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Tag: Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette

‘Pay It Forward’ Gifting Scheme Leads To Felony Racketeering Charge, Sparks Child-Porn Probe In Michigan

As the PP Blog reported more than six years ago, Pay It Forward (PIF) “programs” have a noxious history in HYIP and cash-gifting Scamland. A new case in Michigan, however, may be off-the-charts in terms of noxiousness. That’s because investigators looking into a PIF scheme there found child pornography on the alleged PIF operator’s computer,…

Apr 12, 2016
Will Joel Wilson’s Racketeering Conviction In Michigan Ponzi-Scheme Case Send A Message To Apologists For Achieve Community? Saleswoman Also Convicted

There is no good state in which to run a Ponzi scheme, but Michigan and Colorado — the states in which “Achieve Community” operated — are two of the worst. This is because both states have racketeering statutes that have been used in Ponzi-scheme cases. The case of Joel Wilson, convicted yesterday in Michigan on…

Mar 6, 2015
Post Attributed To Troy Barnes In ‘Achieve Community’ Private Forum Claims ‘Achieve Assets Have Been Frozen’

UPDATED 4:36 A.M. ET FEB. 16 U.S.A. “Achieve Community” members this evening are circulating on Facebook a screen shot from a forum post attributed to Michigan-based co-founder Troy Barnes that claims “Achieve’s assets have been frozen.” Members say the post appeared earlier today in Achieve’s recently installed private forum. “I am facing criminal charges,” the…

Feb 14, 2015
BULLETIN: Michigan Woman Charged With Hindering Ponzi Probe; Husband Charged With Racketeering

BULLETIN: A Michigan woman who allegedly hindered an investigation into her on-the-lam husband’s Ponzi scheme has been charged with lying to a police officer during the investigation of a crime, a felony under state law. M. Viktoria Wilson, 24, of Saginaw, was arrested yesterday by Saginaw Valley State University Police, the office of Michigan Attorney…

Mar 14, 2013
BULLETIN: 2 Michigan Men Arrested In Alleged Ponzi Scheme Targeting Senior Citizens; Jeffrey Ripley, Danny Lee VanLiere Charged With Racketeering, Jailed; 96 Felony Counts Filed Against Men And Their Company

BULLETIN: A joint investigation by offices of Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette and Commissioner Kevin Clinton of the Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation has led to criminal charges of racketeering against two men accused of targeting the elderly in a $9 million Ponzi scheme. Charged in the alleged caper were Jeffrey Ripley, 59, of…

Mar 14, 2012