PatrickPretty.com

Category: Writing And Branding

  • Man Who Posed As Fraud Investigator And Blew Up His Own Mailbox Convicted In Bizarre Bid To Extort Ponzi Scheme Victims To Pay Him For Information

    A Washington state man has been convicted of nine federal felonies in a bizarre case in which he attempted to fleece Ponzi scheme victims by blowing up his own mailbox and taking guns and bomb-making components to Atlanta.

    Kevin W. Williams, 45, of Chehalis, was found guilty of three counts of wire fraud, extortion, possession of a firearm without a serial number, destruction of a letter box, making a false official statement and two counts of possession of an unregistered firearm. The unregistered firearms included a pipe bomb and a zip gun, federal prosecutors said.

    Williams’ plot began in 2007 and featured a claim that he was an investigator who knew where the loot from a $90 million Ponzi scheme in Greater Atlanta had been hidden, prosecutors said.

    In a bid to make his claims sound credible, Williams, an unemployed logger, blew up his mailbox with a homemade bomb. He apparently reasoned that Ponzi victims and attorneys involved in the case would give him money if they came to believe his information was so valuable that someone tried to maim him to make him turn silent, prosecutors said.

    Williams was slightly injured in the mailbox detonation that he arranged with an accomplice, prosecutors said. After the mailbox exploded, emergency responders were summoned to make the story more plausible.

    The trouble with the story, prosecutors said, was that the “blast was so powerful that Williams would have been badly injured if it had occurred as he described. He was checked at the hospital and released the same day having suffered only a few minor scratches on his forehead and ringing in his ears as injuries.”

    With no one willing to pay him for his purported information, Williams dialed up the scheme, prosecutors said.

    First, he sent emails “with a threatening tone,” prosecutors said.

    And then Williams traveled to Atlanta for the Ponzi trial.

    “He was arrested by law enforcement with a variety of guns, ammunition and explosive components in his car,” prosecutors said. “Following that arrest, one of Williams’ cohorts contacted law enforcement, and admitted lying to the police about Williams being the victim of the mail box bomb.

    Assisting in the probe were the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) and the Lewis County Sheriff’s Department.

    The case was prosecuted by the office of U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan of the Western District of Washington.

    Williams’ step-mother was a victim of the Atlanta-area scheme, prosecutors said.

  • INCREDIBLE: Florida — Again: SEC Files Complaint Against Purported ‘Gold’ Mining Operation In Miami Known As Quri Resources And Its CEO, Jaime Santiago Gomez

    BULLETIN: The SEC has gone to federal court in Florida to accuse Quri Resources Inc. and its Chief Executive Officer Jaime Santiago Gomez of operating a pump-and-dump scheme to drive up the price of Quri’s unregistered stock.

    It was the second major action in Florida today against companies and individuals who allegedly were running stock-fraud schemes. Named defendants in a separate SEC case were Atlantis Technology Group and CEO Christopher Dubeau of Weston, Fla.

    “Investors were duped into believing that Quri Resources was a successful mining company and that Atlantis Technology Group was selling cutting-edge technology services,” said Eric I. Bustillo, director of the SEC’s Miami Regional Office.

    “Both companies misled investors with exaggerated claims while their respective senior executives illegally dumped shares into the market,” Bustillo said. “We will continue to crack down on companies that promote misleading information.”

    The SEC said that Quri purported to be a “mining company headquartered in Miami, Florida, and operating in Ecuador.”

    As was the case with Atlantis and Dubeau, Quri and Gomez were accused of issuing “a series of false press releases and other misleading public statements” as part of the scheme, the SEC charged.

    From February to July 2009, Quri claimed in several press releases that, among other things:

    • It was ready to begin drilling on a mining project in Ecuador with a probable gold reserve worth over $1 billion.
    • It had signed letters of intent to acquire two valuable mining projects in Arizona.
    • It had acquired a second mining project in Ecuador and anticipated producing gold within three months.
    • It had signed a letter of intent to acquire a third valuable mining project in Ecuador.

