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Tag: Focus Up Ministries

  • Costly Sanctions Imposed Against Profitable Sunrise HYIP Figures In Ohio, Settlement Documents Show; Fallout Could Last Years

    EDITOR’S NOTE: A PP Blog story dated yesterday includes other details.

    ** _________________________**

    From a promo for Profitable Sunrise.
    From a promo for Profitable Sunrise.

    Still pitching HYIP schemes and Ponzi-board “programs?” Positioning them as a means of helping a charity and/or ministry raise funds?

    Becoming a promoter of Profitable Sunrise — an absurd  Ponzi-board HYIP scheme with a purported payout of up to 2.7 percent a day plus “compounding” — may have long-term financial consequences on Nancy Jo Frazer of Bryan, Ohio.

    And the fallout is not limited to Frazer, a wife, mother, beauty-pageant champion and network-marketing enthusiast with a clientele that includes members of the faith community.

    Not counting legal bills from defense counsel, Frazer’s foray into Profitable Sunrise cost her, her husband David and Nancy’s Profitable Sunrise colleague Albert Rosebrock at least $108,146.61. That’s the sum due the Ohio Attorney General’s office as part of a supplemental settlement agreement finalized in recent days.

    The PP Blog obtained the supplemental settlement agreement through a public-records request with the state of Ohio yesterday. The document was received today, along with other settlement documents requested by the Blog. There was a slight delay in obtaining the material because sensitive information in the documents such as bank-account numbers had to be redacted before they could be sent.

    The supplemental settlement agreement shows that Profitable Sunrise may affect the two Frazers and Rosebrock for 10 years to come, given that the state has agreed to accept payments from them totaling a minimum of $844.02 a month for the next 120 months. The trio optionally may choose to pay a higher monthly sum to retire the debt faster.

    Slightly more than $6,864 of the $108,146.61 due has been satisfied through the application of previously frozen funds. The Frazers and Rosebrook, however, must begin paying down the balance within 60 days.

    The supplemental agreement has an enforceability provision that calls for the entire unpaid sum to become due in the event of a default and adds a fee of 10 percent if default occurs.

    Separate documents obtained by the Blog through a public-information request show that Ohio has used a second set of enforcement teeth to assure compliance with a separate agreed order. That agreed order provides the state the authority to bring a contempt proceeding before the Williams County Court if prosecutors come to believe Nancy Frazer and Rosebrock aren’t holding up their end of the agreed order.

    The agreed order specifies that financial sanctions against them could total $710,000 if a judge who conducts an evidentiary hearing at the request of the state holds them in contempt.

    From the agreed order (italics added):

    If any of the Defendants fail to comply with any of the conditions as set forth in this Agreed Entry and Order, the State may file a Motion to show cause why Defendants should be held in contempt. In such case, the Court will conduct an evidentiary hearing on the State’s Motion. If the State demonstrates after an evidentiary hearing by a preponderance of the evidence that Defendants Nancy Jo Frazer, Albert Rosebrock, and/or Defendant Defining Vision Ministries, Inc., individually or in any combination, through their own actions or through the actions of their agents, representatives, or assigns, violated any of the conditions set forth in this Agreed Entry and Order, the Court shall order a judgment in an amount up to $710,000.00, in favor of the Attorney General. In any such action for contempt of Court, the State need not establish whether or not any damages were appropriately awardable under the claims set forth in the Complaint.

    Under the separate agreed order, Nancy Frazer and Rosebrook are required to dissolve Defining Vision Ministries and to turn over whatever assets it has left to the state. (Defining Vision Ministries formerly was known as Focus Up Ministries, the supposed beneficiary of proceeds from Profitable Sunrise.)

    The order also reveals that a freeze on a Rosebrock bank account in July 2013 resulted in a payment of $910.30 to him from Social Security being made inaccessible, a circumstance that demonstrates that unpleasant things can happen if investigators believe tainted funds are mixed with legitimate money. The Social Security funds have been released to Rosebrock.

