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Tag: precious metals schemes

  • BULLETIN: FLORIDA — AGAIN: FTC Says ‘High-Pressure’ Telemarketers Conned Seniors In ‘Precious Metals’ Boondoggle; Federal Judge Issues Asset Freeze, Appoints Receiver

    BULLETIN: A federal judge has frozen the assets of three Florida companies and their operator, after the Federal Trade Commission alleged a “precious metals” telemarketing scam aimed at senior citizens was under way and had collected nearly $9 million.

    Named defendants in the case were Anthony J. Columbo, Premier Precious Metals Inc., Rushmore Consulting Group Inc. and PPM Credit Inc., all of Deerfield Beach.

    Customers got trapped in a boondoggle in which they were lured into buying precious metals on credit while their capital was eaten away by undisclosed or misrepresented fees. In some cases, the only way out of the thicket was to pay more money “or lose their investment,” the FTC charged.

    “High-pressure” pitchmen picked the pockets of customers, the FTC charged.

    “The majority of consumers who purchase precious metals from Defendants lose money,” the FTC charged. “Consumers’ equity in their precious metals investments is drained by the fees and commissions that are assessed at the inception of their transactions and by the constant accumulation of service fees and interest charges on the leverage portion of their accounts.

    “These fees, commissions, and interest charges negatively affect consumers’ ability to break even or profit on the precious metals investments,” the FTC continued. “When a consumer’s equity decreases sufficiently, an equity call is issued and the consumer must either invest additional money or allow the precious metals to be liquidated at a loss, making the investments risky. In some instances, consumers’ accounts are liquidated without notice to consumers.”

    Assisting in the FTC probe were the Better Business Bureau of Southeast Florida and the Caribbean, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, the State of Florida Office of the Attorney General, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation and the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, the FTC said.

    Read the FTC complaint.

    Read the Temporary Restraining Order, originally filed under seal.

  • South Carolina Attorney General Alleges Ponzi Scheme And False Statements By Purveyor; U.S. Secret Service Seen Carting Boxes From Purported ‘Precious Metals’ Business

    From WSPA: An agent returns inside to cart out another box at the headquarters of Atlantic Bullion and Coin Inc. in Easley, S.C.

    UPDATED 7:31 A.M. ET (U.S.A., MARCH 17) State officials in South Carolina say Ronnie Gene Wilson and Atlantic Bullion and Coin Inc. were running a “precious metals” Ponzi scheme that gathered about $70 million from “numerous” investors in 25 states over the past three years.

    After dark  Thursday, the U.S. Secret Service was seen carting boxes out of the Easley, S.C., office of Atlantic Bullion. The scene was reminiscent of the earliest hours of the AdSurfDaily Ponzi case, which began as a civil probe by the Secret Service in August 2008 and eventually led to criminal charges against ASD President Andy Bowdoin of Quincy, Fla.

    Like Bowdoin — once a councilman in Perry, Fla. — Wilson once was a councilman in Anderson County, S.C. The initial filings in the Wilson case suggest that he’d previously been on the radar of law enforcement for a scheme in the 1990s that led to a cease-and-desist order. Bowdoin also was implicated in a securities scheme in the 1990s, according to records.

    South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has filed a civil complaint in the Richland County Court of Common Pleas against Ronnie Gene Wilson.

    Among the allegations is that Ronnie Gene Wilson “made false or misleading statements to investigators from the Securities Division, including statements regarding the quantity of silver that the defendants actually took possession of and held for clients,” authorities said.

    “Investors must be wary of those looking to defraud and deceive,” Attorney General Wilson said. “The Securities Division will continue to watch for unscrupulous individuals and businesses looking to take advantage hard working investors.”

    See local report at wspa.com.