People Who Know The Biz is Illegal, then Actively Conceal it, can be PROSECUTED!

A New York woman, who was prosecuted for aiding a Ponzi schemer, was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

This woman was the sole employee of Gen See Capital, a Ponzi scheme ran by Richard Piccoli. She was charged with "misprision of felony" (i.e. not reporting something she knew to be illegal) as well as failure to file tax returns. The scam eventually covered $25 MILLION dollars. Piccoli is currently serving 20 years in jail and full restitution of all funds.

The woman in question admitted that she knew the business was a scam, but did not report it to authorities.

http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/erie/Woman-sentenced-for-Ponzi-scheme

Misprision is still active in US Federal Law

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misprision_of_felony#United_States_federal_law

In that the participant actively tried to cover up the crime.

Thus, any one who *knew* the enterprise they are engaged in to be illegal, but continued any way, and in fact, attempt to cover up evidence of wrongdoing, may be charged with misprision of felony, a Federal offence.

Ponzi scheme assistants and cheerleaders... the "inner circle"... beware!

Ponzi Clawback "victims" get a break from IRS

Ponzi scheme benefactors, i.e. those who actually got more money from the Ponzi scheme than they put in, often face clawback lawsuits from the authorites / receiver / bankruptcy trustee. However, IRS just gave them a break... They need to pay back the clawback, but they can choose to deduct that in EITHER the year they actually paid it back, or file an AMENDED return and deduct it from income of the year this "fake" income was actually received, i.e. reset it to zero.

For example, say the Zeek Rewards "net winner" who got a good income from Zeek in 2012, but is facing a clawback from receiver Ken Bell in 2013 and decide to pay it, can choose to deduct that payment for either 2012 (when the fake income was received) or 2013 (when the clawback was paid).

How this affects the taxe implications would require some number crunching by a proper tax preparer and/or tax attorney.

http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/business/new-irs-rules-may-aid-ponzi-clawback-victims/nScfP/

BREAKING NEWS: Kevin Thompson warns people against potential scams... such as GoFun Places

Kevin Thompson, aka "The MLM Attorney", of Thompson Burton, is an outspoken critic and proponent of MLM. He is plain-spoken (for an attorney, ha-ha) and does not sugarcoat problems with MLM business model, including the gray areas within the system, as well as problems surrounding the system.

He was one of the first who spoke out against the Zeek Rewards ponzi, and even then he lamented about how the industry kept silent, and even gave it tacit approval (two other MLM lawfirms were involved in "compliance" of Zeek, implying endorsement / legality)

Now he's giving a very public warning about what he called "leverage profit sharing programs", i.e. pay-to-play "profit-sharing" businesses... i.e. very much like Zeek. And he named three: Banner Brokers, Profitable Sunrise, and GoFun Places.

Banner Brokers was already busted in Goa India.

Profitable Sunrise was busted in 27 out of 50 US states and multiple countries (UK, Australia, etc.)

Read his article for yourself, and heed his warning.

http://thompsonburton.com/mlmattorney/2013/03/21/leveraged-profit-sharing-programs-spread/

BREAKING NEWS: 27 states plus multiple countries after "Profitable Sunrise" HYIP

Profitable Sunrise, an HYIP that claimed to be in UK and promises daily profit of 1-3% through "bridge financing", is now on the watch list of at least 27 states and multiple countries including UK, Australia, and more, with Louisiana and Tennessee joining the crowd, as reported by Patrick Pretty.com

http://www.patrickpretty.com/2013/03/19/update-louisiana-joins-growing-list-of-states-that-have-issued-investor-alerts-on-profitable-sunrise/

Breaking News: More US States Shutting Down Profitable Sunrise

The Quintessential Sequential Sunrise (Photo credit: Boogies with Fish)

Previously we have repeated reports from PatrickPretty.com that Profitable Sunrise, an HYIP that claims to provide outrageous profits through "bridge financing" in the UK, but is in reality an outfit in Eastern Europe headed by the Novak brothers, was shut down in multiple US states, as well as Canada, UK, and New Zealand.

Now it seems that the rest of the states in the US are joining the flood of shutdowns. Checking various news releases shows states of Florida, Delaware, Texas, Nevada, Alaska, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and probably several more have joined the quickly growing list of states out to stop Profitable Sunrise.

According to PatrickPretty.com, at least 22 US states have either issued "investor warnings" or actual "cease and desist" court orders against Profitable Sunrise.

BREAKING NEWS: More jurisdictions slam "Profitable Sunrise" HYIP

Previously we've reported that several US states, as well as UK and Canada have denounced Profitable Sunrise as a suspect scheme.

As it turns out, other states and countries are joining the party.

PatrickPretty.com reports that Ohio and Kentucky have joined the US states outlawing Profitable Sunrise.  Ohio claims that 15 other states have outlawed Profitable Sunrise.

http://www.patrickpretty.com/2013/03/14/bulletin-kentucky-issues-emergency-cease-and-desist-order-to-profitable-sunrise-order-identifies-possible-pitchwoman-issuing-news-releases-that-include-link-to-hyip-investment-calculator/

In a separate report, PatrickPretty.com also noted that New Zealand has also called Profitable Sunrise "illegal", and urge all people who had dealings with it to contact the authorities (FMA) right away. The promo video appears to feature a marketing group based in the US recruiting NZ people.

http://www.patrickpretty.com/2013/03/14/new-zealand-calls-profitable-sunrise-illegal-issues-warning-cites-youtube-promos-and-suggest-u-s-based-recruitment-arm-may-be-part-of-scam/

Genre Analysis: Does Precious Metal MLM Make Sense?

A gold bar. But doesn't it make sense as a MLM?
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You can mix almost ANY business with MLM by adopting some sort of a multi-level compensation plan. However, as I have explained many times before, MLM comp plan, due to its nature, requires a product with very high margins. The company has essentially spent the advertising budget on the affiliates instead of traditional media advertising like TV spots, magazine ads, and so on.

Which is why precious metal MLM, such as Auruma, makes absolutely no sense at all. Clearly, it should NOT exist the way it was described.

As the genre suggests, Auruma lets you "subscribe" to gold or silver purchase, except you don't actually get the stuff, but rather, a certificate that says you own this much, but it's store in their vault somewhere. And you can trade your ownership of those with other members. They charge a nominal "storage fee", and pay out multi-level "commission" if you can get other people to sign up as members (i.e. buy silver and gold stored at their place").

The price for gold and silver is published in newspapers every day all around the world. The prices don't vary much in what's known as the "spot" market. Jewelers charge a little more, and so on. Thus, there is NO margin to support multi-level payout.

So where is the mulit-level payout money coming from?