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Tag: AdSurfDaily

  • No Stranger To Controversy, Donald Allen Says He Is Cooperating With Secret Service In INetGlobal Probe And Has ‘One Hell Of A Story’ To Tell

    Donald Allen

    UPDATED 6:08 P.M. ET (U.S.A. JAN. 20, 2011.)

    EDITOR’S NOTE: The story below includes an assertion by Donald Allen that his IBNN.org website was knocked offline Sunday by a company with ties to INetGlobal. Moments before the story was set for publication, the IBNN website returned. The story does not reflect this later event, and it is possible that the site is not viewable in all parts of the world owing to an apparent change in nameservers. Events surrounding the apparent change in nameservers are unclear.

    Acknowledging he had been advised that he potentially has “exposure” in the INetGlobal Ponzi scheme investigation, Donald Allen II said this morning that he had nothing to hide and would cooperate with the U.S. Secret Service and federal prosecutors “100 percent.”

    That cooperation already has begun, Allen said. He added that his thinking about INetGlobal has evolved since the Feb. 23 raid of company headquarters in Minneapolis, and he insisted he was out of the loop on INetGlobal’s financial affairs and that his efforts to promote the firm were legitimate.

    “Let me make it perfectly clear,” Allen said this morning. “I did the Global News Distribution and was never let in to the ‘workings’ of iNetGlobal. I met with the US Secret Service and [its] position is that I ‘shielded’ [Steve Renner] to operate a Ponzi, which is untrue.”

    Allen, a vice president with V-Newswire, an entity in the INetGlobal family controlled by Renner, claimed this morning that the company had blocked his access and the access of readers to a public-affairs Blog he operates. The Blog is known as the Independent Business News Network (IBNN).

    The company, Allen asserted, was penalizing him “for coming forward to answer ANY questions the Government has regarding iNetGlobal.”

    Renner has not been charged with a crime and has denied wrongdoing. The Secret Service said in court documents filed in February that “there is probable cause to believe that Renner is operating a large, Internet-based, Ponzi scheme through his umbrella corporation, InterMark, and some of its subsidiaries, particularly Virtual Payment Systems [LLC of Wisconsin/Brackets Denoting the LLC Designation added Jan. 20, 2011], V-Media, Cash Cards International, and V-Local.”

    NOTE IN BOLD ADDED JAN. 20, 2011: An Indianapolis-based company known as Virtual Payment Systems Inc. has contacted the PP Blog to let it know it is not affiliated with the Renner company Virtual Payment Systems LLC of Wisconsin, which is referenced in the paragraph above.

    The Secret Service alleged INetGlobal was the “primary vehicle for the perpetration of this fraud.”

    INetGlobal, which features an advertising rotator, is the so-called “autosurfing” platform of the Renner companies. The government has prosecuted several autosurf companies in recent years, saying they were selling investment programs disguised as advertising programs and engaging in wire fraud and money-laundering.

    Renner’s company has a high concentration of Chinese members who may have limited or no facility in English, the agency said. At least one INetGlobal member has said Americans flocked away from Renner’s autosurfing enterprise after the Secret Service, in August 2008, raided a similar company in Florida known as AdSurfDaily (ASD).

    The ASD litigation is referenced in court papers in the INetGlobal case.

    Allen said this morning that he also had performed work for V-Media and V-Local — both of which the Secret Service said had ties to the alleged INetGlobal fraud — but he insisted that he had done nothing wrong.

    “I wasn’t privileged to know anything about the compensation program” of InetGlobal, Allen said. “I could not explain it to this day.”

    An error message that reads “This Account Has Been Suspended: Please contact the V-Webs.com billing/support department as soon as possible” now appears on the IBNN site. In the early hours after Allen lost control of the Blog, the site would not return a ping and produced a “bad destination” error message, according to records.

    Even though Allen moved the content of the site from a hosting company controlled by Renner weeks ago, Renner controlled the domain registration and thus has the ability to block access, Allen asserted this morning.

    Allen’s access to the site was blocked sometime after “noon on Sunday,” two days after he met with the Secret Service, Allen said.

    Agents appeared at his home Friday unannounced, Allen said.

    He described his initial meeting with agents as “excellent.” Allen added that he is consulting with an attorney.

    “[The Secret Service] asked me if I would like legal representation,” Allen said. “I said yes.”

    A second meeting with the Secret Service occurred yesterday. Allen said he was consulting with his attorney again today, saying a characterization that described him as cooperating with the agency was “totally accurate.”

    The move to block IBNN also followed on the heels of a letter Allen gave to Renner April 22, Allen said. The letter claimed that Allen had “clear and documented” evidence of violations of the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity laws in a hiring decision it made.

    In the letter, Allen suggested he was not given an opportunity to interview for a job that went to an INetGlobal member with a large downline. The letter also questioned the operations of the company’s board of directors and claimed an INetGlobal “receptionist” was performing “confidential” work that should have been handled by the firm’s Human Resources department.

    Moreover, Allen said this morning that nothing in his employment contract with the Renner entity permitted the company to block access to the IBNN site. He claimed that the company now wants him to sign an agreement not to write about INetGlobal and also to inspect his computer.

    Allen Questions INetGlobal’s Operations

    Allen said this morning that he questioned how the company was paying its bills in the aftermath of the federal seizure of its assets. He claimed a member of INetGlobal with a Chinese name had received a promotion to a position that purportedly paid $120,000 a year after the seizure. This member, Allen said, also may have a seat on the board of directors and also purportedly had a downline organization in the company that purportedly paid $10,000 a day.

    His first question for Renner, Allen said, is “how is that possible with the current funds frozen by the US Government?”

    Allen said his position with the company was supposed to pay $75,000, but that he had not seen “a penny.”

    “I’m a little upset, a little traumatized by this attempt to shut me down, because I had one hell of a story,” Allen said. “I’m kind of devastated; I have a civil-rights Blog. A lot of people read it.”

    No Stranger To Controversy

    Allen and his IBNN Blog have been the subjects of controversy. He used an offshoot of the Blog to claim in March that “federal officials” were leaking information about the INetGlobal case to the PP Blog. After the PP Blog began to report on INetGlobal, Allen began to post comments on the PP Blog without initially identifying himself as a Renner employee, claiming that the PP Blog was “minor league” and engaging in a “witch hunt.”

    Separately, Allen used the IBNN Blog to attack the Star Tribune newspaper of Minneapolis St. Paul for its coverage of the INetGlobal raid. Meanwhile, Allen’s name is listed in the Secret Service affidavit filed in February to obtain search warrants at the firm’s headquarters. In the affidavit, the agency painted Allen as a person who provided confusing information to an INetGlobal prospect at a January event in Flushing, N.Y.

    Undercover agents attended the Flushing event, and one agent’s observations of Allen are noted in the affidavit.

    An INetGlobal prospect “stated she was struggling to understand how the business worked and explained that the person who brought her to the conference was not able to explain it either,” the agency said in the affidavit. “She asked what would happen if she sold iNetGlobal products to someone who had a website and they did not see an increase in their profits.

