PatrickPretty.com

Tag: President George W. Bush

Fake News Could Have Triggered Tragedy At Pizza Shop In Nation’s Capital

Fake news designed to confirm biases is one of the things that props up MLM HYIP scams. Now, such false reports have entered the political realm.

Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, of Salisbury, N.C., was arrested yesterday in Washington, D.C., on charges of assault with a deadly weapon. Police say he fired a shot inside a pizza restaurant and told them he was there “to self-investigate “Pizza Gate” (a fictitious online conspiracy theory).”

“Pizza Gate” involves a conspiracy theory that prominent Democrats and the Hillary Clinton campaign were involved in sex crimes against children and that the ring used a pizza place as a cover.

From a Metropolitan PD news release dated today about yesterday’s incident at the pizza shop Italics added):

At approximately 2:58 pm, members of the Second District received a call for a man with a firearm. The suspect entered the location and pointed a firearm in the direction of the victim who is an employee of the restaurant. The victim was able to flee and notify police. The suspect proceeded to discharge the rifle inside of the establishment. Members of the Second District responded and arrested the suspect without incident. Two firearms were recovered inside the location. An additional weapon was recovered from the suspect’s vehicle. There were no reported injuries.

The Daily Beast is reporting Welch was a fan of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

.@DCPoliceDept press release on arrest of Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, of Salisbury, NC for assault w/dangerous weapon at Comet restaurant. pic.twitter.com/IkSJUeHM2y

— Deputy Mayor Donahue (@SafeDC) December 5, 2016

In the HYIP sphere, hucksters routinely try to sanitize fraud schemes by claiming the endorsements of politicians. False stories about Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama backing online “programs” have circulated for years on the Internet.

After the schemes make the enforcement radar and collapse, the scammers typically claim that the U.S. government grew unhappy because it wasn’t getting a large-enough cut and/or decided to undermine free enterprise to keep workers in chains.

Dec 5, 2016
Bogus Magazine Cover Depicts Alleged Ponzi Schemer Charles Scoville Of Traffic Monsoon As 2016’s Best CEO

This bogus Forbes’ cover says Charles Scoville was 2016’s BEST CEO. (Red markings by PP Blog.)

DISCLOSURE: The PP Blog is a Google publisher.

A bogus cover of Forbes magazine circulating on Facebook depicts SEC Ponzi defendant Charles Scoville of Traffic Monsoon as the “BEST” CEO of 2016 — all while misspelling his last name.

The image, which falsely showcases the Forbes’ issue as a “LIMITED EDITION,” appears today on the “TrafficMonsoonupdates” page on Facebook, a cheerleading site for the alleged Ponzi scheme. The post comes at a time that both Facebook and Google have been criticized for not screening out fake news during the recent U.S. presidential election.

Scoville, of Utah, was not named the best CEO by Forbes either before or after the SEC alleged in July that he was at the helm of a Ponzi scheme that had gathered more than $207 million and had affected at least 162,000 investors across the globe.

And despite the implication that Forbes had named Traffic Monsoon the “BEST TRAFFIC EXCHANGE IN THE WORLD,” no such thing happened. The SEC’s case against Scoville and his company is still being actively litigated, according to the website of the court-appointed receiver for Traffic Monsoon.

It is not unusual for promoters of HYIP schemes to claim major publications have lauded them or even that U.S. Presidents supported them. Prior to its 2014 collapse, the TelexFree Ponzi- and pyramid scheme wrapped logos of local TV stations into its promos to imply endorsement. TelexFree may have generated more than $3 billion in illicit transactions.

In 2008, the $119 million AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme falsely claimed then-President George W. Bush had given ASD operator Andy Bowdoin a special award for business achievement. An ASD knockoff scam known as AdViewGlobal fraudulently traded on the logos of Forbes and other publishers in 2009.

A current fraudulent scheme known as OneCoin also has traded on the name of Forbes, according to BehindMLM.com. Earlier, promoters of the WCM777 scam implied the endorsement of the Wall Street Journal.

Nov 18, 2016
Individual Linked To Payment Processor For ‘MyAdvertisingPays’ Scheme Listed In Panama Papers

Roger Alberto Santamaria Del Cid, an apparent nominee director for offshore companies who is listed as a corporate “subscriber” for VX Gateway in Panamanian business records, is referenced at least three times in the “Panama Papers.”

The PP Blog discovered the Del Cid listings today. On Monday, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists made its database of Panama Papers listings searchable. (For additional background and reporting on the Panama Papers, visit ICIJ’s website.)

VX is a payment processor for the MyAdvertisingPays (MAPS) cross-border scheme that touts Anguilla registration after earlier operating from the U.S. state of Mississippi. MAPS purportedly pulled out of the United States last year, potentially leaving thousands of American affiliates expecting payouts holding the bag.

In April 2015, the PP Blog reported that MAPs, a purported “advertising” program similar to the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme, was trading on the name of President Obama after ASD previously had traded on the name of President George W. Bush. MAPS is known to have members in common with the judicially declared TelexFree Ponzi- and pyramid scheme, which also traded on the names of government officials.