    “[A]t the same time, Quri’s website and other public statements described Quri as having ongoing operations, employees worldwide, and an impressive management team,” the SEC charged. “The complaint alleges that these claims were grossly misleading because, among other things:

    • The exact value of the gold reserves in Ecuador could not be known without further detailed exploration.
    • Quri never acquired any mining projects in Arizona, and it acquired, at most, only one project in Ecuador.
    • Quri never developed any of its purported mining projects and was never in a financial position to do so.
    • Quri had no money, was never able to raise any funds, had no reasonable expectation of any funding, and was heavily indebted.

    The SEC said the scheme also involved the misuse of a website and a social-networking site.

    “Gomez also authored Quri’s internet website and approved its profile on the social network website LinkedIn,” the agency alleged. “These falsely described Quri as having ongoing operations, 28 employees worldwide, a geologist with a PhD on staff, and an impressive management team led by Gomez, a college graduate. None of these claims were true.”

    Gomez simply fleeced investors, the SEC charged.

    “[T]aking advantage of Quri’s artificially inflated stock price, Gomez, through an entity he controlled, dumped over half a million shares of Quri stock on the unsuspecting public, selling Quri stock in unregistered transactions, earning at least $17,500 from the sale of the stock,” the SEC charged.

    See earlier story about Atlantis.

    Read the SEC complaint against Quri.

  • Sales Video For MPB Today Uses Class Envy To Target Food Stamp Recipients; ‘Refer Your Friends,’ Promo Urges

    EDITOR’S NOTE: A YouTube video that encourages Food Stamp recipients to become affiliates of the MPB Today MLM program has been online for more than a month. The video implies MPB Today’s purportedly high shipping costs are a good reason for people who receive government aid to become MPB Today affiliates. MPB Today says it charges up to 50 percent of the cost of an order for shipping. Members who order groceries only and do not join the MLM component potentially would lose $100 in purchasing power on an order of $200, the price of the program. Other MPB Today affiliates have advised prospects that it is best to avoid buying groceries from MPB Today and simply concentrate on recruiting prospects. Still others say MPB Today issues food “vouchers,” enabling registrants to purchase their groceries elsewhere and even convert the purported voucher into cash that can be used to purchase electronics. MPB Today purports to ship “ONLY” dry goods. The Food and Nutrition Service, an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), is investigating claims about the MPB Today program. What specific claims the agency is examining is unclear. USDA administers the federal Food Stamp program for low-income Americans.

    The screen shots below are from frames of the YouTube video. The file is named “Food Stamps Online.avi.”

  • BULLETIN: Florida — Again: SEC Sues Atlantis Technology Group In Alleged Online Television Pump-And-Dump Scheme; CEO Christopher M. Dubeau Threatened ‘Bashers’ For Making ‘Slanderous’ Postings, March News Release Says

    BULLETIN: UPDATED 10:51 A.M. EDT (U.S.A., Oct. 1.) About six months after the chief executive officer of Atlantis Technology Group (Atlantis) was quoted in a Marketwire news release that threatened online commentators for “making slanderous postings” about the company, the SEC has gone to federal court in Florida to accuse Atlantis CEO Christopher Dubeau and the firm of running a penny-stock swindle.

    The SEC’s lawsuit concerns the operations of an Atlantis subsidiary known as Global Online Television (GOTV), which allegedly used a commission-based sales force to promote the purported TV company.

    Dubeau and Atlantis actually were operating a “pump-and dump” stock fraud, the SEC charged in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

    “From at least August 7, 2009 through April 5, 2010 . . . Atlantis and Dubeau issued numerous false and misleading press releases that artificially inflated the trading volume and price of Atlantis’s stock,” the SEC charged. “Dubeau benefited financially from Atlantis’s artificially increased trading volume and stock price. In December 2009, he sold more than 60 million shares of Atlantis stock for proceeds of about $240,000, and in August 2009 he received $77,000 of the proceeds from an associate’s sale of more than 16 million shares.”

    A Marketwire news released dated March 26, 2010, and issued under the names of Atlantis and Dubeau accuses “bashers” of making “slanderous” remarks about the company online.

