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  • BREAKING NEWS: Judge Says Corporation May Not Proceed Pro Se; Orders Bowdoin’s Paid Attorneys To Advise Him On Procedural Matters And File Formal Notice Of Intent

    UPDATED 12:51 A.M. EDT (March 27, U.S.A.) As first reported on this Blog, ASD President Andy Bowdoin’s paid attorneys never formally withdrew from the federal forfeiture case — not even after Bowdoin said he had fired them and was proceeding as his own attorney.

    Now Judge Rosemary Collyer has issued an order to the attorneys to advise Bowdoin on critical legal matters and file notice with the court to make their intentions a matter of record.

    “No later than April 9, 2009, current counsel for Claimants, Mr. Fayad and Mr. Goodman, shall file with the Court a notice indicating (a) whether they intend to continue their representation of the Claimants, including Mr. Bowdoin; or (b) whether they will seek to withdraw from the case;

    “[I]f counsel seek to withdraw from the case, they shall file a motion to withdraw no later than April 9, 2009, and they shall indicate whether they have explained to Mr. Bowdoin that while he may represent himself in this matter, the corporations may not proceed pro se,” Collyer ordered.

    One way to view the order is as a warning to Bowdoin that he may be straying into legal territory that does not serve his interests.

    Collyer noted that different rules are in place, depending on whether an individual or a corporation was involved in litigation.

    Two of the three parties filing claims to seized proceeds — AdSurfDaily Inc. and Bowdoin/Harris Enterprises Inc. — are corporate entities.

    “[A] corporation cannot proceed pro se,” Collyer wrote, providing a case-law citation: Bristol Petroleum Corp. v. Harris, 901 F.2d 165, 166 n.1 (D.C. Cir. 1990).

    Making the matter even more complex is that prosecutors alleged in a separate forfeiture complaint filed in December that Bowdoin/Harris was set up to permit Bowdoin and his wife to hide assets.

    “Thomas [Andy] and Faye Bowdoin created Bowdoin/Harris Enterprises, Inc., and used it to purchase real properties and other assets, believing that using this structure would help to conceal from the government their expenditures and assets they purchased,” prosecutors said in December.

    Collyer hinted at potentially difficult legal challenges ahead for Bowdoin. Indeed, personal and corporate claims were made to some assets — and Bowdoin will not be permitted to proceed pro se on corporate claims.

    “Bowdoin/Harris Enterprises, Inc. submitted a verified claim to the real 1 property in Quincy, Florida; ASD submitted a claim to the funds held in the Bank of America accounts; and Mr. Bowdoin also submitted a claim to the funds held in the Bank of America accounts, declaring that the accounts were opened in his name but were owned by ASD and were treated as corporate assets,” Collyer wrote.

    These are complex legal issues, ones that challenge even top attorneys and legal scholars. Rarely are such issues associated with pro se litigants. In effect, Collyer has ordered Michael Fayad and Jonathan Goodman to instruct Bowdoin on critical points of law before leaving the case.

    Earlier this month, Bowdoin filed a pro se motion in which he acknowledged ASD was operating illegally — something the government has said all along — but insisted the government denied him “fair notice” that ASD was behaving illegally.

    Prosecutors very well may view Bowdoin’s pro se public filing as a signed confession — and it’s possible that the filing itself could be used if a criminal prosecution of Bowdoin evolves.

    While Fayad and Goodman formally were acting as Bowdoin’s paid attorneys, they filed notice with the court that Bowdoin would not testify at a Sept. 30-Oct. 1 evidentiary hearing under his 5th Amendment right not to incriminate himself.

    But Bowdoin appears to have done exactly that — while also potentially incriminating others — in pro se pleadings his paid counsel had nothing to do with.

    Some of the legal notions in pro se pleadings are difficult — if not close to impossible — for prosecutors and judges to reconcile. Courts and prosecutors sometimes have to construe meanings because the motions are vague or impossibly off-point.

    Read Judge Collyer’s Order.

  • EDITORIAL: Guenther Should Step Down From ASDMBA

    The behavior of Andy Bowdoin, president of AdSurfDaily, led to the creation of the AdSurfDaily Members Business Association (ASDMBA). ASDMBA members sought to make sure their legal interests were addressed in the ASD case,
    Accusations against Andy Bowdoin, president of AdSurfDaily, led to the creation of the ASD Members Business Association (ASDMBA). ASDMBA members sought to make sure their legal interests were addressed in the ASD case.

    UPDATED 4:03 P.M. EDT (March 27, U.S.A.) Bob Guenther should resign from the ASD Members Business Association (ASDMBA). Guenther is the de facto head of the ASDMBA Trust. People who contributed money to the Trust believing their legal interests in the AdSurfDaily case would be served have not been served well.

