Book 8, Streetbrokers and their tricks to gain your money

THE TRUT ABOUT MONITARY PAPER TRADE and
THE WAYS IN WHICH STREETBROKER AND FRAUDSTERS WORK.

If you wish to contact me be;
Phone: +44 (0) 1803 323 244 or
Mobil: +44 (0) 7767 791 305 or
E-Mail: Tourintertrust@yahoo.com
Joszach69@yahoo.de
Mzachel_future@tiscali.co.uk
1936Jozach@fsmail.net
franzschulz@yahoo.de
My name is Manfred J. Zachel, if you want to know more about the International Syndicates please read CHAPTER 5 and 6
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THE REASON WHILE I FIGHT AGAINST THIS SORT OF CRIME IS THAT THOUSANDS OF ORDINARY PEOPLE LOSE THEIR SAVINGS OR ASSETS TO THOSE FRAUDSTERS AND END UP IN POVERTY, SOME OF THEM EVEN COMMITTED SUISYDE, LOST THEIR FAMILY AND FRIENDS, THAT HAS TO BE STOPPED.
===================================== “Project Hammer” has been rightly described as “a nondescript name of something that’s awful hard to define
The operation called “Hammer” has passed into unwritten history, but a residue of cosmic proportions remains in the off ledger nether-world of Citibank New York.
A sum of USD 223 104 000 008.03 (as at December 1991) is hidden in the limbo of daily ledger closing. It is a composite of 30 or more accounts for various people (personalities / corporations / governments,), better described as “clients “, around the world _ in one solid block at Citibank.

For each of the accounts there is said to be a broker and an investor (entity?). The investors appear to have abandoned their principle; the Brokers have never been paid any commission. Nor have the investors ever received any interest, or earnings.
The Hammer funds would be hidden in Citibank off- ledger account, escaping detection in suspense in spite of inspections. A means of evasion was to alter the account number/s to a manageable degree, with details known only to the custodian / “trustee”(sic).

Corresponding Banks to Citibank New York are, according to Wamboldt’s schematic:
Bank of America, Toronto, Canada
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Toronto, Canada
Security Pacific Bank, Los Angeles, California
Federal Reserve
Not included in Wamboldt’s schematic, but claimed for Eastech Bank and Eastcorp by Riaan Stander and Van Rooyen, (South African Citizen and Business man) and confirmed by Canadian auditors MC IVOR and Associates, is;

Bank of Mexico

A considerable amount of information has been provided by

Brigadier-General Earle COCKE Jun U S Army (retired)
A further aspect is the assertion that - especially in the 1960’s - funds were used for arms sales, as well as to generate funds for military Operations: (the Iran-Contra rebels transactions of the 1980’s has also been suggested);

A later development was the use of the funds for trading in collateral bank instruments, based on the funds.

“Individuals, corporations, and even governments. Certainly it is said, “the funds arose to the credit of people (surely not excluding public and private organisations) who had engaged in some kind of trading programme.”

Street brokers (Fraudster) work with all tricks to get hold on your money or at last on your personnel- and bank dates as can be seen below;
We, the Crime fighter, received from various sources per E-Mail offers with the possibility of very high profits;
The following further observations may be made:

OFFICE OF THE CHAIRMAN
CONTRACT AWARDING COMMITTEE
ECOWAS HEADQUARTERS
LOME,TOGO

Hello,
Good Day Sir/Madam,

I am PRINCE STEVE IKPEM,The Chairman, Contract
Awarding Committee of the ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST
AFRICAN STATES ( ECOWAS)with Headquarters in LOME,TOGO,

I am in search of an agent to assist us in the transfer of Twenty Million United States Dollars only.)into your personal or company`s bank account. And subsequent investment in properties in your country.
you will be required to:

(1) Assist in the transfer of the said sum
(2) Advise on lucrative areas for investment
(3) Assist us in purchase of properties.

If you decide to render your service to us in this regard,
20% of the total sum will be offerred to you.
10%will be set aside for any expences encountered during the transfer.

Pls, quickly get back to me.


Your faithfully,
STEPHEN IKPEM
Chairman of the contract award committee{CCAC


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SOS Aldeas Infantiles. Ningún niño sin hogar.
http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;15734310;7829128;i?http://ad.es.doubleclick.net/clk;15339847;11200040;r?http://www.aldeasinfantiles.es/aldeas/microsite/index.htm



and


Sir/madam
I have a premonition that you could be trusted to assist me in effecting a fund transfer into your nominated account. As such I strongly believe it that you will not sit on our fund when it finally gets into your nominated account.
You see, we are top officials of the Federal Government Contract Review Panel who are interested in importation of goods into our country with funds which are presently trapped in Nigeria in order to commence this business we solicit your assistance to enable us transfer into your account the said trapped funds.
The source of this fund is as follows:- During the last regime here, some Government officials set up companies and awarded themselves contracts which were grossly over-invoiced in various Ministries.
The present Government set up a Contract Review Panel and we have identified a lot of inflated Contract Funds, which are presently floating in the Central Bank of Nigeria ready for Payment.
However, by virtue of our position as civil servants and members of the Panel, we cannot acquire this money in our names. I have therefore, been delegated as a matter of trust by my colleagues of the Panel to look for an Overseas partner into whose account we would transfer the sum
of US$20,500,000.00 (Twenty Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) only.
Hence we are writing you this letter, we have agreed to share the money thus:
1) 25% for the account owner (you)
2) 70% for the Officials (us)
3) 5% will be for settling of taxation and all local and foreign expenses. It is from the 70% that we wish to commence the said business.
We would want you to furnish us with your full particulars such as your
Name, Telephone Numbers, Fax Numbers,Please

Best regards,
Mr Adede Anthony


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SOS Aldeas Infantiles. Ningún niño sin hogar.
http://banner.eresmas.com/adclick/CID=0000642fc858344d00000000/site=ERESMAS/area=ERESMAS.CORREO/aamsz=PIE_WEBMAIL

We responded as follow;


Dear Sir / Madam

I received your message-dated 29.04.05 and I'm interested in your offer.

I would like to get some more information from you

1 - What is it I have to do?

2 - Are these transactions legal?

3 - are you only interested in goods or also in purchase of properties or give
Loans to corporations or private persons? .

4 - gives your Bank a " Certification " of clean and legal origin*?

5 - has the properties you are interested in to be located only in Germany?

6 - send me please a draft of the contract, to be proved and signed by a notary.

You see, nobody give away $ 4,000,000 for nothing but, as I mentioned above, I am interested and, if it is legal, I am your Agent


If there are any questions please don't hesitate to contact me.


Best regards
Mr Manfred Zachel
(Gen. - Manager)

but;


we never received an respond, way?


We didn’t send the requested information, only an CONFIRMATION with questions. And, as expected there was NO RESPONCE AT ALL.


Fraud net
Launched at the beginning of 2004, Fraud net is a unique CCS initiative that aims to become the worlds' leading network of law firms specialising in white-collar crime.
The network brings together an unrivalled team of specialists in fraud, asset tracing and recovery, money laundering and cybercrime, who are able to assist fraud victims in most jurisdictions throughout the world.

