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Tag: Lillian Alves

  • UFUNCLUB: Securities Division ‘Will Look Into The Extent Of A Colorado Connection’

    UFunClub logo
    As Thailand investigates UFunClub and UToken, U.S. regulators may be asking questions.

    UPDATED 10:52 A.M. EDT U.S.A. The Colorado Division of Securities said it “will look into the extent” of promotional ties the UFunClub “program” now under investigation in Thailand may have in the state.

    Whether other U.S. states would follow Colorado’s lead was not immediately clear. Earlier cross-border MLM/network-marketing schemes such as Profitable Sunrise and WCM777 met stiff resistance from state-level regulators.

    The dollar volume of UFunClub’s alleged fraud may be mushrooming. Early reports pegged it at about $307 million (U.S.). Citing Thailand police, the Bangkok Post yesterday reported the sum could rise to 38 billion baht, the equivalent of more than $1.17 billion (U.S.).

    If the number holds, UFunClub would rival in dollar volume the $1.8 billion TelexFree scheme shut down by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2014 and surpass the $897 million allegedly collected by the Zeek Rewards scheme before its 2012 shutdown by the SEC.

    Prior to Monday, the Colorado Division was unfamiliar with UFunClub, said Lillian Alves, Colorado’s Deputy Securities Commissioner.

    Some UFunClub promoters have claimed that Jamison Palmer, a purported UFunClub “VIP,” moved from Colorado to Asia to promote the “program” and a companion digital currency known as “UToken.”

    Palmer, according to posts attributed to him online, has claimed UToken is the “future” of digital currency. He further has claimed the United States is using the “dollar” and its “banking system” to “blackmail the rest of the world.”

    Palmer’s full name is Michael Jamison Palmer. He is associated with several Colorado businesses and has used a Colorado Area Code and  addresses in Centennial, Broomfield and Superior. He has not been accused of wrongdoing.

    These Palmer businesses include Max Response LLC, Red Spider Media LLC, Insider Secrets Club LLC, MasculineLife, a magazine for men, and Woman’sLife, a magazine for women.

    On April 19, the PP Blog reported that an individual who spoke on an April 14 conference call for a “program” known as SVM Global Initiative made a veiled reference to UFunClub during the SVM call. The person identified himself as “Nelson” and said he was calling from “Saskatchewan, Canada.”

    Before getting off the SVM line, “Nelson” described the United States as “the Republic of the United States of America.” It is a term associated with “sovereign citizens.”

    SVM operator Sheila V. Tabarsi has claimed she is under investigation by the FBI. She also has claimed the “Bush administration” had the aim of shutting out 99 percent of the world population from wealth flows.

    Tabarsi conducted another SVM call on April 20.

    During this call, she claimed to be a “professional intuitive” — a fancy name for a psychic.

    She also repeatedly dropped the name of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, and also the name of Ruth Hassell-Thompson, a state Senator who represents the Bronx in New York.

    SVM may operate in part from the Bronx and Manhattan.

    During her business career, Tabarsi said, she became “one removed” from Kerry, and “John Kerry was helping with, you know, with whatever my needs were as I was in the process of developing this further . . . That’s Secretary of State John Kerry.”

    It is not unusual for MLMers/network-marketers to drop the names of famous people or members of the government as a means of creating a veneer of legitimacy for a scheme. (As just one example, Zeek Rewards clawback defendant T. LeMont Silver, in a 2014 promo for a Bitcoin-themed scheme known as BitClub Network,  dropped the names of California Gov. Jerry Brown, “China’s Central Bank Governor” and Gerogy Luntovsky, “deputy chairman of the bank of Russia.”)

    At one point, Tabarsi referred to Kerry as just plain “John,” almost as though she could pick up the phone and get him on the line with no trouble at all.

    Tabarsi further contended that she had the ability to read minds over the Internet, perhaps particularly the minds of SVM critics who’ve raised questions about the “program” on Blogs such as BehindMLM.com, which covers emerging MLM schemes.

    “I used my own abilities as an empath and a telepath to read their body and read their feelings and read their minds and hear what they’re really thinking behind what they’re saying,” she claimed.

