The PP Blog has received information that suggests a WCM777 group in Greater Dallas may be trying to port members to Lucrazon, a purported revenue-sharing “program.”
WCM777 now is known as Kingdom777.
“Same team leaders want to encourage us to invest $8000.00 and we can get 15 units and they said that it will be similar to kingdom777,” a source told the Blog. “In other words they see us as uneducated people who have excavated money from underground or group of dumb people who will trust them again. Believe me that amount of people who invested are already falling for it.”
It is common for “revenue-sharing” promoters in the MLM sphere to try to switch downline members from one scheme to another. Zeek Rewards and AdSurfDaily — both massive Ponzi schemes — are examples of MLM “programs” pitched as revenue-sharing “opportunities.”
The issue with Lucrazon’s MLM business model is the basic mechanic of new affiliate money flowing in at $1000 a pop and being paid out to those who have already paid $1000 a pop for “positions”.
WCM777 is targeting people of faith. Promoters appear to be targeting Brazilians, Brazilian-Americans, members of the U.S. Latino community and Latinos at large, Asian-Americans and Asians in general.
Separately, the PP Blog received information today that suggests WCM777 also has a presence in Canada. A person who emailed the PP Blog said a loved one had plowed $8,000 into the WCM777 scheme.
The “payout stopped, she was never able to withdraw,” the sender said.
The sender was contemplating reporting WCM777 to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, according to the email.
In November, securities regulators in Massachusetts accused the “program” of selling unregistered securities. The WCM777 scheme also is under investigation in Peru and Colombia.
Meanwhile, a source told the PP Blog today that something called KingdomTrade.org is being discussed in WCM777/Kingdom777 circles.
“They claim they will also be trading Oil, [G]ems, Gold and Art as well as Stock/Options in Kingdom777,” the source said.
BULLETIN: Three people are dead in a shopping-mall shooting in Columbia, Md., the Howard County Police Department is reporting via Twitter.
“Call came into 911 around 11:15 a.m. that shots were fired,” the department said. “Police made entry and found three dead, one found near a gun and ammunition.”
Columbia is near Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
Call came into 911 around 11:15 a.m. that shots were fired. Police made entry and found three dead, one found near a gun and ammunition.
Vladislav Miftakhov. Source: Altoona Police Department via Facebook.
The Altoona Police Department (Pa.) is reporting on its Facebook site that officers have arrested a Russian national after a suspected bomb and bomb-making materials were found in a suitcase in his apartment.
A Pennsylvania State Police bomb squad “safely deconstructed” the device, the Altoona department said, adding that “appropriate Federal Agencies were notified and are assisting with our investigation.”
Vladislav Miftakhov, 19, of North 9th Avenue in Altoona, was arrested, the department said.
Altoona is a college town of about 46,000 in semirual Blair County, situated in South Central Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania State University has an Altoona campus with an enrollment of 3,861. The Altoona Mirror is reporting that the suspect is listed as an engineering student at the campus.
The Altoona Police Department said officers were “investigating a reported marijuana grow operation” when the device and companion materials were found.
“Miftakhov, a Russian Citizen, told investigators he purchased the bomb making materials through the internet over the past several weeks,” the Altoona department reported on Facebook.
He was charged with Possessing a Weapon of Mass Destruction, Risking a Catastrophe, Possession with Intent to Deliver – Marijuana, Possessing Instruments of Crime (2 counts), Prohibited Offensive Weapons, Incendiary Devices, Recklessly Endangering Another Person, Possession of Controlled Substances, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, the department said.
Miftakhov was taken to Blair County Central Booking for arraignment, the department said.
Just three days ago, on Jan. 22, Altoona police arrested a man who resided on nearby North 5th Avenue. In that case, Antony Ross Williams, 25, was arrested on charges of peddling heroin and possessing a stolen 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun.
BULLETIN: Sen. Edward J. Markey, D.-Mass., has called for an investigation of Herbalife, an MLM program.