Many fraud cases involve complex offshore havens that can present a complex legal minefield for victims. Successful prosecution and asset recovery in these situations requires the expertise and experience found in only a small number of legal firms.

A positive step in tackling the global problem of fraud and asset recovery, Fraudnet hopes to provide effective and straightforward solutions to the increasing numbers of victims being targeted by fraudsters.

Fraud victims and others needing assistance in relation to business crime are invited to contact any of the Fraudnet members listed.
For an application form to join Fraud net and details of membership benefits please email Peter Lowe at ccs@icc-ccs.org





CCS conference to examine fraud and money laundering

London, 3 October 2005



The 10th Annual FIB Conference will take place in London on 13th and 14th October, 2005

Everyone in business knows that financial fraud is a growing threat. The question is how best to deal with it. No financial services business is immune and now there is increasing pressure by regulators upon the industry to meet international standards of know-your-customer.

A conference of top experts on the subject, to be held in London on 13-14 October 2005, aims to provide an in-depth examination of the nature of fraud and money laundering. Actual case studies will be used to highlight the methods of criminals preying on various financial sectors.

The conference is organized by the International Chamber of Commerce’s Commercial Crime Services (CCS) division. It will be the tenth annual conference of CCS’s Financial Investigation Bureau (FIB), a specialist unit, set up in 1992, which focuses on business crime and plays an important part in the fight against fraud and money laundering.

Captain Pottengal Mukundan, Director of CCS, said: “The conference updates delegates on the modus operandi of recent financial scams and how they may be avoided. The exchange of topical information on real cases is one of the important benefits of such a meeting.

“In past years, discussion at the conference has helped bankers identify fraudsters who have approached financial institutions. It is an essential event for compliance and anti-money laundering officers of banks.” The conference will also be of interest to regulators and law enforcement agencies.

A special feature of the conference will be the launch of the ICC CCS Extranet, an online service which will provide up-to-the minute information on commercial crime to FIB members.

For more information contact:

Pottengal Mukundan
Director
Commercial Crime Services
Tel: +44 20 8 591 3000
Fax: +44 20 8 594 2833
Email: ccs@icc-ccs.org.uk


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Black-listed Nauru banks re-emerging

London, 6 June 2005



The re-emergence of blacklisted financial institutions pose a risk to banks and investors

ICC’s Financial Investigation Bureau (FIB) is warning that several blacklisted Nauru-registered banks still appear to be in operation. In 2002, the South Pacific island was designated a money laundering concern by the US Department of the Treasury. Since that time, financial dealings between US financial institutions and any Nauru-licensed institution have been prohibited.

FIB Assistant Director Jon Merrett stated: “It appears some of the blacklisted Nauru financial institutions, which went quiet for a time, are re-emerging and are attempting to disguise their origins. No doubt they hope people will have forgotten the three-year-old designation, or perhaps believe they can persuade them they are dealing with an entirely different entity.”

The prohibition followed the introduction of the USA Patriot Act in October 2001. A number of amendments were made to the anti-money laundering provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act, directly targeting some 400 offshore banks that had no physical or legal residence anywhere else in the world. The Act also addressed concerns about effective banking supervision on islands where money laundering was not a criminal offence, where no customer identification records were required, and where there was no obligation to report suspicious transactions.

As a consequence, all US financial institutions remain disallowed from opening or maintaining in the United States any account for a foreign financial institution if the account involves Nauru or any institution licensed by Nauru. The only exemption is the Bank of Nauru, which also serves as the Central Bank.

The FIB is concerned that some banks may be unwittingly trading with or maintaining correspondent relationships with blacklisted Nauru financial institutions.

Mr Merrett stated: “We have seen recent instances where US banks have failed to realise they are dealing with a Nauru bank on the US treasury list. Often the names of the blacklisted banks are the same or very similar to credible banks. Clearly, this can be confusing and is an easy trap to fall into. Given the penalties for trading with discredited financial institutions, the FIB strongly recommends taking steps to find out exactly who you are dealing with.”

To avoid confusion and reduce the risk of inadvertently compromising compliance obligations, it is recommended that concerned financial institutions contact the FIB for clarification.

The FIB has catalogued a complete list of all the Nauru banks and financial institutions named by the US Department of the Treasury. In instances where banks finds themselves dealing with one of the blacklisted financial institutions, the FIB can offer a number of protective measures including tracking assets, and or the necessary steps to exit any correspondent relationship.

To take advantage of this service, financial institutions should email fib@icc-ccs.org for full details.



Trade Finance Documents Authentication
Fake or false trade and transport documents feature in the majority of modern maritime frauds and are the greatest menace facing the international trading community.
Financial institutions, traders, insurance companies, shipping agents and other intermediaries all rely on transport documents such as Bills of Lading, Seaway Bills, Airway Bills, CMR and FCR when making decisions. A document that appears genuine can induce a bank to pay for goods or finance a trade. It can prompt an insurance company to grant cover on a ship or shipment, or indemnify a fraudulent claimant. It may lead a shipping agent to release a cargo to someone that is not entitled to it.
It is important to remember that any document can be forged. In the maritime industry, fake documents mostly copy the style of a legitimate trader and it can be difficult for a non-experienced eye to spot the difference.
With many years experience and a sound knowledge of what to look for, our Information Department has a large number of resources at its disposal that can swiftly confirm the authenticity of transport documents. We make a number of independent checks with the parties named on documents and others, and these quickly indicate whether there is a cause for concern. We will then flag this up to our member and make further enquiries to determine exactly what is wrong and, more importantly, who is responsible.
Our tried and trusted system has proved invaluable on many occasions and is one of the best ways to verify the performance of the underlying transaction.






Anjouan banks suspect

London, 19 September 2005



FIB identifies vulnerabilities in Anjouan banks



The ICC's Financial Investigation Bureau (FIB), has received numerous reports of irregularities stemming from banks registered in Anjouan, Comoros Islands, off the east coast of Africa. Specifically, the FIB has learned of several incidents where offers of trade financing, commercial lending or asset-backed lending were made against false financial instruments such as Letters of Credit, Standby Letters of Credit, and Bank Guarantees.

Banking regulations in Anjouan have become complicated and unpredictable following a series of conflicts internal to Anjouan financial authorities. Officals at these agencies have been accused of issuing inappropriate licences to offshore banks. It is highly probable that these offshore banks do not have sufficient assets to support the issue of certain financial instruments.

Attempts by the FIB to clarify who has the authority to issue bank licences in the area have failed. Jon Merrett, the FIB’s Assistant Director stated: “A number of people on Anjouan claim to have the authority to issue bank licences, but their credibility remains heavily suspect."

The credibility of the Anjouan banking industry has been further undermined by one discredited bank that succeeded in having its details registered in a leading business directory. The bank, which is well known to the FIB, was able to get the listing after producing financial statements and testaments of good practice.

A number of the transactions resulting from the directory listing have since been called into question. The business directory owners responded quickly to remove the listing, but it is feared that there may be many other victims who have yet to realise that their trades or loans may have no substance.