    It clearly could have gone harder on Nancy Frazer et al, but it’s equally clear Ohio won on the enforcement front. The message: Pitching utterly preposterous HYIP schemes and presenting them as charitable fundraisers or endeavors simply will not be tolerated. There will be costly, potentially embarrassing litigation. There will be serious financial consequences (at least).

    Concluding note:  For reasons of competitive journalism and security, the PP Blog is declining to publish the settlement documents. This is a story about a ribald HYIP fraud — Profitable Sunrise — that appears to have been operated through a mail drop in England by a person using the identity of a ghost. Even with the redactions, the Blog is concerned that HYIP scammers and dens of thieves could use certain information in the documents to start harm anew. The Blog therefore is choosing to err on the side of caution.

     

  • Kansas Dismisses Action Against Profitable Sunrise Figure Nancy Jo Frazer

    recommendedreading1The office of the Securities Commissioner of Kansas has dismissed a civil action against Profitable Sunrise HYIP figure Nancy Jo Frazer and Ohio-based Focus Up Ministries, doing business as NJF Global Group. The dismissal was “without prejudice,” meaning that the state could file again under certain conditions.

    The dismissal order is dated Nov. 26. It appears on the state’s website today.

    In May, a month after the SEC brought a fraud action against Profitable Sunrise, the state said two Kansas residents invested in Profitable Sunrise through an organization known as the NJF Global Group Community.

    “The NJF Global Group Community was operated by Focus Up Ministries, Inc. and its founder, Nanci Jo Frazer,” the state said at the time. “The NJF Global Group Community promoted Profitable Sunrise as a fundraising opportunity for religious-based and charitable organizations.”

    Frazer was not charged in the SEC action. Apparent Frazer supporters have claimed she was a victim of “innocent ignorance.”

    Frazer was named a defendant in an Ohio fraud action in July and was referenced in an earlier action filed in Minnesota. NJF Global Group is referenced in an alert by the Financial Markets Authority of New Zealand.

    In May, Kansas became one of at least 36 U.S. states or provinces in Canada to issue cease-and-desist orders or Investor Alerts against Profitable Sunrise. At least four Kansas residents invested a total of at least $22,000 in Profitable Sunrise, the state said.

    Purported Profitable Sunrise operator “Roman Novak,” whom the SEC said may be fictitious, appears not to have responded to any of the state-level actions or the SEC’s federal action. Profitable Sunrise was targeted at people of faith, the SEC said, alleging the purported “opportunity” was using a mail drop in England and bank accounts in other countries to fleece the masses.

    One of the purported Profitable Sunrise “programs” was known as the Long Haul. It purported to pay interest of 2.7 percent a day with compounding available. Such schemes long have been associated with the HYIP sphere.

    “Long Haul” payouts were due April 1, April Fool’s Day and the day after Easter 2013. The payouts never materialized.

     

  • PROFITABLE SUNRISE CASE: Did Fake Reporter Use Photo Of Real Reporter In ‘Story’ Titled ‘Nanci Jo Frazer WINS in Court – A Case Of Innocent Ignorance?’

    “The judge ruled in Nanci & David Frazer’s favor along with Albert Rosebrock (ministry board members) . . . to release frozen funds. The FBI and the Federal government is categorizing Frazer as having suffered from a case of ‘innocent ignorance’ as she worked for nine months doing customer support for a UK Collateral Loan company.” — Lede from “story” on Topix.com, Oct. 5, 2013

    Is a photo of a real reporter being used by a fake reporter in the aftermath of the Profitable Sunrise scheme.
    Is a photo of a real reporter being used by a fake reporter in the aftermath of the Profitable Sunrise scheme? (Screen shot brushed by PP Blog.)

