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TelexFree Affiliate Pitches Appear To Have Been ‘Scraped’ To Drive Traffic To Purported Gold And Silver Venture In Panama; Spam Link Leads To Site That Showcases ‘First Zeek Red Carpet Event’ And ‘Banners Broker’ In Folder Labled ‘aaronsharazeek’

UPDATED 7:36 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) Let’s say you’re out there feverishly flogging the TelexFree MLM even as the pyramid-scheme probe moves forward in Brazil, a judge and prosecutor have been threatened with death and TelexFree executive Carlos Costa is pulling an Andy Bowdoin and telling the world that God used him to bring the purported opportunity to the flock.

There’s always risk associated with HYIP schemes. Now, however, it seems those risks are becoming even greater.

With us so far? We’ll connect the dots below.

At 5:56 p.m. on Friday, the PP Blog received a would-be “comment” that targeted this Nov. 17 story thread: NEW RECORDING: TelexFree Members Told To Pay The Piper 20 Percent Within 10 Days Or Lose Positions.”

Here is a key fact: The sender used an IP based in France that has been associated by Project Honeypot with comment-spamming — pitches for porn sites and sites that purport to give you a good price on designer goods in advance of a predicted “downturn,” for example. (Basic message: You can look wealthy even if you’re not, even after the economy tanks. Buy your knockoffs now and look good when the sky is falling on your life.)

The sender, now adding HYIP schemes to the porn and designer-good mix from that specific IP, used a handle that incorporated the word “Silver” within its overall handle and sought to plant a URL at the PP Blog to a Panamanian venture that advertises a custody service for precious metals. The PP Blog is declining to publish the URL and the name of the enterprise which, among other things, reproduces on its website the logos of an internationally famous insurer based in London and an internationally famous accounting firm based in Chicago. The site also publishes various contact phone numbers in the United States, Panama, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. Although there is a chance that the service is legitimate, the PP Blog questions why someone or some thing is spamming links to the precious-metals site and loading them up further with links to “positive” coverage of seemingly unrelated HYIPs.

For the purposes of this PP Blog post, the Panamanian venture is a sidebar tidbit. Far more interesting was the body content of the spam, which appears to be a compendium of gushing affiliate pitches for TelexFree that appear on the net. The spam appears to have been cobbled together by a human scraper or scraping device of some sort that had visited one or more TelexFree-related websites. Links embedded in the spam are the “real story” in the context of this PP Blog post.

So, for starters, TelexFree’s name is being used as part of a bid to drive traffic to a precious-metals website on which visitors curiously are told they must provide 15 days’ notice if they wish to visit the office in Panama City. The PP Blog likely was targeted by the spammer simply because the word “TelexFree” appears here many times in reports about TelexFree-related events in Brazil and the United States.

The spammer — be it bot or human — appears to have made the calculation that TelexFree members might be the perfect customers for the precious-metals venture. Contained within the spam were three links: One to a site styled TelexFreeUnitedStates and two to a URL-shortening service that redirected visitors to Photobucket, the popular image-hosting and story-sharing website.

Here’s where the story really begins . . .

One of the picture stories told at at the Photobucket site was told inside a subfolder of a folder labeled “aaronsharazeek.” (Emphasis added.) The subfolder was slugged “First Zeek Red Carpet Event April 18th 2012.” Zeek conducted a Red Carpet event on that date.

Exactly a month earlier — on March 18, 2012 — the popular BusinessForHome Blog listed “Aaron and Shara” as top Zeek earners. Whether the Photobucket site is operated by the same Aaron and Shara is unclear. Here’s a link to the BusinessForHome story. (If you’re not a Platinum member of Business For Home, you’ll need to purchase a subscription to read the entire story.) The PP Blog referenced the BusinessForHome story within a June 14, 2012, story titled, “Did Zeek Give Puff Piece To Rep Who Signed Petition For U.S. Senate To Investigate AdSurfDaily Prosecutors And U.S. Secret Service Agent?”

The SEC moved against Zeek on Aug. 17, 2012. On the same date, the Secret Service said it also was investigating Zeek. Court records suggest the SEC began the Zeek probe at least by April 17, 2012, one day before the April 18 Zeek Red Carpet event highlighted within the “aaronsharazeek” folder on Photobucket.

On April 17, 2012, according to court filings, the SEC tasked an IT specialist to “conduct Website/video capture” of ZeekRewards.com.

Paul Burks appears to have been in deep thought on April 18, 2012, one day after the SEC tasked an IT specialist to capture content from Zeek Rewards.com. This is a slice of a photo from a larger photo that appears on Photobucket in a folder labeled “First Zeek Red Carpet Event April 18 2012.”

Precisely when Zeek operator Paul R. Burks found out about the SEC probe remains unclear. But photos inside the “First Zeek Red Carpet Event April 18th 2012” subfolder at the Photobucket site show a Burks who appears to be in deep thought. One can only wonder what 66-year-old Burks was thinking about on that date. His health? His wife’s stress level, given the noise Zeek was creating in the small town of Lexington, N.C.? His ability to keep Zeek going? The prospect that investigators were closing in?

There are 18 other photos in the Red Carpet event subfolder, some showing Zeek luminaries such as former SEC defendant Keith Laggos, former Zeek COO Dawn Wright-Olivares, former Zeek videographer OH Brown (looking happy), former Zeek trainer Peter Mingils (identified in one photo as the “V.P. of the Association of Network Marketing Professionals”). Other photos of Zeek personalities/staffers appear in the folder, as do photos showing attendees.

Absent the “Silver”/TelexFree spammer, the PP Blog likely never would have seen these photos.

Also within the “aaronsharazeek” folder at Photobucket is a subfolder slugged “Zeek Trip,” and subfolders slugged “Banners Broker” and “telexfree.” The “Zeek Trip” folder appears to contain four photos of Zeek-related real estate in Lexington, N.C. (In the ASD Ponzi case, affiliates suggested that ASD couldn’t possibly be illegitimate because ASD had an office. The same thing has been asserted by TelexFree promoters.)

