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URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: TelexFree, Gerald Nehra MLM Law Firm, Banks, Processors Sued In Prospective Class Action That Alleges RICO Violations

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (18th update 3:49 P.M. EDT U.S.A.) TelexFree, MLM attorney Gerald Nehra, “Doe” insiders and several banks have been sued in a prospective class-action that alleges fraud and violations of the federal RICO (racketeering) statute.

“Certain Defendants share joint and severable liability, including the Doe Inside Promoters, the licensed professionals such as the RLP Defendants, including certified public accountants and lawyers that specialized in sheltering so-called Multi-Level Marketing schemes having aided and abetted TelexFree’s Pyramid Ponzi Scheme by providing TelexFree with legal and financial advice and assistance during the course of the fraud, despite knowledge of the fraudulent nature of TelexFree’s operation,” the complaint alleges.

Among other things, Nehra was accused in the complaint of turning a blind eye to securities issues at TelexFree, encouraging others to conceal those issues and engaging in other misconduct.

Nehra, according to the complaint, was not merely providing zealous representation to TelexFree, he counseled “TelexFree on methods to evade United States securities laws that were intended to offer, in part, protection from pyramid Ponzi schemes; all to enrich himself financially and serve his own selfish interests.”

With Nehra understanding that “his legal opinions and representations would be used by TelexFree as a marketing tool to further and advance their business model,” his “opinions were packaged and promoted as part of TelexFree’s total ‘post Brazilian shut down package’ to the members of the putative class,” according to the complaint.

The complaint further alleges that Nehra’s actions in misrepresenting TelexFree as a legitimate business encouraged TelexFree members “unknowingly” to “participate in the evasion of federal and state securities laws.”

Named defendants included TelexFree LLC, TelexFree Inc., “Paralegal Doe [who] served as TelexFree, LLC’s agent, servant or employee,” TelexFree Financial Inc., TelexElectric LLLP, Telex Mobile Holdings Inc., James M. Merrill, Carlos N. Wanzeler, Steven M. Labriola, Joseph H. Craft, Craft Financial Solutions LLC, Carlos Costa, Gerald P. Nehra, Gerald P. Nehra, Attorney at Law PLLC, Richard W. Waak (Nehra law partner), Law Offices of Nehra and Waak, Richard W. Waak Attorney at Law PLLC, TD Bank NA, Citizens Financial Group Inc., Citizens Bank of Massachusetts, Fidelity Co-Operative Bank, Middlesex Savings Bank, Global Payroll Gateway Inc., International Payout Systems Inc. (I-Payout), ProPay Inc., “Banks Doe,” “Doe Inside Promoters” and “Credit Processors Doe.”

Merrill, Wanzeler, Labriola and Craft are former TelexFree managers or executives. The Massachusetts Securities Division has described TelexFree as a combined Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that gathered more than $1.2 billion and crossed national borders. The SEC also has charged TelexFree, Merrill, Wanzeler, Labriola and Craft with fraud, alleging that the firm conducted business in at least 20 U.S. states and mainly targeted Brazilian and Dominican immigrants.

Plaintiffs are identified as Waldemara Martins and Leandro Valentim.

The complaint alleges that Craft incorporated TelexFree Financial and that the entity “was fraudulently set up for the purpose of sheltering funds rightfully belonging to the putative class.”

Among the contentions in the complaint (italics added):

On March 9, 2014, TelexFree changed its compensation plan, thereby requiring Promoters to sell its VoIP product to qualify for the payments that TelexFree had previously promised to pay them.

TelexFree’s former officers or employees stated to the TelexFree transition team that under the Pre March 2014 standard form contract TelexFree owes its promoters over $5 billion dollars.

The rule change generated a storm of protests from Promoters who were unable to
recover their money. On April 1, 2014, dozens of Promoters descended upon TelexFree’s Marlborough, Massachusetts office to protest this change and attempt to regain access to their money.

Reporting on TelexFree-related matters by BehindMLM.com, a publication that reports on evolving MLM frauds, is referenced in the complaint.

In addition, according to the complaint, “TelexFree mailed fraudulent and inaccurate 1099 (Miscellaneous Income) forms to investors, possibly to create the illusion that they had made payments to investors.”

