PatrickPretty.com

Tag: Sann Rodrigues

  • Scrutiny Of TelexFree Intensifies; 2 European Police Agencies Issue Warnings And Say Madeiran Community At Risk

    Carlos Costa.
    Carlos Costa.

    Updated 9:45 a.m. (Feb. 27, 2014, U.S.A.) Police who serve Portuguese-speaking residents in two British Crown dependencies — the States of Jersey and Guernsey — have issued warnings on the TelexFree scheme. News of the warnings was published on BehindMLM.com.

    Brazil-based TelexFree executive Carlos Costa waved the flags of Portugal and Madeira in a curious TelexFree cheerleading promo last year about a bankruptcy filing. Jersey Police specifically referenced the Madeiran community in the agency’s warning. So did Guernsey.

    After the bankruptcy claim involving a TelexFree arm in Brazil known as Ympactus Comercial Ltd., TelexFree became a sponsor of the Botafogo football club in Rio de Janeiro — apparently through one of its U.S. arms.

    From a statement by Jersey Police (italics added):

    The States of Jersey Police have been made aware of a potential fraud which is targeting Jersey’s Madeiran community.

    Guernsey Police have issued a similar appeal.

    The scheme is under a company name of TELEXFREE and would require initial investments with the promise of big returns.

    The scheme originated from Brazil and is currently being investigated by the Brazilian authorities as it is believed to be fraudulent.

    Jersey Police know that islanders have been approached to “invest” in the scheme, but as yet have not had any contact from victims of the scam.

    If anyone in Jersey has invested money into a TELEXFREE scheme they should contact the Joint Financial Crimes Unit on Tel: 01534 612250 (during office hours) or Police headquarters on 01534 612612 (at other times).

    Guernsey Police also referenced its Madeiran community in the agency’s Feb. 19 warning posted on Facebook (italics added):

    Guernsey Police have been made aware of a potential fraud which was intended to specifically target Guernsey’s Madeiran community.

    The scheme was under a company name of Telexfree and would require initial investments with the promise of big returns.

    The scheme originated from Brazil and is currently being investigated by the Brazilian authorities as it is fraudulent.

    If anyone in Guernsey has invested money into a Telexfree scheme they should contact Sgt Snowdon in the Financial Intelligence Service on 01481 755812.

    TelexFree, which might represent a form of affinity fraud and is under investigation in Brazil amid pyramid-scheme allegations, appears first to have targeted Portuguese-speaking populations in Brazil and Europe. TelexFree is based in the Boston region, which has a considerable population of Brazilians.

    Sann Rodrigues, a purported TelexFree millionaire, is one of the “program’s” top hucksters. He was successfully sued by the SEC in a 2006 case that alleged he presided over a pyramid scheme and engaged in affinity fraud.

    At the time, Rodrigues, also known as Sanderley R. De Vasconcelos, advised the court that he was unable to pay a considerable portion of the sanctions against him.

    TelexFree says Rodrigues is among the headliners at a rah-rah session in Spain March 1 and 2. As things stand, that event now will take place against the backdrop of the warnings in Jersey and Guernsey and the possibility of increased scrutiny in Portugal and the United States.

    Some U.S. promoters have claimed that $15,125 sent to the firm triples or quadruples in a year. TelexFree says it is in the VOIP business and claims it is expanding into cellphones and credit repair. Why a purported communications business would get into credit repair is unclear.

    Some members of the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme broken up by the U.S. Secret Service in 2008 were in purported credit-repair and debt-elimination businesses.

    See March 3, 2009, PP Blog story on a bizarre “twenty-one dollars in silver coinage” claim that appeared in the context of ASD.

     

  • UPDATE: Promoters May Be Lobbying TelexFree To Keep Ponzi Scheme Intact

    Some TelexFree members may be unhappy if the "program" changes its compensation plan. Source: Screen shot of Blog at Blogspot.com.
    Some TelexFree members may be unhappy if the “program” changes its compensation plan. Source: Screen shot of Blog at Blogspot.com.

    Updated 8:36 a.m. ET (Feb. 26, U.S.A.) Some TelexFree promoters may be lobbying the company and Brazil-based executive Carlos Costa to keep its original Ponzi scheme intact, according to a Blog post (in Portuguese) observed by the PP Blog this morning.