    ASDMBA members report they have been denied transparent accounting by Guenther of how the Trust spent money it collected to represent their interests. Guenther did not tell ASDMBA members about his 1994 felony conviction for bank fraud. The questions about Guenther’s management of the Trust were raised before members knew about the conviction.

    Some ASDMBA members now say they would not have contributed to the Trust had they known about Guenther’s felony record. Members want to know precisely what happened to their Trust contributions. Guenther is not telling them.

    In fact, Bob Guenther is threatening to sue people who raise the issue. Some members said Guenther told them if they wanted the information, they were going to have to sue to get it.

    Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott should investigate the Trust. A claim was made that Guenther had Abbott’s private phone number. Such a claim can be construed to mean that Guenther was trading on Abbott’s name without authorization to minimize the number of complaints the state might receive about the Trust.

    Abbott should not let this stand. He should investigate immediately.

    Guenther, a Texan, has been charged in Arizona with two felony counts of aggravated harassment. Police said he repeatedly violated a court order not to harass an Arizona business.

    The Arizona charges are reason enough for Guenther to resign from the Trust. As its de facto head, he has a duty not to bring discredit to it and to work responsibly with members. This cannot occur under a cloud of suspicion in an atmosphere of threats.

    Meanwhile, federal and state investigators should seek to determine if a group of Texas police retirees somehow received preferential treatment in the ASD case through ASDMBA. It is possible that any preferential treatment was accidental and occurred with the best of intentions.

    There are assertions that a police group joined Golden Panda Ad Builder, a company that is part of the ASD litigation, and that funds contributed by the group were intercepted and returned before becoming part of a common victim’s pool prosecutors hope to create.

    Federal prosecutors hope to fund the pool by liquidating bank accounts and property seized by the U.S. Secret Service last year. No victim should get preferential treatment — not even a police fund. If funds from police retirees were intercepted and returned to the group, the funds should be returned to the pool to create a level playing field.

    Guenther also needs to explain fully why posts associated with identities he uses at two forums have gone missing. Lost with the posts were dates, times and details that may be important to investigators — and even to Guenther himself. One of the deleted posts made the claim that Guenther had Abbott’s private phone number.

    Guenther claimed forum deletions at the ASD-Biz forum were made because someone had intercepted his password and that an imposter had posted under his identity. The deletions, however, also might have wiped away Guenther’s best evidence that an imposter had been posting under his name.

    Included in deletions at Scam.com were references to posts purportedly made from Mexico. Here is a screen shot of one of the Scam.com posts, under an identity associated with Guenther: “USMCSemperfi.” This shot has been reduced to fit within the borders of this Blog.

    Bob Guenther, posting as 'USMCSemperfi,' tells readers he is in Mexico. The screen shot also captures part of a posting below Guenther's, from a member posting as Zhiroc.
    'USMCSemperfi' at Scam.com tells readers on March 9 that he is in Mexico. The screen shot also captures part of a posting below from a member posting as Zhiroc. Similar claims of posts from Mexico also were made at the ASD-Biz forum, under an identity associated with Bob Guenther.

    Why a person using known Bob Guenther forum identities would claim in two forums to have been posting from Mexico — and why those posts would go missing — is unclear. What is clear is that the posts were made in the days immediately prior to criminal charges being filed against Guenther in Arizona.

    In a March 16 email to this Blog, Guenther claimed he had not been in Mexico in years.

    “I have not been in Mexico since August 2003. Anyone that actually knows me, also knows why,” he wrote.

    Other deleted posts at Scam.com made references to Guenther’s business interests in Mexico. Here is a screen shot of back-to-back Scam.com posts under the “USMCSemperFi” identity. This shot has been reduced to fit within the borders of this Blog.

    Guenther references Mexico business interests at Scam.com
    USMCSemperFi references Mexico business interests at Scam.com and also highlights the Marine Corps. Bob Guenther is a former Marine.

    These are important matters, especially to ASDMBA members. They deserve to know what happened to their money, and they should be able to raise the questions in an environment free of threat.

    Bob Guenther should leave ASDMBA. He should stop making threats, and Greg Abbott should enter this case to add clarity and ensure that public trust does not become a casualty of this incredibly toxic environment.

  • Bowdoin’s ‘Paperless Access’ Video Removed From Site

    UPDATE 11:16 A.M. EDT (March 26, U.S.A. See bottom of post and see Comments.) A video starring Andy Bowdoin that enraged some members of AdSurfDaily has been removed from its sponsor’s site.

    The video formerly was at this URL. No explanation for the removal appears at the site. Bowdoin pitched a new surf site called Paperless Access in the video.

    PaperlessAccess, Bowdoin said, was a way members could recapture funds federal agents seized in August as part of the ASD Ponzi scheme investigation. Bowdoin insisted he was not involved with the Paperless Access business.

