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Tag: Inter Reef LTD

  • Illinois Issued Order Against Profitable Sunrise Figure Nanci Jo Frazer In March 2014

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

    Saying it had “credible evidence” of fraud, the state of Illinois issued a temporary prohibition order in March 2014 against Profitable Sunrise figure Nanci Jo Frazer. The order by the Securities Department of Secretary of State Jesse White also applied to purported Profitable Sunrise operator “Roman Novak,” as well as Profitable Sunrise itself and Inter Reef Ltd.

    Inter Reef was a U.K. entity through which Profitable Sunrise apparently was operating. It was not immediately clear whether the temporary order has become permanent or whether Frazer or “Novak” contested it.

    In an emergency action last year against Profitable Sunrise, the SEC described Profitable Sunrise as a ghost enterprise that “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.”

    Unlike state-level Profitable Sunrise actions in 2013, the March 2014 Illinois action alleged that Profitable Sunrise engaged in wrongdoing through Dec. 31, 2013. Various state regulators filed enforcement actions against Profitable Sunrise in early 2013. A 2013 action in Illinois did not name “Roman Novak” and Frazer respondents.

    The March 2014 Illinois action accused Frazer and “Roman Novak” of fraud and selling unregistered securities while operating as unauthorized salespeople, dealers or brokers. In January 2013, according to the order, an Illinois resident in pursuit of a payout from Profitable Sunrise wired $15,000 to a “Bank in Czechoslovakia” in two separate transactions.

    Frazer was accused of fraud by the state of Ohio in July 2013.

    Her husband, David Frazer, is listed on the website of the court-appointed receiver in the Zeek Rewards Ponzi- and pyramid case as a Zeek “winner” of a sum in excess of $1,000.  Zeek, the SEC said, was a fraud that gathered hundreds of millions of dollars.

    Zeek receiver Kenneth D. Bell has raised the prospect that the MLM HYIP sphere may have serial participants in fraud schemes.

    TelexFree promoter Faith Sloan — currently accused of securities fraud by the SEC — is a former Profitable Sunrise and Zeek promoter. Sloan was banned by Illinois from selling securities in June 2014.

    Zeek said it paid an average of 1.5 percent a day, according to the SEC. Profitable Sunrise purported to pay up to 2.7 percent a day.

     

  • UPDATE: Italy Finalizes Suspension Order Against Alleged Profitable Sunrise Pitchman Who Got Booted By WordPress

    ponzinews1UPDATE: CONSOB, the Italian securities regulator, has finalized a March 27  suspension order against alleged Profitable Sunrise pitchman Daniele Verzari.

    Verzari allegedly pitched Profitable Sunrise as the “founder” of the Vdproject Italy team on a Blog hosted by WordPress. After CONSOB announced a temporary suspension order on April 2, WordPress gave Verzari the boot. He also allegedly promoted schemes known as “Vityazi” and “Bestforinvest.”

    On April 4, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a pyramid-scheme complaint against Profitable Sunrise in federal court in Atlanta. Records show that the SEC has issued subpoenas to several Profitable Sunrise pitchmen in the United States.

    The murky scheme may have collected tens of millions of dollars by targeting U.S. investors, routing the proceeds of the scheme through offshore bank accounts and using a mail drop in England, the SEC said. Profitable Sunrise operated through an entity known as Inter Reef Limited.

    Profitable Sunrise purportedly was operated by “Roman Novak.” It allegedly offered five HYIP plans, including one bizarrely dubbed the “Long Haul” that purported to pay 2.7 percent a day with the payout due April 1, the day after Easter. Profitable Sunrise went missing from the Web on or about March 14.

    The actions by CONSOB and the SEC demonstrate that HYIP schemes can create trouble not only for purveyors such as “Novak,” but also for commission-based promoters.

    Scammers have targeted Profitable Sunrise victims in multiple reload schemes.