    “I can assure you I will not play the bashers’ games,” Dubeau was quoted as saying. “Atlantis has Launched an Investigation into these Individuals that are attacking the Company and its Associates. Atlantis has Identified at least 3 of these Participants in what we deem to be manipulation of the Company’s Stock price by making slanderous postings. We will seek every avenue available to bring these persons of interest to the forefront of the Judicial System.”

    Now, six months later, the SEC has accused Dubeau of operating a large-scale fraud by fabricating news about the company’s ability to offer online TV and video-phone services.

    “Atlantis’s press releases were false because Atlantis’s subsidiary has never offered
    Internet protocol television service or video phone services,” the SEC charged. “At the time the company and Dubeau issued these press releases, the subsidiary did not offer (and was not able to offer) either service, and it did not have relationships with television networks to offer content to Atlantis’s subscribers. In fact, until March 1, 2010, neither the subsidiary nor Atlantis had any product or service to offer to consumers.”

    Threats against critics who voice concerns about business opportunities online are common, as is the issuance of news releases to spread false information. In the alleged AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme, for example, ASD President Andy Bowdoin threatened critics with lawsuits. ASD operated from Florida.

    An operation known as AdViewGlobal (AVG) that has close ASD ties and also operated at least in part from Florida also threatened critics. AVG even threatened its own members with lawsuits.

    Critics of Data Network Affiliates (DNA), a Florida company that purports to offer an MLM program that collects license-plate data to aid law enforcement and the AMBER Alert program rescue abducted children, also were threatened.

    DNA figure Phil Piccolo used an online radio program last month to threaten critics.

    Convicted Florida Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein, who ran one of the largest scams in U.S. history, also threatened critics. Rothstein pleaded guility to racketeering.

    Read the SEC complaint against Atlantis and Dubeau of Fort Lauderdale and Weston, Fla.

  • ASA Monitor Ponzi And Criminals’ Forum Locks MPB Today Thread — Again; Naysayers Scolded By Mod For Challenging ‘Ken Russo’

    EDITOR’S NOTE: The ASA Monitor Ponzi forum now has reopened its thread on the MPB Today MLM program — with a warning in red to “Play nice . . .”

    UPDATED 9:54 A.M. EDT (U.S.A.) A forum infamous for promoting Ponzi schemes and other criminal pursuits has locked the thread from which the MPB Today 2×2 matrix cycler is being pitched.

    The official explanation for locking the thread was that naysayers challenging ASA Monitor member “Ken Russo” needed a “temporary cooling off period.” (See Editor’s Note above: The thread now has been unlocked.)

    “Ken Russo” is a reliable cheerleader for Ponzi schemes and highly questionable business pursuits on ASA Monitor and other forums. ASA Monitor’s name is referenced in a May criminal case filed against the alleged Pathway To Prosperity Ponzi scheme. Prosecutors said the scheme mushroomed globally, gathering about $70 million and defrauding more than 40,000 participants.

    A similar program known as Legisi gathered more than $70 million and also fleeced thousands of participants, according to the SEC. It, too, was promoted on the Ponzi forums. A court filing in the Legisi case specifically references the MoneyMakerGroup forum, another venue from which MPB Today is being promoted.

    This marks the second time the MPB Today thread has been locked at ASA Monitor. It was locked earlier this month and then reopened amid similar circumstances. ASA Monitor initially deleted several references to the PP Blog in the initial closure of the thread, but later restored them.

    One of the principal incongruities of the MPB Today program is that it is being targeted at people of faith from a known Ponzi forum. Because ASA Monitor members routinely promote Ponzi schemes, some of the funds being passed to MPB Today could be criminal proceeds from Ponzi and other fraud schemes.

    “Ken Russo,” for example, promoted the alleged Regenesis 2×2 Ponzi scheme. Like MPB Today, Regenesis used a 2×2 matrix cycler. The U.S. Secret Service executed search warrants in the Regenesis case in July 2009. The agency said in court filings that it had linked the scheme to a convicted felon.

