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Knife-Wielding Man Killed Near Boston Yesterday Planned ‘Violent Jihad’ And Random Police Killings, Feds Say
One of the knives: Source: Boston Police Department.

At 5 a.m. yesterday — two hours before he died in the Boston neighborhood of Roslindale — Usaamah Abdullah Rahim called David Wright of the Boston-area community of Everett, according to an FBI affidavit from a member of Boston’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Wright, 25, also is known as Dawud Sharif Wright and Dawud Sharif Abdul Khaliq, the office of U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz of the District of Massachusetts said.

During the 5 a.m. call, according to the FBI affidavit, 26-year-old Rahim told Wright he was going to “go after” the “boys in blue” and that he “planned to randomly kill police officers in Massachusetts either yesterday (June 2) or today (June 3).”

Here we’ll point out that, just a little more than two years ago, President Obama spoke at an interfaith service in Boston in the aftermath of the terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon. Obama noted that “doctors and nurses, police and firefighters and EMTs and Guardsmen” ran toward the explosions to treat the wounded.

A little more than a year ago, while feting the Boston Red Sox at the White House for winning the 2013 World Series, Obama reminded the audience once again of the valor on display by police during the Marathon bombing. He noted that Officer Richard Donahue of the MBTA Transit Police was shot and nearly killed in a battle with the terrorists and was fighting back from his injuries.

MBTA police noted that their colleague, Officer Sean Collier of the MIT Police Department, was killed by the terrorists.

Despite the Marathon attacks against innocent human beings — and despite the fact the police are the thin blue line that protects society — Rahim apparently wanted to kill Boston-area cops. And Wright, according to the FBI affidavit, apparently had so little regard for the lives of police officers that he instructed Rahim to wipe his smartphone and computer to make sure the plan was not detected.

Wright now has been charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice. A day earlier, in Roslindale at 7 a.m. outside a CVS pharmacy, Rahim allegedly approached cops and the FBI “while brandishing his weapon, and he was shot by law enforcement.”

There are reports that Rahim worked at the store as a security guard.

From federal prosecutors (italics added):

As alleged in the complaint affidavit, Rahim, a 26-year-old private security officer, was planning to engage in a violent attack in the United States, and had purchased three military-style fighting knives and a sharpener in furtherance of this plan. In intercepted calls between Wright and Rahim, the men discussed a knife attack on an individual not named in the complaint, and suggested that the target was to be beheaded and have his/her head placed on his/her chest. According to the complaint, such beheadings are a tactic of some foreign terrorist organizations which use such killings in propaganda videos.

The implication, of course, is that Rahim had been inspired by ISIS and/or the beheadings carried out by the terrorist group. America and other nations have been on guard for such gruesome aggression — and police are the first line of defense.

Before shifting focus to police, Rahim had talked about “beheading” a person in another state.

CNN is reporting tonight that the planned victim was conservative Blogger Pamela Geller.

As CNN reported: “Geller drew national attention last month after an off-duty police officer working security thwarted an attack at her organization’s contest for Prophet Mohammed drawings in Garland, Texas. She’s president of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, which includes subsidiary programs Stop Islamization of America and Stop Islamization of Nations.”

The probe also extends into Rhode Island, according to the FBI affidavit. That’s allegedly because Rahim met with Wright and an unidentified third person on a beach during “inclement weather.” The date of the meeting was May 31, just days after Rahim had acquired three knives on Amazon.com and a device to sharpen them.

Here’s how the affidavit describes the knives:
- An Ontario Spec Plus Marine Raider Bowie fighting knife. “The Marine fighting knife Rahim purchased is 15 inches long when opened, contains a 9.75” blade, and weighs 22.4 ounces.”
- A second Marine fighting knife.
- An Ontario Knife SP6 Spec Plus Fighting Knife 8325. “The SP6 Spec Plus Fighting Knife Rahim purchased is 13 inches long and has an eight inch blade.”
Shortly after the ~~7 a.m.~~ 5 a.m. (June 6 edit) conversation yesterday with Wright, according to the affidavit, “Rahim was on a public street in the Boston area, when he was approached by Boston Police Officers and FBI special agents. [Rahim] took out one of the knives he had purchased from Amazon.com when he saw the officers and agents. One of the officers told [Rahim] to drop his weapon and [Rahim] responded, ‘you drop yours.’