    But Bowdoin did not name the company owners in his video pitch. Nor did he say where the company was located.

    Jaws dropped with Bowdoin’s video appearance. He did not describe how Paperless Access was legal, making only the vague claim that the company employed a business model “based solely on outside revenue.”

    Just days prior to the release of the video, Bowdoin acknowledged in court filings that ASD was operating illegally when federal agents seized tens of millions of dollars last summer. Archived Web files showed that Paperless Access was using a template identical in places to a template ASD had used in 2007.

    The Pro-ASD Surf’s Up forum has deleted at least two threads critical of Bowdoin’s appearance in the Paperless Access video. Prior to the deletions, some members expressed shock and horror that Bowdoin would appear in a video to promote a surf site. Some were equally horrified that a surf site would use Bowdoin as a spokesman, given ASD’s troubles and the possibility of a criminal indictment against Bowdoin.

    Bowdoin appears to be losing credibility rapidly among people who formerly were supporters.

    ADViewGlobal (AVG), another surf site with close ties to ASD, announced Monday that its bank account had been “suspended.”

    UPDATE: A discussion thread critical of Bowdoin started by a Surf’s Up member late yesterday has been deleted. The member said Bowdoin’s video appearance was telling and that he had come to believe ASD was a scam and that he’d been taken in by a scammer. In a bitterly sarcastic response to the poster, a Bowdoin apologist said she was certain the poster and the government now would get along nicely. But the poster also had supporters in the thread. This is at least the third time Surf’s Up has deleted a thread critical of Bowdoin’s Paperless Access video appearance.

  • Attorney: Guenther Devastated By Felony Conviction, But An ‘Honorable Man’ Who Never Should Have Been Charged

    UPDATED 10:26 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Bob Guenther never should have been prosecuted for bank fraud in 1994, but accepted a plea deal after a cost-benefit analysis concluded his best chance to minimize a prison sentence was to accept the deal, Guenther’s defense attorney said in a 1996 memo.

    Guenther pleaded guilty to a single felony count of bank fraud. In exchange, 10 other counts were dropped by federal prosecutors.

    Rather than sentencing Guenther to prison, U.S. District Judge Paul Brown ordered Guenther to serve three years’ probation. Guenther ultimately paid resitution of $76,134 in full.

    Michael McColloch, Guenther’s lawyer, said the sentence Brown imposed was an “extraordinary” downward departure of six levels under federal sentencing guidelines.

    McColloch’s comments about the case are included in the memo, which Guenther provided this Blog today.

    Guenther said today that he had expected to be sentenced to up to a year in jail.

    “I fully thought I was going to jail for 8-12 months,” Guenther said, in an email to this Blog. “And for what, absolutely nothing[.] [B]ut after 3 tours in Vietnam, a year at club-med in Seagoville Texas was not the end of the world.”

    McColloch said the conviction was “devastating” to Guenther. He described his client as an “honorable man” who got caught up in circumstances beyond his control because a banking crisis in Texas spilled over into Guenther’s automobile dealership.

    “I have no doubt that Bob would have preferred even a prison sentence to the burden and blemish of carrying around a federal felony conviction for the rest of his life,” McColloch said.

    “This is the real tragedy of this case, that an honorable man who was only guilty of trying to save a business from extinction would be branded a felon by a system which shows little mercy to those caught up in its web by circumstances beyond their control, victimized by finger-pointing bankers and overzealous investigators,” McColloch said.

    Guenther is the de facto head of the ASD Members Business Association (ASDMBA) Trust. He has been criticized by ASDMBA members for not providing transparent accounting of how the Trust spent money it collected.

    Guenther was charged in Maricopa County, Arizona, with two felony counts of aggravated harrassment March 13. Police alleged he violated a court order that prohibited him from making harassing contact with Cheyenne Mountain and Affiliates, an Arizona company.

    ASDMBA members said Guenther engaged in threatening behavior when his management of the Trust was questioned.

    The Trust was created last summer to protect members’ legal interests in the AdSurfDaily case. Federal prosecutors said ASD engaged in the sale of unregistered securities, wire fraud and money-laundering, and also operated a $100 million Ponzi scheme.

    This Blog broke the story about Guenther’s bank-fraud conviction on March 21. Guenther initially directed an email threat at this Blog over its publication of the story. This Blog did not reply to Guenther’s threat via email, instead advising Guenther in a post that it would not submit to threats and encouraging him to submit information he wished to be considered for publication in a nonthreatening fashion.

    Guenther emailed this Blog this morning, asking in a civil tone for submission instructions. This Blog responded to Guenther’s email, and provided the instructions. Early this evening, Guenther provided the document he wished to have considered for publication, along with a supporting email.

