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Tag: Finanzas Forex

MyAdvertisingPays Incorporated In Jurisdiction Mentioned Prominently In ‘Panama Papers’; Its Payment Vendor Lists Individuals Referenced In At Least 2 Spectacular Fraud Schemes

8TH UPDATE 11:53 P.M. EDT U.S.A. Before we get to the news that a federal judge took only a day to dismiss an April 6 libel lawsuit filed by the MyAdvertisingPays (MAPS) scheme and operator Michael E. Deese against the TaraTalks Blog, we’ll note that the 16-page complaint confirms that MAPS is incorporated in Anguilla.

Anguilla is a British overseas territory in the Caribbean. It is not illegal to incorporate offshore, but some schemes do so to avoid taxes or to engage in money-laundering and other crimes. There has been a longstanding concern that narcotics traffickers and even terrorists are using corporate shells to hide a criminal agenda.

Class-action attorneys in the United States pursuing claims in the massive TelexFree fraud scheme operating from Brazil, the United States and other countries have called MAPS a Ponzi scheme and promoter Simon Stepsys a “Ponzi mogul.”

Only days before the filing of the MAPS lawsuit and nearly instant dismissal, news of the “Panama Papers” and a giant leak to reporters broke through the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Anguilla was mentioned prominently as a tax haven. MAPS, originally incorporated in Mississippi, has been touting its Anguilla connection for months.

MAPS, for two years, also has been touting its relationship with an e-wallet vendor known as VX Gateway that operates out of Panama. Here’s where things really get interesting.

VX lists Roger Alberto Santamaria del Cid as a “subscriber.” Del Cid’s name has appeared on the PP Blog a couple of times. On Feb. 8, 2011, the Blog reported that his name had appeared in court filings in a federal forfeiture case involving assets linked to the notorious EMG/Finanzas Forex scheme in the Middle District of Florida. (See Paragraph 10 of this affidavit by a Task Force investigator.)

Money from EMG/Finanzas was linked to the international narcotics trade. OpenCorporates lists del Cid here as a Finanzas “subscriber.” The site lists Tatiana Itzel Saldaöa Escobar as another Finanzas subscriber, and the same name appears alongside Del Cid as a VX subscriber.

As the PP Blog reported on Feb. 10, 2011, del Cid’s name also had appeared as the contact person for Perfect Money, another financial vendor purportedly operating from Panama. The SEC has linked Perfect Money to the incredibly toxic Imperia Invest IBC offshore scheme that targeted thousands of people with hearing impairments.

Del Cid apparently works as a nominee director of offshore companies with ties to Panama. (See April 7, 2013 story that mentions his name on the website of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists: “Faux Corporate Directors Stand in for Fraudsters, Despots and Spies.”

With American lawyers calling MAPS a Ponzi scheme and with MAPS having promoters in common with TelexFree and the alleged Zeek Rewards Ponzi- and pyramid scheme, MAPS went to federal court in Illinois to sue TaraTalks, a longtime critic of the scheme. The complaint is posted at the RealScam.com antiscam forum.

The judge tossed the complaint in 24 hours, finding the court did not have jurisdiction, according to BehindMLM.com, another MAPS critic.

TaraTalks, which calls MAPS a Ponzi scheme, operates on Google’s Blogger platform, but MAPS apparently can’t pin down the precise location. Nor can MAPS identify the author of TaraTalks and the author’s location. All three things are important for establishing diversity jurisdiction.

But the complaint may have another jurisdiction issue. Although it says plaintiff Deese lives in “Harrison County, Louisiana,” no such place exists. Louisiana does not have counties; it has parishes, and there is no Harrison Parish.

Whether MAPS is under investigation by any U.S. government agencies is unknown. Similar schemes have led to prosecutions, and references by class-action attorneys to MAPS potentially put it on the U.S. radar.

Apr 14, 2016
SEC, Lawyer Clash Over Representation Of TelexFree Figure Sann Rodrigues; Lamborghini Once Owned By Accused DFRF Enterprises’ Ponzi Schemer Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho Was Used To Pay Sann’s Legal Fees

Small world between accused scammers: In court filings, the SEC says it has traced the ownership of a 2008 Lamborghini owned by TelexFree figure Sann Rodrigues and determined the car once was owned by accused DFRF Enterprises’ Ponzi schemer Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho. This, according to an SEC exhibit, was the check Filho used to purchase the vehicle and, apparently, a 2006 Ferrari. Source: Federal court files. Masking by PP Blog.

3RD UPDATE 9:36 AM EDT MARCH 17 U.S.A. This one features highly questionable dealings between an alleged MLM securities fraudster (TelexFree’s Sann Rodrigues) and an alleged Ponzi schemer (Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho of DFRF Enterprises). Filho also has been linked to the alleged 2010 Finanzas Forex/Evolution Market Group Ponzi scheme, a Ponzi-board “program” that allegedly had ties to the narcotics trade.

Suffice to say, this developing story has a lot of moving parts. Here’s our distillation:

On March 14, the SEC alleged that Rodrigues — whose assets are frozen — had transferred two expensive cars to Florida attorney Robert Eckard. Eckard is representing Rodrigues in the SEC’s civil case against him and other TelexFree figures and also in the Justice Department’s criminal case against him for immigration fraud.

The transfers potentially created a conflict of interest for Eckard, given that Rodrigues currently is jailed for civil contempt for violating the asset freeze and has not purged that contempt, according to the SEC. Getting out of hock with the court will cost the huckster at least $334,000, perhaps more. Rodrigues claims he cannot pay and that the court should free him and put him on a payment plan.

