BULLETIN: (3rd Update 4:16 p.m. ET U.S.) Profitable Sunrise HYIP figures Nancy Jo Frazer and Albert Rosebrock have admitted they sold securities, the state of Ohio said.
As part of a settlement agreement with prosecutors, a charitable enterprise known as Defining Vision Ministries Inc. (formerly known as Focus Up Ministries Inc.) will be dissolved, with its assets turned over to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office “to be used for charitable purposes,” the office of Attorney General Mike DeWine said.
Frazer and Rosebrock further agreed “not to hold a position with a charitable organization and not to sell securities in Ohio,” DeWine’s office said.
If the terms of an injunction are violated, Frazer and Rosebrock “will be subject to a judgment in the amount of $710,000,” DeWine’s office said.
“The Ohio Attorney General’s Office is charged with ensuring that charitable funds are used as intended,” DeWine said. “Under this settlement, these individuals agree to dissolve their charity, to cease all charitable activities in Ohio, and to stay out of the securities business in Ohio. We believe this is a fair resolution to a case that underscores the importance of researching charities and being skeptical of claims that are too good to be true.”
Ohio, through DeWine’s office and the Ohio Department of Commerce’s Division of Securities, charged Frazer and Rosebrock civilly in July 2013.
News broke last week that a settlement agreement had been reached, but details were not immediately available. The Division of Securities said today that the injunction was entered yesterday in Williams County, Ohio, and that “Frazer and Rosebrock admitted they sold securities in a manner that violated the Ohio Securities Act.”
“Through the hard work and teamwork of the Division of Securities enforcement staff and the Ohio Attorney General’s office, we were able to prevent any more Ohioans from falling victim to this scheme,” said Ohio Division of Securities Commissioner Andrea Seidt. “We would encourage any potential investors in Ohio to call the Division’s Investor Protection hotline before they invest.”
Profitable Sunrise purportedly was operated by “Roman Novak” and used a mail drop in England, the SEC said in 2013. The “program” purported to pay up to 2.7 percent a day.
Frazer also is known as Nanci Jo Frazer.
From a statement by the Ohio Division of Securities today (italics added):
Profitable Sunrise was prohibited from the further sale of securities by a federal court in Georgia inApril, 2013. Profitable Sunrise operated as a pyramid scheme by paying investors referral bonuses upto 5 percent for any new investors who invested funds through the website. The website offered ratesof return between 1.6 percent and 2.7 percent compounded daily. Thousands of investors nationwide invested in Profitable Sunrise through local solicitors like Frazer and Rosebrock.
The Ohio Division of Securities would like to hear from anyone who may have been affected by this scheme who have not yet come forward. They can call the Division’s Investor Protection Hotline at (877) 683-7841.
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (Fourth update 9:10 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) In court papers, the state of Ohio has called Nanci Jo Frazer’s Focus Up Ministries a “front” for the Profitable Sunrise HYIP scheme and alleges that Focus Up changed its name to Defining Vision Ministries Inc. in June 2013 — two months after the SEC brought the Profitable Sunrise fraud action in federal court in Atlanta.
Records suggest Nanci Jo Frazer also is known as Nancy Jo Frazer. The Ohio court documents list the “Nancy” spelling. Other documents list the “Nanci” spelling.
A judge in Williams County, Ohio, has ordered Frazer, Focus Up and other entities associated with Frazer to “[i]mmediately cease all activities on behalf of any charitable organization/trust in the state of Ohio,” to preserve assets and to return assets that already may have been dissipated.
The judge also ordered Frazer and others to cease selling unregistered securities. Meanwhile, the judge ordered three Ohio banks to take eight accounts linked to Frazer and others into “actual and/or constructive possession.” Frazer resides in Bryan, Ohio.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Commerce said today that the state has brought civil fraud charges against Frazer, Focus Up, Defining Vision and others. Documents say the state believes Frazer was a pitchwoman for the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme and other “programs,” including Zeek Rewards and Profit Clicking.
“This case involves a worldwide pyramid scheme that defrauded Ohioans and others out of millions of dollars,” DeWine said. “These individuals brought the scheme to Ohio by promising outrageous returns and telling investors that their donations and investments would help charities. We will continue to work closely with the Department of Commerce to hold the defendants accountable for their actions.”
Also charged were David Frazer, Frazer’s husband, and Albert Rosebrock, a member of Frazer’s NJF Global Group. Rosebrock also was alleged by Ohio to be an AdSurfDaily and Zeek affiliate.
