UPDATE: The PP Blog wrote about Biwako Bank Limited on April 29 after it was touted on a Profitable Sunrise Facebook site as a good “program” for individuals ripped off in the alleged Profitable Sunrise pyramid scheme.
But now Biwako Bank’s website has disappeared, with the “program” apparently following Profitable Sunrise into the darkness.
“**THIS IS NOT AN HYIP , THIS IS A BANK**” a pitchman bizarrely claimed about Biwako on the Profitable Sunrise Facebook site last month. The program curiously said it hoped to attract “costumers.”
The non-HYIP claim was made despite the fact Biwako Bank listed four color-coded “plans” that purported to provide daily payouts of between 1.95 percent and 3.05 percent. The highest-paying plan — the “Red Plan” at 3.05 percent a day — advertised a percentage even higher than the purported “Long Haul” plan of Profitable Sunrise.
The “Long Haul” plan claimed to pay 2.7 percent a day.
In April, the SEC alleged that Profitable Sunrise was a pyramid scheme that may have gathered tens of millions of dollars at least in part by using offshore companies and wire transfers.
Regulators have repeatedly warned about reload scams targeted at victims of fraud schemes. Like Profitable Sunrise, Biwako had a presence on the TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup forums. So did Zeek Rewards, which the SEC described in August 2012 as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme.
Biwako’s haul is unknown.
Other reload programs promoted on the Facebook site by boat-sharks include (at least) “SuperWithdraw,” “Whos12,” “Maxi-Cash,” “FairyFunds,” “Roxilia,” “OptiEarn,” “AVVGlobal,” “ProForexUnion,” “MajestiCrown” and “TelexFree.”
Prime Minister David Cameron called a meeting of the United Kingdom’s emergency co-ordination group (COBR) today after a man believed to be a British soldier reportedly was hacked to death on a public street near a military barracks.
“I’ve been briefed by the Home Secretary about this absolutely sickening attack in Woolwich in London,” Cameron said in a statement. “It is the most appalling crime. We are urgently seeking, and the police are urgently seeking, the full facts about this case. But there are strong indications that it is a terrorist incident. Two people at the scene of the murder were wounded by the police, and they are being treated as suspects.”
A video from ITV News has emerged of a man holding a bloodied meat cleaver and apparently taking credit for the attack.
Home Secretary Theresa May called the attack “sickening and barbaric.”
Said Commander Simon Letchford of the Metropolitan Police Service (italics added):
At approx [2:20] pm (local time) we were called to reports of an assault in John Wilson Street, Woolwich where one man was being assaulted by two other men. A number of weapons were reportedly being used in the attack, and this included reports of a firearm. Officers including local Greenwich officers arrived at the scene. Shortly afterwards firearms officers arrived at the scene. On their arrival at the scene they found a man, who was later pronounced dead. At this early stage I am unable to provide any further information about the man who has died.
Two men, who we believe from early reports to have been carrying weapons, were shot by police. They were taken to separate London hospitals; they are receiving treatment for their injuries.
I can understand that this incident will cause community concerns, and I would like to reiterate that we are investigating what has taken place today. The MPS will investigate the circumstances that led a man to lose his life and the IPCC, as is routine, will investigate the circumstances in which police discharged their weapons.
There will continue to be an increased police presence in this area, and the surrounding areas this evening. That presence will continue as long as is needed. I am asking people to remain calm, and avoid unnecessary speculation. I will update you again as soon as I am in a position to do so.
Sentencing for Legisi HYIP Ponzi scheme pitchman Matthew John Gagnon has been rescheduled for June 18. Gagnon initially was scheduled to be sentenced yesterday, federal prosecutors said earlier this month.
Gagnon pleaded guilty to not disclosing he’d been paid more than $1 million by Legisi and operator Gregory N. McKnight to tout the “program” online. McKnight is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 6, federal prosecutors said.
Legisi, a Ponzi-forum darling, collapsed in 2008. It triggered a civil probe by the SEC and a criminal investigation by the U.S. Secret Service. Michigan securities regulators also were involved in the probe.
Other recent Ponzi-board “programs” that became the subjects of major investigations include Pathway To Prosperity, Imperia Invest IBC, AdSurfDaily, Zeek Rewards and Profitable Sunrise. All of the “programs” claimed absurd rates of return.
The name of MoneyMakerGroup, a forum listed in U.S. court filings as a place from which Ponzi schemes are promoted, appears in an evidence exhibit in the Legisi case. Also included in the exhibit is Legisi’s bizarre Terms of Service, which required investors to avow they were not an “informant” for government agencies such as the CIA, FBI, SEC, “Her Majesty’s Police,” the Intelligence Services of Great Britain and the Serious Fraud Office, among others.
