Tag: affinity fraud
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Prosecution Asks Court To Impose Life Sentence On Jason Bo-Alan Beckman, Pitchman For Trevor Cook Ponzi Scheme; Beckman Says He Should Serve 364 Days And Then Become A Professional Speaker
“The nature and circumstances of this offense and Mr. Beckman’s history and characteristics, viewed together, cry out for a life sentence. With respect to Mr. Beckman, nothing less than a liberty-ending sentence would reflect the seriousness of this offense, promote respect for the law and provide just punishment. But perhaps most importantly, Mr. Beckman must…
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OREGON LIVE: State Takes Action Against Alleged Gifting Pyramid
OregonLive (The Oregonian) is reporting that the state has taken action against participants in an alleged cash-gifting pyramid scheme. Like recent cases in Connecticut and Michigan, the Oregon case involves women. The paper is reporting that four naturopathic physicians were involved in the scheme. One of them was ordered to pay a fine of $15,000…
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SEC Takes Down Another Ponzi, Agency Says; Ricardo Bonilla Rojas Faces Civil And Criminal Charges After Allegedly Aiming Puerto Rico-Based Scheme At Evangelical Christians And Factory Workers
The SEC has gone to federal court in Puerto Rico, alleging that Ricardo Bonilla Rojas was operating a $7 million Ponzi scheme targeted at evangelical Christians and factory workers. Victims in the case hail from Puerto Rico, Florida, New York, and North Carolina, the agency said. Rojas, 53, is a resident of Arecibo, Puerto Rico.…
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Former Mormon Bishop Who Presided Over ‘Friend’s Investment Group’ Charged In Alleged Connecticut Fraud Scheme Targeting Church Members; Former Broker Charged In Alleged Tennessee Ponzi Scheme
Julius C. Blackwelder, the 59-year-old former bishop of the Bridgeport Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Trumbull, Conn., has been charged with money-laundering, mail fraud and wire fraud. “This defendant is alleged to have abused his position of trust as a leader in his church to defraud fellow church members…
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Appeals Court Upholds 20-Year Prison Sentence Of Seng Tan, Mercedes-Driving Pyramid Schemer Who Blamed Hurricane Katrina For Payment Delays And Told Members That The ‘Gods’ Had Sent Her To Make Them Millionaires
EDITOR’S NOTE: Simply put, the World Marketing Direct Selling (WMDS) and OneUniverseOnline (1UOL) pyramid scheme of James Bunchan and Seng Tan was one of the ugliest — if not the ugliest — in U.S. history. Bunchan eventually was implicated in a a murder-for-hire plot in which 12 witnesses and a federal prosecutor in Massachusetts were…
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URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: SEC Says Utah Father And Son Were At Helm Of $220 Million Ponzi Scheme That Traded On Faith
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: The SEC has gone to federal court in Utah to halt what it described as a $220 million real-estate Ponzi scheme that appeared to grow in part because the alleged operators used their membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to disarm skeptics. A “complex web of…
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UPDATE: Top Federal Prosecutor Describes Edward L. Moskop As ‘Financial Predator’; Judge Imposes Maximum Prison Term On Southern Illinois Swindler; St. Louis Post-Dispatch Reports Woman Who Survived Nazi Labor Camp Was Among The Victims
Recidivist huckster Edward L. Moskop was sentenced yesterday to 20 years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge William Stiehl of the Southern District of Illinois. Among the victims of his fraud scheme was an 85-year-old woman who survived a Nazi labor camp during World War II, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. At Moskop’s sentencing…
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BULLETIN: Former Radio Host John Farahi Indicted In Alleged Ponzi Scheme; His Attorney Also Indicted Amid Allegations He Obstructed SEC Probe
BULLETIN: John Farahi, a former Los Angeles radio host who once was a member of the city council of Reno, Nev., has been indicted on dozens of counts of defrauding investors and banks out of at least $20 million, federal prosecutors in the Central District of California said. David Tamman, an attorney, was indicted amid…