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Category: The Economy

UPDATE: South Carolina Pastor Sued By CFTC In Forex Ponzi Scheme Case Now Facing Criminal Charges Of Bank Fraud

Ronald E. Satterfield, the South Carolina pastor accused in a November lawsuit filed by the CFTC of operating a Forex Ponzi scheme from church property and elsewhere, now has been arrested on criminal charges of bank fraud. The Charleston Police Department confirmed Satterfield’s arrest yesterday to the PP Blog. The arrest occurred Thursday, according to…

Jan 30, 2011
CAUTION FLAG: Murky Website With .Org URL Pops Up Online; OnlineInvestmentBank.org Registration Data Hidden Behind Proxy; Claims Huge Commission And Interest Payments — And Exemptions From U.S. Law

An apparent investment and banking website whose domain registration is hidden behind a proxy appears to be preparing to accept money from investors worldwide by planting the seed it is a charitable enterprise. The website of OnlineInvestmentBank.org appears to have been registered just days ago — on Jan. 21. The site suggests it is both…

Jan 28, 2011
BULLETIN: CFTC Conducts Major Sweep; 14 Forex Firms Accused Of Illegal Solicitation Of U.S. Citizens; Actions Filed In New York, Chicago, D.C. And Kansas City

BULLETIN: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has gone to federal courts in New York, Chicago, the District of Columbia and Kansas City and simultaneously filed 14 lawsuits against Forex companies to enforce registration requirements and provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act. One of the lawsuits — one filed in the District of Columbia against a Nevada company…

Jan 27, 2011
Federal Judge Grants Asset Freeze In Bizarre Fraud Case That Allegedly Mixed A Forex Ponzi Scheme With A Cash-Gifing And Tax Scheme; Arizona Resident Anthony Eugene Linton Promised Software System Let Customers ‘Profit Every Time’, CFTC Charges

The assets of an Arizona man who allegedly mixed a Forex Ponzi scheme with a cash-gifting scheme and claimed his software system let clients “profit every time” from trades have been frozen by a federal judge after the CFTC filed an emergency court action. Anthony Eugene Linton of Tucson told investors that entrusting their money…

Jan 26, 2011
Arthur Heffelfinger Sentenced To Prison For Ponzi Scheme That Fleeced 97-Year-Old Widow Suffering From Advanced Dementia

Arthur Heffelfinger, the Montana man accused criminally under state law last year of operating a pyramid promotional scheme and using clients’ money to sustain a Ponzi scheme that had gathered more than $2 million from at least 20 clients, has been sentenced to prison. Heffelfinger, 64, pleaded guilty to Ponzi and theft charges in July…

Jan 26, 2011
Patrick H. Rakotonanahary Sentenced To Prison For Forex Scheme That Defrauded Investors In Hawaii And On The U.S. Mainland; Case Was One Of The First Brought By Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force

A Florida resident charged with defrauding investors in Hawaii and the U.S. mainland has been sentenced to 90 months in federal prison, ordered to begin serving his sentence immediately and make restitution — and advised he faces deportation to Madagascar upon his release from a U.S. prison. The case against Patrick H. Rakotonanahary, 34, of…

Jan 25, 2011
NEW HAVEN REGISTER: Feds, State Investigating Cash-Gifting Schemes In Connecticut; Grand Jury Convenes; State AG Called Gifting Programs The Business Of ‘Parasites’ In Statement About ‘The Women’s Gifting Table’ Last Year

State and federal probes into cash-gifting schemes are under way in Connecticut, the New Haven Register is reporting. Investigators are concerned about so-called “Women’s Gifting Tables,” and women soon will be called before a federal grand jury, the newspaper reported. Similar probes are under way in Michigan. Seven women were charged with felonies last month,…

Jan 23, 2011
‘FRAUD CREEP’: The Two-Word Term That Explains How Crime Expands On The Internet To Affect Tens Of Thousands Of Victims At A Time

EDITOR’S NOTE: Our definition of “fraud creep” — and suggestions on the context in which the term should be applied — appears lower in this story. First, some background . . . Investigators now are counting victims of massive, web-based fraud schemes tens of thousands at a time. Such scams pose both budgetary and logistical…

Jan 22, 2011
DEVELOPING STORY: Device Found Monday In Backpack Along Martin Luther King Jr. Parade Route In Spokane Was A Bomb ‘Capable Of Inflicting Multiple Casualties,’ FBI Says

On Monday, America celebrated the national holiday commemorating the life and legacy of community service of slain civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. with events in city after city. King, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, was assassinated in Memphis in 1968. He had become an international figure in 1963, the year hundreds of…

Jan 19, 2011
BULLETIN: At Least 2 People Shot At Gardena High School Near Los Angeles; Teen Taken Into Custody On Live TV As Confusing Scene Plays Out

At least two people have been shot at Gardena High School near Los Angeles, KTLA is reporting. Early reports from a host of media sources were wildly conflicting. The first reports described a situation in which a gunman who had shot three people had either fled the scene or was holed up inside a classroom,…

Jan 18, 2011
Two Days Before Remissions Deadline, ASD Members Receive Yet-Another Confusing, Highly Questionable Email That Suggests Victims Seeking Restitution Should Tell Administrator That Program Was Not An Investment

Some AdSurfDaily members have received an email that appears to be attributed in part to Sara Mattoon, the embattled autosurf firm’s former spokeswoman. The most recent correspondence fractures facts, suggests the government has no credible witnesses or evidence in its wire-fraud and securities-fraud case against ASD President Andy Bowdoin and implies suggestions given to recipients…

Jan 17, 2011