UPDATED 6:11 P.M. EDT (MARCH 28, U.S.A.)The District of Columbia has issued a warning about Profitable Sunrise. So has West Virginia. Georgia has issued a cease-and-desist order. A majority of U.S. states now have taken action in one form or another against Profitable Sunrise. See the info in the Comments thread below . . .
New Hampshire has joined the list of states or provinces warning about the “Profitable Sunrise” HYIP scheme. The unofficial tally now stands at 34.
In Canada: New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba.
In the United States: Kentucky, Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin, Nevada, Minnesota, California, Indiana, New Mexico, Texas, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alaska, Maryland, Maine, New Jersey, Louisiana, Tennessee, Oregon, Missouri, New Hampshire, District of Columbia (federal district), Georgia, West Virginia.
Regulators in New Zealand (FMA) and the United Kingdom (FSA) also have issued warnings against Profitable Sunrise.
The website of Profitable Sunrise has been offline for nearly two weeks. Boat-sharks have been using Facebook to suck Profitable Sunrise members into other HYIP scams, some of which purported to pay more than Profitable Sunrise’s bizarrely named “Long Haul” plan, which advertised 2.7 percent a day with a purported Easter holiday payout.
“HYIPs use an array of websites and social media — including YouTube, Twitter and Facebook — to lure investors, fabricating a ‘buzz’ and creating the illusion of social consensus, which is a common persuasion tactic fraudsters use to suggest that ‘everyone is investing in HYIPs, so they must be legitimate.’” — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), July 15, 2010
FINRA issued a warning back in 2010 against HYIP schemes, pointing out that they often trade through social-media sites such as forums, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. The warning came on the heels of the collapse of the Genius Funds “program” ($400 million) and the filing of criminal charges in the United States against Nicholas Smirnow, an alleged former bank robber in Canada who allegedly was running the Pathway To Prosperity (P2P) Ponzi scheme. P2P is alleged to have gathered more than $70 million.
P2P even got a mention on the U.S. Department of Justice Blog. That mention came in the form of a warning about international mass-marketing fraud.
Nearly three years later, Smirnow, 55, is still listed by INTERPOL as an international fugitive.
So is Robert Hodgins, 68. Hodgins, a Canadian supplier of debit cards to HYIP schemes, is charged in a money-laundering case in the United States. It is alleged that cards Hodgins supplied were used by narcotics traffickers to offload millions of dollars in “profits” at ATMs in Medellin, Colombia.
Speaking of Colombia . . . well, it was one of the staging grounds of the infamous D.M.G. Group (DMG) multilevel-marketing pyramid scheme of David Eduardo Helmut Murcia Guzman (David Murcia). Murcia, too, was tied to narcotics traffickers. His collapsed pyramid scheme gathered hundreds of millions of dollars. The anger spilled out onto the streets.
Just about all of these schemes made absurd claims. Genius Funds, for example, promised a payout of 6.5 percent a week. Compare that absurd claim to the Profitable Sunrise claim of 2.7 percent a day through its bizarrely named “Long Haul” plan with a purported payout timed to coincide with Easter. A scheme bizarrely known as Cash Tanker was operating at the same time as Genius Funds. Like Profitable Sunrise, Cash Tanker purported to be a Christian enterprise. It’s gone now, too. So is Profitable Sunrise. Their members were cast into the sea like so much chum.
Enter the Facebook boat-sharks and the contemptible “lifelines” they’re tossing toward the people struggling to stay afloat in rough seas . . .
Despite all the warnings — despite all the publicity surrounding HYIP schemes — opportunists are descending on Facebook today to recruit Profitable Sunrise members (the people struggling in the water) into new scams. The same thing has happened repeatedly, perhaps most prominently in August 2012, after the SEC described the Zeek Rewards “program” as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme.)
Boat-sharks posting on a Profitable Sunrise Facebook site today are promoting schemes such as “SuperWithdraw,” “Whos12,” Maxi-Cash,” “FairyFunds,” “Roxilia,” “OptiEarn,” “AVVGlobal,” “ProForexUnion” and “MajestiCrown.” Some of the emerging schemes promise to pay even more than Profitable Sunrise.