“[Rahim] then moved towards the officers while brandishing his weapon, and he was shot by law enforcement.”

Rahim also called Wright on May 26. This from the affidavit (italics added):

Later in the conversation, Wright told Rahim something was “like thinking with your head on your chest.” Both men then burst out laughing. Based upon my training, experience, and involvement in this investigation, I believe this is a reference to the practice of some foreign terrorist organizations to be head targets and place their heads on their chests in propaganda videos.”

Also see Washington Post report.
Jun 3, 2015
FANTASY POST: CLAIM: MLMHelpDesk Blogger Troy Dooly Outed As Curt Gowdy, ‘The Unknown Comic’ And Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a fantasy post. The story below is not real. See additional Note at the bottom.

Latest drama in MLM: MLMHelpDesk Blogger Troy Dooly accused of living a quadruple life.

MIRAMAR BEACH, FLA. (PP BLOG, JUNE 1) — A lawyer has made spectacular claims that dental records and eyewitness testimony will prove famed MLMHelpDesk Blogger Troy Dooly is leading “at least” a quadruple life that he has not disclosed to his millions of readers and viewers.

Not only is Troy Dooly Troy Dooly, the lawyer says, he’s also Curt Gowdy, “The Unknown Comic” and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

And there is growing concern, the lawyer says, that Dooly “simply isn’t a gaggle of ‘nice guys.’ Our crack investigative team led by Anthony Pellicano is developing information that he’s also Don Rickles and D.L. Hughley.”

The lawyer, Ginger Mary Ann of Gilligan Grumby Howell Lovey & Hinkley PLLC of Hollywood, told the PP Blog that famed Boston attorney Denny Crane will testify that Dooly is Gowdy, the former voice of the Boston Red Sox and the host of “The American Sportsman.”

Reached for comment by the PP Blog, Crane said, “Denny Crane saw it with Denny Crane’s own two eyes. Denny Crane was watching the radio booth at Fenway Park with binoculars in the fourth inning of the first game of a doubleheader against the Kansas City A’s on July 27, 1965. It was then Denny Crane saw Gowdy morphing from Gowdy into Dooly, and back into Gowdy. Even delightfully drunk on single-malt Scotch whisky as Denny Crane was at the time, Denny Crane would not forget something like that. And fabrication is simply out of the question for Denny Crane.”

Meanwhile, Mary Ann said Chuck Barris, the former host of “The Gong Show,” a former CIA operative and Crane’s onetime client, would testify that Barris, in 1977, playfully lifted up the paper bag that kept the identity of “The Unknown Comic” secret.

Barris, privy to the identity of “The Unknown Comic” and expecting to see TV funnyman Murray Langston, instead was horrified to see Dooly, Mary Ann said.

“Troy Dooly of MLMHelpDesk not only is ‘The Unknown Comic,’ he also is Murray Langston!” Barris told the PP Blog.

Mary Ann insisted the story was true. Crane declined to comment on Barris’s purportedly shocking encounter with Dooly.

“Denny Crane has nothing to say right now about that,” he said. “Do you feel better now that you’ve talked to Denny Crane? I’m thinking that Denny Crane just made your career.”

Although Mary Ann declined to identify the source who would out Dooly as Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA great and Time magazine columnist, the PP Blog has learned it is Col. Nathan Jessup, accused of perjury in a 1992 case that involved the hazing a fellow U.S. Marine.

Jessup, a Jack Nicholson lookalike, now stands accused in Los Angeles County of breaking into Nicholson’s home last year, stealing the Ocsar-winning actor’s courtside tickets to Lakers’ games and scalping them on eBay.

“The cops told me that Jessup told the FBI that Kareem was going up for a sky hook in 1986 and briefly morphed into this fellow Dooly,” Nicholson told the PP Blog. “I’ve seen Kareem take thousands of shots. He never morphed into anybody. Ask anybody in Hollywood: They’ll tell you Nathan Jessup is a kook who’s made a career out of skimming my identity. He used to do supermarket openings as me, for [heaven’s] sake. My agent found out, and kicked his [freaking] [butt] the whole way back to San Quentin.”

Dooly’s Response

Dooly told the PP Blog he was “too busy to talk at the moment,” and referred questions to Kevin Thompson, his attorney.

“No disrespect, Patrick. I’m up here in Washington, interviewing job candidates outside the revolving floor,” Dooly said, accidentally saying “floor” when he meant “door.”

