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Tag: Federal Employee Benefits Group

  • IT’S OFFICIAL: One Of Andy Bowdoin’s Lawyers Confirmed As U.S. Attorney; Another Tabbed As Federal Magistrate Judge; Firm Put In Charge Of Unraveling Wayne McLeod Ponzi Scheme

    Andy Bowdoin

    It’s enough to fuel the AdSurfDaily conspiracy theorists for years: Pamela Marsh, who represented ASD President Andy Bowdoin in a pyramid-scheme case in state court in Florida, has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the new U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

    Meanwhile, Jonathan Goodman, one of the attorneys who represented Bowdoin in the Ponzi-scheme forfeiture case filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, has been appointed a federal Magistrate Judge in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

    At the same time, an attorney for Akerman Senterfitt — the firm that employed both Marsh and Goodman — has been appointed to unravel the alleged K. Wayne McLeod Ponzi scheme that targeted members of law enforcement.

    Akerman Senterfitt’s Michael I. Goldberg already has begun his duties as receiver in the McLeod/Federal Employee Benefits Group case.

    President Obama appointed Marsh U.S. Attorney in April. She was confirmed by the Senate June 22.

    “Pam’s deep understanding of the law and commitment to excellence and ethics in her work made her a strong asset to the firm and she is the perfect choice to lead this important office,” said Andrew Smulian, chairman and chief executive officer of Akerman Senterfitt. “Pam has had great success in both the public and private sector and I am confident she will bring these impressive talents to her new role. We are particularly proud that Pam continues the tradition of Akerman attorneys who have made a special commitment to public service.”

    Marsh and Goodman have considerable experience as both prosecutors and defense attorneys.

    Bowdoin, 75, went on to fire an unclear number of attorneys representing him in state or federal court in ASD-related litigation, citing alleged incompetence and a conspiracy theory that his lawyers were only “looking out for the best interest of the government.”

    In 2008, federal prosecutors claimed Bowdoin had “followers.” In September 2009, they claimed he was “delusional.”

    Court records suggest Bowdoin withheld key information from both his attorneys and ASD members. While claiming in court that ASD was broke and could not pay its rent, Bowdoin did not disclose that ASD had $1 million in an offshore account under a different name, federal prosecutors said.

    He also claimed that “Ponzi” allegations against the company in Florida had been dropped, but the office of Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum pointed out that Bowdoin had never been accused by the state of operating a Ponzi scheme. The state brought pyramid allegations against the company.

    Despite federal allegations that Bowdoin was using an appeal to religion and operating a $100 million Ponzi scheme through 10 bank accounts in his personal name and that ASD was buying real estate, cars, jet skis, a boat and marine equipment with criminal proceeds, followers by the thousands initially lined up to support him.

    Some of his supporters said they associated themselves with a theory that the U.S. Congress met in secret session during the 1990s — a decade in which Bowdoin pleaded guilty to fleecing Alabama investors in a securities scheme — to pass secret legislation in anticipation of a visit by reptilian aliens.

    Some supporters also said they believed President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 because he was about to expose a banking conspiracy.

    Eventually dozens of pro se litigants attempted to intervene in a forfeiture case brought by the U.S. Secret Service in August 2008. Some of them advanced a theory that prosecutors and judges were conspiring against Bowdoin.

    Others claimed the government had neither evidence nor witnesses, claims that were publicly refuted in court filings even before the claims were made. At least one ASD member sought unsuccessfully to force the ouster of U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer, claiming she was conspiring with another federal judge to deny justice to ASD members and operating a “kangaroo court.”

    The same member — Curtis Richmond — also sought unsuccessfully in 2008 to oust a federal judge in a separate case by claiming the judge owed him $30 million.

    Bowdoin himself also tried unsuccessfully to oust Collyer. One of his supporters falsely claimed the government had invested the seized funds and recorded a profit of more than $1 billion.

    In September 2009, Bowdoin claimed that his battle against the government was inspired by a former Miss America. He previously claimed the raid on ASD was the equivalent of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, and described the Secret Service and prosecutors as “Satan.”

  • Receiver For Alleged Wayne McLeod Ponzi Scheme That Bilked Government Workers Opens Website; Michael I. Goldberg Asks For Help From Victims

    Saying he is interested in receiving input from victims, the court-appointed receiver in the alleged K. Wayne McLeod/Federal Employee Benefits Group Ponzi scheme has opened a website titled after the name of one of the companies named a defendant in the case by the SEC.

