BULLETIN: A California man whose license to deal in investments was revoked in 2005 and was the subject of a desist-and-refrain order four years later has been arrested on charges be was operating a fraud scheme, federal prosecutors said.
Janamjot Singh Sodhi, also known as Jimmy Singh, was arrested yesterday and will make a court appearance today in California, prosecutors said.
Sodhi also is known as “Jimmy Sodhi,” according to records in California.
Sodhi, former owner of a company known as Elite Financial Inc., gathered $2.4 million from investors despite his dubious history, according to prosecutors.
Some of the money was used to pay off previous investors and personal bills, prosecutors said.
He and Elite are named in a January 2009 desist-and-refrain order issued by the state of California. The order alleged that Sodhi wrote bad checks to an investor after being permanently banned from the New York Stock Exchange in 2005 for misappropriating $474,700 belonging to a client.
The new charges against Sodhi were not immediately clear. The Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force said this afternoon that the office of U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner of the Eastern District of California is prosecuting the case and that the arrest evolved from an investigation by the FBI and the Fresno Police Department.
Marshall E. Home, the 81-year-old “sovereign citizen” accused in Arizona two months ago of filing a false petition to place the United States in involuntary bankruptcy and causing at least 173 false claims to be filed against the nation, has more legal problems.
Home and Margaret Elizabeth Broderick of Tucson have been charged in a superseding indictment with bankruptcy fraud, mail fraud and wire fraud.
Through an entity known as “The Individual Right Party; Mortgage Rescue Service,” Home and Broderick hatched a scheme by which they charged $500 and offered purported relief to foreclosure subjects, prosecutors said.
Instead of providing actual relief, they filed “false documents in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, making false claims against the United States. The false claims totaled over $250 billion,” prosecutors said.
But neither Home nor Broderick stopped there, prosecutors said.
“[T]he indictment alleges that the defendants essentially tried to assume the identities of the Federal National Mortgage Association (better known as ‘Fannie Mae’) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (better known as ‘Freddie Mac,’)” prosecutors said.
“The defendants then filed deeds purporting to transfer title to real estate owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to an entity controlled by the defendants. The defendants attempted to steal at least 28 properties from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in this manner,” prosecutors said.
An Amish man has been indicted in Ohio in an alleged long-running scheme that devoured more than $16.8 million.
Victims of Monroe L. Beachy included fellow Amish and the Amish Helping Fund, according to court filings.
Beachy, 77, resides in Sugarcreek, Ohio. He was charged civilly by the SEC in February 2011. A criminal indictment charging Beachy with mail fraud was announced today by federal prosecutors in Cleveland.
“This is fraud on a massive scale,” said Steven M. Dettelbach, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. “This defendant took advantage of people’s trust in him and squandered the life savings of hundreds upon hundreds of families.”
Beachy operated a company known has A&M Investments, and customers believed their money was safe in conservative Ginnie Mae Bond Funds, prosecutors said.
There are at least 2,698 victims, according to the indictment.
A top FBI agent described the scheme as elaborate.
“Unfortunately, he violated[investors’] trust over and over again resulting in a combined loss of over $16 million,” said Stephen D. Anthony, special agent in charge of the Cleveland FBI office. “The FBI and its partners were committed to unraveling this elaborate scheme . . . and to work with those victims who were affected by this large-scale investment fraud.”
Beachy did not invest the money as promised, prosecutors said, noting that he had been gathering money for 20 years before the scheme collapsed last year.
The Amish Helping Fund helps members of the Amish community purchase land and buildings, among other things, prosecutors said.
A New Jersey woman accused of operating an $8 million Ponzi and investment-fraud scheme has pleaded guilty to wire fraud.
Jenifer Devine, 39, of Fair Lawn, was accused in November 2010 of ripping off investors in a purported wholesale business known as Devine Wholesale, which purportedly offered clothing and electronics.
But it was a promissory-notes Ponzi scheme that featured bogus inventory lists and caused investors to lose more than $2 million, federal prosecutors said.