U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton of Massachusetts is hearing the case.

Why didn’t Rodrigues apply the two cars to purge the contempt?

Well, according to the SEC, the cars — a 2008 Lamborghini Gallardo and a 2012 Fisker Karma — were transferred to Eckard after the agency moved for contempt against Rodrigues in August 2015.

The SEC further suggested in its filings that Eckard paid far below book value for the cars. In the case of the used Lamborghini, the SEC said, the lawyer paid only $30,000 for a car that months earlier had sold for five times that sum.

Eckard paid only $20,000 for the Fisker Karma, which months earlier had sold for three times that sum, the SEC said. Fisker Karma is an electric luxury vehicle whose operator declared bankruptcy..

Reached by the PP Blog today, Eckard pointed to court filings in which he says Rodrigues — strapped for cash because of the freeze — paid him with cars, rather than cash. And, the lawyer contended, no conflict existed and the SEC had cleared the cars from the asset freeze.

Because Rodrigues paid with cars, not cash, it created an unusual situation with vehicle taxes, Eckard said. He added that he consulted with authorities in Pasco County and with the Florida Department of Revenue when transferring the cars to his name.

“I did not pay anything for the vehicle, but was required to put an amount down for tax purposes, since it was not a gift,” Eckard advised Gorton about the Lamborghini.

The Fisker Karma was accepted from Rodrigues as payment for legal fees and proved to be a lemon with bad electrical parts and bad tires, Eckard contended.

Eckard is moving to strike the SEC’s assertions from the court docket.

Both Rodrigues and Filho are Brazilian by birth and Florida residents. How they came together remains unclear.

The SEC linked Rodrigues to Filho last year.

NOTE: Our thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.

UPDATE 3:53 P.M. EDT U.S.A. MARCH 22: Looks as though Rodrigues will be released from jail, after coming up with a plan to purge the contempt. This matter is separate from the SEC’s securities-fraud case against him filed in April 2014.

Mar 16, 2016
Banks Should Have Googled Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho, Attorney Tells Bloomberg Business

The lede in a story this morning by Neil Weinberg of Bloomberg Business:

“The U.S. requires banks to know their customers. Looks like several big ones, including Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co., may have missed getting acquainted with Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho.”

Here’s a link to the story, titled “Ponzi Suspect’s 17 Accounts Raise Questions Over Bank Safeguards.”

The PP Blog first wrote about Filho in May 2010 in the context of the deeply disturbing Evolution Market Group/ FinanzasForex scheme. Money was linked to the narcotics trade.

As we reported more than five years ago (italics added):

Research by the PP Blog suggests the purported investment program was so sordid that promoters even claimed some of the funds were being used for the “humanitarian” purpose of assisting kidnapping victims in Colombia. In a sickening display of marketing theatrics, a claim was made that investors could “adopt” kidnapping victims for a payment of $1,000 and that the company would set aside $500 in corporate funds for each victim so that their families could have bright futures if the victims ultimately were released by their captors.

The HYIP scheme allegedly was associated with an entity known as Evolution Market Group (EMG), which purportedly had a Forex component known as FinanzasForex. Investigators alleged in January that there were schemes within schemes in a tangled web of domestic and international deception that featured dozens of bank accounts, shell companies and various fronts for money-laundering enterprises, including companies purportedly in businesses such as real estate and car washes.

The scheme was so corrupt, according to court filings, that some investors were told that, in order to leave the program whole, they had to recruit new investors, have the new investors pay them directly — and use the proceeds from the new investors to “recover” their initial outlays.

“If the banks had just Googled this guy, they would have known enough to stay away,” Evans Carter, a Framingham, Massachusetts-based attorney, told Bloomberg.

Filho’s name later would surface in the preposterous DFRF Enterprises’ scheme that has led to civil and criminal charges against him. The SEC has linked Filho to TelexFree figure Sann Rodrigues. Those ties may prove to be more troubling as the litigation winds its way through the courts.

See BehindMLM.com story dated today: “Sann Rodrigues laundered assets through DFRF Enterprises.”

Oct 8, 2015
DFRF Asset Freeze Affects Accounts At At Least 13 Banks; Judge Orders Repatriation, Blocks Flow Of New Money

UPDATED 6:55 A.M. EDT JULY 30 U.S.A. In the SEC’s civil case against DFRF Enterprises, a federal judge in Massachusetts has issued an order that freezes accounts at at least 13 banks and enjoins DFRF from soliciting or accepting any more money or opening any new accounts.

Dated July 28, the order by Chief U.S. District Judge Patti B. Saris also directs DFRF to “take such steps as are necessary to repatriate and deposit into the registry of the Court any and all funds or other assets that were obtained directly or indirectly from any investors in connection with the activities described in the Complaint and that are presently located outside of the United States.”

At the same time, the order prohibits DFRF from withdrawing, paying, dissipating, selling, encumbering, assigning and transferring assets wherever such assets may exist or diminishing their value “in any way.” The order further prohibits DFRF from charging on or drawing from any credit arrangements it may have.

In short, the order lays to waste claims from DFRF and certain individual promoters that the purported opportunity would simply conduct business outside the United States — despite the gravity of the pyramid- and Ponzi allegations the SEC filed last month and the arrest in Florida last week of accused operator Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho.