    This is what is known from the publicly accessible court docket in Ohio’s July 8 fraud case against alleged Profitable Sunrise promoter Nancy Jo Frazer (also known as Nanci Jo Frazer), Focus Up Ministries and others: On Sept. 24, the docket of the case noted that the judge had ordered the release of $20,000 to Frazer and her husband (David Frazer) to pay legal bills. Another $8,000 was made accessible to Albert Rosebrock, another defendant, to pay legal bills.

    The $20,000 ordered returned to the Frazers was in the form of a cashier’s check David Frazer had surrendered to the court after Ohio’s July action. Rosebrock’s money came from a bank account the judge ordered frozen after the Ohio action was filed. The docket shows that the judge authorized $8,000 from this frozen account to be made accessible to Rosebrock, but the freeze remains on any other money in the account. Freezes also remain on seven other accounts Ohio authorities have associated with the defendants. (Of the eight accounts originally ordered frozen in July, all eight remain frozen.)

    Importantly, Ohio’s civil case remains ongoing. So does a civil case by the SEC at the federal level. The SEC action does not name the Frazers or Rosebrock defendants, but suggests that pitchmen could have promoted Profitable Sunrise without even knowing who was running the purported “opportunity.”

    Purported Profitable Sunrise operator “Roman Novak” and his brother “Radoslav Novak,” a purported attorney associated with Profitable Sunrise, may be fictitious, according to the SEC, which has described Profitable Sunrise as a murky and massive international pyramid scheme that potentially gathered tens of millions of dollars.

    “Profitable Sunrise operates for the benefit of unknown individuals and/or organizations doing businesses through companies formed in the Czech Republic and using bank accounts in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, and China, among other places,” the SEC alleged in April.

    “There is more than a slight possibility, as with many offering frauds, that the people described in the [Profitable Sunrise] website, including the Novak brothers, do not exist,” the SEC said.

    Enter ‘scampoliceinsider’

    On Oct. 5, 11 days after the Sept. 24 Ohio docket entry, someone using the handle “scampoliceinsider” and a photo of a news reporter posted something that resembles a news story on the Topix.com site for Ogdensburg, NY., near the Saint Lawrence Seaway and the border with Canada.

    Gregg Evans, a poster and occasional guest columnist at the PP Blog and a regular poster at the RealScam.com antiscam forum, posted a link to the Topix story at RealScam.com on Oct. 13.

    Among other things, “scampoliceinsider” asserts on Topix that “I WILL GIVE YOU THE INSIDE SCOOP YOU DID NOT KNOW” and that “I am investigating a fraud within a fraud. I am the one who does what others won’t bother to do.” Moreover, “scampoliceinsider” asserts that he or she believes in “The truth backed by facts.”

    Here is the headline on the Topix “scampoliceinsider” story: “Nanci Jo Frazer WINS in Court – a Case of Innocent Ignorance.” The headline stressed the word “WINS” in uppercase. Nowhere does the story mention that Ohio’s case is ongoing and that any money ordered unfrozen was further ordered to be used for the express purpose of paying legal bills. Instead, the story contends that Ohio authorities had known since October 2012 that Profitable Sunrise was a fraud and that the authorities “failed to inform the public and especially Nanci Frazer.”

    It further positions Frazer as a victim of harassment from “A tight group of online individuals [who] have been targeted to be running their own bitcoin scheme” and claims the purported bitcoin schemers “stole Frazer’s image, identity and training videos while she was on vacation” in a bid to drive traffic to their own websites “and cash in on their own fraud.”

    Meanwhile, a strangely worded passage in the story contends that “The FBI and the Federal government is categorizing Frazer as having suffered from a case of ‘innocent ignorance’” while she “worked for nine months doing customer support for a UK Collateral Loan company.” (This would be Profitable Sunrise, which perhaps would be better described as a purported collateral-lending company.)