“There is nothing nutritional about possible pyramid schemes that promise financial benefit but result in economic ruin for vulnerable families,” Markey said in a statement. “Herbalife may be a purveyor of health and wellness products, but some of its distributors are suffering serious economic ill-health as a result of their involvement in the company. I have serious questions about the business practices of Herbalife and their impact on my constituents, and I look forward to receiving responses to my inquiries.”
Markey is a member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
One family in Norton, Massachusetts reported that it lost $130,000, including the family’s entire 401(K), investing in Herbalife. Another Massachusetts resident claimed that she was encouraged to recruit new members by approaching her family and also received pressure to spend money to buy more Herbalife products so that she could qualify as a so-called “Supervisor” in the Herbalife system. She also stated that she was encouraged to stay in the program even after she said she wanted out.
Herbalife stock fell about 10.35 percent today, to $65.92, on the news of Markey’s call for probes.
EDITOR’S NOTE: UPDATED 6:15 P.M. ET U.S.A. WCM777, now known as Kingdom777, is an outrageous fraud scheme operating over the Internet that has penetrated multiple countries, including the United States. Some affiliates claim a payment of $14,000 returns $500,000 in a year. The purported head is “Dr. Phil Ming Xu.” Please use the Blog’s search function for more info on WCM777.
Here is an email received by the PP Blog today from a WCM777 participant who is deeply worried. The email was sent from a U.S. state that has a considerable Latino population. Other than the carriage returns we added and the name we withheld, the email is verbatim.
__________________________
As far as I know our Hispanic Team Leader said we have 3 options, 1 is change address to a different country, 2 is transfer to a different name but in a foreign country and 3rd to just wait for the USA to close it down and we can request for reimbursement for every unit we have.
All what I know is from my team leader. I Log in under affiliate with my password but there is no answers to my questions. All we want is our money back because the money we invested is what we have save all this long past year’s and I have 4 kids, 2 teenagers that are very close to start college. I need help to find out on how we can get our money back. I herd many comments in the meeting but I talk for my myself. Please help!!
In 2013, Carlos Costa displayed the flag of Madeira while announcing TelexFree was seeking bankruptcy protection.
Citing reports in Brazilian media, BehindMLM.com is reporting that authorities in Portugal are monitoring TelexFree developments and beginning to collect documents. The development may signal that yet-another probe into TelexFree’s business practices is in the offing, potentially the first in Europe.
From BehindMLM.com (italics added):
According to the local media there are currently 41,000 TelexFree affiliate investors in Madeira, an autonomous region in Portugal. This figure represents 16% of the island’s total population.
In September 2013, the PP Blog reported that TelexFree executive Carlos Costa appeared in a video that showed him waving the flags of Madeira and Portugal. Precisely why he chose to wave the flags is unclear. The context of the video was a decision by TelexFree to seek bankruptcy protection in Brazil.
TelexFree, which operates through Ympactus Comercial Ltd. in Brazil, has been under fire in that country since at least June 2013, amid allegations is is conducting a massive pyramid scheme. There may be hundreds of thousands of TelexFree affiliates worldwide. TelexFree has U.S. arms in Massachusetts and Nevada.
TelexFree’s early operations appear to have been centered in Brazil. Some U.S. affiliates have claimed a payment of $15,125 to the firm returns $57,200 in a year and that members get paid for posting ads for TelexFree online.
Things are getting stranger at WCM777: After a police raid this week on the “program” in Peru, the purported head of WCM777 has declared his love for the Peruvian people — on the letterhead of World Capital Market, a California corporation listed as “suspended.”
The letter, which is dated today and appears on Twitter, did not say whether WCM777 would provide defense lawyers for any arrestees or subjects of investigations in Peru.
WCM777, an arm of World Capital Market, is under investigation in multiple countries. In November 2013, the firm was accused by the state of Massachusetts of selling unregistered securities. Hotel presentations in Massachusetts allegedly were targeted at Brazilian-Americans.
In the United States and elsewhere, claims have appeared that $14,000 sent to WCM777 returns $500,000 in a year.
As part of a Twitter declaration of love to Peruvians, “Dr. Phil Ming Xu” noted that WCM777 “wants to united [sic] people and build a global community of trust and love.”