The order applies to DFRF, Filho and six promoters charged by the SEC June 30. The case was announced July 2. The SEC’s case is ongoing, and the order is not limited to the 13 identified banks.

The 13 identified in the order are Bank of America, Central Florida Educators Federal Credit Union, Citibank, Citizens Bank, Eastern Bank, First Bank of Puerto Rico, JPMorgan Chase Bank, Regions Bank, Santander Bank, Suncoast Credit Union, SunTrust Bank, TD Bank and Wells Fargo Bank.

It was not immediately clear whether any of the banks halted DFRF-related account activity prior to the SEC action. The identities of the individual account-holders also was unclear.

In its complaint last month, the SEC tied Filho to TelexFree figure Sann Rodrigues, a defendant in the agency’s April 2014 civil case that alleged TelexFree was a massive Ponzi- and pyramid scheme.

The PP Blog highly recommends that persons interested in the DFRF case visit the website of the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida to read up on the 2010 Evolution Market Group/Finanzas Forex case.

Then visit the website of the remissions administrator in the EMG/Finanzas case. You will find that accounts linked to Filho were seized in that case and that a gold theme and expensive automobiles — elements in the DFRF case — also were elements in the EMG/Finanzas case.

You’ll also find that some of the money tied up in the EMG/Finanzas case also was linked to the narcotics business.

Also see this story, published May 16, 2010, by the PP Blog: KABOOM! Agents Tie Alleged ‘Evolution Market Group’ Ponzi And HYIP Fraud Scheme To Narcotics Case In Arizona; Tens Of Millions Of Dollars Seized; Firms Promoted On ASA Monitor, TalkGold Forums

Also see this story, published March 25, 2011, by the PP Blog: URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: German Cardona Soler, Figure Associated With International Forex Scam Pushed On TalkGold And MoneyMakerGroup, Arrested By Spanish National Police; Agency Alleges $300 Million Ponzi

As was the case with TelexFree, the SEC said in court filings last month that some DFRF investors paid their sponsors directly, instead of paying DFRF.

“The amount of checks and cash that the individual defendants collected directly from investors is currently unknown,” the agency said last month.

Circuitous money flow is a core signature of an online securities scam. So are remarkable earnings tales, hotel pitchfests and sea cruises, all of which are elements in the TelexFree and DFRF cases.

NOTE: Our thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.

Jul 28, 2015
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: SEC Charges DFRF Enterprises In Ponzi- And Pyramid Scheme Case; Agency Ties TelexFree Figure Sann Rodrigues To Charged DFRF Operator Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (15th Update 4:43 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) The SEC has gone to federal court in Massachusetts, charging DFRF Enterprises and alleged operator Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho with operating a combined pyramid- and Ponzi scheme targeted at “Spanish and Portuguese-speaking communities in Massachusetts, Florida, and elsewhere in the U.S.”

Six alleged promoters also were charged.

In its complaint, the SEC ties Filho to Sann Rodrigues, a figure in the TelexFree Ponzi- and pyramid-scheme case filed by the agency last year in Massachusetts.

A stunning allegation from the SEC complaint (italics added/light editing performed):

. . . Filho has caused DFRF to pay more than $310,000 for the benefit of Sanderley Rodrigues de Vasconcelos (“Rodrigues”). Rodrigues is the subject of a 2007 consent judgment in a Commission enforcement action concerning the “Universo Foneclub” pyramid scheme, and he is a defendant in the Commission’s pending enforcement action concerning the “TelexFree” pyramid scheme. On March 21, 2015, Filho caused DFRF to pay $50,000 to a business belonging to Rodrigues. (The payment was made less than one month after Filho publicly denied any link between DFRF and TelexFree.)

On March 30, 2015, Filho caused DFRF to pay $100,000 to the same business. On April 2, 2015, Filho caused DFRF to supply more than $160,000 so that another business belonging to Rodrigues could purchase a 2008 Lamborghini sports car. There is no evidence that Rodrigues provided any services or other benefit to DFRF.

All in all, according to the SEC, Rodrigues received more than $310,000 from DFRF’s fraud scheme. He has claimed he received at least $3 million from TelexFree.

After Rodrigues was arrested in the United States in May on charges of immigration fraud, he asserted his current income was $80,000 a year, according to court filings. He also claimed to own two homes — one in Massachusetts and one in Florida — free and clear.

The PP Blog reported on June 30 that a wanted notice on INTERPOL’s website said Rodrigues was being sought by Brazil for “Tax Evasion and not obey[ing] a Judicial Order.” Though granted conditional bail in the immigration case, Rodrigues now is being held in the United States on Brazil’s warrant.

He also is implicated in a scheme known as IFreeX, the subject of a warning by the Massachusetts Securities Division last year.

The British Columbia Securities Commission issued a fraud warning against DFRF in May.

In the SEC complaint filed under seal June 30 and made public today, the agency described DFRF as an ongoing offering fraud and Filho as a thief who had siphoned investors’ outlays from the scheme.

“Filho has also used the investors’ money for his personal benefit,” the SEC charged in its 22-page complaint. “Since June 2014, he has siphoned more than $6 million out of DFRF — approximately 40% of the total received from investors. This includes more than $1.8 million in cash withdrawals, approximately $1.8 million for personal expenses (including $500,000 for travel), and almost $2.5 million to acquire a fleet of luxury automobiles.”

The scheme allegedly gathered about $15 million, the SEC charged.