It is somewhat common in the HYIP sphere for “programs” and their affiliates to drive traffic to schemes by suggesting the endorsement of government agencies or prominent government officials.

TelexFree, which may have generated $3 billion in illicit cross-border business, collapsed in 2014.

The Facebook site for the TaraTalksBlog, a MAPS critic, reported on May 7 that it had received “numerous reports that MAP has closed members accounts, with no redress, after members have requested payment withdrawals.”

In short, non-U.S. affiliates of MAPs also may be having trouble getting paid.

MAPS recently attempted unsuccessfully to sue TaraTalks. In 2012, a top official from the U.S. Department of Justice who was speaking at an event in Mexico warned about bogus libel lawsuits in the context of cross-border crime.

Then-Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole also said (bolding added):

“Because of the sophistication of the world economy, organized crime groups have developed an ability to exploit legitimate actors and their skills in order to further the criminal enterprises. For example, transnational organized criminal groups often rely on lawyers to facilitate illicit transactions. These lawyers create shell companies, open offshore bank accounts in the names of those shell companies, and launder criminal proceeds through trust accounts. Other lawyers working for organized crime figures bring frivolous libel cases against individuals who expose their criminal activities.”

As noted above, the Panama Papers database shows Del Cid’s name at least three times. On April 14, the PP Blog reported (italics added):

Del Cid’s name has appeared on the PP Blog a couple of times. On Feb. 8, 2011, the Blog reported that his name had appeared in court filings in a federal forfeiture case involving assets linked to the notorious EMG/Finanzas Forex scheme in the Middle District of Florida. (See Paragraph 10 of this affidavit by a Task Force investigator.)

Money from EMG/Finanzas was linked to the international narcotics trade. OpenCorporates lists del Cid here as a Finanzas “subscriber.” The site lists Tatiana Itzel Saldaöa Escobar as another Finanzas subscriber, and the same name appears alongside Del Cid as a VX subscriber.

As the PP Blog reported on Feb. 10, 2011, del Cid’s name also had appeared as the contact person for Perfect Money, another financial vendor purportedly operating from Panama. The SEC has linked Perfect Money to the incredibly toxic Imperia Invest IBC offshore scheme that targeted thousands of people with hearing impairments.

May 11, 2016
MyAdvertisingPays Pulls Out Of America, Leaving U.S. Affiliates In The Lurch; Cross-Border Scheme Alleges Libel, Defamation

From PP Blog archives: On April 2, a video depicting President Obama as a fan of the MyAdvertisingPays “program” appeared on YouTube. An “Obama voice” was dubbed into the video, which also shows the Presidential Seal. Text below the video reads, “Mr. President speaks about the new advertising revolution.”

EDITORIAL: In April 2015, the PP Blog reported that a promo on YouTube put words in the mouth of President Obama and depicted him as a pitchman for MyAdvertisingPays, a cross-border scheme with promoters in common with the alleged Zeek Rewards and TelexFree Ponzi- and pyramid schemes.

“My AdvertisingPays pays its members every 20 minutes,” a mimicked voice of Obama said in the promo. “I highly recommend you to join MyAdvertisingPays.”

Like many things in network marketing, this was reckless beyond measure. MAPS, as it is known, is reminiscent of the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme broken up by the U.S. Secret Service in 2008. ASD, sued by some of its own members amid allegations of racketeering and described by the Secret Service as a “criminal enterprise,” thought it prudent to trade on the name of President George W. Bush to drive dollars to its $119 million scam.

It proved to be very imprudent for ASD to suggest a White House vetting and endorsement. The indictment against ASD operator Andy Bowdoin even referenced the bid to dupe members and prospects in this fashion . (Also see: “THE DAY ‘WINK-NOD’ DIED,” from the PP Blog on Dec. 2, 2010.)

MAPS Suddenly Says It Is Withdrawing From United States

After one or more MAPS’ promoters lifted footage of a Presidential address and used technology to put words in Obama’s mouth to help an MLM scheme spread its tentacles, it now has come to pass that MAPS — purportedly led by American Mike Deese of Mississippi via Anguilla, a British overseas territory — says it is pulling out of the United States.

In an announcement dated yesterday and titled “THE MOST IMPORTANT UPDATE EVER RELEASED,” MAPS more than hinted it is not wanted in America: “We are going to focus on the place where we are wanted and are making huge strides,” MAPS said.

That place is Europe, according to MAPS.

“The decision comes on the heels of a declining marketplace in the US for our company.,” MAPS said. “It simply isn’t profitable for us to remain engaged there. Over 90% of our business already comes from Europe, while we are catering to the US members by operating in US currency. It doesn’t make good business sense to continue operating in a place and expending valuable resources in a market that’s steadily declining.”