  • COLORADO: ‘Achieve Community’ Subject Of ‘Order To Show Cause’

    Achieve Community logo of alleged pyramid and Ponzi schemeUPDATED 6:17 A.M. EDT APRIL 21 U.S.A. The Colorado Division of Securities has directed an “Order to Show Cause” to “Achieve Community,” alleged in February 2015 by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to be a combined Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that gathered at least $3.8 million.

    Colorado’s order cites a “Division Case No.” of “XY 15-CD-08.” This may mean the Division has filed a crease-and-desist order against Achieve. Details were not immediately clear, but a hearing was scheduled for April 17.

    “We do expect to issue orders in Achieve community this week,” said Lillian Alves, Colorado’s Deputy Securities Commissioner.

    And, she noted, “We plan on doing a statement later this week.”

    Based on information on Colorado’s website, the Show Cause order applies to “The Achieve Community; Achieve International, LLC; Work with Troy Barnes, Inc.; Kristine Johnson ( Also known as Kristi Johnson).”

    Johnson, of Colorado, and Barnes, of Michigan, were the alleged operators of Achieve Community.

    Achieve was known to be under investigation by the Division, Colorado’s state-level securities regulator. On Feb. 18, the Division said that “[t]he factual basis of our investigation parallels that of the SEC case.”

    The SEC complaint described Achieve Community as a “pure Ponzi and pyramid scheme” whose revenue “has consisted entirely of investor-contributed funds.”

    Achieve International, an entity named a relief defendant in the SEC’s case, has been tied by the SEC to Johnson. At noted above, Achieve International likewise is cited in Colorado’s state-level proceeding.

    The action at the state level shows that scams using an MLM or network-marketing business model also may face local trouble — in addition to the trouble they encounter through actions filed by federal agencies such as the SEC.

    Some Achieve Community promoters pushed multiple HYIP schemes simultaneously. Some of them, including “Bring The Bacon Home” and “Trinity Lines,” appear already to have gone belly-up. RockFeller.biz, also pushed by some Achieve Community hucksters, may be experiencing payout delays, a source told the PP Blog last week.

    Payout delays typically are a sign of doom in the HYIP sphere.

    Americans and other peoples of the world who push HYIP schemes may be helping criminal networks gain size — and therefore the ability to steal larger and larger sums of money.

    Some Americans are known to have pushed “UFunClub,” a scheme now under investigation in Thailand. Arrests have been made overseas in the UFunClub case, and the dollar volume involved may be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

    The PP Blog reported yesterday that a veiled reference to UFunClub was made last week in a conference call for a “program” known as “SVM Global Initiative.” This may suggest the two cross-border “programs” have promoters in common.

    Some of the language on the SVM call was reminiscent of language used by “sovereign citizens,” groups of individuals that — though perhaps loosely connected — may push scams and engage in antigovernment extremism.

     

     

     

  • URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: SEC Charges ‘Achieve Community,’ Troy Barnes, Kristi Johnson; Federal Judge Approves Asset Freeze

    achievecomplaintURGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (17th update 3:07 p.m. ET U.S.A.) The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged “Achieve Community” (as Work With Troy Barnes Inc.) and alleged operators Troy A. Barnes and Kristine L. Johnson with operating a combined pyramid- and Ponzi scheme that raised more than $3.8 million. A federal judge in Colorado has ordered an asset freeze and granted a temporary restraining order.

    “Johnson and Barnes allegedly claim to be operating a successful investment program when in fact they are taking funds from new investors to pay phony profits to earlier investors,” said Julie Lutz, director of the SEC’s Denver Regional Office.

    Achieve’s internal structure is part of the probe.

    “Johnson is one of the two founders of TAC, and handles the majority of TAC’s finances,” the SEC charged. “Johnson is an authorized agent of WWTB and has acted as the sole signatory on at least three bank accounts that she opened in the name of WWTB.”

    Meanwhile, the Colorado Division of Securities confirmed minutes ago that it was working with the SEC on the Achieve probe.

    “We continue to have our own open investigation regarding possible violations of the Colorado Securities Act,” said Lillian Alves, Colorado’s Deputy Securities Commissioner. “The factual basis of our investigation parallels that of the SEC case.”

    In a 17-page complaint that was filed under seal on Feb. 12, the SEC described the Achieve Community as a “pure Ponzi and pyramid scheme” whose revenue “has consisted entirely of investor-contributed funds.”

