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Tag: SEC

OFFICIALS: Ponzi Schemes, Investment Fraud Have Led To Staggering Losses In Utah; Hundreds Of Potential Perpetrators Identified

UPDATED 8:38 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Recent Ponzi schemes and cases of investment fraud have cost Utah residents an estimated $1.4 billion, the FBI said today. About 370 investigative “subjects” — defined as “potential perpetrators” in current cases — have been identified, and the agency and its law-enforcement partners have embarked on a public awareness and…

Jun 13, 2010
BULLETIN: Yet Another Florida Ponzi Scheme; SEC Accuses Luis Felipe Perez Of Operating $40 Million Fraud Backed By Fake Diamonds And Bogus ‘Pawn Shops’

EDITOR’S NOTE: Here’s one for your Bubba Blue notebook on the various ways to have a Ponzi scheme, as opposed to shrimp. UPDATED 5:50 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) A Miami man has been charged by the SEC with gathering $40 million in a Ponzi scheme, pocketing $6 million for himself and telling investors they were helping…

Jun 2, 2010
Wayne McLeod Becomes Subject Of FBI Probe; Agency Asks Victims, Witnesses To Come Forward

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story originally was published June 30. The PP Blog later encountered a database problem, which caused the site to go down and resulted in the temporary loss of some data. The data now has been retrieved. The FBI in Jacksonville has opened a probe into Kenneth “Wayne” McLeod, the Florida man who…

Jun 1, 2010
REQUIEM FOR THE FORUM PIMPS? Court Documents In Legisi Case Reference Secret Service, MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi Forum; SEC Has Postings From Legisi’s ‘Private’ Forum, Too

HYIP or autosurf Ponzi promoter? Player? Forum “expert?” Moderator? Cheerleader? Get ready for a surprise: Your downline perhaps already has identified you as a pimp or even one of the masterminds. If your plan is to continue to promote the programs on the Ponzi forums and though emails, you should know that things could be…

May 31, 2010
FBI, SEC Nab Pair Using Gmail To Run Insider-Trading Scam; Undercover Agents Responded To Offer To Sell Disney Earnings Report

So, you want to use Google’s free Gmail service to pull off a scam? From this day forward you should not be confident that you’re not already caught.Â The FBI today announced that it set up a sting to nail two people who were trying to sell the quarterly earnings report of Walt Disney Co. before…

May 26, 2010
ONLINE PONZI FORUM BOMBSHELL: Matt Gagnon A ‘Danger To The Investing Public,’ SEC Says; Federal Judge Freezes Assets Of Mazu.com Pitchman Who Promoted Legisi, Other Alleged Scams

Ponzi forum operator or moderator? Online HYIP aficionado? Think you’re safe pitching fraud schemes because you’re “only” a promoter or forum “expert” and not the operator of the programs? Have a secret partnership deal with an HYIP fraudster? Using fancy, professional-sounding terms such as “due diligence” in your forum posts? Claiming you’ve done thorough research…

May 26, 2010
Feds, State Team Up In Virginia To Short-Circuit White-Collar Crime Wave; ‘All Too Clear’ Problem National In Scope, Top Federal Prosecutor Says

Calling it an “unprecedented partnership” brought about by a financial-fraud problem that is national in scope, federal and state officials today announced the creation of the Virginia Financial and Securities Fraud Task Force. The Virginia Task Force, which is part of President Obama’s interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, brings together criminal investigators and civil…

May 21, 2010
Debit-Card Firm Spotlighted In Purported Training Material For Minnesota-Based INetGlobal Was Referenced In $22 Million Ponzi Case In Florida Last Year; Renner Company Now Has Link To Third Ponzi Court Scrape

Training material purportedly produced in November 2009 and published online shows prospects of INetGlobal how to transfer money from the company to a reloadable debit card. The presentation reveals that INetGlobal was using the same debit-card firm that provided services for a Florida man implicated in October 2009 — just a month before the INetGlobal…

May 10, 2010
THE MODERN PONZI: Federal Judge Orders Parties Not To ‘Harass’ Receiver In Mantria/Speed Of Wealth Case; Dozens Of Companies Now Ensnared In Litigation

A federal judge has issued an order that effectively puts a court-appointed receiver in control of dozens of entities related to Mantria Corp. and Speed of Wealth LLC in a search for “recoverable assets.” One of the receiver’s duties is to determine if fraudulent transfers occurred between or among companies, according to the order. The…

May 4, 2010
Is Trevor Cook Lying To Ponzi Investigators In $190 Million Case After Accepting Plea Deal? Investors Say Story Too Incredible To Believe

EDITOR’S NOTE: Some of the investors in the Trevor Cook/Pat Kiley Ponzi scheme in Minnesota say they believe Cook is lying to investigators about the whereabouts of assets and perhaps other elements of the probe. “We do not believe this much money could be totally lost in such a short period of time,” an investor…

Apr 26, 2010
SPECIAL REPORT: SEC Says Detroit Pension Funds Looted By Outside Manager, Used-Car Dealer; Agency Alleges Elaborate Fraud Into Which Millions Dumped Into Firms That Financed High-Risk Loans In Metro Atlanta

EDITOR’S NOTE: The story below is about a compelling case in which nearly $16 million in public-pension funds from the Detroit area allegedly ended up in the control of an Atlanta-area, used-car dealership that operates in a business segment commonly known in the auto trade as “buy here, pay here.” Research shows that the dealership…

Apr 26, 2010