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Tag: Bob Guenther

  • PRONOUN MYSTERY: ‘We Plan To Go After Akerman [Senterfitt] Next,’ AdSurfDaily Member Writes; No Immediate Comment From Law Firm That Represented Andy Bowdoin

    Andy Bowdoin

    UPDATED 3:59 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) An email attributed to an AdSurfDaily member claims “We are now playing offense” and “We plan to go after Akerman Senifit (sic) next.”

    Why the pronoun “we” was used was not immediately clear. Also unclear is why Akerman Senterfitt has been identified as a prospective target of litigation and what, precisely, constituted “offense” on the part of the unidentified “we.”

    Akerman Senterfitt is the Florida-based law firm that represented ASD President Andy Bowdoin in the immediate aftermath of the August 2008 federal seizure of tens of millions of dollars from Bowdoin’s personal bank accounts by the U.S. Secret Service. The initial forfeiture case — and a subsequent forfeiture case brought by federal prosecutors in December 2008 — were filed as civil actions. ASD lost the cases in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and in the U.S. Court of Appeals — long after Akerman Senterfitt withdrew as counsel to Bowdoin and ASD.

    Charles A. Murray was Bowdoin’s counsel of record when final orders of forfeiture were issued against proceeds seized from Bowdoin and when both appeals were decided against Bowdoin, who once claimed as a pro se litigant that he’d been denied “fair notice” of illegal conduct.

    The email, which was attributed to ASD member Todd Disner, did not explain who comprised “we.” Nor did it explain how and why an apparent group of ASD members intended to “go after” the firm, Florida’s largest and one of America’s largest.

    Akerman Senterfitt appears only to have represented Bowdoin and former ASD Chief Executive Officer Juan Fernandez in the August 2008 civil case. There is no record of the firm filing an appearance notice for individual ASD members on the docket of the case, giving rise to questions about how individual ASD members ever could succeed in a bid to sue a law firm that never represented them. In the earliest days of the litigation, some ASD members compared the legal skills of the firm in its representation of Bowdoin and ASD to those of “Perry Mason” — while at once describing a government attorney as a bumbling, hapless “Gomer Pyle.”

    After a key court ruling went against Bowdoin and ASD in November 2008, some ASD members backed away from their earlier “Perry Mason” boast and blamed Akerman Senterfitt for Bowdoin’s legal troubles. The record of the case, however, shows that the government used ASD’s own words against it at an evidentiary hearing conducted in the fall of 2008 at Bowdoin’s request.

    A voicemail message left by the PP Blog for comment at Akerman Senterfitt in Miami was not immediately returned. Bowdoin fired the firm without notice in 2009, according to court records.

    On Jan. 13, 2009, with Akerman Senterfitt as counsel, Bowdoin submitted to the August 2008 forfeiture “with prejudice” and “consent[ed] to the forfeiture of the properties.” More than a month later — on Feb. 27, 2009 — Bowdoin filed a pro se pleading styled “NOTICE of Rescission and Withdrawal of Release of Claims to Seized Property and Consent to Forfeiture.”

    In April 2009, Akerman Senterfitt advised U.S. District Justice Rosemary Collyer that Bowdoin and ASD “have decided to represent themselves without consulting their counsel.

    “By way of example only,” the firm advised Collyer, “Mr. Bowdoin has recently filed, on a pro se basis, a series of motions. Mr. Bowdoin filed these motions without consulting with counsel and without bothering to advise counsel that he would be submitting motions on his own. Under these circumstances, the Akerman Senterfitt Law Firm cannot render effective assistance of counsel.”

    The firm, which was still Bowdoin’s counsel of record when he began to file freelance motions, asked for leave to withdraw from the case, explaining that its representation had become “unreasonably difficult.”

    Collyer released Akerman Senterfitt from the case on April 15, 2009.

    By the close of April 2009 — in response to one of several pro se pleadings by Bowdoin — prosecutors advised Collyer that he had signed a proffer letter in the case and acknowledged that the government’s material allegations were all true.

    Bowdoin himself later acknowledged that he had met with prosecutors over a period of at least four days in December 2008 and January 2009 and had provided information against his interests.

    Neither Bowdoin nor the government has said whether Bowdoin had provided information against the interests of others. Bowdoin claimed in September 2009 that he had been “hoodwinked” into releasing his claims and cooperating with prosecutors by Steven Dobson, a criminal attorney recommended by Akerman Senterfitt.

    The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously rejected Bowdoin’s hoodwinking claim in March 2011.

    There was no basis “to conclude that appellants were somehow tricked into releasing their claims,” the panel ruled. “Despite Bowdoin’s protests to the contrary, his own affidavit shows that he understood well that he was receiving no promise in return for relinquishing his claims.”

    In his own court filings, Bowdoin acknowledged that his decision to withdraw his claims to $65.8 million seized by the Secret Service was made because of a “possibility” that he could avoid a jail term.

    These are among the phrases to which Bowdoin swore on Sept. 15, 2009:

    • Dobson represented to me that I could possibly avoid prison or get a reduced sentence if I agreed to disclose details concerning ASD and releasing the assets.
    • I also signed a document stating that I would release my claims in the abovecaptioned civil in rem forfeiture proceeding, again thinking that necessary for a possible avoidance of a prison term.
    • I did all of this on the understanding that by cooperating I could possibly avoid a prison sentence.
    • I agreed not to exercise my rights in the civil forfeiture proceeding, anticipating from representations made by Dobson that this could possibly keep me out of prison.
    • Dobson lead [sic] me to believe that if I cooperated there was a possibility that I would not be incarcerated or imprisoned.
    • I believed that my cooperation would still result in a criminal sentence that could possibly not include imprisonment or incarceration.
    • I slowly came to understand what I understood from Dobson not to be the case: that my agreement to cooperate provided me no benefit in the criminal matter except the possibility of a reduced sentence if the judge desired which would still be a life sentence.

    New Email Circulating Among ASD Members

    Here, verbatim, is a new email circulating among ASD members. The email was attributed to Todd Disner. Disner, like Bowdoin, is among dozens of litigants who filed pro se pleadings in the civil portion of the case. (Italics added.)

    Hi folks,

    I talked to Andy the other day. He was in Atlanta airport coming home from his hearing in Washington .
    He said the government gave his attorney 10 discs full of files .
    The judge gave his attorney only 90 days to review all the documents .
    This was not fair but this is what the judge determined .

    But what was really interesting was when he told me that the
    prosecution was very proud of 11,000 affidavits they received from us through Rust
    Incorporated. .

    They “think” that they have evidence that now ASD was an investment.

    Of course we knew that that was a trap to get unsuspecting and desperate
    people to sign just about anything in an effort to get their money back .
    (My question is where of the other 107,000 people who did NOT sign the
    affidavit?)

    I’m sure that Andy’s attorney will speak to the coercive nature used to created that questionable evidence. To me it appears more and more that our
    government is operating with malice in this case. I think that will be apparent
    to any jury.

    Andy’s attorney is filing a motion to REDO the affidavit, This is a powerful attempt to get our money back by asking the court to make the government issue a “reasonable” form; one that does not make us perjure ourselves in an effort to recover what is rightfully OURS.

    Remember when we enrolled in ASD, we signed the “Term and Conditions” explicitly stating the ASD was NOT AN INVESTMENT. The existing form make liars out of us, one way or the other.

    Andy was in good spirits and very confident about his case .
    Dwight helped him get money back from his second attorney .
    This is a story in itself. Its shows the way Andy has been treated
    by his previous attorneys.

    We plan to go after Akerman Senifit next. (Andy’s first attorneys)

    It is a tragedy how the government must stoop to such tactics in
    order to prove their case against Andy and ASD.

    We are now playing “offense” and will see what happens.

    Keep your spirits up and try to help the cause.

    Best Regards,

    Todd Disner
    [Phone number deleted by PP Blog]

    Rust Consulting Inc. is the government-approved claims processor for victims of the alleged ASD fraud. ASD members who certify themselves crime victims through a process known as remission may be eligible to receive compensation through seized proceeds. The government announced nearly three years ago that it was establishing a restitution program.

    Some ASD members have described the remissions program as a government plot. Meanwhile, two ASD figures — Kenneth Wayne Leaming and Christian Oesch — sought to sue the government last year for the spectacular sum of more than $29 TRILLION.