    Like the bitcoin and associated claims, the story does not substantiate the “innocent ignorance” claim. At the same time,  the story ventures that “The last straw was watching Toledo 11 Fox News put her children in harms way by airing a hateful and false, damaging, home made video story from one of the online stalkers- James L Paris is was a convicted criminal for Securities fraud(they never checked out his background).” (Unedited by PP Blog.)

    The Fox Toledo outlet now is “in position to be turned in to be put under regulators [sic] scrutiny and to be liable for a full investigation which connects them to another scam,” according to the Topix story.

    Paris is the editor of ChristianMoney.com and recently published an ebook on what he describes as his pressure-packed, nerve-racking experience writing about Profitable Sunrise and the enmity directed at him from certain members of the Christian community. Paris denies he is a convicted criminal, saying that he once was named in a civil securities action in Maine after his brother embezzled money from a Paris company and hid the act from Paris and accountants.

    (DISCLOSURE: The PP Blog is referenced in the Paris ebook. The Blog does not personally know Jim Paris, has no business association with him and does not benefit from the book, which was offered by Paris for free online for several days earlier this month and now costs $4.99 at Amazon.com. The book is titled, “Exposing The Ponzi Masters – The Profitable Sunrise Scam: How I Exposed It, How They Tried To Stop Me.” The Blog obtained the book free on Oct. 9 through a link supplied by Paris at RealScam.com. On Oct. 11, the Blog posted to RealScam.com about the book, opining that it believed the Paris book would “serve his intended audience in the Christian community well.” In its RealScam.com post, the Blog also drew some comparisons to the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme. ASD, like Profitable Sunrise, was targeted at people of faith.)

    Now, back to the Topix story referenced above . . .

    The photo of the reporter that appeared alongside the Frazer story on Topix in Ogdensburg, near the Canadian border, appears to be a low-resolution copy of a professional portrait/publicity still of a real reporter, a broadcast journalist who started her career at a California TV station in 2010 and accepted a job in 2012 at a station in Nevada, where she works as a weekend anchor. The photo does not identify the reporter by name and appears to have been taken while the reporter was working for the California TV station prior to moving on to the Nevada station.

    It may be the case that a fake reporter posting at Topix found an image of the real reporter online and used it as an avatar to add credibility to the story on Frazer published at the site. The PP Blog believes it has established the identity of the real reporter and emailed her yesterday to determine if the image on Topix was being used without her knowledge and consent and to rule out that she was the author of the Topix post. As of the time of this post, the Blog has not heard back from the reporter, which is not unusual. Media people have busy schedules. (For the purposes of this post, the Blog is not identifying the real reporter by name and has brushed the screen shot above to obscure her face and the identity of a TV station that, like the reporter, may have no knowledge of Frazer or Profitable Sunrise or the Ohio case.)

    In the Blog’s view,  the Topix story does not read like one prepared by a trained, working journalist. Rather, the story on Topix reads like fractured marketing and PR fluff of the type often seen in the HYIP sphere. At least part of it seeks to demonize both the media and the government. Similar situations occurred after the action by the United States against ASD in 2008. Online scammers have been known to pose as legitimate members of the media to add presumptive authority to a scheme.

    In 2011, the famous brand of Consumer Reports was appropriated by scammers to drive dollars to an acai-berry scheme, the FTC said. Meanwhile, “fake” news sites in the United States using the image of a real reporter from France were used in the acai  scheme.

    The PP Blog would be very surprised if the Topix story was authored by a real reporter, especially one using the handle “scampoliceinsider” and trying to stick it to a TV station in Toledo, other media outlets and Ohio authorities in this bizarre fashion.

     

  • URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Ohio Calls Nanci Jo Frazer’s Focus Up Ministries ‘Front’ For Profitable Sunrise HYIP Fraud Scheme; State Says It Believes Frazer Was An AdSurfDaily Pitchwoman With History Of Promoting Fraud Schemes Such As Zeek Rewards And Profit Clicking

    breakingnews72URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (Fourth update 9:10 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) In court papers, the state of Ohio has called Nanci Jo Frazer’s Focus Up Ministries a “front” for the Profitable Sunrise HYIP scheme and alleges that Focus Up changed its name to Defining Vision Ministries Inc.  in June 2013 — two months after the SEC brought the Profitable Sunrise fraud action in federal court in Atlanta.