    BehindMLM.com reported on Feb. 19 that TelexFree may be in the process of changing its compensation plan. Details remain murky. It is common for fraud schemes that either know they are under scrutiny or sense they soon will be to change rules or make cosmetic tweaks to keep money coming in.

    After-the-fact changes, however, cannot unring bells of HYIP fraud that already have been rung. And the changes sometimes introduce new disguises designed to sustain a Ponzi deception.

    TelexFree, alleged in Brazil to be a pyramid scheme, has been under investigation in that country since at least June 2013. In the AdSurfDaily and Zeek Rewards Ponzi/pyramid cases in the United States, prosecutors said that both firms made cosmetic tweaks in bids to stay under the radar.

    Here is a Google translation from Portuguese to English of the Blog post that may signal that some TelexFree reps want the firm to cling to a Ponzi business model (italics added):

    Campaign advisers on social networks asking an unchanged Marketing Plan International Telexfree.

    And you, what do you think? Want to try the new plan Telexfree or would you change anything, because this plan is already excellent?

    Share if you do not want changes in Telexfree.

    Affiliates of online Ponzi schemes often claim their “program” is legal and excellent because it pays. But all successful Ponzi schemes pay. Bernard Madoff’s epic scheme “paid” — until it didn’t. And the Ponzi scheme of George Theodule aimed at Haitian immigrants also “paid” — until it didn’t.

    Theodule, 52, was sentenced yesterday to 150 months in federal prison.

    “George Louis Theodule defrauded his victims out of millions of their hard-earned dollars,” said U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida.

    “[Theodule] did so by taking advantage of people who trusted him because of their cultural affinity,” Ferrer said. “Such tactics are intolerable, especially given that some of his victims lost their entire life savings. This sentence should send a strong message to those who prey on the trust of others: you will get caught and justice will be served.”

    Also on the Blog reporting potential dissatisfaction with TelexFree changes was a post on something called CicloFAST, possibly an emerging “opportunity” of some sort. The CicloFAST website prominently displays a photo of a MasterCard.

    Like TelexFree, CicloFast styles the last four letters of its name in uppercase — i.e. FREE and FAST. It was not immediately clear if the firms had a business relationship.

    Some U.S.-based promoters of TelexFree claim that $15,125 sent to the company effectively will triple or quadruple in a year. Among the firm’s key pitchman is Sann Rodrigues, a former SEC defendant in a pyramid-scheme and affinity-fraud case.

    Rodrigues, a purported TelexFree millionaire, has been billed by the firm as a headliner at a planned TelexFree convention March 1 and 2 in Spain.

    Any change in the TelexFree compensation plan could lead to questions about why Rodrigues was permitted to make large sums of money under a plan that now needs to be changed and whether less-successful affiliates now will be hamstrung even tighter.

    Some TelexFree promoters have demonized the Brazilian  prosecutors who brought the pyramid case in the state of Acre. It is common for HYIP scams to pander to the rank-and-file and to marry the processes of demonization and envy.

  • TELEXFREE LA-LA LAND: Promo For Alleged Pyramid Scheme’s International Convention Is Voiced By Former SEC Defendant (In Pyramid-Scheme Case) — And Uses Images Of Pyramids Of Giza And American MLM Lawyer

    In a bizarre promo, Egyptian pyramids are being used as an art element by cheerleaders for TelexFree, an alleged pyramid scheme. Source: ConventionTelexFree.com. Red highlight by PP Blog.
    In a curious promo, Egyptian pyramids are being used as an art element by cheerleaders for TelexFree, an alleged pyramid scheme. Source: ConventionTelexFree.com. Red highlight by PP Blog.

    U.S.-based TelexFree, alleged in Brazil to be a massive pyramid scheme, is serving up a heaping helping of strangeness.

    For starters, a promo for TelexFree’s International Convention set for Spain next month is being voiced by Sann Rogrigues, whom the SEC successfully sued in 2006 amid allegations he was operating a pyramid scheme and engaging in affinity fraud aimed at the Brazilian community.

    The promo curiously is playing against the backdrop of an image of the Pyramids of Giza. For good measure, images of other famous world landmarks are thrown in. These include St. Basil’s Cathedral (near the Kremlin) in Moscow; Big Ben in London; The Eiffel Tower in Paris; the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty in New York; the Leaning Tower of Pisa; and the Burj al Arab Hotel in Dubai.