UPDATED 11:33 A.M. EDT (APRIL 1, U.S.A.) On April 1, the PP Blog published a story that informs Profitable Sunrise participants on how to contact state and provincial securities regulators in the United States and Canada.
April 1 was the date the Profitable Sunrise “Long Haul” plan was supposed to pay out. That didn’t happen.
Here, below, our March 25 post . . .
Now the subject of Investor Alerts or cease-and-desist orders in at least 30 states and provinces in the United States and Canada, the Profitable Sunrise HYIP has passed a milestone of sorts: Its website has been offline for 10+ days.
Despite the extended outage, wild, unverified reports have surfaced on Facebook and the Ponzi boards that Profitable Sunrise will resurface in Hong Kong, restarting with a 4-percent-a-day scheme.
Even if Profitable Sunrise still has control over servers — and even if it relaunches with a 4-percent-a-day scheme — history cannot be taken off the table. Part of HYIP history includes the renaming and relaunching of schemes designed to give scammers access to new cash to sustain the Ponzi deception. The “trick” has been used so many times in HYIP Ponzi Land that it has become a virtual cliché.
The AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme appears to have operated under at least three different names, all the while positioning itself as a “Christian” enterprise. An HYIP scheme bizarrely known as Cash Tanker once was promoted on the pro-ASD “Surf’s Up” forum. Cash Tanker, which promised a Profitable Sunrise-like 2 percent a day and used an image of Jesus Christ in promos, later collapsed.
On March 6, the PP Blog observed information in a nonEnglish, international forum that strongly suggested an ASD promoter had become a key pitchman for Profitable Sunrise. The information suggested that the ASD promoter had assembled a “group” that carried a purported balance of more than $18.8 million in Profitable Sunrise.
ASD collapsed in 2008.
Because Profitable Sunrise traded on Bible verse and images of Jesus Christ and was promoted by self-identified Christians, the scheme now has caused divisiveness in the Christian community. Among the key unanswered questions: Who would benefit from such divisiveness and was Profitable Sunrise deliberately structured to turn Believers against each other?
Cheerleading for the “program” continues. On a conference call last week, a Profitable Sunrise pitchman assured listeners that “all is good” with the enterprise. The claim appears to have been based on second- and third-hand reports that morphed into a purported “consensus” among leaders/members given to confirming their own biases.
“Everyone agrees that the Easter gift from the [Profitable Sunrise] Long Haul [plan] is on,” the pitchman said. “It’ll be given on schedule.”
One speaker on the same call claimed “[w]e can do what we want,” despite government warnings and even legal proceedings to the contrary.
“[W]e’re not selling any securities and we’re free citizens,” the speaker intoned.
Separately, a claim was made on the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum that the Howey Test from a famous Supreme Court case in 1946 does not apply to Profitable Sunrise because the “Howey Test is for Private Real Estate Loans.”
Like many things surrounding Profitable Sunrise, the claim about the purported inapplicability of the Howey Test is absurd. The Howey Test is a key test of what constitutes an investment contract. Profitable Sunrise itself positioned the “program” as an investment opportunity. Meanwhile, various members of the “program” — including ones who continue to support it — have written or spoken publicly about their “contracts” that purport to pay up to 2.7 percent interest a day through a plan bizarrely known as the “Long Haul.”
After he was charged criminally in 2010 for his role in the ASD Ponzi scheme, ASD President Andy Bowdoin argued that the Howey Test did not apply to ASD, a purported “advertising” company that purported to pay 1 percent a day.
Despite Bowdoin’s Howey argument, a federal judge ruled that “these alleged facts smack of an investment.”
And, the judge ruled, “Based on the allegations set forth in the Indictment, the evidence already before the Court, and the government’s proffers of expected trial evidence, the Court finds that the allegations, if proven, would be sufficient to permit a jury to find that ASD members were investing.”
Bowdoin later pleaded guilty to wire fraud. He was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison.
The PP Blog experienced a partial service outage that lasted through all or parts of three days. The event appears to have begun sometime after 3:13 a.m. EDT Saturday, although a couple of readers have said they noticed problems earlier.
An engineer said this evening that Saturday’s event does not appear to have had a malicious cause. The PP Blog experienced DDoS attacks in 2010 and other malicious events in 2011.
