PatrickPretty.com

Tag: U.S. Secret Service

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Ohio Calls Nanci Jo Frazer’s Focus Up Ministries ‘Front’ For Profitable Sunrise HYIP Fraud Scheme; State Says It Believes Frazer Was An AdSurfDaily Pitchwoman With History Of Promoting Fraud Schemes Such As Zeek Rewards And Profit Clicking

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (Fourth update 9:10 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) In court papers, the state of Ohio has called Nanci Jo Frazer’s Focus Up Ministries a “front” for the Profitable Sunrise HYIP scheme and alleges that Focus Up changed its name to Defining Vision Ministries Inc. in June 2013 — two months after the SEC brought the Profitable Sunrise fraud action in federal court in Atlanta.

Records suggest Nanci Jo Frazer also is known as Nancy Jo Frazer. The Ohio court documents list the “Nancy” spelling. Other documents list the “Nanci” spelling.

A judge in Williams County, Ohio, has ordered Frazer, Focus Up and other entities associated with Frazer to “[i]mmediately cease all activities on behalf of any charitable organization/trust in the state of Ohio,” to preserve assets and to return assets that already may have been dissipated.

The judge also ordered Frazer and others to cease selling unregistered securities. Meanwhile, the judge ordered three Ohio banks to take eight accounts linked to Frazer and others into “actual and/or constructive possession.” Frazer resides in Bryan, Ohio.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Commerce said today that the state has brought civil fraud charges against Frazer, Focus Up, Defining Vision and others. Documents say the state believes Frazer was a pitchwoman for the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme and other “programs,” including Zeek Rewards and Profit Clicking.

“This case involves a worldwide pyramid scheme that defrauded Ohioans and others out of millions of dollars,” DeWine said. “These individuals brought the scheme to Ohio by promising outrageous returns and telling investors that their donations and investments would help charities. We will continue to work closely with the Department of Commerce to hold the defendants accountable for their actions.”

Also charged were David Frazer, Frazer’s husband, and Albert Rosebrock, a member of Frazer’s NJF Global Group. Rosebrock also was alleged by Ohio to be an AdSurfDaily and Zeek affiliate.

Purported Profitable Sunrise operator “Roman Novak” is called “John Doe” in Ohio’s complaint, leading to continuing questions about whether “Novak” actually exists. In April, the SEC said that Profitable Sunrise pitchmen may not even have known with whom they were doing business. Profitable Sunrise purported to pay up to 2.7 percent interest a day. The SEC said it was using a “mail drop” in England and offshore bank accounts potentially to scam tens of millions of dollars.

Frazer’s group may have driven $30 million to the scam, according to court files.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that Rosebrock is blaming the SEC for the collapse of Profitable Sunrise.

From a statement by Ohio prosecutors (italics added):

Profitable Sunrise is an international pyramid scheme recently shut down by federal and international authorities. Profitable Sunrise claimed to be a Christian company that would use investment proceeds to help charities and provide investors with large returns. According to the state’s complaint, the Frazers, of Bryan, and Rosebrock, of Sherwood, used Focus Up Ministries’ status as a charity to solicit donations and investments into Profitable Sunrise. They also claimed that invested funds would compound at 1.6 to 2.7 percent daily, growing at annual rates of 5,000 to more than 75,000 percent.

The complaint also alleges that the defendants used funds donated to Focus Up Ministries for personal expenses and other unlawful purposes. These included financing for personal business ventures, the purchase of a big screen television, no-interest personal loans, and compensation for agents who solicited on behalf of the Profitable Sunrise pyramid scheme. The complaint contains counts of misrepresentation, deceptive acts and practices, conversion, falsification, securities fraud, and unlicensed sale of securities, among other violations.

The SEC has described Zeek Rewards as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid fraud. AdSurfDaily was a $119 million Ponzi scheme, according to the U.S. Secret Service. Meanwhile, ProfitClicking is a “program” linked to Frederick Mann, the purported operator of JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid, which has come under regulatory scrutiny in Italy and the Philippines.

If Frazer was a pitchwoman for ASD, Zeek and ProfitClicking/JSS/JBP, it would mean she was pushing Profitable Sunrise after various well-publicized regulatory or law-enforcement actions against those “programs,” which purported to pay interest of between 1 percent and 2 percent a day. (ASD = 1 percent/day; Zeek = 1.5 percent/day; ProfitClicking/JSS/JBP = 2 percent/day.)

Beyond that, it would mean Frazer pushed the purported 2.7 percent a day Profitable Sunrise “Long Haul” plan, even though agencies filed various actions against the “lower-paying” programs with which she allegedly was involved previously.

Some HYIP promoters move from one fraud scheme to another, while engaging in willful blindness. ASD is known to have had ties to the “sovereign citizens” movement. Mann, of ProfitClicking/JSS/JBP, once used a website to drive traffic to videos featuring Francis Schaeffer Cox, a purported “sovereign citizen” and “militia” man implicated in a murder plot against public officials in Alaska.

Jul 9, 2013
TelexFree Affiliates Gave AdSurfDaily-Like Coaching Tips, Instructed Prospects To Make Deposits At Bank Of America — And To Copy Slips To ‘Team Leader’s’ Gmail Address For ‘Expedited’ Service; TelexFree Also May Have TD Bank Account

“On or about July 14, 2008, [an undercover agent] opened an ‘upgraded member’ account with [AdSurfDaily]. ASD directs new members either to mail a money order or cashier’s check to its Florida office, or to deposit a certified check, money order or cash at ‘your nearest branch of Bank of America,’ directly into ASD’s BOA account and, thereafter, to fax a copy of the deposit receipt along with their membership number to ASD. On its website, ASD provides its BOA account number as [XXX.] Another [undercover agent] made a direct deposit to ASD’S BOA account by delivering a check to a BOA branch in downtown Orlando, Florida. Thereafter, [an undercover agent] faxed a copy of the deposit receipt via facsimile to ASD’s headquarters in Quincy, Florida.” — AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme forfeiture complaint, Aug. 8, 2008

It was 57 degrees in Alpharetta, Ga., when this screen shot was taken to instruct TelexFree participants on how to deposit money in a TelexFree account at Bank of America in Shrewsbury, Mass. The promoter appears also to have had an interest in Bidify, an “auction” site whose business model was reminiscent of the alleged $600 million Zeek Rewards Ponzi- and pyramid scheme. (Source: screen shot of section of a PDF instruction manual. Redactions/highlights by PP Blog.)

