PatrickPretty.com

Category: The Economy

  • URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: eAdGear Figures Indicted In California On Conspiracy Charge Of Structuring Transactions To Evade Bank-Reporting Requirements

    breakingnews724TH UPDATE 3:44 P.M. ET U.S.A. Before the SEC announced its civil pyramid- and Ponzi-scheme case on Sept. 26 against eAdGear figures Charles Wang and Francis Yuen, the pair had been indicted on a criminal charge in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the PP Blog has learned.

    Docket records show the indictment was filed under seal Sept. 18. On Sept. 23, prosecutors in the office of U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag requested the seal be lifted. The SEC announced its civil case three days later.

    The specific criminal charge is conspiracy to structure transactions to evade bank-reporting requirements. A grand jury alleged that the eAdGear duo directed two employees to open bank accounts in the employees’ names “for the purpose of using those accounts as nominee accounts in which to conduct structured cash transactions.”

    The FBI is leading the criminal investigation, according to papers filed in the case.

    News of an eAdGear criminal investigation first was reported yesterday by the Wall Street Journal under a headline of “SEC on Lookout for Web-Based Pyramid Schemes.” The PP Blog learned that an indictment had been returned by locating a criminal case number in a Nov. 12 order issued by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers that also referenced the SEC’s civil case. The ASD Updates Blog then located the indictment, which lays out a structuring plot dating back to 2011 involving accounts at multiple banks.

    Separately, the PP Blog learned that police in Taiwan carried out eAdGear-related raids in October. News of the raids first was reported in Taiwanese media, including reports in Chinese.

    Accounts at JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Bank of the West allegedly were used in the Wang/Yuen structuring conspiracy, with Wang further accused of using accounts in his name and in the name of a relative to advance the plot.

    Transaction sums were kept below $10,000 “such that they would not cause the relevant financial institutions to generate a currency transaction report,” according to the indictment.

    “It was also a part of the conspiracy that, after these accounts were opened, [Wang], using funds for eAdGear memberships, made numerous structured cash deposits into these accounts and other accounts,” according to the indictment.

    Yuen, according to the indictment, “caused to be transferred tens of thousands of dollars of the structured cash deposits into a separate consumer loan account at [Bank of the West],” according to the indictment.

    Wang and Yuen both posted bond of $100,000, according to court records. Wang, 52, of  Warren, N.J., may need a Mandarin interpreter, according to the docket of the case.

    Yuen, 53, resides in Dublin, Calif., according to the SEC.

    The Wall Street Journal article includes a statement from HYIP huckster T. LeMont Silver.

  • BULLETIN: Terrorism In UAE: Abu Dhabi Security Forces Arrest ‘Ghost’ Suspect In Fatal Attack On American Teacher, Say They’ve Found Evidence Of Bomb Plot Targeted At Egyptian-American Doctor; Government Reportedly On ‘Highest Levels Of Alert’

    His Highness Saif bin Zayed announces the arrest of a female suspect in Monday's gruesome slaying of an American schoolteacher working in the UAE. Authorities say they've also linked the suspect to a bomb plot targeting an Egyptian-American doctor and his family. Source: Abu Dhabi police.
    His Highness Saif bin Zayed announces the arrest of a female suspect in Monday’s gruesome slaying of an American schoolteacher working in the UAE. Authorities say they’ve also linked the suspect to a bomb plot targeting an Egyptian-American doctor and his family. Source: Abu Dhabi police.

    BULLETIN: (Updated 10:41 a.m. ET U.S.A.) Police and security forces in the United Arab Emirates have arrested a suspect in the fatal knife attack Monday against a Hungarian-American schoolteacher and say the suspect also planted a bomb outside the residence of an Egyptian-American doctor.

    The bomb allegedly targeted the male doctor, his wife and three children. It allegedly was planted after the suspect murdered Ibolya Ryan, 47, a kindergarten teacher formerly of Colorado. Ryan was the mother of three, including twins. She was attacked in a Reem Island mall restroom.

    His Highness Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Minister of the Interior and Deputy Prime Minister, announced the arrest. The suspect has been identified only as a woman who confessed after a raid by security forces. The UAE now is on “the highest levels of alert,” with the incidents described as terrorism, according to a statement released through Abu Dhabi police.

