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  • AdViewGlobal, AdGateWorld Brands Leveraged To Sell Cash-Gifting, Other Programs; Pitches Also Use Tony Robbins’ Name

    It’s hard to imagine that motivational speaker Anthony Robbins would be pleased to learn his carefully cultivated brand name is being leveraged to sell highly questionable online-income opportunities such as cash-gifting programs.

    Robbins, however, has company — and it’s the sort of company that adds an extra layer of dubiousness to the drip-drop dilution of the Robbins’ brand: The brands of AdGateWorld and AdViewGlobal also are being used to harvest traffic to “opportunities” that appear to have nothing to do with the autosurf companies.

    AdGateWorld and AdViewGlobal are autosurf companies that surfaced in the wake of the alleged $100 million AdSurfDaily autosurf Ponzi scheme. The U.S. government takes a dim view of the autosurf business model, saying it’s a back-door way of selling securities without a license — while using money from new investors to pay redemptions requested by earlier investors: the classic Ponzi set-up.

    At the same time, the government also cautions against participating in cash-gifting programs, many of which use an illegal pyramid model and trade on get-rich-quick dreams.

    This is one of those bizarre things that happens only online. Autosurfs have been under public scrutiny in the aftermath of the well-publicized August seizure of ASD’s assets.

    Promoters of cash-gifting and MLM-style programs now appear to be trading on ASD’s pain — and the names of new autosurfs that have surfaced since the ASD asset seizure  — to harvest traffic and route dollars to their own questionable opportunities.

    Last night and this morning we noticed that some promoters of cash-gifting and other questionable programs have been using keywords such as “Ad View Global” and “Ad Gate World” to drive traffic to their video presentations. The autosurf names appear in headlines on the video sites, but the videos themselves don’t talk about the autosurfs.

    People who anticipate viewing an autosurf pitch instead are greeted with a cash-gifting pitch or a pitch for another MLM-style program.

    Robbins’ name also is being used in an apparent bid to siphon traffic that originates with autosurf- or business-opportunity-related keywords, and, in at least one case, is being used in an actual video ad for a cash-gifting program. We also noticed Robbins’ likeness in video stills whose headlines suggested the videos were about autosurfs.

    This morning we viewed a video with a headline of “Ad Gate World Create[s] the 4 Hour Work Week.” The video was about a cash-gifting program, not the Ad Gate World autosurf program. Robbins’ name was scrolled in the opening frames of the video.

    A woman who appeared in the video declared she’d found her nirvana through cash-gifting:

    “Cash-gifting is the way to go — hands down,” she told viewers. “This is what I want to do, like forever, now.”

    Like him or not, Tony Robbins has worked hard to cultivate a unique brand identity. Last year he sued Stephen Pierce, an Internet Marketer, amid allegations that Pierce was leveraging the Robbins’ brand without authorization.

    Read about the Robbins/Pierce lawsuit on TMZ.com.

    “[Robbins] carefully limits and vigorously protects and defends the good will and value of Robbins’ name, reputation and image,” Robbins said in the lawsuit.

    Some promoters of highly questionable programs are really pushing things by associating Robbins’ brand with their “opportunities.” This is one of the reasons large segments of the public view Internet Marketing as a cesspool.

    It’s painful to watch.

  • Enjoy WordPress Blogging? Try Elegant Themes

    If you enjoy WordPress blogging and are looking for ways to expand your online presence in 2009 while implementing a clean, fresh look, ElegantThemes may be a choice suited for you.

    First, though, let’s get you qualified: Elegant Themes is a membership site that provides attractive WordPress themes. You’ll need a core understanding of WordPress. You shouldn’t join Elegant Themes unless you have some WordPress experience or intend to gain it in the coming year.

    Skills you’ll need include the ability to download themes and plug-ins and upload them to your server. Occasionally you’ll need the ability to copy-and-paste code. If you’re already a Blogger these skills likely are second nature to you. If you’re inexperienced, expect to spend some time learning WordPress basics. The WordPress interface is user-friendly. Until a few weeks ago we had virtually no experience with WordPress, but now can’t imagine a world without it.

    One of the first things we noticed about Elegant Themes is that it provides psd files — for Photoshop — in its download packs, meaning you can use Photoshop to fashion a logo for your site.

