PatrickPretty.com

Tag: Andy Bowdoin

  • Firm Owned By Vana Blue Treasurer Was Sanctioned In Illinois For Unlicensed Practice Of Public Accounting

    A firm Vana Blue Inc. said is owned by its treasurer was sanctioned by the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation for practicing public accounting without a license.

    Michael Reis and M.R. Reis & Co. of Naperville were ordered by the state to “cease and desist the unlicensed practice of public accounting” in 2000, according to IDPR.

    Reis was identified in a March 31 document as treasurer of Vana Blue, a Pinksheet stock that trades under the symbol VBLU. The firm’s web domain — vanablue.com — vanished two days ago and now resolves to a GoDaddy.com page that beams advertisements.

    “Mr. Reis currently is the proprietor of M.R. Reis & Co. Naperville, IL Bookkeeping and Tax Firm,” Vana Blue said in the March 31 document.

    Vana Blue said it was publishing the information “to Conform with the Provisions of
    Subparagraph (a)(5) of Rule 15c2-11 Promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.”

    News releases by Vana Blue identify it as the owner of Karveck International and TMS Corp. TMS Corp. also is known as TMS Association, an Arizona-registered entity purported to own eWalletPlus, a money-exchange business associated with the AdViewGlobal (AVG) autosurf.

    AVG suspended member cashouts last month, saying it was conducting an audit of itself, making an 80/20 program mandatory should cashouts resume on a date uncertain and exercising its version of a “rebates aren’t guaranteed clause” that permits it to keep money sent in by members.

    The surf firm identified its owners as George and Judy Harris. George Harris is the stepson of AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin. Judy Harris is the wife of George Harris. A Florida home and a car owned by George and Judy Harris are named in a December forfeiture complaint filed by federal prosecutors as the proceeds of illegal conduct by ASD.

    ASD’s assets — including tens of millions of dollars — were seized nearly one year ago by federal prosecutors amid allegations of wire fraud, money-laundering, selling unregistered securities and operating a Ponzi scheme from Quincy, Fla. Prosecutors seized automobiles and marine equipment in December.

    ASD and AVG have close family, management and promotional ties. AVG purports to be headquartered in Uruguay and launched after the seizure of ASD’s assets.

    Vana Blue said it was involved in the oil and gas business in Utah, the VOIP business in the Caribbean and in the international advertising business through Karveck International.

    This news release, dated Feb. 21, 2008 — a year and a half ago — vaguely announces a name change for Vana Blue (from what to what isn’t clear) and announced the acquisition of TMS Corp.

    Meanwhile, this news release, dated Jan. 30. 2009 — just a few days before the formal launch of AVG — announced the acquisition of “Karveck Corporation” had been finalized.

    On Feb. 18, 2009 — when AVG had been formally operating in launch phase for just shy of three weeks after operating in January in prelaunch phase — Vana Blue announced that “Karveck International” had posted $1.8 million in revenue in January. How Karveck Corporation apparently became Karveck International wasn’t clear.

    Vana Blue did not use AVG’s name in the news release. Instead, it described Karveck International as a company that “specializes in internet advertising and promotion in a search engine and ad clicking type environment.”

  • Website For Pink Sheet Stock With Purported Tie To AdViewGlobal Autosurf Suddenly Goes Offline

    UPDATED 9:17 A.M. EDT (U.S.A.) The website for Vana Blue Inc., the purported parent company of Karveck International, has gone offline and now is resolving to a parked GoDaddy.com page that beams advertisements.

    Vana Blue is a penny stock that trades under the symbol VBLU. No shares have traded hands since July 23, according to Yahoo Finance.

    Why the vanablue.com site now resolves to GoDaddy is unclear. A series of news releases from Vana Blue in the past year and a half placed the company in diverse fields from oil and gas in Utah to Caribbean VOIP telephone service and international “internet advertising and promotion in a search engine and ad clicking type environment.”

    Among other things, VanaBlue said it had acquired TMS Corp., an Arizona-registered business also known as TMS Association. TMS Association was the purported parent company of eWalletPlus, a payment processor associated with the AdViewGlobal (AVG) autosurf.

    The website for eWalletPlus also now resolves to a page filled with ads. EWalletPlus appears to be for sale on sedo.com. Meanwhile, the website for AdSurfDaily Breaking News also is resolving to a page filled with ads.

    ASD and AVG have close family, membership and promotional ties. ASD’s assets were seized in a federal forfeiture complaint last year, and a racketeering lawsuit against ASD President Andy Bowdoin later was filed by members of ASD.