    From a statement by Abu Dhabi police (italics added):

    His Highness explained that the suspect targeted her victims based on nationality alone and had nothing to do with personal issues. She aimed to create chaos, shake the security in the country, and terrorize people in the UAE. These intentions have put the government on the highest levels of alert. According to HH: “Your brothers at the Ministry of Interior and security forces have worked all night and day to reach this suspect and to identify her – despite all of her attempts to disguise herself. Later that night, a team of security forces headed to the suspect’s location to arrest her. I would like to announce to you that she was arrested and is now in the custody of the police.”

    The U.S. Embassy warned Oct. 29 of “a recent anonymous posting on a Jihadist website that encouraged attacks against teachers at American and other international schools in the Middle East.”

    Although it remains unclear whether Jihadists engineered the attacks on Ryan and the unidentified doctor, the UAE itself appears to be ramping up security.

  • BULLETIN: U.S. Kindergarten Teacher Killed In Mall Restroom In Abu Dhabi Month After Jihadist Advisory By U.S. Embassy; Suspect Described As ‘Ghost’

    Suspect in killing shown in a common area of the mall. Source: Abu Dhabi police video from CCTV.
    Suspect in killing shown in a common area of the mall. Source: Abu Dhabi police video from CCTV.

    BULLETIN: A 37-year-old American kindergarten teacher and mother of 11-year-old twins died in a hospital Monday after being stabbed in a Reem Island mall restroom in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the Abu Dhabi emirate in the United Arab Emirates.

    The attack followed an Oct. 29 warning by the U.S. Embassy “of a recent anonymous posting on a Jihadist website that encouraged attacks against teachers at American and other international schools in the Middle East.”

    Whether investigators suspect Jihadist ties to the attack was not immediately clear.

    Abu Dhabi police have released a video showing the suspect. Whether the individual was a woman or a man dressed as a woman could not immediately be determined. Police are seeking the assistance of the public in identifying the suspect, dubbed the “Reem Island Ghost.”

    “Witnesses reported that the culprit was fully covered wearing an abaya, black gloves and face cover (Niqab),”  Abu Dhabi police said in a statement.

    Police released a video showing the suspect in public areas. Video frames also show the attack area and an image of what might be the murder weapon.

    “The Abu Dhabi Police will spare no effort in order to unveil this heinous crime and bring the culprit to justice,” said Colonel Dr. Rashid Mohammad Borshid in a statement.

    Possible weapon used in Abu Dhabi restroom attacks. Source: Abu Dhabi police video
    Possible weapon used in Abu Dhabi restroom attack. Source: Abu Dhabi police video.

    NBC News coverage.

    ABC News coverage.

  • UPDATE: Bromide-Fest, Ripped Music Soundtrack From ‘Celtic Woman’ Mark Apparent Return Of ‘The Achieve Community’

    As a soundtrack from a Celtic Woman recording of "You Raise Me Up" plays in the background and various bromides appear on screen, Achie Community prospects are encouraged to buy multiple "positions" for the cycler "program" that lost its payment processor last month.
    As a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack from a Celtic Woman recording of “You Raise Me Up” plays in the background and various bromides appear on screen, Achieve Community prospects are encouraged in this YouTube promo to buy multiple “positions” for the cycler “program” that lost its payment processor last month. The promo guarantees a return.

    “The Achieve Community” money-cycler train wreck has announced it’s back on the rails (sort of) and will relaunch today (sort of), after losing its payment processor last month. The asserted relaunch is occurring on the heels of multiple warnings from regulators about scams spreading on social media.

    It’s also occurring against the backdrop of allegations in both the Zeek Rewards and TelexFree Ponzi/pyramid court cases that the operators encountered halts at various banks and payment processors, but moved to other ones to keep the massive fraud schemes going.

    Both Zeek and TelexFree purported to be purveyors of a product or products. Regulators say the purported offerings were used to hide the illicit nature of the schemes. Achieve Community also purports to provide products.

    Promos for Achieve Community assert that $50 for the purchase of a cycler “position” morphs into $400 in two months or so. Participants are encouraged to plow purported profits back into the system. Over time, according to this purported “repurchase strategy,” the original $50 will turn “into ANY amount you wish.”

    As of the time of this PP Blog post, Achieve Community has not announced the name or names of its new payment processors. A Dec. 1 announcement attributed to co-founder Kristi Johnson suggests that Achieve Community intends immediately to start selling “positions” to participants who have debit or credit cards. When payouts to members would resume was not immediately clear.

