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Tag: Bowdoin/Harris Enterprises

  • Florida Drops State-Level Pyramid Case Against AdSurfDaily; Says It Has Supplied Victims’ List To Claims Administrator For Restitution From Assets Seized By Secret Service In Federal Case

    Andy Bowdoin

    UPDATED 7:40 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Certain members of Florida-based AdSurfDaily began crowing last week that the office of Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum had dropped the pyramid-scheme case it had filed against ASD in August 2008.

    “The State of Florida has dropped all charges against Ad Surf Daily, Inc. This is wonderful news!” an email received by some ASD members exclaimed.

    Florida prosecutors, however, tell a different story.

    Although McCollum’s office confirmed today that the pyramid case has been dropped “without prejudice” — meaning it can be refiled — it noted that state investigators have forwarded a list of Florida victims of ASD to a federal claims administrator “for processing and reimbursement purposes.”

    Florida initially had sought restitution for victims, along with the dismantling of ASD. ASD essentially dismantled itself in September 2009 by not filing required forms with the state, which revoked its corporate registration. Less than four months later, in January 2010, the federal government was awarded title to more than $65.8 million seized in the case. The government earlier had been awarded title to more than $14 million. In March 2010, the government was awarded title to more than $600,000 that had been seized in a separate forfeiture action filed against ASD connected assets in December 2008.

    All in all, the federal government was awarded title to more than $80 million seized in the ASD case, gaining a clean sweep in the forfeiture proceedings.

    The U.S. Secret Service raided ASD on Aug. 5, 2008.  Florida followed up with a lawsuit of its own a day later, but federal prosecutors later said they intended to form a restitution pool from seized assets. That process now has begun, although ASD President Andy Bowdoin is appealing the January 2010 forfeiture order entered by U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer.

    In its paperwork to dismiss the pyramid case, McCollum’s office pointed to Collyer’s forfeiture order, saying ASD victims from Florida and elsewhere had been provided an opportunity for restitution by the federal government.

    On Sept. 28, 2009 — three days after Florida revoked ASD’s corporate registration and dissolved the registration of a shell company known as Bowdoin/Harris Enterprises — federal prosecutors filed a U.S. Secret Service transcript of a conference call ASD had recorded Sept. 21.

    In the call, Bowdoin told members that the government had seized their money. In his court filings, however, Bowdoin claimed the money was his.

    Federal prosecutors said the recording was evidence that Bowdoin could not keep his stories straight, arguing that he had told members one story and a federal judge another. Collyer issued the forfeiture order for more than $65.8 million less than four months later.

    Although an email some ASD members received in recent days claimed that “It looks like things are moving in the right direction” with the Florida dismissal, the email urged members to “only share this with those whom you trust.

    “Do not post on forums or blogs,” the email urged.

    Federal prosecutors noted last month that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit had dismissed one of two appeals Bowdoin had filed in the forfeiture cases, noting his second appeal was pending before the same court.

    The court should reject that appeal as well, prosecutors argued.

    With the federal procedure for restitution established, ASD victims now have a remedy for reimbursement, McCollum’s office advised a state judge.

    In late 2008, Bowdoin told ASD members that Florida had dropped “Ponzi scheme” allegations against the firm. McCollum’s office immediately countered with a statement that it never even had accused ASD of operating a Ponzi scheme, noting that it had alleged a pyramid scheme only.

    When Bowdoin made the 2008 claim, some ASD members raced to forums and websites to spread the news, which turned out not to be true. He later tried to sell members a VOIP telephone service, explaining the price he offered was a gift to his loyal supporters.

    Even as Bowdoin was telling members in September 2009 that he had big plans for ASD, he did not explain why he had permitted its corporate registration to lapse or explain that the state had revoked the registration.

    Instead, Bowdoin told members that the government had seized their money — a claim in opposition to his own court filings that advised a federal judge the seized money belonged to him.

  • Split In Bowdoin/Harris Family? Members Described As ‘Very Much’ Divided; At Least One Family Member Said To Have Contacted Federal Prosecutors

    Andy Bowdoin

    UPDATED 12:01 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) Has the pressure of being challenged on multiple legal fronts led to a split in the extended family of AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin?

    The depths of any split are unclear, and it is believed that Bowdoin has the continued support of some members of the Bowdoin/Harris family.