    Bowdoin has not responded to the racketeering lawsuit. AVG’s name was mentioned in RICO lawsuit filings that pointed out common ties between the surf firms, but AVG has not been named a defendant.

    Last year, ASD announced that it expected a revenue infusion of $200 million from Praebius Communications, another Pinksheet stock. ASD made the announcement while it was awaiting a court ruling on issues pertaining to revenue streams in a Ponzi scheme case.

    ASD’s Breaking News site pulled the Praebius announcement after doubting members said they intended to contact Praebius to confirm ASD’s story about the $200 million revenue infusion.

    Vana Blue used an address of 4757 E. Greenway Rd Suite 107B-105 in a news release. It is an address that resolves to a PostNet outlet in Phoenix, the home state of TMS Association. PostNet describes itself as a “Mailbox Rental, Fax, Passport Photos, Copies, Notary, UPS, DHL, FedEx, USPS” service.

    At a minimum, the information suggests AVG had strong ties in Arizona, particularly in the Phoenix area.

    In February, Vana Blue announced that Karveck International posted $1.8 million in revenue in January. That’s when AVG was in prelaunch. Vana Blue did not name AVG in the news release.

    AVG was said to have registered in Uruguay as Karveck International, although that information has not been independently confirmed.

    Vana Blue’s name has been associated with Donald Rex Gay. Federal records show that Donald Rex Gay was sued by the U.S. government in a tax case that claimed unpaid taxes in the amount of $252,717.12.

    Gay said in pro se court filings that he did not owe the taxes and had no means to pay them.

    In June, AVG announced it was suspending member cashouts, making an 80/20 program mandatory if and when payouts resume and exercising its version of a “rebates aren’t guaranteed” clause that permits it to keep all money sent in by members.

    See this story.

  • BREAKING NEWS: Biz Ad Splash Suspends Member Cashouts; Busby Said Firm In ‘Crisis’ And Will Perform Self-Audit

    UPDATED 10:40 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Clarence Busby has announced in a video that Business Ad Splash (BAS) is in a “crisis situation” and has suspended cashouts until at least Sept. 1.

    Busby blamed the crisis on overpayments to members, referring to the overpayments as the “60 percent gift I am giving.”

    Things just weren’t going well, Busby said.

    “The finances that I want to happen for all of us are not there yet,” he said. “The business that we have put out before the world is just not [unintelligible] like we wanted to, but it’s coming.”

    Busby said he recently had surgery.

    Clarence Busby in BAS video announcing a cashout suspension at least until Sept. 1.
    Clarence Busby in BAS video announcing a cashout suspension until at least Sept. 1.

    It could take BAS anywhere from 60 days to 180 days to audit accounts and return to normal operations, Busby said.

    AdViewGlobal (AVG), an autosurf with close ties to AdSurfDaily, also recently announced the suspension of payouts and an audit.

    Andy Bowdoin, the president of ASD, once blamed troubles the firm was having on overpayments made to members.

    Busby formerly was the president of Golden Panda Ad Builder. Golden Panda’s assets were seized last year as part of the ASD probe, and a federal judge today signed an order finalizing the forfeiture of more than $14 million to the U.S. government.

    In court filings, Busby’s attorney referred to him as “Rev. Busby” at least 120 times. Busby referred to himself in today’s video as “Mr. Busby.”

    “May God bless you,” he said, thanking people for their prayers while wrapping up the video.

    See July 21 BAS story.

  • BREAKING NEWS: Judge Orders Bowdoin To Show Cause Or Face Consent To Forfeiture Of Tens Of Millions Of Dollars

    A federal judge has ordered Andy Bowdoin, AdSurfDaily Inc. and Bowdoin/Harris Enterprises Inc. to show cause by Aug. 7 why a series of motions filed by Bowdoin as a pro se litigant should not be denied.

    Judge Rosemary Collyer noted in the order that Charles A. Murray, a paid attorney Bowdoin had hired after Bowdoin was advised months ago that a corporation could not proceed pro se, has not followed up on initial pleadings.

    “Eventually, [Murray] entered an appearance for all three claimants (Dkt. ## 59 & 60), and then filed a First Motion to Withdraw Notice (Other) For Leave to Withdraw Notice of Rescission (Dkt. # 66). In this First Motion, counsel explained that he ‘require[d] time to evaluate the facts and circumstances of the matter but that all claimants, through counsel, ‘intend to resubmit this Motion to Rescind on or before May 15, 2009.’”