If MAPS is right — if it’s not wanted in America and if the U.S. market is steadily declining — we take this as good news that suggests MAPS perceives a serious threat from American law enforcement and class-action lawyers interested in suing under the federal RICO (racketeering) statute. Even so, it’s troubling that MAPS apparently sees a welcome mat for itself in Europe.

About 50,000 Spaniards reportedly got sucked into the TelexFree scheme. TelexFree pain, in fact, lingers across Europe and the world. It is possible that it affected 1 million people or more. MAPS currently brags that it has “209805+ Users.”

MAPS also is reminiscent of Banners Broker, another “advertising” program and a bizarre MLM “opportunity” ultimately described in Canada as a criminal enterprise. Among other things, Banners Broker thought it prudent to try to chill critics — like the Zeek Rewards, AdSurfDaily and AdViewGlobal schemes before it. (See Feb. 8, 2014, PP Blog story, “Banners Broker Cultists Rip Play From Zeek, AdSurfDaily, AdViewGlobal HYIP Scambook.”

Like the other “programs,” MAPS now is planting the seed it is lining up people to sue.

From the MAPS Oct. 15 announcement (italics added):

On a different note, it has come to our attention that there exist multiple internet-based avenues being used for defamatory and libelous speech against MAP. Through our research, we have found many, if not all, of these claims to be without merit and simply an attempt by certain individuals to exploit the MAP name in order to heighten the popularity of their own product. MAP has served demand letters upon those individuals who engage in defamatory and slanderous rhetoric, and in anticipation of litigation, has prepared complaints against all such individuals. MAP would like to emphasize and reassure you that their decision to cease operations in the United States is in no way connected to the aforementioned defamation and libel claims.

Oct 16, 2015
TelexFree/iFreeX Figure Sann Rodrigues Appears In Car With Emerson Fittipaldi; Is Brazilian Racing Legend Being Duped By MLM Huckster?

Racing legend Emerson Fittipaldi somehow ended up in a car with TelexFree figure Sann Rodrigues. Source: Video on DailyMotion.

UPDATED 2:14 P.M. ET U.S.A. It is not unusual for financial fraudsters to seek to rub elbows with famous people or to imply ties to them as a means of sanitizing purported “opportunities” or accenting their own bona fides. Recent examples of this include Florida-based Ponzi-schemer/racketeer Scott Rothstein, who mixed with the elite as his epic fraud scheme spiraled out of control.

Florida-based AdSurfDaily Ponzi schemer Andy Bowdoin (and any number of his promoters) falsely implied that then-President George W. Bush was on ASD’s train. The Mantria Corp. Ponzi scheme in Colorado traded on images of former President Bill Clinton and famous politicians or business executives.

The WCM777 scam traded on purported ties to Siemens and scores of famous companies. Siemens publicy refuted the WCM777 claims.

TelexFree, alleged to have gathered hundreds of millions of dollars in a combined Ponzi- and pyramid scheme targeted in no small measure at Brazilians and people who speak Portuguese or Spanish, aligned itself with the Botafogo soccer club in Brazil. The PR results were disastrous.

Now comes word that Sann Rodrigues, a figure in both the TelexFree and iFreeX schemes, is seen in a video in which he is driving a car. That in itself wouldn’t be unusual, in that Rodrigues previously has recorded one or more videos that put him behind the wheel of a flashy ride.

But in this case the passenger in the car is Emerson Fittipaldi, the Brazilian racing legend who won the Formula One World Championship twice and also is a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500.

The PP Blog has sought comment from Fittipaldi through multiple channels and hopes to hear back from the legend. If Fittipaldi or his organization responds, we’ll make sure you see that response.

Rodrigues was charged by the SEC in April 2014 with securities fraud for his alleged role in the massive TelexFree swindle. This marked the second time the SEC had implicated him in a fraud scheme. The first was a 2006 scam known as Universo Foneclub Corporation. Like TelexFree, Universo Foneclub allegedly was targeted at the Brazilian community.

TelexFree also is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Police in Brazil. At the same time, the Securities Division of Massachusetts Commonwealth Secretary William Galvin also is investigating TelexFree.

In September 2014, Galvin issued a warning about iFreeX, another “program” associated with Rodrigues. T-Mobile, the famous phone company, later said it was checking to see if its branding material was being misused by iFreeX.

Precisely how Fittipaldi ended up in a car with Rodrigues is unclear. Early research suggests Fittipaldi made an appearance at a hotel in the area of Orlando, Fla., on or around Jan. 6 of this year. Rodrigues may reside in the Orlando area.

The Orlando event appears to have been arranged by a venture known as DFRF. The asserted operator of that venture is Daniel Fernandez Rojo Filho. (The Ferdandez name also has been spelled with a trailing “s,” as opposed to a “z.”) His name surfaced as part of the Evolution Market Group/Finanzas Forex case in 2010.

(Also see PP Blog article. Also see Palm Beach Post article.)

It is clear that some Brazilians interested in the TelexFree case are closely following the appearance of Fittipaldi alongside Rodrigues, wondering if the racing legend is being duped by an alleged recidivist swindler.