Meanwhile, the “Banners Brokers” folder contains a video of a sales pitch, and the “telexfree” folder contains images of government documents from the state of Massachusetts and the country of Brazil that appear to have been designed to plant the seed that TelexFree couldn’t possibly be a scam.

Taken as a whole, the various folders and photos demonstrate the interconnectivity of MLM HYIP schemes, regardless of who actually controls the Photobucket site. It is known from other sources that some Zeekers also were in the JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid scam and the exceptionally murky Profitable Sunrise scam shut down by the SEC and various state regulators earlier this year.

Banners Broker is an uber-bizarre Ponzi-board program. On July 2, 2013, the PP Blog reported that MLM attorney Kevin Thompson said that the name of his law firm had been used by scammers in a bid to dupe members of Banners Broker and Profit Clicking, the JSS/JBP-associated “program” linked to Frederick Mann that may have ties to the extremist “sovereign citizens” movement. The July 2 PP Blog post was titled, “Law Firm’s Name Used In Bid To Dupe Members Of Banners Broker, Profit Clicking, MLM Attorney Says.”

Within the July 2 post, the PP Blog reported that it had received menacing messages in apparent “defense” of Banners Broker. As the Blog reported at the time (italics added):

WARNING: The next paragraph includes quoted material from one of the Jan. 18, 2013, spams, and the PP Blog is reproducing it to illustrate the bizarre and often menacing nature of the HYIP sphere. Indeed, the apparent Banner’s Broker supporter wrote (italics added):

” . . . I am Big Bob’s cock meat sandwich. Your mom ate me and made me do press ups until I threw up . . . I am gonna report you. When you make false accusations, you can get done. Maybe you will be seen in court soon . . .”

It is as ugly today as it was on the January date the PP Blog received the communication.

Why “programs” such as TelexFree, Zeek Rewards, BannersBroker and ProfitClicking become popular with people of faith is one of the head-scratching mysteries of current times. Gold fever, of course, is nothing new; it’s been around for centuries. What’s at least relatively new in the Internet Age is that the gold- and silver-sellers appear to be piggybacking off HYIP pitchmen, apparently hoping to rope in customers for shiny-object schemes.

This “comment” sent to the PP Blog on Nov. 22 sought to drive traffic to a precious-metals site by planting a link to the site and also planting links related to TelexFree.

On Oct. 25, the PP Blog reported that an alleged shiny-object scheme had taken root in Zeek’s back yard in North Carolina. On June 19, the PP Blog reported that the receiver in the Legisi HYIP Ponzi case was going after assets linked to E-Bullion, a collapsed payment processor with shiny-object woo. James Fayed, E-Bullion’s operator, is sitting on death row in California after a jury found him guilty of arranging the brutal contract slaying of his own wife.

The Legisi scheme was targeted at Christians, and E-Bullion’s cheerleaders included the Canadian clergyman Brian David Anderson, who was sent to U.S. federal prison in 2010 for the Frontier Assets Ponzi scheme. Anderson also was linked to the Flat Electronic Data Interchange (FEDI) HYIP scheme that put Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari, also known as “Michael Mixon,” in federal prison after his September 2009 convictions for financing terrorism and fleecing FEDI investors.

Yes, financing terrorism.

Alishtari traded on his purported ties to prominent politicians, just like ASD’s Andy Bowdoin. At least one of the schemes linked to Alishtari and Anderson used the term “rebates,” just like ASD. The narrative surrounding FEDI read like impossibly outrageous fiction, a mind-bending example of a shiny-object scheme. Ten members of purported “Royal families” in the Middle East were said to have set aside “50 Billion in Gold” ($5 billion each) to advance the scheme. Another entity in the Middle East was said to have supplied a “total of 100 Billion in Gold.” Still another entity was said to have put up “500 Million dollars in liquid gold assets.”

FEDI marks were solicited to purchase what effectively were trading desks that somehow would enable them to profit on the coattails of Middle East royals interested in escrowing huge sums to fund worldwide construction projects, with money purportedly flowing to the “labor” force. If that weren’t enough, the scheme purportedly was married to a venture that purportedly would put vending machines in at least 50,000 locations. The vending machines purportedly would sell debit cards, and were purportedly backed by $150 billion in gold and an insurance policy in Canada.

In March 2012, the PP Blog reported on FTC allegations that three Florida companies and a Florida man had roped customers into a shiny-object scam, a precious-metals boondoogle allegedly carried out by telemarketers.

Imagine what would happen if a scamming telemarketing firm had the customer lists for TelexFree, Zeek, Banners Broker, Profit Clicking, AdSurfDaily, Legisi and others.

If the MLM industry seeks to win favor on Main Street and stop being the brunt of jokes, it needs to act forcefully to eradicate these schemes. MLM attorneys need to stop permitting schemes to trade on their names, thus potentially setting the stage for prospects to believe that no scam could be occurring because no lawyer would permit his name to be used in this fashion.

But even today, what does one get when one visits the website of TelexFree? A pitch in which the alleged TelexFree pyramid scheme announces its pride at having MLM lawyer Gerald Nehra on board.

Zeek traded on the name of MLM attorney Kevin Grimes, who comes off in Red Carpet Day shots as a Zeek crowd prop, and also the name of Nehra. Bidify traded on Kevin Thompson’s name. The lawyers should not permit this to happen. And they should stop making personal appearances at “opportunity” events and start questioning why so many of these “programs” are targeted at people of faith and promise or suggest the likelihood of absurd returns.

Profitable Sunrise — perhaps recognizing that an MLM scheme can be made to appear legitimate if affiliates simply are provided the name of a purported lawyer — appears to have conjured up an attorney’s name out of thin air. It then allegedly proceeded to run off with millions and millions of dollars. When ASD’s Bowdoin switched from the two scams that eventually put him in prison (ASD and AdViewGlobal) and began pitching the alleged OneX pyramid scheme, one of the first things he did was assure the former ASD members he was pitching in a webinar that OneX had an “attorney,” adding that the venture was a great fit for college students. Bowdoin, mixing in God talk during the October 2011 webinar, never identified the purported lawyer by name. Neither did a former ASD pitchwoman pitching the OneX scheme alongside Bowdoin.