    Using stark language, Collyer said she has heard nothing from Bowdoin or his lawyer since May.

    “It is now July 24, 2009, and nothing further has been heard from counsel, Mr. Bowdoin, ASD, or Bowdoin/Harris Enterprises, Inc.,” Collyer said.

    “THEREFORE, Mr. Bowdoin, ASD, and Bowdoin/Harris Enterprises, Inc. are ORDERED TO SHOW CAUSE no later than August 7, 2009, why the Court should not DENY all pending motions and ORDER this civil forfeiture matter to proceed based on their release of claims and consent to forfeiture,” Collyer concluded.

    Federal prosecutors say more than $65 million was seized from ASD last year.

    Read the judge’s order.

  • Bowdoin Had Tax, Vendor Troubles In Previous Firm Dissolved By State Of Florida; Lien Stayed On Books For 12 Years As 6 Other Bowdoin-Connected Businesses Failed

    UPDATED 12:47 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) His promoters said he was a hugely successful businessman, a visionary who entered technology markets and made money before others even had recognized the opportunities. Andy Bowdoin, they said, had cleaned up in the communications business and, for good measure, old-fashioned markets such as dry cleaning. He’d trained thousands of successful salespeople over the years, they said, and now was setting his sights on the online advertising business.

    Google, they said, had entered into an agreement with his company, AdSurfDaily, and even the President of the United States had singled out Bowdoin as a man of genuine distinction.

    Federal prosecutors and a task force consisting of agents from the U.S. Secret Service and the Internal Revenue Service, however, said in court filings that the adjectives associated with Andy Bowdoin in promotional materials for ASD often contradicted the nouns.

    Bowdoin, they said, had left behind a string of failed businesses. And despite reports about his remarkable record of commercial achievement, Bowdoin was a felon who’d fleeced people in a previous securities scheme — and hadn’t told his members about it. And Bowdoin had not reported any significant income for two decades.

    “Bowdoin earned no significant income from legal employment in the twenty years prior to his commencement of ASD’s operation,” prosecutors said. “But, no information about Bowdoin’s record of business failures and fraud accusations is contained on ASD’s website.

    “Nor was Bowdoin’s true past mentioned to prospective members during the ASD rally at which he spoke  . . .  or during the conference calls that he, or others promoting ASD on his behalf, participated in during ASD’s operations,” prosecutors said.

    Bowdoin In The 1980s

    It is possible that investigators knew a lot about Andy Bowdoin before they began early last July to subject ASD to scrutiny.

    Andy Bowdoin had a lien placed against him in Perry, Fla., in 1982, for failure to pay $2,559.65 in taxes due the IRS, records show. The lien reflected a time period in which Bowdoin was associated with a failed energy-saving business.

    In 1984, a local credit union sued Bowdoin for $2,759.78 — an amount about $200 above the amount owed on Bowdoin’s unpaid tax bill from 1982 — although it is not clear if Bowdoin borrowed from the credit union to pay his taxes.

    What is clear is that the tax lien was not removed until 1994, 12 years after it was filed. In the intervening years, six other Bowdoin ventures were dissolved, including five involuntary dissolutions by the state of Florida because Bowdoin had not filed required paperwork.

    In the 1980s, Bowdoin was sued by a Florida television station for an unpaid bill of $3,494.66. He also was sued by a local building-supply company for an unpaid bill of $510.05, and the Florida Department of State involuntarily dissolved Bowdoin’s energy-saving business. (The August forfeiture complaint listed 12 failed Bowdoin business ventures, including six between 1983 and 1987, but not the energy-saving business.)

    The name of the corporation not listed in the federal complaint was Energy Saving International Inc. (ESI), which was dissolved immediately prior to Bowdoin’s launch of six other businesses between 1983 and 1987, including the five that Florida dissolved involuntarily for Bowdoin’s administrative oversights.

    ESI began operating in Florida in 1978; the involuntarily dissolution occurred in 1981, after about four years of operation. Bowdoin filed annual reports in 1978, 1979 and 1980, but did not file one in 1981, the year before the IRS filed the tax lien.

    Bowdoin’s tax trouble dated back to 1978, when he failed to pay $2,349.48 due the IRS. In 1981, he failed to pay $210.77, and in 1982 the IRS placed the lien, records show. The records are public documents and are on file in Taylor County, Fla.

