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Tag: Palm Beach County Convention Center

  • PHOTO EDITORIAL: The MPBToday Flap: Affiliates Target Food Stamp Recipients, Ponzi Scheme Victims, People Of Faith, Foreclosure Subjects — And Say Government Backs MLM Cycler Matrix Tied To Florida Grocery Business

    EDITOR’S NOTE: UPDATED 3:12 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Florida-based MPBToday is one of the programs pitched on Ponzi boards such as ASAMonitor, MoneyMakerGroup and TalkGold. It also is being pitched via email and on social-media sites such as YouTube. All three of the forums are referenced in court filings — including filings in criminal cases — as places from which Ponzi schemes are promoted. Pathway to Prosperity, just one of the schemes promoted on the forums, was alleged in May to have defrauded more than 40,000 people across the globe while gathering more than $70 million.

    MPBToday is a multilevel-marketing company tied to a Pensacola grocery company known as Southeastern Delivery LLC. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said Friday that it was conducting a “review” of affiliate claims. Precisely what claims USDA will review is unclear.

    Some affiliates are encouraging recipients of Food Stamps to join the program, which claims a $200, one-time expense can led to free groceries for life. Other affiliates have targeted victims of the alleged AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme in sales pitches. Still others are using religion to sell the program. The program uses the word “foreclosure” in its sales pitch. Florida has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the United States. More than 9,000 people showed up at the Palm Beach County Convention Center late last month to seek foreclosure relief.

    One potential area of inquiry is whether Food Stamp recipients somehow can use their allotment to qualify for MPB Today’s MLM program. Another potential area of inquiry is whether Food Stamp money somehow is being used to pay MLM commissions. Because MPB Today says Southeastern Delivery assesses a shipping charge of up to 50 percent for the home delivery of groceries — and because affiliates purport that food “vouchers” and food “credits” can be acquired, perhaps in the form of a Walmart gift card MPB Today sends in the mail — another potential area of inquiry is whether Food Stamp money somehow can be converted to pay for items such as electronics and prepaid Visa cards. One MPB Today affiliate said the firm’s high shipping costs were a reason for Southeastern Delivery’s Food Stamp customers to join the MLM program.

    Claims have been made that the MLM program is “certified” by the government, “acknowledged” by the government and that Walmart is affiliated with MPB Today. Walmart has not responded to a request for comment from the PP Blog.

    Here are some photos of promotions for MPB Today from around the web. (Red highlighting added by PP Blog):

    In this YouTube video and text pitch, a claim punctuated with exclamation marks is made that the program is "Govt. certified with Food Stamps!" and that there is a "contract with wal mart!" The word "scam" appears multiple times in the pitch — in an apparent bid to drive traffic to the site from prospects seeking to determine if there is any scam-related information on MPB Today.
    MPB Today positioned on YouTube as a good opportunity for people of faith. The words "Christian" and "scam" are used to drive traffic to the site.
    In a money-waving Blog post, an MPB Today affiliate with a California address shows a check for $300 and a Walmart card.
    In this video for MPB Today on DailyMotion, visitors are encouraged to visit a .org affiliate site for the company, even though MPB Today is not a charity. The video claims members can purchase "electronics," even though MPB Today says it is in the grocery business and affiliates are targeting Food Stamp recipients in sales pitches.
    MPB Today affiliates display check and Walmart card on YouTube after videotaping check-opening ceremony. The program is described as a "NO BRAINER."
    This document on file in Florida shows that Southeastern Delivery LLC, the grocery arm of the MPB Today MLM program, once was known as William Lindsay Properties LLC. The name change occurred in January 2010. Gary Calhoun, the operator of MPB Today, is associated with both firms, according to records.
    On Aug. 25, the PP Blog received an unsolicited sales pitch for MPB Today via an email to the Blog's support address. Among the claims in the pitch, which did not include an unsubscribe link, was that "Walmart is thrilled" with the results of MPB Today. The pitch was targeted at members of AdSurfDaily, a company the PP Blog regularly covers because ASD is implicated by the U.S. Secret Service in an alleged Ponzi scheme involving tens of millions of dollars. A similar pitch was sent to another website that covers AdSurfDaily-related news.
    The names of Walmart and Sam's Club referenced by "Ken Russo" at the ASAMonitor forum, which is notorious for promoting Ponzi schemes.
    In this video, a check and Walmart card are displayed. Unlike other checks written in Southeastern Delivery's name, this check was written in the name of MPB Today Inc. The video, which captured a check-opening ceremony, shows a Walmart "In Store Credit" card
    In this video, an MPB Today affiliate gives a sales pitch while driving an automobile. A check and Walmart card were presented when the vehicle stopped at a highway intersection.The pitch claims a "ONE-TIME" expenditure of $200 can "TOTALLY ELIMINATE" grocery bills.