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British Con Man Pleads Guilty In £14 Million Ponzi Scheme; Terry Freeman ‘Archetypal Fraudster Happy To Steal Money And Ruin Lives,’ London Detective Says
An Essex trader jailed in 1997 for financial fraud emerged from prison with a new name and swindled investors of £14 million ($28.8 million), the City of London Police Department said. Terry Freeman, 62, known as Terrence Sparks when he was jailed 14 years ago, pleaded guilty in Southwark Crown Court to fraudulent trading, engaging…
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FTC: Company Sold Bogus ‘Green’ Certifications To ‘Anyone Willing To Pay A Fee’; Firm Known As ‘Tested Green’ Hawked ‘Worthless Labels,’ Agency Says
A company that called itself “Nonprofit Management LLC” and did business as “Tested Green” sold bogus environmental certifications and ramped up the deception by implying it was independently endorsed by the National Green Business Association and the National Association of Government Contractors, the FTC said. Not only were the environmental certifications bogus, the purported endorsements…
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Federal Judge, 5 Others Shot And Killed In Arizona; Suspect Lamented About ‘Gold Standard’ And ‘Currency’; Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Shot At Close Range, Survives Emergency Surgery
A federal judge was shot and killed in Arizona yesterday in an attack apparently aimed at a member of Congress who was holding a constituent event outside a supermarket in Tucson, an official said. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head at close range. President Obama said she was battling for her life after…
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Spectacular Ponzi Scheme Alleged In Utah By SEC; Attorney Who Didn’t Do Homework Helped Fraudster Grease Money Wheel By Calling Investment ‘One Of The Best He Had Ever Seen,’ Agency Says
EDITOR’S NOTE: If you’re an autosurf or HYIP promoter — or a person who is accepting fees for driving business to an investment opportunity based on assertions you cannot independently verify to be truthful — the story below should be instructive. It perhaps will be particularly instructive if part of your fraud game plan is…
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SEC: Broker Ripped Off Elderly Nuns In New York; Paul George Chironis Targeted Sisters Of Charity In Churning Scam, Agency Says
A Long Island, N.Y.-based broker ripped off “a congregation of mostly elderly nuns in the Bronx” in a churning scheme in which he repeatedly executed trades that eroded the value of two accounts held by the Sisters of Charity to line his own pockets, the SEC said. Paul George Chironis, 58, of Melville, N.Y., has…
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BULLETIN: Incendiary Devices Sent To Two State Buildings In Maryland; Workers Being Evacuated; Probe Under Way
BULLETIN: Two incendiary devices apparently mailed to state-government buildings in Annapolis and Hanover, Md., have detonated without causing a large explosion or widespread damage, according to published reports. Early reports are sketchy. No one appears to have been injured seriously, but the bomb squad, firefighters and ambulances are at the scene — and there are…
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RECOMMENDED READING: Blogger Recalls His Real-Life Encounter With An MLM Stepfordian And Wonders Whether The Cadillac Ever Will Arrive At His House
EDITOR’S NOTE: Blogger Chuck Miller, who posts on the website of the Albany (N.Y.) Times Union, has a post today on the unique circumstances under which he became a self-described “mark” for an MLM pitch nearly 20 years ago. Seems Miller’s MLM memories linger after nearly two decades. (You’ll learn why by clicking on the link…
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FLORIDA — AGAIN: Man Arrested Amid Allegations He Swindled Investors In ‘Yogurt-Based Product To Re-Grow Hair’; Joseph P. Fox Of Telogenesis Inc. Was Recidivist Offender, State Says
A Florida man who served jail time in an earlier scheme in California has been arrested by the Miami Beach Police Department and agents from the Florida Office of Financial Regulation (OFR), amid allegations he swindled investors in a “yogurt-based product to re-grow hair,” OFR said. Joseph P. Fox, president of Telogenesis Inc. of Miami…
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