    We have made the decision to publish this story — and also a link to the document — because of its news value.

    Read the document from Michael McColloch, Bob Guenther’s lawyer in the case. McColloch explains his point of view on the matter, saying he took over the case from an attorney who was ill — only two months prior to the scheduled trial date.

  • In Vague Claim, AVG Says Bank Problem Being ‘Rectified’

    In yet another vague claim, AdViewGlobal (AVG) said a problem that resulted in the suspension of its bank account is being “rectified.”

    AVG did not describe how the problem was being solved. Nor did it provide a date by which it expected the problem to be solved. Instead, under a three-exclamation point headline of, “AVGA Breaking News: Thanks and Good News!!!,” the company said sales were brisk.

    “Tuesday member purchases continued to be good thanks to those purchases made with cash balances,” AVG said.  “We appreciate your continued cooperation and purchases through cash balances through the end of the week.

    “If you have had difficulty making purchases through the bank, you will be happy to know that the difficulty is being rectified.”

    The company then cited unspecified banking regulations, claiming changes in the regulations limited online purchases to $2,500.

    AVG previously blamed its bank-account suspension on members who wired too many transactions in excess of $9,500.

    “Changes in banking regulations require that you limit online purchases to $2500 plus the processing fee of $9.00,” AVG said.  “Strict banking regulations require that we eliminate bank wires and ACH transactions. We will continue to take all money orders and cashier/bank checks. To speed up the cash out process, we are eliminating all manual cash out transactions which includes checks and bank wires. We will use the debit card, Strict Pay and Solid Trust Pay. All three methods are automated.”

    Unlike previous announcements about its banking problem, AVG this time included the name of the employee making the announcement: Gerald Castor.

    Castor was said to be employed in AVG “Compliance.”

    See this previous AVG story.

    Also, see this one.

    AVG has been running a 200-percent, matching-bonus program. The company has close ties to AdSurfDaily Inc., a Florida firm federal prosecutors said was operating a $100 million Ponzi scheme.

    Gary Talbert, AVG’s chief exeutive officer, suddenly resigned last week. Talbert is a former ASD executive.

    The resignation was announced Friday. On Monday, the banking problem was announced. Members have not been told whether the two events are connected. AVG has not said when the banking suspension occurred.

  • BREAKING NEWS: Bowdoin Volunteered Answers To Secret Service, Prosecutors Say; No ‘Miranda’ Violations Occurred

    UPDATED 2:26 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) ASD President Andy Bowdoin voluntarily answered questions during a noncustodial interview with Secret Service agents on Aug. 5, 2008, federal prosecutors said in a court filing today.

    In fact, prosecutors said, Bowdoin was “quite voluble, and voluntarily so.”  The interview occurred while agents were executing a search warrant of Bowdoin’s home.

    “Voluble” means talkative.

    Bowdoin, acting as his own attorney, filed a motion to exclude and suppress evidence last month. The prosecution responded to it in today’s filing.

    In his pro se motion, prosecutors said, Bowdoin inexplicably argued that “any information or evidence given by [him] constituted an unreasonable search.”

    Prosecutors said Bowdoin never was in custody. They acknowledged that he initially raised a concern about talking about ASD and Golden Panda Ad Builder with the agents, but quickly changed his mind.

    “Although Mr. Bowdoin initially said that he did not want to discuss the ASD and GP Operations without a lawyer present, he quickly changed his mind, agreeing to speak with the agents while they were there,” prosecutors said. “He certainly never declined to answer any of the federal agents’ questions, and Mr. Bowdoin never said he only would answer questions if he could have an attorney present during the interview.”

    Judge Rosemary Collyer should reject Bowdoin’s motion to suppress because his claims are “meritless,” prosecutors said.

    “Mr. Bowdoin asserts that he never received what are colloquially known as ‘Miranda warnings,’ and claims, therefore, that his statements should be excluded from evidence in this case,” prosecutors said. “Mr. Bowdoin’s argument has no merit because he was not in custody when he spoke to the federal agents at his home on August 5, 2008.”

    Contrary to Bowdoin’s claim that he currently is a “defendant,” prosecutors pointedly said Bowdoin is “not now a defendant.”

    Bowdoin also argued bad case law in his motion to suppress, prosecutors said.

    Read the prosecution’s response to Bowdoin.

  • AVG Members Report Confusion Over Bank ‘Suspension’

    AdViewGlobal (AVG), which purports to be a professional advertising company operating as a private association headquartered offshore, appears to have mangled an announcement that its bank account was “suspended.”

    The suspension announcement was made Monday, March 23. On Friday, March 20, AVG members said Chief Executive Officer Gary Talbert had resigned but would continue with the company as an accountant.