Saturday’s event affected publishing. It also affected readers’ ability to call up certain pages, mostly in archives.
I am grateful for the notes I received, especially from those folks who were here in 2010 and 2011 and remembered the maliciousness directed at the Blog.
This disturbing ad for Profitable Sunrise is targeted at residents of South Dakota.
UPDATED 8:52 A.M. EDT (APRIL 16, U.S.A.) See related stories here (April 1) and here (March 25).
EDITOR’S NOTE: These numbers are unofficial. They are culled from media reports and/or news releases from enforcement agencies. As the PP Blog reported yesterday, the Profitable Sunrise website appears to be down. The reason why is unclear, although there are Ponzi-forum reports that the “opportunity” is switching servers, perhaps to Hong Kong.
For background, consider that the Zeek Rewards “program” operating in North Carolina until the SEC filed a Ponzi action last year allegedly planted the seed that it provided a return of about 1.5 percent a day. The bizarrely named “Long Haul” plan of Profitable Sunrise — with its purported Easter payout — purported to pay 2.7 percent a day. Indeed, the HYIP Ponzi universe has served up another doozy. Some of the Stepfordian promoters appear to have no concern at all that such “programs” undermine faith in legitimate markets and raise serious concerns about both national and international security. As noted below, HYIP “programs” are known to trade on themes of religion, patriotism and doing what’s best for a community. Despite all the fluff, the reality is that the “programs” are dangerous. Period.
Current count of state/provincial actions or investor alerts against Profitable Sunrise: 20. (Now 35, with March 15 additions of South Carolina, Alaska, Maryland, Maine, the March 18 addition of New Jersey, the March 19 additions of Louisiana and Tennessee, the March 21 additions of Oregon and Missouri, the March 25 addition of New Hampshire and the March 28 addition of West Virginia. The District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.) issued a warning on March 19. It was added to this list on March 27. Georgia issued a cease-and-desist order on March 14. It was added to this list on March 27. Idaho issued an Investor Alert on April 15. It was added to this list on April 16. Manitoba, in Canada, issued an alert on March 15. It was added to this list on March 21.)
In Canada: New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba.
In the United States: Kentucky, Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin, Nevada, Minnesota, California, Indiana, New Mexico, Texas, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alaska, Maryland, Maine, New Jersey, Louisiana, Tennessee, Oregon, Missouri, New Hampshire, District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.), Georgia, West Virginia, Idaho.
Regulators in New Zealand (FMA) and the United Kingdom (FSA) also have issued warnings against Profitable Sunrise.
Here’s a sampling of what securities officials are saying:
From the office of David Goodman, director of the Ohio Department of Commerce (italics/bolding added):
The Division is concerned that these businesses could be targeting religious-based organizations. The company’s website includes Bible quotations and options for donating investment returns to charity. The website also describes various investment plans that claim to offer returns between 288% and 648% for investment periods between 180 days and 240 days. The website claims the investments are “risk-free” with “no chance of default” and provides short-term business loans in the United States.
The website also includes apparent traits of a pyramid scheme. It provides details about a “referral program” where individuals can become regional representatives for an investment group. The regional representatives are offered five percent commissions from those who join the referral program under that representative’s name.
From the Florida Office of Financial Regulation (OFR):
To attract interest in its investment offerings, Profitable Sunrise and its sub-companies may be attempting to exploit investors’ religious affinities. The organization is believed to be engaged in a marketing campaign which makes conspicuous use of biblical quotations.
From the Division of Securities at the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (DFI):
Investors in other states were informed that their money would be used to fund short-term loans to businesses and that “all funds deposited with (Profitable Sunrise) are insured against loss” by a leading investment bank. Investors were instructed to wire money to financial institutions in Eastern Europe, including one bank that was located in the Czech Republic.
From the office of Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller:
Securities officials are also concerned that the company is using a related website for the “Profitable Sunrise Team” to entice people to bring in additional investors for a commission. Secretary Miller cautions Nevada residents that “investment products must be registered or exempt from registration to be sold in Nevada, and generally those selling an investment must be licensed.”