UPDATED 1:11P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Information reviewed by the PP Blog shows that promoters of the TelexFree MLM scheme instructed their recruits to deposit money into a TelexFree Inc. account held at a branch office of Bank of America in Shrewsbury, Mass. The recruits then were advised to scan the deposit slip and email a copy to a TelexFree.com email address and optionally send a copy of the slip to an individual dubbed a TelexFree “team leader” who was using a Gmail email address from Google.

Recruits were told to photograph the slip using a cellphone or tablet computer before scanning it and submitting it via email, according to the instructions.

The TelexFree promoter using the Gmail address had to ability to “expedite” the process of crediting deposits in the recruits’ back offices at TelexFree, meaning recruits purportedly could start earning money from TelexFree faster because their deposits would be credited quicker, according to the instructions.

“Alternativey, you can contact your direct referrer, as several Promoters in our upline could also assist with direct deposits to their bank accounts and transfer funds to your registered account immediately,” the instructions note.

The instructions, which appeared in PDF form in January 2013, were circulated on the Internet. Among other things, the instructions suggest TelexFree has insiders who can speed the flow of money and potentially are collecting the private information of their recruits and potentially subjecting them to identity theft.

In the early part of the year, some TelexFree promoters worded online promos to suggest that the U.S. government had given the stamp of approval to TelexFree’s operations in the United States. The U.S. government does not issue such endorsements. It is somewhat common in the HYIP sphere for “programs” or promoters to plant the seed an “opportunity” has been approved by the government.

A TelexFree promo dated March 12, 2013, on Newswire.net, for example, claims that the “TelexFree business opportunity is open to entrepreneurs in Brazil and has recently opened up internationally including being authorized to operate in the United States.”

TelexFree is under investigation by multiple agencies in Brazil, amid pyramid-scheme and securities concerns. (See BehindMLM.com story dated today on the denial of a TelexFree appeal in Brazil.) Whether a U.S. investigation is under way is unknown.

What is known is that some affiliates in Brazil appear to believe incorrectly that the U.S. government has approved TelexFree’s operation.

And it’s also known that the deposit instructions provided to TelexFree recruits strongly resemble the instructions given recruits of the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme broken up by the U.S. Secret Service in 2008. The agency seized at least 10 bank accounts held by ASD President Andy Bowdoin at Bank of America and at least five other Bank of America accounts held by an ASD insider. Those 15 accounts ultimately proved to hold about $80 million.

At least one undercover agent followed ASD’s instructions to make a deposit at Bank of America and to fax the information to ASD, according to court filings in the ASD case. Federal prosecutors in the District of Columbia later applied successfully for warrants to seize the accounts, alleging that ASD was a Ponzi scheme using the U.S. banking system to sustain the scheme.

Bowdoin later pleaded guilty to wire fraud and was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison.

As appears to be the case in TelexFree, some ASD members also claimed an ability to speed the flow of money while perhaps making back-office exchanges with recruits. It is possible that ASD never knew its own real bottom line because of the back-office dealings of insiders and other sponsors, including promoters who instructed recruits to pay them directly instead of ASD.

Some TelexFree affiliates have claimed that a payment of $15,125 to TelexFree will create an income of at least $1,100 a week for a year. The instructions on how to deposit money in Bank of America and scan receipts also claim that TelexFree is using a credit-card processor known as ProPay.

Some TelexFree affiliates have claimed TelexFree also is banking with TD Bank. In those cases, affiliates are instructed to send money to TelexFree LLC — as opposed to sending it to TelexFree Inc., as was the case with the Bank of America instructions.

This set of instructions appeared in a promo for TelexFree dated Jan. 17, 2013. (Source: screen shot. Redactions/highlights by PP Blog.)

TelexFree Inc. uses a Massachusetts address; TelexFree LLC uses a Las Vegas address, according to public records. Why some promoters are instructing recruits to send money to the LLC version of the name at TD Bank while others are instructing that money be sent to the Inc. version at Bank of America is unclear.

Jul 8, 2013
Law Firm’s Name Used In Bid To Dupe Members Of Banners Broker, Profit Clicking, MLM Attorney Says

Kevin Thompson of Thompson Burton PLLC.

UPDATED 11:28 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Scammers have used the names of government agencies and famous businesses in bids to dupe the public. Now, the name of a well-known MLM law firm appears to have been used for the same purpose.

Attorney Kevin Thompson published a Blog post today that warns of a bogus Banners Broker/Profit Clicking “Claim Form” on the Web. Thompson is with Thompson Burton PLLC in Tennessee.

“DO NOT FILL OUT THIS FORM,” Thompson warned in the post. “It’s fraudulent. We did not create this form, or anything like it. We are not representing Banners Brokers or Profit Clicking participants.”

And, Thompson noted, “The form is requiring highly sensitive information, such as your usernames and passwords for Payza and Solid Trust Pay accounts. It’s also asking for credit card information. If you filled out the form, we strongly suggest you change your passwords and cancel your credit cards immediately.”

Such events have been associated with phishing schemes and identity-theft schemes.

Banners Broker is a bizarre “program” that, like many HYIPs, purports to be in the “advertising” business. Promoters have claimed that sending money to Banners Broker results in a doubling of the cash.