Jan 19, 2015
UPDATE: Leaming — Again: After Earlier Claiming He’d Been Targeted For ‘DEATH,’ AdSurfDaily Figure And Purported ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Now Claims’ He’s Been Subjected To ‘POISON’ And ‘TORTURE’

AdSurfDaily figure Kenneth Wayne Leaming now claims he’s been subjected to “POISON” and “TORTURE.”

In 2009, AdSurfDaily figure and purported “sovereign citizen” Kenneth Wayne Leaming claimed a city in Washington state targeted him for “DEATH” and threatened to kill him by “HUNTING” him down “in screaming packs and mobs” and using “several armed street gangs” that served as police, according to records.

Leaming, now 57, further claimed the Pierce County city of Puyallup engaged in terrorism by controlling “multiple electronic broadcast media” and employing police who used “chemical and biological weapons,” “machine guns” and “explosives.”

In November 2011, prosecutors said Leaming was found in Spanaway, Wash., with two federal fugitives from Arkansas. Those fugitives now have been convicted of mail fraud for a multimillion-dollar, home-based business caper. Court filings by Timothy Shawn Donavan, 64, and Sharon Jeannette Henningsen, 68, suggest they also were sovereign citizens.

After Leaming’s arrest with Donavan and Henningsen, federal prosecutors in the Western District of Washington said an FBI terrorism Task Force found evidence that Leaming had filed false liens against at least five public officials involved in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi case filed by the U.S. Secret Service in 2008.

Leaming allegedly also filed bogus liens or assisted in filing liens against a former cabinet official in the administration of President George W. Bush, the head of a credit union and at least two U.S. prison officials. In 2012, while detained, Leaming sued President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, advancing a Birther conspiracy theory.

A federal judge tossed that lawsuit. Court filings by Leaming now suggest he intends to sue Holder anew, this time in the District of Columbia as opposed to the Western District of Washington.

But Leaming also has another active lawsuit against Holder and others in the Western District of Washington. A complaint by Leaming dated yesterday asserts he has been subjected to “POISON” and “TORTURE” during his ongoing detention at the SeaTac federal detention center near Seattle.

In October 2012, federal prosecutors alleged that Leaming “was instrumental in founding the ‘County Rangers,’ the sovereign group’s armed enforcement wing. Members of the County Rangers were issued realistic-looking badges and credentials were required to possess firearms as part of their duties, and held themselves out as law enforcement agents.”

Leaming already is a convicted felon from a case that alleged he had no license and yet piloted an aircraft. When he was arrested in November 2011 in the company of Donavan and Henningsen, several firearms were found in Leaming’s residence, including an “AK-47 style assault rifle with a bayonet,” prosecutors said.

He later was charged with unlawful possession of firearms as a convicted felon.

When agents executed a search warrant, they found “numerous boxes of correspondence and legal paperwork documenting other apparent fraud schemes,” prosecutors said.

Jan 23, 2013
UPDATE: Judge Ordered Detention Of Kenneth Wayne Leaming To Continue After Initial Hearing; AdSurfDaily Figure And Purported ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Accused Of Filing Bogus Liens Against Bush Cabinet Secretary, Officials Involved In ASD Ponzi Case

President Bush observes the 2006 swearing-in ceremony of incoming Transportation Secretary Mary Peters. Peters held the cabinet post between October 2006 and January 2009. Source: Wikipedia: White House photo by Paul Morse.

UPDATED 5:42 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) Public officials involved in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi case were not the only targets of bogus liens filed by Kenneth Wayne Leaming, according to federal prosecutors in Seattle.

Leaming, 55, also filed a lien against Mary Peters, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation under President George W. Bush during his second White House term, prosecutors said.

In addition, prosecutors said Leaming filed liens against U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer; former U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor; former assistant U.S. Attorney William Cowden; current assistant U.S. Attorney Vasu B. Muthyala; and Roy Dotson, a special agent of the U.S. Secret Service.

Collyer is presiding over both the civil and criminal prosecutions connected to the ASD Ponzi case in the District of Columbia. The civil case, which led to the successful forfeiture of tens of millions of dollars in the personal bank accounts of ASD President Andy Bowdoin, was brought by Taylor’s office in August 2008.

Cowden and Muthyala assisted in the prosecution against ASD-related assets, including more than $65.8 million in Bowdoin’s 10 bank accounts and more than $14 million in other bank accounts linked to Golden Panda Ad Builder, a companion autosurf.

Dotson was a key investigator in the case, which was brought in part through the efforts of a Florida-based Task Force. Bowdoin was arrested in December 2010. He is free awaiting trial in the District of Columbia.

Taylor was succeeded as U.S. Attorney by Ronald C. Machen Jr. Machen’s office was sued pro se earlier this month by ASD members Todd Disner and Dwight Owen Schweitzer of Miami. Disner, a cofounder of the Quiznos sandwich franchise, and Schweitzer, a former attorney whose license was suspended in Connecticut, asserted that prosecutors engaged in “character assassination” against Bowdoin and that the forfeiture case consisted of a “tissue of lies.” They also claimed Dotson’s affidavit that led to the seizure of Bowdoin’s assets was flawed and that 4th Amendment violations had occurred.