One of Bowdoin’s fellow OneX pitchmen was Zeek Rewards figure T. LeMont Silver.

In the absence of self-imposed, self-regulatory restraints in the MLM industry — lawyers restraining themselves from becoming accidental or purposeful stage props and sanitizers of “programs,” for example — MLM prospects may be well-advised to view any MLM “program” with the highest degree of skepticism, regardless of the programs’ wares.

Every single one of the “programs” referenced in this story has ridden on the coattails of a deity and lawyers. It did not matter whether the lawyers were real or imagined.

And it did not matter that the Gods of many faiths were observing it all, perhaps mournfully wondering how the precious Children of the Earth had come to view MLM money as the maximum deity.

Nov 24, 2013
Purported ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Had Armor-Piercing Bullets, Pointed Handgun And Threatened To Kill Victim, Fled Scene, Got Arrested And Released — And Then Was Arrested Again After Separate Victim Menaced With Rifle, Sheriff’s Office Says

Eric Holtgard: Source: Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

Purported Tampa-region “sovereign citizen” Eric Holtgard had been out of jail less than 10 hours before he was arrested a second time for menacing and brandishing weapons, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said.

In the first incident on Nov. 20 just after 3 p.m., Holtgard, 27, appeared at a car dealership, started screaming at employees and patrons — “then pulled a Glock .45 caliber from his waistband and pointed it at a patron/victim and threatened several times he was going to kill him,” the agency said.

Holtgard then fled. Deputies arrested him a short time later after a traffic stop.

“During an inventory search of Holtgard’s vehicle, deputies located several loaded firearms, to include an assault rifle, two handguns, ballistic plates, ballistic ammunition, and paperwork advising he was exempt from Government statutory law, in the vehicle,” the agency said.

After searching Holtgard’s Tampa Palms apartment with consent, the agency said, deputies found a “tactical shotgun, Glock pistol and 32 magazines and ammo.” Those items were impounded.

Holtgard, who has a valid permit to carry concealed-weapons, bailed out of jail at 2 a.m. on Nov. 21, several hours after his arrest, the Hillsborough agency said.

About nine and one-half hours later, just after 11:30 a.m., deputies received a 911 call from “a lawn maintenance man” who reported “a man wearing only boxer shorts and carrying a rifle with a scope came out of 3822 Buckingham Loop Drive and began screaming at him telling him he was not allowed to park on the curb in front of his house.”

When deputies responded, they determined the man was Holtgard — this time at his mother’s house. He was arrested again, marking his second arrest in less than 24 hours and the second time Holtgard had menaced people innocently going about their own lives: workers and patrons at a car dealership, and the yard man, the agency said.

“Detectives have also seized additional firearms including several assault rifles from the Buckingham Loop address which is the home of Holtgard’s mother. Holtgard was transported to the Orient Road Jail where a request for no bond will be made,” the agency said.

The Nov. 20 charges include Aggravated Assault with Deadly Weapon and Possession of Armor Piercing 50 Caliber Ammunition. The Nov. 21 charges include Aggravated Assault with Deadly Weapon, the agency said.

Shown below are the impounded weapons and ammo.

Weapons seized during the probe of purported “sovereign citizen” Eric Holtgard in the region of Tampa, Fla. Source: Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

Nov 22, 2013
SPECIAL REPORT: WCM777 Says Its U.S. Operations ‘Will Be On Hold Until Further Notice’ Because Its Securities Sales ‘Failed To Fully Comply With Laws And Regulations In United States’ — But Will The ‘WCM 777 Boston’ Band Play On In Houston? And What About The Highly Curious ‘Joseph Global Institute?’
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story covers highly curious events associated with WCM777 and related entities or people. In this post you’ll find:
- News on yesterday’s announcement by WCM that it had mothballed its U.S. operation that sells securities.
- Questions about whether a WCM777 event scheduled over the next two days in Houston would occur or whether TelexFree, a company under investigation in Brazil amid pyramid-scheme allegations, could become the “opportunity” promoted at the Houston event.
- News about confusion associated with a strange entity known as the Joseph Global Institute, purportedly operated by WCM777 executive Ming Xu. Ming Xu also is known as “Dr. Phil Ming Xu” and “Dr. Philip Ming.” A website associated with the Joseph Global Institute appears to have preemptively declared the enterprise a university that confers graduate and postgraduate degrees, but is showing videos that appear to be owned by Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. The Liberty videos have led to questions about whether Joseph Global potentially is duping visitors into believing the Liberty students who appear in the videos are Joseph Global Institute students or whether Joseph Global is a California branch of Liberty.
- News about strange claims that WCM777 was “launching” an enterprise that actually launched long ago and became the center of an international media and diplomatic firestorm in 2012 over its reported ties to the controversial film, “The Innocence of Muslims.”
____________________________________

UPDATED 6:56 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) WCM777 announced yesterday on its website that it was out of compliance with U.S. regulations and thus had put its U.S. securities operations “on hold.” Whether the purported “opportunity” whose affiliates claim can cause $14,000 to turn into $500,000 in 52 weeks had been notified by WCM777 to stop pitching U.S. prospects is far from clear.

The news of the U.S. halt first was reported by BehindMLM.com.

Left unsaid by WCM777 in its announcement was how the purported opportunity intends to address potential claims from untold scores of U.S. residents, including residents who attended pitchfests in hotels and churches and who might have purchased its securities. It is known from public records that Massachusetts purchasers were offered refunds. On Nov. 14, the state alleged WCM777 was selling unregistered securities.