    “Payments will begin once we attach our processor, you sign up for it from your back office, and you are approved,” the Dec. 1 Blog post attributed to Johnson reads in part. “I will update you on the date to begin signing up for our payout processor.”

    Naturally this has led to questions about whether Achieve Community was trying to replumb an involuntarily stalled Ponzi scheme by making it convenient for prospects to pay into the system until enough money becomes available for payouts to begin anew.

    Achieve Community is said to have more than 9,000 members.

    As in many network-marketing schemes, participants either are clueless about the obvious markers of fraud or pretending to be so.

    News of the asserted relaunch has been greeted on social media with depictions of a fireworks display and images of champagne and wine glasses. Members of the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme in 2008 celebrated purported good news in the same fashion.

    As was the case with the Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme two months prior to its collapse in 2012, members of Achieve Community are being fed bromides. (With Zeek, it was “If you want things in your life to change, you have to change things in your life” and more. With Achieve Community, it’s “If you do not GO after what you want, you’ll never have it” and more.)

    One 5:07 promo for Achieve Community on YouTube includes virtually the entire soundtrack of a recording of “You Raise Me Up” by Celtic Woman. Various bromides appear on the screen as the hauntingly beautiful music plays. As one bromide fades away, a panel rolls onto the screen. It claims that Achieve Community “will change your life FOREVER. EVERYONE MAKES MONEY HERE. NO ONE GETS LEFT BEHIND. PERIOD.”

    The video, with the Celtic Woman recording still playing, goes on to assert that there is “Never a moment alone” in the Achieve Community.

    Another promo — this one on Facebook — shows an image of a U.S. space shuttle blasting off. “Now Anyone Can Live Their Dream!” the promo roars. “Over $2,000,000 PAID Out to Members.”

    Another claims, “The Achieve Community Is On Fire.” Members of the TelexFree Ponzi- and pyramid scheme were targeted in a similar promo last year. TelexFree collapsed into a pile of Ponzi rubble in April 2014.

    Also see Nov. 17, 2014, PP Blog post.

  • BULLETIN: Italian Securities Regulator CONSOB Issues Warning On ‘TureProfit,’ HYIP That Claims It Accepts Sums From $10 to $500,000

    tureprofitlogoBULLETIN: CONSOB, the Italian securities regulator, has issued a warning and suspended the trading of an HYIP “program” known as TureProfit that appears to be operating as both a macro- and a microscam while using the name of Bitcoin.

    On its English website in a prompt dated Aug. 17, 2014, TureProfit purports it has “gained huge profit from BitCoin Futures market. As raward [sic], today we have added a special plan: 200% after 1 day . . . Min deposit: $500 . . . Max deposit: $500,000.”

    In recent months, HYIP scammers have sought to trade on the name of Bitcoin to loosen purse strings. A number of regulators have issued warnings on scams that use a Bitcoin theme.

    TureProfit, which appears to be a reincarnation of a Ponzi-board “program” that surfaced in 2011 and later collapsed, also says it gathers sums as low as $10. This and greater sums purportedly will earn “8% daily for 50 days,” with “compounding available.”

    The time of the apparent resurrection may suggest scammers hoped to pick more pockets in advance of the Holiday season. Some “programs” may collect money for months and even make payments — but then suddenly go missing during the holidays. The phenomenon is known as “Back December.”

    There is at least one report on the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum that TureProfit was hacked in 2013. (Claimed hackings are part-and-parcel to the HYIP sphere.) By May 13, 2013, a Ponzi-board huckster noted, “looks as if this one is gone.”

    But more than a year later — in August 2014 — TureProfit appears to have resurrected itself. Its website claims it is accepting Bitcoin, plus “Perfectmoney, EgoPay, Payeer . . . to ensure maximum safety of your funds. ”

    Meanwhile, the “program” says, “Now we accept SolidTrustPay deposit. [T]his is good choice for US investors.”

    Text on the TureProfit website bizarrely claims that when “[Liberty Reserve] failed, we had to shut down our program.”

    In 2013, federal prosecutors in the United States described Liberty Reserve as a payment vessel that had helped HYIP scammers and other criminals launder $6 billion. A number of Liberty Reserve figures were charged criminally.

    From the CONSOB warning (italics added):

    Consob has suspended, as a precautionary measure and for a period of 90 days, the offering to the public resident in Italy of the investment programme named “Tureprofit” active via the website www.tureprofit.com (Resolution no. 19070 of 27 November 2014).