  • Virginia Man Asks For The Return Of More Than $57,000 Wired To Profitable Sunrise In Series Of Transactions

    ponzinews1UPDATED 8:52 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) A Virginia man has asked for the return of $57,300 wired to Profitable Sunrise in a series of transfers from Bank of America between Jan. 17 and Feb 28. It was unclear from the filing whether the man was a simple investor in Profitable Sunrise, an individual who also was promoting the scheme for commissions or an interested party of a different sort.

    The request was made in the form of a self-filed petition to U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr. in Atlanta. Thrash is overseeing the SEC’s April 4 fraud action against Profitable Sunrise.

    Two of the transfers appeared to have occurred on Feb. 28. Just a day earlier, the state of North Carolina filed a cease-and-desist order against the Profitable Sunrise “program” and purported operators Roman and Radoslav Novak. One of the Feb. 28 transactions was for $18,000 and marked the largest sum among the series of transfers, based on the Virginia’s man’s motion for the court to release the funds.

    The document did not say which of the five Profitable Sunrise “plans” to which the money was directed. Although the SEC obtained an asset freeze after accusing Profitable Sunrise of fraud last month, it is far from clear whether Thrash can order the money returned consistent with the man’s wishes. No receiver has been appointed in the Profitable Sunrise case, and the investigations of the purported “opportunity” by the SEC and other regulators continue.

    One of the five Profitable Sunrise “plans” was known as the “Long Haul,” which had a purported deadline of March 1 for accepting deposits and purported to pay an absurd 2.7 percent daily.

    Based on the man’s filing, it appears as though all of the transfers were directed at entities named relief defendants in the SEC’s action, including Melland Company SRO, Color Shock SRO and Fortuna-K SRO. These Czech entities apparently were receiving money for Profitable Sunrise, which operated through a British entity known as Inter Reef LTD and was conducting an offering fraud through a “mail drop,” according to the SEC’s Profitable Sunrise complaint.

    Like other HYIPs, Profitable Sunrise was flogged online, a situation that potentially puts pitchmen in legal jeopardy. Profitable Sunrise has been accused of selling unregistered securities as investment contracts. The SEC said the Profitable Sunrise referral program operated as a “pyramid scheme” and raised questions about whether the purported Novak brothers actually exist.

    Here are the amounts and dates of the wire transfers, according to the man’s filing:

    • $1,500 on Jan. 17.
    • $6,300 on Feb. 1. (Two transactions; one for $1,800 and another for $4,500.)
    • $9,000 on Feb. 12. (Two transactions; one for $3,000 and another for $6,000.)
    • $8,500 on Feb. 15. (Two transactions; one for $1,000 and another for $7,500.)
    • $10,000 on Feb. 20.
    • $18,000 on Feb. 28.
    • $4,000 on Feb. 28.

    Profitable Sunrise may have gathered tens of millions of dollars, the SEC said last month.

     

  • UPDATE: North Carolina Says Profitable Sunrise Investors Have Been Targeted In ‘Reload Scams’ Like Zeek Rewards Investors Before Them

    From a warning by North Carolina that Profitable Sunrise investors are being targeted in reload scams.
    From a warning by North Carolina that Profitable Sunrise investors are being targeted in reload scams.

    UPDATED 11:28 A.M. EDT (U.S.A.) The Securities Division of North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall has issued a warning that Profitable Sunrise investors are being targeted in “reload scams.”

    North Carolina issued a similar warning in August 2012, saying then that members of the Zeek Rewards “program” — an alleged $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme operating online — also were being targeted in reload scams.

    From a statement by Marshall’s office (italics added):

    The NC Securities Division has learned that Profitable Sunrise investors are being contacted with promises of help in getting their money back for them. The Securities Division is issuing this alert to warn investors that such promises may be yet another attempt to scam them again through a “reload scam”.

    Reload scams hit consumers when they’re down, offering to help them make back money they lost to a previous scam or bad business decision. These scams have been popular for years with telemarketing fraud rings but can also follow other types of fraud, including investment fraud.

    Such reload scams were aimed at victims of the Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme last year. Reload scammers used social media sites and online news releases to tout opportunities to help investors replace the income they were receiving from Zeek Rewards. Similar opportunities are being touted in the case involving Profitable Sunrise. Investors are warned to stay away from such “opportunities”.

