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Tag: unregistered securities

Illinois Man Faces Up To 5 Years In Federal Prison After Pleading Guilty To Selling Unregistered Securities Via Mail/Email; Case Brought By Postal Inspectors, IRS, State

An Illinois man hawking a Yukon gold-mining venture via postal mail and email has pleaded guilty to selling unregistered securities, federal prosecutors said. Jeremiah D. Jacob, 32, of Columbia, faces up to five years in federal prison, a fine of $10,000 and three years’ supervised release, the office of U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Wigginton of…

Mar 26, 2012
In Wake Of CONSOB Action, Affiliate ‘Press Release’ Calls JSS Tripler Members ‘Investors’ EIGHT Times And Suggests U.S. Government Approves Purported ‘Program’ That Advertises Return Rate That Dwarfs Madoff

You can’t make this stuff up . . . A week after CONSOB, the Italian securities regulator, announced it was opening a probe into the activities of JSS Tripler promoters amid claims the absurd “program” advertised returns that would make Bernard Madoff blush, a new “press release” ignores the CONSOB development, calls participants “investors” (eight…

Jan 30, 2012
Texas Fraudster, 77, Sentenced To Prison For Scamming Seniors In Securities Swindle; John Langford’s Agency Claimed, ‘We Don’t Promise To Make You Rich, But We Guarantee Not To Make You Poor’

“Irony, thy name is John F. Langford.” — Texas State Securities Board, July 28, 2011 An Amarillo man whose firm fleeced senior citizens by telling them it couldn’t promise to make them rich — but guaranteed it wouldn’t make them poor — has received what might amount to a life sentence behind bars for bringing…

Sep 13, 2011
UPDATE: CONSOB, Italy’s Securities Regulator, Issues New Order In Probe Related To Club Asteria; Findings And Effect Not Immediately Clear; Google Translation Software Calls CONSOB A ‘Bag’; Yahoo Calls Club A ‘Starfish’; PP Blog Awaits Official Government Translation

Dear Readers, The PP Blog became aware last night that CONSOB, Italy’s equivalent of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), had issued a new order on Monday in its investigation into certain claims made online in Italy about the purported Club Asteria business “opportunity.” Club Asteria has been widely promoted online as a “passive”…

Aug 24, 2011
UPDATE: PowerPoint Presentation For Club Asteria Says ‘Passive’ Income ‘100% GUARANTEED’: Is ‘Ken Russo’ Tone Deaf? Promoter Brags About $321 Payment Sent By Wire While Another Laments Payment Of 30 Cents; Members Say They’ll Contact AlertPay

UPDATED 9:09 A.M. EDT (June 14, U.S.A.) A PowerPoint pitch titled “Asteria Corporation” raises serious questions about the nature of the business “opportunity” and may undermine Club Asteria’s own claims that members alone are to blame for the company’s apparent troubles. The document is slugged “[ClubAsteriaPresentation]” and attributed to Asteria Corp. and Andrea Lucas. It…

Jun 13, 2011
PICTURE STORY: Club Asteria Promoters Claim Program Is ‘Passive’ Investment Opportunity; ‘Single Account’ Said To Return ‘About $20,000 Per Year’; Why Not Open Second Account In Same Household? Affiliate Asks

Club Asteria members now say the firm, which trades on the name of the World Bank, suddenly threatened recruits for making false claims about the program. The PP Blog reported on April 4 that the program, which is being pumped on the Ponzi boards and the personal websites of thousands of Club Asteria members, was…

May 1, 2011
A NEW WORLD SPEED RECORD? Alabama Jury Takes Only 28 Minutes To Convict Man Of Selling Unregistered Securities; Scott Frye Initially Fled To Philippines, But Small U.S. Community Wouldn’t Be Denied Justice

Want to mess with Alabamans in the securities fraud era? Don’t do it in Coffee County. A jury there took just 28 minutes to convict Scott Frye on five counts of selling unregistered securities or causing them to be sold. That’s an average of 5.6 minutes of deliberations per count. The case was prosecuted by…

Apr 16, 2011
PROSECUTION BOMBSHELL: Accused Ponzi Schemer Andy Bowdoin Traveled To Costa Rica In 2008 To Explore Option For Offshore ‘Autosurf’ Firm; AdSurfDaily’s Internal Software System Identified Member Payouts As ‘ROI,’ Despite ASD Claim It Was Not Offering Investments

BULLETIN: UPDATED 9:29 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) Prosecutors have advised a federal judge that AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin and unnamed “others” traveled to Costa Rica in the spring of 2008 to get the lay of the land for an offshore autosurf that would be “another version” of ASD. The alleged trip occurred less than two years…

Feb 21, 2011
THE DAY ‘WINK-NOD’ DIED: Use Of ‘Money Magnet’ Line, ‘Rallies,’ ‘Ad Packages’ And ‘Rebates’ Backfires On Bowdoin; Grand Jury Uses Terms Repeatedly In Indictment; Prosecution Has Damning ASD Correspondence

History was made yesterday. “Wink-nod” marketing deceptions — the use of disingenuous language supplemented by willful blindness in the cancerous autosurf and HYIP trades to create plausible deniability — were pronounced dead by a grand jury sitting in the District of Columbia. Members of the insidious trade can thank ASD President Andy Bowdoin for the…

Dec 2, 2010
DELAWARE: Woman Bilked In Investment Scam Later Bilked In ‘Investment Recovery Scam,’ AG Biden Says; Patrick A. Wiley Indicted On Racketeering, Securities-Fraud Charges

EDITOR’S NOTE: The indictment in Delaware against Patrick A. Wiley of Detroit illustrates the dangers of entrusting money to a person who claims he can help you recover money lost in a securities swindle. It also illustrates that a person who claims he can help you recover money lost to a securities swindle — and…

Aug 18, 2010
South Carolina Attorney General Orders Florida Company To Halt Sales Of Alleged Securities; PPE-Life Inc. Told To ‘Cease And Desist’ Amid Fraud Fears

A mysterious, upstart company registered as a corporation in Ocala, Fla., has been ordered by the attorney general of South Carolina to stop selling securities and collecting money in the state. Attorney General Henry McMaster ordered the company — PPE-Life Inc. (PPE) — to “cease and desist” after the state’s Securities Division opened a probe…

May 25, 2010