    The records also show a mortgage foreclosure, which appears to have been connected to a Trust set up to manage the affairs of Bowdoin’s mother, who was nearing the end of her life. It appears as though the home was spared in the end.

    Although he was hailed a visionary by his supporters, Andy Bowdoin seems to have forgotten that he’d told investigators one story and a federal judge another. ASD asked the judge last year for emergency release of funds seized by the government because the firm could not pay its rent or hosting bills.

    Bowdoin, however, appears to have asked for the relief while not initially disclosing that ASD had more than $1 million sitting in a bank in Antigua.

    “Bowdoin tells this Court that ASD is out of money,” prosecutors said last year. “But he told the Secret Service that an Antigua account (in another name), holds over one million ASD dollars.”

    Yes, prosecutors said, the account was “in another name.”

    What name could it be, when records show that Bowdoin used at least 15 corporate names between 1978 and 2006? It’s one of the enduring mysteries of the ASD case.

  • Plaintiffs: North Carolina Attorney Robert Garner Was ‘One Of The Architects’ Of AdSurfDaily Ponzi Scheme

    Robert GarnerAdSurfDaily attorney Robert Garner “was one of the architects of the ASD Ponzi scheme,” plaintiffs suing Garner for racketeering said yesterday.

    Garner was “a director of ASD and outside counsel for ASD,” the plaintiffs said. “He appeared on various Internet videos where he attested to the bona fides of the ASD, among other numerous false statements, in an effort to fabricate a veil of legitimacy for ASD.”

    In addition, the plaintiffs alleged, Garner “not only was involved in the development of the ASD program, serving as a director of AdSurfDaily, Inc., but he also held himself out in a position of trust, confidence and superior knowledge by issuing a statement regarding ASD’s legality.”

    Garner is representing himself in court. The plaintiffs’ claims came in response to a motion by Garner to be dismissed as a RICO defendant because U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia had no jurisdiction over him.

    “Not so,” the plaintiffs said. “[O]ne of the named Plaintiffs ensnared in the ASD scheme, Frank Greene, is a resident of the District of Columbia.”

    And, they added, “[O]ne of the special agents who investigated the related forfeiture proceedings opened an ‘upgraded member’ account with ASD from a location in the District of Columbia via the Internet, and made a direct deposit into ASD’s account with defendant Bank of America by delivering a check to the Bank of America branch at 700 13th Street, NW, Washington, DC.”

    Garner, the plaintiffs said, was “identified in ASD materials as outside counsel, and he is a
    director of AdsurfDaily, Inc., and a manager of T. Andy Bowdoin, LLC.”

    Claim: ASD Rose From The Ashes Of 12DailyPro, PhoenixSurf

    “Mr. Garner was present at the creation of the ASD Ponzi scheme,” the plaintiffs alleged. “The concept for ASD was borne out of the collapse in early- to mid-2006 of two other confirmed Ponzi schemes – 12Daily Pro and Phoenix Surf – which were targets of investigations and subsequent litigation by the Securities [and] Exchange Commission.

    Garner and Bowdoin were aided in their racketeering scheme by “other co-conspirators,” the plaintiffs said. They are seeking treble damages in the case.

    The RICO defendants and co-conspirators “sought to improve upon the core Ponzi business model with the goal of developing the largest Internet auto-surf program in operation,” the plaintiffs said.

    Wordplay was part of the conspiracy, the plaintiffs said.

    “In customizing their Ponzi scheme, the RICO Defendants coined new (or slightly revised) terms for old concepts and made a few adjustments to the model and its operation not in an effort to create a legal business, but rather to ‘fix’ areas that contributed to the collapse of the prior schemes and to shield the Ponzi scheme from increased scrutiny by regulators or law enforcement personnel.”

    The plaintiffs also said Bowdoin, Garner and co-conspirators banned the use of certain words in a bid to stay under the radar.

    They “implemented some adjustments to the program such as forbidding the use of the term ‘investment’ in connection with the sale of ad packages to ASD members and instituting an open-ended time period for earning the ‘promised’ maximum rebate on purchased ad packages.”

    Using video was a key part of the plan, the plaintiffs alleged.

    “One of the key innovations that Bowdoin and Garner contributed in an effort to improve
    the core Ponzi business model was to create a cloak of legitimacy about it, through video
    presentations posted on the Internet promoting ASD,” the plaintiffs said.