ProfitClicking is a scam that rose up to replace the JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid scam purportedly operated by Frederick Mann. Mann, a former pitchman for the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme, may have links to the “sovereign citizens movement.” “Sovereign citizens” may express an irrational belief that laws do not apply to them.

Among other things, ProfitClicking became known — like JSS/JBP before it — for publishing Terms that read like an invitation to join an international financial conspiracy. Here is Item 6 from the ProfitClicking Terms, as published on Sept. 3, 2012 (italics added):

6. I affirm that I am not an employee or official of any government agency, nor am I acting on behalf of or collecting information for or on behalf of any government agency.

Mann once called government employees “part of a criminal gang of robbers, thieves, murderers, liars, imposters.”

Regulators in Italy and the Philippines have issued warnings about JSS/JBP or ProfitClicking, both of which featured Terms similar to those of Legisi, a $72 million HYIP fraud scheme broken up by the SEC and the U.S. Secret Service in May 2008, about three months before the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme ($119 million) was exposed.

The PP Blog has been subjected to various bids to chill its reporting on the JSS/JPB/ProfitClicking scams, including one from an individual who claimed he’d defend Mann “so help me God.”

Meanwhile, the PP Blog has received bizarre and menacing spam apparently in support of Banners Broker. (Like JSS/JBP/ProfitClicking, AdSurfDaily, Legisi and Zeek Rewards, Banners Broker has a presence on well-known Ponzi-scheme forums such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup.)

WARNING: The next paragraph includes quoted material from one of the Jan. 18, 2013, spams, and the PP Blog is reproducing it to illustrate the bizarre and often menacing nature of the HYIP sphere. Indeed, the apparent Banner’s Broker supporter wrote (italics added):

” . . . I am Big Bob’s cock meat sandwich. Your mom ate me and made me do press ups until I threw up . . . I am gonna report you. When you make false accusations, you can get done. Maybe you will be seen in court soon . . .”

In August 2012, the SEC described Zeek Rewards as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme. A number of reload scams have surfaced in its wake. At least one appears to have been a bid to dupe people into sending money to an entity that was posing as a U.S. government agency while claiming to be a recovery vessel for Zeek members who lost money.

Thompson is encouraging people who may have information about the purported Banners Broker/Profit Clicking “Claim Form” to contact him here.

Jul 2, 2013
Zeekers Share Their Conspiracy Theories At Newspaper Site
The Dispatch of Lexington, N.C., published a story June 7 to update readers on Zeek Rewards-related litigation — specifically the date of a hearing on a motion by certain Zeek members (alleged net winners) to dissolve the receivership. (See link to story/Comments below.) As of this morning, about 27 comments appear below the story. The comments appear to be from Zeek supporters. Zeek was based in Lexington.

Zeek, the SEC said in August 2012, was a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid fraud that duped investors into believing they were receiving a legitimate return averaging about 1.5 percent a day. Zeek’s business model was similar to AdSurfDaily, a Florida-based Ponzi scheme that collapsed in 2008. Federal prosecutors said ASD had gathered about $119 million.

ASD became infamous not only for its purported payout of 1 percent a day, but also for the extremely strange behavior of some of its supporters. Curtis Richmond, one of the scheme’s cheerleaders, was a purported “sovereign” being once sued successfully under the federal racketeering statute for his role in various bizarre plots advanced by a purported “Indian” tribe in Utah known derisively as the “Arby’s Indians.” (The “tribe” once held a meeting in an Arby’s restaurant.) Among other things, the “tribe” issued arrest warrants for public officials and litigation opponents and used the address of a Utah doughnut shop as the address of its purported “Supreme Court.”

Richmond accused the judge presiding over the ASD case of dozens of felonies, saying she was guilty of “TREASON.” Moreover, Richmond claimed the judge’s supervising judge was conspiring with the judge to deny ASD members justice. For these claims (and more), Richmond was accorded the title of “hero” on the “Surf’s Up” forum, an ASD cheerleading site set up after the U.S. Secret Service raided ASD in August 2008. Among the Surf’s Up faithful was Terralynn Hoy, who later presided over at least one conference call for Zeek. (See this PP Blog Comments thread from June 2012. Props to GlimDropper of RealScam.com.)

Many highly peculiar narratives were advanced by ASD supporters. One of them held that the U.S. government took about $80 million seized in the ASD case and plowed it into a secret fund through which it almost immediately generated $1 billion in interest that the United States used to pay for black ops. Another held that all commerce is lawful as long as the parties agree that it is lawful, a position that would legalize slavery. Yet another held that the ASD judge was on the take and “brain dead” if she ruled against ASD. Still another held that undercover agents who joined ASD to get the lay of the land had a duty to inform ASD management.

On Surf’s Up, an ASD supporter claimed that a “militia” should storm Washington with guns. Another claimed a federal prosecutor should be placed in a medieval torture rack. Beyond that, a purported “prayer” was circulated that called for federal prosecutors to be struck dead.

Given that ASD operator Andy Bowdoin once described himself (from a stage in Las Vegas) as a Christian “money magnet” and later claimed that the Secret Service was “Satan” and compared the agency to the 9/11 terrorists who killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, it’s no surprise that it became next-to-impossible to keep track of all of the ASD conspiracy theories.

What is surprising is that any number of Zeekers seem willing to buy into the same sort of mind-numbing mind-set.

At The Dispatch site, apparent Zeek supporters are claiming that:
- the “SEC messed us all up.”
- the court-appointed receiver “should be on trial.”
- “someone paid these guys off with MINIMAL evidence!”
- “Gestapo/KGB/SS tactics” are being used against Zeek by people in the “Executive Branch.”
- the government is “not allowing anyone to [grow] economically.”
Friends, a 1.5-percent-a-day “program” pushed on well-known fraud forums such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup is a scam. Period. The SEC acted in the best interest of Zeek investors — and in the best interest of the people of the United States who are sick and tired of seeing their country used as a playground for HYIP scammers or worse. The security condition created by “programs” such as Zeek, Profitable Sunrise, JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid and others is untenable.