    Disner started a drive earlier this year to raise money to help him and onetime attorney Dwight Schweitzer file a pro se lawsuit against the government.

    In recent weeks, other ASD members have started a fundraising drive for Bowdoin, who was arrested on ASD-related criminal charges in December 2010.

    There have been at least four efforts by subgroups of ASD members to raise money to litigate against the government since August 2008. Some ASD members who provided funding have contributed multiple times, becoming members of subgroups within subgroups that issued appeals for cash.

    A defunct organization known as ASD Members International (ASDMI) purported in October 2008 to be a Missouri nonprofit whose aim was to litigate against the government even if it was proceeding lawfully and perhaps have prosecutors and investigators charged with crimes.

    Separately, a group known as the ASD Members Business Association (ASDMBA) claimed it had gathered more than $100,000 to challenge the forfeiture and speed the return of seized funds. ASDMBA’s de facto head was Bob Guenther, a convicted felon.

    ASDMBA members complained that Guenther provided no transparent accounting after soliciting funds.

    Disner’s apparent group of ASD members is known informally as “ASD Justice,” the title of a Blog. No accounting has been released of the sums it collected. A plan by Disner and Schweitzer to sue the government in Florida’s federal courts appears to have stalled.

    Bowdoin’s apparent group is calling itself “Andy’s Fundraising Army.” It has missed two launch dates this month, but now says it will launch tomorrow. The group has positioned Bowdoin as “David,” with the government cast as a lawless “Goliath.”

  • ASDMBA, Jaffa Partners Websites Offine; Registrations For Both Are Current

    UPDATED 2:59 P.M.  ET (U.S.A.) Both sites discussed in story below are back up. . . .

    Two websites associated with AdSurfDaily mainstay Bob Guenther are offline. The sites — asdmba.com and jaffapartners.com — both are returning this message:

    “OOPS. This site is currently unavailable.” The message includes a prompt for ASDMBA and JaffaPartners to contact the hosting company.

    Why the sites are offline is unclear. Both sites were operational yesterday. The registrations for both domains is current, with the ASDMBA site not set to expire until October 2010 and the JaffaPartners site good until December 2011.

    Guenther was among more than 30 defendants sued earlier this month by shareholders of Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment (CME), a company that makes computer games.

    The defendants are accused in Maricopa County Court in Arizona of RICO violations for “participating in a scheme or artifice to defraud”; conversion of assets and refusing to return the assets with an “evil mind”; unjust enrichment for “failing to pay” or provide consideration for assets; and fraudulent transfer/conveyance.”

    Guenther is on probation in Maricopa County, after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor count of harassment last year in a case that involved his conduct toward CME. He initially was charged with two felonies in the case. Records in the Arizona case point out that Guenther has a previous felony conviction.

    He pleaded guilty in the 1990s to a felony count of bank fraud, according to federal records.

    ASDMBA solicited contributions from members, saying the organization wanted to protect members’ interests in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme litigation. Some ASDMBA members said they would not have given money to ASDMBA had they known of Guenther’s felony record. Others complained that Guenther did not provide an adequate accounting of how the money ASDMBA collected was spent.

    Members said ASDMBA collected tens of thousands of dollars.

  • Bowdoin ‘Most Interesting’ Figure In ASD Story; Prosecutors’ Court Wins Have Secured Control Over More Than 99 Percent Of Liquid Assets In Forfeiture Cases

    Andy Bowdoin

    EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is about the “Most Interesting ASD Figure” poll conducted by the PP Blog. It also includes data from court files that suggest federal prosecutors have won court battles that have secured control over more than 99 percent (99.2 percent) of the liquid assets available in the ASD/Golden Panda civil-forfeiture cases — with less than 1 percent (0.8 percent) of the remaining liquid assets still tied up in litigation.

    Here, now, the story . . .

    UPDATED 7:40 A.M. ET (U.S.A.) It is said — perhaps apocryphally — that Groucho Marx once entered a Groucho Marx look-alike contest and finished third.

    A similar fate almost befell AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin, one of seven choices in our poll that asked readers to select the “Most Interesting Figure In The Alleged AdSurfDaily Ponzi Scheme Story.”

    But in the final days of the poll, Bowdoin, who had trailed early and was in second place at various times, eked out a win over eventual second-pace finisher Bob Guenther and the five other poll subjects.

    Voting was light with only 53 votes cast, and the sample was not scientifically meaningful. The results, however, at least suggest that readers interested in ASD consider Bowdoin the star of his own story — a story that began in August 2008, when the U.S. Secret Service seized tens of millions of dollars from 10 Bowdoin bank accounts.

    ASD was a Florida-based Ponzi scheme that had engaged in wire fraud, money-laundering and the sale of unregistered securities, federal prosecutors said. Just last week prosecutors scored a big win, when a federal judge issued a final order of forfeiture in the August 2008 civil forfeiture case, granting the government title to more than $65.8 million seized from Bowdoin accounts.

    In July, the judge issued an order granting the government title to more than $14 million seized from the bank accounts of Golden Panda Ad Builder, whose assets were seized as part of the ASD civil-forfeiture case. A second civil-forfeiture case — filed in December 2008 against ASD/Golden Panda-connected assets — appears to be nearly resolved. The December case involves only a fraction of the money seized in the overall case.

    To date, prosecutors have scored wins that secured more than $79.88 million — more than 99 percent of the available cash pool (liquid assets) in both cases, with less than 1 percent of the pool still in litigation. The total pool of liquid assets in both cases amounts to about $80.52 million, according to court records. A prosecution win of the fraction of 1 percent remaining to be secured is a virtual certainty. Neither the ASD side nor the Golden Panda side has secured any financial wins. Golden Panda quit trying shortly after the August 2008 case was brought.

    Here is a way to look at the pool from both cases as a fraction. Of the $80.52 million available, prosecutors have control over $79.88 million: 79.88/80.52 — or 99.2 percent. If the prosecutors gain control over more than $600,000 remaining in litigation, they will have gained control over 100 percent of the available pool.

    The current cash pool does not count illiquid assets such as real estate, a Cabana boat, automobiles, jet skis and marine equipment that must be sold before it can be converted to cash and added to the pool.

    A big wild card is whether Bowdoin, who initially submitted to the forfeiture in January 2009 under advice from paid counsel but attempted to reassert his claims in February 2009 as a pro se litigant, will appeal. U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer ruled in November 2009 that Bowdoin no longer has standing in the August 2008 case. Bowdoin never established standing in the December 2008 case.

    Poll Results

    Bowdoin, 75, captured 36 percent of the vote in the “Most Interesting” poll; Guenther, 62, a government critic who led the poll at times, finished second, capturing 32 percent of the vote.

    Guenther is the de facto head of the ASD Members Business Association (ASDMBA). He emerged as a harsh critic of the manner in which prosecutors have handled the case, claiming he planned to rely on “political connections” to embarrass the Justice Department.

    “Soon, very soon, I am going to call on some political connections, and I am going to share everything I knew then, know now and everything I tried to provide you with,” Guenther said in an email last year to one of the prosecutors.

    Among Guenther’s assertions were that the government ignored leads he provided and that a prosecutor did not return more than 50 emails he had sent. Guenther pleaded guilty to a count of bank fraud in the 1990s in a case in which 10 other counts were withdrawn in a plea deal. Some ASDMBA members said they would not have contributed to the organization, which gathered money with the aim of protecting members’ interests in the ASD case, had they known Guenther had a felony record.

    Some ASDMBA members have complained that Guenther did not provide transparent accounting of how the organization spent its money. Guenther said ASDMBA’s accounting was transparent, describing his critics as uninformed whiners and liberals.

    Finishing third in the poll were the “Surf’s Up Mods.” Surf’s Up was a Pro-ASD forum that suddenly went missing nine days ago, about two weeks after Bowdoin reportedly made an appeal through a third party for members to search for videos of ASD “rallies.”

    “Andy [Bowdoin] wants to know if any of you took Videos and/or Audios of ‘him’ speaking at any of the ASD Rallies,” according to a Dec. 21 post on Surf’s Up. The post cited a third-party email.

    “The government is stating that Andy said certain things during the rallies and Andy is confident that he did not, but he does not have the proof without being able to provide the video/audio footage.