    Among false claims that appeared online about ASD, the plaintiffs said, were claims that “ASD would sign up over one hundred Fortune 500 companies; that ASD has a contract for the placement of three advertisements on its homepage that would generate at least $13 million per year; that ASD’s rebate program is a ‘loss leader’ that enables ASD to grow its member participation and pay members’ rebates with revenue from large commercial advertisers,” the plaintiffs said.

  • Two More Attorneys Added In RICO Lawsuit Against Andy Bowdoin; Move Comes On Heels Of AdViewGlobal Mention

    Plaintiffs suing AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin for racketeering added two more attorneys to their roster this morning and have added a total of four since June 24. The plaintiffs now have attorneys in Washington, D.C., Phoenix, San Francisco and Mill Valley, Calif., on their side, perhaps with more formal notices of appearance to follow.

    Today’s move followed on the heels of a filing last week that cited the name of the AdViewGlobal (AVG) autosurf, describing it as the next iteration of AdSurfDaily and naming executives and employees the two surfs have in common.

    AVG has not been named a RICO defendant. It is unclear if the plaintiffs plan to add the surf’s name, but they have used AVG to illustrate an alleged pattern of racketeering. The plaintiffs seek class-action certification and treble damages in the ASD complaint.

    AVG has identified George and Judy Harris as its owners. George Harris is the stepson of ASD President Andy Bowdoin and the son of Bowdoin’s wife, Edna Faye Bowdoin. Judy Harris is the wife of George Harris.

    ASD attorney Robert Garner also is named a RICO defendant in the lawsuit. Bank of America is alleged to have aided and abetted a fraudulent scheme, but is not a RICO defendant.

    In recent days, AVG has closed its forum — a move made after the company said members were confusing other members. An AVG forum established by some Mods and members of the Pro-ASD Surf’s Up forum also has been closed, and Surf’s Up recently has deleted posts and content concerning AVG.

    As many as 30 ASD members are believed to be founders of AVG, which says it is a “private association” based in Uruguay.

    AVG recently has threatened to sue its members for sharing information outside the confines of the AVG “private association,” and also has threatened to sue media outlets that publish information its members share.

    Yesterday AVG implied in an announcement that it also might sue a subcontractor for not carrying out its contractual duties. Donna Rougeau, the subcontractor with Syndicate Digital of Canada, advised AVG members last week that she was leaving the firm.

  • EDITORIAL: AdViewGlobal Blames Subcontractor For Problems

    UPDATED 3:30 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) It was utterly predictable: The AdViewGlobal (AVG) autosurf has blamed subcontractor Syndicate Digital for problems plaguing the firm, implying it might sue the Canada-based company.

    In recent weeks, AVG has threatened to sue media outlets and even its own members, up to and including contacting their Internet Service Providers in a pathetic bid to mute criticism.

    AVG’s record of blaming participants in the enterprise for its problems and accepting no accountability is rivaled only by AdSurfDaily. Syndicate Digital accepted work from AVG at great risk — and not simply a legal one: One of the biggest risks was that AVG would find a way to blame it for problems AVG itself created.

    That’s what Bowdoin/Harris enterprises do: If Bowdoin-led ASD gets in a pickle and can’t pay out as advertised, he blames Russian “hackers” and script problems and changes the website’s name so he can fleece a new crop of victims — all while he is using a fraudulent address to donate money to the National Republican Congressional Committee in ASD’s name while telling members ASD has no money.

    If the enterprise comes under fire by the government, he blames the government. When the enterprise gets stifled in bids to fight the government, he blames his paid attorneys and declares them incompetent. He then accepts advice from one or more felons and starts filing pro se pleadings, and when a federal judge tells him that a corporate entity can’t proceed pro se, he goes out and finds another paid attorney.

    When Bowdoin got sued and nearly jailed in Alabama a decade ago for another securities scheme, it was somebody else’s fault.

    AVG does the same thing. The surf announced in March that its bank account had been suspended. In the very first sentence of its announcement, it blamed members, saying they had wired too many transactions in excess of $9,500.

    In May, after it announced it had secured a new wire facility and published wiring instructions and account numbers, a company AVG identified as a facilitator in the transfers issued a denial that it had any business relationship with AVG. The company issuing the denial explained that it had discussed business with a Florida-based firm, and announced that it believed it had been targeted in a scam.

    The Florida-based firm was owned by an AVG insider. The clear implication was that AVG, which purports to be headquartered in Uruguay, had attempted to create a back-door route to funnel money to itself by using the banking connections of the Florida firm.

    AVG ignored the denial by the company.  Instead AVG blamed a breakdown in negotiations for the sudden removal of a wire facility it had just advertised and for which it had just provided detailed usage instructions.

