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Category: The Economy

BULLETIN: Profiles Of Purported Attorney With AdSurfDaily Tie Removed From Cornell, Justia, Oyez Websites; Notary Public Told Washington Law Practice Board In 2005 That Kenneth Wayne Leaming Was ‘Physically And Emotionally Abusive’ And Coercive

UPDATED 2:33 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) Cornell University Law School, Justia.com and Oyez.org have removed the online profiles of Kenneth Wayne Leaming. Leaming previously had been listed as an attorney who practiced law and advertised a fee structure of up to $250 an hour from Spanaway, Wash. Visitors were encouraged to “schedule a free introductory consultation.”…

Nov 17, 2010
Settlement With FTC Bans Scientist From Making Snakeoil Claims About POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice And POMx Supplements

UPDATED 2:31 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) The chief science officer of POMWonderful LLC knew as early as May 2007 that a company-funded, placebo-controlled study showed that there was “no significant difference” between consumption of pomegranate juice and a control beverage after 18 months in reducing arterial plaque and the risk of heart disease but continued to…

Nov 16, 2010
CFTC: South Carolina Pastor Ran Forex Ponzi Scheme From House Of Worship; Historic Church Property In Charleston Has Seen It All — From Lincoln Presidency And Civil War To Kennedy Assassination And Election Of Obama

The religious facility that ultimately became St. John’s Reformed Episcopal Church has seen a lot of history in its 160 years on Anson Street in Charleston, S.C. Construction predated the Civil War by 11 years. The facility opened in 1850 as the Anson Street Chapel for black Presbyterians, according to records maintained by the Charleston…

Nov 16, 2010
UPDATE: Cornell University Seeks To Determine If Man Referenced In Email Circulated By ASD Members’ Group Is Licensed Attorney; Website Listing For Kenneth Wayne Leaming Under Review

UPDATED 11:04 A.M. ET (U.S.A.) Cornell University said Sunday that it will remove a listing on its Law School website for Kenneth Wayne Leaming of Spanaway, Wash., if Leaming proves not to be a licensed attorney. A review of the listing and the circumstances under which Leaming’s name was added to a database of attorneys’…

Nov 15, 2010
DISTURBING: Email Received By Some ASD Members Suggests They Could Be Sued For Participating In Refund Program; Records Suggest ‘Legal Opinion’ Was Offered By Man Named In Complaints For ‘Unauthorized Practice Of Law’ And Linked To ‘Extremist Group’ By Anti-Defamation League

In a bizarre and unsettling development, some members of AdSurfDaily who may be planning to file for restitution through the official claims administrator have received a confusing and threatening email from a “group” of ASD members. The email, which appears to be a compendium that cobbles together communications from the group and asks ASD members to…

Nov 13, 2010
PRIVACY A CASUALTY OF MPB TODAY? Promo Shows Snapshot Of Customer In Walmart’s Pharmacy Section; Slide Show Shows 32 Snapshots Of MPB Affiliates Waving Checks And Walmart Cards, 15 Snapshots Taken Inside A Walmart Store

UPDATED 3:38 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) A 52-frame slide show accessible online may lead to questions about whether the privacy of Walmart customers and Walmart itself has been invaded in a sales promo for the purported MPB Today “grocery” program. At least nine of the slides show customers, including people who appear to be senior citizens,…

Nov 12, 2010
Want To Plant The Seed That Famous Brands Back Your MLM Product If They Do Not? Get Ready To Pony Up For Legal Bills: Evolv Banned From Using Trademarks Of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, University Of Texas

UPDATED 1:18 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) An MLM company that allegedly planted the seed that its bottled-water product had passed muster with a prestigious university and medical-research facility has agreed to stop making the claims and pay its own costs of litigation after agreeing to a settlement. The Board of Regents of the University of Texas…

Nov 11, 2010
Book By Lynn Edgington, Chairman Of Eagle Research Associates Inc. And Regular Contributor To PP Blog, Now Available On Amazon.com; ‘Robbing You With A Keyboard Instead Of A Gun: Cyber Crime — How They Do It’

DISCLOSURE: The PP Blog is referenced in Lynn Edgington’s new book and provided a comment about the good works undertaken by Eagle Research Associates Inc., a Public Benefit Nonprofit Corporation registered in California. Eagle, which researches Internet investment scams, was formed Aug. 3, 2007. It is an approved 501(c)3 Corporation. The PP Blog was not compensated…

Nov 10, 2010
Are ASD Members Waging Ongoing Misinformation Campaign To Suppress Victims’ Count And Obstruct Justice? Note Instructs Members NOT To File For Restitution

The now-defunct Surf’s Up forum was AdSurfDaily’s officially endorsed news venue. It became so on Nov. 27, 2008, a little more than a week after a key court ruling went against ASD, a Florida company implicated by the U.S. Secret Service in an alleged $100 million Ponzi scheme. Surf’s Up routinely deleted posts that challenged…

Nov 9, 2010
Justice Department Using Undercover Agents To Battle White-Collar Criminals; Top Official Says Investigative Tactics Normally Used To Prosecute Organized Crime Figures Useful In Battling Fraud Epidemic

EDITOR’S NOTE: The remarks below are excerpted from a speech last week in New York by Assistant U.S. Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer. As the PP Blog has previously reported, the Justice Department and agencies such as the FBI and U.S. Secret Service have been using undercover operatives to infiltrate criminal operations and networks used…

Nov 9, 2010
Feds Charge Robert Stinson Criminally On Heels Of SEC Lawsuit; Prosecutors Say ‘Life’s Good’ Operator Stole More Than $17 Million In Ponzi Scheme, Wired Money Even As FBI Was Conducting Raid

Even as the FBI was executing search warrants in the case of Life’s Good Inc. operator Robert Stinson Jr., Stinson was “wiring stolen funds out of Life’s Good bank accounts to other accounts,” federal prosecutors said. That act alone led to criminal charges of obstruction of justice. In a 26-count indictment in an alleged Ponzi…

Nov 9, 2010