Even though Andy Bowdoin and his family knew in January 2009 that the government intended to seize the Tallahassee home of his stepson George Harris and an $800,000 building purchased with cash in ASD’s home city of Quincy, Fla., the AdViewGlobal (AVG) autosurf proceeded with its launch in February 2009, according to an analysis of web records and new court filings.
Although a “Proof of Service” filed by federal prosecutors yesterday did not mention AVG, other records say that Bowdoin was given “direct notice” of a second forfeiture complaint that had been filed in December 2008 against ASD-connected assets. The initial forfeiture complaint against ASD was filed in August 2008.
Yesterday’s filing by the prosecution showed that the Harris home and ASD building in
Quincy were publicly posted for forfeiture on Jan. 8, 2009. AVG launched less than a month later, triggering a virtually relentless series of 200-percent, matching bonus offers to generate cash and events that ultimately led to its collapse after the Harrises were identified by AVG as the owners of the company.
A Nov. 6 filing by the prosecution states that Bowdoin was given “direct notice” of the December 2008 seizure in January 2009, as were “all known potential claimants.” Prosecutors noted in the Nov. 6 filing that they had “signed receipts” from Bowdoin and others.
Other records clearly show that AVG’s launch proceeded in February 2009, pushed by former members of ASD despite the filing of two forfeiture complaints against the firm and a racketeering lawsuit.
Cash and property seized by the U.S. Secret Service in the December 2008 forfeiture complaint against assets tied to Bowdoin, his wife, stepson and Golden Panda Ad Builder are being prepared for liquidation, according to yesterday’s filing in the December case.
The property includes $634,266.13 in cash seized from a Golden Panda bank account. It is being held in a U.S. Customs Suspense account in Indianapolis.
The $800,000 building ASD paid for in cash also is being prepared for liquidation. The building is located in Quincy, Fla. It was promoted by Bowdoin as the site to which the company intended to move to accommodate employees and customers, owing to ASD’s rapid expansion.
ASD’s growth was fueled by both video and written lies that its business was legal, the Secret Service said.
In only months last year, ASD morphed from a company that earlier said it could not afford to pay members because of a malfunctioning computer script that purportedly had overpaid members and an accompanying $1 million theft at the purported hands of “Russian” hackers to a purported cash turbine was was going to buy an interest in an “international bank” and a “call center” in South America, the Secret Service said.
In August 2008 — in the first forfeiture case filed against ASD’s assets — prosecutors told a federal judge that they believed Bowdoin was preparing to flee the United States. After reviewing a 37-page affidavit filed by the Secret Service and an additional 57 pages of evidence, including surveillance photos taken in Quincy prior to the filing of the application for seizure, a federal magistrate judge ordered Bank of America to freeze 13 bank accounts linked to ASD or Golden Panda and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to seize the money.
Prosecutors later seized two additional Golden Panda accounts at Bank of America, as part of the August complaint, bringing the total of accounts seized in the August matter to 15 — 10 from ASD, and five from Golden Panda. Those accounts, after reconciliations, contained more than $79.88 million, according to court filings.
As the investigation continued, prosecutors established more links to ASD-connected assets. In December 2008, they filed a second forfeiture complaint, naming an additional Golden Panda account maintained by Bartow County Bank, rather than Bank of America. The Bartow County account is the one that contained the $634,266.13 now being held in Indianapolis.
Prosecutors also seized the Tallahassee home of George and Judy Harris in the December complaint, saying its mortgage of more than $157,000 had been paid off with illegal proceeds from ASD. Records show the mortgage was paid off about three weeks after a May 31, 2008, ASD rally in Las Vegas had concluded.
George Harris is the son of Bowdoin’s wife, Edna Faye Bowdoin. Judy Harris is the wife of George Harris. The AdViewGlobal (AVG) autosurf, which came to life four months after the August seizure of tens of millions of dollars from Bowdoin’s bank accounts and approximately one month after a key court ruling went against ASD in November 2008, later identified George and Judy Harris as its owners.