    Records suggest Nanci Jo Frazer also is known as Nancy Jo Frazer. The Ohio court documents list the “Nancy” spelling. Other documents list the “Nanci” spelling.

    A judge in Williams County, Ohio, has ordered Frazer, Focus Up and other entities associated with Frazer to “[i]mmediately cease all activities on behalf of any charitable organization/trust in the state of Ohio,” to preserve assets and to return assets that already may have been dissipated.

    The judge also ordered Frazer and others to cease selling unregistered securities. Meanwhile, the judge ordered three Ohio banks to take eight accounts linked to Frazer and others into “actual and/or constructive possession.” Frazer resides in Bryan, Ohio.

    Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Commerce said today that the state has brought civil fraud charges against Frazer, Focus Up, Defining Vision and others. Documents say the state believes Frazer was a pitchwoman for the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme and other “programs,” including Zeek Rewards and Profit Clicking.

    “This case involves a worldwide pyramid scheme that defrauded Ohioans and others out of millions of dollars,” DeWine said. “These individuals brought the scheme to Ohio by promising outrageous returns and telling investors that their donations and investments would help charities. We will continue to work closely with the Department of Commerce to hold the defendants accountable for their actions.”

    Also charged were David Frazer, Frazer’s husband, and Albert Rosebrock, a member of Frazer’s NJF Global Group.  Rosebrock also was alleged by Ohio to be an AdSurfDaily and Zeek affiliate.

    Purported Profitable Sunrise operator “Roman Novak” is called “John Doe” in Ohio’s complaint, leading to continuing questions about whether “Novak” actually exists. In April, the SEC said that Profitable Sunrise pitchmen may not even have known with whom they were doing business. Profitable Sunrise purported to pay up to 2.7 percent interest a day. The SEC said it was using a “mail drop” in England and offshore bank accounts potentially to scam tens of millions of dollars.

    Frazer’s group may have driven $30 million to the scam, according to court files.

    The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that Rosebrock is blaming the SEC for the collapse of Profitable Sunrise.

    From a statement by Ohio prosecutors (italics added):

    Profitable Sunrise is an international pyramid scheme recently shut down by federal and international authorities. Profitable Sunrise claimed to be a Christian company that would use investment proceeds to help charities and provide investors with large returns. According to the state’s complaint, the Frazers, of Bryan, and Rosebrock, of Sherwood, used Focus Up Ministries’ status as a charity to solicit donations and investments into Profitable Sunrise. They also claimed that invested funds would compound at 1.6 to 2.7 percent daily, growing at annual rates of 5,000 to more than 75,000 percent.
     
    The complaint also alleges that the defendants used funds donated to Focus Up Ministries for personal expenses and other unlawful purposes. These included financing for personal business ventures, the purchase of a big screen television, no-interest personal loans, and compensation for agents who solicited on behalf of the Profitable Sunrise pyramid scheme. The complaint contains counts of misrepresentation, deceptive acts and practices, conversion, falsification, securities fraud, and unlicensed sale of securities, among other violations.

    The SEC has described Zeek Rewards as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid fraud. AdSurfDaily was a $119 million Ponzi scheme, according to the U.S. Secret Service. Meanwhile, ProfitClicking is a “program” linked to Frederick Mann, the purported operator of JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid, which has come under regulatory scrutiny in Italy and the Philippines.

    If Frazer was a pitchwoman for ASD, Zeek and ProfitClicking/JSS/JBP, it would mean she was pushing Profitable Sunrise after various well-publicized regulatory or law-enforcement actions against those “programs,” which purported to pay interest of between 1 percent and 2 percent a day. (ASD = 1 percent/day; Zeek = 1.5 percent/day; ProfitClicking/JSS/JBP = 2 percent/day.)