    Now AVG is saying negotiations with Syndicate Digital have broken down, implying it might sue for nonperformace.

    “Negotiations between the owners of AVGA and Syndicate Digital broke down Thursday afternoon,” AVG told members.

    “Syndicate Digital was a sub contractor hired to do a specific job and there is some dispute as to whether or not they have completed their contract with AVGA,” the company said.

    Good grief.

    Syndicate Digital entered the lion’s den when it accepted AVG business. Lions within the den now are circling to devour a subcontractor who used poor judgment and did not ask the right questions, and it just so happens the Lions-In-Chief are George and Judy Harris, members of the Bowdoin family and one-half of the Bowdoin/Harris brand.

    This is a new low, perhaps an all-time new low. Donna Rougeau of Syndicate Digital should not have accepted work for AVG, and she should not have permitted her brand to become associated with AVG. Syndicate Digital and AVG became almost indistinguishable, and Rougeau was serving up the GIGO slop.

    But Rougeau did not cause the core rot that is AVG and now is being served up as the fall guy by people who call themselves Christians. It was, sadly, utterly predictable.

    Perhaps equally predictable was that AVG’s Syndicate Digital announcement would go missing — and it has, according to a reader.

  • Is Anybody Home At AdViewGlobal?

    We are beginning to receive reports that AdViewGlobal (AVG) has not posted daily paper profits since July 3 for members who surfed.

    Some AVG members seem not to know whether they even are supposed to surf. The external shell of the site loaded quickly today, which may indicate a lighter server load because fewer people are surfing.

    “Support tickets are not being answered,” one member said.

    The member said that AVG awarded her a paper profit of a penny for surfing a few days ago and a total of 35 cents over a two-week period. For its part, AVG said last week that it expected to become a Fortune 500 company.

    “[W]e have received nothing in monetary, or any other, terms since July 3, 2009,” the member said, adding that there was “a growing anxiety and frustration with the new leadership: George and Judi Harris.”

    George Harris is the stepson of AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin. Judy Harris is the wife of George Harris. The Harrises are named in a federal forfeiture complaint filed in December as the beneficiaries of illegal conduct by ASD.

    Only recently has AVG disclosed that George and Judy Harris owned the firm, which purports to be a professional advertising and communications company based in Uruguay.

    AVG issued a news release last month with a dateline of Tallahassee, Fla. A home owned by the Harrises in Tallahassee was seized in the December forfeiture complaint. Prosecutors said George Harris, whom ASD President Andy Bowdoin identified last year as the head of ASD’s real-estate division, used $157,000 in illegal ASD proceeds to pay off the mortgage on the home.

    In other news, eWalletPlus, a money-services firm associated with AVG, is back online — though apparently not fully functional. The site had disappeared last week, but then came back online. It did not fully load at a point over the weekend, but appears to be loading now. New registrations, however, are marked disabled.

    eWalletPlus is listed as being owned by TMS Association. TMS Association is listed in Arizona records as a business that conducts merchant services. Like AVG, the servers for eWalletPlus resolve to Panama.

  • What Happened To ASD’s Money In Canada?

    UPDATED 12:42 P.M. EDT U.S.A (SEE BOTTOM OF POST FOR STATEMENT FROM SOLID TRUST PAY)

    Over the weekend, some AdSurfDaily members reported they had received what amounts to partial refunds for money they spent in ASD. The members said they received the payment notifications in an email marked as a “final” refund through SolidTrustPay, a payment processor based in Canada.

    The email did not disclose the authority by which STP was sending the refunds. It was not immediately clear if recipients were charged a fee for accepting the refund, and no accounting was provided.

    Recipients, for example, were not told the size of the STP refund pool. One recipient, however, said he was told that the refund consisted of a pro rata share of the money ASD had on deposit in STP and that ASD had removed 63 percent of the money it once had on deposit on a date or dates uncertain.

    If that is true, what happened to the 63 percent ASD removed? And when did ASD remove the money and who benefited from the removal?

    ASD suspended operations Aug. 1, 2008, the date it was notified that its U.S. bank accounts were being seized. The U.S. Secret Service and federal prosecutors said in court documents that ASD had moved “several million” dollars into STP about two weeks prior to the seizure.

    “Several million” implies at least $3 million. If that is the case — and if ASD removed 63 percent of the money in STP prior to STP freezing its account — then $1.89 million may be unaccounted for. If “several million” means $5 million, then $3.15 million may be unaccounted for. At a minimum, there has been no public accounting of the money by ASD.