Kenneth D. Bell, the court-appointed receiver for Zeek, has been doing a commendable job amid extremely trying circumstances. (In terms of the number of victims, Zeek may be the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history.) Bell is a former federal prosecutor known for having once successfully prosecuted a Hezbollah terrorist cell operating in the United States. He was appointed by a federal judge who is a former Naval officer. Claiming Bell should be put on trial is pure idiocy. So is clinging to a belief that the government somehow has outlawed the growth of business in the United States.

No one got “paid off” to do anything against Zeek — and the evidence that Zeek had an insurmountable mountain of unfunded liabilities and was paying members with money from other members is overwhelming.

Claims about Gestapo, KGB and SS tactics also were made by ASD members. Dwight Owen Schweitzer, later of Zeek, sued the United States (with fellow ASD and Zeek member Todd Disner). Among other things, Schweitzer and Disner claimed they were “unaware of any remission payments having been made” through the government-sponsored restitution program — this despite the fact the government had returned tens of millions of dollars to ASD investors and had issued news releases repeatedly about the program.

For good measure, Schweitzer and Disner also claimed that undercover agents who joined ASD “should have reported their own violations of the ASD terms of service” to ASD management. The pair made this bizarre claim long after ASD lost in the District Court and in the U.S. Court of Appeals. Amazingly, the claim also was made after prosecutors pointed out that some ASD members were recruiting for ASD even though they knew it was a Ponzi scheme and that Andy Bowdoin’s silent partner in ASD was his sponsor in the 12DailyPro Ponzi scheme broken up by the SEC in February 2006 — months before ASD launched and years before Zeek launched.

So, if you’re inclined to call accused Ponzi schemer and Zeek operator Paul R. Burks a genius while ranting against the government, you are according that title to a man who appears to have learned nothing from the ASD and 12DailyPro (and Legisi and PhoenixSurf and CEP and Imperia Invest IBC) prosecutions. If you are unhappy that the government’s Zeek action froze money you were counting on — well, that’s understandable. At the same time, however, there is a good chance you don’t understand the context of your own unhappiness. Zeek and Burks are to blame, not the SEC and the receiver.

If you joined another Zeek-like “program” after the SEC action, the best that can be said is that you are slow to learn. The worst is that you are a budding “Ken Russo,” perhaps the most intransigent Ponzi-board scammer in the Western Hemisphere. Zeek member “Ken Russo” sells people into Ponzi misery for a fee.

Repeatedly.

What ASD and Zeek both appeared to be was a bid to dupe investors into believing that, if 12DailyPro’s return of 12 percent a day for 12 days for thousands of members was impossible, the “smaller” daily returns of ASD (1 percent) and Zeek (1.5 percent) for between 90 and 150 days for hundreds of thousands of members somehow were more plausible.

Read story and Comments thread in The Dispatch. While you’re doing so, remember that Zeek once auctioned sums of U.S. currency (while wrapping itself in the American flag) and told successful bidders they could pick up their cash via offshore payment processors that enable fraud schemes like JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid and its 2-percent-a-day “program” globally.
Jun 21, 2013
Raymond Leo Jarlik Bell, 70-Year-Old Purported ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Linked To AdSurfDaily Figure Kenneth Wayne Leaming, Sentenced To More Than 8 Years In Federal Prison

Raymond Leo Jarlik Bell, a 70-year-old purported “sovereign citizen” linked to AdSurfDaily figure Kenneth Wayne Leaming, has been sentenced to 97 months in federal prison for a tax scam.

In July 2011, federal agents found records of bogus liens filed by Leaming against public officials while executing a search warrant at Jarlik Bell’s residence in Yelm, Wash., according to court records. Bell was under investigation for his tax scam at the time the records were found. Leaming, 57, later was charged with filing bogus liens, harboring federal fugitives from Arkansas in Washington state and being a felon in possession of firearms, including a “street sweeper” shotgun and an assault rife.

Leaming was sentenced in May to eight years in federal prison. David Carroll Stephenson, another Leaming associate and purported “sovereign citizen” from Washington state, was sentenced in May to 10 years for filing bogus liens against two U.S. prison officials. Stephenson, 57, already was serving time for a tax scam when those liens were filed.

Jarlik Bell’s scam centered on filing for false tax refunds “using a scheme known as OID fraud,” prosecutors said.

OID fraud may include claims that the U.S. government maintains secret accounts for citizens and that such accounts can be tapped to receive tax “refunds” in the tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time if paperwork is filed in a certain manner.

“No matter what the promoter calls it, a scheme to file bogus tax returns claiming outrageous tax ‘refunds’ that don’t belong to you, is just fraud,” said Kenneth J. Hines, special agent in charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Seattle.

“This defendant held himself out as a tax expert with contacts at the IRS – when both the IRS and a federal judge told him repeatedly that his conduct was criminal,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan of the Western District of Washington. “Mr. Jarlik Bell believed he was above the law, and aggressively promoted and spread his scheme to others looking to duck their fair share and steal tax dollars through fraudulent refunds.”

From a statement by prosecutors (italics added):

In 2006, BELL obtained a tax refund in excess of $30,000 using the scheme. Numerous others who were advised by JARLIK BELL also filed for and received fraudulent refunds they did not deserve. One woman received a tax refund of more than $590,000. In 2005, JARLIK BELL was ordered by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Bryan to stop promoting fraudulent tax schemes. Less than three years later, he was back promoting another massive tax fraud among friends, family and strangers.

