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Tag: SEC

SEC: Yet Another Social Media Fraud Scheme; Hawaii Woman Charged

On the same day the SEC announced a civil and criminal prosecution of alleged Florida-based scammers using YouTube to fleece the masses in a Ponzi scheme, it announced it had charged a Honolulu woman who allegedly engineered two fraud schemes through promotions on her own website and Twitter, Facebook and Skype. Keiko Kawamura’s scams featured…

Apr 9, 2014
BULLETIN: In New ‘Advertising’ Ponzi-Scheme Takedown, SEC Points To YouTube Video Allegedly Used By Scammers To Drive Sales — And Feds File Criminal Charges

Updated 2:45 P.M. EDT (April 16, 2014) The SEC has sued the operators of an alleged Ponzi scheme in Florida — and federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges. In its announcement of the prosecution against Joseph Signore of West Palm Beach and Paul L. Schumack II of Pompano Beach, the SEC provided a link to…

Apr 8, 2014
ZEEK-BEATER: TelexFree LLC Filings In Alabama Say Firm Posted ‘Total Income’ Of Nearly $700 Million In 2013; Thursday Hearing On Telecom Application In State Delayed At Company’s Request; Firm May Be Filing Cookie-Cutter Applications With Regulators

UPDATED 4:50 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) The TelexFree LLC branch of the TelexFree enterprise posted more than $691 million in “total income” last year, according to a filing with the Alabama Public Service Commission. (The PP Blog retrieved the filing today and saved it as TelexFreeAlabamaApplication.pdf. See link below.) TelexFree asked that the document be “FILED…

Apr 8, 2014
TelexFree’s Name Appears In Federal Court Filings In The SEC’s Pyramid And Ponzi Case Against WCM777

UPDATED 8:51 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Already under investigation in Massachusetts, is TelexFree destined to encounter trouble from state regulators in California and perhaps the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)? At least by Nov. 14, 2013, the California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) was asking questions about the TelexFree MLM scheme, according to filings in…

Apr 4, 2014
EDITORIAL: Uproar In TelexFree’s Billion-Dollar Broom Closet

UPDATED 12:15 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) The Boston Red Sox were at the White House Tuesday to receive recognition for winning the 2013 World Series. There were plenty of smiling faces, perhaps particularly when slugger David Ortiz, the MVP of the series, posed for a selfie with President Obama. But back home in Massachusetts, particularly in…

Apr 3, 2014
BULLETIN: Federal Judge Freezes At Least 54 Bank/Vendor Accounts Linked By SEC To Alleged WCM777 Ponzi/Pyramid That Targeted Asians And Latinos; Court Authorizes Saturday Depositions And Orders Protection Of Records And Assets To Be Repatriated

BULLETIN: What happens if it is alleged by law enforcement that you’re a Ponzi schemer/affinity fraudster, a business associate of a Ponzi schemer/affinity fraudster or a vendor of a Ponzi schemer/affinity fraudster? A federal judge has frozen at least 54 bank or financial accounts the SEC has linked to WCM777, an alleged $65 million Ponzi-…

Mar 29, 2014
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: SEC Takes Down WCM777; Says Purported Opportunity Is ‘Worldwide Pyramid Scheme,’ Ponzi And Offering Fraud; Federal Judge Signs Asset Freeze

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (16th update 5:42 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) The SEC has gone to federal court in Los Angeles, alleging that the WCM777 “program” is a “worldwide” pyramid scheme, a Ponzi scheme and an offering fraud that targeted Asian and Latino communities and gathered more than $65 million. A federal judge has granted…

Mar 28, 2014
EDITORIAL: MIXED MLM MESSAGING: As Herbalife Announces FTC Probe, TelexFree Cheerleaders Plant Seed That Obama Gave Their ‘Program’ An Exemption From Securities Laws

UPDATED 12:07 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) You can’t blame legitimate MLMers if they’re feeling a little jittery. Herbalife, one of the industry’s stalwarts, is under investigation by the FTC, which has many duties, including enforcing laws against false advertising and pyramid schemes. Precisely why the FTC is investigating Herbalife is unknown. Hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman says…

Mar 16, 2014
CLAIM: TelexFree Reps Took ‘Private Jet’ From Dominican Republic To Haiti And Were Met At Airport By ‘Prime Minister’s’ Motorcade

UPDATED 7:03 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) At a TelexFree pitchfest in a Massachusetts hotel this morning, a man promoting a credit-repair “program” linked to TelexFree claimed that TelexFree reps recently took a “private jet” from the Dominican Republic to Haiti. “I felt like a rockstar,” the man said from the stage. Once on the ground in…

Mar 9, 2014
BULLETIN: Entities Operating As Fleet Mutual Wealth Limited And MWF Financial Are Online Frauds, SEC Says; ‘Program’ Has Presence On TalkGold And MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi Forums; Money Ordered Frozen In SolidTrustPay, EgoPay And Perfect Money Accounts

BULLETIN: (7th Update 8:51 p.m. ET U.S.A.) Entities known as Fleet Mutual Wealth Limited, MWF Financial Limited and Mutual Wealth are frauds that filed invalid forms with the SEC to dupe the masses, the SEC said. An associated web domain styled MutualWealth.com also is a fraud, the SEC said in a statement and emergency court…

Mar 5, 2014
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Zeek Receiver Sues Alleged Insiders, Winners; Emails, Skype Chats Helped Expose Fraud; ‘We’ve Already Attracted A Great Many Big Fishes,’ Wright-Olivares ‘Excitedly’ Told Paul Burks Early In Scheme, Kenneth D. Bell Alleges

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (8th Update 2:40 p.m. ET March 4, U.S.A.) The court-appointed receiver in the Zeek Rewards Ponzi- and pyramid-scheme case has sued alleged insiders and net winners, including members of the 2008 AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme. Parts of the complaint read like a re-living of the ASD scheme, with Zeek Receiver Kenneth…

Mar 3, 2014