    “Donald Allen asked her what type of products the person was selling and the woman gave the example of beauty products,” the agency continued in the affidavit. “Donald Allen replied that if she was advertising beauty products and not selling any, then maybe she should be in a different business. The woman further challenged Donald Allen on people not truly viewing the websites, just simply opening them. Patricio Diez, iNetGlobal’s marketing director for Spanish-speaking countries, then stated that ‘that doesn’t matter for you.’

    “When the woman pressed further, stating that it does matter to whomever she sold the package to, Donald Allen simply stated ‘we have solutions for that’ but failed to expand upon those solutions,” the agency said.

    After the raid at INetGlobal’s offices in Minneapolis, Allen used the IBNN Blog to criticize both the media and the government for what he described as unfair treatment of the company — without disclosing his tie to the firm. Allen later told the PP Blog he should have disclosed the tie.

    Allen said this morning that his thinking about INetGlobal has evolved. He added that he also had revisited certain events at INetGlobal and had come to believe that things were not quite right.

    At an event in Las Vegas last year, for example, Allen was not given time to talk to attendees about V-Local, he said. In recent days he has publicly questioned why few if any members were interested in purchasing the company’s editorial products.

    “I can’t recall ever selling a press release to a Chinese member of iNetGlobal,” Allen said in a comment on the PP Blog April 23. “My yearly budget was in-part based on iNetGlobal members buying a press release from V-Newswire — hasn’t happened yet.”

    Meanwhile, Allen said this morning that he was sympathetic to Steven Keough, INetGlobal’s former chief executive officer and potentially the government’s star witness in the case. The company has claimed Keough tried to hatch an extortion plot after he was dismissed for incompetence.

    “Keough understood that INetGlobal members needed to buy the products,” Allen said this morning. “Steven Keough was the best thing that ever happened to that company,” adding that he believed Keough saw “noncompliance” with laws and was dismissed for pointing them out.

    See earlier story.

  • Man Whose Company Supplied Debit Cards To AdSurfDaily Wanted By INTERPOL In International Money-Laundering Case; Robert Hodgins On The Lam

    Robert Hodgins: Source: INTERPOL

    The man who supplied debit cards to the AdSurfDaily autosurf is wanted by INTERPOL on an arrest warrant issued by U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, the international police agency says on its website.

    INTERPOL has published two photographs of Robert Hodgins, 65. People with information on Hodgins are urged to contact the General Secretariat of INTERPOL.

    Hodgins, whom INTERPOL says was born in Shawville, British Columbia, Canada, operated a Dallas-based company known as Virtual Money Inc. He was indicted under seal in 2008 in the United States on charges of assisting a Colombian narco-business launder money. He lived in the Oklahoma City area.

    His company, known as VM, was featured in advertising materials for ASD in 2007, and records suggest Hodgins or a VM designate participated in an ASD function in Orlando in late 2006. Five people have been convicted to date in the drug and money-laundering case, including two

    Robert Hodgins: Source: INTERPOL

    individuals from Medellin, Colombia, according to records. Medellin was the home base of the late drug lord and terrorist Pablo Escobar.

    Web records suggest VM supplied debit cards to other autosurfs and HYIPs, and the company’s name in mentioned in the Ponzi scheme litigation against ASD and in court papers in the PhoenixSurf Ponzi scheme.

    PhoenixSurf was sued successfully by the SEC in 2007.

    The criminal case against Hodgins was brought by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration after an undercover operation.

    In September 2008 — about a month after the U.S. Secret Service seized tens of millions of dollars from ASD President Andy Bowdoin amid wire-fraud, money-laundering and Ponzi scheme allegations in the District of Colombia — the indictment against Hodgins was unsealed in Connecticut.

    Some ASD members said they saw huge sums of cash and suitcases full of cashier’s checks at ASD “rallies” in American cities, leading to questions about whether the company was being used as a front for criminal enterprises.

  • UPDATE: 5 Convictions To Date In Money-Laundering Cases Involving Colombian Drug Operation That Used Same Debit Card As AdSurfDaily Autosurf

    Federal prosecutors have announced five convictions in an international money-laundering case involving drug proceeds and the use of “stored-value” debit cards. (See subhead below.)

    The cases were brought by the Drug Enforcement Administration in 2008 as a result of an undercover operation. The debit cards used in the transactions were provided by Virtual Money Inc., according to court records in Connecticut.

    Records show that Virtual Money, known simply as VM, was the same company that provided debit cards to AdSurfDaily and other autosurf companies. VM’s operator, Robert Hodgins, also was indicted in the drug-related cases and “is being sought by law enforcement,” federal prosecutors said.

    News about the convictions in Connecticut was announced about two weeks after FBI Director Robert Mueller III testified before Congress that “stored value devices” such as reloadable debit cards increasingly were being used to move criminal proceeds through a “shadow banking system” that endangered the United States.

    The PP Blog reported in August 2009 that VM’s name appeared in advertising materials for ASD in 2007. Research showed that VM also provided cards to other autosurfs and HYIPs, including the PhoenixSurf autosurf Ponzi scheme.

    Records suggest that Hodgins or a VM designate attended an ASD function in Orlando in November 2006, about a month after ASD began its rollout.

    During that same year, according to the DEA court filings unsealed in September 2008 after a two-year investigation, VM cards were used in Medellin, Colombia, to withdraw millions of dollars in drug proceeds at ATMs between April and August.

    The drug-related, money-laundering indictments against VM initially were filed under seal in April 2008 and then superseded under seal in June 2008. The documents were made public in September 2008, about a month after the federal seizure of tens of millions of dollars from the personal bank accounts of ASD President Andy Bowdoin, amid Ponzi scheme, wire-fraud, money-laundering and securities allegations in an autosurf case.

    Some ASD members said they observed large sums of cash at ASD “rallies” and suitcases full of cashier’s checks.

    After purportedly operating in the hole throughout much of its existence and allegedly experiencing an unreported theft of $1 million at the hands of “Russian” hackers, ASD suddenly  came into possession of tens of millions of dollars in the first half of 2008, leading to questions about whether it was serving as a front to launder proceeds from criminal organizations.

    References to VM appear in ASD advertising materials dating back to at least February 2007, and other ASD references to VM date back to the fall of 2006, when ASD was just getting off the ground.

    In March 2008, according to records, a DEA informant gave Hodgins $100,000 in undercover funds, saying an uncle needed drug money laundered in the Dominican Republic. Hodgins allegedly agreed to perform the service for a fee of 10 percent of the amount, and the DEA alleged it has audio and photographic evidence of the transaction.

    If the allegations are true, it means the DEA has audio and photographic evidence of the man who provided debit cards to ASD and other surf enterprises accepting money to participate in international drug transactions and international money-laundering.

    Convictions In Drug/Money-Laundering Cases

    On March 30, 13 days after Mueller testified before Congress on the dangers of stored-value devices, Juan Merlano Salazar, 35, of Medellin, Colombia, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Connecticut to 11 counts of money-laundering and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

    Merlano was named in the same indictment that charged VM’s Hodgins and the company itself. Merlano was extradited from Colombia in June 2009, a year after he, Hodgins, VM and seven other defendants were charged in the superseding indictment. Merlano has been detained since his extradition and faces sentencing in June.