Ute Christine Jarlik Bell, Jarlik Bell’s wife, also is a purported “sovereign citizen” and tax scammer, prosecutors said. She is scheduled to be sentenced tomorrow on four counts of filing false, fictitious and fraudulent claims.

Jarlik Bell was convicted in March 2013 of five counts of filing false, fictitious and fraudulent claims, 15 counts of assisting in filing false tax returns, three counts of mail fraud, and one count of criminal contempt, prosecutors said.

U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton described Jarlik Bell’s scheme as “fraud at its core,” prosecutors said.

“You are hurting people intentionally, regardless of your adherence to [your beliefs],” prosecutors quoted Leighton as saying.

Leaming filed bogus liens against a federal judge, federal prosecutors and a U.S. Secret Service agent involved in the prosecution of the the ASD Ponzi scheme. The Secret Service has described ASD as a “criminal enterprise” that gathered about $119 million by duping people into believing that ASD’s purported payout of 1 percent a day came from legitimate means. ASD operator Andy Bowdoin, 78, is serving a 78-month prison term.

When Leaming was arrested in November 2011, investigators discovered he’d been harboring two federal fugitives from Arkansas charged with mail fraud in a separate home-business scheme that allegedly had gathered millions of dollars.

Leaming, who previously had sued President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder on a theory that Obama was not born in the United States and was an unlawful President who’d appointed Holder unlawfully, went on to claim that Leighton owed him 208,000 ounces of silver.

The lawsuit against Obama and Holder was tossed out of court by a federal judge.

Jun 17, 2013
YouTube Video Pitchmen For Profitable Sunrise Hit By Subpoenas From SEC

John Schepcoff says on YouTube that he potentially lost more than $193,000 in Profitable Sunrise but that a new “program” operating from Hong Kong is “1,000 percent” better.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Much remains murky about Profitable Sunrise, the alleged purveyor of five HYIP “plans,” including one bizarrely dubbed the “Long Haul” that purported to pay a preposterous 2.7 percent a day. The “Long Haul” payoff was dubbed the “Easter Gift.” Investors were told it would arrive April 1 — but it never materialized.

One thing that is abundantly clear is that Profitable Sunrise potentially has created legal exposure and inconvenience for individual pitchmen, even though purported operator “Roman Novak” appears to be gone like a thief in the night.

Still pushing HYIP schemes?

_____________________________

At least three Profitable Sunrise pitchmen — including at least two who pushed the “program” on YouTube — have been subpoenaed by the SEC to appear at depositions this month. The agency’s move is occurring in the aftermath of the depositions of at least two other Profitable Sunrise figures in Florida and Utah in April.

In July 2010, the PP Blog reported that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) warned investors worldwide “to stay away from HYIPs,” saying that they use social-media sites such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and online forums and “rating” sites to spread Ponzi misery globally.

At least two of the men named in the new round of subpoenas went on to push other purported “opportunities” after the SEC described Profitable Sunrise in April as a murky HYIP that had used a “mail drop” in England and a series of offshore bank accounts in multiple countries to scam investors potentially of tens of millions of dollars.

A subpoena was docketed yesterday in federal court in Atlanta for John Schepcoff of Carmichael, Calif. Schepcoff also is known as James Schepcoff, according to the SEC. His deposition has been scheduled for June 12 at 10 a.m. in San Francisco.

After pitching Profitable Sunrise on YouTube prior to its March collapse amid especially murky circumstances, Schepcoff returned to YouTube in late April and began pitching yet another murky “program” purportedly operating from Hong Kong. Although the identity of the Hong Kong “program” was unclear, records suggest it was a Zeek Rewards-like “opportunity” known as “Better-Living Global Marketing.”

In August 2012, the SEC described Zeek as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that had pushed unregistered securities on hundreds of thousands of people and duped them into believing they were receiving a legitimate return of about 1.5 percent a day. The U.S. Secret Service also said it was investigating Zeek.

A subpoena also was docketed in Atlanta yesterday for video pitchman Melton McClanahan of Fairfield, Calif. McClanahan was identified in a March order by the Alabama Securities Commission (ASC) as a Profitable Sunrise agent. McClanahan then posted a YouTube video denying he was an agent and yet claiming the information he passed along to lure prospects “was given to me.”

McClanahan’s deposition is scheduled for June 11 at 10 a.m. in San Francisco.

An SEC subpoena also was docketed yesterday in Atlanta for Don Gillette of Miami. Gillette reportedly told members of his Profitable Sunrise downline that he was turning to a new “program” that “must have a realistic earning potential of at least $500 a day or more,” according to a post at the RealScam.com antiscam forum.

Details about the scheduling of Gillette’s deposition are unclear.

As part of its ongoing Profitable Sunrise probe, the SEC also has subpoenaed records at PayPal and at Societe Generale in New York, according to the docket of U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr. in Atlanta. Whether Profitable Sunrise or its members were using the companies to move money is unclear.

One of the problems with HYIP schemes is that they may cause laundered funds or proceeds of criminal enterprises to pass through or be placed on deposit at legitimate financial institutions.

News of the new round of Profitable Sunrise subpoenas follows on the heels of the takedown last month of Liberty Reserve, amid allegations it had orchestrated a $6 billion money-laundering conspiracy. Liberty Reserve was popular with HYIP scammers and other criminals.

NOTE: Thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.

Jun 5, 2013
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Liberty Reserve, Founder, Others Indicted In New York

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (15TH UPDATE 2:31 P.M. EDT U.S.A.) Liberty Reserve, its founder and several others have been indicted in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

The charges, which include conspiracy to commit money-laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, were confirmed this morning by the office of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.

Liberty Reserve founder Arthur Budovsky was using the aliases “Eric Paltz” and “Arthur Belanchuk,” according to the indictment.