HYIP schemes in recent years have advised participants to avoid calling the “program” an “investment program.” Here is what the complaint alleges on this subject:

“TelexFree’s Contract at Section 2.6.5 (m) mandates that Promoters are not to use the term investment with respect to the registration costs . . . Co-Defendant and Company Counsel Attorney Gerald P. Nehra, through his affiliated companies (Law Offices of Nehra and Waak , Gerald P. Nehra, Attorney at Law, PLLC, and Richard W. Waak, Attorney at Law, PLLC), and under the direct supervision of Co-Defendants Richard W. Waak and Richard W. Waak Attorney at Law, PLLC provided this deceitful advice for the purpose of furthering perpetuating Defendants unlawful Pyramid Ponzi Scheme.”

In the complaint, the plaintiffs further asserted that “Attorney Nehra’s extensive experience in multi-level marketing, and particularly his involvement with the Ponzi schemes involving Ad SurfDaily and Zeek Rewards, armed him with the knowledge of what constitutes violations of United States securities law. Indeed, Attorney Nehra was well aware that the use of semantics and obscured phraseology to obfuscate securities laws fails to legitimize TelexFree’s illegal Pyramid Ponzi Scheme.”

Craft was accused in the complaint of “Overseeing TelexFree’s creation of falsified accounting records,” “Fraudulently certifying TelexFree’s business operations and accounting practices as good and lawful, despite actual knowledge of their unlawful and illegitimate nature” and “Concealing the fact that the AdCentral Packages purveyed by TelexFree were actually securities.”

At the same time, Craft was accused of “Concealing and absconding with investor assets.”

Costa, a TelexFree figure in Brazil, was accused of publicly supporting “TelexFree’s illegal and corrupt activities.”

The banks and processors were accused of aiding and abetting a fraud scheme.

May 5, 2014
SPECIAL REPORT: Like AdSurfDaily And OneX Before It, Alleged TelexFree Pyramid Scheme May Be Engaging In Game Of Payment-Processor Roulette

“While reviewing the ASD website in the District of Columbia, [an undercover agent] found a posting within ASD’s News section, apparently posted by ASD on July 2, 2008. The title of the posting was, “Alert Pay & Direct Deposit are being phased out July 31, 2008.” According to ASD’s posting, “We have notified BOA not to accept cash or personal checks for deposit account – English or Spanish.” ASD further stated, “Please remember that the preferred method of purchasing Ad Packages is by mailing a Check or by Solid Trust Pay . . . Solid Trust Pay is a Canada based money transmitting and payment company that, like the e-Gold system, operates over the Internet. It appears that beginning August 1, 2008, Solid Trust Pay will be ASD’s preferred method for receiving funds from members, and for paying rebates and commissions to members . . . Within the past two weeks, ASD has wired several million dollars to Solid Trust Pay from its BOA Accounts. A TFA also learned that earlier in July 2008, a bank other than BOA closed the last account that was controlled by Bowdoin or family members after that bank determined, and explained to them, that an investigation by the bank determined that Bowdoin appeared to be operating a Ponzi scheme.” — AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme forfeiture complaint, August 2008

TelexFree affiliate promos encouraging participants to register for International Payout Systems (I-Payout) began to appear online in recent hours. Just last month, TelexFree affiliates were encouraged to register for Global Payroll Gateway, another e-Wallet vendor that supposedly would solve TelexFree’s payment problems as a pyramid-scheme probe moved forward in Brazil. There now are reports online that GPG has dumped TelexFree, leading to questions about whether TelexFree is trying to port its alleged fraud scheme to yet another vendor — I-Payout. Source: Google search results.

In 2008, the U.S. Secret Service effectively accused the AdSurfDaily MLM “program” of playing a game of payment-processor roulette as U.S. law enforcement put the squeeze on certain money-movers, the willfully blind enablers of online fraud schemes.

ASD, a $119 million HYIP Ponzi scheme that led to a 78-month prison sentence for operator Andy Bowdoin, started out by accepting “e-Gold and Virtual Money,” according to a Ponzi-scheme forfeiture complaint filed in federal court in August 2008.

But ASD, according to the complaint, realized e-Gold had come under investigation for enabling the laundering of money, something that could put the heat on ASD.

“Shortly after publicity surrounding the government’s investigation into e-Gold appeared, ASD discontinued using the e-Gold system as a means for receiving member funds,” the complaint alleged.

And even as these events were occurring, according to court filings in the ASD case and in other cases, Robert Hodgins, a supplier of debit cards and the operator of Virtual Money Inc. — now listed by INTERPOL as an international fugitive — came under investigation in Connecticut amid allegations he was assisting in the laundering of narcotics proceeds in Medellin, Colombia, and prepping himself to assist in the laundering of funds in the Dominican Republic.