“DFRF and its operators falsely claimed that they were running a lucrative gold mining business when in reality they were operating a Ponzi and pyramid scheme that preyed on investors in particular ethnic communities who stand to lose millions of dollars,” said John T. Dugan, associate regional director of the SEC’s Boston Regional Office. “Investors were not given the full story about the true value and security of their investments.”

Charged promoters include Wanderley M. Dalman of Revere, Mass.; Gaspar C. Jesus of Malden, Mass.; Eduardo N. Da Silva of Orlando, Fla.; Heriberto C. Perez Valdes of Miami; Jeffrey A. Feldman of Boca Raton; and Romildo Da Cunha of Brazil.

On Jan. 19, 2015, the PP Blog reported that DFRF was the apparent sponsor of an event in Florida that featured an appearance by Brazilian racing legend Emerson Fittipaldi. Sann Rodrigues — now jailed in the United States on a warrant from Brazil — also was seen with Fittipaldi.

Like Rodrigues, Filho is a Brazilian who has conducted business in the United States. He previously was linked to the noxious Evolution Market Group/Finanzas Forex case in 2010. The PP Blog first wrote about Filho more than five years ago, in May 2010.

A federal judge has approved an asset freeze in the DFRF case, the SEC said.

BehindMLM.com reported in May 2015 that DFRF had dropped the names of the SEC and the FBI in a YouTube sales pitch uploaded in December 2014.

From a statement today by the SEC (italics added):

The SEC alleges that DFRF Enterprises, named for its founder Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho, claimed to operate more than 50 gold mines in Brazil and Africa, but the company’s revenues came solely from selling membership interests to investors and not from mining gold. With the help of several promoters, they lured investors with such false promises as their money would be fully insured, DFRF has a line of credit with a Swiss private bank, and one-quarter of DFRF’s profits are used for charitable work in Africa. The scheme raised more than $15 million from at least 1,400 investors by recruiting new members in pyramid scheme fashion to keep the fraud afloat, and commissions were paid to earlier investors in Ponzi-like fashion for their recruitment efforts.

Rodrigues is not listed as a codefendant in the SEC’s case against Filho and the other defendants.

But the agency alleged that DFRF also had paid those defendants. Since June 2014: “approximately $521,000 to Valdes, $252,000 to Feldman, $221,000 to Silva, $56,000 to Jesus, $51,000 to Dalman, and $33,000 to Cunha.”

As was the case with TelexFree, some investors paid their sponsors directly, instead of paying DFRF, the SEC alleged.

“The amount of checks and cash that the individual defendants collected directly from investors is currently unknown,” the agency said.

Included among a “a fleet of luxury automobiles” acquired by Filho from investors’ money were a 2014 Rolls Royce, a 2015 Lamborghini, a 2014 Lamborghini, a 2012 Ferrari, a 2006 Ferrari, a 2013 Mercedes, a 2015 Cadillac and a 2014 Cadillac, the SEC charged.

Read the SEC’s DFRF complaint.

Jul 2, 2015
BULLETIN: ‘PerfectMoney,’ Fraud-Scheme Processor Purportedly Based In Panama, Says It Is Banning U.S. Customers

BULLETIN: On the heels of the apparent shutdown of Costa Rica-based Liberty Reserve as part of an international money-laundering investigation, “PerfectMoney” says it is banning users from the United States. Perfect Money purportedly operates from Panama. (More below.)

In an announcement dated today on its website, Perfect Money says that “due to changes in our policy we forbid new registrations from individuals or companies based in the United States of America. This includes US citizens residing overseas. If you fall under the above mentioned category, please do not register an account with us.”

How PerfectMoney intends to treat existing U.S. users was not immediately clear, and the firm did not explain why it suddenly had changed its policy. The company is favored by criminals and HYIP scammers and has a history of advertising on behalf of purported Forex “opportunities” that have been the subjects of sweeping court actions in the United States.

In January 2013, the Superintendency of the Securities Market of the Republic of Panama (SMV) warned that Perfect Money “has not been granted any kind of license by the SMV, nor has been authorized to carry on activities of intermediation, administration, or advisory in securities, financial instruments or forex, in or from the Republic of Panama, within the scope of the Securities Law.

“PERFECT MONEY FINANCE CORP. does not have [its] own offices in Panama, the office and its P.O. Box claim in its website [deleted by PP Blog], belong to the companies Azuero Business Center, Inc. and Panama Net Buy, which provides online shopping services,” SMV said.

In 2011, the PP Blog reported that an individual referenced as a Perfect Money contact person is referenced in federal court filings that tie money from the alleged EMG/Finanzas Forex fraud scheme to an international narcotics probe that led to the seizure of at least 59 bank accounts in the United States and the companion seizure of 294 bars of gold and at least seven luxury vehicles.

PerfectMoney’s name also is referenced in case filings from the SEC’s 2010 fraud complaint against Imperia Invest IBC, a scam purportedly operating offshore. Deaf people lost millions of dollars to Imperia, the SEC said.

A quick check today by the PPBlog showed dozens of HYIP sites that claim to accept PerfectMoney. Many of the same sites also claimed to accept LibertyReserve. How the “programs” — all of which advertise preposterous returns — will contend with the absence of LibertyReserve and the new restrictions imposed by PerfectMoney was not immediately clear.

Liberty Reserve operator Arthur Budovsky Belanchuk is reported to be under arrest in Spain as part of a probe by authorities in Costa Rica and the United States.