    But interviews conducted by the PP Blog and information obtained through sources suggest Bowdoin is unable to travel internationally, no longer is living in Quincy, Fla., does not enjoy the uniform support of the extended Bowdoin/Harris family and has been blamed by some for engulfing them in the flames of a legal nightmare.

    At least one family member has contacted federal prosecutors, according to a source. How prosecutors responded to the overture, which was said to have been made in the summer of 2009, is unclear.

    On Saturday, numerous vehicles were parked at a Florida property associated with Bowdoin’s wife, Edna Faye Bowdoin, according to a source. Edna Faye Bowdoin is the mother of George Harris, the reputed co-owner of Bowdoin/Harris Enterprises and the AdViewGlobal autosurf, as well as the head of ASD’s purported “real-estate” division.

    Several women were present, but Bowdoin was not seen, the source said.

    A second source knowledgeable about the Bowdoin/Harris family described the family as a “family divided.” The PP Blog interviewed the second source in August 2009, and has not published comments from the interview until today.

    The source spoke with the PP Blog on the condition of anonymity, and demonstrated knowledge of the family by voluntarily answering questions posed by the Blog prior to the interview and during the interview. The Blog was satisfied that the source could offer insight into the thinking of certain family members.

    “There is already an unbelievable amount of friction in the family right now because of everything that Andy has done,” the source said. “This is very much a family divided.”

    Less than a month after the Blog conducted the interview, the state of Florida revoked the corporate registrations of ASD and Bowdoin/Harris Enterprises Inc. because neither company filed annual reports despite the continuing presence of active litigation involving both firms and despite being given a five-month window to file required documents.

    Neither Bowdoin nor family members explained why the corporate registrations were permitted to lapse. Only four days prior to the revocation, which could have been prevented by the simple filing of papers, Bowdoin told ASD members in a conference call that he had big plans for ASD.

    On the same date Florida revoked the corporate registrations — Sept. 25, 2009 — federal prosecutors turned up the heat on Bowdoin by accusing him in court filings of trying to lie his way back into the federal forfeiture case against ASD’s assets.

    Prosecutors made a veiled reference to AdViewGlobal in their filings, saying Bowdoin perhaps “was just buying time while searching for a different exit strategy that failed to materialize. Maybe Bowdoin thought that before the government brought its charges he (like some of his family members) could move to another country and profit from a knock-off autosurf program that Bowdoin funded and helped to start.”

    Three days later, on Sept. 28, prosecutors turned up the heat again, filing a Secret Service transcript of an ASD conference call and advising a federal judge that Bowdoin was telling her one story and members another.

    In the weeks that followed, U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer ruled that Bowdoin no longer had standing in the case. Bowdoin then attempted unsuccessfully to have Collyer removed as the judge.

    Collyer has granted the government’s forfeiture petition in a case filed in August 2008 involving tens of millions of dollars. Bowdoin now is seeking a reversal of that order, claiming it came as a result of judicial error. Prosecutors, however, said the judge did not err and that Bowdoin’s arguments are “impenetrably illogical.”

    Purportedly headquartered in Uruguay, AdViewGlobal, which crashed and burned in June 2009, had close family, membership and promotional ties to ASD.

    In the August 2009 interview, the source described George Harris and his wife, Judy Harris, as “very worried.”

    “Judy heard that the Secret Service was staring to investigate [AdViewGlobal,]” the source said.

    Certain family relationships are fractured beyond repair, the source said.

    “These relationships are done,” the source said. The source said that paranoia was gripping certain family members and that there were efforts to compartmentalize knowledge and limit use of the telephone.

    “They became very shady,” the source said.

    Andy Bowdoin led family members and members of ASD and AdViewGlobal down the primrose path, the source said.

    AdViewGlobal was described by Bowdoin as a “wonderful idea,” the source said, noting that Bowdoin described the successor autosurf as ASD with tweaks.

    AdViewGlobal launched after ASD’s assets were seized amid Ponzi, wire-fraud, securities fraud and money-laundering allegations.

    Andy Bowdoin wanted to proceed with AVG, according to the source, “because, with a few little tweaks, this company can make it.”

    In June 2009, less than a year after ASD’s assets were seized, AdViewGlobal announced a suspension of cashouts, exercising its version of a “rebates aren’t guaranteed” clause.

    How much money the surf collected and how much it paid out are unclear.

