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Tag: Clarence Busby

  • Ad Surf Daily Surrenders; Bowdoin Removes Claim To Tens Of Millions Of Dollars As Autosurf Ponzi Members Grumble

    BREAKING NEWS (UPDATED 9:03 P.M) Dogged by the government since August and a loser in early skirmishes with prosecutors, AdSurfDaily has done what it said it wouldn’t do: surrendered claims to tens of millions of dollars seized by the Secret Service in a Ponzi scheme investigation.

    Lawyers for ASD President Andy Bowdoin have filed a motion with U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer of the District of Columbia to consent to the forfeiture — and also to forfeit real estate prosecutors said was purchased with proceeds from the scheme.

    Collyer ruled in November that ASD had not demonstrated it was a legal business and not a Ponzi scheme. The ruling was handed down after a Sept. 30-Oct. 1 evidentiary hearing requested by ASD.

    GoldenPandaAdBuilder, which was implicated in the federal probe, surrendered its claim to seized money in September. At the time, Golden Panda’s surrender was condemned as the act of a traitor by some ardent ASD supporters.

    Clarence Busby, the president of Golden Panda, was villified by ASD members who said they believed ASD never would surrender.

    Map picture

    Now ASD itself has surrendered.  Some members are grumbling on forums, at once complaining about prosecutors but also questioning their support for Bowdoin over the past six months.

    Some people maintained from the beginning that ASD — and Bowdoin — would be vindicated and that prosecutors would be lucky to find jobs in fast-food restaurants after Bowdoin systematically destroyed their case and countersued.

    Prosecutors said in court filings today that they intended to aid victims though a liquidation process. “Meanwhile, plaintiff explores mechanisms to identify victims and losses attributable to the AdSurfDaily and Golden Panda Ad Builder Ponzi operations so that property sued because of its involvement in the fraud schemes alleged in the complaint (or the value of property upon its liquidation) may be used to compensate the frauds’ victims,” prosecutors said in a motion.

    From ASD’s court filings (emphasis added). . . Claimants, AdSurfDaily, Inc., Thomas A. Bowdoin, Jr. and Bowdoin & Harris Enterprises, Inc. (hereinafter “Claimants”), by undersigned counsel, hereby request leave of the Court to withdraw and release claims previously filed, consent to forfeiture, as follows.

    1. Claimants withdraw and release with prejudice the verified claims they filed in this civil forfeiture action.

    2. Claimants consent to the forfeiture of the properties for which they have asserted claims (i.e., the real property at 8 Gilcrease Lane and the bank account balances at the Bank of America in the names of Thomas. A. Bowdoin Jr., sole proprietor, d/b/a AdSurfDaily) and expressly announce their intention to not contest the Government’s forfeiture efforts against the properties for which they have asserted claims.

    See this TampaBay.com story.

    Bowdoin’s Surrender View

    Prosecution’s Motion View

  • Roster: Are These Autosurfs In Litigation? Troubled?

    miseryindexBack in August we began to cover AdSurfDaily Inc., a Florida company accused of being an illegal enterprise. Federal prosecutors said ASD, an autosurf, was selling unregistered securities by calling itself an “advertising” company and running a $100 million Ponzi scheme.

    A sister site, LaFuenteDinero, was named in the same federal forfeiture complaint. So was GoldenPandaAdBuilder, a site reportedly conceived on a Georgia fishing lake as a “Chinese” option for ASD members. The site reportedly came to fruition after talks between ASD President Andy Bowdoin and Clarence Busby, who went on to become the operator of Golden Panda.

    Golden Panda has officially dissolved its articles of incorporation and removed its claim to funds seized in the ASD probe. The case still is in litigation.

    Since August, a number of other autosurfs have appeared, some positioning themselves as attractive alternatives to ASD. At least two of them — MegaLido and Frogress — already have failed.

    We decided to keep a running chart of autosurfs. Names will be added over time, as readers contact us or we learn independently of their operations. One of the purposes of this chart is to get a sense about how many autosurfs are involved in litigation, are operating in troubled fashion or are operating freely.

    Autosurf Roster (Updated Jan. 14, 2009)

    NAME LITIGATION (Y/N) NOTES
    AdSurfDaily (Andy Bowdoin) Y Ongoing
    GoldenPandaAdBuilder (Clarence Busby) Y Ongoing
    LaFuenteDinero (Andy Bowdoin) Y Ongoing
    MegaLido (“Michael?”) N DOA
    Frogress (“Jake?”) N DOA
    CEP Y Ongoing/DOA
    PhoenixSurf Y DOA
    12DailyPro Y Ongoing/DOA
    DailyProfitPond N Offline/DOA?
    AdGateWorld (No owner takes credit) N (Debuted Jan. 14) Panama?
    AdViewGlobal (Some former ASD members) N (Prelaunch Buzz) Uruguay?
    Bernard Madoff Y (Nonautosurf Ponzi) $50 B Ponzi
    American Investors Network (AIN) Y (Nonautosurf Ponzi) Bogus Ad. Co.
    Biz Ad Splash (Ownership undeclared) N Panama?
    Increaser.biz (Ownership undeclared) N Netherlands?
    Instant2u (“Billy?”) N DOA. Uzbekistan?
    Noobing (Ownership undeclared) N Kansas?
    Premium Ads Club (135% over 15 days) N DOA 2-23-09
    Aggero Investment (Tied to Premium Ads Club) N Slow-mo DOA 3/1-09
    Name Name Name
    Name Name Name

  • 2008 Concluded With ‘Ponzi-Equals-Pain’ Message

    Bernard Madoff
    Bernard Madoff

    Dear Readers,

    Our best to you with the dawning of the new year — and our thanks for making this Blog one of your stopping points.

