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Tag: U.S. Department of Justice

EDITORIAL: TelexFree, Rabbit Holes And Vomit

TelexFree, an alleged $1.2 billion Ponzi- and pyramid scheme targeted at immigrants, is an exceptionally dangerous MLM malignancy and criminal enterprise. The SEC, the Massachusetts Securities Division and the U.S. Department of Justice have an obligation to society at large to treat TelexFree with maximum legal prejudice and to annihilate it. This, we believe, is…

May 6, 2014
Accused Identity Thief May Have Had User ID At TalkGold Ponzi Forum, KrebsOnSecurity Reports; Hieu Minh Ngo, A Vietnamese National, Jailed In United States After Plot ‘To Steal And Sell’ Personally Identifiable Information From More Than 500,000 Individuals, Feds Say

EDITOR’S NOTE: KrebsOnSecurity is written by Brian Krebs, who worked as a reporter for the Washington Post from 1995 to 2009. Our thanks to a PP Blog reader who brought our attention to information highlighted in the story below. Although the PP Blog is focusing on the TalkGold angle, the KrebsOnSecurity report covers much more,…

Oct 22, 2013
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: AdSurfDaily Ponzi Schemer Andy Bowdoin Sentenced To 78 Months In Federal Prison — Maximum Under Plea Agreement

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (UPDATED 5:20 P.M ON SEPT 4.) AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin has been sentenced to the maximum term in federal prison under his plea agreement: 78 months. The sentence was handed down minutes ago by U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer of the District of Columbia. ASD was a $119 million Ponzi…

Aug 29, 2012
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Prosecutors Ask Judge To Approve Order That Would Reopen Remissions In AdSurfDaily Ponzi Case

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Federal prosecutors have asked U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer for an order that would reopen the remissions process in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi case, potentially giving victims who missed the January 2011 filing deadline a chance to gain a pro rata share of the balance of seized assets. The U.S. Secret…

Aug 24, 2012
PP BLOG POST NO. 1,500: ‘Anonymous’ Data Cannons, The Conscription Of The Unwitting Public To Wage An Electronic War On Law Enforcement — And Google And The ‘C’ Word

Dear Readers, This PP Blog post is No. 1,500 since we switched to the WordPress platform in December 2008. Two years later, in December 2010, we commemorated our 1,000th post in this letter to readers, which rued the lionization of fools and hucksters on the Internet and questioned whether criminals and anarchists hold the upper…

Jan 23, 2012
NEW ADSURFDAILY DISASTER? Andy Bowdoin Says Prosecutors Returned ‘Advertising Expenses’ To Members, Not Proceeds Of A Ponzi Scheme; ‘Government Forced Members To Sign . . . Untrue Statement To Get A Refund,’ ASD Patriarch Claims

UPDATED 3:44 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Facing felony charges of wire fraud, securities fraud and selling unregistered securities and the potential of 125 years in prison, accused Ponzi schemer Andy Bowdoin has responded by accusing federal prosecutors in the District of Columbia of forcing members to lie to qualify for compensation from a victims’ fund in…

Sep 29, 2011
MAJOR DEVELOPMENT: AdSurfDaily Remissions Payments Will Be 100 Cents On The Dollar; ‘Thousands’ Of Payments To Go Out; ‘Overwhelming Majority’ Of Claims Approved; Members React With Joy

“Thousands” of AdSurfDaily Ponzi victims with approved claims will receive remissions payments of “100 percent” in the coming days, a source familiar with the process tells the PP Blog. It is quite rare “to have a remissions program that comes back with 100 percent,” the source said. The claims process was administered by Rust Consulting…

Sep 22, 2011
KABOOM! 16 Arrested In Alleged DDoS Attack Against PayPal; FBI Executes 35 Search Warrants ‘Throughout The United States’ In Cybercrime Probes

EDITOR’S NOTE: Having experienced DDoS attacks that crippled our ability to publish and inform readers, researchers and victims of Ponzi schemes, pyramid schemes and other forms of fraud about investigations, arrests and court cases, the PP Blog is not sympathetic to the points of view of the attackers and their apologists. Readers and researchers have…

Jul 20, 2011
BULLETIN: Google Says Justice Department Is Investigating Its Advertising Program; Search Giant Sets Aside $500 Million, Notes ‘Potential Resolution’

DISCLOSURE: Until Jan. 9 of this year, the PP Blog displayed Google ads. See this post. BULLETIN: Google disclosed in a regulatory filing yesterday that its advertising program was under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. The company announced that it has taken a charge of $500 million “in connection with a potential resolution.”…

May 11, 2011
SPECIAL REPORT: Investor In Alleged Florida Forex Caper Arrested For Bankruptcy Fraud; Botfly LLC Ponzi Case Reminiscent Of ASD Case; Female Investigator Called Vile Names; Accused Schemer David Lewalski Shifted Blame To Government, Feds Say

UPDATED 1:14 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) A Florida man who allegedly received $1.5 million from an international Forex fraudster now jailed in the United States has been arrested on charges of bankruptcy fraud, federal prosecutors said. The three-count indictment against Jon Jerald Hammill, 39, of St. Petersburg, was unsealed yesterday. It marked the fourth major Ponzi-related…

Apr 1, 2011
SEC Chief Makes Veiled Reference To Imperia Invest Case In Congressional Testimony: Will Ongoing Law-Enforcement Initiatives Spell More Trouble For Serial Online Scammers And Their Enablers?

SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro alluded to the agency’s investigation of the alleged Imperia Invest IBC scam in testimony before Congress this morning, a development that may signal more bad news is in the offing for serial scammers online. Without mentioning Imperia by name, Schapiro told members of the House Subcommittee on Financial Services and General…

Mar 15, 2011