Disner and Schweitzer also named Rust Consulting Inc., the government-approved claims administrator in the Ponzi case, a pro se lawsuit defendant. In September, Machen joined Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer in announcing that the government had returned $55 million to victims of the ASD Ponzi.

Collyer ordered the forfeiture of Bowdoin’s assets in January 2010. Her rulings were upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals. Bowdoin, 77, is using Facebook and a website known as “Andy’s Fundraising Army” to raise money for his criminal defense on charges of wire fraud, securities fraud and selling unregistered securities.

Why Peters allegedly was targeted by Leaming was not immediately clear. But court records suggest the FBI is investigating Leaming ties to a Washington state group of “sovereign citizens” known as the “County Rangers.”

Leaming was arrested on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Richard Creatura in Tacoma. Creatura ordered Leaming’s detention to continue. The date of Leaming’s next court appearance was not immediately clear.

Leaming, according to prosecutors, was found Tuesday with two federal fugitives from Arkansas who were indicted in February on federal charges related to an alleged envelope-stuffing scheme. Prosecutors identified the fugitives as Timothy Shawn Donavan and Sharon Jeannette Henningsen.

Donavan and Henningsen have court histories that include declaring themselves “living breathing free” people to whom laws do not apply, according to records. Like Leaming, they are being held at the Sea Tac Federal Detention Center near Seattle.

Leaming has been charged with retaliating against a Federal judge or Federal law enforcement officer by false claim or slander of title, an obstruction of justice statute.

Among the government’s allegations against Bowdoin is that he falsely claimed to have received an important award for business acumen from President Bush in 2008. ASD members used Bush’s name in online promos, according to records.

In July 2008 — as the Secret Service and the Task Force were investigating ASD — Bowdoin threatened to sue critics, according to court filings. After the seizure of his assets, he claimed the government’s action was the work of “Satan” and compared the seizure to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

Cowden, whose name was repeatedly misspelled as “Crowden” by pro se litigants in the forfeiture case, was derided as “Gomer Pyle” on the now-defunct, pro-ASD “Surf’s Up” forum. One ASD member opined that Cowden should be placed in a torture rack. Another said a “militia” should storm Washington. Still another issued a “prayer” that called for prosecutors to be struck dead.

ASD critics were derided as “rats,” “maggots” and “cockroaches.”

In December 2010, prosecutors linked ASD to E-Bullion, a defunct California payment processor operated by James Fayed. E-Bullion has been linked to several Ponzi schemes.

Earlier this month, Fayed was formally sentenced to death for arranging the contract slaying of his estranged wife, Pamela Fayed.

Pamela Fayed was slashed 13 times in a Greater Los Angeles parking garage in July 2008 while James Fayed sat on a bench within earshot of Pamela’s screams, according to records.

At least one ASD member used E-Bullion to send money to ASD, according to federal court records. That member — former ASD “trainer” Erma Seabaugh of Missouri — was operating a purported “religious” nonprofit in Oregon and using ASD to promote a pyramid scheme, according to records.

Nov 26, 2011
EDITORIAL: As Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force Website (StopFraud.gov) Spotlights AdSurfDaily Prosecution, Bizarre Email Circulating Among ASD Members Raises New Conspiracy Theories

UPDATED 10:31 A.M. EDT (U.S.A).

ASD case subject of discussion in Washington’s highest power corridors: The Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force was formed by President Obama in November 2009. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, a member of the President’s cabinet and the chief law-enforcement officer of the U.S. government, presides over the Task Force.

Secret Service is charter member of Task Force. The U.S. Secret Service, whose duties include protecting the President of the United States, the integrity of the economy and the financial infrastructure of the nation, is a member of the Task Force.

Among the allegations in the ASD case is that members were falsely trading on the name of then-President George W. Bush to sanitize a $110 million Ponzi scheme, that ASD President Andy Bowdoin encouraged the false claims and arranged to spend Ponzi proceeds to retire the $157,000 mortgage on a home in Tallahassee occupied by his wife’s son and the son’s wife, purchase a lakefront home in Florida, purchase an $800,000 building (for cash), purchase jet skis, a Cabana boat, haul trailers and marine equipment — all while owing restitution to victims of an Alabama securities caper in the 1990s and “thousands of dollars” to an ex-wife.

Some of the purchases occurred within days of Bowdoin’s return from a May 2008 ASD “rally” in Las Vegas at which he defined himself as a Christian “money magnet” and encouraged others to follow him in thanking God and becoming like-minded “money magnets.” At the rally, Bowdoin urged members not to miss the opportunity to provide ASD with money by the tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time, according to records.

“Thank you, God, for destining me to great wealth,” he exhorted the Las Vegas crowd to internalize and recite during the day.

And he exhorted members to picture themselves wealthy.