    “Please share this message with your entire organization so that we can get it out to the masses yet today hopefully to see if someone has the supporting evidence for Andy,” the post urged. “If any of you DO have the video footage (or audio recording) then transfer it to DVD and and contact Catherine Parker at [email address deleted].”

    The post did not specify precisely what video evidence Bowdoin hoped to obtain from members. In the August 2008 forfeiture complaint, prosecutors entered an exhibit that included a members’ transcription of remarks Bowdoin allegedly had made at a July 2008 rally in Miami.

    In the exhibit, Bowdoin identified George and Judy Harris as ASD employees, without telling members Harris was his stepson and that Judy Harris — the wife of George — also was a member of the Bowdoin family. Bowdoin described George Harris as head of ASD’s real-estate division, and Judy Harris as a clerical employee.

    Prosecutors later said that George Harris and his mother — Edna Faye Bowdoin, Andy Bowdoin’s wife — used more than $177,000 in illegal proceeds from two ASD accounts at Bank of America and opened an account at a third bank. The account was opened on June 10, 2008, less than two weeks after an ASD “rally” had concluded in Las Vegas.

    Before June had come to an end, prosecutors said, George Harris used more than $157,000 of the opening deposit to pay off the mortgage on the Tallahassee home he shared with his wife. The transaction was completed via wire transfer, with George Harris making the request over the telephone, prosecutors said.

    George and Judy Harris and Edna Faye Bowdoin were identified in the December 2008 forfeiture complaint as beneficiaries of ASD’s illegal conduct. The AdViewGlobal (AVG) autosurf, which launched after the seizure of ASD’s assets, later identified George and Judy Harris as AVG’s owners. Prosecutors seized the Harris home in the December 2008 forfeiture complaint, and neither George nor Judy Harris filed a claim to the home.

    Some ASD members said Bowdoin was the silent head of AVG. Surf’s Up received ASD’s official endorsement on Nov. 27, 2008, eight days after a key court ruling went against ASD. AVG emerged in the days ahead as an autosurf purportedly headquartered in Uruguay, and some of the Surf’s Up Mods peeled off and started a forum to promote AVG.

    Surf’s Up, whose members reportedly sent brownies and delicious baked goods to Bowdoin after he was implicated in the alleged Ponzi scheme and declared he was “too honest” to testify after Bowdoin had taken the 5th Amendment in the forfeiture case, received 17 percent of the vote in the “Most Interesting Figure” poll.

    Finishing in fourth place, with 8 percent of the vote, were the “Conspiracy Theorists” — those ASD members who speculated that President Kennedy was assassinated because he planned to expose a banking conspiracy and that President George W. Bush planned the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Some of the “Conspiracy Theorists” also claimed that the United States passed secret legislation in the 1990s in anticipation of a visit by reptilian aliens.

    Curtis Richmond, described by Surf’s Up as a “hero,” finished with “Professor” Patrick Moriarty in a tie for fifth in the poll. Each gleaned 4 percent of the vote. Richmond is associated with the so-called “Arby’s Indians,” a tribe ruled a “complete sham” by a federal judge in a case in Utah.

    The “tribe” got its derisive name because it held a meeting in an Arby’s restaurant in 2003. Members also established a sham “Supreme Court” at the address of a doughnut shop in Vernal, Utah, and also established a sham “arbitration” service that it used to pester public officials with spectacular claims that they had defaulted on contracts.

    At least two people who used the services of the tribe’s bogus “arbitration” panel were sentenced for federal prison for tax crimes.

    One of them was Bruce Robert Travis. Among other things, Travis is the self-published author of “My Past Life As Jesus” and “The Messiah For Hire.”

    Travis, associated with tax denier Royal Lamarr Hardy, now reportedly is working on a book in which he’ll describe what it’s like to be Jesus behind bars.

    “Tribe” members, including Richmond, were ordered in 2008 to pay more than $108,000 in damages in a racketeering lawsuit brought by the public officials. Richmond later emerged as a pro-se litigant in the ASD case, cheered on by Surf’s Up. Richmond attempted to have U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer disqualified from the ASD case — something Bowdoin himself later tried to do.

    Moriarty, who was indicted in March 2009 for filing false tax returns, now has entered a guilty plea in the tax case. He was a co-founder of — along with members of Surf’s Up — of ASD Members International (ASDMI).

    ASDMI promised to litigate against the government for its actions in the ASD case, even if the government was behaving legally. Moriarty, cheered on by Surf’s Up, was part of a letter-writing campaign to Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The campaign was aimed at getting the Senate to investigate the ASD prosecutors.

    Finishing last in the poll was “joe,” who received no votes. “joe” purported to be a Vietnam POW and a staunch advocate for autosurf Ponzi schemes.

  • POLL: As 2009 Draws To A Close, Cast Your Vote For The Most Interesting Figure In The AdSurfDaily Story

    EDITOR’S NOTE: Included in this post is a year-end poll to determine “The Most Interesting Figure” in the long-running AdSurfDaily story. Five of the seven choices are individuals who’ve been an intriguing part of the story. The remaining two choices are intriguing entities consisting of individuals.

    The individuals include Andy Bowdoin (the only individual in our ASD poll against whom prosecutors have asserted allegations of wrongdoing — and so far just civil allegations); Curtis Richmond; “Professor” Patrick Moriarty; Bob Guenther; and Poster “joe,” also known as “little joe.” The entities are the Pro-ASD Surf’s Up forum and a less public group we’ve deemed the “Conspiracy Theorists.”

    Brief memory-refreshers appear below the poll. Some readers perhaps will want to read the memory-refreshers before voting. You may make only one selection.

    Here, now, the story and the poll . . .

    From the date upon which federal prosecutors filed the first of two forfeiture complaints against Florida-based AdSurfDaily in August 2008, the ASD story and accompanying black comedy quickly became less about the Ponzi and more about the intriguing personalities.

    ASD President Andy Bowdoin has had two birthdays since then; he’s now 75 — and one of several U.S. senior citizens implicated in Ponzi schemes of national and international significance. On Aug. 1, 2008, the U.S. Secret Service filed a 37-page affidavit under seal in the case. The affidavit was accompanied by 57 pages of evidence — enough to persuade a federal magistrate judge to order more than a dozen bank accounts to be frozen.

    In its affidavit, the Secret Service said it feared Bowdoin had become aware of scrutiny into his business affairs and planned to flee the country.

    “I have not included every detail of every aspect of the investigation for this affidavit,” the agent who prepared the affidavit said. “Rather, it only includes the information necessary to prove that probable cause exists for a seizure warrant to be issued for property constituting proceeds of a wire fraud scheme.”

    U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Kay agreed the Secret Service had made a compelling argument. Kay issued 13 orders directing the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security “and any Authorized Officer of the United States” to seize 10 Bowdoin bank accounts and three accounts tied to Golden Panda Ad Builder, a closely-connected autosurf purportedly born on a Georgia fishing lake in April 2008 after Bowdoin had spent the day casting lines with Rev. Walter “Clarence” Busby Jr., who would later emerge as GP’s president.

    Aug. 1, 2008, was a Friday. Almost instantly ASD members spun the seizure of the bank accounts as a positive development, claiming the government would see the beauty of ASD’s business model after taking time to listen to the company’s story and that ASD would return quickly to the business of paying “advertisers” profits of 30 percent a month.

    Agents were planning a friendly “visit” in the days ahead, members claimed, again positioning the purported “visit” as a net plus because ASD’s business model was legally sound.

    What the vast, vast majority of the members making the initial claims did not know at the time was that the Secret Service had conducted surveillance in the case in multiple locations and gathered damning evidence from records and interviews with members.

    No criminal charges have been filed to date against Bowdoin or ASD, although the prosecution asserts in civil filings that ASD operated as a criminal enterprise.

    What had been positioned as a friendly “visit” in the earliest hours after the seizure proved to be the execution of search warrants at Bowdoin’s home and at ASD’s headquarters in a former floral shop in Quincy, Fla. The warrants were executed on Aug. 5, a Tuesday, four days after the Secret Service stopped the scheme from mushrooming any further by seizing the bank accounts.

    By Aug. 12, according to members, Bowdoin was comparing the actions of the Secret Service to the actions of the 9/11 terrorists who killed nearly 3,000 people, with Bowdoin saying “Satan” was at work. The allegations contained in the August forfeiture complaint, which was a public filing with several evidence exhibits attached, created a significant PR problem for Bowdoin in addition to the legal problem.

