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Tag: SEC

BULLETIN: OH, FLORIDA! Receiver In Alleged Commodities Online LLC Ponzi Caper Says Scheme Operated Through Multiple Companies; James Clark Howard III, Louis N. Gallo III, George Saliba And Martin Vegas Sued For Combined Millions Of Dollars

BULLETIN: David S. Mandel, the receiver in the alleged Commodities Online LLC Ponzi and fraud scheme, has sued four Florida residents and is demanding more than $9 million. Named defendants in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida are James C. Howard III of Parkland; Louis N. Gallo III of Parkland; Martin Vegas…

Nov 22, 2011
3 PONZI/FRAUD CAPSULES: (1) Washington State Woman Jailed In Alleged $126 Million Ponzi Scheme; (2) Charity, Church, Investors In Metro Washington, D.C., Allegedly Scammed In $27M Ponzi; (3) South Florida Man Sentenced To More Than 12 Years In $29.5M ‘Gold’ Scam

EDITOR’S NOTE: This information is presented in the form of briefs, with links to external sources. 1.) Doris E. Nelson, arrested/jailed in Spokane, Wash., region, last week after federal raid in April 2010. SEC filed civil charges in September 2011. The allegations against Nelson and multiple companies in Nevada, Utah and Canada are alarming, but…

Nov 20, 2011
FLORIDA — AGAIN (BOCA RATON VIA NEW YORK): John A. Mattera, Purported Philanthropist, Arrested By Feds And Sued By SEC Amid Allegations He Set Up Scam Using Names Of Groupon And Facebook; Suspect Also Traded On Name Of Red Cross; Investigators Call Him A Recidivist Felon

EDITOR’S NOTE: So, you recognize the power of the names of Groupon and Facebook and want to trade on their magnetism to drive traffic to your purported “opportunity” — and you want to further sanitize your scheme by describing yourself as a philanthropist and trading on the name of a charity such as the American…

Nov 19, 2011
UPDATE: More Red Flags At ‘Text Cash Network’; Firm’s ‘Official’ Video Has YouTube Upload Date Of Nov. 15, 2011 — But Same Video With Nearly 3-Year Old Upload Date Also Appears On YouTube For Same ‘Opportunity’

In this Nov. 13 post, the PP Blog published a list of red flags concerning online promos for Text Cash Network (TCN), purportedly an emerging business “opportunity” involving text advertising and cell phones. A promo for TCN appeared — and then vanished — from a website linked to huckster Phil Piccolo, known online as “the…

Nov 16, 2011
In Rejecting Tortured Legal Constructions, Judges Across America Now Point To Utah Case Involving AdSurfDaily Mainstay Curtis Richmond

UPDATED 11:54 A.M. ET (U.S.A.) Curtis Richmond claimed the federal judge overseeing the AdSurfDaily civil-forfeiture case in the District of Columbia was among a group of “Co-Conspirators” that included two federal prosecutors and a court clerk. The judge, Richmond claimed, was violating her oath and conspiring with another judge to deny ASD members justice. Prosecutors,…

Nov 15, 2011
‘TEXT CASH NETWORK’: RED FLAGS GALORE: New ‘Opportunity’ Linked To Ponzi Boards And To Phil Piccolo-Associated ‘Firms’: Hype, Vapid Claims, Alexa Charts, Launch Countdown Timer, Brand Leeching — And Possible Ties To Long-Running SEC Case

EDITOR’S NOTE: A “program” known as Text Cash Network (TCN) that purports to share “advertising” revenue from text messages is spreading virally on the Internet. This column includes information prospective TCN members might want to consider before joining and asking others to join. There are red flags galore. Last week, the PP Blog compiled some…

Nov 13, 2011
EDITORIAL: Bogdan Fiedur Of AdLandPro’s Deplorable Bid To Chill RealScam.com In The Age Of International Mass-Marketing Fraud

A few weeks prior to the Aug. 1, 2008, seizure of tens of millions of dollars in the personal bank accounts of AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin, Bowdoin apparently believed it prudent to plant the seed that the ASD autosurf had amassed a giant pot of cash and would use it to “hammer” critics. His willfully…

Nov 2, 2011
Alfred Gerebizza Arrested In $105 Million Ponzi Case; PP Blog Received Threatening Communication About Alleged Fraud Caper Last Year

UPDATED 5:25 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Alfred Gerebizza has been charged with mail fraud and tax crimes in a superseding indictment in the Daniel Spitzer Ponzi case, which alleged both domestic and offshore fraud. The SEC initially charged Spitzer civilly in June 2010, accusing him of “moving investor money through a complex network of foreign bank…

Nov 1, 2011
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: ALLEGED ‘PUPPETMASTERS’ EXPOSED: Feds Charge 5 Attorneys, 2 Mob Figures And CPA In Extortion Scheme That Led To ‘Illegal Takeover’ Of FirstPlus Financial Group Inc.; Scheme Featured ‘Fraudulent SEC Filings,’ U.S. Attorney Says

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Thirteen people have been arrested, including five attorneys, a CPA, two alleged mob associates and others in a spectacular case that alleges the mafia and its underlings illegally took over FirstPlus Financial Group Inc., a publicly held company in Texas. “[T]he defendants gave new meaning to ‘corporate takeover’ by looting a…

Nov 1, 2011
BULLETIN: Already Sentenced To 30 Years In California Ponzi Caper, Purported ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Thanh-Viet ‘Jeremy’ Cao Gets More Time In Nevada False-Liens Case

BULLETIN: Thanh-Viet “Jeremy” Cao, the California Ponzi schemer and purported “sovereign citizen” who was sentenced in May to 30 years in federal prison for the Ponzi caper, now has been sentenced to an additional 41 months for a Nevada crime in which he filed false liens for hundreds of millions of dollars against government officials.…

Oct 27, 2011
SEC: Federal Judge Orders Asset Freeze Amid Allegations That ‘Locust Offshore Fund Ltd.’ Was A Fraud Pulled Off By Man Who Falsely Claimed 2 Harvard Degrees; Andrey C. Hicks Accused Of Faking Academic And Employment Pedigrees And Sanitizing Fraud Through Website

In yet another bizarre and disturbing development on the fraud front, the SEC went to federal court in Massachusetts yesterday, leveling spectacular allegations of financial deceit against Locust Offshore Management LLC of Delaware and Cambridge, Mass., and its principal, Andrey C. Hicks of Boston. Named a relief defendant was Locust Offshore Fund Ltd., a purported…

Oct 27, 2011