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Tag: IRS

FLORIDA — AGAIN: Postal Inspectors Say Recidivist Felon With 24 Bank Accounts And Undisclosed Criminal History Bilked Investors In $20 Million Scam; James Risher Arrested Before He Could Take Flight To Bermuda

A recidivist securities felon tied to at least 24 bank accounts had an airline ticket for Bermuda last week but was arrested in Florida before he could get offshore after scamming investors in a long-running fraud scheme that had gathered $20 million, according to law-enforcement officials. Charged in a criminal complaint by the U.S. Postal…

Jun 7, 2011
ANOTHER FALSE LIENS CASE: Man Who Asserted ‘Diplomatic Immunity’ Claimed Utah Officials Owed Him $53 TRILLION, Feds Say; Harvey Douglas Goff Charged In 14-Count Indictment After Probe By Joint Terrorism Task Force, IRS

EDITOR’S NOTE: Longtime readers will recall that some members of Florida-based AdSurfDaily engaged in a hectoring campaign against public officials after the U.S. Secret Service seized tens of millions of dollars in the ASD Ponzi case in August 2008. Such actions can lead to serious criminal consequences, as the story below illustrates. It has happened…

Jun 6, 2011
KABOOM! CFTC/FTC Cases Against American Precious Metals LLC Were Part Of Broader Effort By New Task Force Operating In South Florida; Feds, State Throw Down Gauntlet Against Scammers

Kaboom! It turns out that the cases announced this week against American Precious Metals LLC (APM) by the CFTC and FTC were part of a geographically localized law-enforcement initiative that sprouted from “Operation Broken Trust,” a major national initiative undertaken last year by the U.S. Department of Justice and partner agencies as part of the…

May 19, 2011
UPDATE: Thanh-Viet ‘Jeremy’ Cao’s 30-Year Ponzi Sentence One Of Longest In Southern California History; Feds Say He Told Story About A ‘Chopped Up’ Infant And Threatened Victims With ‘Extreme Violence’

Thanh-Viet “Jeremy” Cao, the California Ponzi schemer later accused in Nevada of filing fraudulent liens for enormous sums against public officials and identified by the Anti-Defamation League as a “sovereign citizen,” once threatened to torture and kill his business partner and the partner’s wife and family, federal prosecutors said. To keep victims in a state…

May 18, 2011
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Thanh-Viet ‘Jeremy’ Cao Sentenced To 30 Years In Federal Prison; Ponzi Schemer Also Filed False Liens Against Federal Officials, Prosecutors Said

BULLETIN: Convicted Ponzi schemer Thanh-Viet “Jeremy” Cao, who also was accused of filing false liens against federal officials and has been linked to the “sovereign citizen” movement by the Anti-Defamation League, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison in the Ponzi case. Cao was convicted in December 2010. The U.S. Secret Service and the…

May 16, 2011
‘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,…

May 8, 2011
BULLETIN: Feds Say Man Filed False Liens For Tens Of Billions Of Dollars Against Federal Prosecutors, Investigators; Mark D. Leitner Indicted In Florida

BULLETIN: It has happened again, this time in the Sunshine State. Mark D. Leitner has been indicted in Florida on charges of filing false liens against federal prosecutors, investigators and court personnel involved in his criminal trial last year on tax charges. Leitner, whose age and address were not provided in a Justice Department statement,…

Apr 6, 2011
BULLETIN: OLINT’S David A. Smith Pleads Guilty In $220 Million Ponzi Scheme; International Forex Caper Laundered $128 Million, Feds Say

BULLETIN: David A. Smith, who presided over a $220 million Forex fraud known as OLINT, has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Smith, 41, is a citizen of Jamaica. He “executed a Ponzi scheme to defraud over 6,000 investors located in the Middle District of Florida and elsewhere out…

Mar 29, 2011
BULLETIN: Feds Charge Minneapolis Man Amid Suspicions He Used Loot From Trevor Cook Ponzi Scheme To Party And Gamble With Strippers While Victims Suffered

BULLETIN: Five days after Ponzi swindler Trevor Cook pleaded guilty to defrauding victims in an elaborate international scam that reduced investors to ruin, a Minneapolis man hid proceeds from the caper from law enforcement and the court-appointed receiver, federal prosecutors said. Victims of the Cook scheme — many of whom were people of faith —…

Mar 24, 2011
SPECIAL REPORT: Forex Firms Named In CFTC Sweep Used Same Offshore Processor As Alleged Imperia Invest Fraud; Name Of Man Linked To ‘Perfect Money’ Appears In Ponzi Forfeiture Complaint In Which Feds Tied Cash To International Narcotics Trade

SPECIAL REPORT: UPDATED 2:27 P.M. ET (U.S.A., FEB. 9) Federal court and web records show that at least three of the 14 purported Forex dealers named defendants in a major sweep of unregistered firms last month by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission advertised that they accepted funds from Perfect Money. Perfect Money is a murky…

Feb 8, 2011
‘In God We Trust’ Scammer Who Fleeced Investors Sentenced To 15 Years In Prison; Byron Keith Brown Traded On God’s Name And U.S. Motto To Steal Millions From Clients Of Unlicensed Investment Business

An affinity fraudster and financial scammer has received a 15-year prison sentence in the “In God We Trust” caper, an online Ponzi scheme that traded on religion and patriotic sentiments while gathering more than $17 million. Byron Keith Brown, 34, of Vienna, Va., also was ordered by U.S. District Judge William M. Nickerson of the…

Dec 22, 2010