    The vast, vast majority of ASD members learned for the first time in the Aug. 5 civil filing by prosecutors that Bowdoin had been arrested in Alabama in the 1990s in a felony securities-fraud case and had entered guilty pleas. As a result of the filing, many members also learned for the first time that Rev. Busby had been implicated by the SEC in a prime-bank scheme in the 1990s and that Busby had declared bankruptcy.

    This information had been shielded from ASD and Golden Panda members as they were throwing money at the surfs, the Secret Service said. Agents went on to seize two more GP accounts. After reconciliations, the 15 accounts linked to ASD and Golden Panda contained just shy of $80 million, according to records.

    As strange as it sounds, a core group of ASD members pooh-poohed the allegations. Instead of considering that perhaps they had been conned by two individuals who previously had been central figures in serious securities litigation, the core group set out to demonize the government.

    In the months after the federal seizure — and in the months after Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum filed a fraud lawsuit against ASD — federal prosecutors released more information drip-by-drip. The information was part of follow-up filings in the August 2008 case. By December 2008, prosecutors had filed a second forfeiture complaint against ASD-connected assets.

    Several intriguing personalities have emerged since the initial filing in August 2008. Bowdoin, for example, initially contested the forfeiture. In January 2009, however, he submitted to it after meeting with prosecutors over a period of at least four days.

    But before February 2009 had come to a close, Bowdoin reentered the case — this time as a pro se litigant who’d purportedly fired his paid attorneys.

    Curtis Richmond, an ASD member, also emerged as a pro se litigant. He accused the prosecutors of crimes, suggesting a federal judge was operating a “Kangaroo Court” and was guilty of treason. For good measure, he accused a second federal judge of operating a “Kangaroo Court.” Dozens of pro se litigants would follow, some using a Richmond litigation blueprint and others using a blueprint that had been provided by an ASD upline.

    “Professor” Patrick Moriarty, who advanced Richmond’s theories of the case, embarked on a certified-mail campaign to discredit the prosecution. He also wrote a letter to Sen. Patrick Leahy, asserting that Leahy, the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, should set the committee’s investigative sights on the prosecutors who brought the ASD case, not the alleged wrongdoers who operated ASD.

    Bob Guenther, de facto head of the ASD Members Business Association (ASDMBA), also emerged as an intriguing personality. Guenther led a campaign to raise money so ASD members could hire an attorney to protect their legal interests in the case, and was criticized for not providing transparent accounting of how the money was spent and for bullying members verbally.

    Among other things, Guenther also was criticized for not revealing he had pleaded guility to a felony count of bank fraud in the 1990s and for responding to his critics by asserting they were “wusses” or “liberals.” Some ASDMBA members now say they see the organization as an entity that collected money and dissipated it while taking no effective action.

    Poster “joe,” meanwhile, emerged as an intriguing personality when he rationalized the so-called autosurf “industry” as just another business pursuit akin to gambling. He blasted autosurf opponents, saying he did not care if autosurf Ponzi schemes were illegal as long as they paid.

    “joe,” who described himself as a former Vietnam Prisoner of War, apparently decided eventually that the best way to express his point of view was to become chronically disruptive and abusive. He then morphed from Ponzi promoter to cyberstalker, threatening to set “fires” to disrupt the PP Blog’s operations.

    Since the fall of 2008, Surf’s Up has been a constant presence — and an intriguing personality — in the ASD story. Among the forum’s notable contributions was an assertion that Bowdoin, despite his felonious history, was “too honest” to testify at a hearing ASD asked a federal judge to conduct. The “too honest” explanation came in response to Bowdoin’s decision to take the 5th Amendment at a proceeding his company specifically requested.

    Surf’s Up also has urged members to take part in various letter-writing campaigns in support of Bowdoin, including Moriarty’s campaign. Moriarty was indicted on federal tax charges about a month after his February 2009 campaign to Leahy had begun, although the Moriarty prosecution and the ASD prosecution do not appear to be related.

    Research showed, however, that Moriarty, who started a nonprofit company to advocate for ASD, also had started a nonprofit company in the name of a Missouri man who had been accused of murdering a woman in cold blood and shooting a police officer four times.

    Federal prosecutors alleged that Moriarty, who at one time advertised tax expertise, had under-reported his income by an unspecified amount for the tax year 2002; claimed a false deduction of $30,000 for “legal fees” for the tax year 2003; and claimed a false amount of $23,533 withheld for the tax year 2004 and a false amount of $23,433 withheld for the tax year 2005.

    No poll that did not include the ASD conspiracy theorists as a choice for the most interesting figure would be complete. We’re aware, of course, that there may be some crossover, as some of the other poll choices have shared one conspiracy theory after another and conflated one new reality after another in their zeal to lend support to Bowdoin.

    Readers inclined to select the “Conspiracy Theorists” option, however, should make an effort to divorce the other nominees from the theories. For the purpose of this poll, the “Conspiracy Theorists” are those intriguing ASD members who purport to believe that paper currency is a government plot, that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated because he was about to expose the overall government conspiracy pertaining to money and that U.S. lawmakers passed secret legislation in the 1990s in anticipation of a visit by reptilian aliens.

    The ASD Ponzi story is like none other. Will Bowdoin emerge as the most interesting personality? Will Moriarty, “joe,” Richmond, Surf’s Up or Guenther?

    Or will it be the “Conspiracy Theorists?”

  • PP HOLIDAY READING: AdViewGlobal Stories Dominated Reader Interest In 2009; ASDMBA And ADV4U Coverage, Bowdoin Proffer, Guest Columnists Commanded Attention

    PPtop10UPDATED 1:25 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) AdViewGlobal-related stories comprised eight of the 10 “Most Popular” posts on the PatrickPretty.com Blog in 2009, as determined by a software scoring system that measures a range of data. The result suggests that readers were intensely interested in coverage of the controversial autosurf.

    The finding also suggests that AVG members were worried about the future of AVG and their participation in it. At the same time, the data suggest that AVG members were turning to the PP Blog to monitor AVG developments because they were not satisfied with the information provided by AVG and sought a “Big Picture” analysis, as opposed to relying exclusively on AVG to form their opinions.

    AVG-related stories and conversations dominated reader interest, largely beginning in the second quarter of the year. The most popular PP story of 2009 — weighing a range of factors beyond the single metric of post views — was an AVG story published June 3, under the headline, “AdViewGlobal Promoter Says Prospects Can Bypass Company And Purchase Ad-Packs Directly From Sponsors To Ensure They Get Credited With 200 Percent Match Before Deadline.”

    The June 3 story, however, was not the PP story that attracted the most readers, using “Single Post Views” as the only factor weighed by the software. That honor, if it can be called that, belonged to a March 24 post titled, “BREAKING NEWS: AVG Loses Banking Privileges.”

    The only two posts in the “overall” Top 10 — as weighed by several factors — that were not largely or exclusively about AVG were an April 18 column by guest writer Roxy Lewis and an Aug. 28 article about a claim by the AdVentures4U (ADV4U) autosurf that it was suspending cashouts amid reports that its purported owner, Steve Smith, had been threatened.

    Lewis’ column, titled “GUEST COLUMNIST: ‘Shocked’ And ‘Scared’ To See Her Name In Friedman Lawsuit Paperwork; Says She Was Told To ‘Examine Your Finances’; Sees Move By Dallas Lawyer As ‘Intimidation Tactic’ And Says She Won’t ‘Roll Over’ — was the 9th Most Popular post overall, as weighed by several factors.

    PatrickPretty.com has published 521 posts in the past year.

    In the Lewis guest column, the self-described member of the AARP generation told her story about various email interactions concerning her attempt to get a refund for her contribution to ASDMBA, an organization whose de facto head is ASD story mainstay Bob Guenther. Some ASDMBA members complained about obnoxious behavior by Guenther in their interactions with him, saying ASDMBA provided accounting that was less than transparent and bullied members who questioned its operation.

    ADV4U’s announcement, meanwhile, put the Ponzi forums in an uproar — and provided yet another compelling example of the “wink-nod” nature of autosurfs. On one hand, people throw money at the surfs to collect surfing “earnings” and sales commissions, and deny they are illegal. On the other hand, they become paranoid when a surf begins to show signs of trouble and then demand refunds or flock to Ponzi forums to complain, even though no autosurf has ever passed the test of time and demonstrated legality and mathematical sustainability.

