Scam Absurdities: Birds of a Feather Flock Together, or the Rodrigues and Filho financial links

There was an old saying: Birds of a Feather, Flock Together

Basically means: like attracts like.

So how does this apply to Ponzi schemes? One needs to look no further than Sanderlay Rodrigues De Vasconcelos aka "Sann Rodrigues", and his ties to Daniel Rojo Filho.

For those of you who don't know "Sann" Rodrigues... he used to go by the title "First Millionaire TelexFree US". That's right... he's a "net winner" in the TelexFree scam in both Brazil and the US. Previously he operated a Ponzi scheme called FoneClub that was shut down by the SEC around 2006. Oh, gee, now here he is again, a top leader in ANOTHER Ponzi scheme, TelexFree, shut down by the the SEC! But it gets better. At the time Sann was in Brazil, and he simply came up with a new scheme... called iFreeX.  And within a few months Massachussetts called it suspect Ponzi, which apparently prompted Brazilian authorities to raid his recruiting seminar and invited him downtown for a long chat.  He was released but apparently under travel restrictions, roughly March 2015 or so.

MLMSkeptic was immediately reminded of the circumstances how half of the TelexFree US, Carlos Wanzeler, escaped the country... by driving into Canada ahead of the authorities with his daughter, leaving his wife behind, and from there they flew to Brazil, where they cannot be extradited against their will (as per Brazilian constitution. Wanzeler still holds Brazilian citizenship). When his wife Katia Wanzeler tried to join them she was arrested at the airport by Federal agents, minutes before she got on the plane.  She had previous told Federal agents serving a search warrant on the Wanzeler house that Carlos is staying at a hotel when it was later discovered that when she told the Federal agents Carlos and daughter was in fact heading toward the Canadian border in a car registered to her company.

But we're here to talk about Sann Rodrigues... Any way... Apparently Sann Rodrigues managed to get himself out of Brazil despite Brazilians told him to not go anywhere. So when he disappeared, Brazilian authorities put out a Interpol Red WANTED notice:

Interpol Wanted Notice for Sann Rodrigues

So when he showed up in Newark, New Jersey (yes, in the US) getting back into the US... He was promptly arrested for VISA fraud. He had apparently neglected to mention that he was arrested for Ponzi scheme back in 2008 or so... among other problems. He posted bail, had his passport (and those of his family) confiscated, only to be arrested AGAIN for the Interpol warrant. He spent another weekend in jail until Brazilians eventually responded "you can keep him for now".

Okay, so what does this have to do with Daniel Rojo Filho? And who is Daniel Rojo Filho? Pretty complex guy... and "ambassador of the Sinaloa Drug Cartel", according to a Mexican article.

Scammer Update: Sann Rodrigues (i.e. Sanderlay Rodrigues de Vasconcelos) posted bail for US crimes, rearrested for escaping from Brazil

Previously MLMSkeptic has covered the various scams pumped by noted scammer Sann Rodrigues, whose real name is Sanderlay Rodrigues de Vasconcelos. For those who haven't caught up, here's a quick summary:

• Universo FoneClub circa 2006, closed by SEC as Ponzi scheme
• Tried to restart FoneClub in Brazil, closed after a year
• TelexFree scam that was eventually shut down in 2014
• iFreeX (meeting raided by Brazilian police in Feb 2015)

Back in February 2014 MLMSkeptic did a profile on Sann Rodrigues, here's a bit of an update. 

In April 2014, TelexFree tried to declare bankruptcy, and was immediately raised by Homeland Security and Mass Department of Securities. Their CFO Joe Craft tried to leave with a laptop bag he claimed was personal property. It was searched and TENS OF MILLIONS in cashier's checks was found in the bag and the entire bag was held for evidence. SEC filed its case under seal to be opened upon raid. . 

After TelexFree went bust in April 2014, it appears that Sann Rodrigues was still traveling the world, still selling TelexFree, but is looking for another scam to promote, and he seem to be the first person EVER to promote iFreeX as of September 2014, which, based on the name, appears to be at least inspired by, if not an outright clone of TelexFree, as it claims to be a communications app to do voice and text chat, video talk, and video conference. (TelexFree was VOIP, which is voice chat)  There are many who suspect that Sann Rodrigues was the real founder of iFreeX (though the real founder had not been identified thus far). 

Within 1 month, Massachussetts, where TelexFree was based, issued a warning on iFreeX being a scam and a clone of TelexFree. Sann Rodrigues then apparently deleted all the iFreeX content from his Facebook timeline. (it is widely believed that he then started a new one somewhere that only posts in Portuguese, hidden from public view) 

In Feburary 2015, Brazilian Federal police special unit GAEP raided an iFreeX meeting headed by Sann Rodrigues. Rodrigues was invited downtown for a long chat, and apparently had his passport confiscated and told "don't leave the area". Apparently the Brazilians want to talk about his tax evasion. 