Like McKnight, Gagnon also faces millions of dollars in civil judgments for hawking the Legisi scheme.
In a plea agreement in the criminal case, Gagnon admitted he’d caused more than $7 million in losses to more than 50 Legisi investors.
Delays in sentencing dates may be due in part to the difficulty the court-appointed receiver in the Legisi case has encountered in deposing a potential Legisi witness jailed in Alabama in a second scam.
BULLETIN: Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Washington have asked Judge Ronald B. Leighton to sentence AdSurfDaily figure and purported “sovereign citizen” Kenneth Wayne Leaming to 10 years in federal prison, the maximum term under the law.
Leaming, 57, of Spanaway, Wash., was found guilty March 1 on charges of filing false liens against public officials involved in the ASD case and against federal prison officials, harboring two federal fugitives from Arkansas in a home-business caper separate from ASD, and possessing firearms as a convicted felon.
In a chilling sentencing memo today, prosecutors said Leaming — during his criminal trial beginning the week of Feb. 25 — was channeling deceased cop-killer Christopher Dorner in the courtroom. Although the memo did not reference Dorner by name, it was clear prosecutors were talking about the former Los Angeles police officer who threatened “unconventional and asymmetrical” warfare against police and went on a killing spree earlier in February that targeted police officers and their family members.
Dorner’s rampage resulted in the deaths of two officers and the daughter of an officer, sparking other violent confrontations and what has been described as one of the largest manhunts in LAPD history. Dorner himself died violently on Feb. 12. Leaming’s trial began about two weeks later.
“During the trial, Leaming repeatedly made statements referring to the (then recent) incident in Southern California, where a former police officer had started hunting down and murdering government officials the former officer felt had wronged him,” prosecutors said today. “Leaming would generally say something to the effect that it was better that he engaged in ‘seeking redress’ from government officials by way of liens and other paperwork, as opposed to emulating the former officer and using violence.
“This formulation was repeated often enough that the government believes it was a thinly-veiled threat,” prosecutors continued. “Leaming, in essence, engaged in ‘paper terrorism’ against government officials. By these repeated statements, Leaming seemed to be saying that if he was not permitted to engage in that conduct, he may as well resort to violent acts of terror instead.”
And, prosecutors said today, Leaming has shown no remorse “for any of his actions, and fully intends to continue to pursue the same course of conduct . . .”
“[T]his is clear from the defense he presented at trial, and in his filings since trial,” prosecutors said.
As the PP Blog reported earlier this month, Leaming now says Leighton, the judge who presided over his trial, owes him 208,000 ounces of fine silver.
“Since his conviction, [Leaming] has continued to file numerous, typically incomprehensible and/or nonsensical filings in this and other courts,” prosecutors said in today’s sentencing memo. “These filings refer to various UCC instruments, typically claim the Court lacks jurisdiction over him based on a willful misunderstanding of the law, and claim that he is being held as a ‘slave.’ Leaming has attempted to sue at least one [Assistant U.S. Attorney] in the International Court of Justice, and filed numerous monetary claims (often claiming that he should be paid in silver) against [Bureau of Prisons] officials, agents, [Assistant U.S. Attorneys,] various judges, and the Ninth Circuit Clerk. He has also filed numerous pro se civil proceedings and appeals in the Circuit. Most recently, he filed complaints with the [Washington State Bar Association] against one of the [Assistant U.S. Attorneys], U.S. Attorney [Jenny A.] Durkan, and this Court.”
Leaming also sought to claim spectacular sums from the United States in an unsuccessful lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
Prosecutors said today that Leaming “has exploited the ignorance of others for his personal gain for years, taking money from . . . people to ‘help’ them with their legal problems – but in reality he of course did no such thing.”
Leaming, they said, “has spent much of his adult life engaged in the unauthorized practice of law, in itself a felony offense under state law. In doing so, Defendant variously portrays himself as an expert in law enforcement and/or as some type of legal genius – a ‘lawyer’ but not an ‘attorney’ as he explained at some (rather bewildering) length during the trial. Both self-portrayals are complete and utter fictions.”
In 2010, Cornell University Law School, Justia.com and Oyez.org removed online profiles of Leaming after he advertised a fee structure of up to $250 an hour and encouraged prospects to “schedule a free introductory consultation.”
Investigators later identified Leaming as part of a “national” group of “sovereign citizens” operating in Washington state. At the time of his November 2011 arrest, Leaming was found with multiple firearms. Prosecutors said in October 2012 that he was “instrumental in founding the ‘County Rangers,’ the sovereign group’s armed enforcement wing. Members of the County Rangers were issued realistic-looking badges and credentials were required to possess firearms as part of their duties, and held themselves out as law enforcement agents.”
