC: Acai-Berry Scammers Created ‘Fake’ News Sites And Traded On Famous Name Of ‘Consumer Reports’ To Fleece The Masess; Letters ‘CNN’ Were Used In Web Domains In Illinois, State AG Says
EDITOR’S NOTE: If this federal and state action doesn’t get the attention of the out-of-control, direct-sales crowd that divines itself the right to plant the seed that an “offer” is endorsed by famous companies and people, well, perhaps nothing will. Even as this story is being written, affiliates of Club Asteria, a purported “passive” investment…
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BULLETIN: Receiver Seizes Website Of EclipseChannel.TV ‘Advertising’ Venture, Saying Recidivist Felon And Accused Ponzi Schemer Robert Stinson Jr. Hatched New Fraud Scheme After Asset Freeze; Cash Used To Pay ‘Mansion’ Rent
BULLETIN: A federal judge in Pennsylvania blocked the launch of an online venture known as EclipseChannel.TV after reviewing evidence that recidivist felon and securities huckster Robert Stinson Jr. was at the helm and had thumbed his nose at court orders and an asset freeze. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Inquirer, quoting federal prosecutors, reported that Stinson, who…
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BULLETIN: FLORIDA — AGAIN: FTC Seeks Contempt Sanction Against Firm That Allegedly Hawks Deceptive ‘Food Stamp’ Guide And Credit-Repair Services; Bizarre Website Linked To Defendants Rails Against ‘Greedy Politicians’
BULLETIN: The Federal Trade Commission has gone to federal court in Fort Myers to seek contempt sanctions against Florida companies accused of encouraging prospects to misrepresent information on applications to receive Food Stamp benefits. Prospects who followed the advice could be charged with a crime, the FTC said. The companies and their principal also are…
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A NEW WORLD SPEED RECORD? Alabama Jury Takes Only 28 Minutes To Convict Man Of Selling Unregistered Securities; Scott Frye Initially Fled To Philippines, But Small U.S. Community Wouldn’t Be Denied Justice
Want to mess with Alabamans in the securities fraud era? Don’t do it in Coffee County. A jury there took just 28 minutes to convict Scott Frye on five counts of selling unregistered securities or causing them to be sold. That’s an average of 5.6 minutes of deliberations per count. The case was prosecuted by…
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BULLETIN: FTC Goes To Federal Court To Take Down Alleged Acai Berry Scam Operating On ‘Fake News Websites’; Some Domains Listed In Complaint Now Load Error Messages Or Blank Pages
BULLETIN: (Also see editor’s note below.) The Federal Trade Commission says a major law-enforcement initiative is under way to stop an acai-berry weight-loss scam that features “fake” news stories on websites that appear to be real media outlets but are really just sites that flog acai products. The agency appears to have filed at least…
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FEDS: Man Ran Theft Scheme From FTC Headquarters, Stealing More Than $218,000 From Consumer Watchdog Agency; Harold Hughes Faces Up To 10 Years In Prison After Guilty Plea
Two weeks after an employee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was accused of stealing confidential information from a government database to profit from illicit stock trades, another government employee accused in a separate case of taking advantage of his position to commit a crime has pleaded guilty. Harold Hughes, 58, of Arlington, Va.,…