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  • Special Note About Our ASDMBA Coverage

    Dear Readers,

    This Blog engages in the marketplace of ideas, not the marketplace of threats.

    We again have received a correspondence via our email Support form from Bob Guenther that we deem threatening in nature. This is the third one in recent days. We have not responded via email or telephone to any of them. We believe that doing so is ill-advised.

    Bob Guenther is free to use the Comments function of this Blog. He has done so before, and is welcome to do so again. Just this morning Guenther submitted a Comment. It is published in this thread:

    https://patrickpretty.com/2009/03/21/guenther-was-charged-with-financial-fraud-in-1990s/#comments-

    Near the bottom of this Blog post is a second alternative for Guenther.

    Today’s email correspondence from Guenther through our Support form was benign enough at the beginning; in fact, it’s fair to say that it was in part congratulatory.

    But it ended with a threat.

    “Failure to do so, in a professional matter will leave me no option than to do what I must to get the truth out,” he wrote.

    This Blog is denying no truth to Bob Guenther. We would be happy to accept a six-page document he desires us either to publish or to use for research material for a future story. All he has to do is convert it to PDF (or another electronic form) and provide a link to it through the Comments function. Guenther even can post the content of the entire document in a Comment or series of Comments, instead of linking to a PDF or another type of electronic file.

    At the same time, we would be pleased to consider any information he wishes to share with us.

    But we are not going to publish any document from Guenther or prepare any story based on information he provides under threat. Nor or we going to engage him via email or telephone under threat.

    These are extraordinary circumstances, given the allegations of aggravated harassment against Guenther in Arizona and the litany of threats associated with his name. His remedy under these circumstances is to use the Comments function, not to threaten this Blog.

    Alternatively, Guenther may submit through the Support form a column that we will consider for publication under his byline, so long as it is not submitted under threat.

    It is our hope that Guenther will take advantage of a choice or choices — and do so without threat.

    Finally, we’d like to state plainly to readers that making such a statement on our Blog with respect to Bob Guenther and our coverage of ASDMBA is not something we do lightly. We do not seek to engage Guenther in conflict or to become part of the ASDMBA story.

    At the same time, we are not going to engage him under threat. We invite and encourage Bob Guenther to engage in the marketplace of ideas.

    Patrick

  • Guenther Was Charged With Financial Fraud In 1990s

    The de facto head of the ASD Members Business Association (ASDMBA) Trust was charged by federal prosecutors with 11 counts of bank fraud in July 1994, according to records.

    Bob Guenther pleaded guilty to a single count in December 1994. In a plea agreement, prosecutors dropped 10 counts.

    ASDMBA members said Guenther has refused to provide details on how the association had spent money it began collecting last summer to ensure contributors’ legal interests were covered in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme case.

    After a year-long series of delays in the 1994 Texas bank-fraud case, Guenther was sentenced to three years’ probation, in December 1995. He was ordered to pay $76,134 in restitution, which U.S. District Judge Paul Brown labeled “due immediately.”

    In July 1998, his probation was modified, enabling Guenther to pay restitution in installments of $3,000 monthly. Why restitution remained unpaid more than two years after sentencing is unclear. Brown extended Guenther’s probation by one year to ensure payment.

    Guenther made good on the restitution and was discharged from probation in April 1999.

    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 routinely used threats and menacing talk when the subject of his management of the association’s business affairs was brought up.

    One of Guenther’s lawyers in the bank-fraud case was Michael McColloch. McColloch’s name was referenced in an an Oct. 27, 2008, document prepared by Dallas attorney Larry Friedman.

    The document advised Guenther on how to behave when he interacted with a federal prosecutor in the ASD case, and warned him to quit threatening ASDMBA members.

  • BREAKING NEWS: ‘PaperlessAccess’ Web Files Mirror ASD

    A web page in Google cache from March 12, 2009, that shows information about a new surf program known as Paperless Access is identical in places to a June 16, 2007, archived page for ASD Cash Generator.