Prosecutors noted today that Leaming possessed “various items of police equipment, including numerous badges, light bars, and a Crown Victoria sedan modified to appear to be a police vehicle.”
With respect to his ASD-related actions, prosecutors said this today:
“[Leaming] took money from the victims of a massive ponzi scheme prosecuted in Washington DC to ‘fix’ their problems. Of course, as the case agent testified, there was nothing to fix – the government recovered almost all of the lost money, and most victims were made whole. Defendant nonetheless took money from these hapless individuals, essentially to interfere with the ongoing prosecution.”
Bruce C. Hicks: Source: Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, via Twitter.
Purported Florida “sovereign citizen” Bruce Chalmers Hicks was arrested by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office after he was seen carrying a sidearm and stepped on the property of Turkey Creek Middle School near Plant City, authorities said. Plant City is situated in the Greater Tampa region.
Hicks, 46, was arrested Thursday and is being held by the Hillsborough Department of Detention Services. Bond was set at $9,750, according to his booking sheet. He is charged with possession of a firearm on school property, felon in possession of a firearm and the open carrying of a weapon. The sheriff’s office announced the arrest on Twitter.
The Tampa Bay Times is reporting that Hicks served seven years in prison after his 2004 conviction for molesting a child under the age of 12.
“Upon initial contact with Hicks, he stated there was a $250 fine for every fifteen minutes of unlawful detention,” according to the report. “He stated that he is a sovereign citizen and is not subject to the laws of the United States or Hillsborough County. Deputy Diaz asked him if he was carrying a firearm and Hicks stated that he was and repeated that he was not subject to laws.”
“Sovereign citizens” may have an irrational belief that laws do not apply to them and have been known to engage in “paper terrorism” — the filing of vexatious lawsuits against public officials and litigation opponents. Whether Hicks somehow believed he could make his felonious history go away and regain a right to possess firearms simply by declaring himself “sovereign” was not immediately clear.
In Washington state, AdSurfDaily story figure and purported “sovereign citizen” Kenneth Wayne Leaming — himself a convicted felon charged with possessing firearms — now is claiming a federal judge owes him 208,000 ounces of fine silver. Like other “sovereigns,” he is claiming unlawful detention.
Leaming, 57, was convicted earlier this year on the firearms charges. In the same case, he was convicted on charges of filing bogus liens for billions of dollars against public officials involved in the ASD Ponzi case. Leaming’s previous conviction was for holding no license when piloting an aircraft.
News of the arrest of Hicks came on the same day that the Pensacola News Journal reported that three officers had been cleared of the March shooting death of purported Florida “sovereign citizen” Jeffrey A. Wright.
“DollarsBluePrint” now is being promoted in a big way at a Profitable Sunrise Facebook site.
A Facebook site set up to promote the Profitable Sunrise HYIP scheme has changed the lead graphic on the page to drive traffic to a site known as “DollarsBluePrint” — apparently through a web entity known as “Big Idea Mastermind.” The previous lead graphic was a leftover from the fraud reign of Profitable Sunrise.
The Profitable Sunrise Facebook site has 5,045 likes as of this morning. The SEC has described Profitable Sunrise as an exceptionally murky enterprise that gathered money through multiple other enterprises and may have collected tens of millions of dollars. The website of ProfitableSunrise went offline March 14 or thereabouts.
In 2010, FINRA issued a warning on HYIP fraud schemes, saying they often trade through social-media sites.
When the PP Blog sought to view the website at the DollarsBluePrint URL, the Blog’s security software issued a “Dangerous Site” warning that said the Big Idea Mastermind site was exhibiting “one or more risky behaviors.”
A series of reload scams have been promoted at the Profitable Sunrise Facebook site. In addition to DollarsBluePrint, today’s entries include “Hourly Chic Pay” (again).
“Up to 260% ROI,” the Hourly Chic Pay promo reads in part. “Get paid by the hour!”
The promo for DollarsBluePrint reads in part that recruits can “earn 6 figure[s.]”
“YOU are a WINNER,” it screams.
Other reload programs promoted on the Facebook site by boat-sharks include (at least) “SuperWithdraw,” “Whos12,” Maxi-Cash,” “FairyFunds,” “Roxilia,” “OptiEarn,” “AVVGlobal,” “ProForexUnion,” “MajestiCrown,” “Biwako Bank Limited” and “TelexFree.”
The website of Biwako Bank Limited also has triggered browser security warnings.