BREAKING NEWS: Massachussetts calls iFreeX "rebranded TelexFree fraud"

According to Massachusetts Securities Division, the first agency to pound on TelexFree fraud, iFreeX is a reload scam targeting TelexFree victims. It even has the same ponzi pimp: Sann Rodrigues (who's actually "Sanderley Rodrigues de Vasconcelos")  People who have verifiable information are urged to call MSD at 1-800-269-5428 to assist in the investigation.

http://patrickpretty.com/2014/09/30/urgent-bulletin-moving-massachusetts-issues-warning-on-ifreex-scheme-ifreex-appears-to-be-nothing-more-than-a-rebranded-telexfree-fraud-for-mobile-phones/

Scam Post-Mortem: TelexFree location lies confirmed by authorities

Back in July 2013, LONG before TelexFree got raided (April 2014) by DHS, FBI, etc. MLMSkeptic had warned the readers about how TelexFree office is a virtual office, and its co-owner, James Merrill, is allowing misinformation, such as "TelexFree own the whole building" to be perpetuated by its members in multiple languages on multiple continents.

Today brings an end to that chapter of the TelexFree lie; the bankruptcy trustee has terminated the $5944 per month lease of the TelexFree office, which only started January 2014 and is scheduled to run through March 2015. By forfeiting the deposit and a portion of the furnishings, the lease has been terminated, saving tens of thousands of dollars that can be repatriated to the victims of TelexFree.

In other words, it took another 5 MONTHS (July to December 2013) of constant pressure by "promoters" to convince TelexFree that they need a "real" office rather than the virtual one they had been touting. And they are willing to pay THOUSANDS of dollars a month just to keep up appearances, with office staff that does nothing except to smile and look busy, and there were only 7 of them for a company that allegedly did 1 billion dollars of business a year, according to themselves.

It is further alleged that in 2013, TelexFree reported sales of $1.016 billion, while known sales of the TelexFree VoIP product represented less than 0.1 percent of TelexFree’s total revenues.  --- FBI press release 

But TelexFree — whom some affiliates say is a $1 billion company with a VOIP product — has only seven employees at its Marlborough office, according to regulatory filings in Tennessee. These employees work in “administration, sales and marketing, accounting, and operations positions.”  -- PatrickPretty.com

That can't be legit.

But wait, there's more!

Scam Psychology: Naive Realism / Anecdotal Fallacy / Argument from Illusion

Illustration of Naive realism or Direct realism. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of the most often used counter-arguments by a scheme participant against skepticism is the self-testimonial, as in "I have done this, so I know it works, and therefore the whole business works!"

Let us assume that they are not outright scammers for the moment (i.e. liar, liar, pants on fire)

What they don't realize is they are operating from "naive realism", i.e. they assumed that everything they experienced is real, when it is quite possible they've been defrauded (magic trick), and they then extrapolated from their limited (but realistic) experience to conclude that the whole business must be "real".  One version of such self-testimonial, and the most often used, is the "It paid me" argument, as in "this opportunity paid me, therefore it's not a scam".

Yet this is the most powerful of all arguments, even if it's false. TelexFree victims in and around Boston, Massachusetts told Boston Globe that pressure from friends and family, esp. when posing with new house, new car, new luxuries, etc. often prove to be impossible to resist, esp. by people with (naive) "unbridled enthusiasm". Quoting from the Boston Globe story:

...Fausto da Rocha said he probably lost $45,000, the proceeds of an insurance payment from an auto accident. He had initially resisted TelexFree, but after friends profited, he decided to join, hoping the investment would accelerate his recovery from bankruptcy a few years earlier and losing his house. Da Rocha, well known in the Brazilian community, said he recruited about 20 relatives and friends. 

“I feel guilty,” da Rocha said as tears clouded his eyes. “My career is gone. I’m going to clean houses with my wife. Cleaning houses is a good business.”

But the social cost is even greater. He had 20 relatives and friends he can never look in the eye again.

Sann Rodrigues, one of the "TelexFree 8" charged by SEC
as part of a scam, showing off his Ferraris and MB and mansion
in Florida in one of his videos (screencap from Vimeo)

TelexFree News Update 4/30/2014: Sann Rodrigues invokes God, Santiago De La Rosa ordered to sell bling cars

Not too many news items, as everyone is waiting for the huge court date of May 2nd...

Sann Rodrigues invokes God, vows "I am never going to stop this [TelexFree?]"

