**[UNCONFIRMED]** A report in Brazilian media translated by Google Translate from Portuguese to English says that prosecutors in Brazil have asked a U.S. court to prevent new members from joining TelexFree and to block the accounts of TelexFree figures Carlos Wanzeler, James Merrill, Carlos Costa and Lyvia Wanzeler.
The PP Blog could not immediately confirm the report. If it is true, it could mean that law-enforcement agencies in Brazil have contacted their U.S. counterparts and asked them to begin the process of investigating a potential seizure of TelexFree-related funds that may be in the United States and perhaps to disable or otherwise block the functionality of the TelexFree web domains. The United States has said on various occasions that it is interested in fostering partnerships with law-enforcement agencies across the globe to combat commercial fraud online.
As of 1:03 p.m. EDT today in the United States, the TelexFree websites remained online and appeared still to be capable of enrolling recruits.
TelexFree has said it has U.S. arms in the states of Massachusetts and Nevada. Some U.S. afffiliates of TelexFree also appear to have formed business entities in California and Florida. Some TelexFree affiliates have claimed the “opportunity” did business through Bank of America, TD Bank and ProPay. (See July 8, 2013, PP Blog report on some of the claims.)
Despite allegations in Brazil that TelexFree was conducting a massive pyramid scheme and that a Brazilian judge and prosecutor had been threatened with death, TelexFree nevertheless held a rah-rah session in California late last month in which an MLM pitchman appears to have tried to sustain the scheme by telling a joke about “Carlos Danger,” an online identity purportedly used by U.S. Democratic politician Anthony Weiner. A companion TelexFree promo playing in the United States on YouTube claims that people who send $15,125 to TelexFree can expect to profit to the tune of more than $42,000 in a year.
TelexFree has a presence on well-known Ponzi-scheme forums such as TalkGold, MoneyMakerGroup and DreamTeamMoney. The forums previously were used as staging grounds for the Legisi Ponzi scheme, the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme, the PathwayToProsperity scheme, the Zeek Rewards scheme and the Profitable Sunrise scheme, among others. The SEC has described Zeek as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid fraud. The agency has described Profitable Sunrise as a fraud that may have gathered tens of millions of dollars through a series of accounts. Federal prosecutors in Illinois have described PathwayToProsperity as a fraud that made its way into at least 120 countries.
In May, the United States indicted the Liberty Reserve payment processor and forced it offline, amid allegations that Liberty Reserve and some of its operators had engaged in a $6 billion money-laundering conspiracy. In June 2011, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder described the amount of money being stolen online as “staggering.”
“In recent years, we’ve seen clear, and alarming, advances in the sophistication and commercialization of crimes involving electronic networks,” Holder said. “And the staggering volume of money being stolen online today has the potential to threaten not only the security of our nation — but the integrity of our government, the stability of our economy, and the safety of our people.”
Nearly a year later — in May 2012 — INTERPOL said that “[Eighty] per cent of crime committed online is now connected to organized gangs operating across borders.”
In October 2012, Lisa Monaco, then-Assistant Attorney General for National Security, said that cyber intrusions may have resulted in “the greatest transfer of wealth in history.”
Monaco is now President Obama’s chief counterterrorism adviser.
Some TelexFree members have claimed that the purported “opportunity” has gathered in excess of $300 million. Among other things, TelexFree has purported to be in the hotel-development business in the run-up to the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil. TelexFree, an MLM business, also purports to be in the VOIP telephone business.
Many HYIP “opportunities” that use an MLM sales model have members and promoters in common and promise absurd rates of return. The practice has led to questions about whether groups of MLMers — however loosely associated — may be engaging in willful blindness and causing banks and payment processors to become warehouses for fraud proceeds.
The ASD, Zeek, Legisi, PathwayToProsperity and Profitable Sunrise HYIP schemes may have gathered on the order of $1 billion, court filings suggest. Alleged PathwayToProsperity operator Nicholas Smirnow is listed as wanted by INTERPOL. So is Robert Hodgins, who reportedly once provided payment services to ASD and is listed as an INTERPOL fugitive in a money-laundering case allegedly involving the offloading of narcotics profits in Colombia.
UPDATED 9:26 A.M. EDT (SEPT. 10, U.S.A.): How bizarre will MLM get? Well, there may be no ceiling: A 2:47 video animation playing on YouTube depicts U.S. Vice President Joe Biden as a recent enrollee in the CashCropCycler HYIP “program” who confesses to President Obama that he’s “[j]ust out bumbling around and sticking my foot in my mouth.”
The video has a publication date of July 17 and appears to be a bid by an affiliate of the Empower Network MLM “program” to target traffic meant for CashCropCycler and refocus it toward Empower Network. “President Obama” appears to speak with a British accent in the promo, which also features a jab against Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve.
At approximately the 0:48 mark, after “Biden” informs “Obama” that he’s just joined CashCropCycler, “Obama” seems to say this: “Bernanke started that one, didn’t he?”
Some MLMers appear to believe that raising conspiracy theories about the Federal Reserve is helpful to MLM HYIP “programs.”
A URL below the video at the YouTube site goes to a page at JoinVicNow.com that displays a photo of an oversized “Commissions Earned” check from Empower Network for $464,913. The check appears to be dated September 2012. It is made out in the names of “David Wood & David Sharpe” and is presented by an individual wearing a Guy Fawkes mask.