Promos for TelexFree have claimed a person can pay the purported opportunity $15,125 and receive at least $1,100 a week for a year. Lesser incomes can be bought for lesser sums, according to the TelexFree promos.
Anna Pierre ran for mayor of North Miami on a platform of saying no to corruption, free healthcare for the uninsured, job creation, crime prevention and intervention and education.
And she also claimed on Facebook that she’d been endorsed by Jesus Christ.
Separately, she told the Miami Herald that political opponents were hexing her with Haitian voudou.
“I found little dolls with needles in it. They put a lot of pennies at front of my office door,” she told the paper. “I’m from Haiti I know what it is.”
Pierre received lots of media attention after her Jesus and hexing claims.
Her messages, however, appear not to have resonated with voters: Pierre received less than 1 percent of the vote in yesterday’s election, WSVN reports. (Video below.)
Edward Sellers Fitzgerald. Source: Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
A 60-year-old man wanted in Orange County, Calif., on multiple felony charges in an alleged securities swindle involving yachts was arrested last week by police in Delray Beach, Fla.
Edward Sellers Fitzgerald was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail to await extradition by California authorities. If convicted of all counts, Fitzgerald faces 58 years in state prison, authorities said.
The office of Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas says Fitzgerald stole more than $1.5 million from at least 26 investors “in various investment schemes related to the buying and selling of yachts.”
Fitzgerald is charged with eight felony counts of theft from an elder, 19 felony counts of using untrue statements in the purchase or sale of a security, 17 felony counts of grand theft and 14 felony counts of issuing non-sufficient checks with the intent to defraud, prosecutors said.
From a statement by Orange County prosecutors (italics added):
Between 2007 and July 2009, Fitzgerald is accused of being the owner of a Dana Point yacht brokerage, Dana Island Yacht Sales and Charters. He is accused of defrauding 26 victims of over $1.5 million in various investment schemes related to the buying and selling of yachts.
Fitzgerald is accused of defrauding some of his victims by securing loans from friends and acquaintances under the false pretense of purchasing boats for resale. He is accused of failing to purchase boats as promised, using new investors to pay off previous investors, and stealing the money to pay his personal expenses. In some cases, Fitzgerald is accused of selling yachts on behalf of clients, embezzling the sale funds from his escrow account, and either failing to return the funds to the victims or issuing checks to the victims that were returned as non-sufficient funds. The defendant is also accused of stealing deposits put down by victims for the purchase of boats and failing to secure the sale or return the deposit.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the Orange County District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation led the Fitzgerald probe.
Earlier this month, Leonard Ansill, 77, was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on charges of swindling Floridians in a real-estate Ponzi scheme.
The claims portal for Zeek Rewards has opened on schedule. It is accessible through a “File a Claim” button on the website of the court-appointed receiver and also has a separate URL. Claims must be filed by 11:59 p.m. (prevailing Eastern time) on Sept. 5, 2013.
Senior U.S. District Judge Graham C. Mullen of the Western District of North Carolina approved the Zeek claims process on May 8.
In a letter to Zeek participants last week, receiver Kenneth D. Bell said there potentially is more than 1 million claimants.
In August 2012, the SEC described Zeek as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid fraud operated by Paul R. Burks and Rex Venture Group LLC of Lexington, N.C. Zeek, the SEC said, was selling unregistered securities and duping investors into believing they were receiving a legitimate return of about 1.5 percent a day.
Since that time, the SEC has filed an action against a murky HYIP known as Profitable Sunrise that promoted returns that exceeded even Zeek’s purported numbers and appears to have been using a series of offshore bank accounts. The Profitable Sunrise action was filed in April 2013, amid allegations pitchmen may not have known for whom they were working in a bid to glean commissions.
Reload scams surfaced in the immediate aftermath of the SEC’s Zeek action. The same thing is happening in the aftermath of the Profitable Sunrise action. Various “opportunities” are being pitched as cure-alls for losses in the “programs.” Some of the reload scams appear to be bids to intercept information from Zeek and Profitable Sunrise victims.
At least 36 U.S. states or provinces in Canada have issued cease-and-desist orders or Investor Alerts against Profitable Sunrise. Notices also have been published by the governments of the United Kingdom, Italy and New Zealand. The state of North Carolina has published at least two warnings about reload scams. Some of the actions by state regulators in the United States have identified alleged Profitable Sunrise pitchmen.
Despite the warnings, pitchmen for other HYIP schemes have been spamming websites with offers for other “programs” that promise absurd rates of return.