    On Feb. 27, North Carolina issued a cease-and-desist order against the Profitable Sunrise “program” and purported operators Roman Novak and Radoslav Novak. Profitable Sunrise operated through a British entity known as Inter Reef LTD.

    At least 35 U.S. states or provinces in Canada went on to issue Investor Alerts or cease-and-desist orders against Profitable Sunrise. The SEC filed an action on April 4, alleging that Profitable Sunrise was an online pyramid scheme that may have gathered tens of millions of dollars.

    Promoters of Profitable Sunrise may have pushed the program without even knowing for whom they were working, the SEC said.

    On April 1, the PP Blog observed an online pitch for an entity that appeared to be using the name and address of a U.S. government agency while promising “to recover” funds lost through Profitable Sunrise. The fake agency claimed it could recover losses for a sum of less than $50 and encouraged Profitable Sunrise members to send money to purported accounts at the Liberty Reserve and Solid Trust Pay payment processors.

    Profitable Sunrise members also have been targeted by boat-sharks hoping to glean commissions for other HYIP “programs” and purported MLM “opportunities.”

    On March 31 — Easter Sunday — the PP Blog reported that a Facebook pitch aimed at Profitable Sunrise members sought to recruit them into a “program” known as TelexFree.

    A video for TelexFree claimed members could purchase an income by sending the “program” specific sums of money.

    The TelexFree pitch was similar to pitches for the infamous World Marketing Direct Selling (WMDS) and OneUniverseOnline (1UOL) pyramid schemes, which were exposed in 2005 and operated by James Bunchan and Seng Tan. Those scams resulted in federal prison sentences for both Bunchan and Tan and also sparked follow-up probes by the government because a federal prosecutor and witnesses were subjected to death threats by Bunchan.

    Like Profitable Sunrise, the WMDS and 1UOL scams traded on references to religion. And like TelexFree and Profitable Sunrise, WMDS and 1UOL prospects were told they could purchase an income.

    WMDS and 1UOL members — like Profitable Sunrise members — also may not have been sure of who they were working for. Here is a snippet from an appeals-court ruling upholding the 20-year-prison sentence of Tan (italics added):

    “A high-school graduate, [Christian] Rochon became president (in name only, though) for one reason, and one reason only: Bunchan wanted an ‘American face’ for his companies, and his neighbor Rochon (a Caucasian of Canadian decent) apparently fit the bill,” the footnote reads. “And after renting Rochon a suit jacket and taking him to a professional photographer, Bunchan had Rochon’s photo plastered all over the companies’ promotional pamphlets.”

    Tan told WMDS and 1UOL members that she’d been sent by the “Gods” to make them millionaires.

    Also see April 16 PP Blog story: Idaho Says Profitable Sunrise Pitchmen May Have Exposure ‘For Soliciting Other Investors’

     

  • BULLETIN: NOT JUST EUROPE: Court Filings In Profitable Sunrise Fraud Case Say Some Of The Money Went To Entities In Australia And Panama

    profitablesunriseimageUPDATED 9:11 P.M. EDT (APRIL 17, U.S.A.) Some Profitable Sunrise investors wired money to entities in Australia and Panama, according to new filings in the SEC’s pyramid-scheme and fraud case.

    The new filings, dated today, identify those entities as Technocash Limited of Sydney and Trackford Business Corp. of Panama City. Earlier filings named four other entities that the SEC says received funds from Profitable Sunrise investors: Melland Company SRO of the Czech Republic; Color Shock SRO of the Czech Republic; Solutions Company SRO of the Czech Republic; and Fortuna-K SRO of the Czech Republic.

    Melland, Color Shock, Solutions and Fortuna-K all have been named relief defendants. How the SEC intends to proceed against Technocash and Trackford was not immediately clear today. Various state regulators in the United States have said that Profitable Sunrise traded on Bible verse.

    Profitable Sunrise operated as Inter Reef LTD through a “mail drop” in England, and its director, Agnes Jouaneau, “is a resident of the Seychelles. She is director of several dozen other UK companies,” according to court filings.

