PatrickPretty.com

Tag: The Achieve Community

Zeek’s Paul Burks Now In Federal Custody

Paul Burks, the 70-year-old operator of the Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme, now is listed as prisoner No. 29723-058 at FMC Lexington. The facility is an administrative security federal medical center with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp in Lexington, Ky. After being sentenced in February to more than 14 years, Burks was ordered to report to…

May 2, 2017
Troy Barnes, ‘Achieve Community’ Ponzi Schemer, Sentenced To 33 Months

Troy A. Barnes ran “The Achieve Community” (TAC) scam along with Kristine L. “Kristi” Johnson. Barnes, 53, of Riverview Mich., now has been sentenced to 33 months in federal prison, the office of U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose announced. Johnson, of Colorado, earlier was sentenced to 21 months. Achieve was a Ponzi-board program that used a…

Apr 26, 2017
Kristine Johnson Of ‘The Achieve Community’ Scam Sentenced To 21 Months

2ND UPDATE 8:38 P.M. EDT U.S.A. Kristine Louise “Kristi” Johnson, one of the two principals of “The Achieve Community” (TAC) Ponzi- and pyramid scheme, has been sentenced to 21 months in federal prison, the office of U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose of the Western District of North Carolina said moments ago. The SEC sued Johnson…

Feb 14, 2017
Does Mysterious TrafficMonsoon.plus Domain Have A Bogus Comodo Security Logo?

The last time the PP Blog covered something such as this was in February 2015. That’s when “Moore Fund,” a preposterous Ponzi-board “program” that later vanished with an unknown haul, was using a “Norton Secured” logo unauthorized by Symantec to fool the masses. Unfortunately, the masses included members of The Achieve Community, who’d already been ripped…

Aug 10, 2016
At Chicago Symposium, SEC Highlights Pyramid Scheme Task Force And Notes ‘Whack-A-Mole’ Nature Of Online Scams

“These frauds are easily duplicated, and at times, we find ourselves playing ‘whack-a-mole,’ chasing the same set of fraudsters who, after feeling a bit of heat, simply close down one scheme and quickly set up a new one under a different name.” — Andrew Ceresney, SEC Enforcement Division director, March 2, 2016 EDITOR’S NOTE: Type…

Mar 2, 2016
As Was Case With DFRF Enterprises And Rojo Filho, YouTube Promos Played Role In Criminal Ponzi Prosecution Of The Achieve Community’s Troy Barnes

Still promoting your securities scam on YouTube? As the PP Blog reported on Oct. 3, YouTube promos for the alleged DFRF Enterprises’ Ponzi scheme were cited in two of three wire-fraud counts against accused operator Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho. Filho, allegedly at the helm of a fraud that gathered tens of millions of dollars, has…

Nov 5, 2015
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Achieve Community’s Kristi Johnson Charged Criminally

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (13th Update 1:43 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) After an investigation by the U.S. Secret Service, Kristi Johnson (Kristine Louise Johnson) of the “Achieve Community” has been charged criminally with wire-fraud conspiracy and has agreed to plead guilty, federal prosecutors said. “By the time the scheme collapsed in February 2015, the conspirators…

Jun 19, 2015
COLORADO: ‘Achieve Community’ Subject Of ‘Order To Show Cause’

UPDATED 6:17 A.M. EDT APRIL 21 U.S.A. The Colorado Division of Securities has directed an “Order to Show Cause” to “Achieve Community,” alleged in February 2015 by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to be a combined Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that gathered at least $3.8 million. Colorado’s order cites a “Division Case No.” of…

Apr 20, 2015
‘Achieve Community’ Websites Inaccessible

UPDATED 12:20 P.M. ET U.S.A. Two websites associated with the “Achieve Community” — ReadyToAchieve.com and TheAchieveCommunity.com — are inaccessible this morning. Achieve Community is under investigation by the Colorado Division of Securities. The PP Blog asked the Division this morning if it was aware of the outage and whether the inaccessibility of the sites had…

Feb 4, 2015
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Colorado Division of Securities Confirms ‘Achieve Community’ Investigation

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (5th Update 5:35 p.m. ET U.S.A.) The “Achieve Community” money-cycling scheme is under investigation in Colorado. “We do have an open investigation,” said Lillian Alves, Colorado’s Deputy Securities Commissioner. It is the first official public confirmation that Achieve Community, a Ponzi-board program that claims to turn $50 into $400, is…

Jan 22, 2015
UPDATE: In Impossibly Butchered Messaging, ‘Achieve Community’ Promos Marry Three-Month, 800-Percent ROI ‘Program’ To Santa Claus While Encouraging Participants Not To ‘Sell Out’ To Banks For ‘Tiny’ Annual Returns

The “Achieve Community,” a Ponzi-board money-cycling “program” targeted at Christians and positioned by some network marketers as an alternative for people who don’t want to “sell out” to banks and their “tiny little 1% annual return,” would like you to know that Santa Claus and an elf are on the team. By buying one “EXTRA”…

Dec 23, 2014