Investors were lured by promises of returns of up to 25 percent every 30 to 60 days, but Devine’s company was fraudulent and she spent some of the money on a Royal Caribbean cruise and purchases at luxury retailers such as Burberry, Gucci and Coach.
Devine faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
The case was brought by elements of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force and prosecuted by the office of U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.
A Maryland prison inmate who sent a threatening letter to a federal judge was monitored — and then sought to send a death threat to President Obama, the office of U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said.
Willie Ray Bryant, 41, now has pleaded guilty to threatening U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles Jr. Bryant, who is serving a 40-year term in state prison, faces up to 10 years on the federal charge.
“BOOM,” a section from the letter to the judge began. “[S]ee how easy this was, next time you wont (sic) be so lucky[.] ERM Family ANTHRAX!!”
The FBI found Byrant’s fingerprints on the letter, and alerted prison officials. Maryland corrections officers then “intercepted a letter Bryant had addressed to President Obama excoriating the President for turning his back on Islam and threatening to kill the President,” prosecutors said.
U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett is scheduled to sentence Bryant on Dec. 9.
The letter to Obama said that Bryant wanted to chop off the President’s head, according to the Baltimore Sun.
A Florida man’s weeks-long, nonstop efforts to raise defense funds from the people he is accused of defrauding in a $110 million Ponzi scheme have fallen flat, leaving him 95 percent short of his $500,000 goal.
But AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin says he still wants members to send him money — and he’s asking for one more thing: “positive testimonials . . . for a new page on the fundraising website.”
In a strangely worded email filled with bizarre bullet points some ASD members have received, Bowdoin said this:
Each of you, who have already donated to the Legal Defense Fund, are thanked by me, and I warmly invite you to write your personal viewpoint and testimony in answer to one, or more or all of the following topics:
Why you want to help us fight back against the Govt injustices.
Why you think this Fundraising Army is an excellent way to join forces and do something about it.
Why you donated your small contribution and why you think all ASD members should do the same quickly.
Why you feel positive and hopeful that I can win my court case AND be found “Not Guilty” by the Jury.
Why proving to the jury that ASD is not a Ponzi Scheme is so important.
Why you want us to win the case and what you will do when ASD gets back in business again.
Why you are hopeful that ASD members can get their advertising money back from the US govt.
The accused felon said in the email that he’d gathered only $24,400 of the $500,000 needed. His formal bid to raise funds began on July 26 after weeks of prelaunch hoopla for his website, which is known as Andy’s Fundraising Army.
In August 2008, the U.S. Secret Service seized tens of millions of dollars from Bowdoin amid allegations he was presiding over a massive international fraud caper. Federal prosecutors say Bowdoin is well aware he was conducting a Ponzi scheme.
The money was seized in civil-forfeiture actions, and U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer issued final orders of forfeiture and judgments in the government’s favor last year. Prosecutors have established a remissions program from which victims of ASD will receive compensation from seized funds.
More than 11,000 people have filed remissions claims, prosecutors said in court filings.
Bowdoin claimed in court filings that the seized money belonged to him. In a September 2009 conference call, he told members it belonged to them — despite what he had told Collyer.
The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld Collyer’s forfeiture orders.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia brought both the civil and criminal prosecutions in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi case. In 2008, ASD President Andy Bowdoin compared prosecutors in the office to “Satan,” saying that what happened to ASD was “30 times worse” in some ways than what happened on Sept. 11, 2001. The 9/11 attacks killed nearly 3,000 people.
Barbara Olson, a former assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) in the District of Columbia office, was killed on 9/11 when American Airlines Flight 77 — the plane she was aboard — slammed into the Pentagon. Today the Justice Department dedicated a national-security conference room in the D.C. office in her memory.
Olson was 45 at the time of her death. She was the wife of former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson.