Purported Profitable Sunrise operator “Roman Novak” is called “John Doe” in Ohio’s complaint, leading to continuing questions about whether “Novak” actually exists. In April, the SEC said that Profitable Sunrise pitchmen may not even have known with whom they were doing business. Profitable Sunrise purported to pay up to 2.7 percent interest a day. The SEC said it was using a “mail drop” in England and offshore bank accounts potentially to scam tens of millions of dollars.
Frazer’s group may have driven $30 million to the scam, according to court files.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that Rosebrock is blaming the SEC for the collapse of Profitable Sunrise.
Profitable Sunrise is an international pyramid scheme recently shut down by federal and international authorities. Profitable Sunrise claimed to be a Christian company that would use investment proceeds to help charities and provide investors with large returns. According to the state’s complaint, the Frazers, of Bryan, and Rosebrock, of Sherwood, used Focus Up Ministries’ status as a charity to solicit donations and investments into Profitable Sunrise. They also claimed that invested funds would compound at 1.6 to 2.7 percent daily, growing at annual rates of 5,000 to more than 75,000 percent. The complaint also alleges that the defendants used funds donated to Focus Up Ministries for personal expenses and other unlawful purposes. These included financing for personal business ventures, the purchase of a big screen television, no-interest personal loans, and compensation for agents who solicited on behalf of the Profitable Sunrise pyramid scheme. The complaint contains counts of misrepresentation, deceptive acts and practices, conversion, falsification, securities fraud, and unlicensed sale of securities, among other violations.
The SEC has described Zeek Rewards as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid fraud. AdSurfDaily was a $119 million Ponzi scheme, according to the U.S. Secret Service. Meanwhile, ProfitClicking is a “program” linked to Frederick Mann, the purported operator of JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid, which has come under regulatory scrutiny in Italy and the Philippines.
If Frazer was a pitchwoman for ASD, Zeek and ProfitClicking/JSS/JBP, it would mean she was pushing Profitable Sunrise after various well-publicized regulatory or law-enforcement actions against those “programs,” which purported to pay interest of between 1 percent and 2 percent a day. (ASD = 1 percent/day; Zeek = 1.5 percent/day; ProfitClicking/JSS/JBP = 2 percent/day.)
Beyond that, it would mean Frazer pushed the purported 2.7 percent a day Profitable Sunrise “Long Haul” plan, even though agencies filed various actions against the “lower-paying” programs with which she allegedly was involved previously.
Some HYIP promoters move from one fraud scheme to another, while engaging in willful blindness. ASD is known to have had ties to the “sovereign citizens” movement. Mann, of ProfitClicking/JSS/JBP, once used a website to drive traffic to videos featuring Francis Schaeffer Cox, a purported “sovereign citizen” and “militia” man implicated in a murder plot against public officials in Alaska.
This disturbing ad for Profitable Sunrise is targeted at residents of South Dakota.
UPDATED 8:52 A.M. EDT (APRIL 16, U.S.A.) See related stories here (April 1) and here (March 25).
EDITOR’S NOTE: These numbers are unofficial. They are culled from media reports and/or news releases from enforcement agencies. As the PP Blog reported yesterday, the Profitable Sunrise website appears to be down. The reason why is unclear, although there are Ponzi-forum reports that the “opportunity” is switching servers, perhaps to Hong Kong.
For background, consider that the Zeek Rewards “program” operating in North Carolina until the SEC filed a Ponzi action last year allegedly planted the seed that it provided a return of about 1.5 percent a day. The bizarrely named “Long Haul” plan of Profitable Sunrise — with its purported Easter payout — purported to pay 2.7 percent a day. Indeed, the HYIP Ponzi universe has served up another doozy. Some of the Stepfordian promoters appear to have no concern at all that such “programs” undermine faith in legitimate markets and raise serious concerns about both national and international security. As noted below, HYIP “programs” are known to trade on themes of religion, patriotism and doing what’s best for a community. Despite all the fluff, the reality is that the “programs” are dangerous. Period.
Current count of state/provincial actions or investor alerts against Profitable Sunrise: 20. (Now 35, with March 15 additions of South Carolina, Alaska, Maryland, Maine, the March 18 addition of New Jersey, the March 19 additions of Louisiana and Tennessee, the March 21 additions of Oregon and Missouri, the March 25 addition of New Hampshire and the March 28 addition of West Virginia. The District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.) issued a warning on March 19. It was added to this list on March 27. Georgia issued a cease-and-desist order on March 14. It was added to this list on March 27. Idaho issued an Investor Alert on April 15. It was added to this list on April 16. Manitoba, in Canada, issued an alert on March 15. It was added to this list on March 21.)
In Canada: New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba.