    What happened to that money?

    It is not known if ASD had more than one STP account or if ASD executives and insiders used their personal STP accounts to store ASD money. It is possible that ASD, for example, had “unofficial” accounts — accounts that did not bear the names of ASD or ASD President Andy Bowdoin, but accounts into which ASD could funnel money with no transparent tie to the firm.

    Here is what prosecutors said last August:

    “Within the past two weeks, ASD has wired several million dollars to Solid Trust Pay from its BOA Accounts. A TFA also learned that earlier in July 2008, a bank other than BOA closed the last account that was controlled by Bowdoin or family members after that bank determined, and explained to them, that an investigation by the bank determined that Bowdoin appeared to be operating a Ponzi scheme. Bowdoin indicated that he purchased, or was seeking to purchase, a home in another country.”

    Complicating matters is that ASD argued in court last year for emergency release of $2 million held by the U.S. government with court oversight, saying it needed the money to operate. Prosecutors pointed out that ASD had at least $1 million on deposit in Antigua, saying the firm’s “emergency” pleading was overblown.

    ASD eventually acknowledged the Antigua money, saying it would repatriate it to the United States, along with an unspecified amount “currently being held with Solid Trust Pay in Canada,” as part of an oversight plan. On Sept. 16, ASD told U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer that Andy Bowdoin would step down from ASD, if necessary, as part of an oversight plan tied to the emergency petition for the release of money held by the government.

    “Unless otherwise agreed to by the Monitor, Andy Bowdoin will not be an employee, officer or director of the Company,” ASD said in September. “He will act as a consultant to the Company on terms acceptable to the Monitor and will agree to follow the Code of Conduct developed as part of the Future Business Operations Plan.”

    About two weeks later — on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 — Collyer held an evidentiary hearing at ASD’s request to consider the oversight plan and the release of government-held funds with oversight. On Nov. 19, Collyer ruled that ASD had not demonstrated it was a legal business and not a Ponzi scheme, and denied the request to release the money and to implement an oversight plan.

    It does not appear as if any ASD money in Antigua or Canada was repatriated. If 63 percent of the money ASD had in STP was removed on dates uncertain and no longer is available to become part of a restitution pool envisioned by the government, it leads to troubling questions about what happened to the money.

    AdViewGlobal (AVG), a surf firm with close family, management and promotional ties to ASD, began a prelaunch phase in December, less than a month after Collyer’s ruling. ASD gave its official endorsement to the Pro-ASD Surf’s Up forum, and some of the Surf’s Up forum Mods and members went on to start a forum for AVG. That forum now has gone dark, as has a company-run AVG forum. AVG also uses STP.

    AVG formally launched in February, and now has suspended cash-outs, made an 80/20 program mandatory if cash-outs resume, and exercised its version of a “rebates aren’t guaranteed” clause that permits it to keep all the money it collects from customers.

    Prosecutors revealed in April that Andy Bowdoin had signed a proffer letter in the ASD case, an act that may signal he was willing to help the government untangle the ASD mess. In January, Bowdoin submitted to the forfeiture of tens of millions of dollars seized in August.

    In February, though, Bowdoin changed his mind about submitting to the forfeiture, firing his attorneys without notifying them and proceeding as a pro se litigant to repopen his claim to the seized proceeds. At the same time, AVG transitioned into a “private association” that says it is based in Uruguay.

    Read ASD’s September oversight plan that mentions money in Antigua and money held in SolidTrustPay.

    Read the December forfeiture complaint that identifies George and Judy Harris — now identified as the owners of AVG — as beneficiaries of ASD’s illegal conduct.

    Statement From Solid Trust Pay

    SolidTrust Pay would like to make an official statement on the recent refunds received.

    COMMENT: Vice President of SolidTrust, Stella Hiemstra, is responsible issuing any refunds from dormant merchant accounts. The funds did NOT come from Oceanna Music Publishing (a company also owned/operated by Ms. Hiemstra). The “oceannamusic” email was simply the email attached to the account, and Ms. Hiemstra uses that address in order to keep notifications emanating from it separate from other solidtrustpay based emails. The username and registered account was SolidTrust Group – the main merchant account of STPay. There was no hack, no scam, no conspiracy, no other company, no funneling of funds, no haircuts…it was just a plain refund process.

