James Merrill

BULLETIN: With the MLM world only now coming to grips with the alleged $1.2 billion TelexFree Ponzi- and pyramid fraud, the special master in the Zeek Rewards criminal action has compared the Zeek case to the Bernard Madoff and Allen Stanford Ponzi schemes and the notorious Enron securities swindle involving former CEO Jeffrey Skilling. Special […]

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 22992 / May 13, 2014 Securities and Exchange Commission v. TelexFree, Inc. et al., Civil Action No. 1:14-cv-11858-DJC (United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts) United States v. Carlos Nataniel Wanzeler and James Matthew Merrill, Case No. 14-MJ-4172-DHH (United States District Court for the District […]

A man asserted to be a promoter of at least three fraud schemes, including TelexFree, has been hauled in front of TV cameras in Uganda. The report below is from NTV Uganda. The embarrassing appearance of the suspect may raise the stakes for promoters of online fraud schemes and create even more disastrous PR for […]

BULLETIN: (2nd update 5:10 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) The Botafogo professional soccer club in Rio de Janeiro has canceled its sponsorship contract with TelexFree and will strip the TelexFree logo from team jerseys, according to an announcement on the team website. TelexFree figure James Merrill was jailed in the United States last week. Fellow TelexFree figure […]

(UPDATED 9:24 am EDT MAY 14 U.S.A.) The PP Blog previously has reported on campaigns by members to petition judges to “bail out” TelexFree and consider the purported upside of the “program,” which may be the largest combined Ponzi- and pyramid scheme in MLM HYIP history. (Campaigns referenced in this May 10, 2014, PP Blog […]

In case you missed the big news yesterday, TelexFree figures James Merrill and Carlos Wanzeler were charged criminally. Unofficially this brings the number of charged MLM HYIP “programs” (or clients) with links to MLM attorney Gerald Nehra to three in recent years. Nehra was an “expert witness” for AdSurfDaily in 2008. He testified that ASD, […]

BULLETIN: (18th Update 8:15 a.m. EDT, May 10, U.S.A.) TelexFree figures James Merrill and Carlos Wanzeler have been charged criminally with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Merrill, 53, was arrested in Worcester, Mass. Wanzeler, 45, of Northborough, Mass., has been labeled a “fugitive.” In similar prosecutions, U.S. authorities have notified INTERPOL about the subjects of […]

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (4th update 5:29 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) The Boston Globe, citing confirmation from the office of U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, is reporting that TelexFree figure James Merrill has been arrested. Ortiz is the top federal prosecutor in the District of Massachusetts. Ortiz’ office confirmed the Merrill arrest to the PP Blog […]

BULLETIN: In a blistering response to TelexFree’s bid to continue its business and move forward with its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, the United States’ trustee said the embattled firm has not engaged “in full and fair disclosure.” “The former CFO and board members have disappeared with no explanation,” U.S. Trustee Tracy Hope Davis alleged. “The only […]

(UPDATED 8:05 A.M. EDT U.S.A.) Alleged TelexFree promoter and securities fraudster Santiago De La Rosa has been ordered by the federal judge presiding over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Ponzi- and pyramid case to sell two BMWs and a Land Rover Range Rover “back to the dealership” and to “repatriate all funds located outside […]

(UPDATED 8:21 P.M. EDT U.S.A.) The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says in new court filings that accused TelexFree promoter and securities fraudster Sann Rodrigues appeared in an April 16 YouTube video and asserted that “God” made MLM and “binary” and that Rodrigues claims he’s “never going to stop this.” Rodrigues is now a two-time […]