Legal opinion claims USI-Tech’s unregistered securities legal in the US?
In what is shaping up the be the latest MLM attorney blunder, the law firm Hart & David have purportedly put their stamp of approval on USI-Tech.
For those unfamiliar with the company, USI-Tech initially combined pyramid recruitment with an automated forex trading platform.
USI-Tech affiliates deposited €600 EUR on the promise of an entirely automated and passive ROI.
On or around May, 2017, USI-Tech expanded their offering to include a bitcoin trading investment opportunity.
In exchange for a €50 EUR deposit, USI-Tech affiliates are promised a 1% daily ROI for 140 days (140%).
With USI-Tech actively marketing in the US and this business model setting off alarm bells, the company felt the need to address compliance concerns.
On August 28th USI-Tech held a “USA Kickoff meeting” event.
At the event USI-Tech corporate got on stage and announced the law firm Hart & David.
For reasons not entirely clear, Hart & David’s paid legal opinion of USI-Tech begins with certification that the MT4 trading software
has been looked at, has been examined and is a legal product in the United States of America, according to the FTC and SEC.
This was met with applause and cheering from USI-Tech affiliates in attendance. Which is strange, because the issue with USI-Tech’s compliance was never whether forex trading software is legal or not.
Obviously forex trading is legal in the US. The compliance issue however is USI-Tech accept 600 EUR deposits in exchange for an automated and passive ROI.
Or in other words USI-Tech are clearly making a securities offering to their affiliates.
Not surprisingly, this was not addressed in USI-Tech corporate’s stage presentation of Hart & David’s legal opinion.
The next slide presented covered USI-Tech’s 140% ROI BTC package investment offer.
In what appears to be a direct challenge to the SEC’s securities regulation, USI-Tech management assert Hart & David claim the unregistered securities offering is a “legal product”.
It has been examined by our lawyers and in their legal opinion, it is a legal product.
It is legal to sell this product as a network marketing product in the United States of America.
Whereas MT4 trading software as software code is obviously legal (not so much what USI-Tech do with it), the 140% ROI BTC packages are stand-alone.
From a regulatory standpoint, certifying USI-Tech’s BTC packages as a securities offering is straight-forward.
Affiliates deposit 50 EUR and receive a passive 1% daily ROI, capped at 140%.
In the past the SEC has clarified that, irrespective of what is or isn’t bundled with a ROI offering, the fact remains that any MLM investment offer is a security.
Other than generally referencing “case law, regulatory notes, transcripts and petitions”, on what basis Hart & David are challenging the definition of a security in the Securities and Exchange Act is unclear.
USI-Tech meanwhile is not, nor has it ever to the best of my knowledge, registered with the SEC.
Despite Hart & David representing otherwise, unregistered securities offerings are very much illegal in the US.
And if that wasn’t absurd enough, USI-Tech corporate go on to claim Hart & David even went so far as to discuss company compliance with the FTC.
Our lawyers have done all of the research necessary.
They have talked to the Federal Trade Commission and they believe, in their legal opinion, which is binding, that USI-Tech Limited is a legal network marketing company – with their two products, the forex software and the BTC package, in the United States of America.
Seriously?
Leave alone the fact that no US regulator discusses specific company compliance outside an official investigation, what alternative universe are Hart & David, USI-Tech corporate and their affiliates living in?
If we look to history, MLM attorneys that have gone in to bat for scams have all but destroyed their professional reputations.
Probably the most prominent example is Gerry Nehra who, in a similar fashion to Hart & David’s legal opinion of USI-Tech, publicly claimed the Zeek Rewards and TelexFree Ponzi schemes were legal.
In response to our continued coverage of TelexFree, Nehra even went so far as to contact BehindMLM directly and assert, in his legal opinion, that TelexFree wasn’t a Ponzi scheme.
After the SEC shut down both scams, for his efforts Nehra found himself on the receiving end of a $100 million dollar lawsuit filed by the Zeek Rewards Receiver.