    Spectacular international frauds have been promoted at ASA Monitor. Meanwhile, some of MPB Today’s own members have said there are liars and thieves in the organization, including liars and thieves who are using false information to recruit prospects. The claims have been made in public on YouTube. Incongruously, they have been positioned as reasons to join the program under specific uplines that purport to be honest.

    How MPB Today’s payments to members could be clean if it has come into possession of money tainted by the lies of its own pitchmen and money tainted by Ponzi schemes promoted on forums such as ASA Monitor is left to the imagination.

    Last week the PP Blog reported that a “news release’ that appeared online encouraged MPB Today prospects to sell $200 worth of Food Stamps to raise money to join the program. One of the URLs referenced in the release also was being promoted on ASA Monitor by “Ken Russo.” Other information suggests that promoters of the judicially declared CEP Ponzi scheme are promoting MPB Today.

    Some ASA Monitor members use a strategy of playing dumb to promote Ponzi schemes. One form of the strategy is to repeatedly accept at face value whatever a company says in sales literature — and then blame the company and dishonest affiliates if a scheme collapses or is taken down by law enforcement.

    Another form of the strategy is to include links to the sites of other promoters, apparently on the theory that favorable commentary about an “opportunity” demonstrates that no scam could be occurring. If the opportunity later proves to be a Ponzi or a fraud scheme, promoters who employ the play-dumb method point out that others got taken, perhaps through the actions of a fraudster who was particularly clever.

    Yet another form of the play-dumb method is to position an opportunity as a matter of free choice. Such wink-nod efforts are part of numerous Ponzi schemes.

    In February 2010, the Secret Service said in a search-warrant application in Minnesota that it believed a company known as INetGlobal was operating a Ponzi scheme. In court filings, the agency said an undercover agent was introduced to INetGlobal by a member of the alleged AdSurfDaily (ASD) Ponzi scheme, describing the introduction as a wink-nod deal.

    ASD, which was accused of operating a $100 million Ponzi scheme, also was promoted from websites and forums. Federal agents seized about $26 million in the INetGlobal case, which is still under investigation. Steve Renner, the operator of INetGlobal, is in federal prison for income tax-evasion in a case linked to his money-services business.

    Court records show Renner-related ties to at least four Ponzi schemes.

    Among the targets of promotions for MPB Today were victims of the alleged ASD Ponzi scheme, foreclosure subjects, the unemployed, Food Stamp recipients, senior citizens, college students and other vulnerable populations.

  • Affiliate Promo Says MPB Today Website Fee Will Increase From $10 To $39 Oct. 1; Another Promo Claims ‘It Doesn’t Matter How’ The Program Works

    An upline promo for MPB Today says the company soon will raise the cost to join from $210 to $239, an increase of $29. The purported increase applies to the MPB Today fee for a replicated website, which the affiliate says will increase from $10 annually to $39.

    Will a new price increase that ups a website fee from $10 to $39 cause scores of MPB Today affiliates to change their promos to reflect the price change?

    Or will the MPB Today affiliates behave like some promoters of Data Network Affiliates (DNA) and just leave old information in videos and on websites and Blog posts to recruit customers based on false information?

    An affiliate video for MPB Today claims the price increase will occur Oct. 1.

    “So, in order to get started with MPB Today, the first thing you’ll need to do is pay $239,” the promoter claimed in a YouTube video. “Now, the $39 is an annual fee, and that gives you a replicated website with the company.

    “Some of you might be confused, because that was previously only $10,” the promoter continued. “But, as of Oct. 1, 2010, it will now be $39.”

    MPB Today operates a 2×2 cycler matrix. If incoming prospects soon will have to pay more than original members to join the company, it sets the stage for them to lose more should the program collapse. One analysis of MPB Today’s mathematics shows that 86 percent of the MLM’s members were in position to lose money before the advertised price hike. Incoming members will be among the 86 percent, but stand to lose more because they paid more.

    Some promoters have said MPB Today also is tweaking its program to pay out bonuses. In myriad online scams, program tweaks have signaled trouble or an effort by a company to come into compliance after the fact.