    “Johnson and Barnes have made no effort to generate profits from any legitimate business operations from which they could repay earlier investors,” the SEC charged. “Instead, the sole source of repayments to earlier investors is funds contributed by newer investors.”

    The Feb. 12 filing date likely means that Achieve still was trying to raise money even as the SEC was in court to request an emergency asset freeze. On Feb. 12, a Barnes-narrated video appeared on YouTube. The 11:06 video was titled “Thursday Update 2 12.” The video provided Achieve members instructions on how to register for a purported new payment processor.

    By Feb. 14, Achieve members were quoting a forum post attributed to Barnes that Achieve’s assets had been frozen. Whether a criminal probe is under way is unclear.

    Barnes is 52. He resides in Riverview, Mich., according to the complaint. Johnson, known as “Kristi,” is 60. She resides in Aurora, Colo.

    Johnson also is associated with an entity known as “Achieve International LLC,” which has been named a relief defendant as an alleged recipient of funds from the fraud.

    “Johnson formed Achieve International as a Colorado entity, is an authorized agent of Achieve International, and, on information and belief, is the sole member, and managing member, of Achieve International,” the SEC said. “Johnson has acted as the sole signatory on at least one bank account that she opened in the name of Achieve International. Johnson is a former registered representative, and was last associated with a registered entity in 1996.”

    Some Achieve members have described Johnson as a “former stockbroker.” The SEC’s allegation that she is a former registered representative may be particularly problematic for her, leading to troubling questions about whether she simply ignored the very real possibility that the SEC would do exactly what it did: charge her with securities fraud and allege she and Barnes made “material misrepresentations and omissions” about the nature of Achieve.

    The SEC accuses both Johnson and Barnes of misappropriating funds sent in by Achieve investors.

    From the complaint (italics added/light editing performed):

    In addition to making Ponzi payments to investors, Defendants have misappropriated investor funds for Johnson and Barnes’ own personal use.

    On more than a dozen occasions, Johnson made significant cash withdrawals or wrote checks to “Cash” from the WWTB and Achieve International accounts, and made corresponding cash payments to her personal accounts.

    Johnson used these investor funds to pay her personal expenses, including paying nearly $35,000 in cash for a new car, and making personal credit card payments.

    To date, Johnson has misappropriated at least $150,000 in investor funds.

    Similarly, Barnes has misappropriated investor funds. Using thirteen separate transfers reflected on WWTB bank statements as “Visa Paypal *Troy Barnes,” Johnson transferred approximately $40,000 to Barnes.

    The seal on the complaint was lifted yesterday afternoon in Colorado federal court. Achieve’s websites went offline yesterday. Whether the outage was related to the TRO was not immediately clear.

    What is clear is that the SEC wasn’t impressed by Achieve’s claims that a “triple algorithm” somehow made a 700-percent ROI possible. It’s also clear that the SEC spent plenty of time listening to and transcribing recordings used to sell the scheme.

    Johnson said this in a conference-call pitch, the SEC alleged: “I thought, what can I do, what can I make, what can I design, that has only what works and none of what doesn’t, and one day, honestly this is what happened, I just saw it. I just saw it in my head. This matrix is 3D, which is why we can’t put it on paper. It’s a triple algorithm. And I can’t for the life of me tell you why I could figure that out in my head. But I could.”

    Barnes claimed he hired a programmer “who spent three months perfecting the ‘triple algorithm’ investment formula,” the SEC said.

    The trouble, the agency said, was that Achieve had “no legitimate business operations; the only available funds to pay the promised investment returns come from new investors lured into the scheme.”

    With their “triple algorithm” cover story, Johnson and Barnes went on to fleece Achieve members, the SEC said.

    “In a short video on TAC’s website, again narrated by Johnson, Johnson encourages investors to repurchase new ‘positions’ with their investment returns rather than taking money out of TAC,” the SEC alleged. “Johnson explains that by purchasing one $50 ‘position,’ and then using the $400 investment return to repurchase 8 positions, the investor would earn $3,200. Johnson goes on to explain that, if the investor used the repurchase strategy again, she would then have 64 positions worth more than $25,000. Johnson states that this strategy will ‘give you the same income over and over again, forever.’”

    She was hardly alone, the SEC charged.