    He faces a maximum penalty of 240 years in prison and a maximum fine of $6 million.

    Four other defendants also have pleaded guilty to date to “charges stemming from this conspiracy,” prosecutors said.

    Guilty pleas were entered by Francisco Dario Duque, 49, of Medellin, Colombia; Gonzalo Bueno, 72, of Brooklyn, New York; Juan Chavarriaga, 45, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Jose Manotas, 46, of New York, New York.

    Each of the defendants is detained and awaiting sentencing, prosecutors said.

    “[T]he [drug]organization employed operatives in the United States and funneled millions of dollars in drug proceeds from the U.S. to Medellin, Colombia,” prosecutors said.  “The investigation, which utilized a variety of traditional and sophisticated investigative techniques, including court-authorized interception of international e-mail, disclosed that the money laundering organization used direct deposits of cash into third-party bank accounts, as well as payment of third-party debt obligations to move cash drug proceeds from the New York metropolitan area out of the country.

    “The organization also used ‘stored value cards,’ which function like debit cards and enabled cardholders to deposit U.S. dollars into accounts locally, to be withdrawn later from banks in Medellin as Colombian pesos,” prosecutors said.  “The Government has alleged that the scheme resulted in the laundering of more than $7 million in drug proceeds.”

    Hodgins was president and chief executive officer of VM, a Texas-based business.

    “Hodgins is being sought by law enforcement,” prosecutors said.

    In addition to the DEA, the case is being investigated by the Criminal Investigation Division of the IRS, prosecutors said.

  • A SILENT DEATH? Did GoldenPandaAdZone Forum For Autosurf Shills Follow Surf’s Up Into The Electronic Graveyard?

    Has the Golden Panda Ad Zone forum, which was renamed the Online Success Zone after federal agents seized tens of millions of dollars from AdSurfDaily and Golden Panda Ad Builder in 2008, followed the Pro-AdSurfDaily Surf’s Up forum into the dust?

    The website URL — http://goldenpandaadzone.ning.com — now is returning the same error message Surf’s Up produced when it went missing early this year. Other failed autosurf forums on ning.com have generated the same error message.

    It was not immediately clear how long the Golden Panda Ad Zone forum has been offline. The forum was a meeting place at which promoters shilled for autosurf programs, cash-gifting schemes and other questionable “business opportunities” such as recyclers.

    It is believed that every single autosurf program pitched on the Golden Panda Ad Zone Forum collapsed or is in the process of failing, giving the forum an unblemished record for failure. In recent weeks, the forum was used to promote MLM programs such as Narc That Car and Data Network Affiliates.

    In one memorable video, the forum pitched multiple surf programs that reportedly collapsed this year or last after the spectacular seizures in the ASD case. These included — but are not limited to — Biz Ad Splash, AdGateWorld and Daily Profit Pond.

    Biz Ad Splash purportedly was operated by Clarence Busby, who presided over the collection of more than $14 million before it was seized in the ASD case and an untold sum with Biz Ad Splash. AdGateWorld, meanwhile, collapsed after collecting an untold sum and purportedly being sold to buyers in the “Middle East.”

    Daily Profit Pond, which suddenly went missing just prior to Christmas in 2008 after collecting an untold sum, also was said to have collapsed.

    In AdGateWorld’s earliest days, the acronym “ASD” appeared in its Terms of Service, which suggested the surf simply copied and pasted terms from one program to another.

    The Golden Panda Ad Zone forum also was notable for promoting MegaLido, another program that resulted in a spectacular flameout prior to the 2008 Holiday Season, and a host of cash-gifting schemes promoted as “Pay It Forward.”

    “Pay It Forward” is a promotional scheme by which members sign up under each others links as a means of assuring they can build downlines or establish relationships with like-minded participants.

    Autosurf programs that pay a lower daily rate “normally have sustainability,” a forum pitchman counseled prospects in a video. He cited no authority for the claim, but noted that 7 percent to 14 percent a week was a “really, really good” return that no bank could match.

    “I can assure you [of] that,” the pitchman said, noting that higher return-on-investment surf programs “just tend to go away quicker.”

    MegaLido, he explained, might have been a clunker because its advertised payout rate of about 13 percent a day perhaps made it unsustainable. How a program that paid a lower rate of say, 1 percent a day or 365 percent a year, could be any more sustainable without being a Ponzi scheme never was explained.

    Like their brick-and mortar cousins, autosurf Ponzi schemes are not sustainable. They sustain themselves temporarily only through the use of smoke-and-mirrors, paying old members with money from new members to create the mirage of sustainability and performing other sleight-of-hand such as “80/20” programs to minimize cash outflow. Ponzi scheme operators typically siphon funds paid by investors, which is a form of theft. Prosecutors view the money as proceeds of a crime.

    Like the Surf’s Up forum — but to a lesser degree — the Golden Panda Ad Zone forum became an outlet for members to complain about how the government views the autosurf “industry.” Some members complained openly, if not bitterly, about perceived “slow” refunds as a result of the seizure of assets connected to ASD and Golden Panda.

    Those assets were seized amid wire-fraud, money-laundering and Ponzi scheme allegations — but members continued to push surf programs even after the seizure, while still complaining about “slow” refunds.

    The complaints continued even after the government explained it had not perfected title to the seized assets because of court challenges by Andy Bowdoin. Although the government now holds title to the assets, an appeal filed by Bowdoin in one of the forfeiture cases — and the prospect of a Bowdoin appeal being filed in a second case — means that restitution could be delayed even longer, prosecutors said.

    Some Golden Panda Ad Zone members positioned new surf programs as a means by which ASD and Golden Panda members could recover losses. Like Surf’s Up, entire threads went missing at the Golden Panda Ad Zone forum.

    One thread that went missing pertained to a surf program purportedly operated by ASD Chief Executive Officer Juan Fernandez after the ASD seizure. Some Golden Panda Ad Zone members  used religion in their sales pitches.

    Religion also was an element in ASD pitches. ASD President Andy Bowdoin told a crowd assembled at a company “rally” in Las Vegas that he thanked God for making him a “money magnet.”

    Prosecutors said Bowdoin family members and at least one insider embarked on a spending spree less than two weeks after the Las Vegas rally concluded on May 31, 2008, purchasing cars, jet skis, a boat and haul equipment — and retiring the $157,000 mortgage on the Tallahassee home of George and Judy Harris.

    George Harris is Bowdoin’s stepson. Members later said he was the co-owner of the AdViewGlobal (AVG)  autosurf, which crashed and burned in June 2009, after launching in the aftermath of the ASD seizure and in the weeks after a key court ruling went against ASD.

    Some members of the Golden Panda Ad Zone also pitched AVG, despite everything that had happened to ASD, Golden Panda and a related surf known as LaFuenteDinero. There were reports later that at least $2.7 million was stolen from AVG, but the reports have not been confirmed.

    After AVG announced a suspension of cashouts last summer and exercised its version of a “rebates aren’t guaranteed” clause, the surf said that, if the program restarted, an “80/20” program would become mandatory.