    ASD President Andy Bowdoin introduced members to Paperless Access in a video two days ago, saying the company could help ASD members recover money seized by the government in August 2008. Bowdoin said he is not involved in Paperless Access, and was vague in his description of the company program.

    Paperless Access appears to be in prelaunch phase. Google cache from March 12 reveals that a template used by the company or a promoter was similar to the template ASD used in its formative stages.

    The word “Generator” was used by both companies: Paperless Access saying it was an “Income Generator” and ASD calling itself a “Cash Generator.” Meanwhile, the FAQs for both companies were largely identical in certain places and precisely identical in others.

    Below are two screen shots of the first 20 FAQs for both companies.What ASD called “rebates,” Paperless access appears to be calling “viewing earnings.”

    Paperless Access FAQs

    Screen shot taken today from March 12, 2009, Google cache page for Paperless Access. This screen shot is of a section of FAQ's on the page and has been magnified.
    Screen shot taken today from March 12, 2009, Google cache page for Paperless Access. This screen shot is of a section of FAQ's on the page and has been magnified. Compare to the ASD Cash Generator FAQs, as reproduced in a screen shot below.

    ASD Cash Generator FAQs

    Screen shot taken today of section of ASD Cash Generator FAQs, as it existed on June 16, 2007.
    Screen shot taken today of section of ASD Cash Generator FAQs, as it existed on June 16, 2007.

    Here is the Google Cache URL from March 12, 2009, for Paperless Access. There are references on the page to PaperlessAccess.com and PaperlessAccess.org.

  • Members Criticize Bowdoin’s ‘PaperlessAccess’ Video; Some Surf’s Up Posters Say Enough Is Enough

    UPDATED 12:15 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) AdSurfDaily Inc. President Andy Bowdoin once had members eating out of his hand, but his faithful flock now appears to be splintering.

    Helping drive Bowdoin’s fall from grace is a video in which he positions “Paperless Access,” a  company that appears to use a surf model, as a way ASD members can recover money seized by the government in August by participating in the new venture.

    AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin, whose video for ASD is a major part of a federal fraud investigation, is now a video pitchman for 'Paperless Access.'
    AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin, whose video for ASD is a major part of a federal fraud investigation, is now a video pitchman for 'Paperless Access.'

    The video first appeared online two days ago. Bowdoin did not identify the owners of Paperless Access, describing them only as a small group of people. Nor did Bowdoin mention that the government is establishing an ASD refund program.

    One of the reasons it hasn’t been able to implement the program is because of Bowdoin’s self-filed legal maneuverings.

    Except for a letter Bowdoin released through Surf’s Up several days ago, he had been silent for months.  Bowdoin, for example, did not tell members about a second forfeiture complaint filed in December against assets linked to ASD. Nor did Bowdoin tell members about his January decision to submit to the forfeiture of tens of millions of dollars seized in August.

    Before Bowdoin went silent late in the fall, he tried to sell members VOIP telephone service, positioning the $20-a-month offer as a gift.

    Bowdoin, now acting as his own attorney, has changed his mind about submitting to the forfeiture, an act that will delay any government refund program because prosecutors can’t liquidate seized assets to create a victims’ pool until the case is fully litigated.

    At the same time, other ASD members also are filing pro se pleadings in the forfeiture case — something the government says also affects its ability to implement a refund program.

    Why Paperless Access would choose Bowdoin for a commercial spokesman at the risk of being dragged into a major federal fraud investigation is unclear, especially when one of the issues in the federal case is Bowdoin’s appearance in a video to promote ASD.

    Prosecutors said Bowdoin was the head of a criminal enterprise. Private litigants have accused him of racketeering, and Bowdoin was accused of 89 separate counts of fraud in four Alabama counties in the 1990s, pleading guilty to felonies.

