UPDATE: CONSOB, the Italian securities regulator, has finalized a March 27 suspension order against alleged Profitable Sunrise pitchman Daniele Verzari.
Verzari allegedly pitched Profitable Sunrise as the “founder” of the Vdproject Italy team on a Blog hosted by WordPress. After CONSOB announced a temporary suspension order on April 2, WordPress gave Verzari the boot. He also allegedly promoted schemes known as “Vityazi” and “Bestforinvest.”
On April 4, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a pyramid-scheme complaint against Profitable Sunrise in federal court in Atlanta. Records show that the SEC has issued subpoenas to several Profitable Sunrise pitchmen in the United States.
The murky scheme may have collected tens of millions of dollars by targeting U.S. investors, routing the proceeds of the scheme through offshore bank accounts and using a mail drop in England, the SEC said. Profitable Sunrise operated through an entity known as Inter Reef Limited.
Profitable Sunrise purportedly was operated by “Roman Novak.” It allegedly offered five HYIP plans, including one bizarrely dubbed the “Long Haul” that purported to pay 2.7 percent a day with the payout due April 1, the day after Easter. Profitable Sunrise went missing from the Web on or about March 14.
The actions by CONSOB and the SEC demonstrate that HYIP schemes can create trouble not only for purveyors such as “Novak,” but also for commission-based promoters.
Scammers have targeted Profitable Sunrise victims in multiple reload schemes.