Co-conspirators, according to the indictment, include Vladimir Kats, also known as “Ragnar”; Ahmed Yassine Abdelghani, also known as “Alex”; Allan Esteban Hildago Jimenez, also known as “Allen Garcia”; Azzeddine El Amine; Mark Marmilev, also known as “Marko”; and Maxim Chukharev.

Marmilev also is known as “Mark Halls,” according to an affidavit that accompanies the indictment.

Budovsky and El Amine were arrested Friday in Spain, Bharara’s office said today. Kats and Marmilev were arrested Friday in Brooklyn. Chukharev was arrested Friday in Costa Rica. Hildago and Abdelghani are “at large” in Costa Rica.

“As alleged, the only liberty that Liberty Reserve gave many of its users was the freedom to commit crimes — the coin of its realm was anonymity, and it became a popular hub for fraudsters, hackers, and traffickers,” Bharara said. “The global enforcement action we announce today is an important step towards reining in the ‘Wild West’ of illicit Internet banking. As crime goes increasingly global, the long arm of the law has to get even longer, and in this case, it encircled the earth.”

Added Steven G. Hughes, special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service. “These arrests are an example of the Secret Service’s commitment to investigate and apprehend criminals engaged in the misuse of virtual currencies to conduct global monetary fraud. Cyber criminals should be reminded today that they are unable to hide behind the anonymity of the Internet to avoid regulated financial systems.”

The IRS and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)) also are involved in the probe, as are multiple nations, Bharara’s office said.

Liberty Reserve and its co-conspirators “intentionally created, structured, and operated Liberty Reserve as a criminal business venture, one designed to help criminals conduct illegal transactions and launder the proceeds of their crimes,” according to the indictment.

The United States has seized the Liberty Reserve domain name along with several others, according to an affidavit that accompanies the indictment. The others include: ExchangeZone.com; SwiftExchanger.com; MoneyCentralMarket.com; and Asianagold.com. As part of the seizure process, a federal judge ordered the U.S. Secret Service to point the domain nameservers to a “sinkhole” URL at ShadowServer.org.

News about the seizures destroys various examples of wishful thinking advanced by online HYIP hucksters at forums such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup since LibertyReserve’s domain went offline Friday. On Saturday, reports surfaced that Budovsky had been arrested in Spain and that Liberty Reserve was under investigation in Costa Rica and the United States.

Seizure notices are expected to appear on the domains, although the timing was not clear.

The indictment ties Liberty Reserve to the crimes of “credit card fraud, identity theft, investment fraud, computer hacking, child pornography, and narcotics trafficking.”

Among other things, the indictment alleges that “virtually all of Liberty Reserve’s business derived from suspected criminal activity” and that the scope of the fraud is “staggering.”

Between 2006 and May 2013, according to the indictment, Liberty Reserve processed an estimated 55 million transactions and is believed “to have laundered more than $6 billion in criminal proceeds.”

Supporting affidavits in the case show that the indictment was returned under seal on May 20 and that prosecutors applied for an injunction barring Amazon Web Services Inc. from providing services to Liberty Reserve. The affidavit also shows that the United States is seeking forfeiture of sums on deposit in at least 42 accounts in various countries

These banks are in countries such as Costa Rica, Cyprus, Russia, Hong Kong, China, Morocco, Spain, Latvia, Australia and the United States. Tens of millions of dollars are being sought in forfeiture actions, although the final sum is unclear.

Liberty Reserve, according to the indictment, used “exchangers” in countries with little oversight, including Malaysia, Russia, Nigeria and Vietnam. The process was part of a criminal scheme to bury evidence of fraud while providing anonymity for the fraudsters.

The enterprise, according to the indictment, functioned “in effect as the bank of choice for the criminal underworld.”

Link to documents posted by Bharara’s office. Read statement by Bharara’s office.

In a separate but related action, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced it had identified Liberty Reserve as a “Financial Institution of Primary Money Laundering Concern.”

“Treasury is determined to protect the U.S. financial system from cyber criminals and other malicious actors in cyberspace, including overseas entities like Liberty Reserve that facilitate online crime and hope to evade regulatory scrutiny,” said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen. “We are prepared to target and disrupt illicit financial activity wherever it occurs – domestically, at the far reaches of the globe or across the internet.”

May 28, 2013
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: AdSurfDaily Figure And Purported ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Kenneth Wayne Leaming Sentenced To 8 Years In Federal Prison

Kenneth Wayne Leaming

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (UPDATED 10:55 P.M. EDT U.S.A.) AdSurfDaily figure and purported “sovereign citizen” Kenneth Wayne Leaming has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison. His former business associate and fellow purported “sovereign” David Carroll Stephenson has been sentenced to 10 years.

Stephenson already was serving prison time for a tax scam.

“These defendants tried to mask their crimes with the cloak of free speech and beliefs,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan of the Western District of Washington. “They thought they were immune from the law or the justice system, but now their frauds aimed at taxpayers and public servants need to come to an end. A lengthy prison term is the best way to protect the public from their schemes.”

Stephenson, Durkan’s office said, received a sentence longer than the recommended guidelines.

U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton said that Stephenson “cannot, will not live his life without doing harm to others,” prosecutors said. “He is the master manipulator, the puppeteer . . . He is in my mind a very dangerous man.”

Leaming, the judge said, flaunts authority and “harasses law abiding people who have an obligation to the people to serve,” according to prosecutors.

Leaming, like Stephenson, is 57. Although it never was clear whether Leaming was a member of the $119 million ASD Ponzi scheme broken up by the U.S. Secret Service in 2008, it became crystal clear that he was trying to derail the prosecution by filing bogus liens against public officials involved in the ASD case and had worked with Stephenson to file fraudulent liens against two U.S. prison officials.

Prosecutors had asked for Leaming to be sentenced to 10 years.

When the FBI executed search warrants at Leaming’s Spanaway home in November 2011, they found six firearms — this despite the fact Leaming was a convicted felon banned from possessing guns. Leaming previously has been convicted of piloting an aircraft without a license.

