James Merrill

BULLETIN: Federal prosecutors in the United States have informed a federal judge that “evidence underlying this case is closely tied to certain foreign countries, especially Brazil” and that “it is likely that the parties will need to review evidence in foreign countries and arrange for foreign witnesses and/or law enforcement officers to travel to the […]

The staff of the Missouri Public Service Commission raised “grave concerns” that permitting TelexFree’s telecom registration to remain intact in the state could “assist in the perpetuation of a fraud on investors,” records show. Missouri approved the registration in March 2014. TelexFree applied for it the previous month, according to records. Those records included a […]

One of TelexFree’s alleged reality-distortion fields has been formally exposed. Perhaps you saw the recruitment promos (both corporate and affiliate) that planted the seed TelexFree was the sole occupant of a large building in Marlborough, Mass. Former President James Merrill was shown posing in front of the structure. A caption on TelexFree’s website read, “The […]

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (5th update 7:33 P.M. EDT U.S.A.) In a defense filing in the SEC’s securities fraud case against him, former TelexFree interim CFO Joseph Craft says he concluded TelexFree was a Ponzi scheme selling unregistered securities. The acknowledgement, which appears to be the first concession from the TelexFree inner circle that […]

Longtime HYIP huckster and TelexFree figure Faith Sloan has been banned by Illinois from selling securities. The prohibition order is dated June 9. It was issued by the Securities Department of Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White. The state found that Sloan, an Illinois resident, operated a TelexFree-related website and acted as an unregistered securities […]

If you’ve been following TelexFree developments, you’ve probably heard about “Operation Orion,” the code name for the investigation that led to raids against TelexFree’s Ympactus arm last week by the Brazilian federal police. The Orion name was chosen, police said, because it fit splendidly within the context of a pyramid-scheme case. How so? The Pyramids […]

UPDATED AT 11:10 P.M. EDT U.S.A. JULY 28, 2014: Globo.com (Brazil) is reporting that police raided the headquarters of Ympactus this morning in a law-enforcement action dubbed “Operation Orion.” The story suggests raids also were carried out elsewhere and that Brazilian tax authorities are involved in the actions. Ympactus is the Brazilian affiliate of TelexFree […]

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: 10th Update 9:18 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) TelexFree figures James Merrill and Carlos Wanzeler have been indicted by a federal grand jury. The indictment, dated today, includes eight criminal counts of wire fraud and one criminal count of wire-fraud conspiracy. Among other things, the indictment alleged that Merrill and Wanzeler conspired […]

UPDATED 6:07 P.M. EDT U.S.A. A U.S. Magistrate Judge issued no immediate ruling today on a motion by TelexFree figure James Merrill to release $4 million to pay for his criminal defense. Instead, Judge David H. Hennessy will take the matter under advisement and issue an order later, according to the docket of the case. […]

BULLETIN: Federal prosecutors handling the criminal case against TelexFree figure and alleged co-owner James Merrill have asked a judge not to release $4 million Merrill says he needs to pay for his criminal defense. On July 1, Merrill asked for an evidentiary hearing aimed ultimately at securing “an order returning the identified funds” to him. […]

In February 2014, the PP Blog reported that TelexFree had planned a purported “international convention” in Spain in early March. The pitch for the convention, hosted in Madrid, was voiced by Sann Rogrigues, whom the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission successfully had sued in 2006 amid allegations he was operating a pyramid scheme and engaging […]