PatrickPretty.com

Blog

  • EDITORIAL: Andy Bowdoin, Have You No Shame?

    Andy Bowdoin, have you no shame? Once again your closest followers and insiders are asking rank-and-file members to believe you are acting in their interests. They do this after you turned to the membership in August and asked for letters of support while not sharing details members needed to make informed decisions.

    The membership delivered more than 3,000 letters. And then the lies were exposed, and they looked like fools for having lent their voices to this awful chorus. Andy Bowdoin should be held accountable for that. So should the followers and insiders who are helping him cloud the issues.

    Members should ask Bowdoin why he was running an ad for a failed, dissolved business in his own rotator. And they should ask why Bowdoin was paying an employee to surf for his son. They also should ask why a police report never was filed when Russian hackers purportedly stole $1 million from ASD — and why a police report wasn’t filed when others purportedly stole money from the firm.

    Those questions are just for starters, of course. There are lots of suspicious financial transactions involving family members and insiders.

    Playing The Deflection Game

    Some of those pulling strings are doing it because they have financial exposure; some are doing it because they have criminal exposure, and some are doing it for both reasons. Even so, some are almost catastrophically ignorant of the danger they are in. The information is being disseminated by crackpots and filtered through crackpots. Much of it is self-validating drivel, the stuff from which indictments are made.

    If you’re an AdSurfDaily member, you’ll serve yourself ill if you attach any importance to any of today’s self-filed legal pleadings by Andy Bowdoin or if you listen to anything the closest followers and insiders have to say. You got hoodwinked the first time. Don’t let it happen again.

    Think of his principal cheerleaders and major promoters as potential co-defendants in both civil and criminal prosecutions. Ask yourself if you’re being asked to provide cover for criminals before you invest in any of this, including the writing of letters to politicians.

    Bowdoin does not dispute a single fact in today’s filings. All three documents offer technical challenges to the forfeiture actions. The documents paint Bowdoin the victim of a police state despite the fact he hasn’t been arrested or incarcerated. It is a subdued rant against a perceived police state. Nothing more.

    Any person who tells you that Americans are free to sign contracts and engage in commerce for any purpose that pleases them is a crackpot.  If this were the case, drug dealers and customers could escape prosecution simply by agreeing not to call a crime a crime.

    The documents appear to have been written by someone who wishes the case were a criminal indictment, not a civil forfeiture proceeding. The person may get his wish soon enough. Prosecutors wouldn’t have to use a word Bowdoin said in the presence of any Secret Service agent to bring an indictment or get a conviction.

    Bowdoin also appears to be confused about his own case — something that’s not surprising, considering he once told members that Ponzi charges had been dropped against him in Florida when they had never been brought to begin with.

    In his current pleadings, Bowdoin appears to be claiming he submitted to forfeiture under duress. But he never submitted to the forfeiture of the money and property he points to in today’s pleadings. He has submitted only to the forfeiture of money and property seized in August, not December, and Bowdoin appears to be trying to have the December forfeiture reversed while not mentioning the August forfeiture or providing corresponding dates when specific actions took place. At present, the documents appear to show that Bowdoin isn’t challenging the August seizure of $93.5 million and other property, including two homes.

    Members should ask him about that. They need to know if he is challenging the August seizure. They need to know precisely why he appears only to be challenging the seizure of property linked to his family members and Golden Panda President Clarence Busby.

    So Simple, Anybody Can Be A Lawyer

    Earlier Bowdoin had competent attorneys from a prominent law firm. He also paid $24,000 to retain an expert witness. All of these people went to real law schools and are members of the bar.

    Neither the attorneys nor the expert could score a win for ASD at the Sept. 30-Oct. 1.  evidentiary hearing that ASD itself requested. Bowdoin could have scored his own win by producing documents and audited financial statements that demonstrated ASD was not a Ponzi scheme. He didn’t do it. Not only did he not do it, he didn’t even do what his attorneys asked him to do, namely submit documentation to them to aid in the preparation of his case in the forfeiture matter.

    And now he’s doing what Andy Bowdoin does: playing the victim and creating hope where none exists. He did largely the same thing when he was accused of a huge fraud in Alabama a decade ago.

    You see, the whole, ugly mess in Alabama that resulted in felony charges being filed against Bowdoin was not his fault.

    Bowdoin told the St. Petersburg Times that “he ran into trouble in Alabama because his company, Mobile International, sought to raise $1-million through a stock issue, and someone was improperly paid a commission to sell the stock,” according to the newpaper.