Based on U.S. court files and certain extrapolations, murky HYIPs may be raking in billions of dollars. In August 2012, the SEC alleged that the Zeek Rewards “program” gathered at least $600 million. Legisi, another HYIP scam, gathered at least $72 million before its 2008 collapse. Pathway To Prosperity appears to have churned at least $70 million prior to its 2010 collapse. The 2008 AdSurfDaily scheme gathered at least $119 million, according to federal prosecutors.

Zeek and ASD — at least — did business with AlertPay and SolidTrustPay, processors based in Canada.

In April 2013, the SEC alleged that a murky “program” known as Profitable Sunrise may have gathered tens of millions of dollars. Profitable Sunrise is the subject of regulatory actions or Investor Alerts in at least five countries: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy and New Zealand.

Profitable Sunrise pitchmen may not even have known for whom they were working to glean commissions, the SEC alleged.

There may be hundreds or perhaps thousands of HYIP scams operating online at any given point in time. Some of them — like Profitable Sunrise — even advertise they accept bank wires. HYIP scams often have promoters in common, a situation that sets the stage for banks to come into possession of funds tainted by a revolving door of fraud schemes.

In recent weeks, the PP Blog has reported on a number of reload scams aimed at victims of the Profitable Sunrise scheme. Virtually all of the schemes accepted PerfectMoney, LibertyReserve or both. Some also advertised they accepted SolidTrustPay and EgoPay.

These schemes included BiwakoBank Limited, SuperWithdraw, Whos12, Fairy Funds, Roxili, OptiEarn, AVVGlobal, ProForexUnion, MajestiCrown and TelexFree.

May 25, 2013
BULLETIN: U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office Charges John Neil Hirst In $16 Million Ponzi Fraud; Brits, French, Americans Allegedly Targeted By Gilher Inc. Of Panama And Seychelles

BULLETIN: John Neil Hirst has been charged by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in the United Kingdom in a case that alleges he was at the helm of an international Ponzi scheme that targeted British, French and Americans through a company registered in Panama and Seychelles.

The company was known as Gilher Inc., the SFO said. Hirst operated from Mallorca, investigators said.

U.K. officials said Hirst, 59, appeared in Bradford Magistrates Court today to face charges of money-laundering and conspiracy to defraud. The scheme is believe to have gathered more than £10m (about $16.2 million U.S.), causing losses of about £6m (nearly $10 million U.S.).

Investigators said in November 2009 that Gilher hawked a “fund” that offered “a guaranteed return of 20% a year.”

It was the second major Ponzi case brought in Europe in recent weeks. German Cardona Soler was arrested in Spain last month in a case described as a $300 million Ponzi scheme that affected more than 100,000 investors globally.

The SFO investigation of Hirst “is still continuing in regards to the involvement of a number of additional individuals,” the SFO said today. Investigators did not name the other individuals or say how many others were under scrutiny.

“Gilher Inc was a Panama and Seychelles registered company, operated by Hirst, which invested funds on behalf of private clients who were mainly based in the UK and Spain,” SFO said. “The investigation started in November 2009 following complaints made to the SFO by investors and has been investigated with the assistance of West Yorkshire and Surrey Police and overseas law enforcement authorities.”

SFO did not identify the overseas authorities that assisted in the probe.

Cardona is a figure in the alleged EMG/Finanzas Forex Ponzi scheme, which has been tied to multiple fraud schemes in Florida and a narcotics probe in Arizona, according to U.S. court filings. Some of the U.S.-based legwork in the alleged caper was performed by members of the same Task Force that brought a $110 million Ponzi prosecution against AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin of Quincy, Fla.

Cardona’s name also has surfaced in the George Theodule Ponzi scheme in Florida.

Both EMG/Finanzas and AdSurfDaily were promoted on Ponzi and criminals’ forums such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup.

Hirst was ordered to remain at his residence and not to contact prosecution witnesses. He also was ordered to surrender his passport, SFO said.

Apr 6, 2011
SPECIAL REPORT: Investor In Alleged Florida Forex Caper Arrested For Bankruptcy Fraud; Botfly LLC Ponzi Case Reminiscent Of ASD Case; Female Investigator Called Vile Names; Accused Schemer David Lewalski Shifted Blame To Government, Feds Say

UPDATED 1:14 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) A Florida man who allegedly received $1.5 million from an international Forex fraudster now jailed in the United States has been arrested on charges of bankruptcy fraud, federal prosecutors said.

The three-count indictment against Jon Jerald Hammill, 39, of St. Petersburg, was unsealed yesterday. It marked the fourth major Ponzi-related event in Florida in recent days. The state is the site of some of the most complex fraud investigations in the nation, and the case against David R. Lewalski — from whom Hammill and his company allegedly received money — is no exception.

Hammill, whose arrest was announced in Washington yesterday by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer, was accused of failing “to disclose that he had received more than $100,000″ from Lewalski’s company prior to the filing of his bankruptcy petition” in February 2009. He is further accused of not disclosing his ownership of a shell company into which payments from Lewalski’s Ponzi scheme were routed and not disclosing his business relationship with Lewalski.

Although Hammill’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy initially was granted in July 2009, U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee Donald F. Walton later reopened the case and sought to revoke Hammill’s discharge for fraud. In court filings, Walton said Hammill invoked his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination when questioned about his dealings with Lewalkski’s company, which was known as Botfly LLC.

Breuer is the head of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. The federal probe into the alleged $29 million Botfly Forex caper is being led by U.S. Attorney Robert O’Neill of the Middle District of Florida, with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Washington as the lead agency. O’Neill and his predecessor — former U.S. Attorney A. Brian Albritton — have squared off against against a series of spectacular fraud schemes operating in the region.