Virtual Money, whom some ASD members said was supplying debit cards to ASD, also was linked to the PhoenixSurf Ponzi scheme, according to court filings.

In December 2010, federal prosecutors alleged that ASD also had accepted money from e-Bullion, a California firm that processed payments for Ponzi schemes, including the $72 million Legisi HYIP scheme in Michigan that led to prison sentences for operator Gregory McKnight and pitchman Matthew John Gagnon. E-Bullion operator James Fayed has been sentenced to death for ordering the brutal contract slaying of his wife, a potential witness against him. Pamela Fayed’s throat was slashed repeatedly in the shadows of a Greater Los Angeles parking garage, her husband seated on a nearby park bench “like he doesn’t have a care in the world.”

ASD, according to court filings, also used AlertPay and SolidTrustPay, money-movers based in Canada that have been linked to multiple Ponzi schemes, including the alleged $600 million Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme broken up by the SEC last year.

Not even Bowdoin’s arrest in 2010 stopped him from pitching fraud schemes, according to court filings. Facing serious criminal charges for his actions in ASD, Bowdoin (in 2011) became a pitchmen for the OneX “program,” which federal prosecutors later alleged to be a pyramid scheme recycling money in ASD-like fashion. Among Bowdoin’s fellow OneX pitchmen was T. LeMont Silver, later of Zeek and later of JubiMax and GoFunPlaces, two MLM “programs” that are suing each other amid allegations of financial fraud.

At one time, OneX claimed to have a relationship with SolidTrustPay. It then claimed to have ended that relationship and to have started a relationship with I-Payout. Earlier, I-Payout had listed the uber-bizarre TextCashNetwork MLM “program” with ties to the Phil Piccolo organization as a “selected client.” TextCashNetwork now appears to have disappeared, but still is operating with the acronym “TCN” — this time as TrueCashNetwork. How the “new” TCN is processing payments is unknown. What is known is that someone associated with the “new” TCN has sent emails to “winners” in the Zeek scheme in an apparent bid to get them to flog for the new iteration, an apparent investment arm of which is being promoted as an opportunity to earn an interest rate of 50 percent.

Now — as incredible as it seems — promoters of the alleged TelexFree pyramid scheme operating in Brazil and the United States now are claiming that TelexFree is using I-Payout, known formally as International Payout Systems Inc. Equally incredibly, this is happening less than a month after TelexFree promoters advised TelexFree participants to register with Global Payroll Gateway (GPG), another eWallet company and supplier of debit cards, as a means of getting paid after payouts to Brazilian members of TelexFree were blocked in Brazil.

Just last month, TelexFree affiliates were encouraging prospects to register with Global Payroll Gateway (GPG). In recent hours — and amid reports GPG has given TelexFree the boot — TelexFree affiliates have been urged to register with I-Payout. Source: Google search results.

There are reports online, including on Facebook from self-identified members of TelexFree, that GPG gave TelexFree the boot in recent days. No sooner did those reports surface than videos went up on YouTube encouraging TelexFree members to register for I-Payout.

One of the reports that TelexFree suddenly had shifted from GPG to I-Payout is published on the MoneyMakerGroup forum. MoneyMakerGroup’s name appears in U.S. court files as a place from which Ponzi and fraud schemes are promoted. Both FINRA and the SEC have warned that HYIP schemes spread in part through social-media sites such as forums, YouTube and Facebook.

Because international MLM HYIP fraud schemes often have promoters in common — and because the schemes are promoted on Ponzi cesspits such as MoneyMakerGroup and TalkGold — proceeds from the schemes can flow into banks at the local level, putting them in the position of becoming warehouses for the ill-gotten gains of participants, including winners and insiders. The use of stored-value debit cards such as those in play in HYIP schemes can lead to the quick dissipation of assets, meaning that victims of an HYIP scheme may have limited hope (or even no hope) that a recovery can be made for their benefit.

The most recent incongruous events involving TelexFree are occurring even as at least one judge and one prosecutor involved in the TelexFree pyramid probe in Brazil reportedly have been threatened with death. And, as was the case with ASD, some promoters of TelexFree have claimed an ability to expedite the flow of money to the scheme — perhaps through back-office transactions within the TelexFree system.

Also see report on BehindMLM.com.