Source: Sceen shot at JoinVicNow.com
CashCropCycler, a “program” promoted on the Ponzi boards, appears to have gone missing in recent days. NEOMutual, a purported “crowdfunding” company promoted alongside CashCropCycler on the Ponzi boards, also appears to have gone missing. Both “programs” planted the seed that extraordinary profits would come to enrollees.
The Guy Fawkes mask sometimes is known as the “V for Vendetta” mask, which sometimes is used by members of “Anonymous,” the so-called hacktivist group associated with DDoS attacks on government and commercial sites.
Here, in part, is how WikiPedia describes the mask and Guy Fawkes (italics added):
The Guy Fawkes mask is a stylised depiction of Guy Fawkes, the best-known member of the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt to blow up the House of Lords in London in 1605. The use of a mask on an effigy has long roots as part of Guy Fawkes Night celebrations.
Why an individual is wearing a Guy Fawkes mask in the photo depicting the Empower Network check is unclear. The company, however, has described itself as “bad ass.” (Also see July 19 report on BehindMLM.com.)
Trading on the name of the President and Vice President of the United States was one of the things that led to the downfall of the AdSurfDaily MLM “program” in 2008. (The President at the time was George W. Bush; Dick Cheney was the Vice President.)
After Obama replaced Bush in the White House, an affiliate of an MLM “program” known as MPB Today depicted Obama in a 2010 promo as a left-handed saluting Nazi subordinate to then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was depicted as a whining drunk who’d knocked out First Lady Michelle Obama in the Oval Office. In 2012, MPB Today operator Gary Calhoun was charged in Florida with racketeering. A federal forfeiture complaint that targeted the headquarters building used by MPB Today specified the crimes of access-device fraud and fraud in connection with identification documents.
Calhoun was sentenced to a three-year prison term last month. MPB Today MLM affiliates claimed a one-time purchase of $200 from the firm could result in free groceries and gasoline for life. Claims were made by affiliates that the U.S. government or Walmart or both had backed the MLM “program.”
In January 2013, an online promotion turned Obama into a pitchman for a Ponzi-board “program” known as UltimatePowerProfits.
Some members of the TelexFree “program” now appear to believe there is MLM hay to be made while trading on the name of Democratic politician Anthony Weiner. TelexFree is under investigation in multiple states in Brazil, amid allegations its is conducting a massive pyramid scheme. Even though there have been reports in Brazil about death threats against a judge and a prosecutor, some U.S. affiliates continue to promote the purported “opportunity.”
One promo for TelexFree claims a payment of $15,125 to the MLM firm will produce a profit of more than $42,000 in a year. The “Aunt Ethels” of the world — older people with money — will become keen on TelexFree, according to the promo.
Scott Miller goes for a “Carlos Danger” laugh line at a TelexFree event in California.
EDITOR’S NOTE: TelexFree has two executives named Carlos — Carlos N. Wanzeler, and Carlos Costa. Neither of them is “Carlos Danger.”
TelexFree, an MLM “opportunity,” has been under investigation in multiple states in Brazil since at least late June. There have been reports of death threats against a judge and a prosecutor — and there have been reports of assaults against journalists covering the alleged scam in Brazil.
Scott Miller, according to a video playing on YouTube, was one of the featured TelexFree speakers at the Newport Beach event. Members of his group claim in videos that, if one sends $15,125 to TelexFree to purchase a “contract,” one will emerge with guaranteed earnings of at least $1,100 a week for a year. The math of the claim is basically this: $1,100 a week for 52 weeks equals $57,200. Subtract the original outlay of $15,125, and emerge $42,075 on the plus side.
Put another way, plunk down a little more than $15,000 and watch it virtually triple or quadruple in a year. Would Bernard Madoff have dared to be so bold?
The plain answer is no. Madoff roped in his Ponzi victims with suggestions of vastly lower annual returns.
But all of this TelexFree tripling or quadrupling of money is possible — to hear the firm’s cheerleaders tell it on YouTube — if recruits carry out a simple task: place an ad for the “opportunity” at free classified sites online. And you can make more in pure dollar terms by sending more, the cheerleaders say.
If you find it strange that TelexFree is continuing to conduct business in the United States against the backdrop of alleged threats against judicial officers in Brazil even as some TelexFree promoters try to drive business to the firm by videotaping a statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, you may find it stranger yet that New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner’s name has made its way into a TelexFree sales pitch.
Nothing suggests that confessed sexting aficionado and former Congressman Weiner has anything whatsoever to do with TelexFree. But his in-the-news name apparently was one too rich for Miller to ignore from the stage in Newport Beach.
Miller told the assembled TelexFree masses in California that 75 percent of the people in MLM are women.
“Even Anthony Weiner — ‘Carlos Danger’ — can meet someone in this industy,” Miller cracked. Carlos Danger reportedly was an online name name used by Weiner.
MLM and/or affiliate schemes have been known to trade on the names of famous politicians of both major American political parties, occasionally even planting the seed that the famous politicians even had endorsed the “opportunity.” The $119 million AdSurfDaily MLM Ponzi scam traded on the names of (Republican) President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, for example. The Mantria Ponzi scheme ($54.5 million) traded on the name of former President Bill Clinton, with one of the pitchmen encouraging prospects to join the [Donald] Trump network after the 2009 collapse of Mantria. Clinton is a Democrat who continues to be a major figure on the world stage after an affair with an intern nearly toppled his Presidency; Trump is a billionaire, an occasional MLM cheerleader and an often-rumored GOP Presidential candidate who appears to enjoy trying to tweak President Obama, a Democrat, by pandering to the “Birther” conspiracy-theory vote.