    AVG pitchmen started out by saying the surf paid about 1 percent a day — or 365 percent a year — an amount the Golden Panda Ad Zone pitchman described as reasonable and sustainable for  autosurfs in general.

    The claims were made despite the fact that prosecutors had laid out a case against ASD that its 1 percent daily payout rate was unsustainable and that the surf was insolvent.

  • Federal Judge Dispatches U.S. Marshals To Arrest Convicted Ponzi Schemer; Michael Derrick Peninger Did Not Show Up At Sentencing Court In South Carolina

    UPDATED 5:45 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) A federal judge has issued a bench warrant for Michael Derrick Peninger after Peninger did not show up for sentencing yesterday in a $7 million, Ponzi-scheme case in South Carolina.

    Peninger, 50, of Charleston, was convicted in October of eight counts of mail fraud and one count of making a false statement to an FBI agent, the CFTC said.

    The Post and Courier newspaper of Charleston is reporting that prosecutors argued last fall that Peninger should have been kept in jail upon conviction because he posed a flight risk.

    Peninger was released until his sentencing date after his 72-year-old mother appealed to U.S. District Judge P. Michael Duffy to permit her son to leave jail to assist with the care of her husband, who has Alzheimer’s disease.

    Duffy permitted Peninger to assist his mother and stepfather, ordering him to wear an ankle monitor. The judge now has dispatched the U.S. Marshals Service to locate and arrest Peninger, the Post and Courier is reporting.

    Just days ago a judgment of more than $3.9 million was placed against Peninger in a fraud case brought by the CFTC in 2008. The judgment was ordered by U.S. District Judge C. Weston Houck.

    Peninger was charged criminally in January 2009. Prosecutors said he operated three companies: Cooper River Group Inc., CSA Trading Group Inc., and Daniel Island Builders LLC.

    “[A]t least 20 investors provided Peninger and others with funds to invest on their behalf, but . . . Peninger and others misappropriated the money to pay personal expenses, to pay employees, to fund unauthorized business ventures, and to pay previous investors in a manner akin to a Ponzi scheme,” prosecutors said.

    Peninger faced a maximum penalty of nearly two decades in prison.

    South Carolina has had some unusual Ponzi cases, including the curious case of the “3 Hebrew Boys.”

    In that case, convicted Ponzi schemer Joseph B. Brunson of Hopkins declared himself “sovereign” and therefore immune from U.S. law. The claim was reminiscent of claims made by Curtis Richmond, a mainstay, pro se litigant in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme case.

    In the 3 Hebrew Boys case, Brunson declared that former U.S. Attorney Walt Wilkens was guilty of treason, insurrection and conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government in his successful efforts to prosecute Brunson.

    Richmond argued in the ASD case that U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer was guilty of treason.

  • INetGlobal Disputes Government Assertion That Attorney Should Be Disqualified From Case; Says Lawyer Not ‘Necessary Witness’

    Attorney Mark Kallenbach should remain as counsel for INetGlobal because he is not a “necessary witness” as the prosecution claimed last week, an attorney for INetGlobal owner Steve Renner said today.

    Prosecutors moved last week to have Kallenbach disqualified, arguing that he was attempting to be both a lawyer and a witness in the Ponzi scheme case because he had filed an affidavit that outlined what he described as his “investigation” into INetGlobal’s business practices.

    Kallenbach did not enter his notice of appearance as INetGlobal’s attorney until April 5 — 11 calendar days after he filed the affidavit, prosecutors said. They asserted he was attempting to wear two hats in the case, arguing that Kallenbach’s court filings might create a conflict with the Minnesota Rules of Professional Responsibility, a local rule of U.S. District Court in Minnesota and the “Court’s inherent supervisory authority over its bar.”

    Not so, said Renner attorney Jon Hopeman.

    “Mr. Kallenbach is not a necessary witness as required for disqualification by Minnesota Rule of Professional Conduct 3.7,” Hopeman said in a brief today.

    The filing of the affidavit by Kallenbach does not not “give rise to a claim for disqualification, because the Affidavit did not waive the attorney-client privilege,” Hopeman said. “Rather, the Affidavit presents unprivileged facts, and information contained in non-privileged documents or available on public web sites. Nowhere does the Affidavit disclose any attorney-client communication. Further, the Affidavit s disclosure of facts which, of course, are not in themselves privileged, does not waive the attorney-client privilege.”

    Kallenbach’s affidavit, Hopeman said, “presents facts that can be proven in other ways, including through other witnesses, by the introduction of documents, or by reference to publicly available information.

    Hopeman urged the Court to be “mindful of potential for misuse when the Government seeks to classify an attorney as a necessary witness as a crippling litigation strategy.”

    He argued that the government “has not shown the disclosure of any attorney-client communication, and has not come close to meeting its burden of showing a waiver
    of the attorney-client privilege.”

    Kallenbach joined Hopeman in today’s brief.

    Attorney-client privilege also may be an issue in the AdSurfDaily autosurf Ponzi scheme case. In an appeals brief, ASD President Andy Bowdoin, through counsel, referenced two cases filed “under seal.”

    Bowdoin’s brief suggests that prosecutors subpoenaed at least two attorneys involved in the defense of ASD’s assets to appear at a grand-jury proceeding — and that a federal judge ordered the attorneys to appear.

    See story on prosecutors’ motion to disqualify Kallenbach.

  • Another Fraud Case In Minnesota: Renee Marie Brown Accused By SEC Of Starting ‘Sham’ Investment Fund Known As ‘X’

    UPDATED 7:52 A.M. EDT (April 13, U.S.A.) On the very day Tom Petters was sentenced in Minnesota to 50 years in prison for operating a colossal Ponzi scheme, a federal judge froze the assets of Renee Marie Brown after the SEC accused her of ripping off clients by persuading them to invest in a mysterious vehicle known as “Fund X.”

    U.S. District Judge Donovan W. Frank issued a temporary restraining order against Brown and her company, Investors Income Fund X LLC. The order was issued April 8.

    Brown, 46, of Golden Valley, was accused of operating a “sham” fund into which investors plowed more than $1.1 million between July 2009 and March 2010.

    “Brown told her investors that Fund X is a ‘bond fund’ with fixed annual returns of 8% or 9%,” the SEC said. “[S]he distributed fictitious ‘returns’ to investors, furthering the fiction that Fund X was a legitimate and successful investment opportunity.”

    But Brown “misappropriated most of the $1.1 million she raised from investors to, among other things, purchase a condominium for herself and build . . . office space for her new business,” the SEC said.

    Investors Income Fund X LLC was registered as a corporation in South Dakota, the SEC said.

    “Unbeknownst to her victims, Fund X is a sham — Brown’s alter ego,” the SEC said.

    The case features allegations of siphoning, forgery, cherry-picking clients of Brown’s former employer and issuing fraudulent “returns” in Bernard Madoff-like fashion. It also occurred against the backdrop of March 17 Congressional testimony by FBI Director Robert Mueller III that U.S. companies increasingly were relying on shell corporations to commit fraud.