    Ismeal Santiago was identified as AVG’s new chief executive officer and was reported to be moving to Uruguay because “all officers should live offshore.”

    Members have not been told if the banking suspension occurred this week or last week. Nor have they been told if Talbert’s sudden resignation last week had anything to do with AVG’s banking problem.

    Adding to the confusion were the lack of a definition for the word “suspended” and a clear explanation on what would happen to funds AVG members wired into the suspended account.

    AVG did not name the bank in its announcement about the suspension. Nor did it say whether the bank was in the United States or offshore. At the same time, it did not say whether funds remained in the suspended account or if the funds were removed prior to the suspension.

    Nor did AVG identify the person notified about the suspension or the party who told the company about it. Given the lack of clarity over the banking issue, questions are being raised about whether the account was seized as part of a law-enforcement investigation.

    No AVG executive or employee signed the suspension announcement. It was signed “The AVG Management Team.”

    AdSurfDaily Inc., a Florida company with close AVG ties, had its bank accounts seized by the U.S. Secret Service on Friday, Aug. 1, 2008. Federal prosecutors said ASD was engaging in wire fraud and money-laundering, and also running a $100 million Ponzi scheme.

    Gary Talbert was a former ASD executive. George Harris, the stepson of ASD President Andy Bowdoin, was listed as an AVG trustee.

    In its announcement about the suspension, AVG blamed members — in the very first sentence — for the suspension.

    “Due to people bank wiring too many transactions over $9500.00 each, the bank we were using for Bank Wires and ACHs suspended our account,” the company said.

    AVG recently has been promoting a 200-percent, matching-bonus program. Yesterday the promotion was extended through April 3, despite the banking suspension and lack of clarity on the issue.

    Today AVG members were told about a “great” conference call AVG will hold tomorrow. Members were encouraged to invite guests, but also told to explain to guests that they would have to leave the call when requested.

    Members were given a script on how to address prospective call guests (italics added):

    “Important: When inviting guests to Thursday’s call you must use the following wording to keep us in compliance with the rules of our association.

    ‘AVGA is a Private Membership Association. I would like to invite you to a private conference call Thursday Night so you can listen to some of the exciting benefits our members enjoy. You’ll find out how our members are making themselves recession proof with our dynamic money making program.’”

    The script did not identify AVG as an “advertising” service. Rather, it identified the company as a “dynamic money-making program.” Federal prosecutors said ASD also stressed money-making elements over advertising benefits.

    AVG then instructed members that guests would have to exit the line when private association business was being discussed (italics added).

    “When you have a guest on the line and your name is called you & your guest will qualify to win page impressions. In order to win Page Impressions you must have a guest on the call. Be sure to provide your AVGA enrollment link to each of your invited guests.

    “Once the opportunity portion of the call is completed we will have to ask all Guests to exit the call. This is very important and we ask that you inform your Guests that once the Page Impression Give Away is completed that they will be asked to hang up.

    “Let your Guest know that this is standard protocol.”

  • Our Take On ‘Rebates Aren’t Guaranteed’: What’s Yours?

    bowdoinmadoffart2A few days ago one of our readers noted that the AdSurfDaily case is much more interesting than, say, the Bernard Madoff case.

    We agree.

    The Madoff case was about the collapse of a Ponzi at the point of maximum strain. Strain on the general economy is what brought Madoff down. He simply ran out of Joes to pay Josephines and Peters to pay Pauls. The Feds showed up to hear the confession — and that was that.

    There was appropriate wailing and gnashing of teeth, of course. The big question was why the Feds didn’t move sooner. It’s a fair question, but it’s also a question that serves as a key point of departure and makes the ASD investigation much more interesting.

    While Madoff’s customers jeered the government for not acting sooner to prevent the Ponzi from mushrooming, some of ASD’s customers jeered the government for stopping the Ponzi from mushrooming. They’re still doing it — even post-Madoff.

    One does not encounter such fractured thinking on an everyday basis, unless one is following the ASD case closely. As recently as last week, one apologist for ASD President Andy Bowdoin offered that the company never would run out of customers because the world’s daily birthrate exceeded its death rate.

    Madoff must be kicking himself for not running  the birthrate defense up the flagpole before ratting himself out to the FBI — or perhaps he recognized that his own Ponzi collapsed even with the birthrate advantage.

    Just today a Mod at the Pro-ASD Surf’s Up forum said a prosecution claim that there were thousands of ASD victims was a “bald-faced lie!”

    Exclamation points are not like garlic to Bowdoin apologists, which is to say they’re not used sparingly.

    Why did Andy Bowdoin have champions in certain quarters and Madoff did not? Why did Bowdoin get folk-hero treatment in certain quarters and Madoff did not?

    Greed. Criminality. Monumental stupidity.