    “That nullified the registrations that our attorney had done with the state of Alabama,” he said.

    Bowdoin did not explain why he pleaded guilty to felonies if he had done nothing wrong and how one couple got hoodwinked out of $450,000. Bowdoin and his cronies bought expensive cars and expensive office trimmings with the money.

    World-class crackpots are pulling Bowdoin’s strings now. Don’t be surprised if he gets indicted soon and takes a haf-dozen or more people down with him. An alleged $100 million Ponzi scheme is still extraordinary, despite its seeming smallness when compared to Bernard Madoff.

    The government should leave no stone unturned in its investigation into Bowdoin’s actions. On Aug. 18, Bowdoin filed an emergency motion that asked the court to free up money so ASD could operate post-seizure.

    Bowdoin did not advise the court from which it sought emergency relief in the Aug. 18 brief that ASD had more than $1 million on deposit in a bank in Antigua. Instead Bowdoin told the court that ASD couldn’t pay its bills.

    “ASD needs emergency relief,” Bowdoin said in Aug. 18 filings. ” . . .  In a matter of a few days, ASD has gone from a vibrant internet advertising business with approximately 100,000 members to a hollow shell without a working office and without the means to resume its business . . .  It has also been unable to pay its bills (to creditors, such as its landlord) and is hurtling down into a steep financial tailspin. To provide one concrete example, on August 14, 2008, ASD’s hosting company threatened to shut down the company’s servers because its bill is unpaid.”

    Only after prosecutors pointed to the Antigua money on Aug. 25 did Bowdoin acknowledge its existence in court briefs. He declared an emergency despite the fact ASD had more than $1 million offshore — in an account under a different name — and he didn’t tell members about the Antigua money until prosecutors raised the issue.

    Why not?

    At first, part of the circus surrounding ASD was mildly amusing, despite the fact a $100 million, international Ponzi scheme is very serious business. But all the air is out of the balloon now, and the government should pursue justice that is equivalent with crimes being committed right in plain sight.

    This is not a comedy; it is a tragedy.

  • BREAKING NEWS: Bowdoin, Acting As Own Attorney, Files Motion To Dismiss AdSurfDaily Forfeiture Case

    Andy Bowdoin.
    Andy Bowdoin.

    UPDATE 4:13 P.M. EST (U.S.A.) Andy Bowdoin, acting as his own attorney, has filed a motion to dismiss the AdSurfDaily forfeiture case.

    At the same time, Bowdoin appears to have filed a motion to reverse his earlier decision to submit to the forfeiture of certain property seized by the government.

    Bowdoin’s filing, however, does not appear to contest the forfeiture of tens of millions of dollars seized by the government in August. It appears to apply to property seized from members of his family in December and from Golden Panda President Clarence Busby.

    It is possible that a document is missing from the case file or has yet to be added. The petition to reverse the forfeiture, as filed, references only property seized in the December forfeiture action.

    Today’s Bowdoin filings are dated and signed Feb. 25, 2009, exactly one day before AdViewGlobal (AVG), an autosurf that defines itself as an offshore company and shares common management with ASD, announced it was going underground by forming a private association.

    Incredibly, AVG makes the claim it is not associated with ASD despite the presence of common management, common promoters and at least one common employee, Chuck Osmin. Osmin testified for ASD at the Sept. 30-Oct. 1 evidentiary hearing. Gary Talbert, a former ASD executive who is now the chief executive officer of AVG, filed a sworn affidavit in the case.

    George Harris, Bowdoin’s stepson, is listed as a trustee for the AVG private association. So is Talbert. Property was seized from Harris in the December forfeiture complaint.

    Harris is the son of Edna Faye Bowdoin, Andy Bowdoin’s wife.

    Andy Bowdoin said his decision to submit to the forfeiture was made under “severe duress” and was a “grave mistake and error.” He accused the government of “fraud, trickery and deceit.”

    Meanwhile, Bowdoin has filed a motion to suppress evidence, saying he was illegally interrogated by the U.S. Secret Service. Bowdoin claimed agents did not advise him of his Miranda rights — the right to remain silent.

    In his motion to dismiss, Bowdoin said the court was obligated to dismiss because it lacked jurisdiction. Bowdoin said the case should be viewed as a quasi-criminal matter, not a civil case.

    “There was no probable cause even to file a complaint in this instant case,” Bowdoin asserted.