    In early April, DNA announced a cell-phone plan that would provide customers a free phone and unlimited talk and text for $10 a month. “GAME OVER — WE WIN,” the MLM firm declared in all-caps. Members flocked to the web to promote the offer to prospects.

    By the end of April, however, DNA, which has a reputation for bizarre sales pitches, announced it had not studied cell-phone pricing before publicly announcing unlimited service for $10 a month with a free phone. It blamed a vendor for making it believe such a plan was possible, an acknowledgment it had not vetted its purported supplier before instructing members to sell a service.

    There would be no free phones and unlimited service for $10 a month, the company said. It then announced a May debut for a new cell-phone plan, later changing the debut date to June.  No plan has emerged. By July, however, DNA was claiming that churches have the “MORAL OBLIGATION” to help it sell a new mortgage-reduction service that purportedly pays downline commissions 10 levels deep.

    Even after DNA unannounced its “GAME OVER” declaration and the cell-phone plan, affiliates continued to promote the nonexistent plan. At the same time, images of Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey and Apple Inc. continued to appear in DNA promos, despite the fact there is no evidence to support suggestions that the business titans and the Steve Jobs-led technology giant have any ties to the firm.

    MPB Today and affiliates also beamed images of Trump from the homepages of their  websites, along with an image of Warren Buffet and a Walmart store. The company removed the images from its homepage earlier this month. Affiliates continue to display images of Trump, Buffet and Walmart.

    Separately, an MPB Today affiliate who appears to belong to the same downline group that announced the price increase is claiming that “It Doesn’t Matter How it Works[:] It just does.”

    Why the promoter apparently believes that it “does not matter” how a company that claims a $200, one-time purchase can result in free groceries for life “works” was not immediately clear.

    A short video that makes the claim spells the word “whether” without a leading “h,” and the word “jobs” as though it were a possessive. Among the claims in the promo is that MPB Today works whether prospects “need $500 a month or every day.”

  • Another MPB Today Pitch Page That Uses Walmart’s Name In Registered Domain Surfaces; More Check-Waving Promos Using Name Of Distressed Bank Elsewhere On Web

    Another website that pitches the MPB Today MLM program and uses Walmart’s name in a registered domain name has surfaced. This one was registered Sept. 11, and uses an address in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Walmart is not the registered owner of the domain, and it is unclear if the registrant has the retail giant’s permission to use its name in a domain name.

    Separately, check-waving videos and Blog posts using the name of a distressed Florida bank continue to appear online in promos for MPB Today. The promos show checks and the name of Gulf Coast Community Bank of Pensacola.

    Promos for MPB Today that show Walmart gift cards and prepaid Visa cards also continue to appear online.

    Gulf Coast has been operating under an FDIC consent agreement since January. The bank did not respond to requests for comment from the PP Blog last week. Neither did the FDIC.

    The most recent website to use Walmart’s name in its domain name positions the opportunity as a free shopping club.

    “Almost Everyone within the USA is saying ‘YES!” the pitch page proclaims.

    “Please Help Me!” it urges. “I need FREE Food AND a way to Create some Serious Cash NOW!”

    MPB Today operates an “Amazing ‘Recycling Matrix,’” according to the pitch page.

    “Warning!” the page says. “Once you watch this Video, you won’t be able to sleep tonight!”

    A Blog post by a separate MPB Today promoter displays both a check drawn on Gulf Coast Community Bank and a Walmart gift card.

    Some MPB Today affiliates have urged Food Stamp recipients, the unemployed, senior citizens, victims of the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme, people of faith and opponents of President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to join the MPB today program.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said Friday that its Food and Nutrition Service unit was investigating specific claims about the MPB Today program, which is being promoted widely online.

    Among the places from which the program is being promoted are forums known for pitching criminal enterprises and Ponzi schemes.

    In yet-another pitch for MPB Today, a promoter is shown opening an envelope mailed through the U.S. Postal Service. Inside the envelope was another envelope, which appeared to include U.S. postage.

    The inner envelope contained a prepaid Walmart Visa card and a Walmart gift card.