    If you have a moment in the coming days, think about leaving a comment that answers this question: What will you remember most about 2008?

    One of the things we’ll remember most is the AdSurfDaily, LaFuente Dinero and Golden Panda Ad Builder case. As mentioned in a previous post, we never intended to do more than a few posts on the subject.

    The ASD case kept itself in the news, though, mostly because of the behavior of some of its more ardent supporters. Andy Bowdoin’s own declaration that Satan was at work — as well as comparing what the company was confronting to the 9/11 terrorist attacks — set the standard for some of the oddities that followed.

    There were Kool-Aid campaigns to Bill O’Reilly of Fox News; letter-writing campaigns to the

    Elie Wiesel, Ponzi Victim
    Elie Wiesel, Ponzi Victim

    Inspector General for the Justice Department; petition drives to the U.S. Senate; a call for a million-person march on Washington; prayer campaigns; name-calling; rants; a gleeful forum party after the Sept. 30-Oct. 1 evidentiary hearing concluded; claims that the prosecutors, Secret Service agents and judge were brainless.

    None of these messages was consistent with a comprehensible PR strategy or the behavior one normally would expect from a company that called itself a professional advertising firm. The presence of numerous other autosurfs also didn’t help. ASD’s claim of offering an exciting, new business model was just plain silly. Scam.com and other sites have been covering autosurfs for years.

    Another thing that didn’t help ASD were the Ponzi allegations against financier Bernard Madoff. The accusations alone brought the word “Ponzi” into widespread public use. The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News, in particular, have been providing exceptional coverage of the Madoff case. Practically everyone knows what a Ponzi is now, something that could affect juror pools in the ASD case. Madoff has become a national disgrace, a punch-line for late-night comics and a source of global disgust and heartache.

    “Ponzi” has become a radioactive word. In short, “Ponzi” = “pain” — the kind of pain that destroys people, dreams, fortunes and the good works of charities, endowments and universities.

    The word “Ponzi” became central to many lives in 2008. It is our sincere hope that 2009 will be defined by a much better word:

    Prosperity.

    Our warm wishes to you.

    Sincerely,

    Patrick

  • BREAKING NEWS: AdSurfDaily Says Judge Lacks Jurisdiction

    AdSurfDaily Inc. has filed a defense in the civil-forfeiture case brought by the U.S. Secret Service and federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C. The firm is asking for a jury trial.

    Among the most interesting defenses is that the case was brought in the wrong court — U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia — and that the court lacks jurisdiction.

    ASD argued that U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer has no authority to hear the forfeiture issues. In August, the government seized nearly $100 million and real estate in Florida and South Carolina as part of the probe into ASD’s business practices.

    “To the extent the Court requires a response, Claimants deny that acts or omissions giving rise to forfeiture occurred in this district and, therefore, deny that venue is proper in this district,” ASD said today.

    Lawyers for ASD also said ASD was a legal business, denying it had engaged in money-laundering and wire fraud. The firm also raised Constitutional issues in its defense.

    Prosecutors said in their August forfeiture complaint, however, that an undercover agent made ASD purchases from Washington, D.C., which could make the venue issue ASD raised an uphill battle.

    “On or about July 20,2008, a[n] [agent] opened another ‘upgraded member’ account with ASD from a location in the District of Columbia, also via the Internet,” prosecutors said in the August complaint.

    “The next day, a[n] [agent]made a direct deposit into ASD’s [Bank of America] account, this time by delivering a check to the BOA branch at 700 13th Street, NW, Washington, DC. Thereafter, a TFA faxed a copy of the deposit receipt from the District of Columbia to ASD’s office in Florida.” prosecutors said in the August complaint.  “The ability to access ASD over the Internet from different states, and to open accounts from multiple locations by delivering payment to ‘your nearest Branch of Bank of America’ as directed by ASD confirms that ASD knows it operates in multiple states, and so intends.”

    Here is ASD’s defense, filed today.

    Here is the August civil-forfeiture complaint against ASD’s assets.

    Prosecutors said ASD was selling unregistered securities while calling itself an advertising business and running a Ponzi scheme.

  • Bowdoin, Busby, Garner: Still No Attorneys In RICO Case

    Nearly a month after being named defendants in a civil racketeering lawsuit filed in Florida, Ad Surf Daily President Andy Bowdoin, Golden Panda President Clarence Busby and ASD attorney Robert Garner have not filed notice with the court naming their attorneys.

    Such notices typically are filed by the attorneys themselves and are designed to notify the court the parties to a lawsuit have retained counsel.

    The lawsuit was brought as a RICO action and is contemplated as a class-action involving other ASD and Golden Panda members. The plaintiff is Natures Discount, a former ASD advertiser. The case is separate from a federal-forfeiture action filed in August by the office of U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor of the District of Columbia. It also is separate from a state lawsuit filed in August by Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum.

    Attorneys for Natures Discount today filed time records with the Florida court. The records are under seal and are filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Talahassee Division.

    Natures Discount filed the RICO lawsuit on Nov. 19, the same day U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer ruled ASD had not demonstrated it was a legal business and not a Ponzi scheme during a Sept. 30-Oct. 1 evidentiary hearing.

    Bowdoin notified the court he would invoke his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination if called to the witness stand during the evidentiary hearing. Busby previously had withdrawn Golden Panda’s claim to funds seized as part of the ASD investigation. Garner was not named a defendant in the forfeiture case.

    In the forfeiture case, Bowdoin named his attorneys within five days. Busby named his in about 20 days. It is possible appearance notices will be filed in the coming days.

    Federal prosecutors claimed ASD was selling unregistered securities while calling itself an advertising firm and operating a Ponzi scheme. Nearly $100 million and real estate in Florida and South Carolina have been seized as part of the probe.