Here are the remarks U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder delivered today in the office of U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. in the District of Columbia. Holder once was U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
Attorney General Eric Holder
Thank you, Ron [Machen], for your kind words, and for your outstanding leadership of an office that is very special to me – and an essential part of our nation’s Department of Justice.
As Ron just mentioned – and as many of you remember firsthand – I once had the privilege of leading this office. I understand the unique jurisdiction, and the vital national security prosecutions, that place you at the center of the Justice Department’s efforts to protect the safety of the American people. In a very real sense, you serve on the front lines of this fight. You’re helping to advance our most critical priorities. And you’re doing extraordinary work.
Let me assure you – Ron never misses an opportunity to brag about his team, and to tell me just how much you’re accomplishing. Especially as we commemorate the tenth anniversary of the most devastating terrorist attacks ever carried out against the United States, it’s clear that this work – your work – has never been more important, or more urgent.
That is one of the lessons of September 11th, 2001 – a day that transformed our entire nation and touched each of our lives. And I know that many of you experienced the human cost of 9/11 in a deeply personal – and painful – way.
The nearly 3,000 innocent victims of 9/11 included a remarkable, and cherished, alumna of this office. Some of us had the chance to work with Barbara Olson – to learn from her example, and to count her as a friend. She reached many others with her professional commentary, her bestselling books, and the enduring impact of her contributions.
Barbara was a wonderful woman – a dedicated public servant, a brilliant attorney, and a loving wife. As an AUSA in this office, and throughout her career, Barbara proved that her convictions ran deep, and that her fidelity – to the values she held dear, the principles she fought to defend, and the countless people whose lives she touched – was unshakeable.
On the morning of September 11th, 2001, Barbara boarded American Airlines Flight 77 – which soon was hijacked by five al-Qaeda terrorists, and plunged into the western side of the Pentagon.
Like so many others on that fateful day – in Arlington, Virginia; in my hometown of New York; and in a field outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania – Barbara’s life was cut tragically short. But – one decade later – as we gather to reflect on the events of 9/11, and to remember those who were taken from us so suddenly, I believe that – thanks to the heroic efforts of so many law enforcement officers and military service members; the vigilance of dedicated public servants like you; and the extraordinary resilience that the American people – today, our nation is not only safer, but stronger, than ever before.
Despite the best efforts of our enemies, our resolve has never wavered or weakened. Our commitment to doing not just what is necessary, but what is right – to protect the safety and the civil liberties of those we serve – remains certain. And, over the last 10 years, we have proven this nation’s ability to respond to terror threats, but never – never – to submit to them.
That’s why, at its core, the anniversary we observe every September 11th is about far more than the buildings that our enemies brought down, or the damage that they inflicted on our fellow citizens. It’s about honoring the heroism we witnessed. It’s about offering our strongest support to law enforcement officers, military service members, and the families of every victim. And it’s about renewing our commitment to upholding the uniquely American values that have always defined and strengthened this great nation.
In this spirit – and in honor of our fallen colleague – I am proud to join you in dedicating a national security conference room to Barbara’s memory, here in the critical office where she once served.
As we carry on her work – and build on the record of achievement that each of you has helped to establish – let us draw inspiration from all those who have dedicated their lives to the service of others, and whose memories remind us of the quiet power of compassion, patriotism, and selflessness that shone through the smoke and the wreckage of 9/11.
These values have always given our nation strength – even in our darkest moments. Let us continue to honor them. And let us continue our work to ensure that – in our own time and in the work of future generations – the lessons of September 11th, and the rich legacies of those we lost, will never be forgotten.
The bizarre descent into chaos of a failing “program” that claimed to be moving to “offshore” servers and once made its participants swear they were not government spies or media lackeys has gotten stranger yet.
Poster “10BucksUp,” who’s now flogging the JustBeenPaid “program,” falsely claimed on the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum today that the PP Blog posts on MoneyMakerGroup as “ISPY” and published a link to the Blog on the forum to discredit him.
