affinity fraud

“Initially, Defendant Steve Chen aka Li Chen (“Chen”) was not present at the Company Offices. Shortly after the Receiver arrived and the U.S. Marshals secured the Company Offices, Chen arrived. He was wearing a security guard uniform and carried a loaded gun, which was not concealed. The U.S. Marshals seized the weapon and also found […]

EDITOR’S NOTE: The MLM “program” known as Wings Network is alleged to have operated through two business entities that used the name “Tropikgadget.” The SEC’s case, announced Friday, is filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. That’s the same venue in which the agency’s epic TelexFree case was filed last year. There […]

EDITOR’S NOTE: This post originally was published at 12:40 a.m. ET on Nov. 3. It will continue to appear at the top of the PP Blog for a while, but new stories will appear below it . . . Dear Readers, What a long, strange, occasionally exhilarating and sometimes frightening ride it has been. This […]

UPDATED 8 A.M. EDT U.S.A. New England Public Radio has a minute-long audio report on TelexFree, iFreeX and Sann Rodrigues, including comments from Massachusetts Commonwealth Secretary William Galvin. An NEPR text report is available here. Look under the byline of Kari Njiiri for a link to the audio report. Rodrigues, accused in April 2014 by […]

UPDATED 3:33 P.M. EDT SEPT. 22 U.S.A. A small subset of data from 95 self-identified “net losers” in the TelexFree MLM scheme shows that they lost a whopping average of $27,578 each, according to an analysis by the PP Blog of court filings in the TelexFree bankruptcy case. The average could be higher because investment […]

BULLETIN: What happens if it is alleged by law enforcement that you’re a Ponzi schemer/affinity fraudster, a business associate of a Ponzi schemer/affinity fraudster or a vendor of a Ponzi schemer/affinity fraudster? A federal judge has frozen at least 54 bank or financial accounts the SEC has linked to WCM777, an alleged $65 million Ponzi- […]

California-based WCM777, an MLM “program,” got booted out of Massachusetts in November 2013, amid allegations of securities fraud and affinity fraud targeted at the Brazilian community through hotel pitchfests. WCM777, purportedly operated by Ming Xu and recruiting affiliates to conduct business over the Internet, later got booted out of California. In addition to the Brazilian […]

Updated 8:36 a.m. ET (Feb. 26, U.S.A.) Some TelexFree promoters may be lobbying the company and Brazil-based executive Carlos Costa to keep its original Ponzi scheme intact, according to a Blog post (in Portuguese) observed by the PP Blog this morning. BehindMLM.com reported on Feb. 19 that TelexFree may be in the process of changing […]

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: 3RD UPDATE 5:46 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) The SEC says it has gained an asset freeze and charged three executives and eight promoters of a worldwide pyramid scheme operating through five entities from Hong Kong, Canada and the British Virgin Islands. Promoters of the scheme, which “purportedly” sells Internet-based children’s educational […]

BULLETIN: The SEC has sued a Florida woman, amid allegations she swindled Colombian-Americans and other Colombians in a $4 million Ponzi scheme that duped investors into believing her purported “immigration bail bonds” program was backed by the FDIC and an “investment broker” later blamed for payout delays. The woman — Jenny E. Coplan of Tamarac […]

The Castlegar Source, a publication in British Columbia, is reporting that the Nelson Police Department has issued a warning on a purported “women’s circle” gifting “program” making its way around the area. A similar scheme operating in the United States resulted in criminal charges being filed against Connecticut-based pitchwomen and subsequent convictions — with jail […]