    Database Decision Ruffles Feathers

    Some ASD members were angry that Bowdoin had turned over the ASD database to Paperless Access, saying the move invaded their privacy and exposed them to identity theft.

    “They have been given access to the database for the purpose of determining losses and the structure of the network,” Bowdoin said.

    In short, Bowdoin appears to have turned over the database to a company whose owners he appears unwilling to identify. If ASD member “losses” are recorded in the database as Bowdoin says, the new owners might gain insider’s knowledge about possible targets in a federal criminal probe into ASD’s business practices. At the same time, the database would provide Paperless Access with the names of thousands of potential witnesses against ASD and the spending habits of ASD members at large.

    Bowdoin does not identify himself in the Paperless Access video. Nor does he refer to ASD by name a single time. At the same time, Bowdoin’s claims about Paperless Access are filled with vagaries and confusing information.

    Paperless Access has a “variety of outside revenue-generating sources,” Bowdoin said, without revealing the sources.

    Bowdoin said the company’s business plan was based “solely on outside revenue.” Vague claims of outside revenue was one of the things that got ASD in trouble.

    Meanwhile, Bowdoin makes the odd claim that the goal of Paperless Access is to “return the members’ legally purchased funds.” ASD members used funds to make their purchases, but they did not purchase funds.

  • Prosecutors: Richmond Filing May Lead To ‘Unconscionable’ Delays, Thus Denying ASD’s Rank-And-File Justice

    When Curtis Richmond began filing pleadings in the ASD case, the Surf’s Up forum hailed him a hero. Prosecutors see things a different way.

    A federal judge should not permit Richmond and three others to intervene in the AdSurfDaily forfeiture case because the pleadings “will cause either manifest injustice, unconscionable delay, or both,” federal prosecutors said late yesterday.

    “Movants are but an unhappy few of the many thousands of victims of the fraud schemes
    described in the complaint,” prosecutors said of Richmond and three other men who used Richmond’s pro se litigation blueprint.  “They seek to muscle aside their fellow sufferers, and cannot even pretend to be acting in the best interests of the other [ASD] victims.”

    Prosecutors said the government is establishing a mechanism to provide refunds to ASD victims and that Richmond’s filings essentially create a small, special class of victims and could result in interminable delays for rank-and-file ASD members.

    Absent in the prosecutors’ response to Richmond were direct references to assertions by Richmond and the others that the government had committed crimes. Some ASD members treated Richmond’s assertions as red meat for the masses, using them to feed dissent against the government and build support for ASD President Andy Bowdoin.

    Prosecutors virtually ignored the assertions. Richmond was convicted of contempt of court in 2007 for threatening federal judges. He also was ordered by a federal judge to pay damages and costs to Utah public employees targeted by vexatious legal filings. The employees sued Richmond, a member of a sham Utah “Indian tribe,” under federal racketeering statutes.

    The Four-Corner Offense?

    It is NCAA “March Madness” basketball tournament time in the United States. Sometimes basketball teams try to slow down the game by employing the “four-corner offense,” situating players in a square and simply passing the ball around the square, rather than advancing it toward the basket.

    Prosecutors may be anticipating a four-corner offense from Bowdoin and others to slow down the ASD case. They referenced Bowdoin’s own pro se pleadings in the case, but did not respond to them directly in their response to motions by Richmond and the others.

    It would not be surprising if the government later takes the stand that Bowdoin’s filings are designed to delay justice. Pointedly, prosecutors described Bowdoin as “apparently proceeding pro se,” a possible sign of developments to come.

    For scale, consider that the first filing in one of the Utah cases involving Richmond was entered on Aug. 11, 2004 — four and a half years ago. By Jan. 14, 2009,  the case file had grown to include 321 separate entries, not taking entries that don’t qualify as formal filings into account.

    In January, Bowdoin, acting under advice of paid counsel, submitted to the August forfeiture of tens of millions of dollars seized from him. But Bowdoin now says he has changed his mind about submitting to the forfeiture, even though he also concedes ASD was operating illegally at the time of the seizure — exactly what the government contended all along.