Bowdoin invoked God at the May 2008 Las Vegas rally, imploring members to imagine themselves wealthy and thanking God for providing him tremendous wealth.
“And I always say, ‘Thank you, God, for developing me into a money magnet,’” Bowdoin said at the rally. “And I see myself as a money magnet in attracting money and, I say, attracting large sums of money.â€
Within days of the conclusion of the rally, according to court filings, ASD money was used by Edna Faye Bowdoin and George Harris to open a bank account into which more than $177,000 of illegal proceeds were deposited. More then $157,000 of the opening deposit was used to pay off the Harris home, which was seized in the December complaint.
Neither George nor Judy Harris filed a claim to the home, prosecutors said. In September 2009, prosecutors made a veiled reference to the AVG autosurf in court filings.
“Maybe Bowdoin thought that before the government brought its charges he (like some of his family members) could move to another country and profit from a knock-off autosurf program that Bowdoin funded and helped to start,” prosecutors said.
AVG purportedly was headquartered in the South American country of Uruguay. Servers of the purported “advertsing” firm that operated in largely the same form as ASD resolved to Panama.
Also seized in the December complaint were three automobiles: a 2009 Lincoln luxury sedan that had been acquired in July 2008 for nearly $50,000; a 2008 Honda CRV registered to George and Judy Harris acquired in June 2008 for nearly $30,000 after the Las Vegas rally; and a 2009 Acura TXS registered to former ASD figure Hays Amos for nearly $34,000.
The check to acquire the Acura registered to Amos was signed by ASD Chief Executive Officer Juan Fernandez, prosecutors said.
Also seized in the December complaint were computer equipment, two jet skis and a hauling trailer that were purchased with $20,506 of ASD money; and a Triton Cabana boat, Mercury motor and trailer purchased with $23,445 of ASD funds, prosecutors said.
All of the property seized in December now is being prepared for liquidation, pending an order from U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer. Prosecutors said no one made a claim to any of the seized property.
Based on the lack of claims, it is possible that prosecutors may argue that none of the property was claimed because ASD already had a plan to replace it through AVG.
ASD’s seized computers are being held at Secret Service headquarters in Orlando, according to to the prosecution court filing. Meanwhile, the Lincoln luxury sedan registered to Bowdoin/Harris Enterprises and the Honda registered to George and Judy Harris are being held at a company in the auto-auction business in Lakeland, Fla.; the Acura registered to Amos is being held at an auto-auction company in Daytona Beach, Fla.; and the marine equipment is being held at auction companies in Fort Lauderdale and Pensacola, Fla.
The $800,000 building and the Harris home were posted for forfeiture on the same date — Jan. 8, 2009, according to the prosecution filing. Only 5 days later Bowdoin surrendered his claims to the millions of dollars seized in August 2008.
Regardless, the AVG autosurf proceeded with its formal launch in February 2009 — less than a month after the Harris home in Tallahassee and the ASD building in Quincy were posted for forfeiture.
By the end of February, Bowdoin attempted to reenter the August case, acting as his own attorney and saying he’d changed his mind about submitting to the August seizure. Coinciding with Bowdoin’s pro se filings was an announcement by the AVG autosurf that it was becoming a “private association” based offshore.
During the same time period, a poster at the Pro-ASD Surf’s Up forum told members that the Secret Service had seized the bank accounts of ASD promoters. The poster warned members to remove money from their bank accounts before it could be seized.
By June 25, 2008, AVG announced that it was suspending cashouts. After initially blaming its inability to pay members on the greed of some members, it later changed its story and said $2.7 million had been stolen from the firm.
The story was remarkably similar to the story the Secret Service said ASD had told about the purported “Russian” hackers to explain why it couldn’t pay members.
See the prosecution’s filing yesterday that shows ASD’s Quincy building and the Harris home in Tallahassee were posted prior to the February 2009 launch of the AVG autosurf.
See the prosecution’s Nov. 6 filing that says Bowdoin and family members had “direct notice” of the December 2008 forfeiture case and that the government had “signed receipts” prior to the launch of AVG, which later was linked to George and Judy Harris.