In 2010, an affiliate of the MPB Today MLM “program” tried to drive traffic to the now-shuttered “opportunity” whose operator is jailed by positioning Obama and then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as Nazis, with Obama’s family being positioned as welfare recipients eager to eat dog food.
With each passing day, MLM seems to be creating bigger and bigger PR disasters for itself. We’re left wondering: What is funnier? The joke about Anthony Weiner or the fact it was told by an MLMer whose group apparently believes that sending an entire year’s salary for many Americans to TelexFree during an active investigation will cause the investment to mushroom while Bernard Madoff is knocking another year off his 150-year sentence?
In any event, the apparent message in some U.S. MLM circles today is that you can build a downline in TelexFree even during an offshore pyramid probe by ignoring or downplaying the investigations and deflecting the attention of the audience further by trotting out your best “Carlos Danger” lines.
And you can triple or quadruple your money while doing so, of course.
Back in February, U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton of the Western District of Washington told AdSurfDaily story figure and purported “sovereign citizen” Kenneth Wayne Leaming that “all the fancy legal-sounding things” Leaming had “read on the internet are make-believe.”
Another way to put that is, “Garbage in, garbage out” — or, in shorthand, GIGO.
Leighton’s observations appeared in an eve-of-trial order exempting federal prosecutors from responding to certain “gobbledygook” Leaming had filed as part of his self-argued defense on charges of filing bogus liens, possessing weapons as a convicted felon and harboring two federal fugitives from Arkansas wanted in a home-business fraud scheme separate from the $119 million ASD Ponzi scheme broken up by the U.S. Secret Service in 2008.
Leaming, 57, was convicted. In April, several weeks after his trial and conviction, Leaming sent Leighton a purported “Invoice” that claimed the judge owed him 208,000 ounces of “fine silver,” according to the docket of the case.
It is against this backdrop that purported “sovereign citizen” Cherron Marie Phillips is going on trial in Chicago on charges of filing bogus liens against Former U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald and other court officials, including federal judges.
Like Leighton in Tacoma to “sovereign” defendant Leaming, U.S. District Judge Milton Shadur in Chicago made some remarks to “sovereign” defendant Phillips on the eve of her trial.
“I hesitate to rank your statements in order of just how bizarre they are,” said veteran U.S. District Judge Milton Shadur, who at one point attempted to explain to Phillips the meaning of the phrase, “garbage in, garbage out.” As Phillips continued to press him on his allegiance to the Constitution, Shadur finally cut her off.
Phillips earlier had rejected Shadur’s advice not to represent herself, according to the paper.
Leaming, who had a previous felony conviction for piloting an aircraft without a license, was sentenced to eight years in federal prison. Among the targets of his false liens were a federal judge, at least two federal prosecutors and the Secret Service agent who led the ASD Ponzi investigation.
Purported “sovereigns” in multiple states have engaged in acts that have been described as “paper terrorism” designed to hamstring judges, prosecutors and litigation opponents.
ASD operator Andy Bowdoin was sentenced last year to 78 months in federal prison. He is 78.
“The Court has reviewed Receiver’s brief and proposed settlement and finds that the proposed settlement is fair and equitable and is in the best interests of the Zeek victims.” — Senior U.S. District Judge Graham C. Mullen, July 26, 2013
UPDATED 9:43 P.M. EDT U.S.A. If you’re from the camp that claims Zeek Rewards victimized no one, a federal judge set you straight today.
Senior U.S. District Judge Graham C. Mullen of the Western District of North Carolina has approved a motion by the court-appointed receiver to settle with certain Zeek winners at discounts. The judge deemed the agreements “fair and equitable” and “in the best interest of the Zeek victims.”
Mullen’s order applies to at least 136 winners who entered successful prelitigation settlement negotiations with receiver Kenneth D. Bell, who said the agreements provided immediate and concrete benefits to the receivership estate. The order is expected to cause about $1.8 million to flow into the Zeek estate over time, some of it immediately. Bell listed the “Settlement as % of Winnings” at 56.12 percent in a June 28 filing.
Bell is marshaling Zeek assets for return to victims.
Zeek “winners” of $1,000 or more who bypassed the springtime opportunity to settle now face the prospect of clawback litigation beginning sometime this summer. Records show that even some winners of less than $1,000 settled with Bell
In August 2012, the SEC described Zeek as a $600 million pyramid and Ponzi scheme. The purported Zeek “opportunity” operated through Rex Venture Group LLC, a North Carolina MLM firm.
Rex and Rex/Zeek operator Paul R. Burks duped members into believing that payouts averaging about 1.5 percent a day were legitimate, the SEC alleged.
Zeek’s business model was similar to AdSurfDaily, which the U.S. Secret Service and federal prosecutors described as a $119 million Ponzi scheme operating from Florida. The Secret Service raided ASD in 2008.
The Zeek scam created hundreds of thousands of victims, according to Bell. In April, he warned winners of ill-gotten gains that the time for court action is drawing closer.
HourlyRevShare, another in a long list of incongruous HYIP Ponzi-board “programs” pushed by serial huckster “Ken Russo” (also known as “DRdave”), reportedly has collapsed after taking a second bite of the Ponzi apple (purportedly as HRS II) after the original iteration collapsed. Other recent “programs” pushed by “Ken Russo” include Zeek Rewards and Profitable Sunrise, both of which cratered after regulatory actions in the United States.