Sep 14, 2013
UPDATE: Teetering ‘Wealth4AllTeam’ Scheme Reportedly Was Using I-Payout, Same Facilitator Cited By ‘OneX’ Scheme In July

Screen shot: I-Payout website showing logos of "Global Strategic Partners." Ponzi-forum reports surfaced yesterday that the Wealth4AllTeam HYIP scheme was using I-Payout. In July, a scheme known as "OneX' that federal prosecutors previously described as a fraud and a "pyramid" announced that it was transitioning to I-Payout.

UPDATE: Wealth4AllTeam, one of the many HYIP schemes pushed by Zeek Rewards “I Got Paid” cheerleader “Ken Russo,” reportedly was using I-Payout as a payment facilitator, according to new Ponzi-forum reports.

Wealth4AllTeam appears to have suspended operations, leaving the Ponzi forums in an uproar amid claims that it is transitioning to a new business model that incorporates something called “Project Genesis.”

Earlier this year, Wealth4AllTeam planted the seed that it would sue the RealScam.com antifraud forum for publishing information unfriendly to Wealth4AllTeam.

“I-payout quick links has been removed….all the attached bank account has been deactivated..there is no option left to deposit or withdraw…Looks like W4all have a hold on I-payout,” MoneyMakerGroup poster “jhakas22” claimed yesterday.

If the report is true — and MoneyMakerGroup poster Tobwithu claimed that he (or she) “can confirm that all links at i-payout are gone!’ — then it means that Wealth4AllTeam was using the same facilitator to which the mysterious “OneX’ scheme claimed it was transitioning.

In April, federal prosecutors described the purported OneX “program” as a “fraudulent scheme” and “pyramid” pushed by former AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin. ASD was a $119 million Ponzi scheme. In August, Bowdoin was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison.

On July 19, the PP Blog reported that OneX claimed it had dropped SolidTrustPay — a Canada-based processor linked to fraud scheme after fraud scheme — in favor of I-Payout. That announcement was made by “J.C.,” later identified by federal prosecutors as James C. Hill.

I-Payout’s website publishes the logos of HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Barclays and other “Global Strategic Partners,” including Bank of America.

“J.C.” made the OneX I-Payout announcement on July 17, the same day the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations was grilling HSBC executives on HSBC’s anti-money-laundering practices, including an executive who announced his resignation in front of the panel.

(Also see June 20 PP Blog report about OneX claim that it was working with a processor with a tie to Bank of America. Given events that occurred after the dropping of Bank of America’s name and the appearance of the bank’s name on the I-Payout site, it appears “J.C.” was alluding to I-Payout in June.)

Any number of ASD Ponzi-scheme pushers used Bank of America’s name to sanitize the ASD fraud. In raising Bank of America’s name in June and announcing the I-Payout transition in July, OneX appears to have been doing the same thing.

Name-dropping to sanitize fraud schemes is common in the HYIP sphere. So are lawsuit threats and other bids to chill websites that publish information critical of HYIPs.

In July, Robert Craddock, a purported “consultant” for Rex Venture Group LLC — the operator of the Zeek Rewards MLM scheme — sought to have a HubPages site operated by Zeek critic “K. Chang” removed from the web by filing a complaint with HubPages about purported copyright and trademark infringement and libel. Craddock’s efforts succeeded temporarily.

In a bizarre Blog post on Aug. 4, Zeek claimed that “all” criticism of Zeek was unfair and planted the seed that unspecified “North Carolina Credit Unions” were circulating a purported “internal memo” that allegedly was “at once unfavorable to Zeek Rewards and false.”

The Zeek post, attributed to then-acting COO Gregory J. Caldwell, complained the credit unions were slandering Zeek and warned Zeek members to toe the company line.

Thirteen days later, the SEC filed an emergency court action that described Zeek as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme.

Craddock now is involved in a purported effort to defend Zeek affiliates from clawback actions by the court-appointed receiver in the SEC’s Zeek case. That effort began after the SEC’s actions against Zeek and also included name-dropping. During a pitch for Zeek members to send in money, Craddock dropped the name of former Florida Attorney General (and former U.S. Rep.) Bill McCollum.

McCollum, now a partner at the SNR Denton law firm, no longer is in public office. Precisely why Craddock mentioned McCollum’s name is unclear, although Craddock initially said that the Zeek affiliates were hiring SNR Denton. That effort appears now to have fallen through.

As Florida’s Attorney General, McCollum sued ASD for fraud in August 2008. Some ASD members countered that McCollum should be sued for Deceptive Trade Practices for holding the view that ASD was a fraud. Although McCollum’s office later dropped the ASD lawsuit, it said it had gathered names of ASD fraud victims and provided them to the U.S. Department of Justice, which had established a remissions process through which ASD victims could receive compensation from proceeds seized by the U.S. Secret Service in the ASD Ponzi case filed at the federal level in the District of Columbia.