    Why Bowdoin filed the documents as his own attorney isn’t clear. But the documents have the hallmarks of documents filed by inexpert litigants belonging to underground legal “associations” that purport to help nonlawyers navigate tricky waters.

    AdSurfDaily and AdViewGlobal recently have been linked to such underground associations. One of them is Pro Advocate Group, which says it can help nonlawyers and nondoctors establish private “associations” that enable members to practice law and medicine without a license.

    Bowdoin’s pleadings, in general, are much more respectful than documents other litigants acting as their own attorneys recently have filed in the case.

    Unlike Curtis Richmond and others who used the Richmond litigation blueprint, Bowdoin, for instance, does not accuse the judge and prosecutors of crimes and demand a specific result in a compressed time frame at the peril of prosecution.

    But he did accuse the government of trickery, saying the Secret Service “did not follow the supreme law of the land” in its treatment of him.

    “One cannot break the law in an attempt to ‘uphold the law,’” Bowdoin said.

    Moderators of the Pro-ASD Surf’s Up forum have hinted for days that something special was coming in the case. If this is it, “special” means that Bowdoin now is acting as his own attorney and citing English Common Law as one of his resources.

    How much Bowdoin spent on the lawyers previously handing his case is unknown. His earlier decision to surrender to the forfeiture, however, imperiled ASD promoters who made money. It would be hard for them to claim they were entitled to keep proceeds of what prosecutors said was a $100 million Ponzi scheme when Bowdoin himself surrendered claims.

    Prosecutors, however, always have had the option of litigating against Bowdoin’s promoters no matter what Bowdoin did.

    ASD members have reported in recent days that the Secret Service has seized the bank accounts of some individual ASD promoters, including people who also are promoting AdViewGlobal. Bowdoin has been under pressure from members who were unhappy about his two-month silence.

    He did not tell members about a second forfeiture complaint filed against ASD-connected assets in December. Nor did he tell members about his January decision to surrender the money. Both issues created problems for ASD promoters.

    Read Bowdoin’s motion to dismiss.

    Read Bowdoin’s motion to reverse his earlier decision to forfeit property.

    Read Bowdoin’s motion to supress evidence.

  • Sign Of The Apocalypse? Ning.com Surf Sites Removed

    Ning.com sites by David Courtney that promoted autosurfs have been taken offline without explanation. It is unclear if the removal is permanent, but sites for MegaLido, AdGateWorld and BizAdSplash went offline last night and remain offline this morning.

    “This social network has been taken offline by its owner,” each site said. “It’s likely that the owner will bring it back online shortly.”

    The sites have been offline for at least 11 hours.

    Courtney also promoted Noobing, which is under fire from members for collecting money, paying rebates of up to 3 percent for a while, and then slashing rates to a fraction of 1 percent. Noobing blamed the rate cut on an unclear ruling in the ASD case and implored members to complain to the government.

    The surf also is under fire from the deaf community.

    Courtney said he’ll no longer write about Noobing in his newsletter, and he also announced that he won’t publish information about AdViewGlobal to protect members of a newly formed private association. Meanwhile, Courtney said he’d no longer publish information about the rebate-paying histories of AdGateWorld or BizAdSplash.

    At the same time, Courtney announced he was down on Aggero Investment, which crashed and burned over the weekend after collecting money until the bitter end.

    “Roger from Aggero really dropped a bomb on us over the weekend,” Courtney said. “Whereas just 13 days prior Roger was saying how great and wonderful everything was going, and even raised the maximum investment from $3,000 to $5,000, a mere two weeks later he announced that the program was in trouble and that he was closing.

    “This announcement was further shocking due to the fact that just a couple of days prior, Roger announced that Premium Ads Club was closing up but that those of us in Aggero had nothing to worry about. Less than 48 hours after that announcement, he told us that Aggero was in fact having problems.”

    In other ASD news, an ALL-CAPS POSTER named “David” — not David Courtney — screamed in multiple threads at the Pro-ASD Surf’s Up forum last night for people to wake up and not let ASD’s big winners hang onto their ASD money.

    David implored the winners to turn over their earnings to the government so ill-gotten gains could be distributed among the rank-and-file losers. One poster assured David that the winners weren’t acting in their own self-interest by trying to rally troops to write letters and rail against the government.

    But David didn’t buy it, and continued to post in ALL CAPS. A poster then appealed to the Mods to shelter Surf’s Up members from the high truths he was telling. Eventually his posts were deleted.