“Most of us have noticed the revolving floor seems to be working for Herbalife during the FTC probe,” he observed, repeating the same mistake. “I mean, they have a heap of former politicians, aides and agency officials on the payroll now. More and more of us are doing the same thing. We’re calling it, ‘Getting Herbalife Strong.’”

Thompson, of Thompson Burton PLLC of Nashville, said the claims against his client are “bizarre and absurd.”

For starters, Thompson said, “Mr. Gowdy, a great American broadcaster and sportsman, unfortunately died in 2006. Wouldn’t this mean that Troy would have to be dead? And how could Troy be Curt Gowdy, who was born in 1919? Mr Gowdy was 86 when he passed away nine years ago. Troy is more than three decades younger.”

As for the claim Dooly is “The Unknown Comic,” Thompson said that wasn’t true, either.

Take out your subscription to the PP Blog today.

“Anybody who knows Troy knows that he’s only unintentionally funny,” Thompson said. “Don’t get me wrong: Troy is funny as all get out, but it’s always unintentional. Malapropisms and such. Murray Langston, the real ‘Unknown Comic,’ had to be intentionally funny. Troy can’t be funny on cue. Plus, there’s the age thing again, like with Mr. Gowdy. Mr. Langston is much older than my client.”

No matter the source, the claim that Dooly is Abdul-Jabbar is “clearly a mushroom-induced hallucination,” Thompson said.

“Let me mention the age thing again,” Thompson weighed in. “Mr. Abdul-Jabbar is 68. Troy won’t be that for nearly another two decades.

“But there’s something even more obvious,” Thompson continued. “Mr. Abdul-Jabbar is 7 feet 2 inches tall; Troy is maybe 5-feet something. If Troy ever dunked, it was with a Nerf ball on a Nerf backboard with a low rim in the backyard or at the beach. And let me assure you Troy can’t go to his right on any basketball court, regulation or Nerf. A sky hook is simply out of the question for Troy.”

The claim that Dooly might be Don Rickles and D.L. Hughley was “exceptionally irritating” to his client, Thompson said.

“Troy Dooly, a former Marine, is all about the First Amendment,” Thompson said. “Troy is well aware that ‘insult comics’ draw a crowd by saying things that make the audience feel ill-at-ease. In fact, my client was at a convention in Las Vegas and went to see Rickles perform. Rickles picked Troy out of the crowd and told the crowd it was nice to see “Governor Cueball” in the room.

“Can I get you some wax to put a shine on that thing?” Rickles asked Troy.

Dooly, his lawyer said, suspects that any “dental records” that surface and purport to show that Dooly, Gowdy, “The Unknown Comic” and Abdul-Jabbar are one and the same will be the “result of a series of burglaries, with the ‘evidence’ further doctored by Photoshop.”

Thompson confessed some frustration with the state of MLM and the Internet.

“You can bet that some MLMers will ignore all of the irrefutable evidence in favor of Troy and cling to some bizarre conspiracy theory,” Thompson ventured. “My guess is that they’ll say that Troy never has been seen standing side by side in the same room with any of the other three men. And they’ll deduce from that Troy necessarily must be the three other men in addition to himself and therefore is living a quadruple life.

“Doesn’t anybody read Wikipedia any more?” he asked. “Does anybody do any cursory fact-checking before they start spreading around this garbage?”

NOTE: Inspired by this column at MLM HelpDesk and this one at BehindMLM.com. # # #

Take out your subscription to the PP Blog today.

Visit Wikipedia to look up information on:

Curt Gowdy.

“The Unknown Comic” (Murray Langston).

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Anthony Pellicano.

“Denny Crane.”

“Boston Legal.”

“Gilligan’s Island.”

Don Rickles.

D.L. Hughley.

“Insult Comedy.”

Chuck Barris.

“The Gong Show.”

“Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.”

Single-malt Scotch.

Fenway Park.

Boston Red Sox.

“The American Sportsman.”

“A Few Good Men”/”Col. Nathan Jessup.”

Visit Kevin Thompson’s Blog.

Jun 1, 2015

May Subscription Post

NOTE: This post originally was published on May 11 at 7:51 p.m. It was moved back into this slot on May 22, May 23, May 26 and May 30.

Dear Readers,

Our editorial well now stands at 2,667 posts since December 2008. Today alone, readers from more than 35 countries have visited the PP Blog.