    Unlike Madoff, Bowdoin still had Joes to pay Josephines and Peters to pay Pauls when the Ponzi was exposed, a circumstance his blackly comedic cheerleaders seized to create the appearance of plausible Ponzi deniability. He also had a natural constituency of greedy people willing to sell their souls to keep the world safe for their Ponzi profits.

    No amount of rationalizing is out of bounds: If Grandma is on Food Stamps now, Grandma needs to blame the government, not Bowdoin. After all, Grandma is an adult and had the duty to know the government is corrupt and actually enjoys the thought she has been made destitute.

    At the same time, Bowdoin had like-minded criminals with a vested interest in clouding the issues, owing to fear of getting arrested or sued (or both). Meanwhile, he had people who couldn’t spell Ponzi if you spotted them all five letters and sounded it out.

    AdSurfDaily was an obvious Ponzi scheme that relied on wordplay to insulate itself from Ponzi claims. The Feds moved in, seizing Andy Bowdoin’s asssets and preventing a Madoff-style collapse. The real world applauds such an event.

    Top autosurf players and people with civil and criminal exposure, however, do not. They lie to their downlines. They paint the government as evil and say things such as “rebates aren’t guaranteed.”

    Here is what “rebates aren’t guaranteed,” a so-called “genius” business concept, really means. (Just don’t expect to read it spelled out clearly in the Terms of Service for an autosurf.)

    Our business model is to draft you into a conspiracy to sell unregistered securities and engage in wire-fraud and money-laundering by advertising an unreal rate of return of 30 percent a month and masking the true nature of our business. We call it ‘advertising’ sales as opposed to ‘securities’ sales.

    We are criminals using the cover of MLM.

    The tip-off that we are criminals can be found in our preposterous claim that we are able to pay out $1.25 for each dollar we collect. What enables us to perpetuate this scheme is our ‘rebates aren’t guaranteed’ disclaimer.

    Indeed, ‘rebates aren’t guaranteed’ permits us to ignore the debit side of the ledger and our constantly accruing liabilities. We’ll treat every dollar you send in as evidence of your intent to become criminals like us, and expect you to behave as such if we get caught. Ours is a wink-nod deal. ‘Rebates aren’t guaranteed’ is the ‘wink’; your acceptance is the ‘nod.’

    We’ll send out a few strategic shills to explain that they have performed a ‘due diligence’ test on us and that we’re the real deal. These shills will position themselves and us as important, studious, thoughtful players in a real industry. Get acquainted with that word — ‘industry.’ The more we use it the more likely it will be that people will continue to send us money. ‘Industry’ makes us seem real.

    If the Feds later claim we’re running a Ponzi scheme, we’re going to show them evidence that you agreed ‘rebates aren’t guaranteed.’ Our books will reveal upon inspection that we couldn’t possibly have addressed accrued liabilities based on the advertised pay-out rate. This is why ‘rebates aren’t guaranteed.’ We have to be able to wipe away liabilities in case the Feds come knocking.

    It should be plain to you that you are a potential co-defendant in lawsuits and a criminal prosecution. You need to recognize that you are a potential co-defendant. In the coming days, we’ll show you in forums and in emails how to change the subject and obfuscate.

    Remember: The more you obfuscate, the cloudier the issues become and the less likely it will be that you’ll actually get sued or arrested. It is to your benefit to obfuscate to reporters, radio hosts, TV hosts, politicians, inspectors general, DOJ supervisors and important members of Senate and House committees. Make sure you raise the issue of your Constitutional rights. This will provide cover for your obfuscations.

    So, that’s our take. What’s yours?

  • BREAKING NEWS: AVG Loses Banking Privileges

    UPDATED 5:09 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) AdViewGlobal (AVG), a surf site with close ties to AdSurfDaily, reportedly has lost its banking privileges.

    The event occurred as AVG was running a 200-percent, matching-bonus program. The news is not posted on AVG’s main webpage. It is posted on a forum some of the Mods and members of the Pro-ASD Surf’s Up forum set up to promote AVG.

    AVG’s early explanation was that its bank account had been “suspended.” The development may signal that the bank, whose name was not disclosed, suspects it is being used to launder money or for another criminal purpose.

    It also may signal that AVG, which purported to be operating offshore, actually is operating from inside the United States. Promoters had been flogging the AVG 200 percent bonus program for days when news about the account suspension was announced.

    Matching-bonus programs can result in huge cash infusions for autosurfs — but also create enormous downstream liabilities.

    In a news release on Aug. 18, 2008, the U.S. Secret Service cited bank cooperation with law enforcement as one of the elements that made the seizure of tens of millions of dollars from ASD possible.