    The offer is also intended for the public residing in Italy. Despite being prepared in English, the website where subscriptions are collected also features a function to automatically translate the content into Italian. It should also be noted that there is no specific disclaimer stating that the content refers only to residents of countries other than Italy.

    The “Tureprofit” offer of financial products has the following characteristics: (a) for the purpose of subscription, a minimum payment of 10 US dollars is required; (b) in exchange for this payment, it promises a daily return, for 50 days, of 8 percent; (c) the client has no independent management. It would therefore appear to satisfy the characteristics of a financial investment, considering the simultaneous presence of: (i) an investment of capital; (ii) an expectation of a return of a financial nature; (iii) the assumption of a risk associated with the investment of capital.

    However, in relation to the offer programme, there has been (a) no prior communication to Consob, and (b) no transmission of a prospectus intended for publication. Therefore, there is a well-grounded suspicion that this is an offer to the public of financial products carried out in breach of Art. 94, Section 1 of the Consolidated Law on Finance. As the offer is still underway, the Commission has adopted the precautionary measure of declaring a suspension in accordance with Art. 99, subsection 1, letter b) of said Decree.

    (in “Consob Informa” no. 46/2014 – 1 December 2014)

    Visit the CONSOB website. (As of today, Dec. 1, 2014, a brief on the TureProfit suspension action appears near the top of the CONSOB site, under the “Warnings” section.)

  • AdClickXpress, Successor Scam To 2 Earlier Scams, Stirring Again — And Gets Bad Press In South African Media

    “6. I affirm that I am not an employee or official of any government agency, nor am I acting on behalf of or collecting information for or on behalf of any government agency. I affirm that I am not an employee, by contract or otherwise, of any media or research company, and I am not reading any of the Ad Click Xpress pages in order to collect information for someone else.” — From the AdClickXpress Terms of Service, Nov. 29, 2014

    adclickxpressThe carcass of AdClickXpress (ACX) is stirring —  just in time to cast a spell on suckers hoping to find some extra money for the holidays. Like predecessor scams JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid and ProfitClicking in the same criminal family, ACX fancies itself the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) of online schemes.

    In short, ACX ropes “customers” into an international financial conspiracy theoretically designed to be offshore everywhere. But deliberately taunting government investigators in its Terms of Service (see breakout quote above from the Terms) appears only to have been a first act. The “program” now appears to be taunting its own members and prospects.

    From a Sept. 10, 2014, post on the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum, quoting from the taunt (italics/bolding added):

    Note: if members are found to have posted negative information about ACX, even if it is absolutely true, their account could be penalized significantly. ACX Management will be the sole determinant as to how much damage the member has caused other ACX Members.

    Like the bizarre and incongruous AdViewGlobal scam before it, ACX fancies itself a “private association.” But even if it were one of those — and even if in theory it could hamstring government investigators and reporters with a vomitous word salad — it is a “private association” that threatens its own members in ways the Mafia wouldn’t consider.

    So, at least by Sept. 10, ACX began serving up BannersBroker-like word-sewage. It’s all designed to confuse and to obfuscate, of course.

    By the Terms alone, ACX makes co-conspirators of its members. And after this artifice is carried out, it divines a construction by which it will penalize “significantly” and unilaterally calculate damages purportedly caused by those same members who’d dare post “negative information . . . even if it’s absolutely true.”

    Separately, there are unconfirmed reports on MoneyMakerGroup that Frederick Mann, the purported operator of JSS/JPB and the de facto inspiration behind the follow-up scams, has died. Mann, a former pitchmen for the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme,  once directed traffic to videos featuring Francis Schaeffer Cox, the now-convicted Alaska “sovereign citizen” and militia man implicated in a plot to murder public officials.

    In 2012, Mann described government workers as “part of a criminal gang of robbers, thieves, murderers, liars, imposters.”

    On Nov. 22, IOL, a South African group of independent newspapers, published a story titled “Massive losses in scams only a click away.”

    Among other things, the paper reported people in that Strand/Somerset West area of the Western Cape appear to have become ACX victims.

  • BULLETIN: Gunman Allegedly Targeted Austin Police Department And Other Government Buildings In Overnight Attack In Texas

    breakingnews72BULLETIN: (6th Update 9:51 a.m. ET U.S.A.) A gunman who reportedly targeted the headquarters of the Austin Police Department and other government buildings in an overnight attack in Texas has been shot dead.

