Tag: IRS Criminal Investigations Unit
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Two Former Federal Agents Involved In Silk Road Probe Were Bitcoin Thieves And One Was An Extortionist, Justice Department Says
UPDATED 8:33 P.M. EDT U.S.A. There must be some long faces at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Secret Service today. That’s because two federal agents once assigned to a Task Force investigating the illicit Silk Road marketplace have been charged with federal crimes. Carl M. Force, 46, of Baltimore, was a DEA…
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MOST UN-‘WISE’: 2 Ponzi Schemers Ride Their Wordplay To Prison Sentences Totaling More Than 33 Years; Judge Declares Crime ‘Evil’
“Defendant Trebor Company (Robert spelled backward) is a sole proprietorship owned by [Robert C. Brown Jr.] and is the name he has used for his ‘investment group.’” — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in civil complaint against Trebor and Brown, July 23, 2008 “Evidence at trial established that much of the investor money was funneled…
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DIALING UP THE BIZARRE: Prisoner Who Reportedly Once Stole Tractor-Trailer Full Of ‘Canned Beans’ And Later Followed ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Bleatings Convicted Of Running Tax Scam From Jail
This one is almost indescribably bizarre . . . Ronald Williams, 48, was an inmate in various prisons in New York state between 2006 and 2010, federal prosecutors said. His mother told the Syracuse Post-Standard that her son was jailed in 2006 on charges of stealing a tractor-trailer full of “canned beans” off a street…
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FLORIDA — AGAIN (BOCA RATON VIA NEW YORK): John A. Mattera, Purported Philanthropist, Arrested By Feds And Sued By SEC Amid Allegations He Set Up Scam Using Names Of Groupon And Facebook; Suspect Also Traded On Name Of Red Cross; Investigators Call Him A Recidivist Felon
EDITOR’S NOTE: So, you recognize the power of the names of Groupon and Facebook and want to trade on their magnetism to drive traffic to your purported “opportunity” — and you want to further sanitize your scheme by describing yourself as a philanthropist and trading on the name of a charity such as the American…
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‘SURF/HYIP HELPERS BEWARE: Woman Who Helped Tennessee Ponzi Schemer Cover Up Fraud Sentenced To 6 Years In Federal Prison; Donna Jones’ Role In $12.3 Million Caper Outlined By Jailed Boss In Court After Investigators ‘Follow The Paper Trail’
EDITOR’S NOTE: Although Donna Jones did not run an autosurf or online HYIP fraud, the case against her is instructive. Indeed, prosecutors said, Jones was an insider who was aware of the Ponzi scheme being conducted by her boss, Michael J. Park. And Jones took an active role in the scheme, encouraging customers to invest,…