    “Having heard from witnesses, examined documents, considered the legal precedents and the arguments of counsel, the Court finds that the SEC has established a prima facie case that Inter Reef violated Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (‘Securities Act’) [15 U.S.C. §§ 77e(a), 77e(c), and 77q(a)], Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (‘Exchange Act’) [15 U.S.C. § 78j(b)], and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5 [17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5],” wrote U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr.

    Thrash has approved a preliminary injunction and continued an asset freeze in the Profitable Sunrise case.

    A proceeding was held in open court today, according to the new filings. At that 20-minute proceeding, “no one” appeared for Profitable Sunrise or the relief defendants.

    Evidence entered by the SEC, according to Thrash, supports findings that Profitable Sunrise:

    • “offered a series of passive investments with low minimum investments claiming to pay interest rates varying between 1.6 percent and 2.7 percent per business day . . .”
    • Sold “securities” as defined under federal securities law . . .
    • “failed to register those securities with the SEC, and no exemption from registration has been proven . . .”
    • Sold “unregistered securities through misrepresentations and omissions of material fact” and that the sale of those securities “constitutes a device, scheme and artifice to defraud.”

    A minute entry from today’s proceeding before Thash suggests that the SEC has deposed Profitable Sunrise pitchman Anthony M. Infante of Florida and that at least a portion of his deposition was read into the record today.

    Read SEC statement issued April 16.

    The ASD Updates Blog is maintaining an archive of Profitable Sunrise-related court filings.

  • URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: SEC Files Complaint Against Profitable Sunrise; Purported ‘Opportunity’ Called An International ‘Pyramid Scheme’

    breakingnews72URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (17th update 4:02 p.m.) The SEC has filed a complaint against the ProfitableSunrise HYIP “program” in federal court in Atlanta. The story first was reported by CourthouseNewsService this morning.

    At the same time, the PP Blog has learned that the agency applied for an emergency asset freeze, explaining that Profitable Sunrise was using a “mail drop” in England and that “Hungarian law enforcement authorities” had had frozen an account holding $11.3 million connected to the scheme as part of an “investigation of suspected money laundering.” U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr. granted the freeze, which applies to multiple bank accounts.

    The Profitable Sunrise “referral program” operated as a “pyramid scheme,” the SEC said in its filings. Moreover, the SEC charged, Profitable Sunrise was conducting an “offering fraud” targeted at U.S. citizens and selling unregistered securities.

    And people pushing the “program” for commissions may not even know who they’re working for, the SEC said.

    “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.

    The complaint names Inter Reef Ltd. (DBA Profitable Sunrise) as defendants. Four relief defendants also are named:

    Melland Company SRO, Color Shock SRO, Solutions Company SRO, and Fortuna-K SRO.

    Absent from the list of defendants are both “Roman Novak” and “Radoslav Novak.” Although many Profitable Sunrise pitchmen have claimed that “Roman Novak” operates the company and that “Roman’s” brother “Radoslav” is its attorney, that information has not been confirmed.

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

    InterReef’s registered agent is based in Seychelles, an island chain in the western Indian Ocean, the SEC said.

    “Tens of thousands of investors” may have invested “at least tens of millions of dollars in Profitable Sunrise,” the SEC said.

    At least 34 U.S. states and provinces in Canada have issued Investor Alerts or cease-and-desist orders against Profitable Sunrise.

    Assertions online that Profitable Sunrise “generates profits by making loans to businesses at higher rates” are “false,” the SEC charged.

    The scheme spread in part through “social media” and “numerous promoters in the United States,” the SEC said in its complaint.

    Incongruities dotted Profitable Sunrise, the SEC alleged.

    Although Profitable Sunrise claimed it had been operating for six years, “the United Kingdom Companies House reports that Inter Reef has been in existence for only 19 months,” the SEC alleged.

    Meanwhile, the SEC said, a YouTube promo for Profitable Sunrise positioned the “opportunity” as a “ministry” and included a discussion of why Profitable Sunrise “is not a Ponzi or pyramid scheme.”

