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Tag: International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

  • Individual Linked To Payment Processor For ‘MyAdvertisingPays’ Scheme Listed In Panama Papers

    breakingnews725Roger Alberto Santamaria Del Cid, an apparent nominee director for offshore companies who is listed as a corporate “subscriber” for VX Gateway in Panamanian business records, is referenced at least three times in the “Panama Papers.”

    The PP Blog discovered the Del Cid listings today. On Monday, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists made its database of Panama Papers listings searchable. (For additional background and reporting on the Panama Papers, visit ICIJ’s website.)

    VX is a payment processor for the MyAdvertisingPays (MAPS) cross-border scheme that touts Anguilla registration after earlier operating from the U.S. state of Mississippi. MAPS purportedly pulled out of the United States last year, potentially leaving thousands of American affiliates expecting payouts holding the bag.

    In April 2015, the PP Blog reported that MAPs, a purported “advertising” program similar to the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme, was trading on the name of President Obama after ASD previously had traded on the name of President George W. Bush. MAPS is known to have members in common with the judicially declared TelexFree Ponzi- and pyramid scheme, which also traded on the names of government officials.

    It is somewhat common in the HYIP sphere for “programs” and their affiliates to drive traffic to schemes by suggesting the endorsement of government agencies or prominent government officials.

    TelexFree, which may have generated $3 billion in illicit cross-border business, collapsed in 2014.

    The Facebook site for the TaraTalksBlog, a MAPS critic, reported on May 7 that it had received “numerous reports that MAP has closed members accounts, with no redress, after members have requested payment withdrawals.”

    In short, non-U.S. affiliates of MAPs also may be having trouble getting paid.

    MAPS recently attempted unsuccessfully to sue TaraTalks. In 2012, a top official from the U.S. Department of Justice who was speaking at an event in Mexico warned about bogus libel lawsuits in the context of cross-border crime.

    Then-Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole also said (bolding added):

    “Because of the sophistication of the world economy, organized crime groups have developed an ability to exploit legitimate actors and their skills in order to further the criminal enterprises. For example, transnational organized criminal groups often rely on lawyers to facilitate illicit transactions. These lawyers create shell companies, open offshore bank accounts in the names of those shell companies, and launder criminal proceeds through trust accounts. Other lawyers working for organized crime figures bring frivolous libel cases against individuals who expose their criminal activities.”

    As noted above, the Panama Papers database shows Del Cid’s name at least three times. On April 14, the PP Blog reported (italics added):

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

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

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

     




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

    recommendedreading1 (1)8TH UPDATE 11:53 P.M. EDT U.S.A. Before we get to the news that a federal judge took only a day to dismiss an April 6 libel lawsuit filed by the MyAdvertisingPays (MAPS) scheme and operator Michael E. Deese against the TaraTalks Blog, we’ll note that the 16-page complaint confirms that MAPS is incorporated in Anguilla.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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