“Ken Russo” also pushed Felmina Alliance, which became the subject of an Investor Alert in Canada; AdSurfDaily, a $119 million Ponzi scheme that put operator Andy Bowdoin in federal prison in Florida; MPB Today, a scheme that led to racketeering charges being filed in Florida against operator Gary Calhoun; Club Asteria, a scheme that falsely planted the seeds it was endorsed by actor Will Smith and the American Red Cross while also trading on the name of slain human-rights champion Mahatma Gandhi; a scheme known as Gold Nugget Invest that cratered in at least two forms; JSS Tripler/JustBeenPaid, a multiple-name scheme purportedly operated by Frederick Mann that promised a return of 730 percent a year and has encountered regulatory actions in Italy and the Philippines; knockoff scams known variously as JSSTripler 2 and Compound 150 purportedly operated by “Dave” between purported bouts with Dengue Fever; and Wealth4AllTeam, a “program” that experienced business halts and relaunches with new names, at one time claiming it was impervious to U.S. regulators at the state and federal level while incongruously claiming disputes would be settled under California law.
Among other things, the lead pitchman for HourlyRevShare on the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum claimed that the “program” offered “Daily guaranteed Payouts.” The promoter also claimed (italics added):
“Earn 4.5% to 6.5% daily for 20 days.”
“Earn 135% to 195% on your shares.”
“Earn 0.18 to 0.29 every hour.”
On April 9, 2013, less than a month after the Profitable Sunrise HYIP scheme collapsed amid SEC allegations a ghost might have been at the wheel, Ken Russo (as “DRdave”) claimed on TalkGold that he’d just received a payment of $4,850 from HourlyRevShare, which was using a Gmail email address. Critics of HourlyRevShare claim the “program” is linked to individuals known as Analie or Anelie Steinway and Dr. Leiven Van Neste.
Whether these individuals actually exist remains an open question.
“Ken Russo” also has been leading cheers for a “program” known as NEOMutual, yet-another Ponzi-board darling. NEOMutual is being pushed alongside a “program” bizarrely known as “CashCropCycler.”
UPDATED 6:23 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) There are at least three reports in Brazilian media today that say TelexFree has blocked members’ access to their back offices.
A company attorney said the blockages were necessary because hackers had attempted an intrusion, according to reports in Portuguese translated to English by Google Translate.
Here is a link to one of the reports, with the corresponding Google translation. (Please note that Google translations often are imperfect, may appear stilted and may lack subtleties of language.)
Narratives about hackings often accompany HYIP schemes. The AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme in the United States once claimed it could not make payments because hackers had stolen $1 million. ASD President Andy Bowdoin never reported the alleged hacking bids to police, federal prosecutors said.
In 2012, reports surfaced that the JSS Tripler/JustBeenPaid scheme that purported to pay 730 percent a year (precompounding) had been targeted by hackers. There also were reports in 2012 that accounts at Zeek Rewards (1.5 percent a day) had been hacked and that at least one individual had presented a bogus financial instrument to Zeek.
TelexFree pitchwoman Faith Sloan reported this (see italicized paragraph below) in a Blog post titled “TelexFREE Update: July 15, 2013 with Steve Labriola” that was referenced July 16 in a reader comment at BehindMLM.com.
“There were an increase in number of cashouts last Tuesday which caused the women in the office to get a huge increase in their workload. They will continue pushing out money to our bank accounts Today and Tomorrow. So be patient. He emphasized that this has absolutely nothing to do with Brazil.”
Even as reports surfaced that TelexFree had blocked members’ access to their back offices as a safeguard against hackers, the “opportunity” says a California extravaganza is still set for July 26 and 27.
TelexFree has been under investigation in Brazil for weeks and appears to have been blocked by a court order in the state of Acre from making payments to members in Brazil. Now, some affiliates appear to be questioning whether the denial of access to their back offices means that data is being destroyed or records about money owed to affiliates by TelexFree are being changed.
The circumstance at least suggests that TelexFree continued to make payments to Americans and has been hit with a flood of cashout requests by U.S.-based affiliates concerned about the government actions in Brazil. Put another way, TelexFree could be facing an American run on its bank accounts.
Some HYIP schemes have been known to block redemption requests to fend off a bank run, but the precise circumstance TelexFree is facing is unclear. Hackings can and do occur.
Some TelexFree affiliates have claimed the “program” was using Bank of America and TD Bank in the United States to gather funds. That may have changed in April 2013 at least with respect to Bank of America, when TelexFree affiliate reports quoting Labriola surfaced that TelexFree was “pulling out of Bank of America.”
No reason was given for TelexFree’s purported decision to leave Bank of America. In May 2012, the Zeek Rewards “program” reported mysteriously that it was ending its relationship with two banks. About three months later, the SEC accused Zeek of conducting a $600 million Ponzi and pyramid scheme from North Carolina.
TelexFree lists the states of Nevada and Massachusetts as its bases of operation under the names TelexFree LLC and TelexFree Inc.
Some individuals associated with TelexFree appear also to have set up companies that use the TelexFree name. Records in California show entities with names such as ALL-IN TELEXFREE 247 LLC, LIVING-THE-DREAM TELEXFREE 247 LLC and RAIN-MAKER TELEXFREE 247 LLC. Records in Florida, meanwhile, show an entity known as TELEXFREE MARKETING INC.
Whether the United States has opened a probe into TelexFree’s activities is unknown.
Some TelexFree affiliates have claimed that a payment of $15,125 to TelexFree for the purchase of a “contract” results in an income of at least $1,100 a week for a year. TelexFree is one of several “programs” that have been targeted at victims of Profitable Sunrise, which the SEC described in April 2013 as a pyramid scheme that may have collected tens of millions of dollars.