According to FIB research, the bank that managed to get itself registered in the business directory is said to have been granted a licence in 2000 and have 38 employees. Since 2003, the FIB has received numerous reports that this institution issued fraudulent, worthless Letters of Credit and Bank Guarantees, often for several millions of dollars. A number of new complaints were reported to the FIB this summer. Based on these reports, the FIB is currently investigating this bank on behalf of several companies.

Mr Merrett noted, “The bank in question does not appear to have a physical location. The address stated to be in Ireland is not registered. A second Anjouan bank that had its licence revoked in 2003 is still issuing illegal documents and has recently negotiated a deal with two North Korean banks to set up another offshore institution."

Mr Merrett added, “Given the current uncertainty in this region, it is advisable that anyone having dealings with an Anjouan registered banking entity or any financial transaction connected with the island take immediate steps to verify the worth of the financial instruments involved and the credibility of the institutions or individuals they are transacting with."

The FIB provides financial investigation services to members. Non-members can find out more by contacting by email at fib@icc-ccs.org.


Prime Bank/
High Yield Investment Schemes
Joel E. Leising
Senior Trial Attorney
Fraud Section, Criminal Division
Michael McGarry
Trial Attorney
Fraud Section, Criminal Division
I. Introduction
Ever since Breton Woods and the formation of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in the late 1940's, the major banks in the world have engaged in trading programs among themselves, yielding returns ranging from 10% to 100% per month, at little or no risk. Only these banks, and a few select traders authorized by the Federal Reserve, are allowed to participate in these trading programs, which are principally designed to generate funds for humanitarian and other worthwhile projects. On occasion, particular traders allow individual investors to participate in these secret-trading programs by pooling the individual’s funds with funds from other investors until a certain amount, usually a minimum of $100 million, is accumulated for a trade.
However, these individuals must enter nondisclosure agreements with the traders and agree to contribute half of their profits to a designated charitable cause.
Interested? Your investment advisor never told you about this? Maybe that's because all of what you have just read is false. Nevertheless, thousands of people during the past decade have fallen prey to scams based on similar claims and lost billions of dollars believing they were investing in such mythical trading programs.
Despite repeated warnings over the years from various regulatory agencies and international organizations that such trading programs do not exist, these prime bank or high-yield investment schemes have continued to proliferate and are now nearing epidemic levels.
Various agencies or organizations, such as the Federal Reserve Board, Office of Comptroller of Currency, Department of Treasury, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), International Chamber of Commerce, North American Securities Administrators Association, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank have all issued explicit warnings to the public about prime bank fraud . Occasionally, you will find copies of these among the items seized during execution of a search warrant at a fraudster’s office. A number of good reference materials are publicly available relating to these schemes, including PRIME BANK AND RELATED FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS FRAUD issued by the SEC in 1998.
Two others are PRIME BANK INSTRUMENT FRAUDS II (THE FRAUD OF THE CENTURY), prepared in 1996 by the ICC Commercial Crime Bureau, and THE MYTH OF PRIME BANK INVESTMENT SCAMS, by Professor James Byrne of the Institute of International Banking Law & Practice, George Mason University Law School.
Prime bank fraud first appeared in the early 1990's, waned somewhat in the mid 1990's in response to aggressive enforcement actions and media coverage, then re-emerged as a significant problem in the late 1990's. At present, over one hundred pending federal criminal investigations involve prime bank fraud. In addition, the Securities and Exchange Commission and various state law enforcement agencies have a number of active investigations.
Moreover, as the problem has become worldwide, more foreign law enforcement agencies, particularly in English speaking countries, have actively investigated and prosecuted this type of fraud.
The purpose of this article is primarily twofold: first, to alert readers to the existence of this particular type of fraudulent scheme, and second, to offer some suggestions for investigating a prime bank scheme.
II. Common characteristics of the scheme
"Prime bank" schemes — "prime bank instrument" schemes, "high yield trading programs " or "roll programs "— are essentially Ponzi schemes, in which the perpetrators claim exists a secret trading market among the world’s top banks or "prime banks." Perpetrators claim to have unique access to this secret market. The "top" or "prime" banks purportedly trade some form of bank security such as bank guarantees, notes, or debentures. These instruments can supposedly be bought at a discount and sold at a premium, yielding greater than market returns with no risk. In reality, no such market exists.
Furthermore, high-yield "prime bank notes," as described by these perpetrators , do not exist.
They often claim that there are only a few "traders" or "master commitment holders" who are authorized to trade in these securities and that the securities must be traded in large blocks, typically millions of dollars or more. Promoters tell potential investors that they have special access to a trading program, and that by pooling their money with that of other investors, they can participate in the program. Promoters also tell investors that the programs participate in some humanitarian cause and that they are giving the investors a special opportunity to participate in the program, but only if they agree to give a share of the profits to the cause. They also typically require investors to execute a "non-disclosure" and "no circumvention agreement" because, as they are told, banks and regulatory agencies will deny the existence of these trading programs.
III. Case law involving prime bank schemes
Over the past few years, a number of reported decisions affirmed convictions of prime bank schemers. For example, this past summer the Fourth Circuit affirmed defendants’ convictions in United States v. Bolin, 264 F.3d 391 (4th Cir. 2001), for conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering.
As described by the Court of Appeals:
This case arose out of a wide-ranging investment fraud scheme, carried out by a network of conspirators, who bilked millions of dollars from investors across the country.
The investments were programs that promised enormous profits, supposedly derived from secret trading in debentures issued by European "prime" banks.
The programs involved supposed trading of European "prime bank" debentures and promised very high rates of return with little or no risk to investors. According to the ...literature that they distributed, the programs were available on a limited basis to groups of investors whose money would be pooled and delivered to a "prime" bank.
The investment principal was supposedly secured by a bank guarantee and, therefore, was never at risk. Millions of dollars in profits were to be generated within a few months from the trading of debentures. For example, one program ... offered a profit of $73,000,000 in ten months, based on an investment of $400,000. Id. at 399-400.
In United States v. Polichemi, 201 F.3d 858 aff’d on rehearing, 219 F.3d 698 (7th Cir. 2000), defendants defrauded nearly thirty investors out of more than $15 million by marketing "prime bank instruments," which they described as multimillion-dollar letters of credit issued by the top fifty or one-hundred banks in the world. As the Seventh Circuit explained, defendants told their victims that they could purchase these instruments at a discount and then resell them to other institutions at face value; the difference in price represented the profits that would go to the defendants and their “investors.” This was nothing more than a song and dance: the trades were fictional; there was no market for the trading of letters of credit; and nothing capable of generating profits ever occurred.
Somehow, notwithstanding the implausibility of “prime bank instruments” to one familiar with normal business practice for letters of credit, they managed to persuade their victims to give them money to finance the purchase of phantom discounted instruments.
While this did not earn a cent for any of the investors, it definitely changed the defendants’ own lifestyles. Id. at 859 -860.
Among those convicted in Polichemi were attorneys, salespeople, an individual who acted as a reference, and Polechemi, who claimed to be one of the few people in the world with a license to trade prime bank securities.
In a related case, United States v. Lauer, 148 F.3d 766 (7th Cir. 1998), Lauer, the administrator of an employee pension fund, plead guilty to diverting millions of dollars to the prime bank scheme prosecuted in the Polichemi case. In rejecting Lauer’s appeal on the loss calculation for sentencing purposes, the Seventh Circuit up held the trial court’s use of an intended loss figure, rather than a lower actual loss amount.
In another recent case, S.E.C. v. Lauer, 52 F.3d 667, 670 (7th Cir. 1995), Chief Judge Posner declared
Prime Bank Instruments do not exist. So even if [a co -schemer] had succeeded in raising money from additional investors, it would not have pooled their money to buy Prime Bank Instruments. It would either have pocketed all of the money, or, if what its masterminds had in mind was a Ponzi scheme, have pocketed most of the money and paid the rest to the investors to fool them into thinking they were making money and should therefore invest more (or tell their friends to invest).
In United States v. Richards, 204 F.3d 177 (5th Cir. 2000), the Fifth Circuit up held defendants’ convictions for conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud and interstate transportation of stolen property. At trial, the government presented the following evidence describing how defendants induced participants to invest in a “roll program”:
Potential investors were told that their money would be pooled with that of other investors and used to buy letters of credit. The letters of credit would be “rolled”-- sold, repurchased, and resold – to European banks frequently and repeatedly.