There are four “penny-a-post” subscription options in the pull-down menu below. We’re asking readers who believe in what this Blog is doing to take out a one-year subscription for either $25, $50, $75 or $100.

The $25 fee constitutes a penny a post for our current editorial well of 2,500+ articles. The pull-down menu is in case you decide you’d like personally to value the editorial well at 2 cents a post ($50), 3 cents a post ($75) or 4 cents a post ($100).

It is my hope that newer readers who can afford to subscribe will do so at either the $25 or $50 levels. The higher options may be best suited for readers and researchers who’ve been with us a long time and perhaps have read hundreds or even thousands of stories.

Because the Blog’s well is so deep, we’re able to provide readers additional context. You’ll often find this reflected in “quick notes” in the Comments threads below stories. The notes point readers to stories on the same topic or to stories that have a similar theme.

The Blog, of course, also points readers to other sources of information.

There is no paywall at the PP Blog. By purchasing a subscription that automatically renews in one year, you’ll be helping me personally. And, as I’ve previously, you’ll be helping a Blog that publishes hundreds of stories a year and keeps matters important to readers a bookmark away remain free for other readers.

This “penny-a-post” idea has helped me scotch the very real concern about affecting readership by offering subscriptions. The readers who subscribe will be helping keep the Blog free for those who cannot afford to subscribe and for those who simply choose not to.

Our readers of goodwill recognize the PP Blog as a persistent effort to contain harm and to educate the public about matters that destroy pocketbooks and families and, in some cases, affect national security.

My sincere thank you for your continued interest in the PP Blog.

Patrick

May 29, 2015

Zeek’s Paul Burks Will Go On Trial Next Year; Judge Says He Has Received ‘Excellent’ Lawyering

Paul Burks of Zeek Rewards.

UPDATED 10:25 P.M. EDT U.S.A. The trial for accused Ponzi schemer Paul R. Burks of Zeek Rewards now has been set for May 2016.

Burks, 67 at the time of his indictment in October 2014 on charges of wire and mail fraud, wire- and mail-fraud conspiracy and tax-fraud conspiracy, argued successfully that he needed more time to prepare.

Prosecutors in the Western District of North Carolina hoped for a November 2015 trial date. Burks asked the court to delay trial until September 2016.

U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. somewhat split the difference. In an order dated yesterday, Cogburn set the trial for the May 2016 calendar term, advising attorneys for both sides to be prepared to pick a jury.

“The parties are advised that absent some unforeseen contingency, this action will be the first matter on for trial during the May 2016 term and will be tried to completion during that term, which may be extended,” Cogburn wrote. “The parties should be prepared to pick a jury on the second day of that term.”

Cogburn noted that Burks has waived his right to a speedy trial and that discovery in the case is voluminous.

In the earliest days after the SEC’s civil action against Burks and Zeek in August 2012, some Zeekers planted the bizarre story that Burks had hired country-bumpkin lawyers who railroaded him.

In the order yesterday, Cogburn said Burks’ counsel has been “excellent.”

“In addition to the reasons given for continuance under the Speedy Trial Act, the court has conducted a separate inquiry with defendant concerning his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial, informing him that the extension he seeks exceeds a year and that, if he so requested, the court would be able to try this case sooner,” Cogburn wrote.

“After such inquiry, the court is satisfied that the defendant understands his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial and has knowing sought an extension exceeding a year so that he can better prepare for trial or another resolution of this matter,” the judge continued. “Further, the court determines that such request: (1) is informed as he has been advised by excellent counsel; and (2) is a reasoned decision based on the volume of discovery, the seriousness of the charges, and the time needed to digest such material and consider legal options.”

NOTE: Our thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.

May 29, 2015
BULLETIN: Court Orders $2.1 Million Judgment Against Trudy Gilmond, Key Zeek Rewards’ Clawback Defendant

UPDATED 9:35 P.M. EDT U.S.A. Saying that Zeek Rewards’ clawback defendant Trudy Gilmond of Vermont “refused” to appear in North Carolina federal court on May 27 as directed, Senior U.S. District Judge Graham C. Mullen has entered a judgment against Gilmond for $2,129,522.27.

Mullen’s ruling is a significant win for Zeek receiver Kenneth D. Bell. Bell alleged in April that Gilmond and fellow Zeek clawback defendant Jerry Napier of Michigan had failed to defend the actions against them and had missed depositions in Vermont and Detroit, respectively.

