MegaLido

UPDATED 7:11 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) When U.S. District Judge James Rosenbaum sentenced Ponzi schemer Trevor Cook to a quarter of a century in federal prison earlier this week, the judge used some powerful words to describe Cook’s colossal fraud. Rosenbaum described the scheme that bilked investors out of at least $158 million as “wretched, tawdry […]

EDITOR’S NOTE: The PP Blog has covered a number of stories in which U.S. residents living overseas were extradited to the United States to face Ponzi charges. The case against Ronald Paul Shade is another one — and it’s one that demonstrates that an extradition can occur even if a defendant is not charged with […]

EDITOR’S NOTE: We were researching an unrelated matter last night, and came across this gem (outlined below). In 2008, a number of autosurfs that became popular in the aftermath of the seizure of tens of millions of dollars from the personal bank accounts of AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin tanked just prior to Christmas. One of […]

Has the Golden Panda Ad Zone forum, which was renamed the Online Success Zone after federal agents seized tens of millions of dollars from AdSurfDaily and Golden Panda Ad Builder in 2008, followed the Pro-AdSurfDaily Surf’s Up forum into the dust? The website URL — http://goldenpandaadzone.ning.com — now is returning the same error message Surf’s […]

UPDATED 11:57 A.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Federal prosecutors have won the second forfeiture case against assets tied to Florida-based AdSurfDaily, meaning the government now holds title to 100 percent of the money and assets seized in the autosurf Ponzi scheme, wire fraud and money-laundering investigation. U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer issued a final order of forfeiture […]

UPDATED 2:46 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) And to think a cheerleader for AdSurfDaily once boasted online that Megalido was “offshore” and therefore safe from government meddling, after earlier suggesting that ASD members who did not support the company after Ponzi allegations surfaced perhaps would get dragged off in handcuffs while supporters remained free. To further chill […]

EDITOR’S NOTE: This list summarizes several programs pushed by members of AdSurfDaily, a Florida company implicated in an alleged $100 million Ponzi scheme. In some cases, the programs were pushed prior to the seizure by the U.S. Secret Service in August 2008 of 15 bank accounts linked to ASD or Golden Panda Ad Builder, one […]

You’ve seen the ads or heard the pitches trying to persuade you to put money in “offshore” ventures such as the AdViewGlobal, AdGateWorld and MegaLido autosurfs. You’ve been told they were safe. You’ve been told the people who run them are out of the reach of U.S. securities regulators and law-enforcement agencies. And you’ve been […]

Upstart surfing company Paperless Access “was not accurately presented” to Andy Bowdoin, who made the decision to ask the company to remove a video that starred Bowdoin, a Mod at the Pro-ASD Surf’s Up forum reported tonight. The Mod said Paperless Access had been banned as a topic for forum discussion, advising members that, if […]

Ning.com sites by David Courtney that promoted autosurfs have been taken offline without explanation. It is unclear if the removal is permanent, but sites for MegaLido, AdGateWorld and BizAdSplash went offline last night and remain offline this morning. “This social network has been taken offline by its owner,” each site said. “It’s likely that the […]

By coincidence the words appear in the 13th paragraph of a Chicago Tribune story invoking investors’ sustained lack of luck and reporting on a new series of Ponzi schemes the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating. The words were spoken by Gregory Mocek, former CFTC enforcement director, and are the most important words spoken […]