    From the SEC complaint filed in federal court in Atlanta April 4.
    From the SEC complaint filed in federal court in Atlanta April 4.
    XX
    From the SEC complaint.

    See filings courtesy of the ASDUpdates Blog.

  • Profitable Sunrise Filed ‘No Answer Or Other Responsive Document,’ Colorado Securities Officials Say; HYIP Scheme Was Pitched On Classified-Ad Sites, Research Shows

    Caption from Colorado's Final Cease and Desist Order dated April 2, 20-13, against Profitable Sunrise
    Caption from Colorado’s Final Cease and Desist Order dated April 2, 2013, against Profitable Sunrise

    Profitable Sunrise had come under investigation in Colorado at least by March 8 and was officially notified March 11 that the state suspected it was breaking securities laws, the state Securities Board says in filings this week.

    Colorado scheduled a hearing for March 25 after learning that Profitable Sunrise also was under investigation in North Carolina, but the firm filed “no answer or other responsive document,” the Securities Board said.

    In short, the filings suggest that Profitable Sunrise did not even ask for more time to respond to the state’s allegations that it had reached out from England to sell unregistered securities unlawfully to residents of Colorado.

    And, according to the filings, no answer was received even though ProfitableSunrise claimed on its website that “RADOSLAV [Novak] is identified as ROMAN’s brother, as well as the attorney and the person responsible for marketing PROFITABLE SUNRISE.”

    Roman Novak, Profitable Sunrise members claim, was the operator of the scheme.

    In a series of devastating filings, the state revealed that at least three Colorado investors sent money via wire to Profitable Sunrise in February. All of the transactions were for the purported Profitable Sunrise “Regular Plan,” which required “a minimum of $500” and offered “an interest rate of 1.8% per business day,” the state alleged.

    Profitable Sunrise offered five plans, including the bizarrely named “Long Haul” that purported to pay 2.7 percent a day with a purported Easter payout that has not materialized

    Two of the “Regular Plan” transactions in Colorado occurred on Feb. 6. Another occurred on Feb. 8, according to the filings. The senders of the funds are identified in the filings only by their initials.

    The Profitable Sunrise website has been offline at least since March 14.

    “Profitable Sunrise is running a massive, international scheme, based in England, which takes advantage of religious affinity to lure investors into sending them money,” Colorado Securities Commissioner Fred Joseph said. “We encourage anyone who dealt with this organization to contact the Division of Securities.”

    And, Joseph said in a news release, Profitable Sunrise is an “Internet scam” and the subject of crackdowns by multiple states. (See list here.)

    Colorado’s filings allege that the scheme was spread at least in part through promos placed on classified-advertising sites.

    Among the exhibits investigators viewed were “Printouts of online solicitations at []denver.backpage.com.” Precisely who made the solicitations in Colorado was not revealed.

    One Denver ad viewed by the PP Blog made this claim: “Changing lives together: We Believe in a Better Living Every Day. As a Non Profit Christian Community, We put our Resources to Work to Rebuild the American Dream, One Day at a Time!”

    Elsewhere in the ad, this claim was made (italics added):

    Our Invited Members Save for a New CAR, Pay College Tuition, or Donate to their favorite Non-Profit, Charity, or Church!
    Example 1: Invest $200 Returns $1356.70in 90 days, Returns: $7439.69 in 170 days
    Example 2: Invest $500 Returns $3391.75in 90 days, Returns: $18599.22 in 170 days
    Example 3: Invest $1000 Returns $6783.50in 90 days, Returns: $37198.44 in 170 days

    A specific URL for a free Blogspot Blog (wealthwithchrystal.blogspot) that appeared in the Denver ad viewed by the PP Blog also appears in ads in many other American cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Dallas, Las Vegas and many more.

    Visitors were encouraged to click on a link in the ads “To see my payment Proofs!!!”

    View the Colorado filings.