The WCM777 announcement did not address whether the “opportunity” had reported itself to the SEC. Nor did it say whether it had been contacted by the SEC. Until yesterday, the company never had directly addressed the Massachusetts allegations, hinting only that things had to change at WCM777.

Another major concern: If WCM777 is selling unregistered securities, so is its stable of thousands of promoters, including those outside the United States who can solicit U.S. residents over the Internet. In theory, any U.S. -based promoter or international WCM777 promoter who continues to pitch the “opportunity” to U.S. residents could be charged under U.S. securities laws or the securities laws of the U.S. states. Whether WCM777 has the ability to block U.S. registrations is unclear.

Will The WCM777 Band Play On In Houston?

At the time of this PP Blog post, an apparent WCM777 affiliate site dubbed “Wcm777 Boston” on Facebook appeared not to know that WCM777 is closing shop in the United States. Nothing about WCM777’s announcement about its lack of compliance and the asserted halting of its U.S. securities operations appears on the Boston Facebook site. Indeed, at the time of this post, it was still promoting a WCM777 pitchfest set for tomorrow and Saturday at the “Crown plaza northwest brookhollow.”

“i just arrived in houston…. any question about the up coming meeting inbox me… dont lose this opportunity to learn about multi level marketing,” a post dated yesterday at the Boston Facebook site read. Meanwhile, a Nov. 1 post at the Boston Facebook site touting the purported daily payout of WCM777’s $1,999 plan reads, “U$32.00 DOLLARS EVERY DAY. NON STOP Daily Cash Flow NO Selling Required…coming soon, meeting in Houston, 11/22 and 11/23 . . .”

Whether the WCM777 affiliate who runs the Wcm 777 Boston Facebook site will follow through with the plan to pitch WCM777 at the event — despite WCM777’s own confirmation it was operating illegally and was halting the sale of its own securities — is unclear. Continued sales of WCM777’s offerings could trigger even more scrutiny of the firm and its affiliates. Attendees at the Houston event who plowed any money into the WCM777 scheme all could become potential litigants against the Boston pitchman and WCM777 itself. If the Boston pitchman is aware or becomes aware of WCM777’s announcement before the Houston event and seeks to pitch something else, he may find himself addressing a confused and hostile crowd.

The Wcm777 Boston Facebook site has associated itself with a street address in Boston, although the asserted phone number for the site uses an area code from a different region of Massachusetts. Whether the operator of the Facebook site had traveled from Boston (or elsewhere in Massachusetts or another state) to host the Houston event is unclear.

Because the “Wcm777 Boston” Facebook site also references TelexFree in a Nov 10 post, attendees of the Houston event might find themselves getting pitched on that alleged pyramid scheme, too. TelexFree is under investigation in Brazil. The Nov. 10 post reads, “I do have a bunch guys in Houston area, my downlines on wcm777 and Telexfree, they will be more than happy to talk with you… Thank you again.” It is positioned alongside the logo of the National Football League.

The Nov. 1 post that reproduces the NFL logo contends that two lucky prospects who attend the Nov. 22 and 23 WCM777 event in Houston will receive free tickets to “JACKSONVILLE VS HOUSTON.” The game is set for Sunday in Houston. Whether Ponzi or pyramid proceeds were used to pay for the tickets is unclear.

Also unclear is precisely how the Boston affiliate is conducting business with WCM777 and recruits. Asked to provide payment proof, the Boston affiliate contended this in a Nov. 10 Facebook post: “I work with wcm for 3 Months and I had never need to transfers money my bank account because I use my credit to sign people up, if you not happy with screenshots unfortunately I don’t have deposits transfers to my bank account from wcm777…” (Unedited by PP Blog.)

The post introduces the possibility that the Boston WCM affiliate somehow is paying recruits’ way into WCM777 and relying on reimbursement later, a common occurrence in HYIP scams. Whether that reimbursement would come from the prospects or the company is unclear. On Oct. 30, the PP Blog reported that a WCM777 affiliate on YouTube claimed, “I just had some[one] wire me from Mexico . . . $6,000 for three units. I’m signing up another person [in] [Florida?] for six units as well — excuse me, three units as well — another $6,000. And this is just going nuts.”

The YouTube claim raises the specter that individual WCM777 promoters are accepting national and international wires from WCM777 recruits and somehow later transferring the money to WCM777. Such practices have been associated with cross-border securities scams, including the infamous Imperia Invest IBC scam in which the SEC accused a promoter of creating at least two business entities and using them to wire money to the Imperia scammers outside the United States.

Making matters even stranger is the wording of WCM777’s announcement that it was halting its U.S. operations in the aftermath of a Nov. 14 consent order it entered into with the state of Massachusetts, which accused it of selling unregistered securities and benefiting from an affiliate’s targeting of the state’s Brazilian community. WCM777’s announcement is dated Nov. 20, six days after the order in Massachusetts. The announcement did not explain the delay in addressing the Massachusetts allegations. Nor did it explain why WCM777 hadn’t previously announced it was under investigation, only to claim later that “negotiations” went well — as though it were common knowledge that the firm was the subject of a securities investigation.

Moreover, the timing suggests that WCM777 continued to benefit from the sale of unregistered securities across the United States even after the Nov. 14 order. Beyond that, it is far from clear whether WCM777 even has control over its U.S. affiliate base or affiliate bases elsewhere in the world. What is clear is that WCM777 is positioned as an opportunity for Christians to prosper.

Here is WCM777’s Nov. 29 announcement in its entirety (italics added):

WCM777 Response to Massachusetts Consent Order

The negotiations between our lawyers and the Massachusetts’ Office of the Secretary went well. We have reached a settlement with Massachusetts.

However, because the sale of securities failed to fully comply with laws and regulations in United States, our operations in the U.S. will be on hold until further notice; WCM Limited will continue operations. The company will implement new compliance procedures and register with the SEC before selling securities. Our customer service, IT support, and sales training are far from ideal. Especially in sales training, we don’t have a proper system set up. Some of the distributors have exaggerated the sales performance, which has led to complaints. The company system also needs to be further improved to ensure global legitimacy.