Among the cases are the Beau Diamond Ponzi scheme, the David Merrick Ponzi scheme known as TIRN, the $220 million Forex Ponzi scheme of Jamaican David A. Smith and the alleged EMG/Finanzas Forex fraud. Investigators say they have traced proceeds from the EMG/Finanzas fraud to the international narcotics trade. A task force working in the region also did investigative legwork in the alleged AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme.

Some of the cases have elements that only can be described as bizarre and deeply disturbing. In the Lewalski case, for instance, it is alleged that Lewalski discussed a plan by which he’d divert blame to the government for his legal predicament in a bid to get his victims to pay for his defense.

By making the government the bogeyman, Lewalski hoped victims would come to believe that he — as opposed to investigators — offered the best shot of getting back their money, according to court filings.

At least one person gave Lewalski $50,000 to pay for a lawyer — and this occurred after Lewalski had chartered a private Gulfstream IV jet at a cost of $172,744 to fly from the United States to Belgium one day after he was charged civilly in Florida, according to court filings.

One women — an attorney for the court-appointed receiver in Florida’s civil case — was made the subject of misogynistic rants by Lewalski, according to court filings. The rants were cited by federal prosecutors who argued successfully that Lewalski should not be released on bond.

Prosecutors also argued that Lewalski had spent astronomical sums of investors’ money on luxuries in the United States and Europe and advised investors to take the 5th Amendment when questioned. In court filings, prosecutors argued that Lewalski also sought to tamper with witnesses.

Lewalkski, prosecutors said, told “family members and other potential witnesses to stay quiet and not cooperate with law enforcement.”

The receiver’s attorney was called a “c[$%!]” and a “Nazi,” according to court filings. In one rant, Lewalski allegedly said, “So f[$%!] her what a bitch.” Court documents also allude to a woman who allegedly was called an “FDLE chick” and described by Lewalski as “nuts” and a “bitch.”

It was not immediately clear if Lewalski was talking about the receiver’s attorney or a different woman employed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement when making the alleged “FDLE chick” remark. In the context of the remark, however, Lewalski is alleged to have discussed a “nuclear option.”

Separately, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service alleged that Lewalski complained to investors he defrauded about “recent ‘Orwellian’ totalitarian tactics” employed by U.S. investigators in Ponzi scheme cases, instead of accepting accountability for his fraud.

But even as Lewalski was grumbling that his U.S. assets had been frozen, he allegedly did not tell his investors what had happened to their money and why they had not been paid as promised prior to the seizure. Instead, according to the investigating postal inspector, he talked about money he was able to access in Europe after he left the United States hastily, saying he had as many as six offshore accounts.

Among Lewalski’s other claims was that he had been “investigated and cleared by the Securities and Exchange Commission,” according to court filings. Members of ASD also have claimed that ASD, which was accused of orchestrating a $110 million international fraud from Florida, was given the green light by the SEC.

No evidence has surfaced in either the ASD case or the Botfly case that the SEC approved of the companies’ operations. Meanwhile, ASD members also have directed rants at prosecutors and investigators, describing them as “goons,” “Nazis,” merchants of “Satan” and criminals. One ASD member proposed that a federal prosecutor be placed in a medieval torture rack, with ASD members at large drawing straws to determine who got the honor of turning the torture wheel.

Another ASD member proposed that a “milita” storm Washington in defense of ASD. Still another said that the company’s critics consisted of “Rats, Bed Bugs, Maggots, Cockroaches And Everything Else.”

Lewalski, 47, operated Botfly from his mother’s home in Bayonet Point, Fla., according to court records.

After being charged civilly by the state of Florida in April 2010, Lewalski immediately left the United States, spending the next seven months in Europe, according to court filings.

He is believed to have returned to the United States in October 2010, but investigators said he pretended still to be in Europe. Lewalski was arrested in New York on November 4, 2010. Prosecutors said he was staying in a luxury suite atop the Mandarin Oriental Hotel for which he had paid $143,000 in advance with investors’ money.

The Mandarin bills itself “the most breathtaking luxury hotel in New York,” and Lewalski’s suite overlooked Central Park, according to court records.

Visit the site of the court-appointed receiver in the Lewalski Forex Ponzi case.

Apr 1, 2011
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: German Cardona Soler, Figure Associated With International Forex Scam Pushed On TalkGold And MoneyMakerGroup, Arrested By Spanish National Police; Agency Alleges $300 Million Ponzi

BULLETIN: Spanish National Police have arrested German Cardona Soler in a case that alleges a spectacular Ponzi and fraud scheme involving more than $300 million. Two others also were arrested, and police “locked” 12 bank accounts. Although early details are unclear, it appears as though police have charged at least seven people in the alleged international caper.

Cardona Soler, also known simply as German Cardona, is referenced in U.S. court documents in the EMG/Finanzas Forex case. Federal prosecutors traced money seized in the case to the narcotics trade, according to U.S. court filings. The scheme was promoted on TalkGold, MoneyMakerGroup and other Ponzi and criminals’ forums.

Cardona also is referenced in other Ponzi cases, including the George Theodule Ponzi in Florida.

Spanish police described the alleged caper as a “mini-Madoff” scheme, saying it affected more than 100,000 people in 110 countries.