    Walmart has not responded to a request for comment about the MPB Today program. MPB promoters have claimed the company is “affiliated” with Walmart — and also affiliated and endorsed by the USDA’s Food Stamp program for low-income Americans.

    Some MPB Today affiliates have claimed in public promotions for the program that liars and thieves exist in the organization.

    Eight U.S. banks have failed since Sept. 10, including two in Florida. Only three bank failures occurred in the entire United States in 2007.

  • BULLETIN: USDA Following Specific Leads In MPB Today Matter; Agency’s Food And Nutrition Arm Will ‘Take Appropriate Action As Needed’

    BULLETIN: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said this afternoon that the agency’s Food and Nutrition Service is following specific leads in the MPB Today matter and will “take appropriate action as needed.”

    For the first time, the agency used the word “investigate” in its remarks about MPB Today, an MLM tied to a purported “grocery” business known as Southeastern Delivery of Pensacola, Fla. USDA previously referred to the MPB Today matter as a “review.” The agency did not explain why the Food and Nutrition Service had entered the probe.

    The Food and Nutrition Service, known as FNS, says its “mission is to provide children and needy families better access to food and a more healthful diet through its food assistance programs and comprehensive nutrition education efforts.”

    The announcement followed on the heels of claims by MPB Today affiliates that there are liars and thieves within the organization, that the government and Walmart endorsed the MPB Today program and that the USDA’s Food Stamp program was “affiliated” with MPB Today.

    On Tuesday, the PP Blog reported that a purported “news release” promoting MPB Today suggested that Food Stamp recipients should sell $200 of their allotment to raise money to join the MLM program.

    Yesterday the Blog reported that at least two MPB Today members claimed there are liars and thieves inside the organization, using the claims to suggest prospects should join the program only under specific downlines. The Blog also reported that MPB Today affiliates may have ties to the judicially declared CEP Ponzi scheme, the alleged AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme and other Ponzi schemes promoted on forums such as ASAMonitor, TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup.

    All three forums were referenced in a criminal case filed in May by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service against the alleged Pathway To Prosperity Ponzi scheme.

    In July, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a warning about HYIP scams that use forums and social-media sites such as YouTube and Facebook to spread virally on the Internet.

    MPB Today’s website says it ships “ONLY” dry goods to customers, who can expect to pay a shipping charge of up to 50 percent of an order. MPB Today affiliates have used the high shipping charges as a reason for Food Stamp recipients and other customers to join to the MLM program, saying a one-time purchase of $200 in groceries could result in free groceries for life.

    Affiliates have claimed MPB Today issues grocery “vouchers” that can be converted to Walmart gift cards and cash to purchase gasoline, electronics and other nonfood products.

    Among other things, the purported “news release” claimed that the idea about selling Food Stamps for cash to join MPB Today occurred “[on] a beautiful Sunday afternoon” during a drive home from “Church.”

    One promo for MPB Today showed a 46-inch Samsung television and other electronics that purportedly had been acquired by an MPB Today member through the program. Other promos have show prepaid Visa cards that spend like cash.

    MPB Today operates a 2×2 matrix cycler — a business model that has come under fire by the U.S. Secret Service in a Ponzi scheme probe in the Seattle area. The Seattle program was known as Regenesis2x2, and was promoted on some of the same forums MPB Today is being promoted.

  • A CEP PONZI SCHEME TIE? MPB Today Member Says ‘Trevor Reed’ In His Organization; No Immediate Comment From USDA

    This promo lists the names of 20 purported MPB Today affiliates, including the name of "Trevor Reed." It is unclear if the "Trevor Reed" included on the list is the same Trevor Reed who operated the judicially declared CEP Ponzi scheme.

    UPDATED 1:03 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Two days ago the PP Blog reported that a Sept. 20 “news release” for MPB Today’s purported “grocery” program solicited financially strapped Americans to sell $200 worth of Food Stamps to raise cash to join the Florida-based MLM.

    The Blog further reported that a name referenced in the news release (as the author) appears on page 21 of a distribution plan by the court-appointed receiver in the judicially declared CEP Ponzi scheme. The person referenced in the document is scheduled to receive a distribution of $125, which is expected to be issued Sept. 30.