    The ASD case was nearly litigated to conclusion when pro se pleadings began to pour in. In their response to Richmond, prosecutors streamlined their pleadings — addressing Richmond’s filing and three similar ones by other pro se litigants in the same document, rather than producing an individual response to each of the four motions.

    Individual motions might have required to court to act on four more documents, thus slowing down the case even more.

    If history is a guide, though, ASD members should not be surprised if the case slows to a crawl, thus delaying refunds. In the past, Richmond has filed pro se document after pro se document — and then turned to appeals courts for remedies when denied by district courts.

    He even has named judges defendants in his pleadings.

  • BREAKING NEWS: Friedman Warned Guenther About His Behavior Prior To Meeting With ASD Prosecutor, Document Says

    UPDATED 12:10 P.M. EDT (March 20, U.S.A.)

    NOTE: Though not related to the main post below, the government tonight responded to Curtis Richmond’s pro se filing in the ASD case. In the morning, we’ll publish a story on the government’s response to it and similar filings, rather than preparing another breaking-news story tonight. (Now posted here.)

    In essence, the government is arguing that Richmond’s filing and three other filings using the Richmond litigation blueprint will lead to justice being unconscionably delayed for many thousands of ASD victims and could result in manifest injustice for ASD members.

    Prosecutors also are well aware that ASD President Andy Bowdoin also now is filing his own pleadings, referencing them but not responding to them in tonight’s filings. It would not be surprising if the government takes the stand that Bowdoin’s filings are designed to delay justice. Pointedly, the government described Bowdoin as “apparently proceeding pro se,” a possible sign of developments to come.

    Tonight, Bowdoin appeared in a video, offering ASD members what he described as a way to get their money back by joining a new program called “Paperless Access.” Bowdoin appears to have shared ASD’s database with the company. Some ASD members were reacting with anger this evening, accusing Bowdoin of unrivaled, unmitigated gall.

    You can view the video here.

    Here, below, our earlier post . . .

    A document from the Dallas-based Friedman & Feiger law firm paints a picture of an out-of-control client who had to be told how to behave prior to a meeting with the lead prosecutor in the AdSurfDaily case.

    At the same time, the document also may raise questions about lawyer-client confidentiality.

    Although the document was dated Oct. 27, 2008, and addressed to Robert Guenther, the de facto head of the ASD Members Business Association (ASDMBA) Trust, Friedman’s client, it was mixed into a package sent Jack Arons.

    Arons, a Florida man, is being sued by Friedman for libel and slander. He said he received the document in both electronic and physical form from the law firm after being sued March 5.

    The document carries the signature of Friedman. A note at the top of the document says it was intended to be sent by fax to Guenther last October.

    It is unclear if Guenther received it.

    friedmanguentheroct27document

    Guenther and Friedman met with Assistant U.S. Attorney William Cowden the following month, in November 2008. Guenther has said he hoped to persuade Cowden to name Friedman’s firm receiver in the federal Ponzi scheme case against AdSurfDaily Inc.

    Guenther left the meeting without a deal and now is blustering at Cowden on the ASDMBA website.

    Arons said he thinks someone made a mistake.

    “When Larry sent me the court documents that was one of the files that was attached,” Arons said. “I think that he goofed. I also received a copy in the ones that he mailed to me later. So someone in his office screwed up.”

    Guenther was charged March 13 in Arizona with two felony counts of aggravated harassment. The action in Arizona did not stem from Guenther’s management of ASDMBA.

    At one time, Guenther used the ASDMBA website to cross-promote both ASDMBA and mmoguls, a gaming opportunity affiliated with Cheyenne Mountain and Affiliates. Cheyenne Mountain obtained a restraining order against Guenther for workplace harassment.

    He violated the order as many as five times, which led to the March 13 charges, police said.

    Arons has been a critic of both Guenther and Friedman over their handling of ASDMBA matters.

