Three men found guilty in South Carolina last week of operating an $82 million Ponzi scheme accused a federal prosecutor of treason on the same day the jury returned its verdict, the FBI said.
A treason claim also was made in the federal forfeiture proceeding against assets tied to Florida-based AdSurfDaily, an alleged Ponzi scheme involving $100 million.
U.S. District Judge Margaret B. Seymour cited the treason claim in the “3 Hebrew Boys” case as a reason to send Joseph Brunson, Tim McQueen and Tony Pough to jail immediately to await sentencing.
“After the jury’s verdict, Judge Seymour was asked to allow the men to remain free on bond until their sentencing,” the FBI said. “She denied the request after noting that all three men filed documents [Friday] accusing U.S. Attorney Walt Wilkins of treason and committing acts of war by prosecuting them.”
Brunson, McQueen and Pough became known as “3 Hebrew Boys” after operating a website with the same name, which is based on a biblical story of believers who escaped a furnace by relying on their faith. The Ponzi scheme operated under the name Capital Consortium Group LLC.
Wilkens said the scheme targeted people of faith and members of the military.
“By calling themselves the Three Hebrew Boys, these con men tried to disguise their Ponzi scheme as a religious, charitable program of debt elimination in order to gain the trust of unsuspecting investors,” Wilkins said. “Unfortunately many people were victimized by these men, including many in our armed forces.â€
In the ASD case, the treason claim was made against U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer. ASD is known to have members who identify with the so-called sovereignty movement.
California resident Curtis Richmond, a pro se litigant in the ASD case, identified himself in court documents in a separate case as a “sovereign” being who enjoyed diplomatic immunity from prosecution and answered only to Jesus Christ.
Richmond is associated with a Utah “Indian” tribe ruled a “complete sham” last year by U.S. District Judge Stephen Friot. On the eve of a civil RICO trial last year, Richmond attempted to have Friot removed from the case by claiming he owed Richmond $30 million.
Friot refused to step down in Utah, as did Collyer in the District of Columbia. Richmond accused Collyer earlier this year of operating a “Kangaroo Court” and violating her judicial oath. Collyer is presiding over the ASD civil-forfeiture case. Other filings in the ASD case suggested Collyer was guilty of as many as 60 felonies, and that an effort had been made by at least one ASD member to start a process to collect $120 million from Collyer, two federal prosecutors and a court clerk for “Interference With Commerce.”
Such bizarre claims have been popping up more and more in litigation involving securities.
Gold Quest International (GQI), a company accused by the SEC last year of operating a Ponzi scheme from Las Vegas, claimed it was part of a North Dakota Indian tribe and was immune from U.S. law.
After the SEC brought the charges against GQI in May 2008, Michael Howard Reed, the purported “attorney general” of the tribe, tried to sue the SEC for $1.7 trillion. The sought-after amount would have exceeded the total of federal income tax paid by individual U.S. filers last year by about $575 billion.
U.S. District Judge Kent J. Dawson struck a series of pleadings by Reed from the record.
Meanwhile, Dawson jailed John Jenkins, one of the defendants implicated in the Ponzi scheme, for contempt. Dawson also dispatched the U.S. Marshals Service to arrest David Greene, also known as “Lord David Greene,†in part for violating orders to repatriate money offshore to the United States.
Despite Richmond’s behavior, he was labeled a hero on the Pro-ASD Surf’s Up forum. Over the weekend, Surf’s Up reinforced an earlier announcement that it would not permit discussion about the AdViewGlobal (AVG) autosurf.
“[P]lease don’t expect any information that concerns AVGA,” a forum Mod said Saturday. “[I]t doesn’t belong on this forum.”
Another Mod reinforced the ban on AVG discussion today.
“In the beginning days of AVG we made it clear this is not an AVG forum and it still will not be,” the Mod said.
Surf’s Up members repeatedly have said they wanted to discuss AVG, which has close connections to ASD. Their requests have been consistently rebuffed. Some of the Surf’s Up Mods were among the founding members of the AVG surf, which came to life after a major court ruling went against ASD last year.
AVG purported to be a “private association” that operated offshore. Members used the “offshore” angle as a key selling point, saying the surf’s purported country of operation — Uruguay — insulated it from prosecution.
Like the “3 Hebrew Boys” operation, AVG sought to prevent members from discussing the company outside the confines of areas it controlled. AVG members were scolded for sharing information and calling the autosurf an “investment†program.
As AVG was in failure mode in May and June, members were threatened with copyright-infringement lawsuits. Critics were told AVG would contact their ISPs to file abuse reports and suspend service.