  • BULLETIN: Kentucky Issues Emergency Cease-And-Desist Order To Profitable Sunrise; Order Identifies Possible Pitchwoman Issuing News Releases That Include Link To ‘HYIP Investment Calculator’; [UPDATE: Ohio, Other States Issue Warnings]

    breakingnews72EDITOR’S NOTE: Ohio now has issued a warning on Profitable Sunrise, saying 15 other states also have issued warnings. Information from Ohio and other states has been added to the Comments thread below . . .

    BULLETIN: (UPDATED 2:01 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.)

    The state of Kentucky has issued an emergency cease-and-desist order to the Profitable Sunrise HYIP “program,” amid allegations that the purported “opportunity” is selling unregistered securities to residents of the state and that residents themselves — in turn — are doing the same thing to earn commissions.

    Profitable Sunrise is trading on Bible prose, according to the Kentucky order. And some residents of the state appear to be offering the “program” to family members and perhaps even investing in the names of loved ones.

    The Profitable Sunrise website is offline this morning. There are Ponzi-forum reports that the “program” is changing servers.

    Kentucky’s order is directed at purported Profitable Sunrise operators Roman Novak and Radoslav Novak. The company lists an address in the United Kingdom and does business as Inter Reef LTD.

    Kentucky’s order was issued by the Department of Financial Institutions. It is dated today. The order also references Nicole Sanders of Louisville, describing her as a possible Profitable Sunrise pitchwoman operating in the state by issuing press releases through a social-networking site. One release viewed by the PP Blog displayed a link to a purported “HYIP Investment Calculator.”

    It is somewhat common for HYIP promoters to try to woo prospects with earnings projections. (It happened in Zeek Rewards and AdSurfDaily, for just two examples. ASD was a $119 million Ponzi scheme. Zeek was accused by the SEC in August 2012 of operating a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme.)

    Sanders may be a purported “private group leader” for Profitable Sunrise, according to the Kentucky order.

    One of the claims in a news release attributed to Sanders is this (italics added):

    Example: If I invest $200.00, over 170 days of my initial investment date without taking $$$$ out (meaning compound on), my investment matures and my PROFIT will be $7,439.66.

    Kentucky now has joined North Carolina, which earlier issued a cease-and-desist order to Profitable Sunrise. Alabama has issued a warning about the “program.” So have the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec.

    Britain’s Financial Services Authority and New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority also have issued warnings.

    Link to emergency Kentucky order, dated March 14, 2013.

  • UPDATE: Canada’s Ontario And Quebec Join Alberta In Issuing Warning On ‘ProfitableSunrise’; [UPDATE: British Columbia, Too]

    breakingnews72UPDATED 4:48 PM EDT (U.S.A.) British Columbia now also has issued a warning against Profitable Sunrise. See Comments thread below . . .

    First it was North Carolina in the United States. Alabama quickly followed.

    And the United Kingdom’s Financial Services Authority also issued a warning about the Profitable Sunrise “program.”

    Canada’s province of Alberta published a Profitable Sunrise warning yesterday. Ontario and Quebec followed today.

    Here is Ontario’s warning in its entirety (italics added):

    ___________________________________________________________

    OSC INVESTOR ALERT: Inter Reef Ltd., Roman Novak and Radoslav Novak (doing business as Profitable Sunrise)

    TORONTO – The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is warning Ontario investors not to invest with Profitable Sunrise, which claims to be located in the United Kingdom while representing that its banking facilities are in the Czech Republic. Profitable Sunrise is offering investors “investment plans”, but Profitable Sunrise is not registered in Ontario to engage in the business of trading in securities or advising anyone with respect to investing in, buying or selling securities.

    Profitable Sunrise is representing that its “investment plans” earn abnormal returns, “risk-free”, of 1.5 per cent – 2.7 per cent per business day, which translates into an annual return of over 300 per cent. On January 11, 2013, the OSC issued a warning to investors entitled “Beware: High-yield Investment Programs are Ponzi Schemes” that explains the risks of investing with companies like Profitable Sunrise. You can find the warning on the “OSC Investor News” section of the OSC’s website at www.osc.gov.on.ca.

    The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices and to foster fair and efficient capital markets and confidence in capital markets. Investors are urged to check the registration of any person or company offering an investment opportunity and to review the OSC’s investor materials available at www.osc.gov.on.ca.