    Austin Assistant Chief Raul Munguia has told reporters that the suspect appears to have used a vehicle that contained an improvised explosive device. Because the suspect was wearing a vest of some sort, there is concern that it could be armed, too.

    A bomb squad was dispatched.

    Early reports suggest the other buildings included the federal courthouse in downtown Austin and Mexico’s consulate.

    Austin is the capital of Texas. Police and first responders were targeted in an attack last week near Tallahassee, Florida’s capital.

    From NBC News, quoting a person who observed part of the incident (italics added):

    “[The shooter] was in full gear so he didn’t seem like a civilian, but there was no writing on any of the equipment,” the restaurant server said. “It seemed like he was wearing a bullet-proof vest and he was wearing a helmet with a clear visor over his face.”

    More . . .

  • Women’s ‘Gifting Circle’ Participants Risk Felony Prosecution; ‘Stop Immediately’ And Pay Back Money, Idaho Attorney General Warns

    Attorney General Lawrence Wasden at an Idaho event last year. Source: website of the attorney general.
    Attorney General Lawrence Wasden at an Idaho event last year. Source: website of the attorney general.

    The successful felony prosecutions under federal law of two Connecticut women in a cash-gifting scam apparently hasn’t registered in Idaho.

    Now, the state’s attorney general, citing the Connecticut prosecutions that led to lengthy prison sentences, is taking action. And he’s not mincing words.

    “Taking part in an unlawful pyramid scheme violates the Idaho Consumer Protection Act and is a felony under the state’s criminal code,” Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said. “Make no mistake – taking part in these schemes is illegal. Anyone who has received money from participating must pay it back. Failure to do so may result in civil or criminal enforcement action.”

    Idaho investigators have received two recent reports of illegal gifting pyramids operating in the state, Wasden’s office said. Sums of $5,000 are being solicited. Reports identified the schemes as a “Women’s Wisdom Circle.”

    One has “a formal dinner theme, the other a gardening theme,” Idaho prosecutors said.

    From a statement by prosecutors (italics added):

    In one Women’s Wisdom Circle reportedly operating in Ammon, participants are being asked to pay a $5,000 entry fee. By recruiting others, participants can then advance up the pyramid through levels named after the courses of a formal dinner: appetizer, soup/salad, entrée and dessert. Reports investigated by the Consumer Protection Division indicate those at the top of the pyramid have received payments of up to $40,000.

    The gardening theme gifting circle operating near Preston makes “soil” the entry position, while “harvester” rests at the top of the pyramid.

    The schemes are promoted as gifting programs intended to empower women and claim to adhere to IRS gifting rules. Women are encouraged to keep their involvement secret and are required to sign a statement that the money they pay is a gift, with nothing expected in return.

    The statements are false and do not make participation legal, regardless of what potential recruits are told, Wasden said.

    “Participants should stop immediately,” Wasden warned. “Unlawful pyramid schemes collapse, hurt people financially and are a crime in Idaho.”

  • As Part Of Counter Terrorism Awareness Week And Prevention Campaign, New Scotland Yard Says ‘Vulnerable People Are Being Brainwashed Through Social Media’

    Hamza Nawaz. Source: Metropolitan Police Service.
    Hamza Nawaz. Source: Metropolitan Police Service.

    British police nationwide are calling “upon communities to help tackle terrorism” in the wake of the arrests and subsequent convictions of two brothers accused of attending a terrorist training camp in Syria and returning to the United Kingdom, the Metropolitan Police Service said today.

    Mohommod Hassin Nawaz, 31, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. Younger brother Hamza Nawaz, 23, was sentenced to three years. The brothers, the service said, were stopped at Dover port in Southeast England at 3 a.m. on Sept. 16, 2013, after traveling on a ferry from Calais in Northern France.

    A search of their silver Peugeot, the service said, resulted in the discovery of :

    • Five rounds of 7.62mm ammunition “suitable for the use in a range of rifles and assault rifles.”
    • Numerous mobile phones and a SIM card, containing “images, video clips and text messages relating training camps.”
    • A “balaclava and heavy duty clothing,” including boots covered in dust.
    • A total of £2,400 in cash.
    • Travel documents identifying their movements.

    “Officers found communications on their phones indicating that they had attended a terror training camp located in the Latakia province of Syria,” the service said. “Detectives believe that the brothers had cultivated an extremist mindset over a period of months prior to their travel.”

    The Internet is being used to poison thinking, the service said.

    Mohommod Nawaz. Source: Metropolitan Police Service.
    Mohommod Nawaz. Source: Metropolitan Police Service.