Each “roll” would generate a large profit to be distributed among the investors, in proportion to their investment. The investors were told that their funds would be safe at all times, held either in an account at a nationally-known brokerage firm or invested with a “prime” or “top 50" international bank. Investors were also told that they would receive at least the return of their initial investment, with interest, and would likely make substantial profit. In fact, the defendants took the invested funds for their own use, bought no letters of credit, and, except for a small payment to one participant, returned no money to the investors. Id. at 185.
In United States v. Rude, 88 F.3d 1538, 1548 (9th Cir. 199 6), defendants were charged with engaging in a prime bank scheme. In affirming their convictions, the Court of Appeals found, among other things, that the government had proved beyond a reasonable doubt "that the very notion of a ‘prime bank note’ was fictitious," and cited other evidence that the term "prime bank" was not used in the financial industry "and was commonly associated with fraud schemes." Id. at 1545.
In Stokes v. United States, No. 97-1627, 2001 WL 29997, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 9, 2001), defendant was convicted of conspiracy, wire fraud , money laundering and interstate transportation of fraudulently obtained money.
Defendant claimed that "through various personal connections in the banking industry, he could purchase and sell 'prime bank guarantees' or letters of credit and make a substantial profit in a short period of time, with no risk to the investor."
As is typical in these kinds of cases, the defendant attempted, unsuccessfully, to portray himself as a victim, as someone unwittingly conned by co-conspirators to carry out the fraud.
A number of other criminal cases involving prime bank schemes have a so been reported . See e.g., United States v. Wonderly, 70 F.3 d 102 0 (8th Cir. 1995); United States v. Hand, No. 95-8007, 1995 W L 743841 (10th Cir. Dec. 15, 1995); United States v. Aggarwal, 17 F.3d 737 (5th Cir. 1994 ); United States v. Gravatt, No. 90-6572, 1991 W L 278979 (6th Cir. Dec. 27, 1991); United States v. Lewis, 786 F.2d 1278 (5th Cir. 1986 ).
There are also a number of reported civil cases brought by the S.E.C. See, e.g. S.E.C. v. Milan Capital Group, Inc., No.00 Civ.108 (DLC), 2000 WL 1682761 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 9, 2000 ); S.E.C. v . Kenton Capital, L td., 69 F. Supp .2d 1 (D.D.C. 19 98); S.E.C. v. Infinity Group., 993 F . Supp. 3 24 (E.D . Pa. 199 8), aff'd, 212 F .3d 18 0 (3d Cir. 20 00); S.E.C. v. Deyon, 977 F. Sup p. 510 (D. M e 199 7); S.E.C. v. Bremont, 954 F. Supp. 726 (S.D.N.Y. 1997).
Assistant U. S. Attorney Michael Schwartz in Houston prepared an excellent memorandum titled "United States’ Memorandum of Law Concerning Fraudulent High-Yield or International ‘Prime Bank’ Financial Instrument Schemes," a copy of which can be obtained from either him or the Fraud Section. Appropriately modified versions of this memorandum can not only be used to educate your trial judge on the legality of such schemes, but also excerpted for use in search warrant affidavits.
IV. First steps
While the particular facts presented in each case w ill obviously dictate which steps you should first take in investigating a prime bank or high yield investment program (HYIP) scheme, we have found the following to be generally very useful:
• Check subject’s background: Check to see if the subject has a criminal record, or if his name appears anywhere in FBI indices. Check with other agencies as well, since Customs, Secret Service, IRS-CID, or the Postal Inspection Service handles not only by the FBI, but these types of investigations also. Many prime bank scammers are career cons who have been previously convicted of fraud. Prime bank scammers also seem to operate within an extensive network, using each other to broker or solicit investments in particular HYIP schemes, to backstop some fraudulent claim, or to help create a "plausible deniability" defence. Therefore, your subject may have bee n interviewed in the past by an agent in another matter and made statements that could prove useful in your case. If you are fortunate, you will find that an agent expressly put your subject on notice in the past as to the fraudulent nature of prime bank trading programs . Such notice would substantially aid your efforts in establishing probable cause for a search warrant and generally improving the subject’s fraudulent intent.
• Contact the Securities and Exchange Commission: The SEC actively investigates and prosecutes prime bank fraud as securities fraud. Your subject may be, or has been, involved in a SEC investigation. If so, this would also help build probable cause for an eventual search warrant, and prove intent at trial. If the SEC has not investigated your subject, you should consider asking them to do so.
Contact either your regional SEC office or Brian Ochs, Assistant Director, Division of Enforcement, SEC at (202) 942 -4740 in Washington , D.C. (See Tips below).
• Contact Bill Kerr: Bill Kerr, with the Enforcement and Compliance Division, Office of the Comptroller of Currency, may also provide some valuable information about your subject, particularly if a bank has filed a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) with the OCC, or has otherwise made an informal inquiry to the OCC or Federal Reserve about a particular financial transaction or investment. His number is
(202) 874-4450.
• Locate subject’s bank accounts and/or assets: These cases typically involve millions of dollars of victims’ funds, and are often directed at wealthy individuals or institutions, with minimum investment levels (e.g., $25,000) and representations that "trades" can not be entered until $100 million has been pooled. Although offshore accounts are frequently used in these schemes, surprisingly enough, you will often find that the subject still has large sums on deposit in accounts at United States banks under his control.
This may be because he has not yet transferred the funds offshore, or perhaps because, as part of his scheme, the funds are being maintained in an alleged trust account so he can assume the persona of a well financed investment manager with the bank employees. At any rate , to locate the accounts is important, in order to determine the scope and nature of the fraud , as well as prepare for ultimate seizure of the funds. Asking a victim for the wiring instructions that he received from the subject can usually identify a subject’s account. Accounts can also be located through other means, including mail drops, trash runs, the clearing process of a victim’s check, and grand jury subpoenas. Of course, the likelihood that the subject has used more than one account is high. In determining whether to seize the account, informally contact the financial institution’s security officer to get a rough idea of how much is in the account.
• Consider initiating a proactive approach: The most difficult element to prove in a prime bank case, as with most investment frauds, is fraudulent intent. The most common defense is, "I didn’t know those trading programs didn’t exist.
I believed Mr. X when he told me they did." Therefore, it is important at the start of an investigation to plan how to overcome this defences. The FBI has developed a number of different proactive approaches that have proven successful in establishing the requisite intent that will substantially assist you in prosecuting your case. Indeed, in most instances, the defendant will enter a plea after being confronted with such evidence. For one successful prosecution resulting from a sting operation, see United States v. Klisser, 190 F.3 d 34 (2 d Cir. 1999).
• • Execute search and seizure warrants: As so on as you have been able to determine the nature and scope of the fraud, you should consider applying for search and seizure warrants.
• Victim questionnaires: Many of these cases involve hundreds, if not thousands, of potential victims. Questionnaires sent out to victims have proven to be an excellent way to quickly collect evidence, including witness statements and documents, which you can then review for possible in-depth interviews later.
Obviously, this should be done only once the existence of the investigation becomes public. Questionnaires are also a good way to gauge the degree of cooperation you can expect to receive from victims, who oftentimes in these Ponzi type schemes do not feel "victimized". (See Section VII below).
V. Pssst... Here are a few good "tips"
Identifying the existence of a prime bank investment scheme is clearly easier than determining the scope of the scheme, or trying to explain to a jury precisely what is meant by (or supposedly meant by) such terms as "prime bank discounted negotiable debenture" or "World Bank high-yield humanitarian trading program." The following tips will hopefully help you build and prove a case.
• Keep it simple: Once you determine the target or targets, focus your investigative efforts on building the strongest case against them without trying to uncover every transaction or proving every illegal act they may have committed.
First, as a practical matter, you simply cannot include every transaction. These schemes are often quite broad in scope and can often meld into other investment schemes. Stay focused on the heart of the case you are developing. Attempting to be all inclusive can be a waste of time and resources. By focusing on the key transactions, you can present a case that the average juror will understand.
Second, you need not include each and every victim. More than likely, the majority of the scheme can be proven through a handful of victims. Use your best witnesses. Often these are people who retained investment contracts they executed with the targets or who remember specific misrepresentations. The details regarding the other victims can be saved for the sentencing phase.
Third, you need not endeavour to disprove the myriad of misrepresentations made to the victims. Prime bank schemes are often based on a series of misrepresentations that seem, at least to the investors at the time, to have some basis in reality. You are better off focusing on the material misrepresentations that establish the nature of the scheme than disproving each of the various ancillary misrepresentations. Proving that the subject did not invest investor funds, but instead spent for his personal benefit, is easier than disproving a tale about the World Bank, the IMF, or the yield on prime bank notes from an emerging nation. In short, do not argue on the defendant’s terms. Just show that the defendant did not invest the money as promised.
• Get a financial analyst assigned to the matter: Reaching out and utilizing the full range of tools available to a prosecutor can go a long way towards turning an investigation into a prosecutable case.