In this evidence exhibit given to a federal judge prior to the Legisi asset freeze in 2008, a Legisi prospect writes the name “Money Maker Group.com” in longhand. State and federal probes into Legisi were under way long before members knew — and undercover agents were part of the probe.
EDITOR’S NOTE: As the PP Blog reported Wednesday, HYIP Ponzi-scheme pitchman Matthew John Gagnon has been sentenced to five years in federal prison. On Thursday, the SEC released the statement reproduced below. Here’s hoping it will be the shot heard around the HYIP Ponzi World.
Still pushing HYIPs on your websites and social-media sites, in your emails and on the Ponzi boards? Still pushing them after the Legisi, AdSurfDaily, Zeek Rewards and Profitable Sunrise debacles? Is someone like “Ken Russo” or “10bucksup” or “strosdegos” enlisting you to enter Ponzi World?
Are you listening to Faith Sloan, when she shows you an investment-earnings calculator and plants the seed that the TelexFree action in Brazil is a yawner because it was brought in a “small” state that’s “literally in the middle of the jungle” — all while she further risks offending one-fifth of the world’s population by advising you not to engage in a “panic-like-Chinese-fire-drill” over your legitimate TelexFree concerns?
If you are turning a blind eye to all the incongruities of HYIP Ponzi Land, you may have the chance to be the next Matt Gagnon, meaning the next several years of your life will be consumed by court actions. First, you’ll watch your “program” get sued by the SEC. After that, you’ll get sued by the SEC and a court-appointed receiver. On top of those unpleasantries, you’ll be called a threat to the investing public in newspaper stories across the land, then charged criminally, and then sent to jail for years you’ll never get back while being ordered to pay back either the money you stole or the money you helped someone else steal.
A final note: More than FIVE years after the SEC filed the first of the Legisi-related fraud charges in May 2008, Legisi victims continue to visit the PP Blog for updates on the various Legisi-related actions, including the multiple actions against Gagnon. Scams may fall out of the headlines for a while — but the fleeced masses never forget them. For posterity, the PP Blog has inserted a section of a Legisi evidence exhibit into the SEC’s statement. It may be the strangest Terms of Service you’ve ever read.
** ______________________________________ **
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 22749 / July 11, 2013 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Matthew J. Gagnon, Civil Action No. 10-cv-11891 (E.D. Mich.)
Serial Fraudster Matthew J. Gagnon Sentenced to Five Years in Prison
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that on July 9, 2013, the Honorable Mark A. Goldsmith of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan sentenced Matthew J. Gagnon to five years of incarceration followed by three years of supervised release and ordered Gagnon to pay over $4.4 million in restitution to his victims. Gagnon, 45, of Portland, Oregon, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal securities fraud for promoting a securities offering without fully disclosing the amount of his compensation in connection with his promotion of the $72 million Legisi Ponzi scheme in 2006 and 2007, in violation of Section 17(b) of the Securities Act of 1933.
The criminal charges arose out of the same facts that were the subject of a civil injunctive action that the Commission filed against Gagnon on May 11, 2010. The Commission’s complaint alleged that since 1997, Gagnon had billed himself as an Internet business opportunity expert and his website as “the world’s first and largest opportunity review website.” According to the SEC’s complaint, from January 2006 through approximately August 2007, Gagnon helped orchestrate a massive Ponzi scheme conducted by Gregory N. McKnight and his company, Legisi Holdings, LLC, which raised a total of approximately $72 million from over 3,000 investors by promising returns of upwards of 15% a month. The complaint also alleged that Gagnon promoted Legisi but in doing so misled investors by claiming, among other things, that he had thoroughly researched McKnight and Legisi and had determined Legisi to be a legitimate and safe investment. The complaint alleged that Gagnon had no basis for the claims he made about McKnight and Legisi. Gagnon also failed to disclose to investors that he was to receive 50% of Legisi’s purported “profits” under his agreement with McKnight. According to the complaint, Gagnon received a net of approximately $3.8 million in Legisi investor funds from McKnight for his participation in the scheme.
The SEC’s complaint further alleged that beginning in August 2007, Gagnon fraudulently offered and sold securities representing interests in a new company that purportedly was to develop resort properties. The complaint alleged that Gagnon, among other things, falsely claimed that the investment was risk-free and “SEC compliant,” and guaranteed a 200% return in 14 months. In reality, however, Gagnon sent the money to a twice-convicted felon, did not register the investment with the SEC, and knew such an outlandish return was impossible. Gagnon took in at least $361,865 from 21 investors.
The SEC’s complaint also alleged that in April 2009, Gagnon began promoting a fraudulent offering of interests in a purported Forex trading venture. Gagnon guaranteed that the venture would generate returns of 2% a month or 30% a year for his investors. Gagnon’s claims were false, and he had had no basis for making them because Gagnon never reviewed his friend’s trading records before promoting the offering, which would have shown over $150,000 in losses over the previous nine months.
The SEC’s complaint charged Gagnon with violating Sections 5(a), 5(c), 17(a) and 17(b) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 10(b) and 15(a)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The complaint sought preliminary and permanent injunctions, disgorgement, and civil penalties from Gagnon. On May 24, 2010, the SEC obtained an emergency order freezing Gagnon’s assets and other preliminary relief. Subsequently, on August 6, 2010, the Court granted an order of preliminary injunction against Gagnon pursuant to his consent. On March 22, 2012, the Court granted the SEC’s motion for summary judgment and entered a final judgment against Gagnon. The Court found that Gagnon violated the registration, anti-fraud, and anti-touting provisions of the federal securities laws. The Court’s final judgment against Gagnon permanently enjoined him from future violations of Sections 5(a), 5(c), 17(a) and 17(b) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 10(b) and 15(a)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and ordered Gagnon to pay $3,613,259 in disgorgement, $488,570.47 in prejudgment interest, and a $100,000 civil penalty.