  • Purported Joe Shoop ASD Letter Was On Website Registered To Litigant Who Sued Chase Bank By Posting Bond Of ‘Twenty-One Dollars In Silver Coinage’

    UPDATE 8:14 P.M. EST (U.S.A.) With each passing day the AdSurfDaily case reveals new and strange details about a subculture that appears to have firm roots in the organization. It is a subculture of rants against the government for perceived injustices, underground business “associations” that purport to permit nonlawyers and nondoctors to practice law and medicine, and legal filings that seek to undermine banks’ abilities to collect on debts.

    Today a post appeared on the Pro-ASD Surf’s Up forum purporting to take viewers to a page from which they could download a Microsoft Word template  of a letter to send the government to protest its actions in the ASD case. The author of the letter was identified as ASD promoter Joe Shoop, and the website — credittechs.net — was registered to Ricky Jackson.

    In 2004, Ricky Jackson and Regina Jackson sued Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corp. in federal court for the Eastern District of Missouri to overturn a mortgage foreclosure. The documents in the case purported to show that Ricky Jackson had posted a bond consisting of “twenty-one dollars in silver coinage” in a bizarre bid to undermine the bank’s interest in the property.

    The Jacksons, according to filings, ordered the bank to respond to the document within three days or lose all of its rights in the case, which appears to have started in Missouri state court and morphed into multiple federal cases.

    U.S. District Judge Catherine D. Perry ultimately dismissed the Jackson complaint against the bank with prejudice, saying the pleadings were nonsense.

    “This document is even more incomprehensible than the initial complaint, ” Perry said of the 21 Silver Coins filing.

    For days now, the Surf’s Up forum has been suggesting the ASD case soon will take a legal turn for the better — from ASD’s point of view. One Surf’s Up Mod pleaded with a member to “just hold on — a little bit longer now baby.”

    But pleadings filed in the case recently by ASD members have used the template of Curtis Richmond, a California man associated with a Utah “Indian” tribe a judge ruled a sham.

    Four motions to intervene have been filed in recent weeks in the ASD case. All four used the Richmond template. They accused Judge Rosemary Collyer, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor and Assistant U.S. Attorney William Cowden of crimes.

    Richmond, a nonlawyer, has been a thorn in the side of banks from coast to coast. His name appears in lawsuits in which borrowers claimed not to owe lenders money because they had “assigned” their debts to him. Meanwhile, Richmond has tried to have litigation opponents in debt cases arrested.

    On Feb. 26, an autosurf known as AdViewGlobal, which has close ties to ASD, announced it was forming a “private association.” The company to which it turned for advice is Pro Advocate Group, which says it can set up individuals to practice law without a license.

    Karl Dahlstrom, who is associated with Pro Advocate Group, was sentenced in 1997 to 78 months in federal prison for his role in a securities scheme.

    The credittechs.net website registered to Jackson features a media player with the ASD logo, and also appears to host a credit-repair organization set up as a private association.

    “At Credit Techs we are not credit counseling or credit negotiators, we are credit debt ELIMINATORS,” the site says. “We can help stop the credit companies from stealing your hard earned money. Our specialty is credit cards and unsecured debt. We are an organization of members who help one another out with such financial matters.”

    Credit Techs also says this:

    “Members of groups who are competent nonlawyers can assist other members of the group achieve the goals of the group in court without being charged with ‘unauthorized practice of law,’” the site says.

  • BREAKING NEWS: Obama To Sponsor Plan To Curb International Tax Scheming, Treasury Secretary Tells Panel

    obamaThe Obama administration said today that it will crack down on international tax cheats and people using tax havens to evade U.S. regulators.

    In testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said Obama will propose new rules to curtail international scheming.

    “The budget also seeks to close the ‘tax gap’ by tackling tax shelters and other efforts to abuse our tax laws, including international tax-evasion efforts,” Geithner said. “The budget addresses the use of offshore structures and accounts by U.S. corporations and individuals to avoid and evade U.S. taxes. Over the next several months, the President will propose a series of legislative and enforcement measures to reduce such U.S. tax evasion and avoidance.”

    Geithner’s remarks couldn’t have come at a worse time for some AdSurfDaily members. Some members Surf’s Up, a Pro-ASD forum, are engaging in a letter-writing campaign to have the government investigate the prosecutors and federal judge involved in the case.

    Members have sent letters to Obama, Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and other politicians.

    In August, prosecutors alleged that ASD was a wire-fraud and money-laundering operation whose central component was an international, $100 million Ponzi scheme. ASD had more than $1 million on deposit in Antigua, which later became ground zero in the alleged multibillion-dollar Allen Stanford Ponzi scheme.