    Why the document was contained in the packages Arons received is unclear.

    In the document, Friedman told Guenther that “you need to stop threatening physical violence and, for that matter, stop threatening people altogether.

    “Making threats over the Internet and across state lines probably violates numerous state and federal laws,” the document advised.

    The document specifically warned Guenther, prior to the meeting with Cowden, that “nothing you send or say to Cowden is protected by the attorney-client privilege or any other privilege or exception.”

    At the same time, it warned Guenther “not to do anything to impede the federal government’s investigation whatsoever with whatever you are doing.”

    “Impeded” is a word Guenther used in a post three days ago at the ASD-Biz Forum, when he meant to say “embedded.”

    “You need to stop saying bad things about people on conference calls, or on the Internet,” the document warned. It specifically advised Guenther to apologize to two ASD members who raised the prospect of suing Guenther.

  • BREAKING NEWS: RICO Summons Reissued To Bowdoin, Busby, Garner; Reader Says Busby Missing For Months

    Attorney Robert Garner
    Attorney Robert Garner

    UPDATED 7:49 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) ASD President Andy Bowdoin, ASD attorney Robert Garner and Golden Panda Ad Builder President Clarence Busby never responded to a racketering lawsuit filed against them in January and the summons has been reissued.

    No attorney has entered an appearance notice for any of the three men.

    Bank of America also is a defendant in the case, though not a RICO defendant. BOA was accused of aiding and abetting  Bowdoin, Busby and Garner. The bank is being represented by Michael B. Roberts of Reed Smith in Washington, D.C.

    Reed Smith specializes in complex litigation.

    The case was brought by Mike Collins of Savage, Minn.; Frank Greene of Washington, D.C.;  and Natures Discount of Aventura, Fla., all former ASD members. It was filed as a class-action and has been assigned to Judge Rosemary Collyer, the same judge hearing the ASD civil-forfeiture case filed by federal prosecutors in August and a second forfeiture case against ASD assets seized in December.

    Bowdoin, Busby and Robert Garner were accused of conspiring with unnamed parties in organized efforts to defraud.

    The complaint alleged the men were involved in “other” schemes beyond ASD, Golden Panda and LaFuenteDinero, and have “committed or aided and abetted in the commission of countless acts of racketeering activity,” including indictable offenses.

    “The ASD Enterprise provides the RICO Defendants and other unnamed co-conspirators with a system by which to operate fraudulent schemes such as ASD, to hide the fraudulent nature of the schemes, and to profit from such schemes,” the plaintiffs alleged. “Each RICO Defendant agreed to perform services of a kind which facilitated the operation of the ASD Enterprise and facilitated the RICO Defendants and others in the operation of various fraudulent schemes, including ASD.”

    Why the men did not respond to the RICO complaint is unclear. Bowdoin said he fired his attorneys in a civil-forfeiture case filed in August against proceeds linked to ASD. The U.S. Secret Service has seized nearly $100 million in the case, and Bowdoin now is acting as his own attorney.

    Bowdoin has filed several motions in the past few weeks.

    A Blog reader who described himself as having engaged Busby in a real-estate deal said he could not locate Busby for months. The reader added that he finally secured a phone number for Busby, spoke with him briefly yesterday and that Busby hurried him off the phone.

    “We had to go through a long list of people to get a GOOD phone number,” the reader said. “Oddly, we spoke with him just today. Not sure where he is and we didn’t ask. He basicaly told us we had not tried to contact him, would not let us get a word in and was in a hurry.”

    Garner once advertised offshore legal services in an online magazine known as “Escape From America Magazine.”

    Garner identified himself a “[f]ormer General Counsel for  major Miami-based securities firm with Latin and South American  focus,” according to his ad. He listed the URL for his law office in Greensboro, North Carolina, saying he also specialized in “[r]ecoveries from scam.”