Under the counsel of the lawyer, WCM777 has already registered in the state of California. We will soon re-enter the U.S. market. Also, WCM777 will hold the grand opening for Hong Kong office in Dubai this coming January. We will restore WCM777’s promise and move towards achieving our vision!

Why WCM777 would hold a “grand opening” for a “Hong Kong” office in Dubai is unclear. Dubai is a city in the United Arab Emirates. Also unclear is how WCM777 intends to comply with securities regulations in all 50 U.S. states, plus federal territories and districts such as the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.).

Because virtually all developed nations regulate the sale of securities, WCM777 may face challenges across the globe. The scheme already is under investigation in Colombia, and there are reports that Peru has concerns.

Affiliates, meanwhile, now have been officially blamed by WCM777 for exaggerating the offering and causing complaints, a classic corporate narrative in the HYIP world. While it is clearly true that affiliates have made outrageous claims that reflect their own lack of due diligence on the purported “opportunity,” it is equally true that WCM777 has advertised that a payment of $1,999 returns $3,200 in 100 days.

Other Curious Issues

An entity tied to WCM777’s purported operator Ming Xu — the Joseph Global Institute of Pasadena, Calif. — appears to be implying it operates a university that offers a “College of Engineering,” a “College of Health, ” a “College of Media Arts” and a “College of Business.” A website using the Joseph Global Institute name is accessible through a website that uses the famous name of “Harvard” as part of the URL.

The site shows images of smiling, college-age students wearing graduation caps and holding what appear to be degrees. Other smiling students are shown studying in front of something that resembles a university hall. Visitors to the site are prompted to watch three videos, but there are no disclaimers or language that the action shown in the videos isn’t taking place at Joseph Global. All three videos appear to be owned by Liberty University, a large Christian university in Lynchburg, Va. Nothing on the Joseph Global Institute site, however, identifies the videos as belonging to Liberty and not to Joseph Global, a potential source of confusion.

A text line below the videos on the Joseph Global site reads, “Want to see what we offer? Request a brochure here and get a tour of our school.”

Why Joseph Global appears to be implying that it operates a university is unclear.

Liberty University did not respond to a PP Blog request for comment about whether it was aware of the Joseph Global site.

The strangest thing yet: A Nov. 18 Twitter post attributed to “Dr. Phil Ming Xu,” the purported operator of WCM777, says, “Launching The Way TV to transform nations & Joseph Global institute to train a group of Josephs to bless the world.”

But The Way TV is something that launched years ago, through an entity known as Media for Christ. Media for Christ is based in Duarte, Calif. — and has a history that includes being at the center of an international firestorm.

That firestorm centered on the inflammatory trailer of a film production known as “Innocence of Muslims,” which has been described as anti-Islamic and denigrating to the prophet Muhammad.

Here’s how the Los Angeles Times put it on Sept. 13, 2012 (italics added):

Joseph Nassralla Abdelmasih, the president of the Duarte-based charity Media for Christ, and Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a convicted felon from Cerritos, emerged Thursday as forces behind “Innocence of Muslims.” An online trailer for the low-budget film incited violence in recent days across the Arab world.

Nassralla later reportedly told the website AtlasShrugs2000 that he’d been duped by Nakoula into believing Nakoula was making a film about the persecution of Christians and he understood from Nakoula that the film was titled “Desert Warrior.”

What was supposed to be a film about members of one faith persecuting members of another turned out to be something quite different: a film that portrayed Muhammad, a sacred figure, as a buffoon.

Quoting Nassralla, AtlasShrugs2000 reported this on Sept. 17, 2012 (italics added):

Nakoula needed a place to film. So I let him use my facility – that is all I did, and is the full extent of my involvement with this project. Nakoula used my facility for ten days. Media for Christ employees were given a vacation during that time, because Nakoula was using the facility and so there was no work for them. There was only one Media for Christ employee who remained, to answer phones for the ministry.

I later discovered that Nakoula, using the name Sam Bacile, had gone to LA Films as producer of Desert Warrior, and used the name of my organization, Media for Christ, to obtain the permit he needed. He did so without my knowledge or permission.

Now, the Twitter site under the name of WCM777 figure Dr. Phil Ming Xu is claiming it is “launching” The Way TV, something Nassralla already has launched. The Twitter site further claims the launch extends to the Joseph Global Institute, apparently the same entity that is advertising its operation of various “colleges” of higher education and showing website visitors videos of Liberty University students.

A letter attributed to “Dr. Bruno Caporrimo” at the site references the city of Duarte, the home of The Way TV and Media for Christ, the Nassralla enterprises. Caporrimo is referred to elsewhere online as a former Mafia member who found God.

Here is the opening of the letter, which is dated Nov. 16, 2013: (italics added):

Dear Potential Student,

My name is Dr. Bruno Caporrimo, Chancellor of Joseph Global Institute. At J.G.I. we have been training men and women for full time ministry, in a formal classroom experience as well as helping individuals gain a greater knowledge and understanding of the bible in order to fulfill the mandate of God’s calling in their lives. Our curriculum offers important bible doctrines in addition to the School’s emphasis on the practical side of ministry.

It is our desire to see the world evangelized and we believe that if people are trained and equipped, from the standpoint of their local church and community, that this mandate from the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth can be effectively realized and fulfilled in our generation. We currently have students from 50 different churches and from more than 10 nations around the world enrolled in Joseph Global Institute. J.G.I. has equipped and discipled into full and part time church and para-church ministry, over 5,000 students and they have embarked on their personal calling to fulfill the one great Commission of Matthew 28:19.

Whether you plan to study through our International headquarters & ‘Global Student Network’™ in Duarte, California, or through our Distance Learning and online Correspondence Courses™ we are sure that we have the tools and resources to launch and elevate your personal and ministerial calling SO THAT YOU CAN bear much fruit for the Lord Jesus Christ and to operate in faith, diligence and integrity for God’s Kingdom.