The PP Blog is not “ISPY” and does not post on MoneyMakerGroup under any identity. Nor does the Blog communicate with “ISPY” in any fashion, know his (or her) identity or encourage “ISPY” directly or indirectly to post links to the Blog. The Blog has never encouraged any member of MoneyMakerGroup — or any other Ponzi scheme forum — to post links to the Blog.
It is somewhat common for posters on Ponzi boards, including so-called “naysayers,” to post links to the Blog’s coverage of schemes-in-progress or schemes gone bust. It also is somewhat common for Ponzi board promoters to exhibit paranoia about the Blog’s reporting and even claim the Blog is part of a U.S. government operation.
Prior to asserting that “ISPY” was the PP Blog, “10BucksUp” accused ISPY of threatening him. ISPY denied threatening “10BucksUp.”
“10BucksUp” rose to Ponzi forum prominence as a pitchman and apologist for ClubAsteria, which became the subject of a probe by the Italian securities regulator CONSOB in May, had its PayPal account frozen, slashed weekly payouts to members and then eliminated the payouts.
Meanwhile, “10BucksUp” also acknowledged today that he was a member of the collapsed Cherry Shares HYIP. In June, Cherry Shares was referenced in freeze and trade orders brought by The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), the securities regulator for the province of Quebec in Canada.
The acknowledgement by “10BucksUp” of his Cherry Shares involvement means that he was participating in a second “program” that had come under government scrutiny — but nevertheless plowed headlong into JustBeenPaid.
Earlier this month, “10BucksUp” advised members of JustBeenPaid that late-entry members were engaging in hurtful and “drastic measures” if they filed disputes with AlertPay. Among other things, JustBeenPaid has asserted it is a “private association.”
The AdViewGlobal (AVG) autosurf made the same claim prior to its collapse in June 2009. AVG was one of the so-called AdSurfDaily clones — each of which launched (and collapsed) after the August 2008 seizure by the U.S. Secret Service of tens of millions of dollars in a Ponzi scheme investigation.
Today’s false MoneyMakerGroup claims about the PP Blog also occurred against the backdrop of a securities fraud case brought by the SEC against Jody Dunn, an alleged pitchman for Imperia Invest IBC. Imperia Invest also was promoted on MoneyMakerGroup and TalkGold, and the SEC charged that Dunn had promoted it blindly and relied on claims made by the purported opportunity, rather than conducting any actual due diligence.
Millions of dollars directed at Imperia Invest went missing, the SEC charged.
“You want to arrest me? [G]o ahead,” 10BucksUp wrote on MoneyMakerGroup today. “Send a Secret Service/US Seal/intergalactic commando force in my little 3rd world village. Afterall, that is what some Americans think of us right? We all should live under your whims, at what you dictate as legal and not illegal. And then when somebody else invoke that ‘power’ against you, you cry ‘dont tread on me’ or ‘taxed enough already[.”]
“Go ahead with your crusade, Mr ISPY/Patrick Pretty/Twerp,” 10BuckUp continued. “Clean up the world of garbages like us. There are millions of us. I hope you can finish up in your lifetime.”
10BucksUp did not say whether he believed U.S. and other world citizens unwise to the ways of the Ponzi pitchman should simply remain silent after they recognize they’ve been scammed and permit fraudsters to steal their money. Nor did he say whether he believed the U.S. government was making a mistake in prosecuting fraudsters who have disappeared with tens of millions of dollars in recent cases such as Legisi and Pathway to Prosperity — in an era of terrorism and economic uncertainty.
The combined haul of the Legisi, Pathway to Prosperity and ASD “opportunities” was about $250 million, according to court filings. Separately, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) said last year that Genius Funds, a collapsed HYIP, had gathered $400 million.
Like Club Asteria, JustBeenPaid and Cherry Shares, Legisi, Pathway To Prosperity, ASD, AVG and Genius Funds were promoted on the Ponzi boards.
FINRA specifically warned last year that HYIP fraud schemes spread on the Internet through social media and forums.