There have also been reports that Profitable Sunrise has directed investors to wire transfer funds to a bank in the Czech Republic. Secretary Miller warns investors that it can be extremely difficult for an investor to recoup funds invested through banks in foreign countries.
From the New Brunswick Securities Commission:
Investors are warned not to send money to an offshore company called Profitable Sunrise, an entity that claims to provide high-yield investments through short-term bridge loans to businesses. The New Brunswick Securities Commission is issuing this warning following similar warnings by several Canadian and American securities regulators.
From the office of Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson. (Editor’s note: Indiana officials are describing some of the Profitable Sunrise talking points used to disarm skeptical investors. Scams often trade on patriotic themes and claims that investors are helping drive the economy. The AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme (and many others) have used similar talking points):
Profitable Sunrise founder, Roman Novak, states that the investment model is based on providing short-term loans to small businesses throughout the United States. Profitable Sunrise makes investments attractive by not only touting risk-free, high returns but also by stating that by helping these United States companies, investors are also helping revitalize the national economy and create more desperately needed jobs in the United States.
From the office of Minnesota Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman:
Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman ordered Profitable Sunrise and its operators, Roman Novak and Radoslav Novak, and Minnesotans William Nilsson (a/k/a Chad Nilsson) and Casey Dorian, today to cease and desist from selling securities in the State of Minnesota.
The Minnesota Department of Commerce, in conjunction with 19 jurisdictions throughout the United States and Canada, took coordinated action against Profitable Sunrise, an international entity allegedly operating an internet scheme to defraud investors. The Commerce Department’s investigation found that two individuals in Minnesota, Chad Nilsson and Casey Dorian, were allegedly participating in the investment scheme, currently soliciting investors but are not licensed to sell securities in the state.
(Editor’s Note: When the SEC moved in August against the alleged $600 million Zeek Rewards Ponzi- and pyramid scheme, the state of North Carolina warned about “reload scams.” Chad Nilsson may not have gotten the message, something that’s not unusual in the world of MLM. From WhoIsChadNilsson.com: “Of course we are all waiting patiently for our Zeekler Refunds, but now, in the meanwhile, there is a company out that is better than Zeek Rewards every [sic] was! A six year old company has just launched a new program that is even better. They are paying 2.15 percent daily and you can pull your profit out every day if you want, right from day one. If you were to put $200.00 into this new program, in 170 business days, your money would have grown to $7500.00!)
See this story/comments thread for more info on actions/alerts against Profitable Sunrise.
Zeek Rewards likely had a presence in all 50 U.S. states, plus U.S. territories. The High Point Enterprise, a publication in Zeek’s home state of North Carolina, today has a story about a Utah man who joined the “program” just prior to the SEC bringing allegations in August 2012 that Zeek was a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme.
From the Enterprise (italics added):
During recruitment meetings at a house in Richfield, Olsen said he was approached with a soft-sale pitch to become part of Zeek Rewards. Olsen was told that his $10,000 “would build my credit in the business” and allow him to reap greater income. The recruitment of Olsen took place over a period of months, and the approach was to build a relationship of trust rather than “twist my arm,” he said. The Zeek Rewards affiliates that Olsen met emphasized that the money he provided wasn’t an investment. But when the Securities and Exchange Commission shut down Zeek Rewards, the federal agency called it an unregistered securities business.
“They said that they would be in trouble if they called it investing,” Olsen recalls.
Read the full story in the Enterprise, which described Olsen as an individual who’d just lost his job and discussed a plan with his wife by which the couple would sell a family vehicle to join Zeek.
EDITORIAL NOTE: Ponzi schemes cause real pain to real people. Regardless, the Ponzi-board apologists for Zeek continue to demonize the court-appointed receiver, continue to engage in wordplay to sanitize “opportunities” and continue to fuel schemes such as Zeek by parroting disclaimers such as “don’t spend more than you can afford to lose.”
Blaming victims or insisting no victims exist is one of the most odious practices of the serial Ponzi pitchmen.
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: The state of North Carolina — home base to the alleged $600 million Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme — has ordered a purported offshore “opportunity” known as “Profitable Sunrise” to cease and desist from doing business in the state.