Having an FBI Financial Analyst (FA) assigned early in the investigation can help in a number of ways. First, an FA can review the pages and pages of bank records and determine how the subject transferred, concealed and eventually spent the victim’s invested funds. Second, in many of these cases, checks and wire transfers go back and forth between the accounts of targets, investor-victims, and brokers who bring victims into the scheme. A thorough review by an FA can help determine who’s who. Further, an early review will most likely unearth additional victims, either because they sent funds into a target’s account or because they received lulling payments from the target's accounts.
Interviews of these witnesses may yield additional counts of fraud and money laundering pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956 (lulling payments) and 1957 (spending of proceeds from a “specified unlawful activity”). Third, the FA will generally be able to identify additional bank accounts into which the subject is secreting proceeds. Such information will provide additional accounts to subpoena, including foreign accounts of which you may not have known.
Identifying the foreign accounts as early as possible is important because of the time involved in attempting to obtain that information.
• Get MLATs out early: If you anticipate needing evidence from abroad, you should contact the Office of International Affairs (OIA) in Washington, D.C. at (202) 514-0000 to initiate the steps necessary to obtain such information. The United States has Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLAT) with many nations, establishing a framework for obtaining evidence from another country.
For those countries with which we have no MLAT in force, OIA can advise you on the appropriate means by which to obtain the requested information. OIA will provide you with a format-request for your particular country, which you will need to complete and return to OIA.
MLATs can be used to obtain authenticated foreign documents and testimony abroad, execute search warrants, and seize funds.
• Get started soon: Once OIA has forwarded your request on to the foreign country, the requested evidence can take months to arrive. As discussed above, ban k security officers can often tell you if an account is active and if there are funds in the account.
Obtaining this information through informal channels can help determine if you need to wait for a response to an MLAT request. In the meantime, you may receive the collateral benefit of encouraging the foreign authorities to open their own investigation, which may later provide you with an invaluable level of cooperation.
• Don’t go it alone: Coordinating with other agencies can save time and effort. While you must be mindful of the nondisclosure obligations of Rule 6(e), working with the SEC, IRS, NASD, and other federal and state regulatory agencies can save a great deal of time. These agencies and regulators may have investigations underway and may have collected useful information about your targets as well as potential victims. Often victims complain to the SEC or their particular state regulator, and, as a result, civil enforcement actions may already be underway. Working with the regulators and other arms of law enforcement is always preferable to working at cross purposes. Additionally, civil cases may already be in the works. Not knowing the full scope of the scam , victims often retain lawyers to pursue civil claims for breach of contact. These civil attorneys can also be a useful source of information. Finally, requesting information from FinCEN and the IR S may also prove to be useful.
• Helpful websites: A number of websites can be consulted in investigating a prime bank scheme. Two of the most useful are the Treasury Department’s www.treasuryscams.gov and the SEC’s www.sec.gov/divisions/enforce/primebank.shtml, both of which list numerous other very helpful links.
• Don’t reinvent anything: More than likely, the target is operating in a similar, if not identical, manner to that of a number of other prime bank scammers. Consulting with other prosecutors who have handled these types of cases may save you time and effort. Furthermore, these prosecutors can provide you with materials such as sample indictments and search warrant affidavits. The Fraud Section, Criminal Division, in Washington D.C., (202) 514-7045, also has some guidance materials.
VI. Countering defences’
"It wasn’t me" Echoing the lyrics of a recent reggae-pop hit, when caught red-handed, even on camera, defend ants will of ten claim simply "It wasn’t me."
The participants and funds of a particular prime bank schemes are often intertwined with other schemes. For the target or targets to send funds back and forth to other brokers or "traders" who are running similar schemes either in this country or offshore is not uncommon. Those brokers or traders often return the favour. The precise reason for these intermingled transactions is not entirely clear, but it does make tracing funds more difficult and sometimes gives defendants a built-in defence.
Defendants may claim that they sent an investor’s money to Mr. X on the Isle of Man, and thus, like everyone else, were fooled by Mr. X, i.e., "it wasn’t me."
Defeating this defence and proving intent can be accomplished in a number of ways. First, one of the proactive approaches discussed above can be used. After a target is put on notice by the government that prime bank trading programs do not exist and that claims to the contrary would be false, subsequent involvement by the target would not survive the "I too was duped defence."
Second, circumstantial evidence can be used to establish intent. In most cases, an analysis by the FA will be able to show that a majority of investors’ money did not go directly to the so called "bigger fish," but instead went to accounts controlled by the target(s). Moreover, the amount of money sent to these other traders/brokers, the so-called "bigger fish," rarely coincides with the amounts invested. The lulling payments sent to other investors as interest also demonstrate intent since the fraudster misrepresents the true source of funds, i.e., fellow investors. Intent can also be circumstantially proven through evidence of the defendant’s conscious avoidance of various indicia of fraud or red flags associated with prime bank schemes.
Third, experts can help show that the representations made to investor/victims were false on their face and that the lingo used to induce investors was made from whole cloth. United States v. Robinson, No. 98 CR 167 OLC, 2000 W L 65239 (S.D. N.Y. Jan. 26, 2000), contains a discussion of the use of an expert in a prime bank case.
Among government officials who have testified as experts in such cases are Bill Kerr (Office of the Comptroller of Currency (202) 874-44 50); Herb Biern and Richard Small (Federal Reserve Board (202) 452-5235). There are also a number of private persons who provide expert testimony in these cases, e.g., John Shockey (retired OCC official (703) 532-0943); Professor James Byrne (George Mason University Law School (301) 977- 4035); and Arthur Lloyd (retired Citibank senior counsel (802) 253-4788). In addition, Jennifer Lester of the International Monetary Fund (202) 623-7130 and Andrew Kircher of the World Bank (202) 473-6313 may be able to provide assistance.
VII. Dealing with uncooperative victims
Unlike victims of some other crimes, victims of prime bank schemes often do not know or want to believe that they have been scammed. Often fraudsters have told them up front not to believe the government. Some prime bank victim /investors may, at least initially, refuse to cooperate with agents or prosecutors.
Many victim/investors are "true believers," who have received "interest payments" in a timely fashion and are often talked into "rolling over" or "reinvesting" their principal. While much of the principal has been secreted away by the fraudster, true believers remain convinced (or want to remained convinced) that the "high yield prime bank market" does exist and that their proverbial ship has come in. This belief, coupled with the non- disclosure, secret nature of the investment, prevents them from cooperating with the investigation, their reasoning being: "why risk breaching the non-disclosure provision of the contract by talking to the government when I’m getting paid?"
Most investors have been told that the government will deny the existence of the "programs," and that speaking to an FBI agent or other government agent will jeopardize the success of the secret programs, as well as bar them from any future opportunity to invest in these trading programs.
However, some investors may recognize the Ponzi scheme but want it to continue for just a few more payment periods so they can get their money back. These investors have little interest in seeing a speedy investigation and would rather be left alone so that they can get their money out before the roof caves in.
Dealing with each of these types of investors can be difficult. However, being forewarned that you may encounter some of them will allow you to plan ahead. In our experience, a few low key meetings or phone calls from the agent will allow at least the first two categories of witnesses time to come to grips with reality. If they remain uncooperative, simply move on and concentrate on counts centred around more helpful witnesses.
VIII. Conclusion
Over the past decade, prime bank schemes have proven to be an incredibly durable form of Ponzi scheme by being able to adapt to changing conditions and obstacles. We can expect the scheme to continue to morph into whatever form necessary in an attempt to lure victims and evade detection. A vigorous and coordinated effort on the part of federal and state law enforcement and regulatory agencies is clearly needed.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Joel E. Leising is a Senior Trial Attorney in the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division. He has investigated and prosecuted a number of prime bank cases in the past. He is a member of the Steering Committee of the Combating Prime Bank and Hi-Yield Investment Fraud Seminar of George Mason University Law School, and has been a speaker at the Seminar’s annual meetings.
Michael McGarry has been a trial attorney in the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division since 2000. His casework includes matters involving "Prime Bank" or "High Yield Instrument" investment schemes. Prior to joining the Department, Mr. McGarry worked in private practice in the New York office of Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson for five years where he worked on large white collar criminal and regulator matters. Mr. McGarry has written articles published in newspapers and journals on money laundering regulation and procurement fraud.



