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Tag: P2P

Did MPB Today Have Predecessor Company Known As ‘MyPremierBiz’ In 2009? Wellness, ‘Apps’ Programs Pitched From Ponzi Boards Last Year Prior To Birth Of ‘Grocery’ MLM

A website known as MyPremierBiz.com was hyped on Ponzi boards last year and videos were produced to drive traffic to a confusing “opportunity” that included both a straight-line and a 2×2 matrix cycler and a hard-to-decipher sales and compensation program. Affiliate links were created for the program, which was purported on the MoneyMakerGroup forum to…

Oct 19, 2010
KABOOM! Feds Release Info On ‘Alpha Trade Group’ Forex Scheme With Ties To Mexico, Panama; Records Suggest Scheme Was Collapsing Even Prior To Promos On TalkGold, MoneyMakerGroup Forums

Yet another HYIP scheme pushed on the TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup forums has been outlined by federal prosecutors — this time in Florida. The name of the scheme was Alpha Trade Group (ATG), and web records show that the scheme was pitched on TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup beginning on Oct. 7, 2009. Court records, meanwhile, show that…

Aug 23, 2010
Judge Extends Asset Freeze In Matt Gagnon Fraud Case; Issues Order To Preserve Evidence And Require Weekly Financial Report To SEC

A federal judge has extended the freeze on the assets of a website operator accused by the SEC of shilling for a Ponzi schemer and then trying to extort money from the schemer when the fraud was collapsing. Severe restrictions placed on Mazu.com operator Matt Gagnon by U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh of the…

Aug 2, 2010
MYTH-SHATTERING CASE: Local Prosecutors Extradite Ronald Paul Shade From Thailand To Face Real-Estate Ponzi Charges; Shade Also Accused Of ‘Financial Elder Abuse’

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…

Jul 21, 2010
SCAMMER’S GAMBLE BACKFIRES: Fraudster Who Chilled Customer With Lawsuit Threat Pleads Guilty To Mail Fraud; Philip Pestrichello Faces Up To 20 Years In Prison After Plea In ‘Work-At-Home’ Caper

UPDATED 4:51 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) A convicted felon who emerged from prison and almost immediately launched a $1 million fraud scheme known as PPSN threatened to prosecute and sue a consumer who had filed an online complaint, federal prosecutors said. Although the threat caused the consumer to withdraw the complaint against Philip Pestrichello, Pestrichello’s bid…

Jul 19, 2010
GO FINRA! Regulator Tackles Online HYIPs; Issues Warning On ‘Social Media-Linked Ponzi Schemes’; References P2P, Genius Funds, ‘Con Artists’ And ‘Bizarre Substratum’ Of Internet

EDITOR’S NOTE: It has become increasingly clear that regulators and the law-enforcement community are rallying around a common theme that web-based promoters are using discussion forums and social-networking sites in bids to sanitize HYIP Ponzi schemes by positioning them as attractive investment opportunities and even a thrilling form of gambling that pays commissions. Today the…

Jul 15, 2010
WebsiteTester.Biz Pitched On Reborn GoldenPandaAdZone Forum, Plus MoneyMakerGroup, TalkGold And Other Ponzi Havens

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story originally was published June 30. The PP Blog later encountered a database problem, which caused the site to go down and resulted in the temporary loss of some data. The data now has been retrieved. This story is about a new site known as â€œWebsiteTester.biz,â€ but some background is in order.…

Jul 1, 2010
Pathway To Prosperity Case A Subject Of Discussion In Washington’s Highest Power Corridors; Website Of U.S. Attorney General Includes Link To Case Info As Part Of ‘Mass-Marketing Fraud’ Educational Campaign

In November 2009, President Obama formed the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF). By January, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who answers to Obama,Â publicly warned fraudsters that “if you propagate an investment scheme, if you are complicit in an act of financial fraud, you are writing your ticket to jail.” It now turns…

Jun 2, 2010
Real HYIP Expert Says ‘Notion Of Secrecy’ In Commercial Fraud Meant To Discourage Reports To Law Enforcement; James Byrne Consulted With Government Before P2P Ponzi Case Was Filed

EDITOR’S NOTE: Here is the declaration of James E. Byrne, an expert with whom the government consulted in the Nicholas Smirnow/Pathway To Prosperity Ponzi scheme case. It is a remarkable read — one that provides a free education from an expert who has consulted with the FBI and Scotland Yard, among other prominent law-enforcement organizations.…

Jun 1, 2010
BULLETIN: United States Seeks To Extradite Pathway To Prosperity’s Nick Smirnow From Philippines

The U.S. government “shortly” will request the government of the Philippines to extradite accused HYIP Ponzi schemer Nicholas Smirnow to the United States to face charges of mail fraud (three counts), wire fraud (four counts), securities fraud (one count) and conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering, federal prosecutors said.…

Jun 1, 2010
KABOOM! Affidavit In Pathway To Prosperity Case Paints Picture Of Wanton Criminality; Complaint References TalkGold, ASAMonitor, MoneyMakerGroup Posts; United States Throws Down Gauntlet

Federal prosecutors serving under U.S. Attorney A. Courtney Cox of the Southern District of Illinois have thrown down the gauntlet, declaring that “[a] large percentage, if not all, HYIPs, are Ponzi schemes.” In a criminal complaint and accompanying affidavit that only can be described as remarkable, prosecutors and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said the…

May 31, 2010