The office of U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips of the District of Columbia originally anticipated making an announcement about a criminal investigation involving the Payza and OboPay payment processors “shortly” after Jan. 22.
On Feb. 10, however, prosecutors updated their Victim/Witness site to say they now do not expect to make an announcement until “shortly” after April 29.
Payza, alleging fraud, sued OboPay last year. As the PP Blog reported in October, prosecutors intervened in the civil case and requested a stay while the criminal probe continued.
U.S. District Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton of the Northern District of California initially paused the civil case until Jan. 22. The stay now has been extended until April 29 at the request of prosecutors with agreement by the parties, according to court filings.
The target of the criminal probe has not been revealed.
UPDATE MAY 23, 2016, 4:03 P.M. The stay in the civil case has been extended until June 29, 2016. The Victim/Witness site has been updated to reflect this.
On Oct. 19, the PP Blog received traffic from 76 countries. This graphic reflects the Top 10 on that date and suggests high global interest in a criminal probe involving Payza and Obopay.
On the past four Mondays — Oct. 26, Nov. 2, Nov. 9 and Nov. 16 — the PP Blog averaged viewership from 32 countries, according to a compilation of data from Jetpack summarized by the Blog. These numbers are typical. On any given day, viewers from between 25 and 40 countries arrive here.
But on Oct. 19 — also a Monday and the day the Blog reported that a criminal investigation involving the Payza and Obopay payment processors was under way — the Blog’s viewership shot up to 76 countries. That’s nearly 40 percent of the nations in the world. Viewers from other countries followed Payza- and Obopay-related content in subsequent days, suggesting that people in an even higher percentage of the world’s nations are concerned about the probe.
The Blog is reporting today that Payza’s name again has appeared in a filing by the court-appointed receiver in the 2012 Zeek Rewards’ Ponzi- and pyramid scheme case. The filing was dated yesterday and includes these lines (italics added):
The Receiver Team continues to investigate and pursue outstanding funds from Payza, Payment World, Solid Trust Pay, and Cyberprofit and is working with various government agencies and McGuireWoods Consulting in pursuit of these assets.
Millions of dollars tied to U.S.-based Zeek may be in Moldova, according to receiver Kenneth D. Bell. Moldova is a neighbor to Ukraine, a world hot spot described by the Financial Times as “war torn.”
Payza, its predecessor AlertPay and SolidTrustPay are Ponzi-forum darlings operating in an era of almost unimaginable cross-border fraud that frequently has an MLM or direct-sales component. The numbers are truly staggering — so high that agencies such as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have become involved in investigations.
Money moves across borders in a flash these days, including the borders of nations under terrorist threat. Perhaps especially in the HYIP sphere, the aims of the “program” operators and the identities of the recipients of the cash may be particularly murky.
Though uncharged, AlertPay and SolidTrustPay both are referenced in the P2P case, as well as the AdSurfDaily case from 2008. Ponzi forums such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup also are referenced in U.S. filings.
URGENT >> BULLETIN >>MOVING: (Updated 3:03 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) The United States has opened a criminal investigation involving Obopay and Payza, a Ponzi-forum darling.
Details of the probe are unclear. But the office of U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips of the District of Columbia confirms on its website that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security through Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is involved in the investigation. So is the Washington, D.C. Financial Crimes Task Force.
The PP Blog first reported in December 2013 that matters pertaining to Obopay and Payza were under investigation. At the time, however, authorities did not say it was a criminal probe.
In an Oct. 15 update, the U.S. Attorney’s office says a criminal probe is under way and that prosecutors successfully asked a judge to stay civil litigation until early next year.
“The United States government, including Homeland Security Investigations and the Washington, D.C. F[i]nancial Crimes Task Force, is currently conducting a criminal investigation. As part of that investigation, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia has requested a United States District Judge to pause curr[en]t civil litigation relating to Payza and Obopay. The Judge has paused the litigation until January 22, 2016. Shortly after that date, additional information will be made available on this website about the status of this investigation.”
Prosecutors’ update includes an email link and phone number.