BULLETIN: The state of Kansas has issued a cease-and-desist order against the alleged Profitable Sunrise HYIP scheme, saying the “program” offered “gaudy” returns “of 1.6% to 2.7% on a daily basis.”
In a statement, Kansas securities officials say the order names Florida resident David P. Cozzocrea as a Profitable Sunrise pitchman. Cozzocrea’s promo appeared on a website styled KTFAlways.com. (The site appears to be offering an Iraqi Dinars scheme at the time of this post.)
“Two Kansas investors learned about Profitable Sunrise through KTFAlways.com and contacted Cozzocrea directly. Cozzocrea provided the investors with instructions for setting up an account with Profitable Sunrise and directly funded their accounts with Profitable Sunrise,” the office of Josh Ney, Kansas interim securities commissioner, said.
Meanwhile, the Kansas order also identifies Ohio resident Nanci Jo Frazer of NJF Global Group as a Profitable Sunrise pitchwoman.
“Two other Kansas residents invested in Profitable Sunrise through an organization known as the NJF Global Group Community,” Ney’s office said. “The NJF Global Group Community was operated by Focus Up Ministries, Inc. and its founder, Nanci Jo Frazer. The NJF Global Group Community promoted Profitable Sunrise as a fundraising opportunity for religious-based and charitable organizations.”
Kansas now has become at least the third U.S. state to identify Frazer or NJF Global Group Community in a securities action. The others include Ohio and Minnesota. NJF Global Group also is referenced in an alert by the Financial Markets Authority of New Zealand.
Kansas urged “any Kansas residents” who may have invested money with Profitable Sunrise or had contact with persons promoting Profitable Sunrise to contact Ney’s office immediately.
“Considering the extent of this scheme, it is likely that several other Kansas residents have funds at risk with Profitable Sunrise,” Ney said. “Our office needs information from such people in order to stop this type of activity.”
A website tied to the NJF Global Group, however, appears to be encouraging investors not to contact state regulators.
“If you file a claim in your State, be prepared to prove yourself and allow access to your bank accounts, personal info and emails as a part validating you,” NJFGlobalGroup.com says. “Some states are saying that all who participated are considered to have purchased an unregistered security.”
In 2008 (and later), pitchmen for the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme also discouraged recruits from filing complaints with regulators.
In April, the SEC described Profitable Sunrise as a pyramid scheme that may have gathered tens of millions of dollars through offshore entities.
Kansas now has become one of at least 36 U.S. states or provinces in Canada to issue cease-and-desist orders or Investor Alerts against Profitable Sunrise. At least four Kansas residents invested a total of at least $22,000 in Profitable Sunrise, the state said.
Whether purported Profitable Sunrise operator “Roman Novak” has any plans to help pitchmen address potential legal bills is unknown.
The Kansas investigation is ongoing, the state said.
The Hindustan Times, a newspaper in India, is reporting that 13 deaths have been linked to Ponzi schemes operating in the West Bengal region.
The most recent death involved a man found hanging from a tree yesterday, the paper reported.
“As many as 12 people have committed suicide, and a director of a Ponzi scheme company has been killed since news of the failing of Saradha company broke in West Bengal,” the paper reported.
On May 6, Jordan D. Maglich — an attorney and the publisher of PonziTracker.com — reported that the alleged Saradha Ponzi scheme may gave duped “hundreds of thousands of Indian investors out of billions of dollars.”
From PonziTracker (italics added):
Shockwaves began emanating out of India in late April that Sudipta Sen, the man behind an Indian conglomerate known as the Saradha Group, was missing amid rumors of financial irregularities and increased scrutiny from India’s Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”). Sen’s Saradha Group operated a series of companies that offered ‘depositors’ the ability to invest in a wide range of ventures ranging from real estate to motor vehicles to even bio gas. Investors were offered the ability to make short-term investments with promised returns based on the duration.
Read the Ponzi Tracker story, which reports that an extensive network of approximately 300,000 agents may have been paid commissions to recruit new investors into the scheme.
Investors in developing countries may be particularly vulnerable to scams, with offers both pitched and viewed as a means to escape poverty. Ponzi hucksters typically target vulnerable populations, including senior citizens, families struggling to make ends meet and individuals facing dire economic futures, the prospect of a threadbare existence, mounting bills and other serious pain.
Because scams often trade online, they may cross national borders and inflict harm on vulnerable populations in multiple countries.
Not even well-to-do populations are safe, because the offers often are positioned as ways to protect income while making it grow.
UPDATE: The PP Blog wrote about Biwako Bank Limited on April 29 after it was touted on a Profitable Sunrise Facebook site as a good “program” for individuals ripped off in the alleged Profitable Sunrise pyramid scheme.