    Minnesota Fraud Cases

    In recent months, investigators and prosecutors in Minnesota have opened up a number of major fraud probes. The combined cases are alleged to have drained hundreds of millions of dollars from investors. In some instances, prosecutors and regulators have asserted that companies used multiple names to commit fraud.

    Petters was convicted last week of presiding over that was described as the largest financial-fraud case in Minnesota history: a $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme.

    Petters displayed “stunning criminality,” prosecutors said. One of the victims wrote, “Our society, unfortunately, is becoming plagued with too many people like this, and like Bernard Madoff. Tom Petters needs to learn that there are severe consequences for his incomprehensible behavior.”

    Meanwhile, the SEC, the CFTC, the FBI, prosecutors and a court-appointed receiver are poring over records to reverse-engineer the alleged Trevor Cook/Pat Kiley Ponzi scheme. Court records suggest multiple company names were involved and that the scheme involved at least $190 million and caused investor losses of at least $139 million.

    Money was moved “all over the world,” according to court filings.

    Cook and Kiley were sued by the SEC and the CFTC in November. Cook was charged criminally last month. Prosecutors said he was “aided and abetted by others.” In this document, the National Futures Association, which also filed an action that references Cook, asserted that $75 million from a purported Swiss fund may have been directed at a mysterious investor known only as “Fased.”

    The purported payment occurred while Cook, a Minnesota resident, allegedly was managing money for a Canadian company known as KINGZ Capital Management Corp. KINGZ name also has been linked to an autosurf known as AdViewGlobal (AVG), which had close ties to an autosurf known as AdSurfDaily (ASD).

    On May 4, 2009 — on the same day the Obama administration announced a crackdown on international financial fraud — AVG announced that KINGZ had become its facilitator for international wire transfers. KINGZ denied the assertion, saying it believed it had been targeted in a scam. The company painted the picture that AVG was attempting to route money to itself through a U.S. shell company.

    AVG purportedly operated from Uruguay.

    Florida-based ASD, which members said was popular in Minnesota, was implicated in August 2008 by the Secret Service in a Ponzi scheme. A federal judge has issued orders of forfeiture totaling more than $80 million in the ASD case. ASD used at least three names, according to records: AdSurfDaily, AdSalesDaily, and ASD Cash Generator.

    Prosecutors also linked ASD to at least two other autosurfs: LaFuenteDinero (the “fountain of money”) and Golden Panda Ad Builder, the so-called “Chinese” option for ASD members.

    In February, the U.S. Secret Service alleged that Minnesota resident Steve Renner was operating a Ponzi scheme through a company known as INetGlobal and companies related to the firm. The scheme, the Secret Service said, largely targeted Chinese members who may have little or no facility in English.

    Renner denies the allegations. Prosecutors described the case as a “major fraud and money laundering investigation,” saying INetGlobal came to life during a period in which federal agents were seizing tens of millions of dollars in the ASD case amid Ponzi, wire-fraud and money-laundering assertions.

    An ASD member introduced an undercover Secret Service agent to INetGlobal, the agency said in court filings.

    Other recent fraud cases in Minnesota include the Gerard Cellette Jr. Ponzi case ($53 million); the Charles “Chuck” E. Hays case ($20 million); and the Kalin Thanh Dao case (up to $10 million).

  • Prosecutors Ask Judge For Order To Disqualify INetGlobal Attorney, Saying They May Wish To Cross-Examine Him As Witness In Ponzi Case

    UPDATED 11:31 A.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Federal prosecutors have filed a motion to disqualify attorney Mark Kallenbach as counsel for INetGlobal and related companies, claiming that Kallenbach is attempting to be both a witness in the case and a lawyer for multiple clients involved in a Ponzi scheme, wire fraud and money-laundering probe.

    Kallenbach, prosecutors said, has made himself a subject of cross-examination because of an affidavit he filed last month. They added that wearing two hats in the same case might create a conflict with the Minnesota Rules of Professional Responsibility, a local rule of U.S. District Court in Minnesota and the “Court’s inherent supervisory authority over its bar.”

    “Should Mr. Kallenbach testify, he will be cross-examined,” prosecutors said. “The Court will have to decide whether Mr. Kallenbach’s voluntary assumption of the role of witness works as a waiver of the attorney-client privilege on cross-examination, or whether the government’s cross-examination of Mr. Kallenbach will be limited, in ways it might not be limited if the witness was not counsel to several parties, in order to preserve the privilege.”

    On April 2 — a week ago yesterday — prosecutors said INetGlobal had no attorney of record in the autosurf Ponzi scheme litigation. Kallenbach filed a notice of appearance for the firm and several related companies on Monday, three days after the prosecution’s filing.

    On Wednesday, Kallenbach filed a second affidavit (see subhead below) labeled a supplement to an affidavit he filed March 25.

    Prosecutors responded by saying Kallenbach’s second affidavit “heightens the government’s concern about Mr. Kallenbach attempting to serve as both lawyer and witness” and that he should be disqualified as an attorney for “any of the individuals or companies involved” in the case.

    “This motion is brought because Mr. Kallenbach has made himself a necessary witness in this case,” prosecutors argued. “This is a case in which Mr. Kallenbach conducted his own
    investigation and then voluntarily drew up a lengthy affidavit setting forth his observations.”

    Their claim is based on a 20-page affidavit and 12 additional pages of exhibits Kallenbach filed March 25 — before he entered his notice of appearance as INetGlobal’s attorney in court.

    In his March 25 affidavit, Kallenbach said he conducted an “investigation” and concluded that “Inter-Mark and its subsidiary iNetGlobal and its other subsidiaries are clean, legitimate and profitable businesses.”

    Kallenbach, in the March 25 affidavit, attacked an affidavit for a search warrant by the U.S. Secret Service and also challenged assertions the government made about V-Local, a company related to INetGlobal.

    Prosecutors argued that the affidavit and conclusions Kallenbach described as “true facts” make him a witness. Some of the information was woven into a memorandum of law filed March 25 by Jon Hopeman on behalf of INetGlobal owner Steve Renner, prosecutors said.

    The prosecution motion was filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Docherty, one of the prosecutors who handled the Ponzi case against Tom Petters. Petters was sentenced this week to 50 years in prison for operating a $3.65 billion fraud.

    U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones of the District of Minnesota approved the filing of the disqualification motion. The main page on Jones’ website lists three major Ponzi probes the office has undertaken in recent months, including the Petters’ case, the case involving Minnesota Ponzi scheme figures Trevor Cook and Pat Kiley, and the investigation into the business practices of Renner at INetGlobal.

    Minnesota’s Ponzi Plague

    Ponzi schemes have plagued Minnesota. The Cook/Kiley case involves at least $190 million and investor losses of at least $139 million, according to court filings.

    Another big case in Minnesota involved Gerard Cellette Jr. Cellette was implicated in a $53 million Ponzi scheme last year by Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.

    Meanwhile, Charles “Chuck” E. Hays pleaded guilty last year to charges in a $20 million Ponzi-scheme case in which the government seized a $3 million yacht.

    Separately, three members of a Minneapolis family were indicted last year on Ponzi and fraud charges. The case became known as the Kalin Thanh Dao case. Dao’s parents also were indicted.