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© 2002-2005 by Financial & Tax Fraud Associates, Inc.. All rights reserved. No portion of this website may be reprinted in whole or in part without the express, written permission of Financial & Tax Fraud Associates, Inc. This site is http://www.quatloos.com. Legal issues should be faxed to (877) 698-0678. Our attorneys are Grobaty & Pitet LLP (http://grobatypitet.com) and Riser Adkisson LLP (http://risad.com).



www.assetprotectionbook.com
www.farbook.com


www.equistrip.com



High-Yield Investment Programs
(HYIPs) & Bank Debentures
How about risk-free and guaranteed returns of 30% per week on your investments, generated from super-secret off-balance-sheet trading by prime European banks? Or, how about some Medium-Term Notes issued by the U.S. Federal Reserve which are deeply discounted so that the effective rate of return is 80% profit to you. 1933 Chinese Bonds paying 1,000% interest, anybody? All of this sounds pretty good, but it's completely bogus and the hottest financial scam going these days.
This section starts here.
• Exhibit: QUATLOOSIAN HYIP PROGRAMS
Keep getting burned by HYIP and MTN deals? Well, courtesy of the Synergized Debentured Netdom of Quatloosia, we bring you a list of certified programs that are sure to make you join the ranks of the super-rich. With these deals, you cannot lose -- just call up the Ferrari dealership and tell them to stay open a little later tonight. All the top programs by all the top performers, all rolled into one simple list so that you can choose your winner.
NEW! - PIPS Scams (People in Profit System)
NEW! - U.S. Department of Justice Explanation of Prime Bank/High-Yield Investment Schemes
• Exhibit: OMEGA TRUST & TRADING, LTD.
This exhibit chronicles the life and times of Mr. Clyde Hood, a former Fortune 500 trader and one of only 5 traders in the entire world who can pull off multi-billion dollar bank debenture deals to benefit humanitarian programs worldwide. All you have to do is invest $100 and you'll get that back plus $5,000 in only 9 months. Smell a rat? Tens of thousands of people across America didn't, and trusted Mr. Hood -- who was really just a retired electrician with a history of petty crime living in Mattoon, Illinois -- with tens of millions of dollars, sent to him via FedEx in $100 bills wrapped in aluminum foil. Now, Clyde and about a dozen others from Mattoon are enjoying the hospitality of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, while amazingly some people still believe that he will come through for them -- but this time for millions of dollars per $100 invested.
Includes:
Omega Promoters Admit Guilt
U.S. Attorney's Press Release
Latest Stupid Omega Rumors
More Latest Stupid Omega Rumors
The Omega Chronicals
• Exhibit: NESARA SCAM
An old prime bank scam doesn't die . . . it just hires space aliens to depose the Bush Administration and keep the hope of funding alive. The "true NESARA law" is exposed as a front for an elaborate donations scam run by some of the same people that helped to perpetuate the Omega Trust & Trading scam, although now with the most bizarre of New Age cultish overtones. Bizarre and funny all at once. Includes:
Dove Updates
Dove Doo Doo
Prosperity Programs - NESARA - Omega Forum
Jennifer Lee Updates
Deep Knight Updates
Mother Sekmet vs. Tony-the-Wonder-Llama
Morganthau Bonds
HYIPs & Bank Debenture News & Articles