    “As more vulnerable people are being brainwashed through social media, police call for parents, carers, friends and colleagues to be alert to the signs of extremism,” the service said.

    Said Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy, national policing lead for the Prevent Programme: “The police cannot be in every mosque, college or other community venue monitoring what is discussed and the doctrines which are promoted. Nor would we want Britain to be such a society.

    “We need parents, schools, partners, friends and colleagues to be aware of the signs that someone is being influenced by extremist messages and have the confidence to report any concerns to the police,” he continued. “Look out for notable changes in behaviour and mood; those vulnerable may begin to express extreme political or radical views, or appear increasingly sympathetic to terrorist acts; their appearance may change along with the friends that they spend time with or they may start to spend excessive time on their own or on the internet.”

    Also see report/video on BBC.com.

    The Metropolitan Police Service also is known as New Scotland Yard.

  • Full Statement From Zeek Receiver On New Information Available Through Claims Portal

    EDITOR’S NOTE: Zeek Rewards receiver Kenneth D. Bell has issued the statement reproduced below. It is dated Nov. 25, 2014. Source: Zeek Rewards Receivership Website.

    ** ________________________________ **

    ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE RECEIVER – November 25, 2014

    Today, new features were added to the claim status portal in response to issues that have arisen in the distribution process. The claim status portal can be accessed by following: https://cert.gardencitygroup.com/zrwdet/fs/home. These updates allow for a claimant who is eligible to receive a distribution to be able to check the status of that distribution by logging on to the claim status portal. In addition to claim status, that portal will now provide those affiliates who are eligible to receive a distribution with: the date on which his/her distribution check was issued; the amount of the distribution check; whether the distribution check has been cashed; and whether the distribution check was returned to us as undeliverable. Second, if your check was returned to us, lost, destroyed, or your check was issued in the wrong name (for example, if you inadvertently provided your Zeek username instead of your real name when you provided your payment information), you will now be able to request a new check be issued to you in the proper name. We hope that these updates will address many of the issues you have been asking us about.

    With these improvements to the claims status portal we will no longer respond to emails and calls that request the status of a claim that can otherwise be answered by logging into the claim portal and checking on the status of your claim. We have been spending a considerable amount of receivership assets responding to affiliate claimants’ inquiries about the status of their claim, all of which can now be answered through self-help. The savings generated by this automated system will allow us to make larger distributions to all affiliate claimants holding allowed claims.

    Among the inquiries to which we will no longer be responding are requests from affiliates who registered on the claims portal but did not complete and finally submit a claim. The claims system was continuously operational and was tested and verified as accurate during the claims period and afterward. If review of your claim status shows that you did not finally submit a claim through the claim portal by the Court ordered deadline of September 5, 2013, I have no authority to accept or permit you to file a claim thereafter, including now. I regret that anyone who could have validly submitted a claim failed to do so.

    If you hold a claim eligible for a distribution, but were not mailed a check on September 30, 2014, I encourage you to login to the claims status portal and accept the letter of determination you were issued (or have any objection you raised to the claim determination resolved) and submit the required Release and OFAC certification so that we may distribute money to you. If you take these steps, you will be mailed a first interim partial distribution at the end of January 2015.

    By the close of business on December 1, 2014, we will have issued Letters of Determination to all affiliate claimants who timely filed claims.

    Finally, we continue to receive many inquiries about tax withholdings from distribution checks. We are trying very hard to get reliable guidance from the Internal Revenue Service. I do not want to withhold taxes from distribution checks, but unless and until I receive assurance that the IRS agrees with me, withholdings will be made. We cannot expose the receivership, and the assets which we have and from which we will make distributions to victims, to potential penalties and fines by the IRS.

    ** ________________________________ **

    Visit the receivership website.

  • BULLETIN: Ambush Attack Leaves Florida Deputy Dead

    BULLETIN: A Leon County sheriff’s deputy has been shot and killed in what authorities are calling an “ambush.”

    Early reports suggest the following circumstances:

    • A house in northwest Tallahassee, the state capital, was set ablaze.
    • The deputy was a first-responder and was shot and killed at the scene of the fire by the person who set the fire.
    • The person who shot the deputy took the deputy’s gun and fired shots with it in the neighborhood, striking another deputy.
    • Other law-enforcement personnel at the scene shot and killed the suspect.

    Video of remarks by Sheriff’s Department at scene: