James Merrill

UPDATED 10:48 P.M. EDT U.S.A. A plaintiff bringing a prospective class-action lawsuit in Massachusetts federal court has accused 10 TelexFree figures of committing crimes and — as a group — committing racketeering violations through an “association-in-fact enterprise.” Unlike other prospective TelexFree-related class-actions, this one names neither attorneys nor banks nor TelexFree itself defendants. Rather, it […]

MLM attorney Gerald Nehra, his law partner Richard Waak and their law firm are now lawyered up in the TelexFree bankruptcy case. Groups of TelexFree members have sued them in bankruptcy court, alleging violations of the federal racketeering (RICO) statute and violations of federal securities laws. TelexFree filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on a […]

BULLETIN: (3rd Update 5:56 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) A federal judge in Massachusetts has permitted TelexFree figure James Merrill to be freed on bail, but has imposed tight restrictions. In granting Merrill bail, U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Hillman overruled U.S. Magistrate Judge David Hennessy, who agreed with federal prosecutors and ruled last month that Merrill […]

A former pitchman for the Zeek Rewards MLM Ponzi- and pyramid scheme also acknowledged he participated in TelexFree, the state of Montana said in a consent agreement and final order. James D. Helgeson was fined $5,000 by the office of Monica Lindeen, Montana’s Commissioner of Securities and Insurance (CSI) and state auditor. The case demonstrates […]

There is a report on social media this morning of a bogus TelexFree site that mirrors an old TelexFree site that existed when the company was actively soliciting business. The site creates the impression TelexFree has reopened. TelexFree has not reopened. It is Sunday. Federal prosecutors handing the TelexFree criminal case involving alleged fraudsters James […]

UPDATED 12:25 P.M. EDT U.S.A. Immersed in litigation on at least 10 fronts in the United States while also confronting licensing challenges and asset freezes, TelexFree did not appear last month at a hearing it requested to consider its telecom application before the Alabama Public Service Commission. As things stand, the company is not authorized […]

2ND UPDATE 9:44 P.M. EDT U.S.A. Just last week, accused promoter Faith Sloan was blasting TelexFree figures James Merrill and Carlos Wanzeler, as well as MLM attorney Gerald Nehra. In defense filings in the SEC’s civil case against her, Sloan threw all three men under the bus. Nehra also got a mention today by Merrill, […]

UPDATED 8:55 P.M. EDT U.S.A. Veteran HYIP huckster Faith Sloan told a federal judge presiding over the SEC’s TelexFree case that she is a victim of the company and was duped by TelexFree executives James Merrill, Carlos Wanzeler and Steve Labriola. And, the former Noobing, Zeek Rewards and Profitable Sunrise pitchwoman asserted, she also was […]

Nevada, the state in which TelexFree operated an alleged $1.2 billion pyramid- and Ponzi scheme through a mailbox and filed its initial Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition, has rejected the company’s application to become a telecom provider. The Nevada Public Utilities Commission denied the application in an order dated June 2. The staff of the PUC […]

BULLETIN: (12th Update 9:50 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) In resisting former TelexFree President James Merrill’s latest bid to make bail in the criminal case against him, federal prosecutors said today that TelexFree “has a disturbingly cult-like quality.” Meanwhile, in separate action in the SEC’s civil case against TelexFree, the agency has accused alleged TelexFree pitchwoman Faith […]

BULLETIN: (5th Update 10:06 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) A defense filing by alleged TelexFree co-owner James Merrill may signal a serious divide between Merrill and Carlos Wanzeler, now described by the United States as an international fugitive. At the same time, new defense filings by Merrill say arguments made in bankruptcy court that suggest TelexFree could […]