Mar 25, 2011
SPECIAL REPORT: Forex Firms Named In CFTC Sweep Used Same Offshore Processor As Alleged Imperia Invest Fraud; Name Of Man Linked To ‘Perfect Money’ Appears In Ponzi Forfeiture Complaint In Which Feds Tied Cash To International Narcotics Trade

InstaForex, a company accused by the CFTC last month of targeting U.S. customers to purchase unregistered offerings and paying through Perfect Money, says participants can win this Lotus -- but they have to pay to play by depositing at least $1,000 USD. Sweepstakes that require a purchase by participants are illegal in the United States.

SPECIAL REPORT: UPDATED 2:27 P.M. ET (U.S.A., FEB. 9) Federal court and web records show that at least three of the 14 purported Forex dealers named defendants in a major sweep of unregistered firms last month by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission advertised that they accepted funds from Perfect Money.

Perfect Money is a murky money-services business purportedly based in Panama that allegedly was used by a company that defrauded thousands of deaf investors by promising Visa debit cards and returns of 1.2 percent per day, according to federal records. The name of a man purported to be Perfect Money’s contact person in Panama City is referenced in federal court filings that tie money from the alleged EMG/Finanzas Forex fraud scheme to an international narcotics probe that led to the seizure of at least 59 bank accounts in the United States and the companion seizure of 294 bars of gold and at least seven luxury vehicles.

The number of purported Forex dealers that allegedly accepted Perfect Money and were named defendants in the CFTC sweep could be higher than three because not all of the defendants publicly disclosed the precise mechanisms by which they accepted payments from U.S. customers.

According to court filings and web records, some of the companies also advertised that they accepted funds from Liberty Reserve, another murky offshore processor, and even PayPal. PayPal’s Acceptable Use Policy specifically bans the use of its services for “currency exchanges,” businesses that support Ponzi and pyramid schemes and businesses associated with “off-shore banking.”

PayPal says it requires “pre-approval” for any businesses “selling stocks, bonds, securities, options, futures (forex) or an investment interest.” Whether any of the businesses named in the CFTC Forex complaints received approval from PayPal to either use its name in promos or use its services to collect money is unclear.

Records show (see paragraph 17 of SEC complaint) that Perfect Money payments were accepted by Imperia Invest IBC, the mysterious offshore company accused by the SEC in October 2010 of pulling off a spectacular fraud that fleeced at least 14,000 people of millions of dollars. Included among the Imperia victims were thousands of Americans with hearing impairments, the SEC said.

Imperia was promoted on Ponzi scheme and criminals’ forums such as TalkGold, which also promoted at least two of the companies named defendants in the CFTC’s Forex sweep. One of the companies — InstaTrade Corp., doing business as InstaForex — is advertising on TalkGold that participants will have a chance in the months ahead to win a Lotus Elise, a sports coupe that carries a price tag of more than $50,000.

To win the expensive car, however, investors have to pay to play, according to InstaForex. Sweepstakes that require a purchase are illegal in the United States, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

InstaForex investors can qualify to win the Lotus by replenishing “the real trading account in InstaForex Company with 1000 USD or more during [the] Campaign period,” the company says in stilted English.

“Participant has a right to register in the Campaign more than 1 account and raise his/her chances for the victory,” InstaForex continues in stilted English. “However, in case contest administration detects more than 100 accounts registered by one person, it reserves the right to decrease the number of accounts till (sic) 100.”

Meanwhile, the name of Roger Alberto Santamaria del Cid — the purported contact person of Perfect Money — appears in federal court filings in the EMG/Finanzas Forex forfeiture case. The EMG/Finanzas case was brought last year by a federal task force based in Florida and alleges that tens of millions of dollars seized in Arizona as part of the probe were linked to the international narcotics trade. (See Paragraph 10 of the federal affidavit for the reference to del Cid, who is identified as the “Secretary” of EMG. Del Cid is referenced in domain-registration data for PerfectMoney.com as the contact person for Perfect Money Finance Corp.)

Elements of the prosecution against more than $100 million in assets linked to EMG/Finanzas were brought by members of the same task force that brought civil and criminal prosecutions against Florida-based AdSurfDaily. Some of the members of the task force have experience working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. Secret Service, the IRS and other agencies to reverse-engineer fantastically complex financial crimes.

At least one of the investigators, according to records, was instrumental in bringing the successful money-laundering conspiracy prosecution against the e-Gold payment processor in 2007. The e-Gold case was brought in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. It resulted in guilty pleas announced on July 21, 2008.

About two weeks later, the U.S. Secret Service raided ASD’s headquarters in Quincy, Fla. Federal prosecutors later alleged ASD was operating a Ponzi scheme that had gathered at least $110 million — and had ceased using e-Gold “shortly after” the e-Gold indictments were announced in April 2007.

Federal prosecutors also alleged that 12DailyPro and PhoenixSurf — two autosurfs charged by the SEC with operating Ponzi schemes — also had used e-Gold. In December 2010, prosecutors said that ASD also had the ability to accept money from e-Bullion, yet-another processor accused of accepting and distributing Ponzi funds from various schemes.

James Fayed, the operator of e-Bullion, was accused of arranging the July 2008 murder of Pamela Fayed, his estranged wife and potential witness against him. Pamela Fayed’s body was found in a California parking garage just days before the ASD raid in Florida.

Erma Seabaugh, known among ASD members as the “Web Room Lady,” used E-Bullion in November 2007 to transfer $10,510 to ASD, according to a forfeiture complaint filed in December 2010.