High-Yield Interest Programs, Bank Debentures
& Bank Debenture Trading Programs,
and Prime Banks Programs
OPEN FORUM: Securities Fraud -- Due Diligence in Finance Stock and Bond Fraud, including Boiler Rooms / Pump and Dump Schemes, Mutual Fund & Hedge Fund Fraud, FOREX scams, plus Churning, Private Placements, Venture and Bridge Funding, IPO’s, Verticals’ Fraud, HYIP and Prime Bank scams, MTNs, Historical Notes, Recovery Schemes, etc.
This is one of the most common financial scams. The scam artists will a wild tale of fortune including some or all of the following.
The scam artists will spin a long line of hokey nonsense relating to the post-World War II Bretton Woods accords, “off-sheet” financing by the “Top 50” worldwide banks, and “guaranteed” or “risk-free” trading. They will tell you that they (or somebody they are working for) is “one of only five (or six, or seven, or eight – or whatever number they pull out of the air at that particular moment) traders in the world who are familiar with these types of trades and are capable of pulling them off.” They will tell you that these trades are done at the “$100M” level only, but that miraculously you can start off with a very small amount of money and margin yourself into a $100 million position. Alternatively, they tell you that you can get a bunch of friends together and “pool” the necessary funds.
They will also tell you that they or whoever they are working for has done these trades for fifteen or twenty years, and have secretly made hundreds of millions of dollars. They are allowing you to do these trades instead of doing them themselves because they have made enough money and want to help you benefit some church, charitable, or humanitarian purpose. They will tell you that there is “NO WAY” that you money can disappear, and that it will sit in your own bank account unmolested until your hundreds of millions arrive. They will tell you that you can make astronomical interest rates, such as 20% to 80% per week, and that exponentially your profits will skyrocket.
How the Scam Artists
Get Your Money
The scam artists prey on your lack of financial sophistication. If you money was truly “not at risk” there would be absolutely no reason to have to put it up. Yet, the scam artists come up with a bunch of bogus tales about “off-balance sheet financing” and other hooey that convinces you to do one of the following:
+ You deposit your money in an account with a “Prime Bank” such as Citibank (which doesn’t know the scam is being perpetrated). The scam artists forge a letter of credit which they then exercise and transfer your money offshore, never to be found.
+ You deposit your money in an account with a “Prime Bank” such as Credit Suisse (which doesn’t know the scam is being perpetrated). The scam artists didn’t tell you that the account is a “correspondent account” held in that bank for their own bogus bank that they formed, and they simply transfer your money offshore, never to be found.
+ The scam artists convince you to put your money in a safe deposit box. Later, they tell you that it is stupid to keep money in cash where it is not earning interest. Instead, they say they will get “the traders” to accept a “bond”, such as a Houston Railroad Bond or an Imperial Chinese Bond that earns astronomic rates of interest. Only much later do you discover that the bonds are completely worthless.
And so forth and so on. Once your money has been deposited in the bank, there are about a hundred different ways for the scam artists to get at it.
THE LIES MADE TO PERPETRATE THE SCAM
"A big lie is more plausible than the truth."
-- Ernest Hemingway
Complete Lie: "There is a secret banking system where the big banks make astronomical returns, and you can't participate unless you pool with others or place your money with someone who has an place in the system."
This is a COMPLETE LIE, and anyone who says this is a scam artist. We regularly work with the major offshore banks, and have any friends and acquaintances at these banks, and can tell you that they laugh at the allegation that there is a "secret" banking system that produces crazily high returns as the promoters of the bank debenture scam suggest.
COMPLETE LIE: "The U.S. government is covering up this secret banking system."
This is a COMPLETE LIE that the U.S. government is somehow covering up this phantom banking system. This is NOT TRUE and anyone who says this is a scam artist. First, as shown above, it doesn't exist. Second, trading in currency is tightly monitored by literally hundreds of private groups worldwide, and even a small trade would instantly be recognized by these private groups.
COMPLETE LIE: "The program uses International Chamber of Commerce Approved Forms."
The International Chamber of Commerce does NOT approve forms for these programs, and anyone who claims this is a scam artist. To the contrary, the International Chamber of Commerce has put out warnings that it has not approved any such forms, and that forgers are illegally making up such documents without either the knowledge or approval of the ICC. Other forgeries that have been found include forgeries of documents purporting to be from the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank (FRB), the U.S. Department of Treasury, the Bank of England, and even the Queen of England!
If you see anywhere in the scam artists' materials that they or their forms are "approved" by the ICC run! This is the baldest of lies.
COMPLETE LIE: "These securities do not need to be registered with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission or the State Securities Commission of the state wherein they are marketed or sold."
This is NOT TRUE and anyone who says this is a LIAR. To the contrary, when legitimate bank debentures are sold to the public, they are ALWAYS registered with the Securities Commission of the state wherein they are sold, and in most cases are also registered with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. IF YOU CANNOT CALL YOUR STATE SECURITIES COMMISSIONER AND CONFIRM THAT THE DEBENTURES HAVE BEEN REGISTERED, IT IS ALMOST CERTAIN THAT THEY ARE BEING MARKETED AND SOLD ILLEGALLY.
Private Placement Lies: Many scam artists will pitch that their schemes are somehow exempt from regulation because they are a "private placement". The truth is that many states require private placements to be registered, and at any rate if the scheme raises over $2 million aggregate amongst the states (i.e., $2 million anywhere) it MUST registered with the Securities & Exchange Commission!!!!! So, if someone says that they have raised $20 million dollars but they are not registered, it aren’t a legitimate deal.
COMPLETE LIE: "There is a major U.S. bank which guarantees these instruments."
This is NOT TRUE and anyone who says this is a LIAR. The scam artists will tell you that they cannot disclose the identity of the U.S. bank which guarantees the investment, or else will tell you the name of whichever bank they pull off the top of their head, but either tell you that you should not contact the bank directly, or they get one of their scam artist buddies to call you up and represent that they are a bank officer. No U.S. bank participates in these schemes, period, and many of them issue warnings to the public not to get involved in these scams.
A recent variation of this scam is for the scam artists to set up an offshore bank with a name that is very similar to an international bank, such as "Barclays International Bank" (which doesn't exist and plays off the Barclays name). These offshore banks never have any real assets or backing, and their guarantees are worthless.
COMPLETE LIE: "Others have made money with these programs."
Nobody except the scam artists have ever made money with these programs. A few people have gotten a small portion of their money back, usually for helping the scam artist scam somebody else, and that is it. We've seen hundreds of these scams the past year, but not a single person who could actually document that they made even a single penny over what they invested into it.
People who claim that they have made money on these programs always fall into one of two categories:
• Ringers, being persons set up and in cahoots with the scam artists to claim that they have made money; and
• Suckers, folks who have been scammed and are now going along with the scam artist on the condition that the scam artist will repay them a portion of their money lost for getting new suckers into these programs.
COMPLETE LIE: "These programs are back by or involved with the International Monetary Fund."
This is a total load of bull hockey (see Notice at right). The IMF has repeatedly warned about this scam.
So, if somebody claims that their investment has IMF involvement, you know it is a total lie.
RESOURCE Prime Bank/High Yield Investment Schemes
Report from the Fraud Section, Criminal Division of the Department of Justice.
FINALLY! An HYIP Program that Works! - Parsons Heritage Offshore Opportunities Ltd. is the ONLY prime bank and HYIP program that YOU can trust! Strongly Endorsed by Quatloos!
RESOURCE HYIPs and Prime Bank Notes: Fact or Fraud?
Expose of Prime Bank Notes, Corporate Roll Programs, Medium Term Notes, Bank Guarantees, Letters of Credit, and Stand By Letters of Credit, written by Investor Data Exchange.
HYIP/PRIME BANK/BANK DEBENTURES CASES
• United States of America v. Parr
• United States of America v. Rattan Lal Aggarwal
• United States of America v. Arthur R. Andrews
• United States of America v. Gary D. Bolin
• United States of America v. Richard C. Gravatt
• United States of America v. Grady Lewis Hand
• United States of America v. Edward Keith Howick
• SEC v. John D. Lauer and Clifton Capital Investors L.P.
• United States of America v. Herbert J. Lewis and Vernon Abrahams
• United States of America v. James F. Moored
• National Council Of The Churches Of Christ In The USA v. First Union National Bank Of Virginia
• United States of America v. Delton Owen Olson
• United States of America v. Joseph Polichemi, ET AL
• United States of America v. Al Richards, Roger Braugh, and Kurt Latrasse
• United States of America v. Morreon B. Rude
• United States of America v. William Martin Valuck
• United States of America v. Suzanne Wonderly