In a YouTube video dated Sept. 8, 2012, Caporrimo and Ming Xu appear. Ming Xu is described as the “dean” of the school and says, “If you want to get involved with us . . . we have bachelor degree[s], we have master degree[s.]” Caporrimo refers to Ming Xu as “Dr. Phil.”

The URL cited for the Joseph Global Institute in the video — TheJoseph.org — now rotates to a parked page for Sedo, a domain seller.

Another website associated with the Joseph Global Institute — JosephGlobalInstitute.com — shows some students holding books and others receiving degrees at a graduation ceremony. The JosephGlobalInstitute.com site uses the same logo as the website that uses Harvard’s name in its URL. The logos are similar in appearance to the logo of the actual Harvard University.

Also see coverage on the MLM Skeptic Blog about a purported Ming Xu entity known as the Harvard Global Institute.
Nov 21, 2013
If The Good Lord’s Willing And The Creek Don’t Rise, Be At The Zeek Rewards Auction On Dec. 16 And 17

This commemorative poster of the concert Hank Williams never made it to is among dozens and dozens of items up for auction in the Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme case.

UPDATED 7:42 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) Not only is the court-appointed receiver in the Zeek Rewards Ponzi-scheme case selling Zeek’s old headquarters (with attached coin-operated laundry) in Lexington, N.C., he’s also selling a hefty collection of country-music memorabilia and other entertainment keepsakes. Among them is a “Saturday Night Live Script featuring Johnny Cash and musical guest Elton John from April 17th 1982.”

There’s also a “Slam” grand piano with no working components and no top. The wooden shell is signed by Jerry Lee Lewis, a legendary keyboard pounder known as rock ‘n’ roll’s first wild man and “The Killer.” (Expect the piano to have “minor wood damage,” the receiver’s auctioneer says.)

The screen shot above is taken from an image of just one of the items up for auction: a framed poster advertising an appearance by legendary country performer Hank Williams in Canton, Ohio, on New Year’s Day 1953. (The poster appears to be a Hatch Show Print commemorative, rather than an original show promo. Even so, some collectors might want it to round out their Williams collection or for discussion value: Williams died on the way to his scheduled Canton performance, and the “if the good Lord’s willing and the creek don’t rise” line is a classic American idiom.)

Iron Horse Auction Company Inc. is conducting the auction for Zeek receiver Kenneth D. Bell. (See Day 1 auction items; see Day 2 auction items.)

The live auctions will open in Lexington on Dec. 16 and 17 and will be simulcast online. Bidders must register at the site of proxibid. The catalog for Day 1 is here; the catalog for Day 2 is here.

Day 1 items are described by Iron Horse as real estate (former buildings associated with Zeek), and as “Memorabilia from numerous country music artist[s], to include stage costumes by Nudie, autographed pictures & prints of NASCAR personalities, shadow boxes, reproduced Hatch Show Prints; record label awards & more

“Porter Wagoner, George Strait, Alabama, Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers, Barbara Mandrell, Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, Charlie Daniels, Alan Jackson, Brooks and Dunn and many more.”

Day 2 items are described by Iron Horse as “Like new bedroom suites, couches, living room furniture, office furniture, electronics and more.”

Read receiver’s announcement of the auction. Visit receiver’s website.

Nov 20, 2013
WCM777 — In Pictures: (1) Send In $14,000, Get Back 35 Times That Amount (c. $500,000); (2) Launch Scheme, Buy A Golf Course And Invite Friends; (3) Rip Off Scenes From ‘Rocky Balboa’ And Pretend Sly Stallone Is On The Train

These are screen shots from three different promotional videos or news releases for WCM777 online. The first reflects a claim that people who send $14,000 to WCM777 in a poor economy will fetch back $500,000, 35 times-plus the amount they sent in. This will be accomplished in 52 weeks through the rollover of earnings in 100-day cycles, according to the video. The text headline on the video page says this: “Investment WCM777 – The Power of 7 Units Raises over $ 500,000.” Below that, there is a link to Blog with the extension of “br,” which stands for Brazil.

The second screen shot shows World Capital Market, the purported parent firm of WCM777, saying it bought the Glen Ivy golf course in California. Meanwhile, the third shot reflects a pitch for WCM777 that rips off more than two minutes of footage from Sylvester Stallone’s “Rocky Balboa” flick (2006) with its inspirational message and famous musical soundtrack from the six-film “Rocky” franchise, suggesting internationally famous movie star Stallone (or Rocky Balboa) would endorse WCM777.

Unseen in the third screen shot is a text message that appeared below the video featuring Stallone. The message suggests that Brazil cannot block WCM777 or subject it to investigation, as it did with the BBOM, Priples and Telexfree “programs.”

Here is that message in Portuguese: “A WCM777 é um banco de investimento que usa como estratégia de venda do seu produto o marketing de rede ou marketing multinível, o produto da empresa é a tecnologia em forma de nuvem a mesma usando pelo dropbox, Skydrive só que os lucros pór indicação é em dolar além do produto e a empresa ser sustentável o Brasil não pode bloqueá-la como fizeram com a BBOM, Priples e TELEXFREE. Junte-se ao Marketing de nível Profissional!”

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On a side note, if the world of MLM investment schemes can rip off Sly Stallone and his fictional portrayal of the boxing world, why not the rip off the real world of the sport of badminton? BehindMLM.com is reporting that TelexFree appears to have appropriated the logo of the 2010 World Badminton Championship in Paris and made it its own.

Nov 20, 2013
REPORT: Member Of Peru’s Congress Raises Concerns About WCM777

Congressman Jaime Delgado of Peru.

A member of Peru’s Congress has raised concerns about the legitimacy of the WCM777 “program,” Peru21 is reporting.

The news site identified the Congressman as Jaime Delgado. Here is a link to the Peru21 story in Spanish. Here is a link to the story as translated in English by Google Translate.