    Dao and her parents pleaded guilty. Prosecutors said money was siphoned from the scheme to pay for gambling in Las Vegas.

    “Investors were promised that their money would be placed in investment programs targeted within specific markets and industries,” prosecutors said. “Investors were also told that Kalin Dao had a ‘partner’ who held a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, had contacts in the emerging Asian markets who had ‘inside’ information, and was associated with various Las Vegas casinos.”

    The Kalin Thanh Dao probe uncovered a web of deceit in which Dao’s father claimed nearly $3 million in losses for businesses owned by his daughter to eliminate his personal tax liabilities, and Dao’s mother claimed to be “single,” the “head of [a] household” — and also claimed a tax exemption for Dao.

    Kalin Thanh Dao was 32 years old and operated at least four companies, prosecutors said.

    “Instead of investing the investors’ funds as promised, Kalin Dao diverted substantial amounts of the funds for her own purposes, including gambling, lulling payments and personal expenses,” prosecutors said. “She also admitted that the fraud was between $2.5 and $7 million.”

    Also on the Ponzi front, AdSurfDaily, a Florida-based company implicated in a massive autosurf Ponzi scheme by the Secret Service in 2008, was popular in Minnesota. Some Minnesota members of ASD were among the staunchest defenders of ASD President Andy Bowdoin.

    The Secret Service referenced the ASD case in filings in the INetGlobal case, saying an undercover agent was introduced to INetGlobal by an ASD member who described the operation as a wink-nod enterprise.

    A federal judge in the District of Columbia has issued three orders of forfeiture totaling more than $80 million in the ASD case. Bowdoin is appealing. His appeal brief cites two other cases filed under seal and suggests that prosecutors subpoenaed at least two attorneys involved in the defense of ASD’s assets to appear at a grand-jury proceeding.

    It is unclear if the attorneys attempted to invoke attorney-client privilege. What is clear is that a federal judge ordered the attorneys to appear and that the order is being challenged in a federal appeals court.

    Kallenbach’s Second Affidavit

    Kallenbach filed a second affidavit April 7. The affidavit asserts that a Renner entity known as V-Media Marketing LLC “borrowed” all of the money that was placed in a bank account at Premier Bank Minnesota in early March, about a week after the Secret Service raid at INetGlobal’s offices in Minneapolis.

    Prosecutors, describing the INetGlobal case as a “major fraud and money laundering investigation,” said $47,400 was deposited into the account.

    “IMC Desperately Needs Working Capital To Pay Its Creditors,” Kallenbach said.

    He also described a webcast he attended April 5 that was “sponsored by one of IMC’s marketing consultants.”

    “At the April 5th Meeting, I learned, amongst other things, that many of iNetGlobal’s new customers have demanded refunds,” Kallenbach said. “The number of customers seeking refunds and the amount of such refunds is unknown. What is known is that as each and every day passes, without iNetGlobal being in business as usual, more of iNetGlobal’s customers will seek refunds.”

    He also asserted that “iNetGlobal’s marketing consultants are clamoring for commission payments that are legitimately due and owing to them,” according to the affidavit. “iNetGlobal has been unable to pay the commissions.”

    Kallenbach’s filing also suggested that, through negotiations, a little more than $1 million has been returned to INetGlobal and that the sum was now considered “unrestricted” cash. The affidavit did not disclose specific details about the negotiations

    In the March 25 affidavit,  Kallenbach argued that INetGlobal had no cash to operate.

    “At the time I signed my March 25, 2010 Declaration, I believed it to be true that iNetGlobal had no unrestricted cash meaning cash available for working capital. I have since learned that as a result of negotiations in which I was involved, on March 22, 2010 iNetGlobal netted approximately $220,000 from the return of restricted cash. As of the time my March 25, 2010 Declaration was prepared, I was unaware that this money had been returned to iNetGlobal.

    “After my Declaration was signed, approximately $795,000 of restricted cash was made available to iNetGlobel for working capital after close of business on March 25, 2010,” Kallenbach said. “As of today [April 7], iNetGlobal’s unrestricted cash is approximately $1,015,000. I arrive at this sum by adding $220,000 and $795,000 to reach $1,015,000.”

    Prosecutors said that, because Kallenbach has become an “essential witness” subject to cross-examination by the prosecution and direct examination by the INetGlobal side, there is a question about “whether Mr. Kallenbach’s clients can be provided constitutionally effective assistance.”

    “The government did not bring this situation about,” prosecutors contended. “[T]he government has not subpoenaed Mr. Kallenbach, or raised questions about whether he, and only he, can testify as to certain facts.

    “This is a case in which Mr. Kallenbach conducted his own investigation and then voluntarily drew up a lengthy affidavit setting forth his observations. Nor may Mr. Kallenbach, at this juncture, announce that he will henceforth act only as an advocate, because the choice to be a witness was made when the affidavit was filed.”

  • REPORT: AdSurfDaily Mainstay ‘Professor’ Patrick Moriarty Sentenced To Year In Federal Prison In Tax Case; Claimed To Be Tax ‘Specialist’ Also Skilled In ‘Karma Restoration’

    “Professor” Patrick Moriarty, a mainstay in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme story, has been sentenced to a year in federal prison for filing a false tax return, according to KMOX.com.

    Details about the sentencing were not immediately available.

    Moriarty, 62, pleaded guilty in January to filing a false return for the year 2003. Prosecutors said he caused a tax loss of $135,697.

    He initially was charged with filing false returns for the years 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005, but pleaded guilty to a single count. Prosecutors alleged that he claimed a false deduction of $30,000 for “legal fees” for the tax year 2003 and claimed a false amount of $23,533 withheld for the tax year 2004 and a false amount of $23,433 withheld for the tax year 2005.

    After the August 2008 federal seizure of tens of millions of dollars from the bank accounts of ASD President Andy Bowdoin amid wire-fraud and money-laundering allegations, Moriarty fashioned a theory that the government was interfering with commerce.

    Moriarty also espoused the legal theories of Curtis Richmond, another mainstay in the ASD story. Richmond, a pro se litigant in the ASD case, was a member of a sham Utah “Indian” tribe known for filing vexatious litigation, including litigation that resulted in a successful counter-suit brought by Utah public officials under federal racketeering statutes.

    The “tribe” derisively became known as the “Arby’s Indians” because it held a meeting in an Arby’s restaurant in Provo, Utah, in 2003. The “tribe” used the address of a Utah doughnut shop as the address of its “Supreme Court,” and once issued “bench warrants” for the arrests of sitting judges and litigation opponents in legitimate courts.

    Although not a lawyer, Richmond holds the unusual distinction of having been banned from the practice of law in Colorado. In the ASD case, he accused a federal judge of “TREASON” and of operating a “Kangaroo Court,” accused another federal judge of operating a “Kangaroo Court” — and accused federal prosecutors of theft.

    Moriarty, along with other ASD members and members of the Pro-ASD Surf’s Up forum, started a nonprofit entity dubbed ASD Members International (ASDMI). One of ASDMI’s claims was that it would litigate against the government in the ASD case — even if the government was acting lawfully.