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If You Have Been Scammed or Have Been
Approached by Promoters of this Scam
Call your local FBI branch immediately, and tell them how you have been approached. Call also your state's securities commission. Contact the SEC at their Online Complaint Center. Cooperate with law enforcement -- maybe you can help them to catch the promoters!

If you have signed one of the "Secrecy and Confidentiality" agreements (however it may be titled) please be advised that the agreement is NULL AND VOID because it is part of an illegal agreement -- that is, you CANNOT be successfully sued because you signed one of these hokey forms and later went to law enforcement to lodge a complaint. Promoters often try to threaten people when they want their money back that they will be "sued" for violating the agreement, but the plain fact is that these agreements have no effect as a matter of law because the underlying scam transaction was invalid.

Note also that if you are a VICTIM of this scam, you have done nothing wrong and will not be prosecuted for cooperating and assisting authorities. Therefore, there is NO REASON NOT TO CONTACT THE AUTHORITIES to at least help prevent someone else from being scammed.

Finally, the BEST WAY that you are going to get your money is by way of a Victim's Restitution Order. That is, if the person who has scammed you is convicted, they will have to pay you your money back before they will be released from parole. This is another reason that you should immediately go to the authorities and disclose the fraud.
THE END GAME
Once a victim has figured out that he or she won't be getting their money back, they are then often lead into the "end game" where they will essentially assist in the fraud. The line the promoter will give is this: "Look, I can't give you your money back unless you bring someone else to me. Bring someone else to me, and I will give you a cut of their money." If the victim goes along, the victim is now also a promoter, and is guilty of fraud, securities fraud, embezzlement, and aid & abetting fraud, securities fraud, and embezzlement -- so don't go along: Turn the promoter in to the authorities instead!

As mention above, the BEST WAY to get your money back is to file criminal charges against the promoter, and seek a Victim's Restitution Order. Not only does this offer you your best hope of getting at least a portion of your money back, but it will also take the promoter off the street and hopefully save somebody else from being sucked into this scheme.

Please note that when someone tells you that they have made these astronomical returns off the program, it usually means that they have already been scammed, and are trying to get you into it so that they can re-coup part of their investment. Well, turn these folks in to the authorities, too, because they are no better than the original scam artist.
DENIAL
Like any other scam, people who have been scammed with these programs go into denial that they even have been scammed.

Many people can't get over the mental barrier that they have lost everything. The only thing they have to live for is the hope that their money might come back, and we have seen people wait for years even after the scam artist has completely vanished and they don't even know who to call to check on their investment. But they still sit around, thinking that someday, somehow, a check for millions will somehow miraculously appear in their mailbox.

Many people are embarrassed because they have been scammed. They've told their family and friends about this great investment, and simply can't face them to say that they did something stupid.

Many people are culpable because they have also gotten their family and friends to invest in these programs, and even if the scam artist can't be found, they will go to jail for aiding and abetting the felony sale of securities without a license, embezzlement, etc.

Well, all you folks who fall into these categories NEED TO WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE. Your money is gone, vamoosed, and you will never, ever get it back. The least you can do is report your losses to the police and to the FBI so that at least they can stop the scam artist before they hurt someone else.
STUPID ARGUMENTS
About twice a month, we get actually get calls from the scam artists themselves, posing from everything from an interested investor to an attorney acting on behalf of one of the roll programs. These idiots offer all sorts of B.S., arguing that their program is somehow "different" or that they have "guaranteed returns" or other such nonsense. Notably, they almost all hang up when we suggest that if their program is so good, that they should take it to the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission and register it!

Again, we have seen literally hundreds of these programs over the last several years but we have YET to see even a single legitimate one. Not one!
THEY DO NOT EXIST
Every couple of weeks, some sucker who is about to be scammed calls us and says essentially "I've read your website but isn't it possible that some of these might be for real?"
No! Hell No!
None of these are for real, period. This scam has been going on for years, and to date NO program has been legitimate. If you can't find the proposed program investment in either the Wall Street Journal or the London Financial Times, and if it has not been registered with your State Securities Commissioner, then it is a scam. Any and all reasons why it is not so listed are the purest of lies.

During the course of the last several years, we have seen hundreds of these programs, but we have yet to see a real one! If there is a real one out there, we'd like to know because it would be the first. We're not holding our breath, however.

[Please do not send us information to evaluate these programs, unless you also send us the U.S. address of the promoter so that we can forward this information to law enforcement for them to check against their records.]


© 2002-2005 by Financial & Tax Fraud Associates, Inc.. All rights reserved. No portion of this website may be reprinted in whole or in part without the express, written permission of Financial & Tax Fraud Associates, Inc. This site is http://www.quatloos.com. Legal issues should be faxed to (877) 698-0678. Our attorneys are Grobaty & Pitet LLP (http://grobatypitet.com) and Riser Adkisson LLP (http://risad.com).