    If you have any questions or information relating to this matter, please contact the OSC Contact Centre at 1-877-785-1555.

    ___________________________________________________________

    And here, through the Autorité des marchés financiers, is Quebec’s warning (italics added):

    March is Fraud Prevention Month – Caution to be used when solicited by Profitable Sunrise

    Tuesday, March 12, 2013

    Montréal – The Autorité des marchés financiers (the “AMF”) is warning Quebeckers about investment contracts offered by Inter Reef LTD, also known as Profitable Sunrise on the Internet, which purports to be a British company and is not authorized to carry on business in Québec.

    The North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State recently issued an order warning investors about offers published by Profitable Sunrise and its officer, Roman Novak, on the Internet. Investigators with the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State say that Profitable Sunrise and its officer promoted five different investment plans through a website that offered rates of return ranging from 1.6% to 2.7% per business day. Investors were told their money would be used to fund short-term loans to businesses, “risk-free”.  Secretary of State investigators have also discovered that victims were asked to make wire transfers of money to financial institutions in Eastern European countries, including the Czech Republic.

    This week, the Alberta Securities Commission warned investors after it received reports from a Calgary-based banking institution that several of its customers have attempted to withdraw significant amounts of funds from their accounts for wire transfers to the Czech Republic.

    Although there is no proof that Quebeckers invested in the scheme, the AMF urges great caution in dealing with offers by Profitable Sunrise. No person or company named Roman Novak, Inter Reef LTD or Profitable Sunrise is registered with the AMF. Since they are not registered with the AMF, solicitations by Roman Novak, Inter Reef LTD and Profitable Sunrise of Québec investors could contravene the laws administered by the AMF.

    If you have responded to solicitations from Profitable Sunrise or any similar type of solicitation, please contact an officer at our Information Centre.

    Reminder to investors
    As part of Fraud Prevention Month, the AMF reminds consumers that it is important to ask questions (5 bonnes questions — in French only) before entrusting their savings to a person who solicits them, especially when promised a return that is too good to be true such as in this case.

    The Autorité des marchés financiers (the “AMF”) is the regulatory and oversight body for Québec’s financial sector.

     

  • North Carolina Secretary Of State: Profitable Sunrise ‘A Real Danger To The Investing Public’

    recommendedreading1EDITOR’S NOTE: Reproduced below is the full news release by the office of North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall on the cease-and-desist order issued last week to “Profitable Sunrise.”

    Even as the state has raised serious concerns about the “program,” Profitable Sunrise “defenders” have been seeking to minimize the issues. Some people even are hurling insults at North Carolina regulators while blanketing Ponzi-scheme forums such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup with “I got paid” posts.

    That a program “pays” is not evidence that no fraud scheme is occurring. (Bernard Madoff “paid” — right up until the day he didn’t.)  Along those lines, collapsed “programs” such as Zeek Rewards, AdSurfDaily, Legisi, Pathway To Prosperity and Imperia Invest IBC — all of which advertised outsize returns  — all had a presence on the Ponzi boards.

    Some “defenders” of Profitable Sunrise appear to be scurrying to describe the alleged investment “program” as the recipient of “loans” from customers. The “loan” claims may raise altogether different issues — such as whether Profitable Sunrise is engaging in unlawful banking while commingling assets and operating as an unlawful investment pool. And despite “defenders’” claims that Profitable Sunrise is  not the issuer of “securities” as investment contracts, Profitable Sunrise has advertised five investment schemes on its own website, including a bizarrely named plan known as the “Long Haul” that purported to pay 2.7 percent a day. The Legisi HYIP scheme  sought to escape scrutiny in the United States by calling itself a “loan” program. Federal prosecutors described Legisi operator Gregory McKnight’s  wordplay as “semantic obfuscation.” The SEC earlier described U.S.-based Legisi pitchman Matthew John Gagnon as a threat to the investing public.

    Here, below, the statement by Marshall’s office . . .