Bell sought default judgments against both Gilmond and Napier and asked Mullen to make them appear in federal court for the Western District of North Carolina to show cause why judgments should not be entered against them.

“On May 11, 2015, the Court entered an Order directing Trudy Gilmond to personally appear before the Court on May 27, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. to show cause why judgment should not be entered against her as requested by the Receiver,” Mullen wrote in an order dated yesterday. “Ms. Gilmond failed to appear as directed. Indeed she advised the court by letter that she refused to do so.

“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the Receiver’s Motion is GRANTED and judgment is hereby ENTERED against Defendants Trudy Gilmond and Trudy Gilmond LLC in the amount of $2,129,522.27,” Mullen wrote.

The news was better for Napier, from whom the receiver is seeking more than $2.041 million.

Bell informed the court that “Mr. Napier has appeared for a deposition and is cooperating in the production of documents,” Mullen wrote in a separate order dated yesterday.

NOTE: Our thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.

May 29, 2015
Judge Orders Sann Rodrigues Off The Road

From YouTube.

UPDATED 3:19 P.M. EDT U.S.A. TelexFree and IFreeX MLM promoter Sanderley Rodrigues de Vasconcelos (Sann Rodrigues) won’t be putting the pedal to the metal of his Lamborghini anytime soon — unless he wants to risk going back to jail.

That’s because U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven C. Mannion of the District of New Jersey issued an order May 21 for Rodrigues to surrender his driver’s license as one of the conditions for his release on a charge of immigration fraud. There are other tight conditions, including home confinement, electronic monitoring, secured bond and passport surrender.

And if any doubts remained that U.S. authorities were unaware of the TelexFree-related allegations of securities fraud against Rodrigues in Massachusetts federal court when he was busted in New Jersey earlier his month on the immigration charge, those doubts have been put to rest.

That’s because Mannion specifically referenced the TelexFree case. Indeed, the New Jersey judge informed Rodrigues that he’d deem it “evidence of the defendant preparing to flee” if the Massachusetts court determined the Brazil native had “moved assets” after the immigration bust and violated an injunction flowing from the SEC’s civil case against Rodrigues and seven others filed in April 2014.

Such gamesmanship would be treated as a violation of his bail conditions in New Jersey, Mannion warned.

Mannion also ordered Rodrigues to obtain “[m]ental heath testing/treatment” at the direction of pretrial services. No reason was cited.

The SEC alleged last year that Rodrigues had claimed on YouTube that “God” made MLM and “binary” and that Rodrigues had claimed he’s “never going to stop this.”

In 2006, Rodrigues was named an SEC defendant in a complaint that charged he operated a pyramid scheme known as Universo Fone Club that involved phone cards. TelexFree, which surfaced about six years later, purportedly sold VOIP services.

In May 2014 — a month after the SEC brought the TelexFree-related action against Rodrigues and seven others — Rodrigues appears to have become involved in an unsuccessful effort to create the impression he’d been accorded honors by the Brazilian Senate.

Rodrigues, according to court filings, informed Mannion that he owned two cars — one of them a 2007 Lamborghini of “unknown” value used for the purposes of “Business.” The other car, said to be worth $60,000, was not described.

A “Sann Rodrigues” YouTube account shows Rodrigues posing with three flashy rides, including a Lamborghini, a Ferrari and a Mercedes-Benz.

Prior to his immigration arrest, the TelexFree huckster was seen tooling around in a Ferrari and playing highway cowboy. Rodrigues has a wife and two young children, according to court filings.

Meanwhile, Rodrigues owns two “unencumbered” homes — one worth $400,000, the other $175,000 — and currently makes $80,000 a year, according to court filings.

As the PP Blog reported on May 25, the IFreeX site went offline sometime after Rodrigues was arrested on the immigration charge. The reason why remains unclear.

One thing that is clear is that Mannion also ordered Rodrigues not to break any federal, state or local laws while he was out on bail.

The state of Massachusetts — the U.S. base of TelexFree — put out an IFreeX warning last year.

NOTE: Our thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.

May 28, 2015
Sann Rodrigues Released On ‘Conditions’

Sann Rodrigues. From a promo for TelexFree.

TelexFree and IFreeX promoter Sann Rodrigues has been released on “conditions,” including “the surrender of his passport and the passports belonging to his family members, a $200,000 secured bond, 24-hour electronic monitoring, and home confinement.”