    But Elegant Themes also provided a blank logo. If you don’t have Photoshop, you can edit the blank logo with a free program such as paint.net to create your own site logo. This is a big plus, because an average Blogger may not own Photoshop. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with paint.net if you don’t own Photoshop and have been looking for ways to make your own logos.

    As of this writing, ElegantThemes charges $19.95 for a one-year subscription via PayPal. Our purchasing experience was seamless, meaning there were no glitches and we were routed instantly to where we needed to be after purchase.

    There are 17 eye-catching themes available for download at the site. More will be added, and we anticipate they will have great curb appeal.  The owner impresses us as a hard-working designer. Elegant Themes provides a members’ Support Forum, so let’s talk about that for a moment.

    We have asked three questions in the forum. Each question was addressed promptly — by the owner and a fellow forum member. We were impressed by the swiftness of the responses, especially because we posed our questions on a weekend.

    What made the responses particularly memorable, though, was the thoroughness. We encountered a glitch with one of the themes — an alignment problem. This problem was caused by the recent upgrade of WordPress to version 2.7. A fellow member provided a solution — a code snippet — right in the forum, and the owner incorporated the fix into the theme within a matter of hours.

    In reading forum threads, we noticed other examples of members and the owner providing code snippets to fix individual issues. Issues, of course, are inevitable, regardless of the Blogging platform you choose. One of the great things about WordPress is that the user base is large and the documentation is thorough. When issues do arise, there is a worldwide knowledge base from which to glean answers. The Elegant Themes members’ Support Forum has added to this WordPress knowledge base, a big plus.

    We have done considerable shopping for WordPress themes. Many are available for free — the theme on the Patrick Pretty Blog is known as “Visionary,” for example. You’ll find no shortage of free themes if you enter the WordPress world.

    But we also did some shopping for paid themes. A good number of highly qualified WordPress designers offer paid themes. The range runs the gamut from “should have just used a free theme” to “we’d gladly have paid more for the theme.”

    Pricing at Elegant Themes is on the low end of what we viewed online and is more than fair. For a $19.95 annual subscription, we received access to 17 very attractive themes. We’ve seen membership sites that charge as much as $299 for a year’s subscription — while having fewer selections than Elegant Themes.

    As always, though, we encourage you to do your own shopping. For our money, Elegant Themes has provided exceptional value.

    Visit Elegant Themes.

    In the weeks ahead we plan to upgrade a couple of sites with themes from Elegant Themes. On Wednesday, we are launching RateMyVanity.com, and we’re using a theme from Elegant Themes on the site.

    rmvscreenshot

    We find Elegant Themes to be fresh and new. Our experience on the members’ Support Forum has been a positive one, and we get the sense the owner works hard to maximize value for members. The themes alone were worth the low price of admission.

    Visit Elegant Themes.

  • RateMyVanity.com, Inspired By Madoff Attire, Coming Soon; Readers Will Rate Newsmakers’ Vanity

    blank-logoRateMyVanity.com covers news from the worlds of entertainment, media, politics, business and sports, asking readers to rate how they perceive the vanity of newsmakers. Select stories will include a vanity poll.

    Read the News Release.

    The site was inspired by the Bernard Madoff case, particulary the garb he selected on the date of one of his bail hearings.  Content, however, won’t be limited to business news.

    Say, for example, the quarterback for your favorite team throws an ill-advised pass that gets intercepted late in the game, costing your team a win. If we write about the interception, we might ask readers if vanity played a role in the quarterback’s decision to throw into heavy coverage with the game on the line, instead of simply throwing the ball out of bounds and lining up again to give the team another shot at victory.

    Now, take the Bernard Madoff Ponzi case, for instance. When we write about it, we’ll encapsulate the news for readers, and ask them to rate the amount of vanity in play in a given situation.

    In the world of media, we might ask readers to assess the vanity of an anchor or reporter or host or opinion-maker in a given situation. Did Bill O’Reilly call out a federal judge because his heart was there and it was the right thing to do — or did he scold the judge because it was good for ratings?

    Did Keith Olbermann call out the President of the United States out of principle — or because he was trying to curry favor with his left-leaning viewers?

    The site message is simple: RateMyVanity.com: Vanity in the News. Rated.

    The site still is undergoing some tweaking and testing. The polling system is working, and there is a test poll on the Madoff case. As it stands, the poll is a “dummy” poll, meaning the system will record responses. The vanity choices in the poll, however, were designed for testing purposes only and don’t include the degree of “sizzle” we’ll use in day-to-day polls.

