URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (14th Update 4:33 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) Massachusetts has charged promoters of the EmGoldEx MLM “program” with securities fraud and selling unregistered securities, alleging they “created a complex web entangling investors throughout the Commonwealth” in a “pyramid scheme” that offered “guaranteed returns of up to 1,105% for recruiting more individuals.”
The civil prosecution was brought by Commonwealth Secretary William Galvin and the Massachusetts Securities Division, which alleged that photos of children “getting paid” by the “program” were used as lures to drive dollars to the scam.
Children also were used to stack downlines so promoters could “reach the Pay Spot faster,” the state alleged.
And, the state alleged, “Investors in the EmGoldex Marketing Program are also able to purchase investment positions directly from other investors, rather than through EmGoldex, creating even greater risks for potential new investors.”
Similar allegations that members could bypass the “program” itself to purchase positions were made in the TelexFree case earlier this year, a circumstance that suggests multilayered criminality in MLM HYIP “programs.”
Named respondents are EmGoldEx Team USA Inc. of Andover, Mass.; Matthew Michael D’ Agati of Methuen, Mass.; Joseph Zingales of Methuen; James Vincent Piemonte of Methuen; and Jonathan Herman Seigler, formerly of Boston and now of New Hampshire.
D’ Agati, Zingales, Piemonte and Seigler are accused of recruiting “hundreds of investors into the scheme,” according to the 41 page complaint. MSD is asking for disgorgement and financial sanctions.
“Using multiple pooled bank accounts, Respondents have collected over $473,000 in Massachusetts for the EmGoldex Marketing Program,” the state alleged, further alleging that “over $282,659 has been wired to EmGoldex financial institutions overseas.”
The Massachusetts entity was a recruiting arm for EMGX FS Ltd., “an entity purportedly registered in the Seychelles, with a principal place of business located at Suite I, Second Floor, Sound and Vision House Francis Rachel Str. Victoria, Mahe Seychelles[.] EmGoldex maintains an internet website at www.emgoldex.com,” the state alleged.
Seychelles is a nation associated with money-laundering.
News that Massachusetts was investigating EmGoldEx broke on Aug. 8.
Like other HYIP schemes, EmGoldEx was positioned as a “Plan B.”
“Respondents even use the Team USA Homepage to pitch the EmGoldex Marketing Program as a retirement vehicle, noting that EmGoldex can create a “[p]Ian B to care for you and your family in the later years,” the state alleged. “Respondents further add that membership in the EmGoldex Marketing Program is a fully transferrable asset upon death, providing perpetual residual income for an investor’s family.”
Facebook and Twitter “at least” were used to drive recruiting, Massachusetts alleged.
One of the key prongs of the Massachusetts-based pitch was that even “children” could earn through EmGoldEx, the state alleged.
From the complaint (italics added):
148. The Team USA Homepage advertises the EmGoldex Marketing Program as a simple and relatively quick way to earn significant residual income.
149. Respondents also advertise on the Team USA Homepage that through the EmGoldex Marketing Program, even children are able to make significant profits, with little to no effort of their own.
150. In a section on the Team USA Homepage titled “Local Success Stories,” Respondents feature at least three photos of children, with one caption reading, “Paid $4000 in only 13 weeks! Yes, even your children can get paid!!”
151. The Team USA Homepage “Local Success Stories” section also includes photos of a number of other EmGoldex investors who are members of Team USA. Each photo is emblazoned on an American flag background, with the title “GOLDEN $4000 CLUB.”
152. The “successful” investors received their payouts by recruiting new investors into the EmGoldex Marketing Program, not through the sale of any purported product.”
Like earlier MLM scams such as TelexFree and WCM777, EmGoldEx picked up a local head of steam when the Massachusetts promoters hosted hotel pitchfests, Massachusetts alleged.
Some local events for EmGoldEx charged admission fees of $10 and $25, and a purported “boot camp” for EmGoldEx held on Saturdays and Sundays charged an admission fee of $79 and $99, the state alleged.
“According to marketing materials Team USA provided to the Division, Team USA represented EmGoldex as a ‘life changing opportunity’ for new investors. These advertising and marketing materials from Team USA are also adorned with pictures of gold bars, bags of cash and phrases such as ‘NOW YOU GET PAID,’” the state alleged.
The scheme also took advantage of the popular culture, Massachusetts alleged.
“For their part, according to documents that Team USA produced to the Division, D’ Agati and Zingales adopted speeches from popular movies, such as ‘Rocky’ and ‘Any Given Sunday.’”
Moreover, the state alleged, attendees of a launch event were told “the speakers . . . were ‘not bottom feeders,’ and included lawyers, millionaires, and other very successful business people.’”
Read the complaint.
