PatrickPretty.com

Tag: CFTC

EXPLOSIVE REVELATION: FBI, IRS Find More Than $400,000 In Stashed Loot In Trevor Cook Ponzi Case, Including More Than $200,000 In $100 Bills, Gold Coins, Watches, Baseball Cards

Trevor Cook’s brother was hiding more than $400,000 in cash and valuables from a $190 million Ponzi scheme, according to an extraordinary statement by the court-appointed receiver in the case. The loot was found July 23 — after Trevor Cook, whose plea agreement in the case required him to submit to a lie-detector test if…

Aug 5, 2010
CFTC: Convicted Felon Was Running Texas-Based Forex Firm; Robert Mihailovich Sr. And Robert Mihailovich Jr. Charged In Case That Alleges Pattern Of Marketing, Webinar Deception

Investors turned over more than $30 million to a felon who hid his conviction and even managed to persuade clients to give him power of attorney, the CFTC said. Robert Mihailovich Sr. was released from federal prison on June 27, 2007, after serving 21 months for mail fraud, the CFTC said. On Oct. 14, 2008…

Jul 29, 2010
Clawback Actions Begin In Trevor Cook Case; Receiver Says Millions Of Dollars Of ‘Preferential Transfers’ To Investors Occurred After SEC Paid ‘Surprise’ Visit

EDITOR’S NOTE: R.J. Zayed, the court-appointed receiver in the Ponzi and Forex fraud case brought by the SEC and CFTC against Trevor Cook and Pat Kiley, has said many investors were made destitute by the scheme. Not all investors lost their money, however. Yesterday Zayed filed petitions to claw back millions of dollars in “preferential…

Jul 24, 2010
BULLETIN: Pedro de Sousa, Guillermo Rosario Arrested By FBI; CFTC Lays Out Yet-Another Florida Fraud Case

BULLETIN: Pedro de Sousa and Guillermo Rosario of FX Professional International Solutions Inc. (FXP) have been arrested by the FBI. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said the men operated a Forex fraud that issued false account statements, falsely claimed no losing months between 2005 and 2008 when they had lost money in 31 of…

Jul 14, 2010
BULLETIN: Another Ponzi Scheme In South Florida; SEC Alleges $28 Million Fraud Against Trade-LLC

A Florida company — Trade-LLC — and its operators have been accused of running a $28 million Ponzi scheme that fleeced members of three investment clubs. Named defendants by the SEC were Trade-LLC and its managing members, Philip W. Milton and William Center. The scam operated in the Palm Beach Gardens area, and affected more…

Jun 22, 2010
Head Of Justice Department’s Criminal Division Announces Guilty Plea Of Texas Man In Commodities Ponzi Case; Multiagency Crackdown Against Scammers Continues

In yet another sign that U.S. policy is to turn up the heat on Ponzi and HYIP purveyors, the head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced the guilty plea of a Texas man accused both criminally and civilly of running a Forex HYIP and Ponzi scheme. Ray M. White, 51, of Mansfield, faces up…

Jun 13, 2010
KABOOM! Alleged Commodities Ponzi Scheme Run By Mexican Nationals On U.S. Soil Dumped Money Into TWO Other Failed HYIP Fraud Schemes, Investigators Say; Ruben Gonzalez, Jose C. Naranjo Charged By CFTC

UPDATED 10:17 A.M. EDT (May 25, U.S.A.) It has been another nasty day for the HYIP and autosurf “industries” and their apologists. Investigators have charged two Mexican nationals with operating a Ponzi scheme on U.S. soil. The alleged scheme, which used names such as New Golden Investment Group LLC (NGI), NGI Group LLC, New Golden…

May 24, 2010
Feds, State Team Up In Virginia To Short-Circuit White-Collar Crime Wave; ‘All Too Clear’ Problem National In Scope, Top Federal Prosecutor Says

Calling it an “unprecedented partnership” brought about by a financial-fraud problem that is national in scope, federal and state officials today announced the creation of the Virginia Financial and Securities Fraud Task Force. The Virginia Task Force, which is part of President Obama’s interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, brings together criminal investigators and civil…

May 21, 2010
Is Trevor Cook Lying To Ponzi Investigators In $190 Million Case After Accepting Plea Deal? Investors Say Story Too Incredible To Believe

EDITOR’S NOTE: Some of the investors in the Trevor Cook/Pat Kiley Ponzi scheme in Minnesota say they believe Cook is lying to investigators about the whereabouts of assets and perhaps other elements of the probe. “We do not believe this much money could be totally lost in such a short period of time,” an investor…

Apr 26, 2010
U.S. Marshals, FBI, Police Capture Ponzi Figure Who Ducked Sentencing; Michael Derrick Peninger Returned To Jail Amid Reports He Cut Transmitter On Electronic Monitoring Device

Michael Derrick Peninger was captured yesterday, nine days after he failed to show up for sentencing court in a South Carolina Ponzi scheme case. Authorities said he cut the transmitter on an electronic monitoring device he was ordered to wear prior to fleeing April 12. A federal magistrate judge jailed Peninger yesterday after he was…

Apr 22, 2010
Ponzi Guilty Pleas In New York, Tennessee; New Ponzi Case Filed By CFTC In Florida; Relief Defendant Misspelled Its Own Company Name

EDITOR’S NOTE: There was significant action in Ponzi cases today. Earlier we reported on the guilty plea of Trevor Cook in Minnesota and the issuance of a bench warrant in South Carolina for Michael Derrick Peninger. The brief below summarizes action in the Ponzi and affinity-fraud case case of Steven Byers in New York, the…

Apr 13, 2010