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Tag: Attorney General Lawrence Wasden

  • GlobalNews.ca: Pyramid Scheme Was Operating Out Of British Columbia Nursing Home

    cautionflagTwo senior managers at the St. Michael’s Centre nursing home in Burnaby allegedly were running a pyramid scheme targeted at women and have been fired, GlobalNews.ca is reporting.

    Workers — rather than residents — were the apparent targets. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are investigating, the publication reported.

    Whether the scheme was operating as a “gifting” program was not immediately clear. In 2013, there were reports in British Columbia about a “women’s circle” gifting scam in the province.

    Such schemes may adopt a theme of “women helping women.” There have been criminal prosecutions flowing from such schemes in the United States and the United Kingdom.

    In November 2014, Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden issued a warning about a “women’s” program operating in that U.S. state.

    Some promoters who push gifting scams also participate in other forms of the pyramid- or Ponzi scheme. Such was the case among certain participants in “Blessing Gold Club.”  They simultaneously were pushing a scheme known as Better-Living Global Marketing, a “program” whose business model strongly resembled that of the Zeek Rewards scheme taken down by the SEC in 2012.

    BLGM now is the subject of a criminal investigation in Hong Kong.

     

  • Women’s ‘Gifting Circle’ Participants Risk Felony Prosecution; ‘Stop Immediately’ And Pay Back Money, Idaho Attorney General Warns

    Attorney General Lawrence Wasden at an Idaho event last year. Source: website of the attorney general.
    Attorney General Lawrence Wasden at an Idaho event last year. Source: website of the attorney general.

    The successful felony prosecutions under federal law of two Connecticut women in a cash-gifting scam apparently hasn’t registered in Idaho.

    Now, the state’s attorney general, citing the Connecticut prosecutions that led to lengthy prison sentences, is taking action. And he’s not mincing words.

    “Taking part in an unlawful pyramid scheme violates the Idaho Consumer Protection Act and is a felony under the state’s criminal code,” Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said. “Make no mistake – taking part in these schemes is illegal. Anyone who has received money from participating must pay it back. Failure to do so may result in civil or criminal enforcement action.”

    Idaho investigators have received two recent reports of illegal gifting pyramids operating in the state, Wasden’s office said. Sums of $5,000 are being solicited. Reports identified the schemes as a “Women’s Wisdom Circle.”

    One has “a formal dinner theme, the other a gardening theme,” Idaho prosecutors said.

    From a statement by prosecutors (italics added):

    In one Women’s Wisdom Circle reportedly operating in Ammon, participants are being asked to pay a $5,000 entry fee. By recruiting others, participants can then advance up the pyramid through levels named after the courses of a formal dinner: appetizer, soup/salad, entrée and dessert. Reports investigated by the Consumer Protection Division indicate those at the top of the pyramid have received payments of up to $40,000.

    The gardening theme gifting circle operating near Preston makes “soil” the entry position, while “harvester” rests at the top of the pyramid.

    The schemes are promoted as gifting programs intended to empower women and claim to adhere to IRS gifting rules. Women are encouraged to keep their involvement secret and are required to sign a statement that the money they pay is a gift, with nothing expected in return.

    The statements are false and do not make participation legal, regardless of what potential recruits are told, Wasden said.

    “Participants should stop immediately,” Wasden warned. “Unlawful pyramid schemes collapse, hurt people financially and are a crime in Idaho.”