PatrickPretty.com

Tag: TalkGold

North Carolina Secretary Of State: Profitable Sunrise ‘A Real Danger To The Investing Public’

EDITOR’S NOTE: Reproduced below is the full news release by the office of North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall on the cease-and-desist order issued last week to “Profitable Sunrise.” Even as the state has raised serious concerns about the “program,” Profitable Sunrise “defenders” have been seeking to minimize the issues. Some people even…

Mar 5, 2013
‘NewGNI,’ Apparent Knockoff HYIP Scam Promoted By Zeek And ‘Profitable Sunrise’ Cheerleader ‘Ken Russo,’ Appears To Have Collapsed

The website of “NewGNI” has not resolved to a server for days. The “program” is believed to have been a knockoff of a predecessor scam known as “GNI” or GoldNuggetInvest, which collapsed in early 2010 after being promoted by members of the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme. The collapse of the original GNI was about as bizarre…

Mar 3, 2013
INCREDIBLE: JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid Operator Frederick Mann Now Billed As Pitchman For Upstart Scheme Known As ‘ClickPaid’

UPDATED 8:51 A.M. ET (FEB. 20, U.S.A.) Frederick Mann, a former pitchman for the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme and the operator of the bizarre JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid “program” that advertised a return of 2 percent a day and morphed into a “program” known as “ProfitClicking” in the days after the SEC called rival HYIP Zeek Rewards a $600…

Feb 19, 2013
Legisi HYIP Pitchman Matthew John Gagnon Pleads Guilty, Admits He Didn’t Disclose ‘Touting’ Compensation Of More Than $1 Million And Caused More Than $7 Million In Losses

Legisi HYIP Ponzi-scheme pitchman Matthew John Gagnon has pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Michigan to a criminal charge of not disclosing he’d been paid more than $1 million by Legisi and its operator Gregory N. McKnight to tout the “program” online. In a plea agreement now public after being fashioned in October and…

Feb 11, 2013
UPDATE: Sentencing For Legisi HYIP Operator Gregory McKnight Postponed Again Pending Depositions; Now Set For May 7

Sentencing for Gregory N. McKnight, the operator of the Legisi HYIP Ponzi scheme, has been postponed until May 7. McKnight had been scheduled to be sentenced today. The postponement marks at least the fourth in the case. McKnight pleaded guilty to wire fraud a year ago this month. The docket of the case in federal…

Feb 5, 2013
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Gary Calhoun, MPB Today Operator, Pleads Guilty To Racketeering Charge In Florida

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (UPDATED 1:06 P.M. ET U.S.A.) Gary Calhoun, the operator of the the MPB Today MLM “program” and a companion grocery-delivery business known as Southeastern Delivery, has pleaded guilty to a state-level racketeering charge in Florida. He was charged in December. Calhoun, 56, of Pensacola, was not immediately sentenced. But he…

Feb 5, 2013
DEVELOPING STORY: Zeek Winners Begin To Receive Subpoenas

The PP Blog has received a report that some members of Zeek have received subpoenas issued by the court-appointed receiver in the Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme case. The SEC alleged in August that Zeek was a $600 million Ponzi and pyramid scheme operated by Paul R. Burks and Rex Venture Group LLC. Receiver Kenneth B.…

Nov 3, 2012
UPDATE: As Proposed Money-Saving Measure, Zeek Receiver Asks Judge To Treat Oct. 8 Preliminary Liquidation Plan As Status Report; Meanwhile, Yet Another Zeek Member Declares Herself A Fraud Victim

UPDATED 8:26 A.M. EDT (OCT. 31, U.S.A.) Saying it would save money, the court-appointed receiver in the Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme case has asked a federal judge to treat the receiver’s Oct. 8 preliminary liquidation plan as a status report. (See Oct. 9 PP Blog story.) Separately, yet another Zeek member has declared herself a…

Oct 30, 2012
$250 Million-Plus Ponzi ‘Arbitrage’ Scheme In South Africa Allegedly Led To Murder/Suicide; A ‘Tangled Web Of Close Corporations, Trusts And Offshore Bank Accounts’

MoneyWeb has the story of Relative Value Arbitrage Fund (RVAF), an alleged massive Ponzi scheme in South Africa in which Herman Pretorius shot and killed a business partner in July and then shot and killed himself. The scheme appears to have gathered R2.2bn, the equivalent of more than $250 million (U.S.). From Julius Cobbett at…

Oct 16, 2012
UPDATE: Teetering ‘Wealth4AllTeam’ Scheme Reportedly Was Using I-Payout, Same Facilitator Cited By ‘OneX’ Scheme In July

UPDATE: Wealth4AllTeam, one of the many HYIP schemes pushed by Zeek Rewards “I Got Paid” cheerleader “Ken Russo,” reportedly was using I-Payout as a payment facilitator, according to new Ponzi-forum reports. Wealth4AllTeam appears to have suspended operations, leaving the Ponzi forums in an uproar amid claims that it is transitioning to a new business model…

Sep 13, 2012
BULLETIN: Citing Gregory McKnight’s ‘Semantic Obfuscation,’ Prosecutors Ask Judge To Sentence Convicted Legisi HYIP Swindler To 15 Years — ‘The Top Of The Sentencing Guidelines’; Like Zeek, ‘Program’ Was Pushed On The Ponzi Boards And Instructed Members Not To Use The Word ‘Investment’

BULLETIN: Yesterday’s scheduled sentencing of convicted Legisi HYIP swindler Gregory N. McKnight has been delayed until Nov. 19, but federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Michigan have asked U.S. District Judge Mark A. Goldsmith to sentence McKnight to 15 years in prison. McKnight and Legisi relied on “semantic obfuscation” in which investors were told…

Sep 12, 2012