One of the weapons Leaming possessed was described by prosecutors as a “street sweeper” style shotgun. He also had an “assault rifle,” according to prosecutors.

Leaming also was found to be harboring two federal fugitives from Arkansas wanted in a home-business caper separate from ASD.

During his criminal trial, Leaming was channeling deceased cop-killer Christopher Dorner in a veiled bid to intimidate law enforcement, prosecutors said. Dorner is the former member of the Los Angeles Police Department who promised warfare against cops in February. The Dorner story stunned the nation.

Leaming, according to the FBI, also has a history that includes discussing a plot by which he’d serve U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts with a purported writ at a school attended by Roberts’ young children.

From a statement by Durkan’s office tonight (italics added):

The men (Stephenson and Leaming) identify themselves as members of the ‘Sovereign Citizen’ movement. ‘Sovereign Citizens’ profess a belief that both state and federal government entities are illegitimate. Members of this group often engaged in so-called “freedom driving,” i.e., driving about without state-required licenses, either for their vehicles or themselves. When contacted by local law enforcement, members of the group often bombard local officials (from the officer, to local judges, to mayors and other members of local government) with frivolous liens, false claims, and sometimes threats of violence. Many members of this same group had previously come to the attention of federal law enforcement for engaging in various fraudulent tax schemes, wire fraud schemes, and (occasionally) inappropriate communications with various members of federal law enforcement and the judiciary.

In asking for a ten year sentence for both men, prosecutors wrote to the court that only a long prison term would protect the public. About STEPHENSON they wrote, “This is not the case of a defendant who continues to run afoul of the law because of a substance abuse addiction or a history of childhood abuse. Rather, this is a defendant who simply chooses to remain defiant, despite court after court telling him that he must stop, and despite multiple stints in prison. At this point, removal from society is the only way in which the public can be kept safe from the defendant’s crimes.”

As for LEAMING, prosecutors provided information to the court about his repeatedly holding himself out to victims as a lawyer who could solve their problems, when in fact his actions may have damaged their case. About the crimes from the March 2013 conviction prosecutors wrote: “Defendant’s possession of firearms is particularly disturbing in light of several facts. First is obviously his disdain for government. Second is his possession of various items of police equipment, including numerous badges, light bars, and a Crown Victoria sedan modified to appear to be a police vehicle. Last but not least is Defendant’s repeated invocation of the shooting of government officials in Southern California by a disgruntled former police officer – which again appeared to be a veiled threat to engage in violence himself if he is prevented from pursuing his “‘petitions for redress,’” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo.

May 24, 2013
UPDATE: Sentencing For Legisi Pitchman Matthew John Gagnon Now Set For June 18

Matthew J. Gagnon

Sentencing for Legisi HYIP Ponzi scheme pitchman Matthew John Gagnon has been rescheduled for June 18. Gagnon initially was scheduled to be sentenced yesterday, federal prosecutors said earlier this month.

Gagnon pleaded guilty to not disclosing he’d been paid more than $1 million by Legisi and operator Gregory N. McKnight to tout the “program” online. McKnight is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 6, federal prosecutors said.

Legisi, a Ponzi-forum darling, collapsed in 2008. It triggered a civil probe by the SEC and a criminal investigation by the U.S. Secret Service. Michigan securities regulators also were involved in the probe.

Other recent Ponzi-board “programs” that became the subjects of major investigations include Pathway To Prosperity, Imperia Invest IBC, AdSurfDaily, Zeek Rewards and Profitable Sunrise. All of the “programs” claimed absurd rates of return.

The name of MoneyMakerGroup, a forum listed in U.S. court filings as a place from which Ponzi schemes are promoted, appears in an evidence exhibit in the Legisi case. Also included in the exhibit is Legisi’s bizarre Terms of Service, which required investors to avow they were not an “informant” for government agencies such as the CIA, FBI, SEC, “Her Majesty’s Police,” the Intelligence Services of Great Britain and the Serious Fraud Office, among others.

Like McKnight, Gagnon also faces millions of dollars in civil judgments for hawking the Legisi scheme.

In a plea agreement in the criminal case, Gagnon admitted he’d caused more than $7 million in losses to more than 50 Legisi investors.

Delays in sentencing dates may be due in part to the difficulty the court-appointed receiver in the Legisi case has encountered in deposing a potential Legisi witness jailed in Alabama in a second scam.

May 22, 2013
UPDATE: Sentencing For Legisi HYIP’s Gregory McKnight Delayed Again; Sentencing For Pitchman Matthew J. Gagnon Also Moved

Gregory N. McKnight

Sentencing for Legisi HYIP Ponzi scheme purveyor Gregory N. McKnight has been delayed again — this time until Aug. 6 at 1:30 p.m. McKnight had been scheduled to be sentenced today in the Eastern District of Michigan. The postponement marks at least the fifth in the case.

Legisi, which had a presence on infamous Ponzi forums such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup and became the subject of both civil (SEC) and criminal (U.S. Secret Service) probes prior to its 2008 collapse, was a fraud that gathered about $72 million. McKnight pleaded guilty to wire fraud in February 2012. Prosecutors have asked for a sentence of 15 years, describing McKnight’s wordplay when trying to sanitize his HYIP scheme as “semantic obfuscation.”

Meanwhile, sentencing for Legisi pitchman Matthew John Gagnon has been moved from today until May 21 at 1:30 p.m. Gagnon pleaded guilty to not disclosing he’d been paid more than $1 million by Legisi and McKnight to tout the “program” online. Gagnon pushed the “program” on Mazu.com.

The name of MoneyMakerGroup appears in an evidence exhibit in the Legisi case. Also included in the exhibit is Legisi’s bizarre Terms of Service, which required investors to avow they were not an “informant” for government agencies such as the CIA, FBI, SEC, “Her Majesty’s Police,” the Intelligence Services of Great Britain and the Serious Fraud Office, among others.