The PP Blog sought comment from Delgado today, but the Blog’s email was returned undelivered. (Delgado’s inbox appeared to be filled to capacity, based on the response we received back from the server.)

Colombia already has opened a probe into WCM777’s business practices. In the United States, meanwhile, the state of Massachusetts has filed a consent order that bars WCM777 from operating there.

Google searches show that WCM777 has a presence in Peru.

Delgado is a founder of the Peruvian Association of Consumers and Users (ASPEC). His photo appears on the ASPEC site. He has served on several Congressional committees, including one dealing with consumer protection.

Nov 19, 2013
Extraordinary Drama Plays Out In France As Police Seek Gunman Or Gunmen Who Opened Fire Inside Libération Newspaper Building And Outside Societe Generale Tower; Libération Also Reportedly Hit By DDoS Attack

UPDATED 9:02 P.M. ET (NOV. 20, U.S.A.) There has been an arrest in the alleged shootings. The suspect has been identified by Reuters as Abdelhakim Dekhar. The PP Blog’s original story is below . . .

An extraordinary drama is playing out in Paris today, as French police search for a gunman or gunmen who allegedly shot a person inside the office of the Left-leaning Libération newspaper and opened fire outside the Societe Generale banking concern in Paris.

“Police are being sent to the offices of all national French newspapers, Interior Minister Manuel Valls announced,” CNN reported.

“French media say the suspect told the motorist he hijacked that he was armed with grenades,” the BBC is reporting.

Adding tension to the unfolding drama, DDoSers apparently hit the Libération website today. Service has been restored.

Whether the asserted DDoS attack somehow was related to the shooting incidents was not immediately clear.

Cyber analysts long have speculated about the possibility of a perfect storm of events — violence tied to political beliefs or political extremism with an accompanying cyber attack on media, banking or government sites, for instance.

French prosecutors are treating the shooting incidents as a terrorist case, the Wall Street Journal is reporting.

Nov 18, 2013
NEW RECORDING: TelexFree Members Told To Pay The Piper 20 Percent Within 10 Days Or Lose Positions

TelexFree, an MLM “program” that requires participants to pay back the company 20 percent of their earnings in one fell swoop, is positioned on You Tube as “The Hotest [sic] Deal In The World.” There were earlier claims that the money did not have to be paid back.
UPDATED 6:14 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) TelexFree members who wish to maintain their position in the “program” and are nearing their one-year anniversary dates will receive an invoice from the company for 20 percent of their program “income” and must pay it within 10 days, according to a recording of a Nov. 15 TelexFree conference call.

“On all the existing contracts, there is a 20 percent renewal fee, which will be based on your income generated from the previous year,” said TelexFree executive Steve Labriola.

“Just go into your back office [and determine] what you’ve earned and take 20 percent of it,” he instructed. “That will be the size of that invoice.”

But in a video dated May 11, 2013, and playing on YouTube, TelexFree members attending a company event were told by various speakers that the 20 percent fee had been removed from the contract. The claim raises questions about whether untold scores of TelexFree reps joined the “program” believing the contract requirement to pay back 20 percent to TelexFree had been waived.

“Certain people went to TelexFree and said, ‘Hey. This is America. This is the United States,’” a man addressing the audience said. “This 20 percent — this is ridiculous. And it’s been removed from the contract. Straight up.”

The May announcement of the fee removal, confirmation of which was attributed by speakers to Labriola in the “back of the room,” was met with wild cheers.

“You have to appreciate the heart of this company,” a second man said from the stage in the May video. TelexFree appears to have held a “Super Saturday” event at a Hilton hotel in Orlando, Fla., on May 11, the same date of the YouTube video.

One of those cheering the asserted news in May was veteran “opportunity” pitchwoman Faith Sloan, late of Zeek Rewards and Profitable Sunrise.

It appears, however, that TelexFree either never removed the fee or quickly reinstituted it when it recognized that millions of dollars of revenue it had anticipated when the “program” approached its anniversary date and first-in members approached their anniversary dates would vaporize.

Other offering materials suggest that some of the asserted leaders who once protested the fee as unAmerican and announced its removal now have emerged as champions of the fee. If their downline members pay, it could keep the leaders on the gravy train.

How much revenue was driven to the firm based on assertions the fee had been waived is unknown. Because some TelexFree promoters also pitched the alleged $600 million Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme and may be targets of clawback lawsuits to return ill-gotten gains, their ability to address any invoice from TelexFree may be challenged. Some TelexFree promoters also pitched Profitable Sunrise, which the SEC described in April 2013 as a murky international pyramid scheme.

How TelexFree members who already might have spent their earnings will address the invoice is unclear.

TelexFree itself is under investigation in Brazil, amid pyramid-scheme allegations. In the Nov. 15 call, Labriola suggested some promoters will owe TelexFree sums ranging from $1,425 to $200,000. The more the earnings, the more owed TelexFree through the 10-day invoice.

The pyramid probes in Brazil were not addressed in the Nov. 15 call.

One of TelexFree’s electronic payment vendors limits individual transactions to $500, Labriola said.

“All you need to do if you’re paying a $1,425 invoice is do it in three different . . . you can pay it in three different amounts: $500, $500 and $425. And you can do it all in one transaction,” he said.

Members also can pay with back-office earnings that have not been withdrawn, by check or by ACH transactions, Labriola said.

Depending on the sums owed, however, all of the payment methods could trigger bank-reporting requirements to the U.S. government. Beyond that, any attempt to evade those reporting requirements could lead to questions about whether TelexFree and/or its members were engaging in structuring transactions. Structuring is a somewhat common element in Ponzi- and other fraud schemes. (Here’s an example from January 2013. Here’s an example from August 2013.)

TelexFree will introduce new products in the near future, Labriola said.

One of them will be a cell-phone product, but TelexFree members aren’t permitted to identify the four carriers, he said.

In the meantime, TelexFree members should continue to recruit, he said, suggesting that the new offerings could help members overcome the sting of an invoice for 20 percent of their earnings.