    The story about the ADV4U announcement was the 2nd Most Popular Post, as weighed by several factors. Because ADV4U was known to be popular among members of AVG and AdSurfDaily — and because autosurfs in general are known to have common promoters — the data suggest that many people raced from one autosurf disaster to another in 2009.

    In the bizarre world of the autosurf, the people who entice others into joining one disaster after another — and pocket commissions for doing so — are known as the “leaders.”

    The Top 10 ‘Overall’ Posts As Measured By A Range Of Factors

    Here, in reverse order of popularity, is a list of the Top 10 Overall Posts on the PP Blog since December 2008, as measured by a range of factors, as opposed to the lone one of “Single Post Views.” To give you an idea of how the software works, consider that Tiger Woods may not lead the PGA Tour in all statistical categories, but may be the “overall” statistical leader when a range of variables are considered and averaged. Readers should view these results as a somewhat reliable estimate, as opposed to a scientifically pure one.

    No. 10: (July 1, 2009): AdViewGlobal Withdraws Announcement Of New Payment Plan; Initial Announcement Baffled Members

    No. 9: (April 18, 2009): GUEST COLUMNIST: ‘Shocked’ And ‘Scared’ To See Her Name In Friedman Lawsuit Paperwork; Says She Was Told To ‘Examine Your Finances’; Sees Move By Dallas Lawyer As ‘Intimidation Tactic’ And Says She Won’t ‘Roll Over’

    No. 8: (Aug. 5, 2009): DID SURF FIRM JUST MAKE HISTORY? AdViewGlobal Says It Filed State, Federal Complaints About $2.7 Million Theft; Surf Wants New CFO, Compliance Officer, Department Managers; Asks Members To Keep Surfing

    No: 7: (June 25, 2009): AdViewGlobal ‘Surf’ Firm Suspends Member Cash-Outs, Threatens Media With Copyright-Infringement Lawsuits

    No: 6: (July 10, 2009): AdViewGlobal’s June 1 News Release Had Typo That Directed Traffic Away From Website Firm Was Showcasing

    No. 5: (Aug. 7, 2009): And The Ponzis Will Die As One . . .

    No. 4: (June 30, 2009): BREAKING NEWS: AdViewGlobal Cited As Extension Of AdSurfDaily In RICO Complaint Against Andy Bowdoin

    No. 3: (June 23, 2009): Members Say AdViewGlobal Problems Are Mounting

    No. 2: (Aug. 28, 2009): BREAKING NEWS: AdVentures4U, New Darling Of Surf World, Says It Was Threatened; Note Says Cashouts Will Be Suspended Soon And Members Will Have To Make Do With Their ‘Advertising’ Purchases; Ponzi Forums In Uproar

    No. 1: (June 3, 2009): AdViewGlobal Promoter Says Prospects Can Bypass Company And Purchase Ad-Packs Directly From Sponsors To Ensure They Get Credited With 200 Percent Match Before Deadline

    ** Finishing just out of the Top 10 overall — in 11th Place — was this story about a dramatic announcement by the government in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi forfeiture case, published April 24, 2009: PROSECUTION BOMBSHELL: Bowdoin Signed Proffer Letter Prior To Submitting To Forfeiture And Told Investigators That Government’s Material Allegations Were ‘All True’

    *** No. 12 went to this post, published May 19, 2009: Patrick Pretty ‘Poof’ Penalty Plagues Portal Posters

    **** It is possible that the Bowdoin story now in 11th Place could eke its way into the Top 10 by the end of the year, as it currently is in a virtual tie for the No. 10 spot. Adjustments involving other stories also could occur.

    Sampling Of Top 10 Stories Scored By ‘Single Post Views’ Since December 2008

    No. 1: (March 24, 2009): BREAKING NEWS: AVG Loses Banking Privileges

    No. 2: (Sept. 23, 2009): WHO’S IN CHARGE? AdViewGlobal Surf Domain Now Resolves To GoDaddy; Registration Appears To Have Expired

    No. 6: (Dec. 13, 2008): Giant Wall Street ‘Ponzi Scheme’ Collapses; Potential Losses In Madoff Fraud Pegged at $50 Billion Amid ‘One Big Lie’

    No. 8: (Dec. 13, 2008): Two Friday Bank Failures Will Cost FDIC $212.5 Million

    No. 9: (Dec. 14, 2008): Judge Orders Freeze Of Madoff’s Assets; Investigators Will Try To Determine If Funds Were Co-Mingled In Ponzi Scheme

    No. 10: (Dec. 15, 2008): Madoff Victims Include Foundations, Business And Entertainment Icons, Mom And Pop

    ** Four of the other Top 10 stories measured by Post Views since December 2008 were updates instructing readers about our progress in switching to the WordPress publishing platform. It seems readers missed us when we were offline or down for maintenance. :-)

    *** The Most Popular Story in the past 90 days is this one, published on Sept. 30, 2009: ASD Mainstay Bob Guenther Lectures Federal Prosecutor, Says He’ll Call On ‘Political Connections’ To Embarrass Justice Department; Claims Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio Not Tough Enough On Crime

    **** The 2nd Most Popular Post in the past 90 days is this one, published on Oct. 1, 2009: Guenther Softens Comment That ‘Sheriff Joe’ Arpaio Was Soft On Crime; Says Recent Email Lecturing Veteran Federal Prosecutor Was Sent At Behest Of Crime Victims

    ***** The 3rd Most Popular Post in the past 90 days is this one, published on Oct. 12, 2009: Site That Used ASD’s Name And Made Odd Claims While Bowdoin Was Negotiating With Prosecutors Goes Offline

    ****** The 4th Most Popular Post in the past 90 days was this one, published on Oct. 14, 2009: EDITORIAL: Our Best Wishes To ‘Gomer Pyle,’ AUSA

    ******* The 5th Most Popular Post in the past 90 days was this one, published Sept. 29, 2009: OBSTRUCTION? ASD Spokeswoman Whose Name Appeared In Secret Service Filing Says She Instructed Members NOT To Fill Out Government Form; Now Appears To Be Advising Members To Clam Up If Contacted By Agents

    ******** This post, published on Sept. 28, 2009, is in a virtual tie for the 5th Most Popular Post in the past 90 days: BREAKING NEWS: Prosecutors Go Back To Court, Provide Judge Copy Of Transcript From Bowdoin’s Call Last Week

    ********* This Jan. 3, 2009, post by guest columnist “Entertained” scored very well overall for the year and finished in the Top 20 overall posts for the year: ‘Black Box’ Method Exposes ASD Sustainability Myth

    ********** This July 9, 2009, post by guest columnist Gregg Evans also scored very well overall for the year, finishing in the Top 30: GUEST COLUMN: Payment Processors That Give Refunds Unilaterally Help Surf ‘Industry’ Live To See Another Day

  • Guenther Acknowledges ‘Intimidating’ Autosurf Members For Refunds; Calls ASD-Biz Forum Readers ‘Left Wing Liberal No B***** People’; Says Woman A ‘Mouthy Broad’

    The ASD Business Information Zone (ASD-Biz) forum covers news and opinion on AdSurfDaily, Golden Panda Ad Builder and what the forum describes as “Related Scams.” ASD-Biz has been a central discussion site on the subject of the ASD Members Business Association (ASDMBA).

    Some ASD-Biz members have urged Bob Guenther, the de facto head of ASDMBA, to provide straightforward, transparent accounting of how ASDMBA spent money it collected from ASD members to provide legal representation in a bid to gain back money they spent in the ASD and Golden Panda autosurfs.

    Among the assertions by ASDMBA’s critics is that members received no value for the money they contributed to ASDMBA. Specific concerns have been raised about Guenther’s leadership and management skills, including his ability to interact with people. Some members said Guenther seems to operate with the presumption that all people who contributed money to ASDMBA were Republican or conservative in their political beliefs, even though ASDMBA never advised contributors when it was collecting money that it had a political agenda.

    Guenther pleaded guilty in the 1990s to a felony count of bank fraud — something members said they did not know when they contributed money to ASDMBA. Earlier this year Guenther was charged with two felony counts in Arizona for allegedly ignoring a court order not to harass a company with which he has a dispute.

    Guenther initially said police had obtained evidence against him unlawfully. He now says the case will be settled.