    “Cooperation among investigators, including the private sector partners who brought this case to our attention, allows us to combine not only our resources, but also our expertise in order to more effectively address evolving criminal methods, such as these online schemes,” said Michael Merritt, assistant director of investigations.

    Federal prosecutors said the ASD seizure prevented a Ponzi scheme from mushrooming.

    Banks outside of the United States also have ramped up efforts to detect money-laundering in the wake of the Allen Stanford Ponzi scheme in Antigua. The scheme had a ripple effect on banking from Antigua in the Caribbean to Central America and South America.

    Here is the AVG announcement (italics added). Notably, the message was not signed by an individual executive of AVG. Rather, it was signed “The AVG Management Team.”

    Due to people bank wiring too many transactions over $9500.00 each, the bank we were using for Bank Wires and ACHs suspended our account. We will get this resolved as soon as possible but in the meantime we will have to postpone bank wires and ACHs until we secure a bank that will accept them without a problem. Until we find the right bank, sales and cash outs must be done through Strict Pay and Solid Trust Pay. We will soon be able to pay cash outs on our debit card.

    If you have requested a cash out through a bank wire or an ACH, the transaction will be voided and your funds will be returned to eWallet. You can then request your cash out through Solid Trust or Strict Pay.

    Sorry for the inconvenience, but we were eliminating all wire transfers and ACHs with the new site because of the U.S. banking system and their resistance to a lot of large bank wires. We want to abide by all banking laws and keep AVG a safe place for people to advertise.

    The AVG Management Team

    George Harris, the stepson of ASD President Andy Bowdoin, is listed as an AVG trustee. Gary Talbert, a former ASD executive who filed sworn documents in the ASD civil-forfeiture case, at one time served as AVG’s chief executive officer. Only days ago, Talbert relinquished his AVG title and was said to be working as a U.S.-based accountant for the firm, an AVG promoter told downline members last week.

    The precise date AVG lost its banking privileges was not immediately clear. Ismeal Santiago is AVG’s new chief executive officer and will move to Uruguay because “all officers should live offshore,” according to the promoter.

    Nate Boyd, a former compliance officer at ASD, was listed as “Protector” of the AVG association. Chuck Osmin, a former ASD employee who testified on ASD’s behalf at a Sept. 30-Oct. evidentiary hearing, later identified himself as an AVG employee.

    In November, after a federal judge ruled that ASD had not demonstrated at the hearing that it was a legal business and not a Ponzi scheme, ASD gave its official endorsement to the Surf’s Up site. In December, early promotions for AVG began to appear online, and some of the Surf’s Up Mods and members ultimately created a forum to support AVG.

  • BREAKING NEWS: BOA Asks Court To Dismiss Claims Against It In RICO Lawsuit Against Bowdoin, Busby, Garner

    Bank of America has filed a motion to dismiss claims against it in a class-action racketeering lawsuit against ASD President Andy Bowdoin, ASD attorney Robert Garner and Golden Panda Ad Builder President Clarence Busby.

    BOA was not named a RICO defendant in the lawsuit. Instead, former ASD members Mike Collins of Savage, Minn.; Frank Greene of Washington, D.C.;  and Natures Discount of Aventura, Fla., accused the bank of aiding and abetting Bowdoin, Busby and Garner in an organized effort to defraud.

    Tens of millions of dollars connected to ASD, Golden Panda and LaFuenteDinero were seized by the U.S. Secret Service in August, amid allegations of wire fraud, money-laundering, selling unregistered securities and operating a Ponzi scheme.

    “Banks are not guarantors of their customers’ conduct,” BOA argued in its motion to dismiss. The bank further argued that the complaint was vague and speculative, lacking in facts to such a degree that U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer of the District of Columbia must dismiss BOA as a defendant.

    The bank filed the motion on its behalf, not on behalf of the RICO defendants. Neither Bowdoin nor Garner nor Busby has responded to the lawsuit, which was filed Jan. 15, more than two months ago. The court reissued the summons last week to the trio of RICO defendants.

    “All told, Plaintiffs’ allegations merely describe Bank of America as having engaged in legitimate banking services without pleading any facts that Bank of America engaged in any wrongdoing whatsoever,” BOA said in its motion.

    The plaintiffs, however, said BOA ignored red flags that should have signaled the bank that surf-operators Bowdoin and Busby were using it to launder money and conduct a criminal enterprise.

    “From ASD’s inception in November 2006, Defendant Bank of America played an integral role in ASD’s operations and success,” the plaintiffs charged. “While other financial institutions and payment processors refused to facilitate ASD’s fraud, Bank of America, even in the face of significant banking best practices ‘red flags’ and likely violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and relevant anti-money laundering statutes, not only conducted business with ASD and the RICO Defendants, but it also substantially assisted the expansion of the ASD scheme.”