  • Important Filing Deadline In ASD Prosecution Nears

    Andy Bowdoin
    Andy Bowdoin

    Tomorrow is the deadline for prosecutors to advise U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer how they plan to proceed with the December 2008 forfeiture complaint filed against assets of AdSurfDaily Inc.

    A month ago Judge Rosemary Collyer pointed out that no person or entity had filed claims to property seized in the complaint, the second tied to ASD-connected assets. The first complaint was filed in August 2008 and was nearly litigated to conclusion in January 2009, with ASD President Andy Bowdoin’s submission to the forfeiture of tens of millions of dollars “with prejudice.”

    Bowdoin, 74, changed his mind about giving up the money in February, and reentered the August case as a pro se litigant after meeting with a mysterious “group” of ASD members.

    Prosecutors now say Bowdoin is a “delusional” con man who “cannot manage to keep his stories straight,” arguing that he is telling Collyer one thing and members another. On Sept. 28, the U.S. Secret Service filed a transcript of a conference call Bowdoin held with members Sept. 21.

    In the transcript, Bowdoin repeatedly told members the government had seized money from them. He specifically used the phrase “your money” four times in the short recording.

    Prosecutors said Bowdoin’s words to members were at odds with his own court filings in which he claimed ownership of the seized assets — and also at odds with the filings of Charles A. Murray, one of Bowdoin’s attorneys.

    Prosecutors quoted from a September filing by Murray, who has been arguing that Collyer should permit Bowdoin to change his mind after advising the court in January that he was giving up the money and did not intend to reassert his claims in the future.

    “Mr. Bowdoin’s release in the above-captioned case is illogical,” prosecutors quoted Murray as saying. “He received nothing of value for the release. Bowdoin has consistently demonstrated an intent to aggressively defend ownership of his property in the civil in rem forfeiture proceeding.”

    Prosecutors were quoting from Page 2 of this Sept. 14 filing on Bowdoin’s behalf by Murray.

    One week later — on Sept. 21 — Bowdoin held the conference call, using the phrase “your money” four times to describe to members the assets he had told Collyer belonged to him,  prosecutors said.

    Bowdoin’s official court claims to the property date back to Aug. 15, 2008, less than two weeks after the seizure. No claims to any of the assets seized in the December forfeiture complaint that followed appear in the record of the case.

    Potential December claimants included Bowdoin, his wife, Edna Faye Bowdoin, George Harris, Judy Harris and Hays Amos. Judy Harris is married to George Harris, the son of Edna Faye Bowdoin and Bowdoin’s stepson. Hays Amos is a former employee of ASD.

    ASD money was used to buy a car registered to Amos, and also a car registered to George and Judy Harris, prosecutors said. It also was used to buy a car for Bowdoin/Harris Enterprises Inc., which prosecutors said was set up by George Harris and Edna Faye Bowdoin to help Andy Bowdoin and Edna Faye Bowdoin hide assets.

    At the same time, prosecutors said, more than $157,000 in ASD money was used to retire the mortgage on the home Judy and George Harris shared in Tallahassee, and to purchase a Cabana boat, jet-skis, haul trailers and other marine equipment. Bowdoin also spent $800,000 cash to purchase a building in Quincy — initially to the delight of the Gadsden County Chamber of Commerce, but later to its embarrassment.

    The Gadsden Chamber went on to contact the FBI about ASD, questioning whether the company was legitimate, prosecutors said.

    George and Judy Harris emerged later as the purported owners of the AdViewGlobal (AVG) autosurf, which launched in the aftermath of two forfeiture complaints filed against ASD’s assets and a separate racketeering lawsuit filed against Bowdoin and ASD attorney Robert Garner.

    Florida now has dissolved both ASD and Bowdoin/Harris Enterprises for failure to file required annual reports. The state gave the firms nearly a five-month window to file, but neither firm — both of which purport to be legitimate — followed through.

    Within hours of the breaking news about Florida’s actions against the firms, a poster on the Pro-ASD Surf’s Up forum described it as a conspiracy between the federal government and state authorities in Florida.

  • 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.

  • BREAKING NEWS: Feds Post Bowdoin Home, Publish Forfeiture Notice; Pressure Mounts On Alleged Ponzi Operator

    The government has published an official notice that it intends to seek the forfeiture of 8 Gilcrease Lane, Quincy, Fla. — the home AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin last was known to be living in.