    COMMENT: The ASD account in SolidTrust has now been dormant for over 6 months. It has actually been dormant for 11 months and, as is our policy, dormant merchant accounts with remaining funds are refunded back to the original senders of the funds. SolidTrust has never been contacted by any legitimate US or Canadian authority regarding the ASD situation. The funds in SolidTrust were never considered part of the total liability, and there was a relatively small balance remaining in the ASD account.

    COMMENT – 2 million dollars was wired into SolidTrust early last summer, and these funds were immediately used for payments to ASD members who were SolidTrust Pay clients. This is perfectly normal activity for merchants who pay commissions/bonuses to their clients. They obviously have to fund their accounts at periodic intervals in order to honour their commitments.

    COMMENT: due to the length of time and dormant state of the account, SolidTrust was acting on its own policies to return funds to clients. There was no interaction in these refunds by any ASD individual or Andy Bowdoin. SolidTrust has done many such refunds in the past. SolidTrust has developed its own software that calculates the value of funds sent, deducts any transfers received, and creates a resulting refund amount.

    COMMENT: the wording on the refund was “final refund for AdsSurf Daily from STPay” which is exactly what it was – a final refund for that program, and coming from STPay.

    CONCLUSION: SolidTrust prides itself on vigilantly monitoring all account activity and acting on its own policies fairly and equitably for all. It is shocked at the above comments, statements and accusations. There was not one single phone call or support ticket asking the questions posted in this blog, and the blog owner has not contacted us to find out the real, very simple, answers.

    In light of this situation, SolidTrust may have to rethink its refund policy if any attempt by STPay to return funds to legitimate users is going to be construed as a suspicious act of some kind. We welcome our members comments on our refund policies – you can submit your opinions to: priority@solidtrustpay.com

  • Is An ASD ‘Final Refund’ Scam Under Way?

    UPDATED 3:18 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Some AdSurfDaily members have reported that they’ve received surprise, partial refunds through SolidTrustPay, the Canada-based payment processor, for money they spent in ASD.

    A poster at the Pro-ASD Surf’s Up forum was first to report the news yesterday. She described the transaction as being labeled the “final refund” from ASD, and said she wasn’t sure about withdrawing it because the “final refund” represented only a fraction of what she had spent.

    A short time later, a Surf’s Up poster advised her to withdraw it.

    Other posters then reported they, too, had received money from SolidTrustPay labeled a “final refund” for ASD. The money originated with this email address:

    oceannamusic@xplornet.com

    It is not an address associated with ASD in records, which leads to questions about whether the money is being refunded by an ASD downline group or whether ASD actually had money in SolidTrustPay under the name of a different company or a user other than Andy Bowdoin.

    Questions were raised anew about whether accepting the money would void other consumer remedies that could result in even higher refunds. The poster who advised the original poster to withdraw the money then seemed to hint that accepting the money would inure to ASD’s benefit because people could not pursue the company for higher amounts.

    This could be a back-door attempt to force a contract on the recipients of the partial refunds. In other words, ASD or an upline group later could argue that, since the refund amounts were marked “final,” any person who accepted the sum no longer had a claim against the firm or an individual sponsor for a higher amount.

    Some members of ASD also are members of a subculture that practices back-door legal approaches designed to force recipients of correspondence into contracts by default. Some ASD members, for example, sent certified letters to the prosecutors involved in the case, demanding that they take specific actions within a limited time frame.

    Failing to take the actions or ignoring the demands then was cast as a contract “default.” The theory was advanced by some of the litigants who filed pro se pleadings in the August forfeiture case against ASD’s assets.

    The ASD case still is in litigation. The U.S. government said it intends to implement a restitution program. The program’s final form likely won’t be determined until the litigation comes to an end, and one of the reasons it is still in the courts is the pro se filings by ASD members and Andy Bowdoin.

    It might be a good idea for ASD members who receive refunds from SolidTrustPay marked “final” from ASD to consult with an attorney and weigh their options carefully.

    The sudden appearance of the partial refunds — and the fact they are marked “final” — could be a back-door bid to minimize ASD’s final liabilities by duping members into a contract by default.

    One obvious question is, “How big is the purported refund pool that is originating from the SolidTrustPay account?” A second question is, “Has the refunder — who is not using an email address associated with ASD — skimmed money for himself/herself prior to sending the “final” refunds, all of which so far have been described by ASD members as partial refunds?”

    A final note: One of the issues in the ASD case is offshore money that never was repatriated. Why not repatriate the money for “final” refunds to the United States and make it part of a restitution pool for victims, instead of doling it out behind closed doors in Canada?