According to the SEC, in court documents recently filed, they found Sann Rodrigues uploaded a video to Youtube on April 16th, the day of the SEC/ FBI / HSI / ICE / who knows what else raid on TelexFree. In the video, Sann Rodrigues announced:

I am never going to stop this. If I say to my network I will never stop this because it is in blood, DNA. And who started multi-level was God. If you want to learn, learn. If you want to frown, frown. God made binary, Adam and Eve, and told them to multiply. For me, it is given by God.

It was pretty obvious that Sann Rodrigues was referring to TelexFree (that he will never stop doing TelexFree).

So being a scammer is in his blood, hmmm? Please keep in mind this is NOT Sann Rodrigues's first time being investigated by SEC. Back in 2007 SEC busted him for operating "Universo FoneClub" that charged over 1000 dollars for an opportunity to sell phone cards, but people actually made money recruiting other people.

Back then, he claimed that God wanted Brazilians to prosper and Universo FoneClub was the way. Now he claimed God invented binary. It's clear that he's recycling his old recruiting talk and he really isn't going to change... Much like Kevin Trudeau (who recently got 10 years jail sentence).

Recall that the only one who really prospered is himself. He's the one showing off fancy Ferraris on TV and a mansion in Florida. And he's not shy showing it off. See for yourself:

Sann Rodrigues on Vimeo, self-proclaimed millionaire through TelexFree, showing off his assets
vows to never stop (what? cheating other people? first through Universo FoneClub, then TelexFree?)

Which brings us to one of his co-conspirators, also charged by the SEC, Santiago de la Rosa.

TelexFree Update: SEC will intervene in bankruptcy, telecom licenses in jeopardy, victims may be trolled for reload scams

Every day the scope of TelexFree scam seem to expand, and getting more complex, as different people search for ways to cope with the situation, whether they are victims, or "leaders" who lead victims, or worse. Here are some choice updates.

TelexFree owners paid themselves and more millions with participant money

TelexFree, according to SEC, only sold $1.3 million dollars worth of VOIP over 2 years that it operated. However, its owners passed out checks worth much more in the last six months. Here's some highlights, according to SEC's forensic accountant:

Albers [SEC forensic accountant] said TelexFree transferred a total of $3.1 million to Merrill Dec. 26 [2013] and the following day. Over those same two days, the company moved $7.3 million to Wanzeler, who wired half that amount to a Chinese bank in Singapore a week later, Albers said in court documents. 

There’s lots more: TelexFree sent more than $2 million to companies controlled by chief financial officer Joseph Craft between last November and March of this year. He was in the office when FBI agents raided the company, and he tried to walk out the door with $38 million in cashier’s checks. Among those checks: one made out to Wanzeler’s wife for another $2 million.

Now consider this simple question: if they sold only $1.3 million worth of VOIP over 2 years, where did all that $7.3 mil, $3.1 mil, $2 mil, and $38 mil come from?



Nevada Attorney General will "Intervene" in TelexFree's telecom approval

According to documents spotted by PatrickPretty.com, Nevada Attorney General / Consumer Protection Bureau has filed "intent to intervene" in regard of TelexFree licensing issues with the Nevada Public Utilities Commission.

This appears to be in reaction to the Joe Isaacs / ISG Telecom letter apparently sent to all 50 states (and DC) that he was lied by TelexFree to and the information submitted to various commission to "prove" TelexFree is a viable company, many of which were "submitted under seal" and thus not for public review, may be utter fabrications.

What that really means is Nevada AG wants to throw out the entire application for telecom license to operate in Nevada in light of the new information, such as TelexFree's bankruptcy and charges by SEC and Massachusetts SecState of being a huge Ponzi scheme.

Expect other states to follow in the next few days. TelexFree should have all of its telecom license invalidated within a few weeks. They were likely fraudulently obtained through filing of false information.


Also see BehindMLM: TelexFree communications registrations in jeopardy?

But wait, there's more!

BREAKING NEWS: Sann Rodrigues, TelexFree "Top Promoter", says blame TelexFree lawyer Gerald Nehra

iG, news in Brazil, managed to track down Sann Rodrigues, TelexFree's "top promoter" in 2013, for an interview, since the Massachussetts complaint (that alleged TelexFree is a global 1 BILLION dollar fraud) mentioned his name.

In the interview, Sann Rodrigues basically claimed "I am a victim", then basically rolled Gerald Nehra, TelexFree's US lawyer, under the bus, by essentially blaming him for everything.

Once should recall that Sann Rodrigues is believed to have met Gerald Nehra before... when his FoneClub Universo was closed by the SEC.

http://economia.ig.com.br/2014-04-16/hoje-sou-uma-vitima-da-telexfree-diz-maior-divulgador-da-empresa.html