    U.S. Secret Service agents completed a “post & walk” of the home last month, and the government now has advertised the pending forfeiture, according to documents.

    Forfeiture.gov, the official government website for forfeitures, listed the property on Wednesday. It is unclear if Bowdoin was living in the home at the time. The Secret Service posting included a “Notice of Complaint” and a copy of the complaint against the property, according to court filings this week. The home was targeted for forfeiture in August. Prosecutors said it was part of the proceeds of a criminal enterprise.

    Mystery Deepens As Pressure Mounts

    Bowdoin has not responded to a racketeering lawsuit filed against him in January by three ASD members who seek class-action certification. The plaintiffs in the RICO case have said in court filings that they have been unable to perfect service of the complaint. Bowdoin’s former paid attorneys said in April court filings that his last known address was 8 Gilcrease Lane.

    Why Bowdoin has not responded to the RICO complaint remains unclear.

    The Gilcrease Lane home is in the name of Bowdoin/Harris Enterprises, which prosecutors said was a entity set up to permit Bowdoin and his wife, Edna Faye Bowdoin, to hide assets.

    Prosecutors said George Harris, Edna Faye Bowdoin’s son and Andy Bowdoin’s stepson, helped his mother set up a bank account in the name of Bowdoin/Harris Enterprises last summer.

    More than $177,000 in funds derived from ASD was deposited in the account on June 10, 2008. On June 23, 2008, Harris used more than $157,000 of the deposit to pay off the Tallahassee home he shared with his wife, Judy Harris, prosecutors said.

    ASD Ties To AdViewGlobal

    Harris is listed as a trustee for AdViewGlobal (AVG), a surf firm with close ties to ASD. The government filed a forfeiture complaint against the Harris home in December. Bowdoin never told members about the December complaint. In January, he submitted to the forfeiture of tens of millions of dollars seized in August, but again didn’t tell members.

    In late February — at the same time Bowdoin resurfaced after more than two months of silence and began to file pro se pleadings in the August case without consulting with his paid attorneys — AVG introduced members to Pro Advocate Group, a company that says it can help people practice law without a license.

    Bowdoin said in court filings that he changed his mind about submitting to the forfeiture. In March, he advised members through the Pro-ASD Surf’s Up forum that he had fired his attorneys and had changed his mind about giving up the money after consulting with a “group” to which he’d been introduced by ASD members.

    Prosecutors countered by saying Bowdoin had signed a proffer letter in the case and had acknowledged to law enforcement that ASD had been operating illegally. The government did not disclose the contents of the letter or the date upon which Bowdoin had signed it.

    Proffer letters sometimes mean the one who proffers seeks to minimize exposure while providing information helpful in the prosecution of others.

    AVG’s prelaunch was under way on Dec. 19, the date prosecutors filed the second forfeiture complaint against assets tied to ASD. The assets included the Harris home, a building in Quincy for which Bowdoin had paid $800,000 cash, three automobiles (including one registered to Harris and his wife), an assortment of marine equipment and personal computers.

    The December forfeiture complaint does not reference AVG, but a large section of the complaint details how Bowdoin allegedly started one autosurf site (ASD) and ported members owed money when the surf failed to a new site (ASD Cash Generator) — without telling new members their money was being used to pay off members of the original site.

    One of the early promoters’ suggestions about AVG was that ASD accounts could be ported to AVG. If this occurred, in whole or in part, it would have reflected the process ASD used when morphing into ASD Cash Generator.

    Although AVG expressly denied any affiliation with Bowdoin and ASD in a disclaimer published on its website, the company later announced in articles of association that Harris was a trustee. A previous announcement identified Gary Talbert as its chief executive officer. Talbert is a former ASD executive. AVG also listed Nate Boyd, whom ASD members described as a former ASD employee, as “protector” of the AVG association, which also is known as AVGA.

    Meanwhile, the company issued a news release identifying Chuck Osmin, a former ASD employee who had testified on behalf of ASD last fall, as an AVG employee. Some Mods and members of Surf’s Up started a forum for AVG.

    On March 20, AVG issued an announcement that Talbert had resigned as chief executive officer. On March 23, AVG announced that its bank account had been suspended. On May 4, AVG announced it had a deal that would enable members to pay for “advertising” via international wire transfer. Three days later, on May 7, one of the companies AVG had cited as being a participant in the transfers denied it had any business relationship with AVG and said it believed it had been targeted in a scam.