And, according to the Tweet, WCM777 “has a promotion plan with a payout ratio of 130% for a limited time to sell our seven cloud products” and has stopped “our promotion plan with a payout ration [sic] [of] about 50%.”
The Ming Xu letter to Peruvians claimed the company “is willing to back” the 130 percent scheme, but appears to ignore the issue of offering unregistered securities.
WCM777, now reportedly known as Kingdom777, has been targeted at people of faith in the United States and other countries.
One of the explosive devices allegedly found inside the home of Mark A. Kulis, a purported “sovereign citizen” in the capital city of Columbus, Ohio. (Source: Franklin County Sheriff’s Office via Facebook.)
UPDATED 12:49 P.M. ET U.S.A. A purported “sovereign citizen” has been jailed after Franklin County (Ohio) deputies found explosive devices in his home.
An oven inside the home allegedly was rigged with an explosive booby trap. Meanwhile, the names of President Obama and Ohio Gov. John Kasich were found scribbled on walls inside the home, the Columbus Dispatch is reporting.
Authorities identified the suspect as Mark A. Kulis, 55, of Carolyn Ave. The Franklin County Bomb Squad responded to assist deputies, said Sheriff Zach Scott.
The incident began to unfold on Wednesday, when deputies were serving an eviction notice.
“When deputies got inside Kulis’ home, they found four explosive devices in a bedroom closet. The oven also was booby-trapped with an explosive, Scott said.
The Franklin County bomb squad was called to detonate the devices, which was completed safely. Several houses around the property were evacuated during the process.”
Here’s how The Daily Beast put it in the deck of a column (italics added):
Police came to evict Mark Kulis—and found a home wired to explode. It’s the latest incident for a movement that rejects the government, with members who have been turning to violence.
A SporTV reporter enters suite 200. Source: screen shot from SporTV video.
UPDATED 9:21 A.M. ET (FEB. 22, 2014 U.S.A.) As the PP Blog reported on July 4, 2013, TelexFree is using a shared office facility in Marlborough, Mass. Promoters of TelexFree, alleged in Brazil to be a massive pyramid scheme that may be using a VOIP product as a front, have shown photos of TelexFree President James Merrill posing outside the building. Some promoters appear to believe that the building somehow serves as proof that TelexFree is legitimate and has a large-scale, brick-and-mortar presence in the United States.
It is somewhat common for MLM schemes to create the illusion of physical scale as a means of instilling confidence in promoters. Other than the facility and suite it shares with other firms, however, TelexFree appears to have no physical presence in the United States.
Apparently flush with cash despite a freeze on funds in Brazil, TelexFree announced last week that it was sponsoring the Botafogo soccer club in Rio de Janeiro. This prompted Brazil’s SporTV to send a crew to Marlborough and to seek comment from Merrill.
The video report that emerged [Feb. 22 edit: If you can’t see the video, look here] appears to show that TelexFree is a tenant with at least 25 other firms in a single suite: suite 200. An August 2011 report at Examiner.com about office options in Marlborough noted that suite 200 “is home to 103 different companies, 45 of which actually reside at the Regus center on the second floor.”
As shown in the screen shot above from the SporTV video, the camera shows the reporter entering suite 200.
After being greeted by a receptionist in the suite — and it’s unclear if the receptionist worked for TelexFree or the leasing company — the reporter sits down with Merrill.
“I don’t want to get into the financial end of the [Botafogo] sponsorship,” Merrill told the reporter.
Some Brazilians have expressed concerns that TelexFree’s sponsorship of Botafogo could hurt the image of Brazil and soccer in the country, which produced the internationally acclaimed Pelé, one of the most famous athletes in the world and soccer’s most enduring figure. (For many Americans of a certain age, Pelé, who briefly played for the New York Cosmos in the 1970s after playing for the Brazilian national team and the celebrated Santos club, represented their first contact with a sport that is hugely popular internationally but less so in the United States, where baseball, American football, basketball and hockey dominate the airwaves. Decades after his stint with the Cosmos, however, Pelé still is spoken about warmly in the United States.)