    Garner’s North Carolina law license was updated March 14 by the North Carolina State Bar. Garner’s license is active, and he is in good standing with the Bar.

  • BREAKING NEWS: Bob Guenther Charged With Two Felony Counts Of Aggravated Harassment In Arizona

    UPDATED 2:12 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Bob Guenther, a mainstay in the AdSurfDaily case and the de facto head of the ASD Members Business Association (ASDMBA) Trust, has been charged with two felony counts of aggravated harassment in Maricopa County, Arizona.

    Mesa, Arizona, police said Guenther repeatedly violated a court injunction for workplace harassment that prohibited him from nuisancing Cheyenne Mountain and Affiliates, an Arizona business.

    Despite the injunction, Guenther continued to contact Cheyenne Mountain in a manner that “harassed or threatened” the company, police said.

    Guenther violated the court order both by email and telephone, police said. An infraction that occurred via telephone was recorded and placed into evidence.

    “[Guenther] is being charged with aggravated harassment because of the multiple violations of the injunction,” police said. The investigator handling the case said in court documents that up to five separate violations of the order occurred and that Guenther “continues to violate this injunction.”

    The case is being prosecuted by the office of Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas. Charges were filed March 13. Guenther is scheduled to make a court appearance April 14.

    Read the criminal complaint for aggravated harassment against Guenther.

    Guenther is the de facto head of ASDMBA, a group funded by members with the expectation that their legal interests would be protected in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme case. Federal prosecutors seized tens of millions of dollars from ASD in August, saying the company was selling unregistered securities and engaging in wire fraud and money-laundering.

    ASDMBA members said Guenther has refused to provide transparent accounting for ASDMBA, instead engaging in profanity, threats and menacing behavior. In recent days, Guenther has claimed that someone was impersonating him on the ASD-Biz forum, a discussion site for ASD and ASDMBA members and people interested in the case.

    Guenther deleted his account at the forum, an act that also deleted his posts. He then established an account under a different user name. Within hours threats and hostile language appeared under his new forum identity.

    Here is a post claimed by Guenther that appeared yesterday at the ASD-Biz Forum (italics added):

    Ill tell you how you move on, you can kiss your ASD money goodbye…

    None of you 10-12 idiots deserve a fricking thing but a butt kicking, certainly not my time

    Arons, Ill see your dumbass in court. You are a piece of work rookie, and when I finish with you, there wont be a place you can hide, and that’s after Friedman..

    This is Bob Guenther, my assistant, Maria will not waste her time again in this pissy room full of wanna-be’s, weak sucks, and overweight nagging women..

    You dont like what I say, do something about it besides talk.. Bunch of weaks sisters.

    The “Arons” to whom Guenther referred was Jack Arons, a Florida man named a defendant in a slander and libel lawsuit filed earlier this month by Dallas-based attorney Larry Friedman.

    Friedman is the attorney for the Trust and was was introduced to ASDMBA members by Guenther. Some ASDMBA members said they had turned to the Texas Bar and the office of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to investigate the Trust.

  • DISCUSSION: What Has Shaped Your ASD Thinking?

    Below are two discussion topics. The idea of this thread is to provide some space for readers to explain how their thinking about AdSurfDaily has evolved over time.

    Please leave a comment on one or both topics.

    TOPIC ONE: When you reflect on ASD, what single event or series of events has most influenced your thinking?

    TOPIC TWO: Describe your thoughts when you observed the emergence of AdViewGlobal and came to learn it had very close ties to ASD.

  • NEWS ANALYSIS: The Problem With Guenther’s ‘Secret’ Code Word (And Other Oddities About The AdSurfDaily Case)

    Bob Guenther has told the Mods and members of the ASD-Biz forum that his previous “Bob Guenther” account had been “compromised.” He announced that he had deleted the “Bob Guenther” account and now would embed a secret code word in posts under his new forum identity, so members would know he was the actual author of posts and not a hacker using his identity to post.