Other recent Ponzi-board “programs” that became the subjects of major investigations include Pathway To Prosperity, Imperia Invest IBC, AdSurfDaily, Zeek Rewards and Profitable Sunrise. All of the “programs” claimed absurd rates of return.

The SEC said last month that Profitable Sunrise was operating from a “mail drop” in England and that pitchmen may not even have known for whom they were working when touting the “opportunity,” which may have gathered tens of millions of dollars.

ASD was a $119 million Ponzi scheme. Zeek, according to the SEC, was a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid fraud. Imperia targeted thousands of deaf investors and consumed more than $7 million. Pathway to Prosperity gathered about $70 million, according to court filings.

ASD’s Andy Bowdoin — now serving a prison term of 78 months — also engaged in semantic obfuscation, prosecutors said. ASD, a massive Ponzi scheme, purported to pay 1 percent a day. That’s about a third of the purported payout of the Profitable Sunrise “Long Haul” plan, which promoters said paid 2.7 percent a day.

Like Legisi, Profitable Sunrise claimed to be in the “loan” business.

May 7, 2013
UPDATE: MPB Today Operator Ordered To Stay Away From MLM As He Awaits Sentencing In Racketeering Case; Separately, MLM ‘Programs’ Get Pounded In The Press

Gary Calhoun

Gary Calhoun, the operator of the MPB Today MLM “program,” has joined AdSurfDaily Ponzi schemer Andy Bowdoin as a member of a dubious club: A Florida judge has ordered Calhoun not to get arrested on new charges and to stay away from MLM while he awaits sentencing in a racketeering case brought by Florida authorities last year.

Here is a note on the docket of Circuit Judge Jan Shackelford reflecting the ban: “DEFENDANT TO HAVE NO CONTACT OR RECEIVE ANY INCOME FROM ANY MLM.” Calhoun, according to the docket, will be permitted to pursue any “legal means” to support his family.

Bowdoin was banned from MLM last year while he awaited sentencing in the $119 million ASD Ponzi scheme broken up by the U.S. Secret Service in August 2008. Prosecutors said Bowdoin pushed a scam known as AdViewGlobal (AVG) even after the government seized more than $80 million in ASD-related bank accounts. After the collapse of AVG in 2009, Bowdoin, 78, pushed a pyramid scheme known as OneX, according to court filings. He later was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison.

Calhoun, 56, will be sentenced July 30, according to the case docket, which notes a plea agreement. He was arrested on the racketeering charge in December 2012 and has been free on bond since then. In July 2012, federal prosecutors in the Northern District of Florida filed a forfeiture complaint for MPB Today’s headquarters building in Pensacola. The affidavit in the forfeiture case was filed under seal. But the forfeiture case, according to prosecution filings, was brought to enforce 18 USC § 1028 and 18 USC § 1029, statutes dealing with access-device fraud and fraud in connection with identification documents.

MPB Today operated an MLM married to a grocery-delivery business known as Southeastern Delivery. Among the claims was that a one-time purchase of $200 in groceries could lead to free groceries and gasoline for life. Some promoters claimed the U.S. government and Walmart had endorsed MPB Today. Others encouraged prospects to sell $200 worth of Food Stamps to raise the money needed to join the “program.”

Supporters of the “program” defended it on the PP Blog by calling critics “roaches,” “IDIOTS,” “clowns,” “terrible” people, “misleading” people, people who have led a “sheltered life,” people who have been “chained up in a basement,” people who have “chips” on their shoulders, spewers of “hot air,” “naysayers,” “complainers,” “trouble maker[s]” and “crybabies.”

MPB Today later vanished — but not before a promoter described President Obama as a Nazi and and his family as aspiring to eat dog food. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was depicted as a bawling drunk. First Lady Michelle Obama was depicted as having experienced an embarrassing gas attack in the Oval Office after having sampled “beans” at a Sam’s Club Store.

From an ad designed to attract prospects for the MPB Today “program.”

All of it — and more — was designed to attract business to the MLM firm, which apparently has followed ASD into the darkness.

News of Calhoun’s sentencing date was received during a week in which MLM was experiencing one PR disaster after another. WTOL, a TV station in Toledo, Ohio, carried a report on the alleged Profitable Sunrise HYIP scheme. The SEC said earlier this month that the purported “opportunity” may have gathered tens of millions of dollars and that promoters may not have known for whom they were working.

Profitable Sunrise was targeted at Christians, according to regulatory actions. Among its absurd offerings was the purported “Long Haul” plan that promised to pay 2.7 percent a day with the payout due April 1 — April Fool’s Day. Promoters called it the “Easter Gift” because Easter occurred on March 31. The payouts, however, never materialized.

Separately, WFMY of Greensboro, N.C., said it had uncovered evidence that members of the Zeek Rewards “program” were being targeted in a reload scam. In August 2012, the SEC described Zeek as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme.

Meanwhile, the politics and satire site Wonkette ran a piece yesterday titled, “The End Is Near: Time Running Out To Join Amazing Jesus Pyramid Scheme.”

The story details spam received by Wonkette, apparently from a promoter of a scheme known as “Rocket Ca$h Cycler.”

The subject line of the pitch, according to Wonkette, was this: “The Wealth Transfer is here!! Florida Pastor & Church break through financially!”

When MPB Today was operational, it ran a matrix cycler. One particularly bizzare pitch for the “program” in 2010 claimed this: If you “hate Walmart and have written a 603 page manifesto on how Walmart is trying to take over the world and steal your soul,” you should “stop making that pipe bomb and read how you can avoid Walmart and still make bank.”

Read review of the Rocket Cash Cycler “program” at BehindMLM.

Apr 27, 2013