    Guenther has used the ASD-Biz forum to respond to his critics. Overnight he came out firing — but not before acknowledging ASDMBA engaged in intimidation tactics to retrieve money for members of the ASD and Golden Panda autosurfs.

    “Vigilanteism, is that what you call intimidating a THIEF to give back money he stole from a disabled veteran,” Guenther said. “Is that what YOU call intimidating a thief like Busby to reimburse over $50,000 to a group of active and retired police officers, is that what you call to convince a young pretty scam artist to refund $4000 she stole from a Dallas executive[?]

    “You call it what you want, I call it street justice,” Guenther said.

    He then brought politics into the discussion, using street language. “Ill take my chances and if it bothers you, stay right where all you left wing liberal no balled people like to sit, on the sidelines.”

    Earlier Guenther had cautioned an ASD-Biz poster to “Put up or shut up, you ignorant mouthy broad.”

    His comments in which he acknowledged using intimidation tactics to retrieve money came in response to a link to a March news release from the FBI about allegations of attempted extortion against a California man. The agency said the man had “attemped to extort monies” to recover funds in the alleged EIMT Ponzi scheme.

    Agents described the case against Michael David Sanders as a “shake-down scheme.” As the investigation proceeded, Sanders and three others who allegedly assisted him in recovering the money by posing as federal agents were charged with serious crimes.

    No one asserts that Guenther posed as a federal agent in bids to recover money from the Golden Panda and ASD schemes. But ASDMBA’s website urged visitors to make an ASD member’s life “miserable until he refunds Mr. Smith’s $2,000.00 dollars.” The site published the phone number, postal address and email address of Dan Trost, Smith’s purported ASD sponsor.

    “Call, email and write this man until he gives Bill Smith, Jr. his $2,000.00,” ASDMBA’s website urged.

    ASDMBA members say Guenther frequently uses coarse language and engages in threatening, menacing conduct.

    Guenther said the effort to get back money for Smith, a disabled veteran, was successful. ASDMBA’s website lists the effort to gain back the money as a “Testimonial” to the group’s effectiveness.

    ASDMBA, however, has no license to engage in the collection of purported debts, and efforts to collect money on behalf of members occurred while a federal investigation into the business affairs of ASD and Golden Panda was under way.

    Guether said the group retrieved funds for retired and active-duty police officers in Texas and California, and for a “high profile Dallas Cowboy” executive.

    More than $14 million was seized from Golden Panda last year by the U.S. Secret Service in a wire-fraud, money-laundering, securities and Ponzi scheme probe. More than $65.8 million was seized from ASD, all of it in accounts maintained by ASD President Andy Bowdoin.

    In recent days, Guenther has discouraged ASD victims from going through a government program to receive restitution from the alleged fraud, suggesting he has a way that cuts through government red tape.

    Visit the ASD-Biz forum.

  • EDITORIAL: In The Past 24 Hours On The PP Blog . . .

    Some things have happened here in the past 24 hours that deserve their own post and discussion thread.

    EXTREMELY NOTEWORTHY

    Poster “Tony H,” a longtime, thoughtful contributor, observed there could be more than one reason why some ASD members appear to be trying to discourage other members from filling out the government information form and claim form that will follow.

    “Perhaps the reason some ponzi promoters have been advising the flock not to file a claim is because the ponzi supporters have filed multiple claims themselves,” Tony said.

    Tony’s post struck us instantly as worthy of a wide-ranging discussion. Previously we noted that various bids to discourage ASD members from filing claims and cooperating with investigators smacked of a conspiracy to obstruct justice. We still believe that to be true.

    But, as Tony pointed out, the shenanigans may not begin and end there. If he is correct, one possible reason some ASD members are discouraging others from filing claims is to create a condition under which they can maximize their shares of the restitution pool at the expense of victims, thus fleecing them twice.

    If fewer people file claims, the pro rata shares of refunds from the government program would be higher. Beyond that, if an upline sponsor is discouraging downline members from filing individual claims by casting the government as evil, it could set the stage for all kinds of shenanigans.

    • Upline sponsors could gain disproportionate shares of the restitution pool because “Mom” and “Pop” in the downline — the real victims — became fearful of filing a claim.
    • Upline sponsors could be trying for reasons of self-interest to plant the seed that the sponsor has a duty to file a claim for the entire downline. Are some upline sponsors employing tactics of deceit, perhaps by saying things such as, “Don’t worry; I’ll fill out the form for you” or “Filling out the form only will get you in trouble” or “My downline members all agree that I’ll file the only claim and distribute refunds to members when I get the money from the government?”

    The rules suggest each ASD member is/will be required to file an individual claim through a process in forfeiture cases known as “remission.” Upline sponsors appear to have no authority to file claims for downline members.

    Because it is known that some downline members paid upline sponsors directly for “ad-packs” — as opposed to paying ASD itself for “ad-packs” — is is possible that some sponsors may try to manipulate members into not filing claims in a bid to keep the heat off the sponsors. Such direct sales by sponsors could affect a downline member’s standing in the case if the downline member cannot produce documentation that the purchase was made directly from ASD.

    This is troubling. As poster “dirty_bird” has noted, such devious upline tricks have been pulled in other dying Ponzi schemes — and ASD is known to have a good number of professional Ponzi promoters in the organization.

    We encourage readers to share their thoughts on this issue.

    NOTEWORTHY

    ASD mainstay Bob Guenther, de facto head of the ASD Members Business Association (ASDMBA), once again rattled the china when he bulled his way into a thread here.

    In one thread, Guenther said the government was capturing “personal information” from people who called the new Justice Department hotline for ASD or visited the website prosecutors set up for ASD victims.

    “So because the US Government sets up a hotline and a website, both of which will capture YOUR personal information, people think they will see a refund,” Guenther said.

    We wondered if it had not occurred to Guenther that victims in criminal cases all have to make a showing to receive justice. It’s one of the reasons rape cases often are particularly difficult to prosecute and why prosecutors set up information/support networks to aid victims through horribly painful ordeals.

    At the same time, we wondered why Guenther — who implies he can help ASD members get refunds faster than the government — suggested the government hotline was nefarious, that people should avoid it because of all the purported capturing of personal information.

    Perhaps the answer to that question can be found in yet another thread into which Guenther plowed. He reminded our readers that ASDMBA used “pressure” to gain a refund for an ASD member.

    “Let’s just say a little pressure was applied in the right places,” he said. Guenther was describing a case in which ASDMBA encouraged website visitors to “make Dan Trost’s life miserable until he refunds Mr. Smith’s $2,000.00 dollars.”

    For good measure, the ASDMBA website provided Trost’s postal address, email address and phone number, along with these instructions:

    “Call, email and write this man until he gives Bill Smith, Jr. his $2,000.00,” the ASDMBA website instructed, on a page marked “Testimonials.”

    “With Unity there is Power,” ASDMBA instructed.

    People can get in trouble for engaging in threatening behavior and vigilanteism.

    NOTEWORTHY

    A poster, “Arnet,” pointed out that there seems to be a disparity between the amount ($93.5 million) the U.S. Secret Service listed as seized in the ASD case and the amount ($65.8 million) federal prosecutors said was seized from ASD President Andy’s Bowdoin’s bank accounts.

    Arnet noted the disparity is $27.7 million.

    We noted that Golden Panda also is part of the ASD case, and the total seizure listed from Golden Panda/ASD combined was $79.88 million. This takes the seeming disparity down to $13.62 million.

    But we also pointed out that perhaps no disparity exists because of reconciliations that occurred after the seizure. Some banks might have stopped payment on seized checks that had been deposited, for example.

    It’s also possible that no disparity exists because the ASD case is proceeding on two separate tracks — civil and criminal — and that the $93.5 million figure reported by the Secret Service reflects what is publicly known about the forfeiture case ($79.88 million) and an additional amount that is filed under seal in a criminal matter.

    It could be that $13.62 million — the difference between the amount published in the forfeiture case ($79.88 million) and the total seizure amount published by the Secret Service ($93.5 million) — is being held in a separate account in a case under seal.

    As we pointed out, we’re not sure precisely what accounts for the seeming disparity of $13.62 million. We believe it a virtual certainty, however, that no disparity actually exists.

    We believe the government will explain this issue in detail at an appropriate time. The investigation still is in progress. It’s important to remember it also involves the LaFuenteDinero autosurf, and that information concerning how LaFuenteDinero managed its operations and finances is particularly sketchy.