    Visit RateMyVanity.com.

    Here’s hoping you’ll make RateMyVanity.com one of your daily stops. The site will mix serious news and fun, giving readers a chance to rate vanity in the news. Perhaps little vanity will be present in a given story — but perhaps it will be present to a stifling, maddening degree.

    We’ll tailor the site to reflect current events, things that will having meaning to readers. The site will have some “attitude” — but it won’t be over-the-top. Over the weekend we’ll continue to tweak and test, with the site going operational from an editorial perspective Jan. 7.

    In time, prospective advertisers will be given a chance to sponsor an individual RateMyVanity “Vanity Poll” and also purchase a display ad. The site is aimed at consumers, news junkies, folks who like dish, readers who enjoy a diversion from the ordinary, people who believe the news is an endlessly fascinating display of things that aren’t always noble.

    Visit RateMyVanity.com.

  • 2008 Concluded With ‘Ponzi-Equals-Pain’ Message

    Bernard Madoff
    Bernard Madoff

    Dear Readers,

    Our best to you with the dawning of the new year — and our thanks for making this Blog one of your stopping points.

    If you have a moment in the coming days, think about leaving a comment that answers this question: What will you remember most about 2008?

    One of the things we’ll remember most is the AdSurfDaily, LaFuente Dinero and Golden Panda Ad Builder case. As mentioned in a previous post, we never intended to do more than a few posts on the subject.

    The ASD case kept itself in the news, though, mostly because of the behavior of some of its more ardent supporters. Andy Bowdoin’s own declaration that Satan was at work — as well as comparing what the company was confronting to the 9/11 terrorist attacks — set the standard for some of the oddities that followed.

    There were Kool-Aid campaigns to Bill O’Reilly of Fox News; letter-writing campaigns to the

    Elie Wiesel, Ponzi Victim
    Elie Wiesel, Ponzi Victim

    Inspector General for the Justice Department; petition drives to the U.S. Senate; a call for a million-person march on Washington; prayer campaigns; name-calling; rants; a gleeful forum party after the Sept. 30-Oct. 1 evidentiary hearing concluded; claims that the prosecutors, Secret Service agents and judge were brainless.

    None of these messages was consistent with a comprehensible PR strategy or the behavior one normally would expect from a company that called itself a professional advertising firm. The presence of numerous other autosurfs also didn’t help. ASD’s claim of offering an exciting, new business model was just plain silly. Scam.com and other sites have been covering autosurfs for years.

    Another thing that didn’t help ASD were the Ponzi allegations against financier Bernard Madoff. The accusations alone brought the word “Ponzi” into widespread public use. The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News, in particular, have been providing exceptional coverage of the Madoff case. Practically everyone knows what a Ponzi is now, something that could affect juror pools in the ASD case. Madoff has become a national disgrace, a punch-line for late-night comics and a source of global disgust and heartache.

    “Ponzi” has become a radioactive word. In short, “Ponzi” = “pain” — the kind of pain that destroys people, dreams, fortunes and the good works of charities, endowments and universities.

    The word “Ponzi” became central to many lives in 2008. It is our sincere hope that 2009 will be defined by a much better word:

    Prosperity.

    Our warm wishes to you.

    Sincerely,

    Patrick

  • Missing The Visual Editor In WordPress 2.7? This May Help

    WordPress recently released version 2.7, which I use on this and three other Blogs. Three of the four Blogs all made the conversion without incident. One of them, however, lost the WordPress Visual editor that appears when you’re making a post.

    The editor is supposed to appear as a tab marked “Visual.” A second tab marked “HTML” also appears, if you want to edit with html or add code. On one of my Blogs, only the HTML tab appeared. The Visual tab simply vanished.

    After Googling it, I discovered others were having the same problem. I followed some of the remedies, but the problem remained. Some folks said it was plug-in related. Others said it had to do with the “js” folder contained within the “wp-includes” folder.

    I re-downloaded WordPress 2.7 and reinstalled the “js” folder in case something didn’t copy properly during the first installation. That didn’t fix the problem. Tried the same thing a second time, and that didn’t fix the problem.

    While working on a fix, I also disabled the plug-ins one by one to see if I could isolate the source of the conflict.