    Robert Garner, an ASD attorney who advertised his international financial services in a magazine in 2003, was named a defendant in a RICO lawsuit in January. His co-defendants include ASD President Andy Bowdoin and Golden Panda Ad Builder President Clarence Busby. Assets tied to Golden Panda were seized in the ASD case.

    Promoter say Busby now is involved with another surf — BizAdSplash — which promotes itself as an offshore business.

    Bowdoin’s stepson, George Harris, and two former ASD employees, Gary Talbert and Chuck Osmin, are associated with yet another offshore surf — AdViewGlobal.

    Three autosurfs with ties to ASD sprouted up in the aftermath of the government’s seizure of ASD funds, all touting the benefits of their “offshore” locations in countries such as Panama and Uruguay. One of the surfs, BizAdSplash, is having trouble with a bank in Panama and a payment processor in Panama. The surf announced the trouble after the SEC charged Stanford with fraud.

    Meanwhile, AdGateWorld positioned itself as an attractive option after what happened to ASD. Promoters said AdGateWorld provided protection from the SEC, the IRS and state attorneys general.

    For its part, AdViewGlobal now says it is forming a private association.

  • More Pension Funds Frozen In Westridge Capital Management Case; San Diego County Was Pulling Out Of Fund As University of Pittsburgh Was Increasing Stake

    Paul Greenwood.
    Paul Greenwood.

    Westridge Capital Management (WCM) and affiliate WG Trading appear to have been trolling for cash to sustain the deception until the bitter end. Even as one public retirement system was pulling out and demanding a return of invested funds, another one was increasing its stake.

    In January, just weeks before the firms were exposed as frauds, they asked the San Diego County Employees Retirement Association (SDCERA) to change its mind about pulling out,  SDCERA said.

    SDCERA said its fears were heightened in October 2008 when an analyst from Albourne Partners, an SDCERA consultant, “found [Paul] Greenwood to be uncooperative and evasive” during a due-diligence examination. The association had about $78 million in the fund, after having taken a $75 million redemption in October 2007.

    Greenwood and Stephen Walsh, two principals in the firms, were arrested by the FBI last week. They are accused of orchestrating a fraud involving hundreds of millions of dollars.

    “In addition to a general lack of operational transparency, Greenwood [in October 2008] refused to provide access to key references such as third party brokers,” SDCERA said. “SDCERA also followed up with WG Trading by requesting additional information, but was not provided with a sufficient response.”

    The association ended its contract with WG Trading on Dec. 31, 2008. Within days, WG Trading asked it to reconsider — after its earlier refusal to disclose information.

    “On January 8, 2009, WG Trading contacted SDCERA and requested their termination be reconsidered and offered to provide additional information, which SDCERA deemed insufficient,” SDCERA said.  “On January 15, 2009, the SDCERA Board of Trustees rejected WG Trading’s request to be reinstated, and approved staff’s decision to terminate WG Trading and demand a return of all monies invested.”

    SDCERA said it did not suspect fraud at the time, which might not be good news to the University of Pittsburgh. Only weeks after SDCERA’s termination, Pitt increased its stake in WCM by more than $21 million.

    More WCM Fallout

    More than $135 million in pension funds for North Dakota public retirees have been frozen as a result of the WCM fraud probe.

    The North Dakota State Investment Board has terminated its investment management relationship with WCM and WG Trading.

    Last week, the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System ended its contract with WCM. Iowa public retirees have $339 million at risk in the fund. The University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, with a combined $114 million in the fund, also have exposure. So does the SDCERA, which may have $78 million in exposure. The Sacramento County Employees’ Retirement System also has exposure.

  • Shush! AdViewGlobal Promoters Get Tongue-Tied

    Here’s how one AdViewGlobal (AVG) promoter put it in a message to his list:

    “Ad View Global is now known as AV Global Association. AV Global Association is a private membership association. To help protect the members of this private association, I will no longer discuss AVG in my Newsletter.”

    He did not mention that AVG is taking advice from Karl Dahlstrom of Pro Advocate Group.  Dahlstrom, in 1997, was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison for his role in a securities scheme. Nor did the promoter mention that Dahlstrom’s daughter also was sentenced to prison.

    No one at the Pro-AdSurfDaily Surf’s Up forum has mentioned it either. A sister site for AVG set up by some of the Surf’s Up Mods and members, however, also has gone underground. A couple of weeks ago the AdViewGlobal forum anointed Curtis Richmond a “hero” for intervening in the ASD case, but never told members about Richmond’s conviction for threatening federal judges.