Nehra settled and in the settlement agreement had to acknowledge that Zeek was a Ponzi scheme.
The TelexFree Trustee also sued Nehra who, as of June, 2016, demanded a jury trial.
With TelexFree a certified $3 billion dollar plus Ponzi scheme and its US co-founder sentenced to six years in prison back in March, trial or no trial things probably aren’t going to end well for Nehra.
Whereas Hart & David currently haven’t tangled with regulators over MLM compliance yet, it seems they’re now keen on a shot at redefining US securities law.
The Elmhurst, Illinois law firm first popped up on BehindMLM’s radar as the attorneys representing the My Advertising Pays Ponzi scheme.
In late 2015 Hart & David purportedly told My Advertising Pays that claims it was a Ponzi scheme were “defamatory and libelous speech”.
Through our research, we have found many, if not all, of these claims to be without merit.
My Advertising Pays collapsed shortly thereafter.
At the time of publication USI-Tech’s Alexa ranking suggest strong growth since the launch of the BTC investment package scheme. The US is currently the largest source of traffic to the USI-Tech website (23%).
USI-Tech itself is a shell company purportedly incorporated in Dubai, run by Joao Severino (Portugal), Horst Jicha (Europe) and Ralf Gold (Brazil).
Hopefully a full SEC investigation into USI-Tech, if it hasn’t already begun, isn’t too far off.
I for one can’t wait to see Hart & David’s legal opinions square off against established US securities law.
This is almost like watching someone drive off a cliff as they wave at you. What is going to happen is not going to be pretty in the end. Why would they taunt the SEC? It is just foolish.
100% sure ..what will be the result. We had seen many examples Trafficmonsson, MAP, Zeek , Telefax etc and Ponzi scheme will reamain always ponzi.
Guess they didn’t learn anything from Gerald Nehra’s fiasco with Zeek and TelexFree exact same claims. Oh well, they will learn the hard way.
usi tech is selling an automated trading platform which may be a legal product in itself, but with only affiliates purchasing the product it becomes a pyramid scheme.
usi tech may be claiming legitimacy in the US as they do not provide trading expertise themselves but tie up affiliates with a third party broker who does the trading and provides the passive ROI.
until last year usi tech was using the services of Royal Financial Trading [registered in australia] for their international affiliates. however, royal financial trading is not registered to do securities brokerage business in the US, and hence we see in the video of the kick off event above, that it was being considered to shut down the US market.
sometime in late 2016, usi tech has signed up with FXChoice as their broker partner for the US.
the problem is FXchoice is registered as a broker in belize, and i seriously doubt it is registered with the US, SEC, to cater to US citizens.
en.myfxchoice.com/terms-conditions/
instead of making laughable, comic, ROFL claims about sitting down with FTC officials and getting ‘binding’ declarations about their legitimacy from them, usi tech should clarify which US registered broker is providing services to their US affiliates.
as for the bitcoin daily ROI stuff, that’s clearly a security. hart and david have lost their collective mind to claim otherwise. a promised ROI of 1% daily on trading? all profit, no loss? obviously funds are coming from new investors in a ponzi scheme like fashion in an unregistered securities business.
if i had to guess, i’d say usi tech is making hay while the sun shines.
the current US political climate and unoccupied top posts in the SEC and FTC may provide a temporary low risk regulatory environment for usi tech to make some quick bucks over the next one year or so and then crash out as the pyramid ponzi it is.
and well, shame on hart and david for their complete lack of ethics.
a check over at finra doesn’t throw up any ‘FXchoice’ as a registered broker in the US.
brokercheck.finra.org/search/genericsearch/firmgrid
As the joke goes, “‘Watch this’ never goes well.”
But this can mean they are making a “last hurrah” before the whole thing implodes.
Claiming they are legal and whatnot would spur a quick spike of interest, until the authorities step in, and given the inertia, it can be months, unless FTC and SEC decided to serve them a cease and desist ASAP for false claims.