“10BucksUp” said today that he used a “a free, blogger blog” to promote Club Asteria. Blogger is part of Google’s Blogspot platform.
“Irony, thy name is John F. Langford.”— Texas State Securities Board, July 28, 2011
An Amarillo man whose firm fleeced senior citizens by telling them it couldn’t promise to make them rich — but guaranteed it wouldn’t make them poor — has received what might amount to a life sentence behind bars for bringing destruction to their doors.
John F. Langford, 77, pleaded guilty in July to securities fraud, selling unregistered securities and dealing in securities without proper registration with the state. The case was prosecuted by the office of Potter County District Attorney Randall Sims, and Langford effectively was sentenced yesterday to remain behind bars until he turns 92 — and then some.
At least one of his victims was “incapacitated,” according to the 15-count indictment handed up against Langford in 2009.
Yesterday Langford received seven concurrent sentences of 15 years for fraud, four concurrent sentences of 10 years for selling unregistered securities and four more concurrent sentences of 10 years for not being a registered securities dealer.
It was a promissory notes and annuities caper in which seniors and others did not get their money, according to the state.
“Irony, thy name is John F. Langford,” the Texas State Securities Board said in July, after Langford’s guilty plea. “In radio advertising spots a few years ago, Langford’s insurance agency in Amarillo said, ‘At Langford & Associates, we don’t promise to make you rich, but we guarantee not to make you poor.’”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit has unanimously upheld the 30-year sentence imposed last year on Ponzi schemer Matthew B. Pizzolato by U.S. District Judge Lance M. Africk of the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Although Pizzolato had worked out a plea deal with prosecutors that included a nonbinding recommendation for Pizzolato to serve a maximum term of about 15 and a half years, Africk disregarded the recommendation and ordered an upward departure from federal sentencing guidelines — effectively doubling the term prosecutors had sought.
Africk reasoned that Pizzolato’s $19.5 million Ponzi had subjected senior citizens and other vulnerable members of society to severe and ongoing harm, telling Pizzolato in open court that his fraud was one in which “a lot of people of modest means lost everything.”
Written words on “cold” court documents “will never reflect the depth of pain” of the victims, Africk told Pizzolato.
“In particularly despicable fashion, many of your victims were the most susceptible members of our society; all looked forward to some modest degree of comfort during their golden years,” Africk said.
“Weaving a web of deception and practicing predatory acts, you ruthlessly pounced on some of our most vulnerable citizens. You falsely represented yourself to be an attorney. These people trusted you with their life savings and you, in turn, devastated them. You stole savings desperately needed by these fine people to achieve the most basic needs of their life. Worrying that these needs will go unmet, many of our victims fear they will never recover from their loss. I feel the same.”
In sentencing Pizzolato to the 30-year maximum, Africk rejected the convicted swindler’s claims that he was an unsophisticated, 26-year-old man. The judge also considered the psychological damage suffered by victims, the number of victims (180), the reach and complexity of the scheme and the duration of the scheme (three years).
Africk remarked that he had “never seen a fraud-based crime more horrendous than the one” Pizzolato engineered, according to court records.
"ABOUT US" and "JOIN NOW" buttons — each punctuated with exclamation points — appear below this image of actor Will Smith in Club Asteria's September 2011 house organ. The PP Blog has cropped this screen shot not to show Smith's face, but his face appears in the Club Asteria promo.
UPDATED 1:47 P.M. EDT (U.S.A. OCT. 29, 2011.) An image of famed actor and rapper Will Smith appears in Club Asteria’s September house organ, an online glossy used by the firm to recruit affiliates across the world. It was unclear if Smith had knowledge of the promo or had authorized Club Asteria to use his likeness.
A link to the publication featuring the image of Smith appeared on the TalkGold Ponzi forum yesterday. TalkGold is referenced in federal court filings as a place from which international fraud schemes are promoted.
Smith’s publicists at the 42West agency in Los Angeles had no immediate comment on the promo when contacted today by the PP Blog, which provided a link to the Club Asteria publication. The entertainer’s image appears on Page 7 of the September gusher.