  • ‘Paperless Access’ Video May Seal Bowdoin’s Slide Into Infamy

    Andy Bowdoin
    Andy Bowdoin

    UPDATED 10:45 A.M. EDT (U.S.A.) History may record that ASD President Andy Bowdoin’s final slide into infamy began last week with the release of a video for Paperless Access, a new surf company.

    Some ASD members, including members of the Pro-ASD Surf’s Up forum, reacted with anger and horror. Surf’s Up predictably went into damage-control mode by ending debate on the subject, but it was too late. This genie refused to go back in the bottle.

    Incredibly, Bowdoin positioned PaperlessAccess as a way members could recapture funds federal agents seized in August as part of the ASD Ponzi scheme investigation. Although insisting he was not involved with the Paperless Access business, Bowdoin did not name the company owners in his video pitch. Nor did he say where the company was located.

    Nor did Bowdoin describe how the company was legal, choosing instead to make the vague claim that Paperless Access employed a business model “based solely on outside revenue.” Bowdoin didn’t mention his own name in the video. Nor did he mention the name of ASD.

    No, with nothing that resembled clarity, Andy Bowdoin told members to sign up for Paperless Access — and this only a few days after he acknowledged in court filings that ASD was operating illegally when agents seized tens of millions of dollars last summer.

    One of the ways the video can be construed is as a fail-safe for Bowdoin: He is a defendant in a private racketeering lawsuit brought by ASD members. One question, of course, is whether he is trying to minimize the number of plaintiffs against him by telling people they can get back their money by joining Paperless Access.

    Another question the video raises is whether Bowdoin is trying to limit the number of complaints ASD members file with the government, which intends to implement a refund program.

    Within hours of the release of the Paperless Access video, web records surfaced that showed Paperless Access was using virtually the same template ASD used in June 2007 — right down to the FAQs. The company called itself an “Income Generator”; ASD had been a “Cash Generator,” and Paperless Access used “viewing earnings” to describe what ASD called “rebates.”

    Surf’s Up, doing what it does, deleted complaints about Bowdoin’s decision to turn over the ASD database to Paperless Access. Members’ private information now is in the hands of people Bowdoin wouldn’t identify.

    Think about what just happened: Bowdoin, who said he spent $800,000 to try to get back money the government seized from him, submitted to the forfeiture in January. He didn’t tell members. They found out about it in the newspaper and by reading Blogs. Nor did Bowdoin tell members about a second forfeiture complaint that had been filed against assets tied to ASD in December.

    The December forfeiture complaint described how Bowdoin’s family members used company money to buy cars, water equipment and haul trailers — and then used company funds to pay off the mortgage on the home of Bowdoin’s stepson, George Harris.

    Harris is a trustee in AdViewGlobal (AVG), yet another autosurf with ASD ties.

    Members again learned about unsettling events from the newspaper and Blogs. Bowdoin didn’t tell them; he simply vanished from the stage. While he was off-stage, some of the Surf’s Up Mods created a promotional site for AVG — after receiving ASD’s official endorsement in November.

    In late February, Bowdoin resurfaced. He blamed his defeat on his paid attorneys. He changed his mind about submitting to the forfeiture and started acting as his own attorney — all while AVG announced it was receiving advice from Pro Advocate Group.

    A man named Karl Dahlstrom is associated with Pro Advocate Group, which says it can help people practice law without a license. Dahlstrom was sentenced to 78 months in prison in the 1990s for securities fraud.

    Securities fraud is one of the elements in the ASD case. It could be one of the elements in any future case that might evolve against AVG or Paperless Access.

    All of this was done while Bowdoin was choosing not to respond to the RICO lawsuit filed against him by ASD members. In a prospective class-action, the members accuse Bowdoin of racketeering — and Bowdoin’s response was to ignore the lawsuit and star in a video for Paperless Access.

    The theory behind the RICO lawsuit is that Bowdoin, ASD attorney Robert Garner and Golden Panda Ad Builder President Clarence Busby engaged with unnamed parties in a conspiracy to defraud. The plaintiffs claim  the defendants committed indictable racketeering offenses.

    Now Bowdoin is starring in a video for unnamed parties at Paperless Access, as controversy swirls around every square inch of the ASD and AVG operations.

    For its part, one of the first acts by Paperless Access was to turn over its brand to Andy Bowdoin, a convicted felon and suspected racketeer. The decision boggles the mind.

    Bowdoin, however, has lost what once was a considerable support base, his celebrity days at an end, the vestiges of his reputation propped up by Surf’s Up Mods and a handful of remaining loyalists.

    People want their money back. They’re growing increasingly tired of Bowdoin’s pro se legal pleadings, and the release of the Paperless Access video well may be recorded as the singular event that cemented his place in infamy.