A U.S. Magistrate Judge in the District of New Jersey imposed the conditions on Rodrigues, according to a statement today by the office of U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz of the District of Massachusetts. Here’s the headline of the release: “Pyramid Scheme Promoter Arrested on Visa Fraud Charges.”

The release does not mention IFreeX, whose website went offline yesterday and was the subject of a warning by the Massachusetts Securities Division last year. But the release does mention TelexFree, noting that Rodrigues was charged in 2014 by the SEC “for his role in promoting TelexFree, a pyramid scheme that purported to sell a voice over Internet service.”

At the same time, the release noted that Rodrigues had been charged by the SEC in 2006 with “owning and operating Universo Fone Club and defrauding investors of millions of dollars.” The SEC alleged that Universo Fone Club was a pyramid scheme.

Rodrigues, of Davenport, Fla., was arrested earlier this month at Newark International Airport on visa-fraud charges after returning from Israel, prosecutors said.

A citizen of Brazil, according to court filings, Rodrigues presented his U.S. “green card to Customs and Border Protection Officers on May 3, 2015, at Logan Airport [in Boston], knowing that he obtained that document based upon false statements to immigration officials,” prosecutors said.

TelexFree operated from Massachusetts. A court-appointed bankruptcy trustee has said TelexFree gathered on the order of $1.8 billion in about two years.

Read the full statement by prosecutors on the arrest of Rodrigues and his release on conditions.

May 26, 2015
IFreeX Site Offline; At Least 2 U.S. Officials Involved In TelexFree Ponzi Prosecution Also Involved In Sann Rodrigues Prosecution On Immigration Charge

From a 2014 YouTube promo for iFreeX. Masking by PP Blog. In 2014, T-Mobile told the PP Blog that it was seeking to determine if IFreeX was misusing T-Mobile’s intellectual property.

The website of IFreeX.com is offline. The PP Blog could not immediately determine why. Visitors are seeing a GoDaddy.com page.

A PP Blog reader reported the outage at 6:49 p.m. EDT today. The outage occurred one week to the day after TelexFree and IFreeX figure Sann Rodrigues was arrested at a New Jersey airport on allegations related to visa fraud.

Google cache suggests IFreeX.com was online earlier today.

As part of its reporting, the PP Blog has reviewed certain documents pertaining to the criminal prosecution of TelexFree figures James Merrill and Carlos Wanzeler and documents pertaining to the immigration arrest of Rodrigues. The documents show that the same U.S. federal prosecutor is involved in both the Merrill/Wanzeler case and the immigration case involving Rodrigues.

At the same time, the documents show that the same Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent also is involved in both prosecutions. In addition to filing paperwork against Rodrigues in the immigration case, the agent filed paperwork that led to the 2014 arrest on a TelexFree-related material-witness warrant at JFK Airport in New York of Katia Wanzeler.

Katia is the wife of Carlos Wanzeler, who has been described by the United States as an international fugitive. Katia later was released. HSI, which conducted a TelexFree-related undercover operation beginning in 2013, is an arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Merrill and Carlos Wanzeler were indicted in July 2014 on eight criminal counts of wire fraud and one criminal count of wire-fraud conspiracy. Earlier, in April 2014, Merrill, Carlos Wanzeler, Rodrigues and five others were charged civilly with fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

TelexFree, which hawked a VOIP service, has been described in Bankruptcy Court filings by a court-appointed trustee as a cross-border pyramid scheme that gathered $1.8 billion in about two years.

Separately, BehindMLM.com is reporting in a story dated May 26 that a website known as 2PayNet also is offline. The site may be connected in some way with IFreeX.

In September 2014, Massachusetts Commonwealth Secretary William Galvin described IFreeX as something that appeared “to be nothing more than a rebranded TelexFREE fraud for mobile phones.”

On Oct. 1, 2014, T-Mobile told the PP Blog that it was seeking to determine if IFreeX was misusing T-Mobile’s intellectual property in online promos for IFreeX.

The Department of Homeland Security also is involved in intellectual-property cases. It is unclear if the agency investigated IFreeX for abuse of intellectual property.

Says DHS on its website (italics added):

Intellectual property rights theft is not a victimless crime. It threatens U.S. businesses and robs hard-working Americans of their jobs, which negatively impacts the economy. It can also pose serious health and safety risks to consumers, and oftentimes, it fuels global organized crime.