On Jan. 26, the CFTC sued 14 purported Forex companies simultaneously, alleging that they were unregistered entities that were illegally targeting U.S. residents. At least three of the companies — ForInvest (Perfect Money reference appears online), InstaTrade Corp. (see Paragraph 21 of CFTC complaint for the Perfect Money reference) and Kingdom Forex Trading and Futures Ltd. (see Paragraph 17 of CFTC complaint for the Perfect Money reference) — accepted Perfect Money, according to records.

Two of the complaints — InstaTrade and Kingdom Forex — were brought in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the same venue in which the e-Gold case was brought in 2007. The case against ForInvest was brought in U.S. District Court from the Northern District of Illinois.

Perfect Money advertised a relationship with at least two of the defendants named in the CFTC cases: InstaForex and FXOpen, according to web records.

On its website, Perfect Money advertised its relationship with InstaForex and FXOpen, two companies accused by the CFTC of targeting Americans with unregistered Forex offerings. The FXOpen website now appears to be blocked from loading in the United States. It was not immediately clear if the site will load in other parts of the world.

Feb 8, 2011
KABOOM! Alleged Commodities Ponzi Scheme Run By Mexican Nationals On U.S. Soil Dumped Money Into TWO Other Failed HYIP Fraud Schemes, Investigators Say; Ruben Gonzalez, Jose C. Naranjo Charged By CFTC

UPDATED 10:17 A.M. EDT (May 25, U.S.A.) It has been another nasty day for the HYIP and autosurf “industries” and their apologists. Investigators have charged two Mexican nationals with operating a Ponzi scheme on U.S. soil. The alleged scheme, which used names such as New Golden Investment Group LLC (NGI), NGI Group LLC, New Golden Management, New Golden Entertainment LLC, Grupo NGI International Inc. and NGI International Inc., targeted Latinos in Greater Los Angeles, authorities said.

Charged by the CFTC is the case were the companies and their operators, Ruben Gonzalez of West Covina, Calif., and Jose C. Naranjo of La Mirada, Calif. Both men are Mexican nationals. Their ages were not immediately known. Gonzalez was jailed in October on immigration charges, authorities said.

Gonzalez also has been indicted on criminal charges of mail fraud and wire fraud, the CFTC said.

The alleged NGI scheme has ties to other fraud schemes, including the Traders International Return Network (TIRN) scheme and the alleged Finanzas Forex scheme, authorities said. Criminal charges have flowed from the TIRN scheme, and the Finanzas Forex scheme — allegedly part of an international scheme known as Evolution Market Group (EMG) — has resulted in allegations that proceeds from the EMG scheme found their way into bank accounts seized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in a narcotics investigation in Arizona.

Meanwhile, the TIRN scheme, which operated from Florida and claimed a presence in Panama, also has a tie to the alleged INetGlobal autosurf Ponzi scheme. Both TIRN and INetGlobal used the same debit-card company to pay members, according to court filings.

Gonzalez and Naranjo gathered $3.65 million in the NGI scheme beginning in August 2008, dumping at least $100,000 into TIRN and $290,000 into Finanzas Forex, the CFTC said. All of the money appears to have been misappropriated, with Gonzalez transferring “at least” $260,000 from NGI member funds to his personal bank account and Naranjo transferring “at least” $267,000 from NGI member funds to his personal bank account.

About $62,000 transferred into Naranjo’s bank account was withdrawn in cash, the CFTC said.

The men “used investor funds to purchase a Mercedes-Benz, airline tickets, various other retail items and to make payments on a home,” the CFTC said.

It is possible that as much as $1 million was directed at Finanzas Forex, the CFTC said.

Gonzalez and Naranjo tricked investors by making them believe NGI was a real commodities-trading business.

“Gonzalez, Naranjo and NGI falsely presented NGI as a successful trading company by displaying trading software on NGIâ€™s office computers to make it appear to customers and prospective customers that NGI was engaged in electronic commodity futures trading,” the CFTC said.

In reality, “NGI did not trade commodity futures for customers and did not make any of their advertised profits. Instead, Gonzalez and Naranjo allegedly ran a Ponzi scheme using new investor money to pay purported profits to existing investors,” the CFTC said.

Part of the NGI sales pitch was similar to the sales pitch of yet another Ponzi scheme: the Learn Waterhouse scheme, which operated from California and also has a tie to INetGlobal, according to court records.

INetGlobal operator Steve Renner provided payment-processing services for the Learn Waterhouse Ponzi scheme through an entity known as Cash Cards International, according to court records.

Learn Waterhouse talked about purported investments in “gold” in Mexico. According to the CFTC complaint in the NGI case, NGI did the same thing, falsely claiming to customers that “they would double their money within a year in oil, gold, silver and other commodities.”

NGI stopped making payments to investors in about June 2009, the CFTC said. At least 165 investors were affected.

Gonzalez and Naranjo told customers that the payments stopped because a bank in Mexico was holding the funds and refused to release them. The men then told investors to have patience because a new deal involving oil was on the horizon and that investors who left their money with NGI son would have “huge” profits, the CFTC said.

Investors were encouraged to fund accounts with money from credit cards or retirement savings, the CFTC said.

NGI had been operating since about August 2008, according to records. That’s the same month INetGlobal was coming onto the autosurf stage, and AdSurfDaily was exiting the stage.

The U.S. Secret Service said it believed both INetGlobal and AdSurfDaily were operating Ponzi schemes.

May 24, 2010