    TelexFree operates out of Marlborough, Mass., and Las Vegas in the United States. Its convention is scheduled for March 1 and 2 in Madrid.

    The promo in which Rogrigues dispenses the TelexFree convention wisdom appears on a website styled ConventionTelexFree.com. Among the claims on the site is that American MLM lawyer Gerald P. Nehra will be among the “Special Guests” at the rah-rah fest in Spain.

    American MLM lawyer Gerald Nehra will be a special guest at TelexFree's International Convention in Madrid next month, according to ConventionTelexFree.com.
    American MLM lawyer Gerald Nehra will be a special guest at TelexFree’s International Convention in Madrid next month, according to ConventionTelexFree.com.

    Serving as an expert witness for AdSurfDaily in 2008, Nehra opined that ASD was not a Ponzi scheme. ASD operator Andy Bowdoin, now serving 78 months in federal prison at the age of 79, later disagreed with his own expert. In 2012, Bowdoin admitted that ASD was a Ponzi scheme that had gathered $119 million and said the “program” never operated lawfully from its inception in 2006.

    ASD promoted a return of 1 percent a day. Some TelexFree promoters say that “program” triples or quadruples money in a year. Some promos solicit sums of $15,125.

    Nehra’s law firm also was touted by Zeek Rewards. In 2012, Zeek was accused by the SEC of operating a massive international Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that gathered hundreds of millions of dollars by planting the seed that returns would average 1.5 percent a day. At least two Zeek figures potentially now face prison sentences after pleading guilty for their roles in the scheme.

    The court-appointed receiver in the Zeek case says he’s on the brink of filing lawsuits against thousands of Zeek promoters.

    TelexFree appears recently to have begun operating under the name TelexFree International. Precisely where TelexFree International is based is unclear.

    In the past, Nehra has described himself an an attorney for “TelexFREE in the USA,” according to BehindMLM.com. Whether he represents the TelexFree International derivative is unclear. Convention promoters, however, appear to believe he does.

     

  • MORE FROM MLM LA-LA LAND: Former SEC Defendant In Pyramid-Scheme And Affinity-Fraud Case To Headline TelexFree Event In Spain

    Former SEC defendant Sann Rodrigues will be a headliner at a TelexFree event scheduled next month in Spain. Source: TelexFree rolling promo on website.
    Sann Rodrigues (right) will be a headliner at a TelexFree event scheduled next month in Spain. Source: TelexFree rolling promo on website.

    Calling Sann Rodrigues its “TOP PROMOTER IN THE WORLD,” the alleged TelexFree pyramid scheme curiously has announced that Rodrigues will be a headliner at a TelexFree rah-rah session in Spain on March 1 and 2.

    An image of Rodrigues now rolls across TelexFree’s website. But the promo does not mention that Rodrigues was successfully sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in federal court in Massachusetts in 2006. The agency alleged that he was presiding over a pyramid scheme known as FoneClub and engaging in affinity fraud targeted at the Brazilian and Brazilian-American communities in Massachusetts.

    A federal judge held Rodrigues, also known as Sanderley R. De Vasconcelos, “jointly and severally liable” with FoneClub for “$3,269,459 in disgorgement plus $151,928.49 in prejudgment interest,” the SEC said in 2007.

    Prosecutors in Brazil have alleged that TelexFree is a massive pyramid scheme. The purported “opportunity” operates from Massachusetts, the same venue from which Rodrigues was sued by the SEC.

    Massachusetts also was the venue from which the U.S. government brought a successful criminal prosecution against the infamous World Marketing Direct Selling (WMDS) and OneUniverseOnline (1UOL) pyramid- and affinity-fraud scheme targeted at Cambodian immigrants. The SEC also filed suit.

    In the AdSurfDaily Ponzi-scheme case in 2008, the U.S. Secret Service alleged that neither ASD nor a business partner disclosed that the partner had been an SEC defendant in a successful 1997 prosecution that alleged the partner had pitched three prime-bank swindles, including one that advertised a return of 10,000 percent.

    ASD was a $119 million Ponzi scheme targeted in part at the Christian community, federal prosecutors alleged.

    In the $850 million Zeek Rewards’ Ponzi- and pyramid scheme in 2012, former SEC defendant Keith Laggos emerged as a key cheerleader. Laggos was sued by the SEC in 2004 in a case that alleged he didn’t disclose he was being paid to tout stock.