    Today the PP Blog is reporting that a separate MPB Today affiliate who referenced the federal Food Stamp program in a July sales pitch also informed prospects that a person by the name of “Trevor Reed” is in his MPB Today organization.

    It was not immediately clear if the “Trevor Reed” referenced in the MPB Today promo is the same Trevor Reed charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission in a complaint filed July 9, 2007. The complaint alleged that Reed was committing fraud and selling unregistered securities through a company known as CEP.

    A judge later declared CEP a Ponzi scheme. A judgment of more than $1.5 million was placed against Reed and others on Nov. 18, 2008, according to court records. The order was signed by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge James E. Massey.

    On Oct. 27, 2007, Trevor Reed invoked his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination in the CEP case. In September 2008 — less than a year after Reed invoked the 5th Amendment — Andy Bowdoin, the alleged operator of the AdSurfDaily (ASD) Ponzi scheme, also took the 5th.

    Records show that ASD advertised that it accepted payments from a payment processor known as CEP Trust, which was linked to the CEP Ponzi scheme. ASD members are being targeted in sales promos for MPB Today.

    On Nov. 19, 2008, U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer ruled that ASD had not demonstrated it was a lawful business and not a Ponzi scheme, a ruling that dealt a crushing blow to ASD. Just one day earlier — on Nov. 18, 2008 — Massey entered the financial judgment against Reed and others in the CEP Ponzi case.

    Massey ruled CEP a Ponzi on May 22, 2008 — less than three months prior to the federal seizure of tens of millions of dollars in the ASD case. Court records show that CEP had invested money in at least 26 online opportunities, primarily autosurfs.

    “The [CEP] Websites were investment programs that promised cash returns exceeding the amounts paid into the programs,” Massey ruled. “Debtors did not, however, operate or own any underlying business or assets whose profits could fund the promised returns. Although Debtors did place a relatively small amount of money in similar ventures operated by others, the evidence shows they made no profit from those investments. Most importantly, Debtors paid investors with cash received from new investors.”

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which is conducting a “review” about claims made in the MPB Today program, had no immediate comment on potential links to the CEP Ponzi scheme.

    “Take a look at my stats just a few days in!” the MPB Today affiliate urged members in a July forum post. The post included names of 20 downline members, including the name “Trevor Reed.”

    “Trevor Reed’s” MPB Today ID was listed as 150532. It was unclear if “Trevor Reed” is actively promoting the MPB Today program.

    What is clear is that the affiliate pitch in which the name “Trevor Reed” was referenced as an MPB Today downline member also referenced the Food Stamp program.

    “Great opp,” the pitch reads in part. “Just opened affiliated with WAL MART and EBT FOOD STAMPS (GOVT. ACKNOWLEDGED!) TAKE THE TIME TO READ THIS EMAIL IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!”

    Walmart has not responded to a request from comment about the MPB Today program.

  • MPB TODAY SPONSOR ATTACKS FELLOW MEMBERS: Join My Group Because Other Uplines ‘Lying’ To Prospects; ‘People Are Gonna Try To BS You To Try To Get You To Join’

    At the 2:54 mark in this video that includes a guitar as a backdrop, an MPB Today sponsor informs prospects that the company includes uplines that lie to recruits to get them to join.

    An MPB Today sponsor is asserting in a YouTube video that his upline is honest — but that other uplines in the company consist of liars who are “gonna tell you whatever they think you’re gonna want to hear” in a bid to get you to join the Pensacola-based multilevel-marketing (MLM) program that purports to sell groceries.

    How any MPB Today payments to members could be considered untainted if the company collected money based on lies and misrepresentations by sponsors was not explained in the 4:26 video.

    “And you’re going to see so many videos here, telling you, ‘Join us, we have a large upline, large [upline],’” the video’s narrator intoned.

    “They’re lying to you,” he continued. “I know that ours is the second-largest upline in the company. Don’t be . . . People are gonna try to BS you to try to get you to join. They’re gonna tell you whatever they think you’re gonna want to hear.”