Zeek is known to have members in common with the ASD Ponzi scheme. Some Zeek members also promoted OneX, the scheme promoted by ASD’s Bowdoin after his December 2010 arrest by the U.S. Secret Service on Ponzi-related charges of wire fraud, securities fraud and selling unregistered securities.

Bowdoin told prospects that OneX was good for “college students.”

“Ken Russo” also is known as “DRdave.”

Sep 13, 2012
PICTURE STORY: ‘OneX’ Scheme Says It Is Switching To I-Payout; Conference-Call Announcement Made On Same Day U.S. Senate Panel Grilled HSBC Executives And Said Bank Exposed United States To ‘Money Laundering, Drug And Terrorist Financing Risk’

Screen shot: I-Payout website showing logos of "Global Strategic Partners." In April, federal prosecutors described a murky enterprise known as "OneX" as a "fraudulent scheme" and "pyramid" that was recycling money to members in a fashion similar to the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme. Now jailed, ASD President Andy Bowdoin was a OneX pitchman, saying he intended to use his "earnings" from the "program" to pay for his criminal defense in the ASD Ponzi case. Like ASD, OneX conducted business with SolidTrustPay, an offshore payment processor linked to one HYIP fraud scheme after another. Mysterious OneX pitchman "J.C." now says the "program" is turning to I-Payout.

Back in April, federal prosecutors described the purported OneX “program” as a “fraudulent scheme” and “pyramid” pushed by former AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin, the author of the $110 million ASD Ponzi scheme.

Bowdoin, 77, now is jailed in the District of Columbia — in part because of his OneX pitches. He’d initially been free of bond while awaiting his criminal trial in September 2012 on charges of wire fraud, securities fraud and selling unregistered securities in the ASD Ponzi case. Bowdoin was arrested by the U.S. Secret Service in December 2010.

The ASD patriarch pleaded guilty in May to wire fraud in the ASD Ponzi case, acknowledging that ASD was a Ponzi scheme and never operated lawfully from its 2006 inception. Bowdoin remained free after his guilty plea. But a federal judge ordered him jailed in June — pending an August 2012 sentencing date — after prosecutors linked Bowdoin both to OneX and a scam known as AdViewGlobal.

Bowdoin, according to prosecutors, chose to continue to commit crimes — even after the August 2008 seizure by the U.S. Secret Service of $65.8 million in his 10 personal bank accounts at Bank of America and even after he was arrested on Ponzi charges. In October 2011, Bowdoin told OneX conference-call listeners that they could make $99,000 very quickly and that he intended to use his profits from OneX to pay for his criminal defense in his ASD-related Ponzi scheme trial.

College students were excellent prospects for OneX, Bowdoin ventured.

Much remains murky about OneX, including the identity of its purported operator and precisely where the company operates from. A male referred to as “J.C.” presides over OneX conference calls, which occasionally continue to be held despite prosecutors’ assertions against the firm in April. “J.C.” has described himself as a “consultant,” even though he apparently is empowered to make financial decisions for the murky enterprise.

OneX has announced it no longer is using SolidTustPay, the Canadian payment processor linked to one HYIP fraud scheme after another.

But “J.C.” announced during a OneX conference call this week that the “program” was switching to I-Payout, according to a source.

“J.C.” made the I-Payout announcement on July 17, the same day the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations was grilling HSBC executives, including one who announced his resignation in front of the panel.

Part of the presentation by “J.C.” in the conference call included the presentation of a screen shot that showed I-Payout’s name in the back offices of OneX members who’d been wondering if and when the company would find a substitute for SolidTrustPay, according to a source.

It is unclear if OneX has an actual account at I-Payout. What is clear is that it is encouraging members to register for I-Payout accounts, only three months after prosecutors described OneX as a scam that was recycling money to members in ASD-like fashion.

Among the clients I-Payout touts on its website is TextCashNetwork. (See Feb. 14, 2012, PP Blog story on TextCashNetwork.)

I-Payout’s website publishes the logos of HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Bank of America, Barclays and other “Global Strategic Partners.”

Bloomberg/Businessweek is reporting this morning that HSBC and Deutsche Bank employees are under investigation for alleged manipulation of the LIBOR interest rate in a growing scandal that also involves Barclays and other major financial institutions.

Jul 19, 2012