    Nor did the AdViewGlobal forum tells members about an order by a federal judge for Richmond and others to pay nearly $110,000 in damages and costs to public officials harmed by an organized nuisance campaign. Richmond is a member of a Utah “Indian” tribe the judge ruled a sham, saying the “tribe’s” efforts to undermine the legal system by filing vexatious lawsuits and trying to collect enormous judgments against public officials amounted to racketeering.

    BizAdSplash

    Here’s what the first promoter cited above had to say about BizAdSplash, yet another surf with ties to ASD that came to life in the aftermath of the government seizure of assets linked to ASD in August and December.

    “I think it is best to leave the percentages off my Newsletter going forward. For those who are already members of Biz Ad Splash, you can see the daily calculations by going to your Ad Package History and then clicking on any one of your active ad packs.

    “Biz Ad Splash announced over the weekend that they are discontinuing the Strict Pay payment processor. Strict Pay is having some problems right now which has caused Biz Ad Splash to stop using them for the time being at least.”

    Early promoters of BizAdSplash linked it to Clarence Busby, the operator of GoldenPandaAdBuilder. Assets linked to Golden Panda were seized in the ASD probe. Busby was called a “special consultant” to BizAdSplash. Other promoters said he was the owner.

    Like ASD President Andy Bowdoin and ASD attorney Robert Garner, Busby has been named a defendant in a racketeering lawsuit.

    The BizAdSplash promoter did not mention banking problems in Panama and elsewhere in Latin America and the Caribbean created by the collapse of the R. Allen Stanford Ponzi in Antigua. Three of three surfs that sprouted up after the government seizure of assets linked to ASD claimed ties to Panama or South America. These included BizAdSplash, AVG and AdGateWorld.

    All three surfs are trolling for cash in particularly odious ways right now — and this on the heels of other surfs that collapsed in the wake of the Stanford Ponzi. The extent of Stanford’s troubles on the autosurf trade is unclear, but two surfs — PAC and Aggero Investment — flamed out in spectacular fashion in the past week, and promoters for both surfs claimed the programs were safe because they were offshore.

    Both PAC and Aggero Investment collected money until the bitter end, saying things were just fine.

    Boom! They were gone.

    And, speaking of “gone,” MegaLido also is gone. The first promoter cited above promoted it, too, and he’s also promoting AdGateWorld.

  • Our Surprise Visit From ‘The White Nationalist Community’

    Given that people hawking private medical associations that enable unlicensed members to practice medicine are playing an increasingly vocal role in the AdSurfDaily case — and that  “Sovereigns” and conspiracy theorists are, too — it shouldn’t come as a surprise that one of our visitors yesterday arrived at the Blog from a hate site.

    But it did come as a surprise.

    Perhaps it was just someone doing research and trying to establish links among the vocal ASD factions. We can only hope.

    We hadn’t heard of Stormfront.org before seeing its URL in our logs. We visited the site, and an instant chill swept over us.  The site invited visitors to listen to “Dr. David Duke” on the radio. Posts included attacks on white people stupid enough to vote for President Obama, attacks on Jews, attacks on the government.

    And you could buy a Ku Klux Klan T-shirt for $12 (plus shipping), and even set yourself up with some Nazi mementos. The site’s slogan is “White Pride World Wide.”

    The site is operated by Don Black, owns its own servers, and operates out of West Palm Beach, Fla.

    “Stormfront has published stories aimed at children, and the Stormfront for Kids section of the website hosts a link to ‘White Power Doom,’ a downloadable white power computer game that allows children the opportunity to hunt and kill Jews and black people,” according to Wikipedia.

    Here’s hoping our visitor from Stormfront.org was just a researcher.

  • Stanford Ponzi Scheme Is Affecting Autosurf Trade

    When the Securities and Exchange Commission charged R. Allen Stanford Feb. 17 with operating a multibillion-dollar fraud scheme through his bank in Antigua, the news created banking pandemonium on the tiny Caribbean island and also in Panama.

    In the days that followed, a surf known as BizAdSplash referenced the banking situation in Panama without referencing Stanford by name.

    BizAdSplash: Trouble in Panama.
    BizAdSplash: Trouble in Panama.

    BizAdSplash was one of three surfs that came to life in the months following the seizure of funds tied to AdSurfDaily Inc., a surf registered in the United States and accused of running a $100 million Ponzi scheme.