On May 2, 2012, the SEC instituted related administrative proceedings against Gagnon to determine what, if any, remedial action was appropriate and in the public interest. On July 31, 2012, the SEC issued an Order Making Findings and Imposing Sanctions by Default barring Gagnon from association with any broker or dealer.
For further information regarding this case, see Litigation Releases No. 21532 (May 25, 2010), and 22310 (March 27, 2012).
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Legisi HYIP Ponzi-scheme pitchman Matthew John Gagnon has been sentenced to 60 months in federal prison, ordered to pay $4.4 million in restitution and further ordered to serve three years’ supervised probation after his prison release, the office of U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade of the Eastern District of Michigan said.
Legisi, a $72 million Ponzi scheme pushed on fraud forums such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup, was operated by Gregory N. McKnight, who faces sentencing in August. Gagnon’s five-year sentence was the maximum under a plea agreement with prosecutors, who’ve recommended McKnight serve 15 years.
Gagnon pushed Legisi and other fraud schemes through Mazu.com, the SEC said in 2010. The name of MoneyMakerGroup appears in evidence exhibits in the Legisi Ponzi case.
Gagnon will be permitted to self-report to prison, prosecutors said.
The Legisi case — perhaps particularly events involving Gagnon — has been closely watched because it shows that MLM-style HYIP pitchmen can be held accountable criminally for pushing scams. The SEC called Gagnon a threat to the investing public, describing him as a serial fraud pitchman who lacked licenses to sell securities and pushed the unregistered securities of multiple fraud schemes.
In civil charges announced yesterday in Ohio, prosecutors effectively made the same claims against promoters of the alleged Profitable Sunrise pyramid scheme. Included among them was Nanci Jo Frazer, who allegedly also promoted the $119 million AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme and the $600 million Zeek Rewards Ponzi- and pyramid scheme.
The Legisi case began as an undercover probe by state securities regulators in Michigan and the U.S. Secret Service.
Legisi’s Terms of Service sought to make members affirm they were not an “informant, nor associated with any informant” of the IRS, FBI, CIA and the SEC, among other agencies, according to documents filed in federal court.
Current scams such as Profit Clicking have published similar terms, which read like an invitation to join an international financial conspiracy. Ohio prosecutors said they believed Frazer also pushed ProfitClicking, in addition to Zeek, ASD and Profitable Sunrise.
McKnight, prosecutors have said, tried to sanitize Legisi by calling it a “loan” program and engaging in semantic obfuscation. Any number of HYIP scams have employed similar linguistic sleight-of-hand, with ProfitClicking bizarrely arguing that neither itself nor affiliates can be held accountable.
Gagnon argued in court that he’d been duped by McKnight, but a federal judge didn’t buy it.
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (Fourth update 9:10 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) In court papers, the state of Ohio has called Nanci Jo Frazer’s Focus Up Ministries a “front” for the Profitable Sunrise HYIP scheme and alleges that Focus Up changed its name to Defining Vision Ministries Inc. in June 2013 — two months after the SEC brought the Profitable Sunrise fraud action in federal court in Atlanta.
Records suggest Nanci Jo Frazer also is known as Nancy Jo Frazer. The Ohio court documents list the “Nancy” spelling. Other documents list the “Nanci” spelling.
A judge in Williams County, Ohio, has ordered Frazer, Focus Up and other entities associated with Frazer to “[i]mmediately cease all activities on behalf of any charitable organization/trust in the state of Ohio,” to preserve assets and to return assets that already may have been dissipated.
The judge also ordered Frazer and others to cease selling unregistered securities. Meanwhile, the judge ordered three Ohio banks to take eight accounts linked to Frazer and others into “actual and/or constructive possession.” Frazer resides in Bryan, Ohio.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Commerce said today that the state has brought civil fraud charges against Frazer, Focus Up, Defining Vision and others. Documents say the state believes Frazer was a pitchwoman for the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme and other “programs,” including Zeek Rewards and Profit Clicking.
“This case involves a worldwide pyramid scheme that defrauded Ohioans and others out of millions of dollars,” DeWine said. “These individuals brought the scheme to Ohio by promising outrageous returns and telling investors that their donations and investments would help charities. We will continue to work closely with the Department of Commerce to hold the defendants accountable for their actions.”
Also charged were David Frazer, Frazer’s husband, and Albert Rosebrock, a member of Frazer’s NJF Global Group. Rosebrock also was alleged by Ohio to be an AdSurfDaily and Zeek affiliate.
Purported Profitable Sunrise operator “Roman Novak” is called “John Doe” in Ohio’s complaint, leading to continuing questions about whether “Novak” actually exists. In April, the SEC said that Profitable Sunrise pitchmen may not even have known with whom they were doing business. Profitable Sunrise purported to pay up to 2.7 percent interest a day. The SEC said it was using a “mail drop” in England and offshore bank accounts potentially to scam tens of millions of dollars.
Frazer’s group may have driven $30 million to the scam, according to court files.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that Rosebrock is blaming the SEC for the collapse of Profitable Sunrise.