Agree with the above.
Let’s say that if you go around saying “The SEC has approved our products and USI-Tech can be sold in America” the SEC will respond and shut you down in two weeks. But your Ponzi scheme was about to collapse in one week.
You may as well go ahead and say “We’re legal in the US” anyway, for the sake of all the little fleas who will rush in with new money on the strength of that announcement.
Maybe that new money extends the scheme to a week and a half, maybe to two weeks and then the SEC shuts you down. Either way you’ve got more money in your suitcase with which to flee to Dubai.
Your reputation as a lawyer is neither here nor there if your chosen customer base is Ponzi scammers. The people who join Ponzi schemes aren’t going to look into your credentials – if they were the type to do that they wouldn’t be in a Ponzi scheme.
And if your chosen line of work is legitimising Ponzi schemes, demonstrating that you’ll declare any old rubbish to be compliant *increases* your reputation among your target audience – scammers – not the opposite.
Remember that a legal opinion is just that – an opinion. And 50% of lawyers are always wrong. Because in any given case there is a lawyer on both sides and both of them can’t be right.
Giving a legal opinion that turns out to be wrong does not have to be harmful to an attorney’s career. It didn’t do Johnnie Cochran any harm when he said that OJ was innocent.
Do people realize the M4 trading platform is free?
@Jeff Yes MT4 is free, but to utilise their software is 600 euro. This software claims to trade on your behalf. These are called EA’s Expert Advisers.
its time that ppl wake up to those scams, but they never will.
We are born to be scammed we love scams and if you speak out about it, you will be called a hater, negative thinker etc etc, is like to speak out about Jesus, never been seen in 2000 years still ppl wait for him.. good luck we are just what we are hopers and suckers.
The next scam is already written and I have to admit for some years i was a victim as well, my eyes closed I believed in riches doing nothing, not realizing that those got rich I send the money too.
See what the SEC has to say about this opinion letter below!
I personally think USI-Tech just put themselves out of business by going on stage and spewing this shot out of their ponzi schem mouths…. See below
I hope Calabro Jr ends up in jail after this scam collapses!
Actually, that SEC warning came out in 2013.
NOLINK:www.sec.gov/investor/alerts/ia_endorsement.htm
Get your facts right you lot.
Zeek rewards court decision was overturned and members were compensated. I was one of them.
What planet are you living on? Zeek Rewards was certified a Ponzi scheme in court (Paul Burks criminal trial, the SEC case and the Receiver’s various lawsuits)
Paul Burks is in in jail and you only got anything back because the SEC shut it down.
Seriously ????
You gotta start putting more water and less Scotch in your glass.
Zeek Rewards’ CEO, Paul Burks was sentenced to three concurrent prison sentences of 14 years and eight months for his lead role in the Ponzi scheme.
Zeek COO Dawn Wright Olivares, 48, and Daniel C. Olivares, 34, both of Clarksville, Ark., were both sentenced to 90 and 24 months in prison, respectively.
What you have received are partial interim distributions to affiliates who are holders of allowed claims against the Receivership defendant.
On top of which:
“The Court also ordered Mr. Burks to pay $244 million in restitution to the receivership for distribution to victims holding allowed claims.
As a practical matter the Court’s restitution order will not result in any payments to victims because the receivership has already taken from Mr. Burks essentially all of his assets. For similar reasons the Court found that Mr. Burks has no ability to pay a fine and declined to enter a fine”.
You can also add that if you search USI-TECH in the Edgar Database of approved companies by the SEC you get NOT FOUND.
Just the usual BS knowing their false claims will dupe the ignorant into joining.
Hi,
Thanks for advisory services on legit investment,is there a list of all approved investments/companies like USI Tech?
Regards, Romwald.
USI-Tech is an MLM Ponzi scheme. You want a list of approved MLM Ponzi schemes?