    ** ______________________________________________ **

    Raleigh – North Carolina Secretary of State Securities officials have issued a Temporary Order to Cease and Desist to Roman Novak, Radoslav Novak and Inter Reef LTD d/b/a Profitable Sunrise to bar them from offering and selling or attempting to sell securities in the form of investment contracts to North Carolina’s investing public.

    Secretary of State investigators say the respondents promoted five different “investment plans” through a website that offered rates of return ranging from 1.6-percent per business day to 2.7-percent per business day. Investors were told their money would be used to fund short-term loans to businesses. Investors were also told their investments were “risk-free,” “with a certain rate of return and no chance of default,” and that “all funds deposited with us are insured against loss.”

    Secretary of State investigators have also discovered that victims were making wire transfers of money to financial institutions in Eastern European countries.

    However, the respondents were never registered with the North Carolina Secretary of State’s Securities Division to sell securities and the investment itself was not registered as a security in accordance with the North Carolina Securities Act.

    “We have issued this Cease and Desist Order because we believe this solicitation poses a real danger to the investing public,” Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall said Friday. “Proper registration of securities and the individuals selling securities is fundamental to protecting the public from con artists and investment fraud. That is why it is so important to call our Securities Division before investing your hard-earned money to make sure that the investment you are considering is registered. This case also demonstrates the perils of web-based investment marketing.”

    Marshall urged anyone in North Carolina who has invested with Profitable Sunrise to contact the Secretary of State’s Securities Division at 1-800-688-4507.

  • URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: North Carolina Orders ‘Profitable Sunrise’ To Cease And Desist; State Calls It An ‘Immediate And Significant Danger’

    americaatrisk4URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: The state of North Carolina — home base to the alleged $600 million Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme — has ordered a purported offshore “opportunity” known as “Profitable Sunrise” to cease and desist from doing business in the state.

    Profitable Sunrise purports to be a hard-money lender and investment opportunity. It appears to have attracted some Zeek members both before and after the August 2012 collapse of Zeek. Zeek was under investigation by North Carolina, the SEC and the U.S. Secret Service at the time of its collapse.

    In its cease-and-desist order, North Carolina described Profitable Sunrise as “an immediate and significant danger” that is using multiple investment schemes to attract money, including a purported “Long Haul” plan.

    The offer is being targeted at people of faith through web-based promoters, some of whom described themselves as Christians. Offering materials for the “Long Haul” plan have advertised an Easter holiday payout.

    The company itself has advertised “risk free” payouts with “no chance of default,” according to the North Carolina order. And Profitable Sunrise also claims “investments are insured by a leading investment bank.”

    As the PP Blog reported in December, Profitable Sunrise appeared to qualify investors based on their views on hot-button issues, including abortion.

    North Carolina’s order names Roman Novak, Radoslav Novak and Inter Reef LTD (doing business as Profitable Sunrise) as respondents, amid allegations by the Securities Division of the office of North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall that Profitable Sunrise is selling unregistered securities as investment contracts.

    Profitable Sunrise lists a business address in the United Kingdom. Regardless, the enterprise is soliciting funds to be sent to Raiffeisenbank AS in the Czech Republic, according to North Carolina investigators. An entity known as Melland Company SRO was listed in Profitable Sunrise wiring instructions as the beneficiary, according to the order.

    A credit union used by a North Carolina-based Profitable Sunrise investor blocked at least one transaction directed toward the Czech bank, citing suspicions of fraud, according to the order.

    Marshall’s investigators noted that the Profitable Sunrise investor believed that the”Long Haul” plan would pay “interest of 2.7% daily, compounded at 100%, for 240 days.”

    Other Profitable Sunrise plans also promised high interest rates in compressed time frames, reaching for sums of between $10 and $2,500 and advertising interest rates of between 1.6 percent and 2 percent a day, according to the order.

    Zeek planted the seed that it paid an average of 1.5 percent a day, the SEC said on Aug. 17. On Aug. 4, Zeek claimed on its news site that unspecified “North Carolina credit unions” were creating problems for it.

    Read the North Carolina order against Profitable Sunrise.

    Visit Profitable Sunrise thread on RealScam.com.