PatrickPretty.com

Category: The Economy

The Cross-Border UFunClub Menace

UPDATED 7:57 A.M. EDT U.S.A. UFunClub and its purported digital currency known as UToken are the latest examples of grandiose absurdities in the MLM/network-marketing HYIP sphere. These transnational schemes pose an untenable economic and political danger. They must be destroyed. To the people of Thailand and likely an incredibly large number of people in other…

Apr 28, 2015
BULLETIN: Receiver Seeks Default Judgments Against Key Zeek Rewards’ Clawback Defendants

BULLETIN: (6th Update 8:34 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) Zeek Rewards’ receiver Kenneth D. Bell has gone to federal court in the Western District of North Carolina, seeking default judgments against key clawback defendants and alleged “winners” Trudy Gilmond and Jerry Napier, a figure in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi-scheme story. Bell is seeking more than $2.129 million from…

Apr 24, 2015
Loretta Lynch Confirmed As Attorney General

BULLETIN: The U.S. Senate — after a period of considerable partisan rancor and delay — has approved Loretta Lynch to be the next Attorney General of the United States. She will replace Eric Holder. A statement by Barack Obama, the President of the United States (italics added): Today, the Senate finally confirmed Loretta Lynch to…

Apr 23, 2015
RECOMMENDED READING: ‘Bank Of The Underworld’

UPDATED 12:12 P.M. EDT U.S.A. A thoughtful reader sent this along this morning. It’s a story by Jake Halpern in The Atlantic titled, “Bank of the Underworld[:] Liberty Reserve was like PayPal for the unbanked. Was it also a global money-laundering operation?” Here’s a snippet (italics added): Costa Rica was also increasingly known as a…

Apr 23, 2015
UFUNCLUB: Securities Division ‘Will Look Into The Extent Of A Colorado Connection’

UPDATED 10:52 A.M. EDT U.S.A. The Colorado Division of Securities said it “will look into the extent” of promotional ties the UFunClub “program” now under investigation in Thailand may have in the state. Whether other U.S. states would follow Colorado’s lead was not immediately clear. Earlier cross-border MLM/network-marketing schemes such as Profitable Sunrise and WCM777…

Apr 22, 2015
BRIEF: ‘Digadz’ Admin Reportedly ‘Paralyzed’

“Beejay,” the purported “admin” of a “program” known as “Digadz,” is “seriously injured and [his] whole body is paralyzed,” according to chatter circulating on Facebook and on the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum. The purported cause was an automobile accident at an unspecified location, according to the chatter. Beejay purportedly was the admin of a previous scheme…

Apr 20, 2015
COLORADO: ‘Achieve Community’ Subject Of ‘Order To Show Cause’

UPDATED 6:17 A.M. EDT APRIL 21 U.S.A. The Colorado Division of Securities has directed an “Order to Show Cause” to “Achieve Community,” alleged in February 2015 by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to be a combined Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that gathered at least $3.8 million. Colorado’s order cites a “Division Case No.” of…

Apr 20, 2015
PP Blog Addresses Change In Google Search Algorithm To Accommodate ‘Mobile’ Readers

The PP Blog has been experimenting with ways to render the Blog better on mobile phones. This has occurred in response to an upcoming change in the Google search algorithm. “Starting April 21, Google Search will be expanding its use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal,” Google said. “This change will affect mobile searches in…

Apr 19, 2015
In Conference Call For ‘SVM Global Initiative,’ Speaker Makes Veiled Reference To UFunClub Cross-Border Scheme Under Investigation In Thailand: Are North American ‘Sovereign Citizens’ At Work?

Are “sovereign citizens” immersed in the “SVM Global Initiative” and “UFunClub” cross-border, network-marketing schemes? “Sovereign citizens” may have an irrational belief that laws do not apply to them. It is not unusual for them to be involved in financial fraud, and some “sovereigns” have been linked to MLM HYIP frauds and securities offering frauds. Individuals…

Apr 19, 2015
EDITORIAL: SEC Announced TelexFree Prosecution 1 Year Ago Today, But Many MLMers Have Missed Or Ignored The Lessons

UPDATED 7:10 A.M. EDT APRIL 18 U.S.A. A year has passed since the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced the prosecution of TelexFree. Here’s the lede from the PP Blog’s story on April 17, 2014: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against the alleged TelexFree pyramid scheme and a federal judge…

Apr 17, 2015
Two Readers Who Made A Difference — And How You Can, Too

NOTE: This post originally was published March 30 at 12:21 a.m. It will remain in this slot for several days, but new posts will appear below it. Dear Readers, In November, I introduced “penny-a-post” annual subscriptions. These were designed to allow readers to value the PP Blog’s editorial well of 2,500 articles between 1 cent…

Apr 15, 2015