Profitable Sunrise purports to be a hard-money lender and investment opportunity. It appears to have attracted some Zeek members both before and after the August 2012 collapse of Zeek. Zeek was under investigation by North Carolina, the SEC and the U.S. Secret Service at the time of its collapse.
In its cease-and-desist order, North Carolina described Profitable Sunrise as “an immediate and significant danger” that is using multiple investment schemes to attract money, including a purported “Long Haul” plan.
The offer is being targeted at people of faith through web-based promoters, some of whom described themselves as Christians. Offering materials for the “Long Haul” plan have advertised an Easter holiday payout.
The company itself has advertised “risk free” payouts with “no chance of default,” according to the North Carolina order. And Profitable Sunrise also claims “investments are insured by a leading investment bank.”
As the PP Blog reported in December, Profitable Sunrise appeared to qualify investors based on their views on hot-button issues, including abortion.
North Carolina’s order names Roman Novak, Radoslav Novak and Inter Reef LTD (doing business as Profitable Sunrise) as respondents, amid allegations by the Securities Division of the office of North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall that Profitable Sunrise is selling unregistered securities as investment contracts.
Profitable Sunrise lists a business address in the United Kingdom. Regardless, the enterprise is soliciting funds to be sent to Raiffeisenbank AS in the Czech Republic, according to North Carolina investigators. An entity known as Melland Company SRO was listed in Profitable Sunrise wiring instructions as the beneficiary, according to the order.
A credit union used by a North Carolina-based Profitable Sunrise investor blocked at least one transaction directed toward the Czech bank, citing suspicions of fraud, according to the order.
Marshall’s investigators noted that the Profitable Sunrise investor believed that the”Long Haul” plan would pay “interest of 2.7% daily, compounded at 100%, for 240 days.”
Other Profitable Sunrise plans also promised high interest rates in compressed time frames, reaching for sums of between $10 and $2,500 and advertising interest rates of between 1.6 percent and 2 percent a day, according to the order.
Zeek planted the seed that it paid an average of 1.5 percent a day, the SEC said on Aug. 17. On Aug. 4, Zeek claimed on its news site that unspecified “North Carolina credit unions” were creating problems for it.
The case against Robert Stanley Harrison appears to have one of the signatures of an investment-fraud scheme: a website asking for “patience” owing to purported “improvements” in progress. The site also claims that God “wants you to be so blessed . . . so keep standing, keep hoping and keep declaring His Word . . .”
BULLETIN: In a case filed under seal last week, the CFTC accused Robert Stanley Harrison of Easley, S.C.. of presiding over a commodity-pool and Forex fraud scheme in which investors were guaranteed a return of 100 percent in 90 days. The seal now has been lifted, and U.S. District Judge G. Ross Anderson has granted an emergency asset freeze.
The scheme traded in part via “regular teleconferences with Pool participants” during which Harrison “touted his trading ability and the profits he was purportedly making for Pool participants,” the CFTC said.
Separately, the Securities Division of the Office of the Attorney General of South Carolina accused Harrison last year of scamming investors through Investors Choice Advisors LLC, the same company referenced in the CFTC complaint. The Securities Division described Harrison as a man who “had multiple prior felony convictions which were not disclosed when he offered and sold securities.”
Records in Pickens County, S.C., show several arrests on fraud charges for Harrison, including one on Dec. 19, 2012. The address in the Pickens County filings is the same address as Investors Choice Advisors LLC.
Meanwhile, the website of the enterprise claims it is “undergoing improvements” and asks investors to be “patient.” A section of the website dubbed “Motivational Moments” carries this message:
“During these challenging times, know that you are not alone. God has a plan to drive out the darkness — He will flood you with His light!”
Here is part of what the CFTC said in the unsealed filing (italics added):
Prior to expiration of their “Investment Contracts,” at least some of the Pool participants were solicited by Defendant and his agent to “roll over” their contracts for another 60 or 90 day term and, at the same time, to increase the principal amount of their investments.
For example, after sending Defendant $1,000 for investment in the Pool in September 2011, one Pool participant received a contract via email from Defendant’s agent that reflected the Pool participant’s $1,000 principal investment and promised a return of $2,000 in 90 days.