    One of the key sales points of BizAdSplash was its purported offshore location. Two other surfs — AdViewGlobal and AdGateWorld — also bragged about being offshore. Promoters for the surfs said the offshore locations provided protection from the SEC, the IRS and state attorneys general. Promotions for the new surfs repeatedly referenced ASD.

    “We want to let you know that even though our banks in Panama are closed for the next day and half, the payment processors are NOT CLOSED,” BizAdSplash said on Feb. 24. “You can still buy Ad Packages through your chosen payment processor. You will get your 100% match today and will continue into next week.

    “So,” BizAdSplash continued, “if you purchased new Ad Packages yesterday from outside your Cash Balance, you received a 100% matching bonus.

    “This 100% matching bonus will continue on today, through the weekend and on through Friday, March 6th!!!” the surf exclaimed.

    On Feb. 27 — just three days later — BizAdSplash told customers it was ending its affiliation with StrictPay, a payment processor with Panamanian ties, but again did not mention Stanford or refer to the regional banking crisis.

    “We are suspending the use of the Strict Pay Payment processor,” BizAdSplash said. “This is due to Strict Pay having some technical difficulties at this time. If you have requested a cash out using Strict Pay this past week, please change this and any future cash out request to one of the following: Alert Pay, Solid Trust Pay or Bank Wire. Please note that using the bank wire, the minimum to cash out is $1,000. Until Strict Pay has corrected the problems we will not allow this processor to be available.”

    Alert Pay and Solid Trust Pay are payment processors headquartered in Canada, and friendly to the autosurf trade.

    AdSurfDaily is another surf with Caribbean ties. Federal prosecutors said ASD had more than $1 million on deposit in Antigua. After prosecutors made the claim, ASD President Andy Bowdoin told members that $500,000 of the sum was a deposit that enabled ASD to process credit-card orders.

    Bowdoin never referenced Antigua until prosecutors referenced it first.

    ASD said it relied on the expert guidance of attorney Robert F. Garner. The Feds now say Garner was a shill for ASD, and Garner has advertised his legal services to help companies establish a presence offshore.

    The extent of the problem the alleged Stanford Ponzi has caused surfs is unclear. But several surfs that purport to be operating offshore have collapsed in recent days

  • Garner Advertised In ‘Escape Artist’ Publication

    Attorney Robert Garner
    Attorney Robert Garner

    An attorney accused of racketeering in a lawsuit by members of AdSurfDaily and accused by prosecutors of shilling for ASD President Andy Bowdoin once advertised his services in “Escape From America Magazine.”

    The magazine is part of a website known as EscapeArtist.com.

    Robert F. 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 is licensed to practice law in North Carolina. But web records show he has not informed the North Carolina bar this year whether he is in private practice or carries malpractice insurance — two things he is required to do.

    “Each active member of the North Carolina State Bar is required to advise the State Bar annually whether he or she is engaged in private practice and whether he or she is covered by legal malpractice insurance,” the bar says on its website. Garner’s entries for 2009 are listed “no response.”

    Garner’s magazine ad ran in Vol. 5, Issue 11, of Escape From America. It was published in November 2003, alongside ads for tax havens, financial, telephone and real estate services for expatriates, and pitches for people to move to Belize and elsewhere.

    “YOUR OWN OFFSHORE BANK ACCOUNT IS WAITING FOR YOU,” promised one of the ads in the publication.

    In December, federal prosecutors filed a second forfeiture complaint against assets tied to ASD, including a home and personal property acquired by Bowdoin family members.

    Bowdoin’s wife, Edna Faye Bowdoin, and her son, George Harris, used ASD money to open an account in a separate bank. Harris used $157,216 of the opening deposit to pay off the mortgage on the Tallahassee home he shared with his wife, prosecutors said.

    Garner shilled for Andy Bowdoin in an ASD video, prosecutors said.

    “ASD actually [employed] Garner to participate in a marketing video that ASD crafted to reassure hesitant prospects of ASD’s lawfulness, not for his expertise in ensuring ASD’s compliance with applicable laws,” prosecutors said.

    “Messrs. Bowdoin and Garner said that ASD’s operations had been reviewed carefully by a team of legal experts to ensure compliance with all applicable laws,” prosecutors said.

    “Messrs. Bowdoin and Garner knew the representations made in the video were material to prospective participants, made-up, and false,” prosecutors said. “The misrepresentations led to a significant expansion of investment in ASD and related auto-surf investment programs.”