  • ASDMBA Website Offline; Registration Lapsed Yesterday

    UPDATED 9:23 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) The ASDMBA website appears to be back online. Our earlier story is below . . .

    The website of the ASD Members Business Association — asdmba.com — is offline. ASDMBA’s domain registration appears to have expired yesterday, and the site now resolves to a GoDaddy.com page that displays ads.

    Bob Guenther, ASDMBA’s de facto head, came under fire this year, after some members said Guenther did not provide transparent accounting on how the entity spent money it collected to litigate on behalf of members of AdSurfDaily Inc.

    Guenther, 61, recently said the group intended to ramp up efforts to get refunds for members of Florida-based ASD and Georgia-based Golden Panda Ad Builder Inc., two autosurf implicated in an alleged $100 million Ponzi scheme.

    “So now it is time to round up all the troops again and get ready to try and ‘GO GET THE MONEY,’” Guenther said.

    Guenther has been highly critical of the Justice Department, lecturing a federal prosecutor in an email and saying he planned to rely on unnamed “political connections” to embarrass the government.

    See an Sept. 30 story.

    Se an Oct. 1 story.

  • Guenther Softens Comment That ‘Sheriff Joe’ Arpaio Was Soft On Crime; Says Recent Email Lecturing Veteran Federal Prosecutor Was Sent At Behest Of Crime Victims

    AdSurfDaily mainstay Bob Guenther backed away overnight from a comment that suggested an Arizona county sheriff known for instituting chain gangs and outfitting prisoners in pink underwear was soft on crime.

    Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County would be Guenther’s jailer if he is convicted and sentenced to prison in the county. Guenther, 61, is accused of two felonies in Maricopa County by the Mesa Police Department, which said  he repeatedly violated a court order not to harass a gaming company with which he has a dispute.

    Guenther complained early Wednesday that an individual he described as a criminal “is still walking the streets, still taking in millions of investors money, still hiding assets, right there under Sheriff Joe’s nose..”

    Overnight, however, Guenther softened his remarks about Arpaio.

    “I made no disparaging comments regarding Sheriff Joe,” Guenther said. “Mesa, AZ is just in his jurisdiction.”

    Guenther, who pleaded guilty to felony bank fraud in 1994, did not back away from claims that he would use unspecified “political connections” to embarrass the U.S. Department of Justice, which he suggests has ignored leads he provided and conducted an incompetent investigation in the AdSurfDaily wire-fraud, money-laundering and Ponzi scheme case.

    He complained that Senior Trial Attorney William Cowden had not returned more that 50 emails he had sent. Federal prosecutors, however, are under no obligation to return emails, and the ASD case is an investigation in progress.

    On Monday, for example, the U.S. Secret Service filed a new document in the case — the transcript of an audio recording ASD President Andy Bowdoin made earlier this month. Bowdoin has suggested in court filings that he was indicted under seal in May. Prosecutors revealed in April that Bowdoin had signed a proffer letter in the case.

    Guenther’s most recent email to Cowden had a condescending tone, including a passage that began, “How about this one Bill, just as a freebie.”

    The email lectured the prosecutor, an expert in forfeiture law and part of the prosecution team that gained a conviction against the e-Gold payment processor last year for facilitating money-laundering.

    ASD once used e-Gold as its payment processor.

    “I will not sit on this anymore, you are going in circles . . . ” Guenther said in his email to Cowden. “You have my number and my email..”

    In April, on this Blog, Guenther reproduced an email he had received from Cowden in February. In his one-sentence response to Guenther, the prosecutor noted that he earlier had explained that the case was the Justice Department’s to handle and that it would proceed as it saw fit.

    “As I have said before, we intend to use forfeited assets (upon liquidation) to compensate Ponzi victims,” Cowden said.

    Guenther reproduced the same information on the ASDMBA website, but continues to suggest Cowden has a duty to reply to all of his emails and perhaps even reveal the government’s prosecution strategy.

    Guenther is the de facto head of the ASD Members Business Association (ASDMBA), which has come under fire for collecting money from ASD members to establish legal representation but not providing straightforward accounting on how the money was spent.

    At the same time, Guenther also has asserted that, through his efforts, money that had been directed at Golden Panda by active-duty police officers and retirees from Texas and California was intercepted and returned to the police groups before it could become part of a victims’ compensation pool prosecutors said they sought to establish.

    Cowden referenced the pool in his February response to Guenther’s email.

    Meanwhile, Guenther also says that money others directed at Golden Panda — including money from a “high profile Dallas Cowboy executive” — was intercepted and returned to contributors before it could become part of a victims’ pool.

    Overnight, Guenther explained that his most recent email to Cowden was sent at the behest of “concerned” crime victims.

    “My letter to William Cowden was requested by several concerned groups of victims,” Guenther said. “Over 300 ASD and Panda victims, most of whom have given Andy [Bowdoin]/ASD or [Golden] Panda over $5000. Another particular group of over 400 people, represented by four Atlanta area men gave [Golden Panda Ad Builder President Clarence] Busby over $1.8Million, none of which was earned through ASD, so there is no link between the two.”

    Prosecutors, however, filed an “all funds” forfeiture complaint last August that targeted assets of both ASD and Golden Panda in the same proceeding. The government has established ties between the firms, and one of the pro se filers in the case — Joyce Haws — has been identified as a rally coordinator for ASD and a founder of Golden Panda.

    Busby identified Haws as one of 34 Golden Panda founders in court filings.

    Meanwhile, Guenther implied in his email that ASDMBA soon would become active again, in part because the government was botching the case. He predicted that the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson would become advocates for victims who attended “a very high-profile African-American church in Atlanta.”

    “When this comes out, and it will, this very, very high profile church will call on the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to assist in getting their money back,” Guenther said. “They have asked me to help.”

    Rather than be passive, ASDMBA would be aggressive, Guenther said.

    “So now it is time to round up all the troops again and get ready to try and “GO GET THE MONEY”..

  • ASD Mainstay Bob Guenther Lectures Federal Prosecutor, Says He’ll Call On ‘Political Connections’ To Embarrass Justice Department; Claims Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio Not Tough Enough On Crime

    Already facing two felony charges in Arizona stemming from what police described in court filings as a repeated pattern of harassment against a gaming company, Bob Guenther now has taken aim at a federal prosecutor involved in the AdSurfDaily case.

    Guenther, 61, who describes himself as a former Marine and Vietnam veteran, forwarded a copy of an email to this Blog early this morning, suggesting the email has or will be sent to Justice Department Senior Trial Attorney William Cowden.

    “Soon, very soon, I am going to call on some political connections, and I am going to share everything I knew then, know now and everything I tried to provide you with,” Guenther said in the email.

    He complained that Cowden had not returned more than 50 emails he had sent. Guenther has a history of citing political connections. At one time, he claimed to have the private phone number of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.

    Earlier this year, Guenther sent the PatrickPretty.com Blog 11 emails on a single day, requesting a receipt for each. He complained when the Blog did not instantly publish a story based on information he had sent, and also threatened the Blog with “war.”

    At the same time, he threatened to use the database of the ASD Members Business Association (ASDMBA) to send an email that identified PatrickPretty.com as “Possibly a ASD winner!!!”

    PatrickPretty.com and its author are a journalism enterprise. Neither the Blog nor its author were members of ASD or ASDMBA, which has come under fire for accepting money from ASD members in a bid to establish legal representation that would seek the return of money they sent to ASD.

    Neither the PatrickPretty.com Blog nor its author has any stake in the outcome of the ASD litigation or matters that concern ASDMBA. ASDMBA members have complained that Guenther has not provided appropriate accounting for how ASDMBA spent its money. They also have complained that Guenther has engaged in menacing behavior and suggested members who sought answers would have to sue him to get them.

    Guenther also criticized police officers and Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio in his email to Cowden.

    “People go to jail everyday for things as simple as not paying a traffic ticket,” Guenther said. “I am fighting two bogus Class 6 felony charges in Maricopa County, filed by another ‘Andy’ I have exposed.  If I were to lose the case, there is mandatory jail time.

    “MY crime? I purportedly sent two emails to CME’s corporate counsel, thus violating a Workplace Harassment Injuction (sic) filed against me to keep me away from other shareholders,” Guenther continued.

