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Tag: Bernard Madoff

Senior Citizen Guilty In Michigan Ponzi Scheme; Feds Say Richard Taft Johnson Sold ‘Charitable’ Program To Fellow Seniors, Duping Them Into Ruin

Both state and federal prosecutors in Michigan have been attacking Ponzi schemers and affinity fraudsters. Yesterday the office of Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox charged three men with racketeering for their roles in an alleged time-share Ponzi scheme targeted at senior citizens. In a separate Michigan case, federal prosecutors have announced the guilty plea of…

Dec 23, 2009
BREAKING NEWS: FBI Tells Senate Judiciary Committee It Is Probing 314 HYIP Schemes Only Months After ASD Members Asked Panel To Probe Prosecutors

And to think that only months ago — in February 2009 — various members of AdSurfDaily wrote to the Senate Judiciary Committee trying to elicit support for Ponzi schemes. The letter-writing campaign was spearheaded by “Professor” Patrick Moriarty and pushed by the Pro-AdSurfDaily Surf’s Up forum. But now the FBI has told the committee, led…

Dec 10, 2009
Madoff Confessed Ponzi Scheme Year Ago Today; AdViewGlobal Prepared Ponzi Roll-Out Even As Stunned Public Watched Madoff Spectacle Unfold

One year ago today Bernard Madoff uttered a memorable phrase, describing his securities business economically as “one big lie” — and his Ponzi house of cards came tumbling down. Even as Madoff was uttering those three words to his sons and the FBI soon was to knock on his door, the insiders behind the AdViewGlobal…

Dec 10, 2009
BREAKING NEWS: Two Madoff Computer Programmers Charged With Conspiracy For Enabling Massive Ponzi Scheme

Federal prosecutors and the FBI demonstrated again this morning that people who enable Ponzi schemers are subject to arrest and prosecution. Today’s announcement that two computer programmers for Bernard Madoff have been charged with serious felonies could send shockwaves across the so called autosurf “industry,” which relies heavily on computers and programming tweaks to fleece…

Nov 13, 2009
FBI Arrests 14, Including 2 Lawyers, In Major Insider-Trading Probe; SEC Says Attorneys Provided Tips For Kickbacks In Latest Scandal That Rocks Wall Street

As the FBI and IRS executed search warrants at the Florida office of attorney Scott Rothstein this morning amid allegations he ran a covert Ponzi scheme that could have drained as much as $500 million from investors, prosecutors up north were concentrating on arresting lawyers in a separate case involving insider trading on Wall Street.…

Nov 5, 2009
‘Key Enabler’: Madoff Accountant Pleads Guilty; Faces 114 Years; Forfeits More Than $3.1 Million, Real Estate

David G. Friehling was one of Bernard Madoff’s “key enablers,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said today after Friehling pleaded guilty to nine criminal charges. Friehling, 49, Madoff’s small-shop accountant, faces up to 114 years in prison, but has agreed to cooperate with the government, Bharara said. “David Friehling was one of the key enablers of…

Nov 3, 2009
LETTER TO READERS: Senior Citizens, The Culture Of Ponzi Schemes — And America’s Longing For A Return To The Age Of ‘Blue Light’ Specials, The Age Of Innocence

Dear Readers, From time to time I publish a post in letter form. This usually happens when a post in story, editorial or essay form does not seem appropriate. This is one of those times. Honestly, just how strange could things get in Ponzi Land? Ponzi Land, which relatively few people outside of law enforcement…

Oct 22, 2009
LAWSUIT: Madoff Had Prebust Cocaine Parties; ‘Spends Time’ In Prison With Mafia Crime Boss, Convicted Spy; Eats Pizza Cooked By Child Molester; Cell Mate Is Convicted Drug Dealer

Bernard Madoff has made friends in prison and “spends time” with Carmine Persico, a reputed former Colombo crime family boss, and Jonathan Pollard, convicted of spying for Israel in a case that strained America’s relationship with Israel in the 1980s. Madoff’s cell mate is a convicted drug dealer, and Madoff eats pizza cooked by a…

Oct 21, 2009
68-Year-Old Texas Woman Charged In Alleged Ponzi

A 68-year-old Texas woman has been charged with running a $500,000 Ponzi scheme. Julia Ann Schmidt was indicted in Waco. She now joins a roster of other senior citizens recently implicated in alleged Ponzi schemes or convicted of crimes in which a Ponzi was the modus operandi. Federal prosecutors said today that Schmidt posed as…

Oct 19, 2009
Bank Failure Brings 2009 Total To 99; Foreclosures Pile Up In California, Florida; Prosecutors Battle Mortgage Fraudsters And Ponzi Schemers

UPDATED 1:33 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) The failure yesterday of San Joaquin Bank in Bakersfield, Calif., brought the total of bank failures in the United States this year to 99. With weeks remaining in the year, it is a virtual certainty that failures will top the 100 mark. Banks have been failing at an average rate…

Oct 17, 2009
BREAKING NEWS: Michael Riolo Sentenced To More Than 24 Years In Prison For Bilking Clients In Florida Ponzi Scheme That Collapsed After Nine Years

To many residents of Florida, Michael Riolo was their Bernard Madoff. Riolo, 38, of Boca Raton, was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison (293 months) today for bilking investors in a $44 million Ponzi scheme. The scheme began in 1999 and collapsed in 2008. â€œDuring these tough economic times, it is more important…

Oct 16, 2009