Labriola also warned members not to cross recruit, suggesting they’d lose their TelexFree distributorships if they do so.

Some members facing an invoice for 20 percent of their earnings, however, may see no other option than to dump TelexFree and take their downlines with them in favor of another company that does not require a 20 percent payback to the firm at the one-year anniversary of membership.

It is possible, though, that some members will pay the piper 20 percent, viewing it as the only means of protecting anticipated earnings and enabling continued payouts from TelexFree beyond their anniversary dates. If something goes amiss with TelexFree beyond the current situation in Brazil and investigations spread around the globe, the decision to pay could be one members live to regret.

Promos for TelexFree began to appear on the Ponzi boards roughly in the mid- to late summer of 2012. There are claims that more than 1 million participants joined. Given the dates of the early Ponzi-board pitches and the time it takes for a “program” to gain a head of steam, untold thousands of people now may be approaching their anniversary dates.

Nov 17, 2013
Like Profitable Sunrise And TelexFree Schemes, WCM777 Used Photo Of Christ The Redeemer Statue

Christ the Redeemer on the stage at a June 17 WCM777 event in California. Source: Facebook

A photo of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, now has been used in a third recent scheme: WCM777.

The photo was displayed from the stage at a June 17 “grand opening” event for WCM777 at the Pacific Palms Hotel in City of Industry, Calif., according to a WCM777 Facebook site.

Images of the statue also have appeared in promos for TelexFree, an MLM firm under investigation in Brazil amid pyramid-scheme allegations, and Profitable Sunrise, an HYIP taken down by the SEC in April 2013. (See July 7, 2013, PP Blog brief.)

On Nov. 14, the state of Massachusetts said it halted WCM777 in the state, saying it was selling unregistered securities and that the scheme had been targeted at the Massachusetts Brazilian community.

Nov 16, 2013
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Massachusetts Halts WCM777, Says It Was Selling Unregistered Securities And Targeting Brazilian Community

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (10th Update 9:28 p.m. ET U.S.A.) Massachusetts has halted the WCM777 multilevel marketing scheme, saying it was associated with entities in Hong Kong, the British Virgin Islands and the United States and selling unregistered securities. In Massachusetts, the state said, the scheme was targeting the Brazilian community.

In a filing by the office of Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin, the state says it opened a probe into WCM777’s business practices in September.

Identified entities include World Capital Market Inc. of Pasadena, Calif., an asserted offshoot of a banking enterprise in the British Virgin Islands; WCM777 Inc., a dissolved Nevada business with an office in City of Industry, Calif; and WCM777 Limited of Hong Kong.

WCM777 purports to sell “cloud” Internet services. The investment scheme spread in part through weekly pitches in August and September by a WCM777 distributor using a “function room” at a Massachusetts hotel, the state said.

Investors were lured with promises they’d receive “profit sharing” and an ability to “purchase stock options” in the run-up to an asserted IPO in 2014, the state said.

The Massachusetts filing is a consent order. WCM777, according to the order, has agreed to cease business in the state and to provide refunds to all Massachusetts investors. The scheme netted at least $300,000 in the state from about 160 investors, the vast majority of whom were members of the Brazilian community, according to the order.

“Nearly all” of the investors bought into the scheme at the $1,999 level — the level that promised the highest daily payout, according to the order.

Promos advertised returns of “over 90 percent” in 100-day cycles, the state said.

WCM777 has neither admitted nor denied the allegations, the state said.

Attorneys for WCM 777 made the refund offer on Nov. 13 after presenting the state a spreadsheet on Oct. 14 showing information on Massachusetts participants, according to the order. The document does not say whether other states also are investigating WCM777. The nation of Colombia is known to be investigating WCM777.

Ming Xu is identified in the Massachusetts consent order as the founder and president of WCM777 Inc.

WCM777 promoters refer to Ming Xu as “Dr. Phil.” A Twitter account associated with the name of “Dr. Phil Ming Xu” displays WCM-related content and photos of Ming Xu with luminaries such as former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

The photos appear to have been taken at a California business event earlier this month at which all three men spoke.

Meanwhile, there’s a photo of Ming Xu surrounded by adoring followers. The photo appears to come from the same meeting from which this video emerged:

Read the Massachusetts Consent Order.

Read Oct. 30, 2013, PP Blog story on WCM777, which appears to have promoters interested in pitching the purported opportunity to churches and their entire congregations.

Nov 15, 2013
David Robert Gilmour Ross, New Zealand Ponzi Swindler, Sentenced To Nearly 11 Years In Prison

David Robert Gilmour Ross, the 63-year-old architect of New Zealand’s largest Ponzi scheme, has been sentenced to 10 years and 10 months in prison, New Zealand’s Serious Fraud Office announced.

“More than 1,200 client accounts were affected by Mr Ross’ scheme, so his offending has had a devastating impact on many lives,” said SFO Director Julie Read. “The financial losses are not only significant to those individuals but they will have a flow on effect as those investors’ dealings in the New Zealand economy are impacted. It is important the SFO remains vigilant in fighting financial crime so we don’t see a repetition of this sort of scheme.”

Investors took a bath for about $NZ115 million, roughly $US95.36 million. Through accounting deceptions and false statements, “Mr Ross reported false profits of $[NZ]351 million,” SFO said. That’s roughly $US291 million.

Ross engaged in the “purported trading of the fictitious securities,” SFO said, noting that he admitted to “knowingly making a false declaration to [the Financial Markets Authority] for the purposes of obtaining authorisation as an Authorised Financial Adviser (AFA) and producing documents to FMA which he knew to be false or misleading.”

A resident of Wellington, Ross pleaded guilty in August to false accounting, theft by person in special relationship, providing a financial service when he was not registered for that service, making false statements and producing false documents, SFO said.

Ross was associated with an entity known as Ross Asset Management (RAM).

“Large portions of client portfolios shown as invested through a broker ‘Bevis Marks’ were fictitious and never existed,” SFO said.

Nov 15, 2013