Profitable Sunrise is an international pyramid scheme recently shut down by federal and international authorities. Profitable Sunrise claimed to be a Christian company that would use investment proceeds to help charities and provide investors with large returns. According to the state’s complaint, the Frazers, of Bryan, and Rosebrock, of Sherwood, used Focus Up Ministries’ status as a charity to solicit donations and investments into Profitable Sunrise. They also claimed that invested funds would compound at 1.6 to 2.7 percent daily, growing at annual rates of 5,000 to more than 75,000 percent. The complaint also alleges that the defendants used funds donated to Focus Up Ministries for personal expenses and other unlawful purposes. These included financing for personal business ventures, the purchase of a big screen television, no-interest personal loans, and compensation for agents who solicited on behalf of the Profitable Sunrise pyramid scheme. The complaint contains counts of misrepresentation, deceptive acts and practices, conversion, falsification, securities fraud, and unlicensed sale of securities, among other violations.
The SEC has described Zeek Rewards as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid fraud. AdSurfDaily was a $119 million Ponzi scheme, according to the U.S. Secret Service. Meanwhile, ProfitClicking is a “program” linked to Frederick Mann, the purported operator of JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid, which has come under regulatory scrutiny in Italy and the Philippines.
If Frazer was a pitchwoman for ASD, Zeek and ProfitClicking/JSS/JBP, it would mean she was pushing Profitable Sunrise after various well-publicized regulatory or law-enforcement actions against those “programs,” which purported to pay interest of between 1 percent and 2 percent a day. (ASD = 1 percent/day; Zeek = 1.5 percent/day; ProfitClicking/JSS/JBP = 2 percent/day.)
Beyond that, it would mean Frazer pushed the purported 2.7 percent a day Profitable Sunrise “Long Haul” plan, even though agencies filed various actions against the “lower-paying” programs with which she allegedly was involved previously.
Some HYIP promoters move from one fraud scheme to another, while engaging in willful blindness. ASD is known to have had ties to the “sovereign citizens” movement. Mann, of ProfitClicking/JSS/JBP, once used a website to drive traffic to videos featuring Francis Schaeffer Cox, a purported “sovereign citizen” and “militia” man implicated in a murder plot against public officials in Alaska.
TelexFree affiliates have shared a photo of President James M. Merrill posing in front of an office building in Massachusetts. The photo, however, is not proof of TelexFree’s legitimacy and raises questions about whether the company was trying to plant the seed it had a massive physical presence in the United States.
UPDATED 10:22 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) The purported TelexFree “opportunity” is under investigation by multiple agencies in Brazil, its purported base of operations despite competing claims the company is headquartered in the United States. The notes below concern TelexFree’s U.S. presence and positioning. They are presented in no particular order of importance. TelexFree says it is in the communications business.
TelexFree has a footprint in Massachusetts at 225 Cedar Hill Street, Suite 200, Marlborough. It is a shared office facility. Ads for the building suggest a conference room with video capabilities can be rented by the hour. One suggested use of the room is for attorneys to rent it to conduct depositions. Some attorneys practicing in the state and federal courts use the building as a business address.
Other lessees include the Massachusetts Library System (MLS), which describes itself as “state-supported collaborative” to foster “cooperation, communication, innovation, and sharing among member libraries of all types.” MLS uses Suite 229, according to its website.
TelexFree operates as an MLM. One of the problems in the MLM sphere is that purported “opportunities” and their promoters have been known to dupe participants by leasing virtual office space to create the illusion of scale or of a massive physical presence. Such was the case with a Florida entity associated with AdViewGlobal, an AdSurfDaily knockoff scam that purported to pay 1 percent a day. As the PP Blog reported on May 31, 2009 (italics added):
Research suggests a company with which AVG has a close association is headquartered in a modern office building in the United States. The building was constructed in 2003. Office functions and conferencing can be rented by the hour. Two large airports are nearby, and a major Interstate highway is situated one mile from the building.
It is a virtual certainty that AVG, which purported to operate from Uruguay, actually was operating from the U.S. states of Florida and Arizona and using a series of business entities to launder the proceeds of its fraud scheme. AVG disappeared mysteriously in June 2009.
On Dec. 14, 2011, the PP Blog reported that Text Cash Network (TCN) — another purported MLM “opportunity” — was using a virtual office in Boca Raton, Fla., in a bid to create the illusion of scale. TCN promoters published photos of a glistening building with TCN’s name affixed near the crown of the building. The Boca Raton Police Department, however, said the firm’s name did not appear on the building.
Although the PP Blog is unaware of any bids to Photoshop TelexFree’s name on a large office building, affiliates have shared photos of TelexFree President James M. Merrill posing in front of the large Massachusetts building. So there can be no confusion, TelexFree does not own the building. TelexFree affiliates/prospects should not rely on the photo of the building as proof of the legitimacy of the company. The photo itself raises questions about whether Merrill and TelexFree were trying to create the illusion of scale. Even though the answer could be no, the negative inferences that can be drawn from the photo contribute to MLM’s reputation for serial disingenuousness.
TelexFree also has a presence in the state of Nevada. Records show that an entity known as TelexFree LLC is listed as “Domestic Limited-Liability Company” situated in Las Vegas. Listed managers include Carlos N. Wanzeler, Carlos Costa and James M. Merrill. TelexFree operates in Massachusetts with an “Inc.” version of the name — i.e., TelexFree Inc., having undergone a name change in February 2012 from Common Cents Communications Inc. In Massachusetts, James Merrill is listed as the registered agent, president, secretary and director of the firm, with Carlos Wanzeler listed as treasuer and director. Unlike the Nevada “LLC” version of TelexFree, Carlos Costa appears not to hold a title in the Massachusetts “Inc.” entity.