    Under the new forum identity “Robert L,” Guenther said he came to the conclusion that someone had hacked his old account after “in depth investigation” revealed “[s]omeone had accessed my account, had my email and my password.”

    Meanwhile, in an unrelated but equally strange development, a poster at the Surf’s Up forum threatened to beat up ASD President Andy Bowdoin for lying to him.

    “[I]f I ever see you face to face I will knock the f— out of you,” the poster said. “I met you and had breakfast with you and you lied to my face on that Sunday in [M]iami . . .”

    Miami was the site of a July 12 ASD rally — a rally attended by federal agents working undercover.

    Bowdoin was 74 at the time federal agents seized tens of millions of dollars from the firm a few weeks after the Miami rally, in the opening days of August. The poster who threatened Bowdoin also appears to be a senior citizen. Earlier discussion in the forum suggests the man lost $52,000 by trusting Bowdoin.

    The Surf’s Up post, which stood for hours, now has been deleted. The man’s wife, who also appeared to be a senior citizen, was pictured alongside him in a loving pose. Some seniors are none too happy with Andy Bowdoin. The threat, however, was excessive.

    No good can come through violence, suggestions of violence or menacing behavior. The man, who said he lives in California, made no threat to travel to Florida to harm Bowdoin.

    The ‘Secret’ Code

    At roughly the same time Guenther was deleting his old account at the ASD-Biz forum and announcing his secret code, he also was sending an email to this Blog. We deem the email menacing and convoluted.

    Guenther is the de facto head of the ASD Members Business Association (ASDMBA) Trust, the subject of some recent posts on this Blog and elsewhere on the Web.

    All of Guenther’s old posts at the ASD-Biz forum were wiped away when he deleted his account, including threatening posts and posts that triumphantly announced a slander and libel lawsuit against Florida resident Jack Arons by Dallas-based attorney Larry Friedman, who is the attorney for the Trust.

    Bob Guenther introduced Larry Friedman during an ASDMBA conference call last year while ASDMBA was solicting funds to protect contributors’ interests in the ASD case. Friedman now blames Arons for stirring the pot online and encouraging people to file complaints about his handling of the Trust’s affairs, claiming Arons is a felon and a menace.

    Links to the slander and libel lawsuit were posted in the ASD-Biz forum under the “Bob Guenther” identity, which now is wiped away. Also wiped away were goonish threats from “Bob Guenther” that Friedman would sue other people.

    Here are two questions an investigator might ask if considering recent developments concerning Guenther:

    • Who could derive a benefit from the claim the “Bob Guenther” identity at the ASD-Biz Forum was compromised by a hacker?
    • Who could derive a benefit by deleting the “Bob Guenther” account and thus deleting the posts associated with it?

    Friedman immediately should fire the Trust as a client and disassociate himself from Bob Guenther. He also should report this matter to law enforcement. These acts are disturbing and too unnatural to ignore.

    Some people said they saved copies of the old posts, anticipating that the account might go missing. Some ASDMBA members said they filed complaints with the Texas Bar and the office of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott about the manner in which the Trust’s affairs have been handled.

    Secret code? Guenther could post something inflammatory, not include the secret code — and then claim someone else is the author because the post didn’t include the secret code.

    A secret code is proof of nothing. The notion itself strains credulity at a level that cannot be ignored.

    Along those lines, a claim by Guenther that he was at a volleyball tournament in Dallas “about the time” an unauthorized poster was using his old forum account and claiming to be heading to Mexico also is proof of nothing. A poster in Dallas could claim to be posting from Mexico. So could a poster from Arizona, at a location near the border with Mexico. (As noted in a previous post, in January we captured an Arizona IP address of Guenther’s near the Mexico border.)

    Guenther explained that he hadn’t been to Mexico since 2003 and that “[a]nyone that actually knows me, also knows why.” Again, however, the claim proves nothing . Even a person who claims not to have been in Mexico since 2003 could claim to be posting from Mexico — or anywhere.