    Also named a defendant in the SEC case was another McLeod entity known as F&S Asset Management Group Inc. (FSAMG). McLeod died June 22. His death has been described by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office as a suicide. The SEC said in court filings last week that McLeod admitted to operating a fraud scheme after being confronted with evidence.

    He initially painted his company in a favorable light, according to court filings.

    The URL for the receiver’s site is FEBGinfo.com. (See link below.) Federal Employee Benefits Group went by the acronym FEBG and allegedly offered two bond funds that used the same acronym: FEBG Bond Fund and FEBG Special Fund. Both purported funds were scams, the SEC said.

    Receiver Michael I. Goldberg, a veteran attorney who also holds an MBA and has considerable experience in unraveling Ponzi schemes, cautioned that his probe was in its early stages.

    Goldberg’s early suggestions for creditors and victims are here.

    He noted that he was open to ideas, while also suggesting at least some of the victims may have “years of investigatory experience” that may be helpful to his probe.

    The SEC said the scheme, which is alleged to have begun in 1988, was targeted at government workers and law-enforcement agents. McLeod allegedly raised at least $34 million from an estimated 260 workers.

    Investigators said the government paid McLeod “up to” $15,000 to speak about benefits and retirement planning to government workers.

    Here is the link to the FEBG receivership site.

    Here (below) is a snapshot from one of the SEC filings in the case. Read the full document here.

  • Wayne McLeod Becomes Subject Of FBI Probe; Agency Asks Victims, Witnesses To Come Forward

    EDITOR’S NOTE: This story originally was published June 30. The PP Blog later encountered a database problem, which caused the site to go down and resulted in the temporary loss of some data. The data now has been retrieved.

    The FBI in Jacksonville has opened a probe into Kenneth “Wayne” McLeod, the Florida man who appears to have committed suicide last week when his alleged $34 million Ponzi scheme was exposed by the SEC.

    In a statement on its website, the FBI confirmed an investigation was under way and asked victims and witnesses to come forward.

    “Victims and other individuals with knowledge of FEBG are encouraged to call the FBI’s Jacksonville Field Office at (904) 248-7000 or to contact us via e-mail at Jacksonville@ic.fbi.gov and include “FEBG” in the e-mail subject line,” the agency said.

    Individuals are asked to provide the following:

    1. Their full name, address, and contact information.
    2. Their point of contact at Federal Employee Benefits Group (FEBG), McLeod’s company, and how they learned of the company and the investment opportunity.
    3. Their understanding of the terms of their investment(s).
    4. The total dollar amount of their investment(s).
    5. A description of any records they have in their possession that confirm their investment(s) — for example, statements, correspondence, etc.

    “Clients of FEBG should be aware that not all of the firm’s investments are at risk,” the FBI said. “However, individuals who invested in the ‘FEBG Bond Fund’ or ‘FEBG Special Fund’ may be victims of investment fraud and are welcome to contact the FBI.”

    McLeod was 48 when he died June 22. The SEC said his Jacksonville company was paid “up to” $15,000 by government agencies for seminars conducted by McLeod.

    The SEC alleged last week that McLeod was operating a Ponzi scheme dating back to at least 1988. The scheme was alleged to have gathered “at least” $34 million.

    McLeod’s company conducted seminars at various federal agencies, and also used the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco, Ga., as a seminar outlet, according to the firm’s website.

    FLETC is operated by the Department of Homeland Security and serves as an interagency law-enforcement training organization for 88 federal agencies.

    If the company’s seminar schedule is accurate, FEBG completed a seminar for U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) at the FLETC facility in Georgia June 8 — 14 days prior to McLeod’s death. Another ICE seminar was listed for July 2 at the same FLETC facility.

    Seminars for the Federal Air Marshals Service (FAMS) were scheduled July 7-9 in Miami. Dual seminars were scheduled for July 21 — one at the Georgia FLETC facility for ICE, and another in San Antonio for “SSA – OIG,” which stands for Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General.

    Seminar schedules dating back to 2006 appear on the site, featuring names such as the FBI, WIFLE (Women in Federal Law Enforcement), the DEA, the IRS, the U.S. Census Bureau, USSS (United States Secret Service), the U.S. Forest Service, USPS (United States Postal Service), ATF (the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives), NAADHS (National Association of African-Americans in the Department of Homeland Security, US Bankruptcy Court and US District Court, the Federal Public Defenders Office, the National Park Service, the US Fish & Wildlife Service, NABNA (National Association of Black Narcotics Agents), DCIS (Defense Criminal Investigative Service), NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) and others.

    It was not immediately clear if members of each of the agencies or employee associations invested in the alleged scheme. Also unclear was the total exposure of investors to losses.