The Economy

By PatrickPretty.com • March 9th, 2017

A “program” known as ViziNova was both a cross-border pyramid scheme and a reload scam aimed at victims of the WCM777 online debacle, the SEC says. VizaNova, which gathered at least $5 million, invaded the Asian-American and Hispanic-American communities and was partly focused at Brazilians, the SEC said. A PP Blog report in June 2014 […]

Fifteen TelexFree figures have been linked to a money-laundering scheme in Brazil, according to the Federal Public Ministry of Espírito Santo (MPF/ES). Among those linked were TelexFree principals Carlos Wanzeler and Carlos Costa and their wives, MPF/ES said today. Katia Wanzeler, Wanzeler’s wife, is believed still to be residing in the United States. U.S. prosecutors […]

UPDATED 1:36 P.M. ET U.S.A. Jose Nunes, the Traffic Monsoon pitchman who last fall used a slogan of “RIOT” to support the company and called the receiver in the SEC’s Ponzi case a “lying cow,” later reportedly was involved in domestic-violence incidents in November and January. A Feb. 6 report in the North Wales (U.K.) […]

2ND UPDATE 8:38 P.M. EDT U.S.A. Kristine Louise “Kristi” Johnson, one of the two principals of “The Achieve Community” (TAC) Ponzi- and pyramid scheme, has been sentenced to 21 months in federal prison, the office of U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose of the Western District of North Carolina said moments ago. The SEC sued Johnson […]

3RD UPDATE 4:52 P.M. ET U.S.A. Paul Burks, the principal behind the $939 million Zeek Rewards Ponzi- and pyramid scheme broken up by the SEC and the U.S. Secret Service in August 2012, has been sentenced to 176 months in federal prison, the office of U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose of the Western District of North Carolina […]

If you’re a net winner in the massive Zeek Rewards’ Ponzi- and pyramid scheme, your notice that you must return your ill-gotten haul with interest may arrive as early as next week. Under the terms of a court order by Senior U.S. District Judge Graham C. Mullen, the notice will apply to more than 9,000 alleged winners […]

BULLETIN: TelexFree Trustee Stephen B. Darr has moved for assessments of damage and default judgments against dozens of alleged overseas “winners” in the massive Ponzi- and pyramid scheme. The motion before Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Melvin S. Hoffman of the District of Massachusetts asks for millions of dollars from about 33 TelexFree promoters with non-U.S. […]

Federal prosecutors have Tweeted a photo of $20 million allegedly found stuffed in a box spring and linked to the massive TelexFree Ponzi- and pyramid caper. The cash was found Jan. 4 by the Homeland Security Investigations branch of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Agents seized […]

Paul Burks will be sentenced Feb. 13 for his criminal role in Zeek Rewards, and the court-appointed receiver is soliciting letters from victims of the combined Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that affected hundreds of thousands of people. Zeek gathered hundreds of millions of dollars in a massive fraud scheme broken up by the SEC and […]

Pushing a murky, MLM-style digital currency scheme or even a purported one? Involving family, friends and online contacts? INTERPOL is warning that “digital currencies [are] increasingly used to finance criminal activities[,] including terrorism.” The warning is included in an INTERPOL announcement dated Jan. 16 about a law-enforcement conference in Qatar on the topic of transnational crime […]

In an announcement dated Jan. 12, 2017, Zeek receiver Kenneth D. Bell said he’ll make a third distribution to Ponzi victims and that a fourth is possible. After the third distribution,  victims will have received about 75 percent of their losses, Bell said. The third distribution is set for March 15. Let us note here that […]