All that glitters was not gold in the seedy world of Gold Quest International (GQI), according to the receiver in the GQI Ponzi scheme case.
Corrupt money was given to a ministry in the form of a gift, and other corrupt money is part of a homicide investigation in Los Angeles, according to court filings.
Receiver Larry Cook has informed a federal judge that he has accepted a settlement of $100,000 from Charles Capp Ministries, saying the Oklahoma-based Christian organization unwittingly received fraudulent transfers of “at least” of $201,517 between January 2006 and August 2008 from the Ponzi scheme, according to court filings.
“No allegations of fraud or securities violations were alleged against Charles Capps Ministries in the complaint filed by the SEC in this action,” Cook said. “Based on the information and belief of the receiver, Charles Capps Ministries was the unwitting recipient of investor funds from Defendant David Greene. Upon learning of the source of the funds it received from Greene, Charles Capps Ministries agreed to return the $100,000 settlement amount.”
David Greene also is known as “Lord David Greene.” He is one of four named defendants in the SEC case. The others are GQI, John Jenkins and Michael McGee. The SEC filed the action in May 2008, and was hit almost immediately with a bizarre effort to undermine the prosecution.
A litigant purporting to be the “attorney general” of a purported “sovereign” Indian tribe attempted unsuccessfully to file a lawsuit against the SEC for $1.7 trillion for enforcing securities laws. The GQI entity may have links to an extremist group — The Little Shell Pembina Band of North America — monitored by the Anti Defamation League.
The ‘Goldfinger’ Murder
Cook, who performed an international paper chase in the GQI case, further informed the judge that certain GQI assets are tied up in a homicide investigation in California.
“The owner of E-Bullion was arrested in August 2008 for arranging the murder of his wife, a co-owner of E-Bullion,” Cook said. “The Receiver and the Commission have made numerous inquiries regarding future access to the E-Bullion business records and funds, and we have been advised the U.S. Attorney’s office has not made a decision on when or how these records and funds will be administered.”
E-bullion co-founder James Fayed, 46, was charged with murder by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office in September 2008. Prosecutors said he paid Jose Luis Moya, 49, a sum of $25,000 to arrange the murder of his wife, Pamela Fayed. The case has been dubbed the “Goldfinger Murder” in California.
E-bullion was one of the payment processors used by GQI, which the SEC says operated a $28 million Ponzi scheme with Panamanian registration from Las Vegas. GQI purported to be immune from U.S. law because it was part of a “sovereign” Indian tribe in North Dakota.
More than 2,100 investors from the United States and Canada participated in GQI. Participants perhaps received as much as $19 million in Ponzi payments, according to investigators in the United States and Canada.
Cook reported that he had recovered only $389,145.57 to date by tracking money all over the world. Much of the money simply disappeared after making its way to New Zealand, he said.
“Defendant David Greene has testified that he believed that GQI was going to pay investors the returns promised to them via the profits earned by GQI’s investments in Topaz Group Ltd., an entity based in New Zealand,” Cook said. “The Receiver has identified approximately $3.15 million in payments to Topaz Group from the Tri Fund Inc. account, David Greene[‘s] personal account, and John Jenkins[‘] personal account.
“The Receiver identified and contacted the owner of Topaz Group Ltd., John Davies, in New Zealand,” Cook continued. “Davies advised the Receiver that the funds he received from David Greene were sent to him on behalf of David Greene. Davies stated that Greene always represented that the investment was Greene’s personal investment and it was not until February 2008 that Greene disclosed the funds belonged to an investment group. Davies stated the funds were not for a specific investment, but were used to fund the expenses of individuals working in Europe to complete various banking transactions that were scheduled to close and pay large profits. Davies further stated that none of these transactions were successful.
“The Receiver, with the Commission’s assistance, has obtained copies of the Topaz Group Ltd. bank account records in New Zealand,” Cook said. “The Receiver has examined and analyzed this account and determined the majority of the funds transferred by Greene to Topaz were immediately transferred from the Topaz Group business account to the account of Wendy Smurthwaite Davies, the wife of John Davies. A small percentage of the funds Greene sent to Topaz were wired to the individuals identified by John Davies as working on the banking transactions in Europe, and the remainder appear to be used for Topaz Group’s miscellaneous expenses.
“The Receiver and the Commission have participated in conference calls with the New Zealand law enforcement authorities,” Cook said. “The Receiver has provided the New Zealand investigators with information concerning transfers of investor funds from Defendants Greene and Jenkins to Topaz Group Ltd.”
For additional information see this document from the Alberta Securities Commission.
See this filing by the SEC.
Cook also is the receiver in the case against Affiliate Strategies Inc., the parent company of the Noobing autosurf. Noobing pitched itself to individuals with hearing impairments.