    Finally, I read an old post on wordpress.org from a person named tieguy.

    tieguy said to click on “Users” and then “Your Profile” in your WordPress back office — and make sure the tiny box to dealing with the Visual editor has the appropriate check mark. You can enable or disable the Visual editor from “Your Profile.”

    I enabled the Visual Editor — which is the WordPress version of a WYSIWYG editor — and the Visual editor reappeared.

    If you’re having this problem, click on “Users” and then “Your Profile.” Make sure the Visual editor is enabled in “Your Profile.” (It’s near the top of the page.)

    This approach might solve your problem quickly, as opposed to re-downloading files from WordPress and re-uploading them to your site. I can’t say for certain if the simple fix will work for you, but it worked for me.

    Here is another discussion on prospective fixes for the problem of the vanishing Visual editor.

    Why three of the four Blogs required no fix is a mystery.

  • MegaLido Members Take A Pounding

    Reports online suggest MegaLido members are receving paltry refunds of less than 10 percent from the payment processors they used to fund their MegaLido accounts

    The precise percentage of the refunds is unclear. What is clear is that MegaLido is yet another autosurf that went bust.

    MegaLido was widely promoted by members of AdSurfDaily in the aftermath of the government’s August seizure of ASD’s assets. Promoters pitched it as a safe, offshore alternative — all the while blasting the government for its actions in the ASD case.

    MegaLido used multiple payment processors — SolidTrustPay, Strict Pay and AlertPay. Members now are left holding the bag.

    One member reported a $13 refund from a $180 stake. Another reported a $26 refund from accumulated paper “profits” of $1,200. Yet another member said he had invested $2,000 and got back about $700, a loss of $1,300.

    Even a partial refund is a win or sorts, however. Many autosurfs fail and participants lose their entire stakes. In some cases, autosurf operators remove all or part of the money from their payment-processing accounts, making even partial refunds impossible. In the MegaLido case, it appears as though the payment processors were able to provide partial refunds based on money the operator left in the accounts before his access was blocked.

    His name reportedly is Michael, although that’s not for certain. Some MegaLido members have speculated that the autosurf was part of a Nigerian scam, although that’s not for certain. It also has been reported that MegaLido was operating out of Europe. That’s not for certain, either.

    What is for certain is that many of the people who played got burned.

    One of the most grating things about the MegaLido ads was that promoter’s couldn’t possibly have verified their claims. No autosurf using a Ponzi model is safe, for example. Promoters gushed and gushed about MegaLido, positioning it as the source of gushing profits — but all of it was smoke and mirrors.

    MegaLido, positioned as a safe haven and a long-term winner, lasted only weeks.

  • Madoff Displayed Charms Of A Practiced Huckster

    Bernard Madoff was charged with securities fraud Dec. 11. The story about the alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme hasn’t been out of the news since then — not even for a few hours.

    Over the weekend we reported that the assets of the Elie Wiesel Foundation had been wiped out in the alleged Madoff fraud. Not even Nobel Prize winners are immune from the charms of a practiced huckster.

    Madoff insisted his trading formula was “proprietary.” Investors say he told them to keep their relationship “secret,” that nobody needed to know he was handing their money — and yet people couldn’t keep the secret, which is how Madoff got more clients. Some charities already have closed, throwing employees out of work, canceling important research and projects and making the world a little darker place.

    Lawsuits are flying left and right: New York University, for example, sued Ezra Merkin, accusing him of entrusting investment money to Madoff while not performing due diligence.  Merkin is a funds manager and also the chairman of GMAC, the lending arm of General Motors Corp.

    Ponzi: There’s not another five-letter word quite like it. High net-worth individuals in Palm Beach are selling real estate and yachts to get by. Members of the Jewish faith have been particularly hard-hit. This case is many things. One of them is affinity fraud, something that is proliferating online.

    Madoff is infamous now, his Hollywood story of rising from humble life guard to corporate baron in tatters. Someone apparently stole a $10,000 statue depicting a life guard from Madoff’s Florida home. Madoff odds and ends are beginning to appear on eBay.

    The Bernard Madoff case is a cautionary tale. At it’s base, however, it’s a simple tale of moving shells and playing word games to hide forbidden math. Forbidden math doesn’t sell because it takes away the dream.