    ASDMI, which was formed in 2008 and collected contributions from at least 167 ASD members, never brought any litigation and quickly dissolved.

    Moriarty and Surf’s Up later spearheaded an effort to get the U.S. Senate to investigate the ASD prosecutors. Moriarty and Surf’s Up members also participated in a certified-mail campaign in which — as Moriarty described it — more than 50 “individual and notarized DEMAND[S] FOR LEGAL EVIDENCE” were sent to two federal prosecutors and a U.S. Secret Service agent.

    In 2006, Moriarty formed a nonprofit for a Missouri man accused (now convicted) of breaking into a woman’s home and shooting her to death in cold blood. Moments earlier, the man had shot a police officer four times. Moments later, he shot another man eight times.

    The shootings occurred on June 2, 2006. Moriarty started the nonprofit on Oct. 2, four months to the day after the rampage.

    Moriarty also claimed to be a minister and “Tax Return Specialist” who also is skilled in “Karma Restoration.”

    Read the Moriarty story on KMOX.com.

  • PROSECUTION: Renner Has No Standing To Contest Corporate Seizures In INetGlobal Case; ‘Major’ Fraud And Money-Laundering Probe Under Way; IRS Involved; No Media ‘Leak’ Occurred

    Steve Renner has no standing to contest the seizure of “the vast majority”  of the money and assets in the INetGlobal autosurf Ponzi case because the seized property was owned by corporations, not Renner, federal prosecutors said.

    Only $151,100 of the $26 million seized in the case came from accounts in Renner’s name, prosecutors said, arguing that bids to release the money were premature and that only an attorney for Renner — and not the companies — has filed a notice of appearance in the case.

    Meanwhile, in its response to Renner’s motion last week to challenge the seizure on Constitutional grounds and have $25 million returned, the prosecution said yesterday that his bid was a “thinly veiled attempt to force the government to reveal facts relating to an on-going criminal investigation.”

    A “major fraud and money laundering investigation is under way bearing serious criminal consequences,” prosecutors said.

    The government probe, which prosecutors now say includes the IRS, is in its early stages. Investigators to date have filed neither a civil forfeiture complaint nor criminal charges that seek the forfeiture of the funds, “and much of the evidence has only recently been seized and is needed for the investigation,” prosecutors said.

    “If the seized evidence is returned, it will not be available for the ongoing investigation,” prosecutors argued.

    Moreover, they argued, “If the Court orders the return of the seized funds, the money will be spent, and will be unavailable for future return to victims” should the government prevail.

    Prosecutors made similar arguments in the AdSurfDaily autosurf prosecution — and the arguments prevailed. In filings yesterday, the government once again cited the successful ASD prosecution, along with the successful prosecutions of the 12DailyPro and PhoenixSurf autosurfs.

    “iNetGlobal is not a one-of-a-kind scam, nor is it the first of its kind,” prosecutors said yesterday.

    Steve Renner was convicted on four felony counts of income-tax evasion in December, and is awaiting sentencing in the tax case.

    No ‘Leak’ Occurred: Gov’t Acknowledges Timing ‘Error’ In Posting Of Affidavit

    Prosecutors denied an assertion by Renner last week that the government had leaked the search-warrant affidavit in the INetGlobal case to the media.

    Under a bold subhead titled “The ‘Leak,’” prosecutors said the claim the document was leaked “is false, and has no bearing on the issues presented in this motion.”

    They added that the posting of the document on the government website was intended as a means of informing victims and witnesses efficiently, while trying to avoid a circumstance that occurred in the AdSurfDaily case: switchboards in prosecutors’ offices becoming inundated with telephone calls from people seeking information.

    Prosecutors said the government had explained its point of view to INetGlobal on Feb. 26, almost a month prior to Renner’s “leaking” claim filed last week. Renner’s claim specifically cited the PP Blog.

    “[T]he U.S. Attorney’s Office had planned, once the search and seizure warrants in this case were filed with the clerk’s office, to post a link to the affidavit on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” prosecutors said. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia was inundated with calls following their execution of warrants in the AdSurf Daily case, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota hoped to avoid this by efficiently getting information to victims, witnesses, and other interested parties by referring them to the affidavit.”

    “Through an error, an employee of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Community Relations Division mistakenly believed that the time had come to post the affidavit when it had not,” prosecutors said. “The affidavit was posted on the late afternoon or early evening of February 24th, and was taken down the following morning when the error came to light.

    “During the night, apparently, a single blogger found the affidavit and wrote a story about it,” prosecutors continued. “That story is reprinted in Mr. Renner’s motion papers. As noted, all of this was explained to Counsel immediately after the fact, and Counsel did not raise the issue of the premature release of the affidavit again until this motion was filed.”

    IRS Enters INetGlobal Probe

    Filings by the prosecution yesterday confirmed that the IRS has entered the case. An affidavit by an IRS criminal investigator asserts that an entity known as VMedia Marketing LLC opened a checking account at Premier Bank Minnesota on March 1, six days after the Secret Service executed search warrants in the INetGlobal case.

    “Steven M. Renner reserved sole signature authority on the account upon inception,” the IRS agent said. “On or about March 6, 2010, Matthew D. Renner was added to have signature authority on the account.”

    Matthew Renner is Steve Renner’s son. He has not been accused of wrongdoing.

    A total of $47,400 was deposited in the account, the IRS agent said. He listed the names of sources of the deposits. Two individuals with Chinese names wired individual deposits of $7,400 and $8,500 into the account.

    “Official checks” drawn on Wells Fargo bank and totaling $16,500 also were deposited in the account. These checks were made out to “V-Media or U-Media,” the IRS agent said.

    Meanwhile, the agent said, “a check made payable to Steve Renner in the amount of $15,000.00 from The Toronto-Dominion Bank was also deposited into the account.”

    At least 23 withdrawals were made from the account, the IRS agent said. He noted that the majority of these checks have either ‘week 3/1 – 3/5″ or ‘3/1 – 3/5 written on the memo line. In addition, one check was made payable to MEDA (Metropolitan Economic Development Assoc.) in the amount of $2,000.00. The memo section of the check made payable to MEDA stated ‘250 SECOND AVE #106A RENT.’”

    That address was one of the business addresses searched by the Secret Service Feb. 23.

    Prosecutors, saying Renner made “sweeping” assertions last week that he had no cash to pay employees, argued that the investigation by the IRS agent into the Premier Bank Minnesota account opened after the raid suggested otherwise.

    “Renner subsequently wrote 23 checks that appear to be payroll checks, plus a check for the rent on Suite 106A, 250 Second Avenue,” prosecutors said.

    Because the $15,000 deposit drawn on Toronto-Dominion bank was held until March 19, “several” withdrawals by check initially were returned to Premier Bank Minnesota, the IRS agent said.

    “Later on, Steven Renner came into Premier Bank Minnesota and had cashier’s checks issued to the same names indicated on the checks that had previously been returned to the bank,” the IRS agent said. “On or about March 23, 2010, the above indicated account was closed.”

    INetGlobal disclosed “none of this” in its arguments last week to release funds, prosecutors said.

    Moreover, prosecutors said the government “is attempting to work with the company” on the issue of payroll.