“See a big check coming in from AdSurfDaily,” he urged. “I signed a check the other day, about $22,000. See those checks like that coming for you constantly, just flowing to you.”

One of Bowdoin’s business partners — Walter Clarence Busby Jr., the operator of the Golden Panda autosurf — was implicated by the SEC in three prime-bank schemes in the 1990s, according to records. Golden Panda, according to Busby, was hatched after he went fishing with Bowdoin on a Georgia lake in April 2008. Just days after the fishing expedition, Bowdoin boarded a plane and flew to Costa Rica, according to court filings.

Weeks after his return from Costa Rica, Bowdoin headed to Washington, D.C., to rub elbows with politicians, according to court filings.

Read the full news release on the AdSurfDaily case here. It is published on StopFraud.gov, the Task Force website.

New conspiracy theory emerges after government compensates ASD victims. As often has been the case, some ASD members appear not to have taken the clue that top Justice Department officials and perhaps the White House itself are being briefed on developments in the ASD case. The ASD case became a national-security case when the U.S. Secret Service discovered in 2008 that Andy Bowdoin, a recidivist securities swindler in his seventies who allegedly had “earned no significant income from legal employment in the twenty years prior to his commencement of ASD’s operation,” suddenly was sitting on tens of millions of dollars and had handed out some of it to political rainmakers.

Some of the handouts, which came in the form of contributions to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), occurred in early 2007, even as the first Ponzi scheme iteration of ASD was collapsing and the firm’s original members were left holding the bag while Bowdoin explained $1 million had been stolen by “Russian” hackers. Bowdoin did not file a police report about the purported theft because he did not want to draw the attention of law enforcement, according to court filings.

The NRCC handouts continued in 2008, after Bowdoin had changed the name of his collapsed autosurfing venture from AdSurfDaily to ASD Cash Generator, plumbed it with new cash from a new group of suckers, started a second Ponzi venture known as LaFuenteDinero, arranged with Busby to form a third Ponzi-in-waiting (Golden Panda) and had flown to Costa Rica with a “North Carolina lawyer” (and co-owner) of LaFuenteDinero, according to court filings and Federal Election Commission records.

In a bizarre email that began to circulate among ASD members yesterday, the seed was planted that that the government was trying to recruit witnesses by luring them with remissions payments — and that prosecutors might claw back the remissions money if the member “did not cooperate in testifying against ASD.”

The date upon which the email was written could not immediately be determined, but the email appears to be the second in a two-part series sent after ASD members began to receive remissions payments late last week.

The content of the email, which was described as “insider information” and attributed in part to an unamed third party who purportedly overheard a conversation involving a federal prosecutor at an unspecified location, was titled, “Important Warning: ASD/Golden Panda.”

Among the suggestions in the email was that the government planned to “force” ASD members who received remissions distributions to testify against Bowdoin in his upcoming criminal trial on charges of wire fraud, securities fraud and selling unregistered securities. The email was signed “Sara.”

Here is the email verbatim (italics added):

“Hi Everyone-

Since I sent the last email update about ASD/Golden Panda monies being received by members, I received some very important insider information you should know. This is an important warning.

The information (these are not quotes) I am sharing with you was spoken by and was heard directly from an attorney for the government, in relation to the ASD legal case. I must protect the source but I can assure you it is reliable (it is not Andy). I was told that the person heard the government attorney say they had hired the Rust Company to send a remission form by email and US-mail to ASD and Golden Panda members. The form was to be sent under the pretense that the member would get their money back if they filled out the form to request a remission of their ASD/Golden Panda monies seized by the government on 8/1/08. Those members would then receive their remission monies directly into their bank accounts, but the attorney said that their names would go onto a list and they would then be summoned by the court (at the members own expense) to testify against ASD. They would be forced to testify against ASD even if they did not believe that ASD was illegal, because the form they signed was set up in such a way that the member was essentially stating that ASD victimized them in an illegal business. I’m imagining a typical scenario in court would be: The attorney for the government would read statements from the form and the member’s answers and then say something like, “Is this your signature?” to force the member into saying that the statements were theirs. And, take note, that it was also mentioned by the attorney that the direct deposit into the member’s account could be reversed at any time if ASD should eventually lose the case or if the member did not cooperate in testifying against ASD. If the money isn’t in the account anymore, it would be money owed back to the government, so moving the money would not help. The addendum that I was advised to suggest to you if you were drawn to fill out the form (sent by the Rust Company on behalf of the government) that stated that you did not make an investment in ASD/Golden Panda, but rather bought advertising, would apparently protect you from the government’s tactics, but I honestly do not know that for sure.

Many of us had major red flags when we read the form as it was obvious what the government was trying to do. That’s why it was advised that members add the addendum to their form, to protect themselves from the government’s deceptive practices. So pray about how you should proceed. Please don’t ask me. I can’t make this decision for you.