    “Barnes makes similar statements about TAC’s ‘Re-Purchase’ strategy,” the agency alleged. “For example, in a video posted online touting TAC, Barnes states that investors can repurchase more ‘positions’ to make more money. In another online video, Barnes claims that, with the ‘Re-Purchase’ strategy, it is ‘very easy to make six figures.’”

    The SEC said its investigation was ongoing. Johnson is the only person alleged in the Feb. 12 complaint to have hauled $100,000 or more out of Achieve.

    Johnson and Barnes are charged with securities fraud. And despite claims online that Achieve wasn’t selling an investment or a security and therefore the SEC would have little or nothing to say on the matter, the filing of the complaint shows those claims were a crock.

    Achieve’s “positions” are “securities under federal law,” the agency charged.

    U.S. District Judge Robert E. Blackburn granted the TRO and asset freeze.

    The SEC is seeking an order “that each of the Defendants and the Relief Defendant disgorge any and all ill-gotten gains, together with pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, derived from the activities set forth in this Complaint.”

    At the same time, the agency is seeking “civil money penalties.”

    Achieve had a presence on well-known Ponzi-scheme forums such as MoneyMakerGroup and TalkGold. Some Achieve promoters created YouTube videos and have moved to other Ponzi-board scams.

    Here is a link to the SEC’s statement on Achieve and complaint. The agency also posted a Twitter link (below).

  • ‘Achieve Community’ Websites Inaccessible

    From a promo for Achieve Community on YouTube.
    From a promo for Achieve Community on YouTube.

    UPDATED 12:20 P.M. ET U.S.A. Two websites associated with the “Achieve Community” — ReadyToAchieve.com and TheAchieveCommunity.com — are inaccessible this morning.

    Achieve Community is under investigation by the Colorado Division of Securities.

    The PP Blog asked the Division this morning if it was aware of the outage and whether the inaccessibility of the sites had anything to do with the investigation.

    “I cannot comment further at this time,” said Lillian Alves, Colorado’s Deputy Securities Commissioner.

    Reports surfaced yesterday on a Facebook site known as the “NonOfficialAchieveCommunity” that Achieve had shut down its own private forum and that a page linked to a purported new payment processor for Achieve was carrying a “server maintenance” message.

    The maintenance message continues to appear today.

    Some Achievers have condemned the NonOfficialAchieveCommunity Facebook site, which also is known as “the Sheepdog” and does not echo the company line. In recent days, one poster made the preposterous assertion that the Sheepdog was responsible for ruining 10,000 lives and could be held financially liable by Achievers.

    Achieve purportedly is operated by Kristi Johnson of Colorado and Troy Barnes of Michigan.  The “program,” backed by hucksters such as Rodney Blackburn, reportedly has not made payouts for nearly three months after encountering trouble with payment processors.

    Blackburn is pushing multiple “programs” with a presence on well-known Ponzi-scheme forums — and even camped out on the website of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to record a promo.

    The SEC last month declined to comment on Blackburn’s commercial.

     

     

  • URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Colorado Division of Securities Confirms ‘Achieve Community’ Investigation

    breakingnews72URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (5th Update 5:35 p.m. ET U.S.A.) The “Achieve Community” money-cycling scheme is under investigation in Colorado.

    “We do have an open investigation,” said Lillian Alves, Colorado’s Deputy Securities Commissioner.

    It is the first official public confirmation that Achieve Community, a Ponzi-board program that claims to turn $50 into $400, is under investigation in the United States. In Colorado, the Division of Securities operates as part of the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA).

    In a story earlier today, BehindMLM.com reported that Colorado appeared to be setting the stage to open a probe. Alves confirmed the investigation to the PP Blog at 4:23 p.m. today.

    For the time being, she said, Colorado would not provide additional details. In January 2014, Colorado issued a cease-and-desist order against the WCM777 “program” operated by Ming Xu. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission later accused Xu of orchestrating a massive fraud scheme.

    Achieve Community purportedly is operated by Kristi Johnson of the Denver area and Troy Barnes of the Detroit area.

    At least one Achieve Community promoter recorded an ad for Achieve and two other Ponzi-board “programs.” The ad included footage from the SEC’s website. The SEC declined Jan. 12 to comment on the ad, which implied Achieve would have no trouble with securities issues.

    Colorado officially confirmed a securities investigation 10 days later.

    Visit the complaint area of the Colorado Division of Securities website.