As Promos On Ponzi Forums Continue And Members Claim IRS Recognition, Club Asteria Acknowledges That Its Members Used PayPal ‘To Cheat Fellow Members’; Says Fraudsters Were Turned Over To Unidentified ‘Authorities’; Existing Members Of Virginia-Based Firm Told To Use Offshore Processors
In June 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice used its Blog to warn about the emerging threat of “mass marketing fraud,” specifically citing the criminal allegations of a $70 million Ponzi fraud against Nicholas Smirnow of Pathway To Prosperity (P2P). P2P was promoted on the TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forums. A little over a month […]
Pittsburgh Steelers Issue Statement On Controversial ‘Tweets’ Of Running Back Rashard Mendenhall After Successful U.S. Action Against Osama Bin Laden
Pittsburgh Steelers’ President Art Rooney II, the son of U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Dan Rooney, has issued a statement in response to controversial Tweets attributed to Steelers’ running back Rashard Mendenhall after the United States killed Osama bin Laden two days ago. The Tweets have sparked a web firestorm and enraged one of America’s hardest-working […]
Sea Of Incongruity Surrounds Club Asteria: As ‘Ken Russo’ Pushes ‘Opportunity’ On TalkGold Ponzi Board, World Bank Qualifies ‘Director’ Claims Made By Promoters
The World Bank confirmed to the PP Blog this morning that a person named Andrea Lucas left its employment in December 1986, nearly 25 years ago. But Lucas was never a member of the World Bank’s board of directors, as many members of business “opportunity” known as Club Asteria have implied in online, MLM-style promotions […]
SEC Chief Makes Veiled Reference To Imperia Invest Case In Congressional Testimony: Will Ongoing Law-Enforcement Initiatives Spell More Trouble For Serial Online Scammers And Their Enablers?
SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro alluded to the agency’s investigation of the alleged Imperia Invest IBC scam in testimony before Congress this morning, a development that may signal more bad news is in the offing for serial scammers online. Without mentioning Imperia by name, Schapiro told members of the House Subcommittee on Financial Services and General […]
U.S. Marshal John Perry Dies From Gunshot Wounds Sustained After Ambush Attack By St. Louis Fugitive; Attorney General Issues Statement; Perry Is Second Marshal Slain Since Feb. 16
UPDATED 2:58 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) Deputy U.S. Marshal John Perry, who was critically wounded early yesterday in an ambush in Missouri in which another marshal and a St. Louis police officer were wounded, has died, the U.S. Marshals Service announced. Perry, 48, died at 7 p.m. yesterday at Saint Louis University Hospital. He had been […]
DEVELOPING STORY: Device Found Monday In Backpack Along Martin Luther King Jr. Parade Route In Spokane Was A Bomb ‘Capable Of Inflicting Multiple Casualties,’ FBI Says
On Monday, America celebrated the national holiday commemorating the life and legacy of community service of slain civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. with events in city after city. King, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, was assassinated in Memphis in 1968. He had become an international figure in 1963, the year hundreds of […]
LETTER TO READERS: Reflections On 1,000 PP Blog Posts, The Lionization Of Fools And An Unprecedented Crime Wave That Threatens National Security And Is Filling Stadiums With Victims
Dear Readers, This is actually Post No. 1,007 since the PP Blog switched to the WordPress platform two years ago this month. We’d hoped to commemorate our 1,000th WordPress post in the actual 1,000th post, but missed the chance because of Breaking News concerning the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force’s Operation Broken Trust. Several hours […]
BULLETIN: National Investment-Fraud Sweep Dubbed ‘Operation Broken Trust’ Nets 532 Defendants; AG Holder Says Capers Caused More Than $10 Billion In Losses; ‘Undercover Operations’ Part of Task Force Arsenal
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and members of President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force said this morning that a nationwide sweep known as “Operation Broken Trust” has netted 343 criminal defendants and 189 civil defendants. Among the targets of the sweep were purveyors of Ponzi schemes, affinity fraud, prime bank/high-yield investment scams, foreign exchange […]
UPDATES/NEWS: ASA Ponzi Forum Now Redirects To CashX.com; Arthur Nadel Gets 14 Years In Florida Ponzi Case Brought By Obama Task Force; Former Indiana Pastor Who Bilked Christians Convicted Of Securities Fraud
UPDATED 10:56 A.M. EDT (U.S.A.) The ASA Monitor Ponzi and criminals’ forum now is redirecting to a website operated by CashX.com, a Canadian payment processor that hawks MasterCard debit cards and says it permits customers to withdrawn money to Liberty Reserve. Liberty Reserve is a Ponzi-friendly payment processor purportedly headquartered in Costa Rica after earlier […]
KABOOM! Florida — Again: Palm Beach Operators, Firms Charged With Running Scheme-Within-Scheme In Tom Petters’ Ponzi; More Than $1 Billion Plowed Into Rathole, SEC Says
EDITOR’S NOTE: The SEC has been particularly active in Florida in recent weeks. Now, the agency once again has gone to federal court to allege a spectacular fraud involving people and companies in the Sunshine State. This one involves more than $1 billion and is linked to the Tom Petters’ Ponzi case in Minnesota. Two […]
BULLETIN: ASA Monitor Ponzi And Criminals’ Forum Says It Is Closing; Threads Go Missing En Masse; Closure Coincides With Undercover Operations By Law Enforcement And USDA Probe Of MPB Today
BULLETIN: UPDATED 7:37 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.): The ASAMonitor Ponzi and criminals’ forum — the forum from which the purported MPB Today “grocery” program was being promoted and countless other fraud schemes were being promoted — suddenly has announced that the forum is closing. The announcement, which appeared today in red type, was made by “Wanrou,” […]