NOTE: In an affidavit accompanying the immigration complaint against Rodrigues, a footnote leads to a report on Rodrigues by the PP Blog. The story was published on Feb. 6, 2014. It is titled, “MORE FROM MLM LA-LA LAND: Former SEC Defendant In Pyramid-Scheme And Affinity-Fraud Case To Headline TelexFree Event In Spain.”

NOTE: Our thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.

May 25, 2015
REPORTS: TelexFree Figure Sann Rodrigues Arrested In New Jersey

Sann Rodrigues. From a promo for the TelexFree international convention in Spain in 2014.

BULLETIN: (Updated 9:27 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) TelexFree and iFreeX figure Sann Rodrigues has been arrested in New Jersey, according to the Blog of Joaldro Dalla “Billy” Costa, citing a report on radio station WSRO 650 AM in Framingham, Mass.

Billy’s story is in Portuguese. Here is the English translation by Google Translate.

Rodrigues — listed as Devasc Sanderley Rodrigues in online booking records and believed to be a native of Brazil who has lived in the U.S. states of Massachusetts and Florida — appears to have been arrested May 18.

On the same day, U.S. and Brazilian law-enforcement officials met in Washington, D.C. Whether the international talks and the arrest were a coincidence was not immediately clear.

The records suggest Rodrigues was detained at the Essex County Correctional Facility.

Billy’s story suggests the booking was immigration-related. The PP Blog could not immediately confirm the information.

The Essex County site provides a link to http://www.eccorrections.org/inmatelookup. When the name Sanderley Rodrigues is typed into the form and viewers click on a follow-up link, a booking photo of Rodrigues appears.

No release date appears, suggesting Rodrigues, 43, still is being held. Information on bond and a specific charge was not posted.

Rodrigues was one of eight TelexFree figures charged civilly with securities fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He is a recidivist securities violator, according to the SEC.

TelexFree, an alleged Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that may have gathered on the order of $1.8 billion in about two years, is under investigation by the SEC and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Alleged TelexFree operators James Merrill and Carlos Wanzeler have been charged criminally.

U.S. authorities have called Wanzeler an international fugitive perhaps living in Brazil.

On May 18, officials from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an arm of the Department of Homeland Security, met in Washington with officials from the Brazilian National Police.

The officials “discussed the joint commitment to continued information-sharing and conducting investigations into child exploitation, financial fraud and human trafficking, among other topics,” according to an ICE news release dated May 21.

May 23, 2015
(1) Ponzi Cash Allegedly Paid For ‘Breast Augmentation’; (2) John Sposato Case Shows ‘Small’ Schemes On U.S. Radar; (3) What UFunClub/UToken Investors Can Learn

A Louisiana man ripped off investors in a multifaceted Ponzi scheme and used some of the cash to buy a “new Chevrolet Camaro for one girlfriend and breast augmentation surgery [for] another girlfriend,” according to a bill of information filed against him.

John Sposato, 64, of Slidell, has been charged with wire fraud, the office of U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite of the Eastern District of Louisiana said.

Much of the charging document describes typical Ponzi fare. When payments were delayed, for instance, Sposato allegedly blamed events on the weather, family illnesses and “issues with the international financial institutions in which the funds were supposedly invested.”

Perhaps hinting that prime-bank fraud was part of the swindle, the charging document references “international bank instruments.”

Sposato also made “lulling payments” from “new investor money” to keep the Ponzi alive and to dupe investors into believing the scheme was legitimate, according to the charging document.

In addition to the purported “international bank instruments,” Sposato also allegedly pushed supposedly “cutting edge oil remediation and recovery” and real-estate investments. The Sposato-linked companies referenced by prosecutors included Pegasus Investment & Development Corporation LLC; Pegasus Investments; Oil Eaters LLC; Organic Miracle Incorporation; S&J Corporate Properties LLC; Pegasus Demolition & Debris Removal Service LLC; and Pegasus Truck Lines Inc.

The investments were described as “never at risk,” according to the charging document.

As is the case in many schemes, Sposato’s investors allegedly were told “their principal investments were immune from market volatility and were secure from any losses.”

UFunClub/UToken, a scheme currently under investigation in Thailand and also operating in the United States, has made similar claims, according to promoters. There also are reports about problems with banks and delayed or absent payouts. At the same time, there are reports that sports cars have been seized by police and that the UFun/UToen probe has spread to Malaysia.