    He complained that authorities were not taking effective action to stop crimes, saying an individual he described as a criminal “is still walking the streets, still taking in millions of investors money, still hiding assets, right there under Sheriff Joe’s nose..”

    Cowden, Guenther implied, could learn a thing or two about law enforcement from Guenther, who has a felony conviction for bank fraud. ASDMBA members complained that Guenther did not disclose the conviction when he was holding conference calls to gather money for the Trust.

    “When are you going to wise up and ask the help of people who can load you up with so much verifiable facts of fraud, you couldn’t possibly follow-up on it all[?]” Guenther lectured Cowden.

    “By the time a Trustee finally gets around to attempting to get restitution from ASD winners, they will have the money spent or hidden so deep, MILLIONS upon Millions will be gone,” Guenther continued. “That of course assumes you win this case.. These ASD people talk and plan strategy daily, they communicate through emails, blogs, forums and conference calls. Do you have people in on every one of these groups, I do..

    “You ever get around to really wanting to put these guys away, you call me,” Guenther lectured.

    In an April 13 letter to readers, PatrickPretty.com shared details about behavior Guenther had directed at this Blog.

    “In recent weeks we have received a number of communications from Guenther we deem threatening — and this while Guenther is facing felony charges in Arizona amid allegations he violated a court order repeatedly and continued to threaten an Arizona company even after being warned not to do so,” the Blog reported at the time.

    “You want a war, there Patrick, you got one..,” Guenther commented here [April 11]. “Print the truth, get off the ASDMBA or start a war.. Your Choice…”

  • UPDATE: Guest Columnist Relates Conversation With Lawyer On Matters Pertaining To Free Speech And Subpoena In Larry Friedman Libel And Slander Lawsuit Against Jack Arons

    Editor’s Note: This is a follow-up column by Roxy Lewis, a member of ASD and the ASD Members Business Association (ASDMBA). Lewis is a self-described member of the “AARP generation” and a grandmother.

    Her initial column was published April 18. It dealt with her thoughts and feelings about seeing her name in a subpoena in the slander and libel lawsuit by Dallas attorney Larry Friedman against Florida resident Jack Arons, a pro se defendant who draws Social Security and lives in a manufactured home. The initial Lewis column also included her take on email exchanges with Friedman’s law firm in her bid to receive a refund for her $100 contribution to ASDMBA.

    This column addresses her discussions with an attorney about these matters. It is published in her own words. The references to the “Ning Nine” below are references to individuals about whom Friedman sought information via subpoena to ning.com, the host of the ASD-Biz forum.

    For additional background, see reports on this Blog pertaining to Bob Guenther, the de facto head of ASDMBA. Guenther introduced Friedman to potential ASDMBA contributors last summer as a lawyer interested in protecting their interests in the civil forfeiture case against AdSurfDaily Inc., a Florida company federal prosecutors said was selling unregistered securities, engaging in money-laundering and wire fraud and operating a Ponzi scheme. Some ASDMBA members are unhappy with Guenther, saying he has not provided transparent accounting that detailed  how ASDMBA spent money collected from contributors to protect their interests in the ASD case. ASDMBA members also complained about verbal bullying and threats from Guenther. Friedman is the attorney for the ASDMBA Trust.

    Of Subpoenas, Speech and the Attempt to Silence

    By Roxy Lewis

    After writing the guest column on this blog [April 18], I was finally able to speak directly with a local Minnesota attorney who specializes in internet law, regarding my name appearing on Larry Friedman’s subpoena in his case against Jack Arons. I also wanted to know the legal ramifications of that, as well as my options and possible legal exposures. I would recommend everyone else who is curious do the same with an attorney local to their area.

    Based on what I was told, I am even more convinced that naming the “Ning Nine” in the subpoena was a move intended solely to intimidate and silence us, and anyone else who reads about the ASDMBA, and possibly to fish for further information about the anonymous posters in the group.

    First I asked whether I have any legal exposure based on being on the subpoena. The reply was no, as the subpoena was not directed to me personally, nor have I posted anything that could be considered libelous or defaming.

    Next I asked, after reading the thoughts of others that the Ning Nine group members should sue Larry Friedman for defamation, whether this would be possible.  In a word, no. Larry Friedman has not defamed or issued libelous statements regarding any of us. The fact that he listed our names on a subpoena is not actionable.

    Third, I asked if I were to file a complaint with the Texas bar or shared information with the Citizen Media Law Project site, as some have suggested, would I have an exposure to suit there. His response was very interesting.

    What he said was, “The best defense for a claim of defamation is the truth. If what you say in the complaint or share with the Project is the truth, and you can show that, you have an excellent defense.”

    Then, just out of curiosity I asked this: Suppose Larry Friedman decides, since he has my real name and address, to sue me and schedules a deposition in Texas as he did with Jack Arons. Can he compel me to go to Texas, which would be as big a financial hardship to me as it is to Jack Arons?

    His answer was very enlightening. He said, “Generally speaking, the answer is no.  Generally speaking, a person being deposed cannot be forced to travel more than 100 miles for the process.”

    So, there you have it. Ning has said it isn’t going to respond to the subpoena. None of us on the subpoena other than Jack have personally been subpoenaed or sued at this point. We have no cause of action against Larry Friedman for our names being included in the subpoena. Those of us who have said nothing negative or untrue about Larry Friedman and/or Friedman and Feiger, have the best defense should he ever decide to come after us in an attempt to silence his critics and/or the entire internet.

    We have the facts, which often come from Larry Friedman himself, and in his own words, no less.

    However, there is another option for the Ning Nine. I was told there is no reason to refrain from making truthful reports to the appropriate bar associations and other public groups, such as Citizen Media Project about this entire matter, as has already been suggested in multiple online venues.

    As long as the information is truthful and the assertions can be proven and documented, there is no reason not to proceed. In my case, as well as several others of the Ning Nine, I have not posted anything false about Larry Friedman or his firm, or the methods he has employed regarding the ASDMBA. His own company emails have done the damage, both those from himself and his employee. And as one of the comments to my guest column says, I am not the only one to receive such threatening responses via email when a simple refund request was made.

    I did find one other interesting tidbit in my research. Larry Friedman’s biography on the Friedman and Feiger site says he is licensed to practice in Texas, Florida and Minnesota.  From what I found online today and confirmed by calling the Judiciary directly, this is not the case, at least in Minnesota. While he is a member of the Minnesota Bar, lawyer license #0032165, by virtue of having paid the fees on March 5, 2009, he is not authorized to practice here. The following information about his Minnesota status comes from this link:  http://www.courts.state.mn.us/mars/AttorneyDetail.aspx?id=0032165

    Sscreenshot reduced to fit within borders.
    Screen shot reduced to fit within borders.

    Since I was unfamiliar with the meanings of “Not authorized-Non-Resident” and “Involuntarily Restricted (by Court Order), I called the Bar office at 651-296-2254 and asked for clarification. I was told that the “Not Authorized-Non-Resident” is a choice the individual attorney makes, and is not mandatory simply because they are out of state.

    The “Involuntarily Restricted (By Court Order) is because of Larry Friedman’s CLE status. Since he has not reported his CLE (Continuing Legal Education) record to the Minnesota Judicial System, his license to practice was involuntarily put in a “non-authorized” or “on-hold” status. I find it very interesting that his biographical information on the Friedman and Feiger site says he is licensed to practice in Minnesota, when he is not, according to our State Judiciary. Licensed? Yes. Licensed to practice? No.

    The same information can be found by searching the Minnesota Courts Lawyers for Public Discipline site at http://www.mncourts.gov/lprb/SearchLawyer.aspx.

    So, I invite all of you to do your own checking with an attorney local to your area, to see if you get different answers than I did. For the present, there are no grounds on which the Ning Nine can sue Larry Friedman as he’s done nothing actionable.

    Ning isn’t going to respond to the subpoena request, according to Paul Levy, particularly since they don’t even gather all of the information included in the subpoena. What each person decides to do after talking to a local attorney regarding their personal interactions with Larry Friedman and/or his staff, is clearly up to them.

    But as the attorney I spoke with said, as long as you are being truthful and can substantiate and document the facts of what you say, you have the best defense against any defamation claim from anyone, including other attorneys, wherever they may reside. That would apply to any group of persons, such as the 300 ASDMBA members located in Florida, who may choose to take this further as a group, as well as it would to individuals.