God’s Blessings,

Sara

The email appears to have followed the email below, which divines a construction by which the government seized ASD money illegally and set up the remissions program only because ASD members outraged at the illegal seizure demanded the return of their funds (verbatim/italics added):

“Dear ASD & Golden Panda Members-

I have some news! ASD and Golden Panda Members have recently received a “remission” of the money that was in their ASD and/or Golden Panda accounts, deposited directly into their personal bank accounts by the government; amounts like $50,000 and $60,000 and it was apparently 100% of the money that was owed to them!

Personally, I am stunned. My experience over the last decade or more has been that the government has never fulfilled their obligation to return money they have seized from programs they deemed illegal. My opinion is that they are scrambling to do this in order to diffuse the outrage ASD members have felt toward the government from their (in my opinion, illegal) seizure of members’ account funds, so that members will have less opposition toward the government during the eventual ASD trial.

But, for whatever reason the government is doing it, it is irrelevant to those relieved members who are finally receiving justice from this (in my opinion, illegal) seizure.

If you have not received your remission, you can go to this website to fill out the form there: adsurfdailyremission.com. You can also call the following toll free information line for more information and even talk to a customer service agent in person to ask any questions you might have about this process: 888-398-8214. The following email address has also been provided to communicate about this: info@adsurfremission.com You will notice that, in the recorded message, the government does NOT back down in their assertion that Golden Panda and ASD were illegal ponzi schemes, but that is obviously not stopping them from returning members’ funds.

Some of you will notice that this form is the one that many of you did not feel inspired to fill out when it was first presented to us. It really puts members in an uncomfortable position of stating that they were victims of ASD/Golden Panda when they don’t believe they were and many felt as if they were also being set up to incriminate themselves.

At the time, I was advised to suggest to you that, if you felt drawn to fill it out, you include an addendum that stated that you understood that you were purchasing advertising, not making an investment. That continues to be the advice. Now that people are actually receiving their money back, perhaps some of you may feel more motivated to risk filling out the form. Just be careful not to incriminate yourselves. Be alert as you do it. Do not leave any question unanswered or it will be rejected. You must also provide documentation so hopefully you kept good records.

You will notice on that website (upper left corner) that it says that you must fill it out and submit it by a date in January, 2011. The way around this may be to say that you just found out about it (you didn’t get their letter in the mail or an email from them) and therefore you are only responding to it now. You might want to make that clear to the Customer Service agent at the number above BEFORE you take the time to fill it out, to confirm that they are still accepting them. If not, take a stand for your right to your monetary remission and ask for a supervisor. I am hearing that they are swamped trying to keep up with the communications they are receiving from members, so please be patient.

Blessings,

Sara

Read a January 2011 story about ASD-related emails. Read a November 2010 story. Read another November 2010 story. Read a December 2009 story.

Sep 28, 2011
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Judge Declares Mantria Corp. A ‘Smoke And Mirrors’ Ponzi Scheme, Says Troy Wragg And Amanda Knorr-Led Firm Acted With ‘Sociopathic Greed’; Defendants ‘Shamelessly’ Raised $54.5 Million Through ‘Blatant Lies’

Screen shot: Troy Wragg, whom the SEC said was a manager at a janitorial company before becoming CEO of Mantria Corp., next to President Clinton at the annual meeting on the Clinton Global Initiative in New York on Sept. 25, 2009.

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Using direct, no-nonsense language, U.S. District Judge Christine M. Arguello has ruled Mantria Corp. a Ponzi scheme that operated with “sociopathic greed” to defraud investors of millions of dollars.

Some investors were encouraged to drain equity in their homes to invest with Mantria, according to the ruling.

The ruling was a straight-line win for the SEC, which charged the firm, its principals and chief pitchman in November 2009 amid allegations that Mantria had orchestrated a colossal fraud targeted at people interested in “green” energy and protecting the environment. Mantria executives Troy Wragg and Amanda Knorr were charged in the caper, as was pitchman Wayde McKelvy of an entity known as “Speed of Wealth LLC.”

Arguello found that Mantria had scammed more than $54.5 million “by egregiously, recklessly, knowingly, and shamelessly perpetrating a fraudulent scheme” that used “misrepresentations, omissions, and blatant lies to induce unsuspecting and unwitting victim investors to liquidate the equity in their homes and take out bank loans to invest in Defendants’ scheme, which was nothing more than smoke and mirrors.”

The judge’s ruling specifically points to internal Mantria emails uncovered by the SEC during the probe.

One email from Wragg to McKelvy read, “Mantria Speed of Wealth = MSOW = Many Souls Owe Wayde.” Another from McKelvy to Wragg allegedly touting seminar registrations and a new crop of suckers read, “110 registered for tonight 75% names I don’t recognize. Let’s blow them away my brother!” An email attributed to Knorr read, “Let’s just make some f*****g money.”

Mantria traded in part on the name of former President Bill Clinton, who once presented Wragg an award for commitment to the environment. Prospective investors were shown a video that included footage of Clinton and other famous politicians and business figures.