The footprints in the United States are important in the sense that they establish a business presence in the country should TelexFree become the subject of U.S. investigations akin to what is happening now in Brazil, where pyramid-scheme and securities concerns have been raised. Along those lines, records of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) appear not to list TelexFree — despite the fact affiliates in the United States have claimed members acquire “stock” from TelexFree that can be sold through TelexFree and that affiliates purchase “contracts” from TelexFree.
One YouTube video viewed by the PP Blog shows a TelexFree affiliate purportedly cashing out his stock through his TelexFree back office. The affiliate appears to be speaking in U.S. English, citing the date as March 19, 2013. In the video, the affiliate describes his pitch as a “quick withdrawal video” — i.e., proof that TelexFree is legitimate because it pays.
“OK,” the narrator intones. “I’m going to sell all my stock.” The video shows a tab labeled “Stock” and a subtab styled “Repurchase” in the back office.
The narrator then clicks on a series of graphics styled “REPURCHASE” and tells the audience that he wants to show it all the “stock that I have that converts to actual money.” He then proceeds to a “Withdraw” subtab under a “Statement” tab. These actions eventually expose a screen that shows an “AVAILABLE BALANCE” of $927.61 for withdrawal.
For a brief moment, the acronym “BT&T” flashes on the screen, suggesting the TelexFree affiliate is seeking to have his earnings from stock sales relayed through North Carolina-based Branch Banking & Trust. The interesting thing about that is that the alleged $600 million Zeek Rewards Ponzi- and pyramid scheme claimed it had a banking relationship with BB&T.
In May 2012 — on Memorial Day — Zeek mysteriously announced it was ending its relationship with BB&T. It was unclear from the TelexFree affiliate’s video whether he was a BB&T customer or whether TelexFree was. What is clear is that the SEC moved against Zeek in August 2012, accusing the company of securities fraud and selling unregistered securities as investment contracts. The U.S. Secret Service said it also was investigating Zeek.
In this TelexFree promo running on YouTube, the acronym BB&T flashes on the screen in a TelexFree affiliate’s back office.
Among the problems with HYIP schemes is that banks can become conduits through which illicit proceeds are routed or stockpiled. Zeek used at least 15 domestic and foreign financial institutions to pull off its fraud, according to court filings.
Because HYIPs offer commissions to members who recruit other members along with “investment returns,” legitimate financial institutions can come into possession of money tainted by fraud.
Like Zeek (and AdViewGlobal and AdSurfDaily), TelexFree has a presence on well-known forums listed in U.S. court records as places from which Ponzi schemes are promoted.
TelexFree shares some of the characteristics of fraud schemes such as Zeek, AdViewGlobal, AdSurfDaily, Profitable Sunrise and others. ASD, AVG and Zeek, for instance, had a purported “advertising” element. So does TelexFree.
TelexFree affiliates claim they get paid for posting ads online for the purported “opportunity.” Zeek affiliates made the same claim.
It is highly likely that Zeek and TelexFree have promoters in common, a situation that potentially is problematic, given that some affiliates may have used money from Zeek to join TelexFree — and the court-appointed receiver in the Zeek case is pursuing clawbacks against “winners.” In short, some of the winnings could have been spent in TelexFree.
An online promo for Zeek in July 2012 claimed North Carolina-based Zeek had 100,000 affiliates in Brazil alone. TelexFree affiliates are claiming that their “opportunity” now has hundreds of thousands of affiliates, which suggests TelexFree has achieved Zeek-like scale. Whether it enjoys Zeek-like, money-pulling power on the order of $600 million is unclear.
What is clear is that TelexFree, like Zeek before it, is spreading in part through the posting of promos on classified-ad or similar sites across the United States. Profitable Sunrise, another HYIP, spread in similar fashion. Dozens of U.S. states issued Investor Alerts or cease-and-desist orders against Profitable Sunrise, which the SEC accused of fraud in April 2013.
To gain an early sense of the scale TelexFree may be achieving in the United States, the PP Blog typed into Google the term “TelexFree” and the names of several U.S. states known to have taken actions against Profitable Sunrise. This revealed URLs such as “TelexFreeOhio” and “telexfreetexas.blogspot.com,” for two examples. It also showcased classified-ad (or similar) sites on which TelexFree promos are running or have run.
Finally, the state of Massachussets was the venue from which the prosecutions of the infamous World Marketing Direct Selling (WMDS) and OneUniverseOnline (1UOL) pyramid-schemes were brought in federal court. Those fraud schemes were targeted at Cambodian-Americans. The state does not take kindly to affinity fraud. In March, Massachusetts securities regulators charged a man in an alleged fraud bid against the Kenyan community.
Among the claims of the MLM hucksters pitching WMDS and 1UOL was that members could purchase an income. Some TelexFree affiliates are making similar claims.
The WMDS and 1UOL frauds became infamous as the source of death threats, including one against a federal prosecutor.
Media outlets in Brazil have reported that death threats have surfaced over the TelexFree scheme.
For the reasons cited above and more, it would be surprising if things end well in the United States for TelexFree, which has Zeek and ASD-like signatures of MLM disasters waiting to happen.
**[UNCONFIRMED]** A report in Brazilian media translated by Google Translate from Portuguese to English says that prosecutors in Brazil have asked a U.S. court to prevent new members from joining TelexFree and to block the accounts of TelexFree figures Carlos Wanzeler, James Merrill, Carlos Costa and Lyvia Wanzeler.