    Restraint is not a word we associate with Guenther.  His lack of restraint is what is driving one of the stories associated with the federal probe into the business affairs of AdSurfDaily Inc. (ASD).

    Within hours of establishing a new posting identity at the ASD-Biz forum, Guenther was back to threatening people with lawsuits.

    Guenther is the de facto head of the ASD Members Business Association (ASDMBA) Trust. As noted above, ASDMBA was formed with member contributions in the aftermath of the government seizure last summer of tens of millions of dollars from ASD. Federal prosecutors say ASD was selling unregistered securities, operating a Ponzi scheme and engaging in wire fraud and money-laundering.

    ASDMBA’s stated goal was to protect the legal interests of ASD members who contributed to the association. People concerned want to know why that hasn’t happened, despite the fact ASDMBA raised more than the $100,000 said to be needed to pay for the retainer of Larry Friedman.

    In our view, Guenther has a duty to explain precisely to ASDMBA members from whom money was collected how the money was spent. If he chooses not to do so, he should have no expectation that ASDMBA members will stop asking questions.

    Something this basic should not be difficult or painful. In fact, publishing a detailed accounting is the quickest way for Guenther to disarm his critics. Concerned ASDMBA members want sunlight, the best disinfectant. What they’re getting is rudeness, hostility, profanity, tirades, threats and juvenile insults — and now secret codes.

    What they’re not getting is sunlight.

    Friedman should drop the slander and libel lawsuit against  Jack Arons. The filing of the lawsuit was repugnant, especially under these bizarre conditions.

    Arons, on Social Security, is an amateur Web critic with a fly swatter. Friedman met Arons with a Howitzer, suing him in a blitz of paperwork and then trying to force Arons to appear in Dallas for a deposition at Arons’ expense with three days’ notice.

    It was disgraceful, the stuff from which lawyer jokes are born. All of it flowed from ASDMBA’s lack of transparency. If anything, Arons owes Friedman an apology — if even that.

    Friedman has considerable stature in the Dallas legal community — and every right to defend his reputation. This lawsuit doesn’t help. Nor does the behavior of the Trust and its de facto head, Bob Guenther.

    Guenther needs people to believe in him now, and he’s doing very little to give them any reason to.

  • Something Going On At Surf’s Up?

    UPDATED 8:13 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) An inquiry about AdViewGlobal (AVG) at the Pro-AdSurfDaily Surf’s Up forum has not been answered for hours by the moderator to which it was directed or any Mod.

    The Mods appear either to have been away from the forum for virtually the entire U.S. East Coast business day or simply made the choice not to moderate.

    At the time of this update, more than eight hours have passed since the AVG inquiry was made. Update 6:45 P.M: After nine hours, the post referencing AVG at the Surf’s Up forum was deleted. Here is a screen shot taken prior to the deletion. The shot was reduced in size to fit into this space:

    terralynnavgaccountfundingsmall

    Meanwhile, a post highly critical of ASD President Andy Bowdoin has been permitted to stand. Update: 6:45 P.M: The critical post from “adam” has been deleted, along with a second critical post by another Surf’s Up member. Here is a screen shot of “adam’s” post prior to deletion. It has been reduced in size to fit into this space:

    adam800000small

    Update 7:14 P.M:. As noted above, the post from “adam” critical of Andy Bowdoin has been deleted. Left standing was a post critical of “adam” for being critical of Andy Bowdoin. Here is a screen shot:

    adamidiotclaimsmall

    At the same time, members’ inquiries on a forum some of the Surf’s Up Mods and members set up for AVG are not being answered. Update 8:13 P.M: It appears as though a Mod is answering inquiries now at the AVG forum.

    AVG recently announced a 200 percent, matching-bonus offer. The site has transitioned to what it calls a “private association” that involves figures associated with ASD, including George Harris, Bowdoin’s stepson.

    Why the Mods appear to have been away so long is unclear.