PatrickPretty.com

Tag: HYIPs

  • UPDATE: No Updates On Club Asteria Blog Since Oct. 15, No ‘News’ Site Updates Since Sept. 12; Firm Continues To Publish Red Cross Logo In House Organ And On Purported ‘Philanthropic’ Site Despite Cease-And-Desist Letter; 2008 Cash-Gifting Video With Hank Needham Emerges

    In this frame from a cash-gifting video dated May 3, 2008, then-AdSurfDaily pitchman Hank Needham opens an envelope from a cash-gifing scheme — and five $100 bills purportedly from "George" spill out. The date on the video coincides with a period of time in which Needham's image appeared in an ad for ASD. Needham later would emerge as a Club Asteria principal and purported owner of the "program," which suspended cashouts earlier this year and caught the attention of regulators in Italy.

    Is anybody at home at Club Asteria and the purported Asteria Philanthropic Foundation? And where, precisely, is home?

    The Club Asteria Blog on a .US domain has not been updated since Oct. 15. In the recent past, the Blog had been updated approximately every three (or so) days, according to the date notations on the site. Updates were posted on Oct. 15, Oct. 12, Oct. 9, Oct. 6, Oct. 3, Sept. 30, Sept. 27, Sept.  24, Sept. 21, Sept. 16.

    Fifteen full days have passed since the most recent update.

    Separately, the Club Asteria “News” page on its .com domain has not been updated since Sept. 12, a period that encompasses more than a month and a half.

    Although the American Red Cross sent the Asteria Philanthropic Foundation a cease-and-desist letter six days ago amid concerns of brand leeching, Club Asteria continues to publish the Red Cross logo and name in its October house organ. The firm uses the publication, an emagazine, for recruiting.

    It is common for fraud schemes to plant the seed they are affiliated with a legitimate entity.

    Meanwhile, the Asteria Philanthropic Foundation, which also is known as the Asteria Foundation and uses street addresses in the United States and Hong Kong, also continues to publish the Red Cross name and logo on the foundation’s .org site.

    Before suspending member cashouts earlier this year, Club Asteria issued payments via wire from a purported Hong Kong entity known as Asteria Holdings Limited, according to “I Got Paid” posts on infamous Ponzi scheme forums.

    Last month, Club Asteria removed from its house organ an image and purported “interview” with actor Will Smith. A “JOIN NOW” button had been placed near the Smith-related content. In this month’s house organ, a “JOIN OUR MISSION” button was placed inside a quotation from Mahatma Gandhi, the slain Indian champion of freedom. Gandhi’s name was misspelled in the promo.

    Virginia authorities said on Oct. 20 that Club Asteria was not registered as an issuer of securities in the state. They declined to say whether a Club Asteria probe was under way.

    In May, CONSOB, the Italian securities regulator, banned promos for the firm in Italy.

    In a video dated May 3, 2008 — prior to the apparent formation of Club Asteria and the Asteria Foundation but during a period of time in which Club Asteria principal Hank Needham’s image appeared in a promo for AdSurfDaily — Needham appeared in a video for cash gifting, the PP Blog has learned.

    Needham is seen in the cash-gifting video opening an envelope from a courier service that contained a smaller envelope. The package purportedly was sent by “George.”

    When Needham opened the smaller envelope, five $100 bills spilled out.

    “Thank you, George, ” Needham said.

    Needham then fanned the bills in front of the camera.

    In August 2008, the U.S. Secret Service seized tens of millions of dollars in the ASD case, amid Ponzi allegations. It is known that some ASD members also were cash-gifting enthusiasts. After the ASD-related seizures, some ASD members sought to recruit others for cash-gifting, autosurf and HYIP schemes, claiming the schemes were excellent ways to make up for ASD losses while highlighting the purported “offshore” locations of some of the “programs.”

  • KABOOM! More Bad News For Fraudsters: ‘FBI Undercover Operation’ Leads To Florida Fraud Busts; 20 Charged In Alleged Schemes, Including ‘CHiPs’ Actor

    An undercover sting conducted by the FBI has resulted in fraud charges being filed against 20 individuals or companies. The sting was centered in southern Florida. Among those charged was Larry Wilcox, one of the stars of the long-running television program “CHiPs” in which Wilcox played the role of a California police officer, the SEC said.

    Records suggest Wilcox agreed to become a government informant after becoming implicated in the probe.

    Wilcox, 63, of West Hills, Calif., was among a group charged both civilly and criminally. The case was brought after the FBI conducted an undercover probe into penny-stock schemes.

    “Securities fraud is an equal opportunity crime — it runs the gamut from very large to very small publicly traded companies,” said U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida.

    Ferrer noted that “even microcap companies are plagued by fraudsters who seek to manipulate the stock market to line their own pockets.”

    Separately, the SEC said the sting was conducted “in such a way that no investors suffered harm” — an announcement that could send shockwaves across the fraud universe because it demonstrates that investigators are infiltrating schemes and relying on informants to unmask the schemers.

    Wilcox, for example, believed he was doing business with a “corrupt trustee,” according to court filings. Records suggest that Wilcox entered a deal with the government in July in which he would cooperate in an ongoing probe.

    “These corrupt promoters meticulously planned their schemes down to the last detail, except for the possibility that they were walking into an undercover operation,” said Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “This joint law enforcement effort is a stark warning to those who embark on securities fraud schemes that we may be listening and we may be watching.”

    Whether the SEC and FBI were performing similar stings in the corrupt worlds of HYIPs, autosurfs and 2×2 matrix cyclers as promoted on Ponzi forums was not immediately clear. The Justice Department, however, has made it clear in court filings that it is infiltrating criminal forums and is using undercover operatives.

    The U.S. Secret Service also has made it clear that it is using undercover operatives in its investigations of corrupt enterprises such as HYIPs, autosurfs and 2×2 matrix cyclers.

    Read the SEC’s statement:

    Read the statement of U.S. Attorney Ferrer and remarks from the FBI:

    Read a story about a Secret Service probe in which undercover operatives were used to infiltrate criminal forums: