URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (5th Update 5:35 p.m. ET U.S.A.) The “Achieve Community” money-cycling scheme is under investigation in Colorado.
“We do have an open investigation,” said Lillian Alves, Colorado’s Deputy Securities Commissioner.
It is the first official public confirmation that Achieve Community, a Ponzi-board program that claims to turn $50 into $400, is under investigation in the United States. In Colorado, the Division of Securities operates as part of the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA).
In a story earlier today, BehindMLM.com reported that Colorado appeared to be setting the stage to open a probe. Alves confirmed the investigation to the PP Blog at 4:23 p.m. today.
For the time being, she said, Colorado would not provide additional details. In January 2014, Colorado issued a cease-and-desist order against the WCM777 “program” operated by Ming Xu. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission later accused Xu of orchestrating a massive fraud scheme.
Achieve Community purportedly is operated by Kristi Johnson of the Denver area and Troy Barnes of the Detroit area.
At least one Achieve Community promoter recorded an ad for Achieve and two other Ponzi-board “programs.” The ad included footage from the SEC’s website. The SEC declined Jan. 12 to comment on the ad, which implied Achieve would have no trouble with securities issues.
Colorado officially confirmed a securities investigation 10 days later.
Visit the complaint area of the Colorado Division of Securities website.