Buttons using the words “LEARN MORE!” “ABOUT US! and “JOIN NOW!” appear a short distance below the image of Smith. But readers who press the buttons do not receive information about Smith. Rather, the buttons forward to Club Asteria’s website. The “JOIN NOW” button, for instance, takes readers to Club Asteria’s registration page.
The presence of the image of Smith, the wording and design of the page and the positioning of the buttons lead to questions about whether the “Independence Day” and “Men in Black” star had endorsed the purported Club Asteria opportunity or whether Club Asteria was trying to create the impression among readers that he was a spokesman for the company.
In May, Club Asteria promotions were banned in Italy by the Italian securities regulator CONSOB. The agency has published its orders and findings on Club Asteria affiliate websites in Italy.
It is common for shady promoters of multilevel-marketing (MLM) “opportunities” to plant the seed in promos that a particular product or service is endorsed by a celebrity when no actual endorsement exists.
A headline of “Will Smith Inspires the World With Enthusiasm for Life, Work & People!” appears above the image of Smith in the Club Asteria promo.
A deck below the headline uses these words, “An Interview With Will Smith,” suggesting that Club Asteria itself had a direct connection to him. In a short blurb below the deck, readers are told that the “interview” and “discussion” with Smith will inform them about the wisdom he gained “throughout his journey to success” and that Smith will explain “the importance of extraordinary dreams.”
A button to a video — apparently one that appeared on YouTube and is being reframed inside the house organ — appears below the image of Smith. When clicked, the video loads footage of an interview with Smith conducted by 60 Minutes reporter Steve Kroft (NOTE: This paragraph was edited on Oct. 29, 2011, to reflect that Kroft, not Scott Pelley, conducted the 60 Minutes’ interview.) As the video proceeds, it loads footage of Smith being interviewed by broadcaster Charlie Rose. It then works in footage of a Smith interview on NBC’s Today show and a Smith interview on the “Ellen” show. Footage from other shows also are spliced into the video.
Club Asteria reportedly recruited more than 300,000 members in a worldwide promotional blitz that traded on the name of the World Bank. Hundreds — if not thousands — of promos for the firm claimed Club Asteria was a program that provided a weekly return on investment of between 3 percent and 10 percent. The offers were targeted at the world’s poor, with Club Asteria positioned as a company that could lift them out of poverty.
Club Asteria was widely promoted on forums associated with Ponzi schemes and the sale of unregistered securities. Members said Club Asteria first slashed weekly payouts to members in the spring and then eliminated them. Club Asteria announced in May that its PayPal account had been frozen, a development it blamed on members.
In various promos prior to the PayPal freeze, Club Asteria affiliates preemptively denied Club Asteria was operating a Ponzi scheme. Club Asteria managing member Andrea Lucas, whom the World Bank said in March once held a staff position at the bank, last worked for the bank in 1986 — 25 years ago.
Lucas was described in promos for Club Asteria as a former “Director,” chairman and vice president of the World Bank. Images of Hank Needham, another Club Asteria principal, appeared in 2008 promos for AdSurfDaily.
In August of that year, the U.S. Secret Service seized tens of millions of dollars from the personal bank accounts of ASD President Andy Bowdoin, alleging that he was presiding over an international Ponzi scheme.
Bowdoin was arrested on criminal charges of wire fraud, securities fraud and selling unregistered securities in December 2010. His trial is pending. Like Club Asteria, ASD also was promoted on Ponzi boards such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup, which is listed in federal court filings as a place from which the alleged Pathway To Prosperity and Legisi Ponzi schemes were promoted.
ASD, Pathway To Prosperity and Legisi created tens of thousands of victims globally and fraudulently obtained a combined total of about $250 million, according to court filings.
BULLETIN: A California man whose license to deal in investments was revoked in 2005 and was the subject of a desist-and-refrain order four years later has been arrested on charges be was operating a fraud scheme, federal prosecutors said.