  • Elie Wiesel Foundation Wiped Out In Madoff ‘Ponzi’

    Elie Wiesel
    Elie Wiesel

    In a stunning announcement, the Elie Wiesel Foundation For Humanity said it lost “substantially all” of its assets in the alleged Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme.

    It has been known for two weeks that significant foundation money was under Madoff’s management. But the foundation now says it had entrusted $15.2 million to Madoff, in essence the entirety of its assets.

    “We are deeply saddened and distressed that we, along with many others, have been the victims of what may be one of the largest investment frauds in history. We are writing to inform you that the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity had $15.2 million under management with Bernard Madoff Investment Securities. This represented substantially all of the Foundation’s assets,” the foundation said in a statement.

    “The values we stand for are more needed than ever. We want to assure you that the Foundation remains committed to carrying on the lifelong work of our founder, Elie Wiesel. We shall not be deterred from our mission to combat indifference, intolerance, and injustice around the world.

    “At this difficult time, the Foundation wishes to express its profound gratitude for all your support,” the foundation said.

    Elie Wiesel is a Holocaust survivor, a prominenet writer and the recipient of the 1986 Nobel Prize for Peace. He and his wife, Marion, launched the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity after Elie received the Nobel Prize.

  • Bailout Fatigue: Public Restless, But It’s No Reason To Permit Ponzi Schemes

    When the $700 billion U.S. government bailout plan was announced, some people warned it could lead to a slippery slope. Banks, the auto industry and the home-building trade now want a share, and there’s a chance the incoming Obama administration will package a stimulus plan that will trickle down to consumers in the form of tax-rebate checks next year. President Bush took a similar approach earlier this year.

    The U.S. has lost some international prestige in the bailout, with some publications and giddy governments declaring capitalism as we know it dead. It’s hard to imagine that the business dependency class has grown so large so quickly.

    But it’s a mistake to think that what the government is doing makes the “anything goes in a free market as long as it generates cash” argument a valid one.

    Some online opportunists are seizing on the bailout as a means of defending the autosurf business model, for example. The linchpin of this argument is that right-thinking capitalists could create wealth — and mitigate the need for bailouts — if only the government would mind its own business.

    In other words, throw as much cash as you can afford to an autosurf and become a winner during lean economic times.

    We’d thought the alleged Bernard Madoff $50 billion Ponzi scheme would have taken that argument off the table, but people have gone into overdrive to sell the autosurf model — which commonly is associated with Ponzi schemes — as a wealth-generation system.

    Some promoters actually are suggesting that cash-strapped nonprofits should participate in autosurfs as a means of generating revenue during lean times. Others are trading on government resentment and class envy to rationalize their autosurf “opportunity.”

    Feel bad? Join an autosurf. You’ll feel good as soon as you see money streaming in. Feel good? Join an autosurf. You’ll soon feel even better. Worried about the economy? Join an autosurf and scotch your fears. Hate the government? Join an autosurf and experience the joy of free enterprise as practiced in offshore locations that actually embrace free trade.  Run a nonprofit? Worried that people won’t have money next year to donate to help fund your good deeds? Join an autosurf and soar to new heights of community service.

    Just spend perhaps 10 minutes a day viewing ads from like-minded business people and you’ll prosper. You won’t have to purchase anything. Just view the ads, cash out and take your check to the bank — perhaps even to one of the banks that got a government bailout.

    Families are becoming increasingly cash-strapped. Unemployment is increasing. The U.S. housing market is suffering. Big companies are bleeding money. Small businesses can’t make ends meet. Charities are suffering — and the autosurf market-makers have been using all of these reasons to get you to throw money at them.

    None of these reasons, however, makes a Ponzi scheme any less of a Ponzi scheme. Even at this moment people are clamoring to get refunds from failed autosurfs. There is no way to police them, no way to do legitimate due diligence, no way to know if you’re doing business with criminals.

  • Maddy Makes Her World Debut

    Maddy, Nature Enthusiast
    Maddy, Nature Enthusiast

    A few readers asked to see a picture of Maddy the Wonder Puppy. Today she makes her world debut on the PatrickPretty.com Blog. :-)

    It is Christmas Eve, Maddy’s first. She began her day at 4:30 a.m. with a call to nature in freezing rain. She seemed even to like icy cold precipitation, as she displayed no haste to return inside. I was less enthused, but still found myself marveling at her spirit.