    Beyond that, it would mean Frazer pushed the purported 2.7 percent a day Profitable Sunrise “Long Haul” plan, even though agencies filed various actions against the “lower-paying” programs with which she allegedly was involved previously.

    Some HYIP promoters move from one fraud scheme to another, while engaging in willful blindness. ASD is known to have had ties to the “sovereign citizens” movement. Mann, of ProfitClicking/JSS/JBP, once used a website to drive traffic to videos featuring Francis Schaeffer Cox, a purported “sovereign citizen” and “militia” man implicated in a murder plot against public officials in Alaska.

  • BULLETIN: Kansas Issues Cease-And-Desist Order To Profitable Sunrise; Document Names 2 Alleged Promoters, Including Nanci Jo Frazer; State Urges Investors To Contact Securities Commissioner

    breakingnews72BULLETIN: The state of Kansas has issued a cease-and-desist order against the alleged Profitable Sunrise HYIP scheme, saying the “program” offered “gaudy” returns “of 1.6% to 2.7% on a daily basis.”

    In a statement, Kansas securities officials say the order names Florida resident David P. Cozzocrea as a Profitable Sunrise pitchman. Cozzocrea’s promo appeared on a website styled KTFAlways.com. (The site appears to be offering an Iraqi Dinars scheme at the time of this post.)

    “Two Kansas investors learned about Profitable Sunrise through KTFAlways.com and contacted Cozzocrea directly. Cozzocrea provided the investors with instructions for setting up an account with Profitable Sunrise and directly funded their accounts with Profitable Sunrise,” the office of Josh Ney, Kansas interim securities commissioner, said.

    Meanwhile, the Kansas order also identifies Ohio resident Nanci Jo Frazer of NJF Global Group as a Profitable Sunrise pitchwoman.

    “Two other Kansas residents invested in Profitable Sunrise through an organization known as the NJF Global Group Community,” Ney’s office said. “The NJF Global Group Community was operated by Focus Up Ministries, Inc. and its founder, Nanci Jo Frazer. The NJF Global Group Community promoted Profitable Sunrise as a fundraising opportunity for religious-based and charitable organizations.”

    Kansas now has become at least the third U.S. state to identify Frazer or NJF Global Group Community in a securities action. The others include Ohio and Minnesota. NJF Global Group also is referenced in an alert by the Financial Markets Authority of New Zealand.

    Kansas urged “any Kansas residents” who may have invested money with Profitable Sunrise or had contact with persons promoting Profitable Sunrise to contact Ney’s office immediately.

    “Considering the extent of this scheme, it is likely that several other Kansas residents have funds at risk with Profitable Sunrise,” Ney said.  “Our office needs information from such people in order to stop this type of activity.”

    A website tied to the NJF Global Group, however, appears to be encouraging investors not to contact state regulators.

    “If you file a claim in your State, be prepared to prove yourself and allow access to your bank accounts, personal info and emails as a part validating you,” NJFGlobalGroup.com says. “Some states are saying that all who participated are considered to have purchased an unregistered security.”

    In 2008 (and later), pitchmen for the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme also discouraged recruits from filing complaints with regulators.

    Read the statement by the Office of the Kansas Securities Commissioner.

    In April, the SEC described Profitable Sunrise as a pyramid scheme that may have gathered tens of millions of dollars through offshore entities.

    Kansas now has become one of at least 36 U.S. states or provinces in Canada to issue cease-and-desist orders or Investor Alerts against Profitable Sunrise. At least four Kansas residents invested a total of at least $22,000 in Profitable Sunrise, the state said.

    Whether purported Profitable Sunrise operator “Roman Novak” has any plans to help pitchmen address potential legal bills is unknown.

    The Kansas investigation is ongoing, the state said.