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BULLETIN: Minnesota Ponzi Scheme Bilked Banks Of $80 Million, Feds Say; Corey N. Johnston Charged With Bank Fraud, Tax Crime
Another spectacular Ponzi case has emerged in Minnesota just months after federal prosecutors charged Trevor Cook in an alleged $190 million scam and Tom Petters was convicted in a $3.65 billion scam. Charged in a new scheme today was Corey N. Johnston of Lakeville, a Minneapolis suburb. The Minneapolis/St. Paul region also is the home…
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EXPLOSIVE REVELATION: FBI, IRS Find More Than $400,000 In Stashed Loot In Trevor Cook Ponzi Case, Including More Than $200,000 In $100 Bills, Gold Coins, Watches, Baseball Cards
Trevor Cook’s brother was hiding more than $400,000 in cash and valuables from a $190 million Ponzi scheme, according to an extraordinary statement by the court-appointed receiver in the case. The loot was found July 23 — after Trevor Cook, whose plea agreement in the case required him to submit to a lie-detector test if…
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SEC: Felons, Recidivists Pushed ‘Green’ Energy Securities Swindle Through California ‘Boiler Room’; 6 People Charged In $11 Million Fraud Case
About 200 investors turned over $11 million to a boiler-room operation selling investments in a purported “green” energy company, the SEC said. The alleged swindle in which Kensington Resources Inc. sold unregistered shares of American Environmental Energy Inc. (AEEI) was pulled off by a convicted felon with the help of a recidivist securities offender, the SEC…
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BULLETIN: Montana Declares ACN Inc. A ‘Pyramid Scheme’; Cease-And-Desist Order Issued Amid Allegations Deck Is Stacked Against MLM Participants
BULLETIN: ACN Inc., a North Carolina-based multilevel-marketing company that bills itself “The World’s Largest Direct Seller of Telecommunication Services,” has been accused by the state of Montana of operating a pyramid scheme. Monica J. Lindeen, Montana’s Commissioner of Securities and Insurance, has issued a cease-and-desist order against ACN and a Notice of Proposed Agency Action.…
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DEVELOPING STORY: Feds Make Major Arrest In Tax Case Linked To Offshore Forex Fraud Scheme Known As Tradex; Arthur A. Ferdig, Who Claimed To Be ‘Taught By Angels,’ Detained On Felony Warrant
DEVELOPING STORY: Arthur A. Ferdig, who purported to be “taught by Angels and other wonderful beings of light, including the Christ Energy, Holy Spirit and more,” has been arrested and is listed as “in transit” to an unspecified federal detention facility. Ferdig, 70, was indicted under seal in April 2009 for evading taxes on income…
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BULLETIN: ‘Genesis Fund’ Operator John S. Lipton Gets 70 Months In Prison; ‘Offshore’ Forex Scheme Presaged Frauds, Lengthy Global Probes To Come
UPDATED 2:18 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) John S. Lipton, an alleged founding member and principal manager of the Genesis Fund Forex Ponzi scheme, has been sentenced to 70 months in federal prison for conspiracy to defraud the United States and tax evasion. The Genesis Fund scheme traces its roots at least to 1994 and presaged Forex,…
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BULLETIN: DO NOT INGEST: ‘Miracle Mineral Solution,’ Also Known As ‘Miracle Mineral Supplement’ Or ‘MMS,’ Produces ‘Industrial Bleach’ And Causes ‘Serious Harm,’ FDA Says
“Serious harm,” including “life-threatening low blood pressure,” may come to consumers who drink “Miracle Mineral Solution” (MMS), an “an oral liquid also known as “Miracle Mineral Supplement,†the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned. The FDA warned consumers to “stop using it immediately and throw it away.” The product is being marketed online. When used…
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MORE BAD NEWS FOR PONZI PURVEYORS: Upstart Ponzi Operator Sued By SEC After Assists From FINRA, Texas State Securities Board, Agency Says; Gregory Todd Froning Confronts Civil, Administrative Actions
EDITOR’S NOTE: Online HYIP and autosurf purveyors and their fellow “mini-Madoffs” may find the brick-and-mortar case of Gregory Todd Froning at once unsettling and instructive. In yet-another development apt to create unease in the HYIP and autosurf Ponzi worlds, a new court action by the SEC demonstrates that even “small” operators in the universe of…
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Judge Extends Asset Freeze In Matt Gagnon Fraud Case; Issues Order To Preserve Evidence And Require Weekly Financial Report To SEC
A federal judge has extended the freeze on the assets of a website operator accused by the SEC of shilling for a Ponzi schemer and then trying to extort money from the schemer when the fraud was collapsing. Severe restrictions placed on Mazu.com operator Matt Gagnon by U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh of the…
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FANTASY POST: President Cuts Short Vacation To Address Nation On ‘Grave Threat To National Economic Security’; Government Targeted With ‘Taunt’ From Purported MLM Operators Amid Sea Of Incongruity; ‘We Have The Power,’ Unnamed ‘Group’ Says
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a fantasy post. The “story” below is not real. The PP Blog occasionally presents fantasy posts, parody and satire as a means of advancing the discussion about issues in the world of online crime and marketing schemes. BAR HARBOR, Maine (PPBlog) — President Obama abruptly cut short his family vacation here…
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Peter C. Son Sentenced To 15 Years In Forex Ponzi Scheme That Targeted Korean-Americans; Courtroom Spectator Heckled Scammer, Declaring He Deserved Death For Crime
A California man accused of bilking Korean-Americans in an $80 million Forex Ponzi scheme was sentenced yesterday to 15 years in federal prison. Prior to the sentencing of Peter C. Son of Danville, a courtroom spectator yelled in Korean that “You’ve got to kill that bastard!” according to the San Francisco Chronicle. In June 2009,…
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