In November 2011, Defendant’s agent solicited this Pool participant to roll over her initial principal investment, along with her purported returns, and to invest additional funds in the Pool. Based on the representations that her initial investment was profitable, this Pool participant decided to roll over her initial investment and to invest an additional $28,000 in the Pool. After sending her funds to Defendant, the Pool participant received a new contract via email from Defendant’s agent in December 2011, which showed a principal investment amount of $30,000, including $1,000 in profits purportedly earned on her initial investment, and a guaranteed return of $60,000 in 90 days.
The investor never got paid, despite repeated requests, the CFTC said. The agent’s name was not disclosed.
Joe Hanel, the Denver correspondent for the Durango Herald, has written a series of reports that delves into the symphony of the bizarre surrounding Ponzi schemer Frederick H.K. Baker, who once was immersed in the HYIP world but now is in prison.
If you’ve been wondering about the psychology of Ponzi schemes — perhaps particularly in the HYIP sphere, where victims may condemn the government for moving against obvious frauds — you’ll find value in the Herald series.
The first installment is titled, “A man, a plan, a scam.” Part II is titled, “Scammers often earn victims’ trust through shared hopes, dreams, beliefs.” Hanel then delivers Part III, “After the scheme collapses, scammers recede into shadows.” Part IV perhaps has the most memorable title of all, “For a Ponzi payout, call the tooth fairy.”
Part IV gets its title from a comment by Fred Joseph, Colorado’s securities commissioner. “They want so badly to believe in the tooth fairy,” Joseph told the paper.
What sparked the comment was a recollection by Joseph that he once had to work hard to convince a resident of the state “not to send $50,000 to Belgium for the promise of getting millions in return,” according to the Herald.
Here’s hoping the Herald series gets high readership.
A snippet from Part I of the series (italics added):
A few million dollars spent the winter in sunny Los Angeles with a company whose president now is on death row. When the law closed in, Baker moved the money to Portugal, placing it in the trust of a company registered in New Zealand, with an address in Panama and directors in the United Kingdom.
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (UPDATED 1:06 P.M. ET U.S.A.) Gary Calhoun, the operator of the the MPB Today MLM “program” and a companion grocery-delivery business known as Southeastern Delivery, has pleaded guilty to a state-level racketeering charge in Florida. He was charged in December.
Calhoun, 56, of Pensacola, was not immediately sentenced. But he is expected to turn in his passport to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement “within 48 hours,” according to the docket of the case in Escambia County. The docket also notes correspondence from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida and references a “voluntary forfeiture agreement.”
In July, federal prosecutors filed a forfeiture complaint for a property at 8812 Grow Drive, also known as Grow Road, in Pensacola. The property is the business address of Southeastern Delivery and also the address of a Calhoun-controlled entity known as WL Property Holdings LLC. The property also is the address of MPB Today.
MPB Today was among a number of “programs” pitched on Ponzi-scheme forums such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup.
The Calhoun guilty plea represents the second time in 24 hours that the name of a “program” operator whose “opportunity” was pitched on the Ponzi boards has surfaced in the news, either as a current prison inmate or potential one.
David Merrick, the operator of the Trader’s International Return Network (TIRN) fraud scheme that was promoted from the Ponzi boards in 2008 and 2009, was sentenced in 2012 to 97 months in federal prison and was handed additional civil sanctions and a restitution order yesterday totaling more than $22.8 million.
MPB Today was promoted on the Ponzi boards in 2010.
Some individual MPB Today promotions were bizarre, including one that cast President Obama and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as Nazis. Another MPB Today promoter videotaped himself making a deposit of his MPB Today commissions at an FDIC-insured bank. At least one of MPB Today’s banks was operating under an FDIC consent agreement.
Still other MPB Today affiliates taped commercials for the enterprise inside Walmart stores. Some promoters asserted Walmart was affiliated with MPB Today and approved by the government. One MPB Today affiliate videotaped a UPS driver making a delivery of a television set.
The video’s narrator said the TV has been purchased “kind of, indirectly” with a Walmart gift card from MPB Today. Other MPB Today affiliates claimed a one-time purchase of $200 in groceries from Southeastern Delivery set the stage for MPB Today affiliates to receive free groceries and gasoline for life.