    In fact, prosecutors said, ASD didn’t hire compliance attorneys during the first 20 months of its existence, waiting until after it started to collect enormous sums at rallies last year to address compliance with federal securities laws and other laws.

    A RICO complaint brought against Bowdoin, Garner and Golden Panda Ad Builder President Clarence Busby in January accuses the men of organized efforts to defraud. The lawsuit was filed by Mike Collins of Savage, Minn.; Frank Greene of Washington, D.C.; and Natures Discount of Aventura, Fla.

    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.”

    One entity associated with ASD — a surf known as AdViewGlobal — lists former ASD executive Gary Talbert as its chief executive officer. Chuck Osmin, a former ASD customer-service representative who said he expected to earn $2,000 a day from ASD, also now works for AVG.

    Meanwhile, AVG lists George Harris as a trustee. AVG has turned to a firm known as Pro Advocate Group for advice on becoming a private members’ association. Pro Advocate Group is associated with Karl Dahlstom. In 1997, Dahlstrom was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison for his participation in a securities scheme.

    An attorney named Robert F. Garner — with ties to Florida and North Carolina –  is referenced in documents published by the U.S. Senate pertaining to a 2001 investigation into international money-laundering.

  • BREAKING NEWS: AdViewGlobal Aligned With Second Felon?

    UPDATE  9:16 P.M. EST (U.S.A.) The indictment against Karl Dahlstrom is available in PDF format at the bottom of this post.

    Here, below, our earlier post . . .

    In a desperate bid to hide itself underground after its management structure was exposed, the controversial autosurf AdViewGlobal has formed a private association and is taking advice from an entity known as “Pro Advocate Group.”

    Pro Advocate Group is associated with Karl Dahlstrom. In 1997, Dahlstrom was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison for his participation in a securities scheme.

    Dahlstrom and others “were indicted for their involvement in a nationwide solicitation campaign for the purpose of selling unregistered shares” of Inferno Snuffers Inc. (ISI), and Inferno Engineering and Consulting Inc. (IEC), the SEC said.

    AdSurfDaily, under fire for selling unregistered securities amid allegations of wire fraud, money-laundering and running a $100 million Ponzi scheme, is led by Andy Bowdoin, himself a convicted felon from a 1990s securities scheme. Prosecutors seized part of ASD’s assets in an August forfeiture complaint.

    George Harris, Bowdoin’s stepson, is listed as a trustee for AVG. In December, about a week after AVG started being talked about in online forums, federal prosecutors seized additional assets linked to ASD, filing a second forfeiture complaint. Among the assets seized was a Tallahassee home owned by George Harris and his wife, Judy Harris.

    Under Dahlstrom’s direction, the SEC said, ISI and IEC “were marketing ‘Uni-Snuff,’ a product claimed to be useful in extinguishing and suppressing fires, and the ‘Snuffer System,’ a method of dispensing Uni-Snuff.”

    The website for Pro Advocate Group lists “Clara Dahlstrom” as the administrator. Clara Dahlstrom is Karl Dahlstrom’s wife. In court documents in a tax case, Karl Dahlstrom is described as having  “been in the abusive trust business for many years.”

    AVG announced its association with Pro Advocate Group in a members’ conference call earlier this week. A Mod at the Pro-AdSurfDaily “Surf’s Up” forum introduced listeners to Gary Talbert, a former ASD executive now listed as the chief executive officer of AVG.

    Talbert, in turn, introduced listeners to Pro Advocate Group and a man identified as “Carl,” who delivered remarks.

    “He discussed why AVG decided to establish a 1st and 14th Amendment Private Membership Association,” a source said.

    Like ASD, Pro Advocates Group uses religion in its sales pitch.

    “We are proud of our Christian moral values and feel that we stand alone in a sea full of Master Deceivers in the world of Asset Protection,” the group says on its website. “Let us help you find the proper legal solution for your problem and peace of mind. We are founded upon legal principles that are backed by book, chapter and verse of legal rulings, regulations and Supreme Court interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. We teach and support the inherent rights of DUE PROCESS and EQUAL PROTECTION under the law.”

    Read the indictment against Karl Dahlstrom, Karla Dahlstrom (his daughter), Hubert Leopard and Richard Lopez. Some of the allegations read like the allegations against ASD.

    Karl Dahlstrom was accused of using investors' funds to purchase new vehicles and pitching the opportunity to church groups.
    Karl Dahlstrom was accused of using investors' funds to purchase new vehicles and pitching the opportunity to church groups.