In the United States: Kentucky, Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin, Nevada, Minnesota, California, Indiana, New Mexico, Texas, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alaska, Maryland, Maine, New Jersey, Louisiana, Tennessee, Oregon, Missouri, New Hampshire, District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.), Georgia, West Virginia, Idaho.
Regulators in New Zealand (FMA) and the United Kingdom (FSA) also have issued warnings against Profitable Sunrise.
Here’s a sampling of what securities officials are saying:
From the office of David Goodman, director of the Ohio Department of Commerce (italics/bolding added):
The Division is concerned that these businesses could be targeting religious-based organizations. The company’s website includes Bible quotations and options for donating investment returns to charity. The website also describes various investment plans that claim to offer returns between 288% and 648% for investment periods between 180 days and 240 days. The website claims the investments are “risk-free” with “no chance of default” and provides short-term business loans in the United States.
The website also includes apparent traits of a pyramid scheme. It provides details about a “referral program” where individuals can become regional representatives for an investment group. The regional representatives are offered five percent commissions from those who join the referral program under that representative’s name.
From the Florida Office of Financial Regulation (OFR):
To attract interest in its investment offerings, Profitable Sunrise and its sub-companies may be attempting to exploit investors’ religious affinities. The organization is believed to be engaged in a marketing campaign which makes conspicuous use of biblical quotations.
From the Division of Securities at the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (DFI):
Investors in other states were informed that their money would be used to fund short-term loans to businesses and that “all funds deposited with (Profitable Sunrise) are insured against loss” by a leading investment bank. Investors were instructed to wire money to financial institutions in Eastern Europe, including one bank that was located in the Czech Republic.
From the office of Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller:
Securities officials are also concerned that the company is using a related website for the “Profitable Sunrise Team” to entice people to bring in additional investors for a commission. Secretary Miller cautions Nevada residents that “investment products must be registered or exempt from registration to be sold in Nevada, and generally those selling an investment must be licensed.”
There have also been reports that Profitable Sunrise has directed investors to wire transfer funds to a bank in the Czech Republic. Secretary Miller warns investors that it can be extremely difficult for an investor to recoup funds invested through banks in foreign countries.
From the New Brunswick Securities Commission:
Investors are warned not to send money to an offshore company called Profitable Sunrise, an entity that claims to provide high-yield investments through short-term bridge loans to businesses. The New Brunswick Securities Commission is issuing this warning following similar warnings by several Canadian and American securities regulators.
From the office of Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson. (Editor’s note: Indiana officials are describing some of the Profitable Sunrise talking points used to disarm skeptical investors. Scams often trade on patriotic themes and claims that investors are helping drive the economy. The AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme (and many others) have used similar talking points):
Profitable Sunrise founder, Roman Novak, states that the investment model is based on providing short-term loans to small businesses throughout the United States. Profitable Sunrise makes investments attractive by not only touting risk-free, high returns but also by stating that by helping these United States companies, investors are also helping revitalize the national economy and create more desperately needed jobs in the United States.
From the office of Minnesota Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman:
Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman ordered Profitable Sunrise and its operators, Roman Novak and Radoslav Novak, and Minnesotans William Nilsson (a/k/a Chad Nilsson) and Casey Dorian, today to cease and desist from selling securities in the State of Minnesota.
The Minnesota Department of Commerce, in conjunction with 19 jurisdictions throughout the United States and Canada, took coordinated action against Profitable Sunrise, an international entity allegedly operating an internet scheme to defraud investors. The Commerce Department’s investigation found that two individuals in Minnesota, Chad Nilsson and Casey Dorian, were allegedly participating in the investment scheme, currently soliciting investors but are not licensed to sell securities in the state.
(Editor’s Note: When the SEC moved in August against the alleged $600 million Zeek Rewards Ponzi- and pyramid scheme, the state of North Carolina warned about “reload scams.” Chad Nilsson may not have gotten the message, something that’s not unusual in the world of MLM. From WhoIsChadNilsson.com: “Of course we are all waiting patiently for our Zeekler Refunds, but now, in the meanwhile, there is a company out that is better than Zeek Rewards every [sic] was! A six year old company has just launched a new program that is even better. They are paying 2.15 percent daily and you can pull your profit out every day if you want, right from day one. If you were to put $200.00 into this new program, in 170 business days, your money would have grown to $7500.00!)
See this story/comments thread for more info on actions/alerts against Profitable Sunrise.
BULLETIN: (3rd Update 4:16 p.m. ET U.S.) Profitable Sunrise HYIP figures Nancy Jo Frazer and Albert Rosebrock have admitted they sold securities, the state of Ohio said.
