Carlos Wanzeler

BULLETIN: The staff of the Nevada Public Utilities Commission has recommended that TelexFree’s telecom application be denied, saying the firm filed the application and then almost immediately filed for bankruptcy protection. Based on the bankruptcy filing, the financial information provided by TelexFree during the application process “cannot be relied upon at this time,” the PUC […]

The FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have established a website for individuals who believe they were defrauded by TelexFree, an alleged pyramid- and Ponzi scheme the Massachusetts Securities Division says gathered more than $1.2 billion. Here is a link to a statement by the FBI and DHS. The page includes a link […]

(UPDATED 11:30 A.M. EDT MAY 21 U.S.A. See Update at bottom of this brief, originally published May 20.) TelexFree figure James Merrill was unable to persuade a federal magistrate judge to free him, the PP Blog has learned. Judge David Hennessy declined Merrill’s bail application today, the office of U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said moments […]

(2nd Update 2:12 P.M. EDT U.S.A.) Acceris Realty Estate LLC, a Massachusetts company that listed Katia Wanzeler as its registered agent, was formed by Joe H. Craft in February 2013, according to corporation records in Massachusetts. Craft, accused by the SEC last month of securities fraud at TelexFree, is TelexFree’s former CFO. The appearance of […]

UPDATED 11:13 A.M. EDT U.S.A. Katia Helia Wanzeler, the wife of alleged TelexFree fugitive Carlos Wanzeler, remains in federal custody, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website. Katia, 49, is listed as an inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, a federal facility situated in the largest (by population) of New York City’s […]

UPDATED 8:14 p.m. EDT U.S.A. James Merrill, the onetime president of TelexFree arrested and detained May 9 on wire-fraud conspiracy charges, was not freed at a bail hearing today and will remain in custody. “The judge took the matter under advisement,” the office of U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz of the District of Massachusetts said early […]

(10th Update 10:53 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) Federal agents arrested Massachusetts resident Katia Wanzeler at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York yesterday after “someone in Brazil” purchased her a “one-way ticket” two days ago and paid cash, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security alleges in an affidavit. Katia, the wife of alleged TelexFree fugitive […]

BULLETIN: (6th update 6:10 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) There are reports on Twitter, citing a Boston Globe story, that the wife of accused TelexFree figure Carlos Wanzeler has been arrested at an airport. The office of U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz of the District of Massachusetts confirmed the arrest to the PP Blog at 11:46 a.m., saying […]

BULLETIN: With the MLM world only now coming to grips with the alleged $1.2 billion TelexFree Ponzi- and pyramid fraud, the special master in the Zeek Rewards criminal action has compared the Zeek case to the Bernard Madoff and Allen Stanford Ponzi schemes and the notorious Enron securities swindle involving former CEO Jeffrey Skilling. Special […]

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 22992 / May 13, 2014 Securities and Exchange Commission v. TelexFree, Inc. et al., Civil Action No. 1:14-cv-11858-DJC (United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts) United States v. Carlos Nataniel Wanzeler and James Matthew Merrill, Case No. 14-MJ-4172-DHH (United States District Court for the District […]

A man asserted to be a promoter of at least three fraud schemes, including TelexFree, has been hauled in front of TV cameras in Uganda. The report below is from NTV Uganda. The embarrassing appearance of the suspect may raise the stakes for promoters of online fraud schemes and create even more disastrous PR for […]