    Prosecution: INetGlobal ‘Omitted’ Names Of Employees

    “[T]here is concern that the company continues to have access to unseized funds with which to make payroll,” prosecutors said. “In addition, the first list of employees submitted to the government omitted several names of people the Secret Service had identified as employees of the company during the execution of the search warrants on February 23, 2010. A request that this issue be addressed elicited a response that was confusing; the government requested clarification and is awaiting a response.”

    Meanwhile, prosecutors claimed that Renner had placed “factual inaccuracies” in the record of the case, arguing that Renner’s claim that the seizure was “unreasonable” and that the Secret Service allegedly told “intentional and reckless falsehoods” in securing the warrant could not stand up to judicial scrutiny.

    “Such is the unsurprising reaction of a company accused of running a Ponzi scheme,” prosecutors said.

  • BULLETIN: Autosurf Biz Takes Another Pounding; Federal Judge Adds Noobing As Receivership Defendant In Fraud Case Against Parent Company; 14 Other Subsidiaries Named

    UPDATED 6:05 P.M. EDT (U.S.A., Jan. 20, 2011.) In yet another case that portends disaster for the so-called “autosurf” industry, a federal judge has ordered the Noobing autosurf to be added as a receivership defendant in a fraud case brought against its parent company.

    The FTC and attorneys general from Minnesota, North Carolina and Kansas brought the case against Noobing’s parent — Affiliate Strategies Inc. (ASI) — in July 2009. Several other companies were named defendants in the case, which alleged the firms participated in a scheme that promised guaranteed government grants from economic-stimulus funds.

    Brett Blackman, ASI’s head, also was president of Noobing, members said. Noobing was not initially named a receivership defendant.

    U.S. District Judge Julie A. Robinson issued an asset freeze Sept. 1, along with stern orders to preserve evidence and repatriate to the United States all assets and documents held on foreign soil. She also broadened the powers of Larry Cook, the court-appointed receiver.

    Through his investigation, Cook determined that Noobing was operating under the umbrella of Apex Holdings International LLC, the same company under which ASI operated. Cook also determined that at least 14 other companies were operating under the Apex Holdings umbrella.

    Noobing, which was registered in the United States, also had an offshoot in Nevis, according to court filings. Noobing targeted people with hearing impairments.

    Cook asked Robinson last month to add Noobing and the other companies as receivership defendants after determining “each of the Subsidiaries used the same post office box as the [initial] Receivership Defendants.”

    Moroever, Cook advised Robinson that he had received “receive numerous inquiries from creditors, former independent contractors, and tax authorities for the Subsidiaries.” He further argued that “each of the Subsidiaries was entirely reliant upon the business operations of the [initial] Receivership Defendants.”

    Robinson, saying Cook had shown “good cause,” added Noobing and the others as defendants March 18.

    No party  — including the FTC, the state attorneys general, the initial set of defendants and the new defendants — objected, Robinson noted. In December, Illinois joined the FTC, Minnesota, North Carolina and Kansas in the action.

    On the previous day, March 17, FBI Director Robert Mueller III, without naming names, testified before Congress. Mueller said that “shell corporations” are emerging as a threat to the U.S. banking system because owners were using them “to facilitate the concealing of criminal proceeds” and engage in money-laundering.

    Neither Noobing not its corporate parent has been accused of a crime.

    In February, the U.S. Secret Service alleged in a civil forfeiture complaint that INetGlobal, a company that operates an autosurf, was engaged in money-laundering and wire fraud while operating a Ponzi scheme.

    INetGlobal is operated by Steve Renner, under his “umbrella corporation, InterMark,” the Secret Service alleged. The agency identified what it described as “subsidiaries,” specifically referencing “Virtual Payment Systems [LLC of Wisconsin/Brackets Denoting the LLC Designation added Jan. 20, 2011], V-Media, Cash Cards International, and V-Local,” as well as a company named “INet Global Productions.”

    NOTE IN BOLD ADDED JAN. 20, 2011: An Indianapolis-based company known as Virtual Payment Systems Inc. has contacted the PP Blog to let it know it is not affiliated with the Renner company Virtual Payment Systems LLC of Wisconsin, which is referenced in the paragraph above.

    “The commission by Renner of the federal crimes of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code Section 1343, and money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code Section 1957, is essential to the operation of this Ponzi scheme,” the Secret Service alleged.

    In August 2008, the Secret Service said AdSurfDaily, a Florida-based autosurf company, also was engaging in wire fraud and money-laundering while operating a Ponzi scheme.

    U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer — on Jan. 4, 2010 — ordered the forfeiture of more than $65.8 million in the personal bank accounts of ASD President Andy Bowdoin. A little more than a month later, on Feb. 23, the Secret Service moved against INetGlobal.

    Records show that ASD’s Bowdoin operated several corporations over the years. In September 2009, the state of Florida revoked the corporate registrations of AdSurfDaily and Bowdoin/Harris Enterprises Inc.

    The revocations occurred just four days after Bowdoin told members he had exciting plans for ASD’s future. Despite his claim, Bowdoin never bothered to submit the paperwork to keep the firm’s registration intact, despite having been given a five-month window to do so.

    In his remarks to members, Bowdoin said the government had seized the assets of ASD members. In his own sworn court filings, however, Bowdoin said the seized assets belonged to him and his company.

    The Secret Service transcribed Bowdoin’s remarks, and presented them to Collyer Sept. 28. Federal prosecutors said Bowdoin’s remarks were evidence that “this con man cannot manage to keep his stories straight.”

    Collyer ordered the ASD asset forfeiture a little more than three months later. In the INetGlobal case, the Secret Service said one of its undercover agents was on the receiving end of a sales pitch from an ASD member who was trying to recruit the agent into INetGlobal.

    Renner’s autosurf  “began operating just weeks after ASD was put out of business by the Secret Service, and this new entity uses the same terminology and business model as ASD,” the agency said in an affidavit for a search warrant.

    At least one of the undercover agents working the INetGlobal case also worked the ASD case, according to court filings. The Secret Service searched the Web for an INetGlobal affiliate site, and the INetGlobal affiliate who pitched the undercover agent also had been an ASD member, according to the affidavit.

    “The member asked if [the undercover agent] was a network marketer,” the Secret Service said. “The member said he had previously been a member of ASD . . . and said, ‘We know what happened there.’

    “The member said he was reluctant to join iNetGlobal due to it being similar to ASD,” the agency continued in the affidavit. “The member said, ‘we all know what this program is.’” The member said his daughter and wife surfed the websites and the member did not care about the services provided. The member said he just wanted to put his money in and get it out. The member said you convert your earnings to V-cash and then receive payouts by check or through an ATM card you can sign up for.”

    Less than a month later, FBI Director Mueller told Congress that “shell corporations” and “stored value” debit devices and “reloadable debit cards” increasingly were being used “to move criminal proceeds.”

    “This has created a ‘shadow’ banking system, allowing criminals to exploit existing vulnerabilities in the reporting requirements that are imposed on financial institutions and international travelers,” Mueller said.

    Mueller did not name any companies in his Congressional testimony.