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Tag: Secret Service

UPDATE: Robert Hodgins Still Wanted By Interpol; Co-Defendant In Narcotics Probe With Link To AdSurfDaily Case Sentenced To Prison; Colombian Drug Business Used Same Debit Card As ASD

A Colombian national implicated in an international conspiracy to launder drug money has been sentenced to 45 months in prison, federal prosecutors announced. Meanwhile, another figure in the alleged scheme — Robert Hodgins, the operator of Dallas-based Virtual Money Inc. (VM) — remains at large, prosecutors said. Hodgins is wanted by Interpol on a warrant…

Aug 15, 2010
KABOOM! FTC Says ‘Medical Discount’ Hucksters Used Images Of Obama, Words From Congressional Speech To Fleece Customers; Receiver Already Has Seized Website; Feds, 24 States Launch Fraud Crackdown

EDITOR’S NOTE: Some readers will recall that one of the Secret Service’s allegations in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi case is that pitchmen tried to sanitize the scheme by making false claims that ASD President Andy Bowdoin had received an award for business acumen from President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Others will recall…

Aug 11, 2010
AdViewGlobal Website Offline; ‘Surfing’ Site With Close ASD Ties Suspended Cashouts A Year Ago

The website of AdViewGlobal (AVG), an autosurf with close ties to the alleged AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme, has gone offline. Why AVG’s site was offline was not immediately clear. One person told the PP Blog that the site had been “down for days.” AVG’s domain, which lists a registration address in Uruguay and appears to use…

Aug 10, 2010
BULLETIN: Another ‘False Liens’ Case Alleged; Feds Charge Thanh Viet Jeremy Cao With Targeting Federal Judges, SEC, IRS, Secret Service And Prosecutors In Paperwork Scheme

BULLETIN: Yet-another bizarre paperwork attack on U.S. law enforcement has occurred. A California man has been charged with filing “false liens” in Nevada against federal officials and employees of the SEC, the Secret Service, the IRS, four federal judges and staff members of the U.S. Attorneyâ€™s Office for the Southern District of California, federal prosecutors…

Jul 21, 2010
GO FINRA! Regulator Tackles Online HYIPs; Issues Warning On ‘Social Media-Linked Ponzi Schemes’; References P2P, Genius Funds, ‘Con Artists’ And ‘Bizarre Substratum’ Of Internet

EDITOR’S NOTE: It has become increasingly clear that regulators and the law-enforcement community are rallying around a common theme that web-based promoters are using discussion forums and social-networking sites in bids to sanitize HYIP Ponzi schemes by positioning them as attractive investment opportunities and even a thrilling form of gambling that pays commissions. Today the…

Jul 15, 2010
ASD-LIKE LITIGATION PLAYBOOK BACKFIRES: Washington State Man Indicted For Placing Fraudulent Liens Against Prosecutors, IRS Agent; Ronald James Davenport Faces Decades In Prison If Convicted

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a post in which the introduction is longer than the actual story (below). The story demonstrates the dangers of jumping on bandwagons before giving them careful thought. Longtime readers of the PP Blog will recall our coverage of Curtis Richmond, “Professor” Patrick Moriarty and ASD Members International (ASDMI). Each was a…

Jun 23, 2010
Steve Renner Fires, Gets Restraining Order Against Donald Allen; Says Former VP Harassed Him, Tried To Extort $100,000

Former INetGlobal CEO Steven Keough now has some company on the list of people alleged to have tried to extort money from the Steve Renner family of companies. Renner went to court yesterday in Minnesota to seek a restraining order prohibiting Donald Allen from harassing him. The order was granted after Renner asserted Allen tried…

Apr 28, 2010
Prosecutors Ask Judge For Order To Disqualify INetGlobal Attorney, Saying They May Wish To Cross-Examine Him As Witness In Ponzi Case

UPDATED 11:31 A.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Federal prosecutors have filed a motion to disqualify attorney Mark Kallenbach as counsel for INetGlobal and related companies, claiming that Kallenbach is attempting to be both a witness in the case and a lawyer for multiple clients involved in a Ponzi scheme, wire fraud and money-laundering probe. Kallenbach, prosecutors said,…

Apr 10, 2010
PROSECUTION: Renner Has No Standing To Contest Corporate Seizures In INetGlobal Case; ‘Major’ Fraud And Money-Laundering Probe Under Way; IRS Involved; No Media ‘Leak’ Occurred

Steve Renner has no standing to contest the seizure of “the vast majority”Â of the money and assets in the INetGlobal autosurf Ponzi case because the seized property was owned by corporations, not Renner, federal prosecutors said. Only $151,100 of the $26 million seized in the case came from accounts in Renner’s name, prosecutors said,…

Apr 3, 2010
Ponzi Suspect Michael Greenberg Commits Suicide, Police Say; Florida Man Stood Accused Of Bilking Parents, Investors, Banks In New Scheme That Emerged After Prison Release

Michael Greenberg, charged last week in a Ponzi scheme that allegedly bilked members of his family, investors, banks, a law firm and the U.S. Small Business Administration, has committed suicide. Greenberg hanged himself inside his home, police in Clearwater, Fla., told the Tampa Tribune. His body was found Wednesday. News of the suicide broke in…

Apr 2, 2010
Secret Service Busts Another Alleged Ponzi In Florida; Michael Greenberg Accused Of Using 9 Company Names To Bilk Investors, Banks, Law Firm, Small Business Administration

A Florida man who spent time in prison for wire fraud and money-laundering in a previous Ponzi scheme embarked on a new scheme after his release, federal prosecutors said. Within two years of being released from custody in 1996 — and while still on supervised probation — Michael Greenberg, 50, started a new Ponzi and…

Mar 29, 2010