TelexFree

BULLETIN: (12th Update 9:50 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) In resisting former TelexFree President James Merrill’s latest bid to make bail in the criminal case against him, federal prosecutors said today that TelexFree “has a disturbingly cult-like quality.” Meanwhile, in separate action in the SEC’s civil case against TelexFree, the agency has accused alleged TelexFree pitchwoman Faith […]

BULLETIN: (5th Update 10:06 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) A defense filing by alleged TelexFree co-owner James Merrill may signal a serious divide between Merrill and Carlos Wanzeler, now described by the United States as an international fugitive. At the same time, new defense filings by Merrill say arguments made in bankruptcy court that suggest TelexFree could […]

BULLETIN: U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Melvin S. Hoffman of the Massachusetts Central Division in Worcester has ordered the appointment of a trustee in the TelexFree Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. The U.S. Trustee, the U.S. Department of Justice’s watchdog arm in bankruptcy cases, pressed for the appointment last month. “There are reasonable grounds to suspect that the […]

Politicians appear to have spared themselves some embarrassment, but MLM had another La-La Land PR train wreck today. iG (Brazil) is reporting that an effort to honor accused TelexFree pitchman and two-time SEC defendant Sann Rodrigues in a Brazilian Senate hall today was thwarted. The effort to fete Rodrigues appears to have been staged by […]

BULLETIN: (8th update 9:10 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) In an amended complaint in the SEC’s pyramid- and Ponzi case against TelexFree, the agency says alleged TelexFree fugitive Carlos Wanzeler was using investors’ money to build a “small real estate empire” that consisted of 34 properties in Massachusetts and Florida. Wanzeler, 45, also allegedly acquired a 40-foot […]

UPDATED 5:06 P.M. EDT U.S.A. See Comments thread below for breaking news that the judge overseeing the TelexFree bankruptcy case in Massachusetts will appoint a trustee. First reported by the Wall Street Journal. Original story on separate TelexFree matter in Oregon is below . . . ** ______________________________ ** The staff of the Oregon Public […]

La Republica, a newspaper in Peru, is citing information from police and reporting that a TelexFree promoter in the country was kidnapped Thursday afternoon and held in a van. The PP Blog cannot independently verify the report, which suggests the kidnapping was carried out by TelexFree members who ordered the man to withdraw money from […]

BULLETIN: The staff of the Nevada Public Utilities Commission has recommended that TelexFree’s telecom application be denied, saying the firm filed the application and then almost immediately filed for bankruptcy protection. Based on the bankruptcy filing, the financial information provided by TelexFree during the application process “cannot be relied upon at this time,” the PUC […]

(UPDATED 11:30 A.M. EDT MAY 21 U.S.A. See Update at bottom of this brief, originally published May 20.) TelexFree figure James Merrill was unable to persuade a federal magistrate judge to free him, the PP Blog has learned. Judge David Hennessy declined Merrill’s bail application today, the office of U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said moments […]

A Florida attorney the SEC has described as “anything but lawyerly” is now the subject of an FBI “Wanted” poster and is considered “armed and dangerous.” The FBI issued the poster after Michael Ralph Casey “failed to appear for a court hearing and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest by the United States […]