Good luck with that. The only people who will provide you with that list are scammers trying to steal your money.
charles scoville who’s being sued by the SEC for running the traffic monsoon ponzi scheme which offered investments to US citizens, has been blasting USI tech for being a ponzi on his FB page over the last few days.
so cute to see one ponzi accused call out another scam as a ponzi!
it seems many of scovilles TM’s flock [sharon james included] is joining USI tech, and scoville who may be planning his own new scheme is worried about losing his audience.
so in the strange alternate universe of scoville, traffic monsoon was not a ponzi but only a victim of a smear campaign, while USI tech is a blatant ponzi for selling investments to US citizens.
i think usi-tech is trying to do some compliance wizardry in the face of all the flak they are receiving after their august 28th “USA Kickoff meeting” event where they announced that they are SEC and FTC compliant.
a mail has been sent to affiliates which claims USI tech is making some changes to be USA compliant:
scontent.fbom16-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21272489_10214433271285794_4867617717450891433_n.jpg?oh=43008839fc32871f563a605278b25698&oe=5A5BE08E
what do they mean by ‘adjustment of registration process with all risk warnings’?
how do you ‘adjust’ registration’? you either register with the SEC or you dont!
and of course they’ll start everyone off as ‘customers’ so that they can show a bazillion % retail!!
i read somewhere USI tech had hired kevin thompson and maybe he’s told them to make some changes for compliance? whether the changes are real or just a veneer of psuedocompliance remains to be seen.
meanwhile, via its email USI tech is readily admitting that while these changes are being implemented, it is working illegally in the USA – ‘until the official introduction of these changes, all processes remain unchanged’.
recently, the vacant SEC chairs post has been filled by jay clayton and one of his priorities is:
USI tech daring the SEC on a public stage at this time, is not a very good at all. At All!!
KT isn’t representing USI-Tech as of a few months ago.
You can’t legalize unregistered securities bitcoin Ponzi fraud, so any changes USI-Tech make will be pseudo-compliance.
While there are many scams and ponzi schemes on the internet, that doesn’t mean every MLM company is one. There is actually no evidence what so ever that USI TECH is a another Ponzi scheme or a scam. The accusations here are totally unfounded and just personal opinions.
MLM is a successful business model that is heavily governed and regulated in most countries. People are making above average incomes, lives are being changed drastically for the better by getting onboard with a MLM company.
I put it to the people here that are quick to judge USI TECH because it is the newest and very successful MLM company to hit the market, what if you are totally wrong!!
What if USI TECH does deliver everything it promises and more.
What if USi TECh is not a Poni scheme or a Scam.
What If USI TECH founders are totally above board and USI TECH is the real deal.
What will you say to the people who listened to you and missed out a opportunity that would of changed their lives.
My message is… do your own research, keep a open mind, and ONLY ever part with money you can afford to lose, no matter whatever company you decide to get involved with.
I am a USI TECH member, I liked the fact that their was no joining fees, no monthly fees, nothing to sell or deliver. I funded my account myself and bought a Bitcoin package for €50.
Plus because there is no qualifications to meet, I can just simply set and forget and watch the bitcoin multiply, or I can be as active as I like in building a network. The choice is totally mine. (Ozedit: recruitment spam removed)
Nope. USI-Tech solicit 50 EUR investments on the promise of a 150% ROI.
There is no other verifiable source of revenue entering USI-Tech other than new affiliate investment. Using new investment to pay existing investors makes USI-Tech a Ponzi scheme. On top of that recruitment commissions = pyramid fraud.
All the evidence you need of this is in USI-Tech’s compensation plan.
No thanks. Reality is just fine for me.
Of course you are. Running around parroting the usual Ponzi BS like a good little scammer. Now run along, no fish to catch here.
Sounds like you went into this with your eyes closed just so you can earn a fast buck or two.
Maybe just maybe you can do as you speak and wrap your mind around the concept of ponzi scheme.
Stop talking side ways about what if this what if that.
We deal in facts here.