    MPB Today is being promoted on YouTube and other social-networking sites. It also is being promoted on known Ponzi scheme forums such as ASAMonitor, TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup.

    It is believed that some of the promoters have ties to the judicially declared CEP Ponzi scheme, the alleged AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme, the alleged Pathway To Prosperity Ponzi scheme, the alleged Regenesis2x2 Ponzi scheme and other Ponzi and pyramid schemes.

    Ponzi ties are potentially catastrophic to MPB Today because promoters could be using criminal proceeds from other schemes to join the company. A public claim by a promoter that the company has upline sponsors who lie to members also is potentially catastrophic because it could be construed as an acknowledgment that the company is coming into possession of money based on falsehoods told by its own members.

    Meanwhile, some MPB Today members have posted purported “proof” videos that the company is legitimate. Some of the videos show images of checks drawn on a Florida bank that is operating under an FDIC consent agreement.

    At least one video shows an MPB Today member cashing a check from the MLM at an FDIC-insured bank while audiotaping the bank teller’s voice. Research suggests the affiliate’s account is at a bank in Utah.

    Federal officials have said that Utah is plagued by Ponzi schemes, including schemes targeted at people of faith.

    If MPB Today has come into possession of money from Ponzi schemes and is gathering money based on the lies of its members — and if affiliates are cashing or depositing MPB Today checks at banks across the United States — it means that banks external to MPB Today’s bank may be in possession of tainted money.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture is conducting a “review” of claims about the MPB Today program. In July 2009, the U.S. Secret Service, which opened a probe into ASD’s business practices a year earlier, said it also was investigating a 2×2 cycler program known as Regenesis2x2.

    MPB Today also operates a 2×2 cycler. It is known that at least one MPBToday affiliate also promoted Regenesis2x2.

  • ‘News Release’ Suggests MPB Today Prospects Should Sell $200 Worth Of Food Stamps To ‘Friend, Family Member Or Whoever’ To Raise Cash To Join MLM Program

    Impoverished prospects should sell $200 worth of Food Stamps to a “friend, family member or whoever” to raise cash to join the MPB Today multilevel-marketing (MLM) program, according to a news release published on a free publicity site.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which is conducting a “review” of claims about MPB Today, had no immediate comment on the news release. The release was dated yesterday, and included a URL that redirected to the sales page of an MPB Today affiliate, a URL that produced an error message and a URL that led to a YouTube video promo for MPB Today.

    “This is what I came up with,” the news release claimed, noting that the Food Stamp brainstorm occurred on the way home from church on Sunday.

    “Since MPB is the only online grocery store to accept EBT, why not purchase your groceries from MPB and either sell $200 in food stamps or use your EBT cash to get yourself into the program,” the news release continued.

    “Let’s look at the logic here,” the release urged. “Let’s say you sold $200.00 of your food stamps to a friend, family member or whoever wants to buy your food stamps and not have to pay taxes on their grocery purchase (using the EBT card). What have you lost? Nothing. Since you sold $200.00 in food stamps and got into the business, MPB gives you a $200.00 food voucher towards groceries that you would spend at Wal-Mart or any other grocery store.”

    The headline on the news release was, “EBT Card Holders Only.” The release also asked, “Do you know of anyone who has an EBT card? Do they know of anyone who has an EBT card? If so, then you are on your way to financial freedom.”

    EBT stands for Electronic Benefits Transfer. The USDA administers the Food Stamp program, known as SNAP.

    Some MPB Today affiliates have targeted Food Stamp recipients in sales pitches.

    Part of the "news release." (Black square and red highlights added by PP Blog.)

    “These days, more and more people are allowing governmental programs to have control over their income,” the news release claimed. “Its time for a change. Why not use those same programs to pay your way into financial independence. Never have to worry about not having enough ever again. This is your way out of the rat race. Start your independence today with Mpbtoday and sign up at [deleted by PP Blog.]”

    “This is a way for you to make a good income and have fun doing it,” the release concluded. “How easy is it for you to find people with EBT cards? You deserve it to yourself to check this opportunity out and make a decision. The ball is in your court now.”