Read the Sposato charging document that alleges a Ponzi swindle of more than $811,000. Prosecutors said the scheme was “national” in scope , that 48 individuals in the United States invested with Sposato and that he “provided prospective investors false or fraudulent documents to make the investments appear legitimate and to conceal the true nature of the Ponzi scheme.”

Like the Achieve Community case filed by the SEC in February, the Sposato case demonstrates that even “small” Ponzi schemes are on the radar of U.S. law enforcement.

UFunClub/UToken, apt to have gathered a far greater sum than either Achieve or Sposato, may have affected tens of thousands of investors worldwide, including hundreds or more in the United States. As was the alleged case with Sposato, UFunClub/UToken may be operating through multiple companies.

May 23, 2015
BULLETIN: Traders Operated ‘The Cartel’; Banks Charged Criminally
Forex traders at four multinational banks — Citicorp, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Barclays PLC and Royal Bank of Scotland plc — formed “The Cartel” and conspired to manipulate the prices of the U.S. dollar and the euro, the U.S. Department of Justice said today.

All four banks have been charged criminally in an investigation that began when Eric Holder was Attorney General, said Loretta Lynch, Holder’s successor.

UBS AG, a fifth multinational, has been charged criminally with manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and other benchmark interest rates, the Justice Department said. The UBS prosecution came about after the agency ripped up an earlier nonprosecution agreement (NPA) with bank, alleging that UBS had violated the terms of a pact reached in December 2012 to resolve the LIBOR matter.

Barclays also breached an NPA struck in June 2012 over the LIBOR matter and has agreed to pay an additional $60 million, the Justice Department said.

The charges, all felonies, include conspiring to fix prices and rig bids. They are filed against Citicorp, Barclays, JPMorgan and RBS.

A felony charge of wire fraud was filed against UBS, the Justice Department said.

“In other words,” Lynch said, according to her prepared remarks released by the Justice Department, “UBS promised, in other resolutions, not to commit additional crimes — but it did.”

As for Citicorp, Barclays, JPMorgan and RBS, Lynch said, “Starting as early as December 2007, currency traders at several multinational banks formed a group dubbed ‘The Cartel.’ It is perhaps fitting that those traders chose that name, as it aptly describes the brazenly illegal behavior they were engaged in on a near-daily basis. For more than five years, traders in ‘The Cartel’ used a private electronic chatroom to manipulate the spot market’s exchange rate between euros and dollars using coded language to conceal their collusion.”

All five of the banks have agreed to plead guilty to the criminal charges at the “parent level,” the Justice Department said.

Here, according to the Justice Department, are the market-manipulation timelines and the agreed-to criminal fines:
- Citicorp, involved from as early as December 2007 until at least January 2013, $925 million.
- Barclays, involved from as early as December 2007 until July 2011, and then from December 2011 until August 2012, $650 million.
- JPMorgan, involved from at least as early as July 2010 until January 2013, $550 million.
- RBS, involved from at least as early as December 2007 until at least April 2010, $395 million.
- UBS (for NPA breach that occurred after December 2012), $203 million.
A statement by the Justice Department includes the type of language the agency normally directs at street criminals when it is trying to send a message. In this instance, however, the language is directed at the banks. From the statement (italics added):

Citicorp, Barclays, JPMorgan, RBS and UBS have each agreed to a three-year period of corporate probation, which, if approved by the court, will be overseen by the court and require regular reporting to authorities as well as cessation of all criminal activity. All five banks will continue cooperating with the government’s ongoing criminal investigations, and no plea agreement prevents the department from prosecuting culpable individuals for related misconduct. Citicorp, Barclays, JPMorgan and RBS have agreed to send disclosure notices to all of their customers and counter-parties that may have been affected by the sales and trading practices described in the plea agreements.

Today, in connection with its FX investigation, the Federal Reserve also announced that it was imposing on the five banks fines of over $1.6 billion; and Barclays settled related claims with the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for an additional combined penalty of approximately $1.3 billion. In conjunction with previously announced settlements with regulatory agencies in the United States and abroad, including the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), today’s resolutions bring the total fines and penalties paid by these five banks for their conduct in the FX spot market to nearly $9 billion.

Holder, Lynch said, “oversaw this investigation from its inception.

“His relentless work made this resolution possible, and I want to thank him for his commitment to this important effort,” she said.

Lynch replaced Holder last month.
May 20, 2015

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