    Last night she became spellbound by a small twig of pine needles that had fallen into the side yard. One of the needles must have caught her on the tongue because she began to act as though the twig were alive, stomping on it and then using it as a hockey puck. She intermittently batted it and buried it, acting as though it was the most important thing in the universe.

    Santa will come tonight. Maddy, though, has one fewer gift. My sister gave her a Christmas outfit a couple of weeks ago, and I absently set it on the dining-room table. Maddy fetched it when I had my back turned and ripped it to shreds. Perhaps she didn’t like the color, but she’s not a dress girl anyways. I never would have put her in the thing, but didn’t have the heart to tell my sister.

    Regulation beef for Maddy tomorrow on her first Christmas.

  • Madoff Case Sparks Talk Of ‘Clawbacks’

    Bernard Madoff
    Bernard Madoff

    BLOG UPDATE 2:19 P.M. EST (U.S.A.): La Tribune, a French business newspaper, is reporting that a founder of Access International Advisors, a hedge fund with large sums invested with Bernard Madoff, has been found dead in his New York City office building.

    Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet, 65, was found this morning. The French newspaper called it a suicide, as have other media outlets, but the medical examiner hasn’t listed a cause of death.

    Here, below, our earlier post . . .

    In the CEP autosurf Ponzi scheme case, a court-appointed receiver filed dozens of lawsuits against program “winners,” forcing them to return profits on the theory there can be no winners in an illegal enterprise. The receiver, William F. Perkins, placed CEP in bankruptcy and then methodically went about the task of clawing back money for the estate.

    Perkins, who effectively is running CEP as a debtor-in-possession, has negotiated settlements with a number of winners.

    Last month he triumphed over CEP’s owners, Clayton Kimbrell and Trevor Reed, in a civil trial for fraud and breach of fidiciary duty.

    Judge James E. Massey ordered Kimbrell and Reed to return about $1.5 million in fraudulent transfers they made to themselves, family members, employees and other CEP principals.

    Some of the clawback cases against CEP winners still are being heard, about 17 months after the initial filing. More than 20 trials against individual defendants are scheduled next month in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Atlanta.

    CEP was declared a Ponzi by a federal judge, while Madoff remains an alleged Ponzi operator who told authoritites that the Ponzi could amount to $50 billion in losses.  The July 2007 SEC complaint against CEP said about $12 million flowed through the firm in an illegal securities offering.

    Perkins maintains a CEP website from which visitors may access all the court documents. It’s well worth a visit.

    Talk in the Madoff case has turned to what the court-appointed receiver might do to recover cash. Owing to the size of the alleged scheme, things could get downright ugly. In theory, people who made withdrawals could be ordered to return them — and this group includes individual investors, money managers and charities.

    Lawyers are apt to use terms such as “fictitious profits” and “fraudulent conveyance” to describe redemptions by investors before the Ponzi collapse. The prospects are horrifying because investors didn’t know anything untoward was occurring behind the scenes, and many of them likely have spent all or part of the money.

    See this Bloomberg News story.

    If the case follows the CEP model, Madoff and insiders — if any — could be forced to return illegal transfers. Prior to his arrest, Madoff said he wanted to distribute up to $300 million to employees. If such transfers were made — recently or in years past in the form of bonuses — it’s possible that the money could be ordered returned even if spent.

    Ugly doesn’t even begin to describe the battles that could ensue. Charities that relied on Madoff to manage money used for good deeds and took dedemptions could be targeted to pay the money back. There is the potential for pain in many, many places, and it’s possible the clawbacks could go back six years.

    Blinded to the reality that Ponzi schemes can have devastasting consequences, some autosurf supporters still are arguing that the government has no business sticking its nose in where it doesn’t belong.

    Incredibly, an autosurf whose launch is set for next year has targeted nonprofits in early promotions. Promoters have suggested it’s a great way to publicize the business and get cash flow.

    AdSurfDaily, which has ceased to operate in the wake of the government’s August seizure of nearly $100 million, promoted at least one nonprofit, funding it with $100,000 in “ad packs” and asking members to contribute.

    “ASD President, Andy Bowdoin, has generously donated 100,000 ad packages to this organization,” the ASD Breaking News site said on July 5, about a month prior to the seizure.

    ASD encouraged members to send donations for the charity to ASD headquarters and even to transfer “donations from your [ASD] Cash Balance.”