Carlos Wanzeler

Longtime HYIP huckster and TelexFree figure Faith Sloan has been banned by Illinois from selling securities. The prohibition order is dated June 9. It was issued by the Securities Department of Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White. The state found that Sloan, an Illinois resident, operated a TelexFree-related website and acted as an unregistered securities […]

If you’ve been following TelexFree developments, you’ve probably heard about “Operation Orion,” the code name for the investigation that led to raids against TelexFree’s Ympactus arm last week by the Brazilian federal police. The Orion name was chosen, police said, because it fit splendidly within the context of a pyramid-scheme case. How so? The Pyramids […]

UPDATED AT 11:10 P.M. EDT U.S.A. JULY 28, 2014: Globo.com (Brazil) is reporting that police raided the headquarters of Ympactus this morning in a law-enforcement action dubbed “Operation Orion.” The story suggests raids also were carried out elsewhere and that Brazilian tax authorities are involved in the actions. Ympactus is the Brazilian affiliate of TelexFree […]

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: 10th Update 9:18 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) TelexFree figures James Merrill and Carlos Wanzeler have been indicted by a federal grand jury. The indictment, dated today, includes eight criminal counts of wire fraud and one criminal count of wire-fraud conspiracy. Among other things, the indictment alleged that Merrill and Wanzeler conspired […]

BULLETIN: Federal prosecutors handling the criminal case against TelexFree figure and alleged co-owner James Merrill have asked a judge not to release $4 million Merrill says he needs to pay for his criminal defense. On July 1, Merrill asked for an evidentiary hearing aimed ultimately at securing “an order returning the identified funds” to him. […]

In February 2014, the PP Blog reported that TelexFree had planned a purported “international convention” in Spain in early March. The pitch for the convention, hosted in Madrid, was voiced by Sann Rogrigues, whom the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission successfully had sued in 2006 amid allegations he was operating a pyramid scheme and engaging […]

UPDATED 10:48 P.M. EDT U.S.A. A plaintiff bringing a prospective class-action lawsuit in Massachusetts federal court has accused 10 TelexFree figures of committing crimes and — as a group — committing racketeering violations through an “association-in-fact enterprise.” Unlike other prospective TelexFree-related class-actions, this one names neither attorneys nor banks nor TelexFree itself defendants. Rather, it […]

MLM attorney Gerald Nehra, his law partner Richard Waak and their law firm are now lawyered up in the TelexFree bankruptcy case. Groups of TelexFree members have sued them in bankruptcy court, alleging violations of the federal racketeering (RICO) statute and violations of federal securities laws. TelexFree filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on a […]

BULLETIN: (3rd Update 5:56 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) A federal judge in Massachusetts has permitted TelexFree figure James Merrill to be freed on bail, but has imposed tight restrictions. In granting Merrill bail, U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Hillman overruled U.S. Magistrate Judge David Hennessy, who agreed with federal prosecutors and ruled last month that Merrill […]

A former pitchman for the Zeek Rewards MLM Ponzi- and pyramid scheme also acknowledged he participated in TelexFree, the state of Montana said in a consent agreement and final order. James D. Helgeson was fined $5,000 by the office of Monica Lindeen, Montana’s Commissioner of Securities and Insurance (CSI) and state auditor. The case demonstrates […]

There is a report on social media this morning of a bogus TelexFree site that mirrors an old TelexFree site that existed when the company was actively soliciting business. The site creates the impression TelexFree has reopened. TelexFree has not reopened. It is Sunday. Federal prosecutors handing the TelexFree criminal case involving alleged fraudsters James […]