TelexFree, which has “Inc.” (Massachusetts) and “LLC” (Nevada) versions of its name, appears also to be using the name TelexFree International, including at the Marlborough office facility. Where the “International” version of TelexFree is officially based is unclear. A Nevada entity known as WorldTelexFree LLC is listed as in “default,” according to Nevada records.
A Facebook site dubbed “TelexFree International” forms part of its URL with the slug of “getpaidweeklyguaranteed.”
In other TelexFree news, a Facebook site styled “TelexFreeInUSA” appears not to have been updated since Jan. 10. The site, which is linked to TelexFree promoter and cash-gifting enthusiast Scott Miller, had been updated almost daily prior to the 10th.
At the time of this PP Blog post, the last headline on the TelexFreeInUSA site read, “OVER THIRTY THOUSAND! Positions Under Me! 100% Of Them Being Paid Weekly! STOP Marketing Programs Where Only 1% Ever . . .”
The site appears not to include an explanation for the sudden lack of postings.
Some promos for TelexFree, including promos from Miller’s group, have claimed that $15,125 sent to the firm returns $57,200 ($42,075 plus the return of the full initial outlay) in a year and that lesser sums return lesser amounts. TelexFree promoters claim they get paid for posting ads online about the company. In 2012, Zeek Rewards, a U.S. company with a similar ad-posting requirement, was accused by the SEC of operating a “classic” Ponzi scheme that gathered hundreds of millions of dollars and paid members with incoming funds from other members.
Among other things, Zeek promoters appeared to believe that an office the company controlled in North Carolina somehow demonstrated that Zeek was not a scam. Not only was Zeek a scam, but it may be the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history based on the number of victims created, an estimated 800,000. The SEC accused Zeek of securities fraud and selling unregistered securities.
Based on Google search results in July 2013, TelexFree promoters seemed to be confused about the physical presence of TelexFree and how old the company is. These phrases appeared in the July search results:
“TelexFree is real brick and mortar 9 year old business, a solid program where . . .”
“TelexFREE itself with its cutting edge products have been around for over 10 years . . .”
“Telexfree is an 11 year old company . . .”
“This 13 year old Advertise & Technology company called TelexFREE, will pay you . . .”
“Telex Free is a multi level marketing company that was established in Brazil in 2002 . . .”
TelexFree appears to have been formed from the shell of an entity known as Common Cents Communications Inc. in February 2012.
UPDATED 4:07 P.M. ET (JAN. 17, USA) Globo.com is reporting that the hunger strike has ended — after nearly 42 hours. See note/links in Comments thread. Our original brief is below . . .
The URLs below are from various media sites in Brazil that are reporting on a hunger strike staged by a TelexFree promoter apparently unhappy with the pyramid-scheme probe in Acre.
UPDATED 11:39 P.M. ET U.S.A. There are reports today in Peruvian media that the government of Peru has shut down an office of the purported WCM777 “opportunity” and that criminality occurred. It is unclear from early reports whether arrests were made.
The regulatory authority in Peru is the Superintendency of Banking and Insurance.
WCM777, which is encountering regulatory scrutiny in multiple nations, recently changed its name to Kingdom777, according to BehindMLM.com.
Peru issued an Alert on WCM777 in December, saying the firm was collecting money unlawfully in the country.
As the PP Blog reported in November 2013, some promos for WCM777 claimed investors willing to plunk down $14,000 received a dividend of 35 times their initial investment over the course of a year.
Massachusetts halted WCM777 in November, saying the program was being targeted at Brazilian Americans and was selling unregistered securities.
On Nov. 21, the PP Blog reported that WCM777 may have ties to The Way TV and Media for Christ, which have been linked to a film production known as “Innocence of Muslims.” The trailer of the film reportedly sparked violence across the Middle East in 2012.
The PP Blog has received information that suggests a WCM777 group in Greater Dallas may be trying to port members to Lucrazon, a purported revenue-sharing “program.”