Clinton once sat on Walmart’s board of directors. Why some MPB Today affiliates apparently believed it prudent to attack Democratic politicians in a bid to sign up MPB Today affiliates remains unclear.
Promos for MPB Today were targeted at foreclosure subjects, Food Stamp recipients and the poor — and victims of the Florida-based AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme. In 2010, Walmart declined to comment on MPB Today-related claims.
Some MLM “opportunities” are infamous for implying in promos that they’re endorsed by famous business people or famous companies. MPB Today used images of Donald Trump and Warren Buffett in promos, and affiliates regularly implied that Walmart had endorsed MPB Today.
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (UPDATED 3:14 P.M. ET U.S.A.) The SEC has gone to federal court in the Southern District of Florida, alleging that an enterprise known as “We The People Inc. of the United States” (We the People) was a “front” that covered up a fraud scheme aimed at senior citizens in multiple states.
“We the People” are the first three words of the U.S. Constitution. Scammers have been known to trade on patriotic themes to fleece investors. Senior citizens may be particularly vulnerable to such pitches
Separate civil complaints have been filed against Richard K. Olive, 47, and Susan L. Olive, 48, of Vero Beach, Fla.; We the People, a Massachusetts entity operating from Tallahassee, Fla; and William G. Reeves, 61, an attorney in Tallahassee.
The scam sold an investment product described as a “charitable gift annuity” or CGA, the SEC alleged.
In the “We the People” scam, the SEC said, investors were told told to tranfser assets and that they “would receive an income stream, penalty free withdrawals, and tax benefits.”
And the scammers gathered at least $75 million, affecting at least 400 investors in Florida, Texas, Colorado and at least 27 others states, the SEC said.
The Olives are accused of telling lies to lure senior citizens with limited investment experience into the scam.
“The Olives raised millions from senior citizens by claiming that We The People’s so-called CGAs provided attractive financial benefits and were re-insured and backed by assets held in trust,” said Julie Lutz, Associate Director of the SEC’s Denver Regional Office. “Investors were not given the full story about the true value and security of their investments.”
From the SEC (italics added):
According to the SEC’s complaint against the Olives filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, investors were coaxed to transfer assets including stocks, annuities, real estate, and cash to We The People in exchange for a CGA. We The People claimed to operate as a non-profit organization while it was offering the CGAs from June 2008 to April 2012. However, We The People was not operating as a charity but instead for the primary purpose of issuing CGAs and using the proceeds to pay substantial sums to the Olives, third-party promoters, and consultants. On rare occasions when We The People did actually direct money raised toward charitable services, it was insignificant. For instance, the organization made public statements that it donated $21.8 million in relief aid to AIDS orphans in Zambia, but in fact the supplies were donated by others and We The People merely made a small payment to the third party that was shipping the supplies.
Criminal probes into the scam have been under way since at least 2010, and Richard Olive was indicted in Tennessee last year, the SEC said.
Reeves, the lawyer, “entered into a cooperation agreement with the SEC, and the terms of his settlement reflect his assistance in the SEC’s investigation and anticipated cooperation in its pending action against the Olives,” the agency said.
Under the settlement, Reeves will be suspended from appearing or practicing before the SEC for at least five years. He also has consented to a judgment, with financial penalties pending, the SEC said.
Meanwhile, the SEC said, “We The People consented to a final judgment that will enable the appointment of a receiver to protect more than $60 million of investor assets still held by the company. The final judgment also provides for disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and provides injunctive relief under the antifraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws.”
More from the SEC’s complaint against “We the People” (italics added):
Investors often learned about We The People’s investment product from promoters who signed marketing agreements with We The People. We The People would provide these promoters with materials, including flyers, letters, illustrations, and even videos, to use in soliciting the investments. We The People paid these promoters significant commissions, ranging from 7-10%.
Read SEC statement and find links to complaints here.
UPDATED 6:11 P.M. EDT (MARCH 28, U.S.A.) The District of Columbia has issued a warning about Profitable Sunrise. So has West Virginia. Georgia has issued a cease-and-desist order. A majority of U.S. states now have taken action in one form or another against Profitable Sunrise. See the info in the Comments thread below . . .