Fraud schemes often spread virally by planting the seed that famous people endorse the “opportunities” when they do not. In fraud case case after fraud case, celebrity endorsements, which are used to disarm skeptics and create positive feelings, have been manufactured out of wholecloth.

In the alleged AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme, for instance, the U.S. Secret Service said promoters claimed that ASD President Andy Bowdoin had received an important award from then-President George W. Bush. The “award” actually was a memento for campaign donations to the National Republican Congressional Committee, according to court filings.

The Secret Service is known to have seized a significant volume of email during the ASD probe. Some of it has been described in court filings as incriminating to Bowdoin.

Reporters who emailed McKelvy for comment after the SEC brought it charges against Mantria and Speed of Wealth received invitations to join the Trump Network multilevel-marketing opportunity.

“YOU MUST START YOUR OWN BUSINESS Renee!” McKelvy advised a reporter in one email, according to the Denver Business Journal. “What You Have Been Taught About Building Wealth is DEAD WRONG!”

Read the Mantria ruling on Leagle.com.

Aug 8, 2011
Pittsburgh Steelers Issue Statement On Controversial ‘Tweets’ Of Running Back Rashard Mendenhall After Successful U.S. Action Against Osama Bin Laden

Pittsburgh Steelers’ President Art Rooney II, the son of U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Dan Rooney, has issued a statement in response to controversial Tweets attributed to Steelers’ running back Rashard Mendenhall after the United States killed Osama bin Laden two days ago.

The Tweets have sparked a web firestorm and enraged one of America’s hardest-working cities. Pittsburgh, a community of both brawn and brain, does not suffer fools gladly.

And it does not like to see its storied football franchise and its beloved Rooney family drawn into controversies.

“I have not spoken with Rashard so it is hard to explain or even comprehend what he meant with his recent Twitter comments,” Art Rooney said in a statement on the Steelers’ website. “The entire Steelers’ organization is very proud of the job our military personnel have done and we can only hope this leads to our troops coming home soon.”

Bin Laden’s terrorist group killed nearly 3,000 people in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. Bin Laden was found Sunday hiding in a mansion in Pakistan. The news of his death sparked spontaneous street celebrations in U.S. cities.

Did Mendenhall use Twitter to elicit sympathy for the terrorist leader?

“What kind of person celebrates death?” a Tweet attributed to Mendenhall read. “It’s amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We’ve only heard one side . . .”

Another Tweet attributed to Mendenhall seemed to touch on a conspiracy theory that raised doubts about what really happened at the collapsed Twin Towers in New York City nearly a decade ago.

“We’ll never know what really happened,” a Tweet attributed to Mendenhall read. “I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style.”

Other Tweets attributed to Mendenhall appeared to suggest Americans had judged Bin Laden too harshly after the murderous 9/11 ambush from the skies.

“Those who judge others, will also be judged themselves,” one Tweet read.

“I believe in God,” read another. “I believe we’re ALL his children. And I believe HE is the ONE and ONLY judge.”

The Twitter site did not explain whether the United States should have done nothing after being attacked on its own shores in September 2001. Nor did it explain whether the administrations of President George W. Bush and President Obama had any duty to defend the United States in the aftermath of the devastating attacks or seek justice for the American people and the families of victims of the attacks.

The burgeoning Mendenhall flap was occurring against the backdrop of an appearance today on Capitol Hill by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder before the House Judiciary Committee.

“As I have stated often, no aspect of our work is more important — or more urgent — than protecting the American people,” Holder told the panel. “This is our top priority — and our most fundamental responsibility.

“Two days ago — with the death of Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda and the world’s most wanted terrorist — our nation made historic progress in fulfilling this responsibility, and in achieving justice for the nearly 3,000 innocent Americans who were murdered on September 11, 2001,” Holder said.

Steelers’ owner Dan Rooney, a lifelong Republican, was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Ireland in 2009 by President Obama, who ordered the action against bin Laden. Navy SEALs carried out the operation, and the President lauded the “tireless and heroic work of our military and our counterterrorism professionals.”

The embassy’s website features information on the action and the death of bin Laden. Ambassador Dan Rooney praised the President and the action.

Ambassador Dan Rooney

“I am proud and grateful for the President and all the men and women of intelligence and military communities for their constant demonstration of courage and bravery,” Rooney said in a statement on the embassy website. “Their actions this weekend have made the world a safer and more just place to live for all humanity.”

“Capturing or killing bin Laden had been a U.S. goal even before the 2001 attacks,” the website noted. “He declared war on the United States and its allies in 1996, and al-Qaida was considered responsible for the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the 2000 suicide attack against the USS Cole in Yemen.”

Mendenhall is regarded as one of the top young runners in the National Football League. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Mendenhall earlier had used Twitter to compare “the lot of NFL players to that of slaves in the old South.”

The Post-Gazette reported in 2008 that Mendenhall had a five-year, $12.55 million contract with the Steelers that guaranteed him $7.125 million.

Pittsburgh took great pride in Obama’s nomination of Dan Rooney to the embassy post.

May 3, 2011