SEC

BULLETIN: (4th update 9:11 p.m. ET U.S.A.) Alleged Zeek Rewards’ insider Darryle Douglas has been arrested in Riverside, Calif. Court filings docketed March 7 in the SEC’s civil case against Zeek say Douglas, whose age was not listed, was arrested March 2 by the U.S. Marshals Service. On Dec. 10, 2015, Senior U.S. District Judge Graham C. […]

Is there a double whammy in your MLM future — first being ripped off in a binary-options “program,” only to be ripped off a second time by scammers posing as government agencies and offering purported refunds for a fee? Naturally some MLMers have added binary options to their offerings, with some incredible solicitations and tales being told […]

“These frauds are easily duplicated, and at times, we find ourselves playing ‘whack-a-mole,’ chasing the same set of fraudsters who, after feeling a bit of heat, simply close down one scheme and quickly set up a new one under a different name.” — Andrew Ceresney, SEC Enforcement Division director, March 2, 2016 EDITOR’S NOTE: Type […]

EDITOR’S NOTE: For background, see Feb. 17 PP Blog story: RECEIVER: Payza And Payment World ‘Facilitated’ Zeek Ponzi Scheme; Whereabouts Of $13.1 Million An ‘Open Question’ (Updated 11:14 a.m. ET U.S.A.) Money due victims of Zeek Rewards from transactions involving Payza and Payment World may have been transferred from VictoriaBank in Moldova to JSC TusarBank in […]

Let’s begin by pointing out that Daniil Shoyfer and Scott Miller have not been charged by the SEC in its 2014 TelexFree action. There are asset freezes aplenty in that government-brought case, including freezes against alleged promoters Sann Rodrigues, Faith Sloan, Randy Crosby and Santiago De La Rosa. The asset restraints imposed yesterday by U.S. […]

The SEC this afternoon declined comment on an order by a federal judge in Atlanta that could lead to the dismissal of the agency’s 2013 case against Profitable Sunrise, an alleged international pyramid scheme and offering fraud targeted at U.S. residents by one or more murky figures. Such a dismissal almost certainly would embolden overseas HYIP scammers […]

EDITOR’S NOTE: As the PP Blog reported yesterday, TelexFree figure Sann Rodrigues has been jailed. The SEC today released a litigation statement on the matter and related developments. It is reproduced below in its entirety.  **__________________________** Florida Resident Ordered to Jail Based On Violating Court Orders Obtained by the SEC The Securities and Exchange Commission […]

BULLETIN:  (2nd Update 10:46 P.M. ET U.S.A.) TelexFree figure Sann Rodrigues has been ordered jailed. The order, dated Jan. 15, was issued by U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton of the District of Massachusetts. Gorton found Rodrigues in civil contempt last month for violating an asset freeze. Rodrigues did not purge the contempt by Jan. 15, so Gorton ordered the […]

BULLETIN: (8th Update 3:34 p.m. ET U.SA.) The SEC has gone to federal court in Minnesota, alleging that an enterprise known as “TeamVinh” that pushed something called “VPAKs” was operating a securities-fraud scheme targeted at MLMers. TeamVinh, which allegedly recruited more than 5,600 participants,  has a presence on the Ponzi boards, including MoneyMakerGroup and TalkGold. Recent chatter suggests the […]

ABC has made available the first trailer for “Madoff,” a network miniseries debuting Feb. 3, 2016. Richard Dreyfuss plays the notorious Ponzi schemer, with Blythe Danner starring as Ruth Madoff. Bernard Madoff’s name first appeared on the PP Blog nearly seven years ago, on Dec. 13, 2008. It has appeared numerous times since then. Says […]

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (5th Update 9:15 p.m. ET U.S.A.) The SEC has gone to federal court in the Western District of North Carolina and charged Zeek Rewards’ figure Trudy Gilmond with securities fraud, selling unregistered securities and failure to register as a broker-dealer. Among the allegations: Gilmond knew Zeek was under investigation in 2012 […]