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Tag: James Merrill plea

  • James Merrill, TelexFree’s President, Pleads Guilty

    James Merrill.
    James Merrill.

    3RD UPDATE 2:56 P.M. EDT OCT 25 U.S.A. James Merrill, the president of TelexFree, has pleaded guilty to eight counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy in Massachusetts federal court.

    Merrill, 55, of Ashland, Mass., is scheduled to be sentenced in February.

    “The significance of a guilty plea in a case of this magnitude cannot be overstated,” said special agent in charge Matthew Etre of Homeland Security Investigations, Boston. “James Merrill is finally facing justice for his role in bilking more than $3 billion from innocent investors, in more than 240 countries around the world, for what amounted to little more than greed. HSI special agents will continue to aggressively investigate those who seek to profit by taking advantage of others.”

    Records show Merrill formalized a plea agreement Friday with the office of U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz. The agreement calls for a maximum prison term of 10 years, plus forfeiture of criminal proceeds, including about $140 million, real estate, cars and boats, prosecutors said.

    The Telegram & Gazette, via Twitter and its own website, was first with the news of the formal guilty plea. The Boston Globe also was in the Worcester courtroom of U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Hillman this afternoon.

    More . . .

    NOTE: Our thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.

  • URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: TelexFree’s James Merrill To Plead Guilty, Reports Say

    James Merrill
    James Merrill

    9TH UPDATE 2:08 P.M. EDT U.S.A. U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Hillman’s calendar shows a plea hearing for TelexFree operator James Merrill at 2:30 p.m. Monday at the federal courthouse in Worcester, Mass.

    The Boston Globe, citing the “U.S. Attorney,” is reporting Merrill will plead guilty “to fraud and other charges.”  The Telegram & Gazette also is reporting Merrill will plead guilty.

    The office of U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz has confirmed the guilty plea to the PP Blog.

    “President of TelexFree, James Merrill, has agreed to plead guilty on the eve of trial for his role in the billion dollar pyramid scheme,” a spokeswoman for Ortiz confirmed.

    Details of the plea were not immediately clear. Merrill, who earlier pleaded not guilty to 17 charges, had been scheduled to go on trial Nov. 8.

    A notation today on the court docket read, “Counsel is to contact U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services as soon as possible . . . to determine scheduling of the presentence interview.”

    Stephen B. Darr, the court-appointed trustee in the TelexFree bankruptcy case, has described TelexFree as a combined Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that involved more than $3 billion in illicit transactions.

    Initially charged in 2014 and charged last month with additional counts in a superseding indictment, Merrill had fought the charges all along, making the 11th-hour guilty plea something of a surprise.

    One of Merrill’s business partners — Carlos Wanzeler — allegedly fled the United States for Brazil in 2014. Wanzeler has been indicted in the United States. U.S. prosecutors have described him as a fugitive.

    TelexFree, an MLM firm purportedly in the VOIP business, was a cascading, cross-border fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The agency’s Homeland Security Investigations unit actually joined the “program” as part of an undercover investigation that began in 2013.

    Paul Burks, the operator of the Zeek Rewards MLM scheme, was convicted on all criminal counts against him by a federal jury in July. Burks, 69, potentially faces decades in prison.

    Merrill was 53 when indicted in 2014. Like Burks, he also potentially faces a long prison sentence.

    NOTE: Thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.