Actually, it is your defense of the scheme and counter-accusation that are completely unfounded and just personal opinions.
Had you provided some actual evidence we could have debated. But instead, you wrote a bunch of “what if”, which are just fantasies in your head, i.e. personal opinions.
Your denial is rather amusing (not to you, of course), but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. No victim will believe they’re a victim until that moment of epiphany. The question is how many facts have to hit you in the face before you understand.
From what you wrote, it seems your resistance threshold to facts seems to be quite high, due to all the marketing fiction you had ingested.
Hi dedemneill, well said but nobody at behindmlm will ever look at our industry with an open mind. All they care about is the negative and bringing people down.
You can see that in the responses to your post. How dare you have a positive opinion =:O
So just because you have a personal dream and are prepared to work for it you are labeled a “good little scammer”. Some of the people here at behindmlm really need lessons in manners.
USI-Tech has been around for more than eight years. If it was an illegal ripoff then surely it would have been found out by now?
The people behind the company have put their names and their reputations on the line so I’m prepared to spend 50 euro (or whatever amount I can afford) because the risk/reward formula stacks up.
What industry is that? Obviously not the MLM industry.
If you’re looking for suckers to recruit into the MLM underbelly you’ve come to the wrong place.
Right, because stealing money from people in Ponzi schemes is the height of politeness.
No it hasn’t. The USI-Tech website domain was registered in mid 2016.
Ponzi schemes are illegal, irrespective of whether or not they’ve been shut down by authorities yet.
People who run Ponzi schemes don’t have reputations worth shit.
Of course it does. You’re not interested in whether you’re scamming people, only if you can make a quick buck through theft. Scum of the Earth.
We have no problem with positive opinion. We have problems when people mistake them for facts. That makes them delusions.
If you can’t tell the difference, I suggest finding a psychiatrist ASAP.
So, are you saying that criminals aren’t allowed to have dreams like the rest of us; and don’t work hard at pulling off their schemes? How rude.
These thieves put a lot of effort in what they do, and some are very good at it.
I also think they would take objection to the word “scammer”, and prefer to be labeled an “entrepreneur”. Talk about negative.
Oh, whatever is this? Lawrence Carlton of Moolap, Victoria, the so-called ‘Day Job Assassin?’ Have you forgotten, Lawrence, that Australia considers Bitcoin legal and subject to every law conventional currencies are subject to? Should their courts agree with BehindMLM that USI-Tech is breaking said laws, you will be in trouble yourself.
I should know better than to argue with children but I just can’t help myself.
(Ozedit: Offtopic derail attempt removed)
Let’s assume that you are correct and USI-Tech folds and leaves me with nothing. That could happen and I accept that risk. But it’s my decision to do whatever I want with MY money.
Nobody held a gun to my head and forced me to give money to USI-Tech. Nobody (including USI-Tech) has given me any guarantee or made promises of any return on capital.
The offer is simply a “potential” 140% after 90 days – or $0 maybe. I’m fine with those odds so it’s none of your business really.
Do I tell other people about USI-Tech – f**k yeah! Do I force them to join, pester them or tell untruths – NEVER. That would be unconscionable and country to the USI-Tech rules.
Again I say, there is a risk here as there is with any venture. (Ozedit: Offtopic derail attempt and abuse removed)
My you have an interesting life….
^^ Whether you consent to participate in a Ponzi scheme is irrelevant.
Ponzis schemes are financial fraud and illegal the world over. As a recruiter you’re enabling the scam and stealing money from people you recruit.
Own your thievery and stop trying to pass it off as “risk”. Risk or no risk you are participating in a Ponzi scheme and that makes you a Ponzi scammer.
Whatever…. I’m off to jail now =:O
Exactly, you don’t give a shit.
So instead of coming on here and bleating crap about risk and not ripping people off, own up and accept you’re just another Ponzi scammer looking to steal a quick buck.
How the h*** would you know what sort of “life” anyone who posts here has ????
In true narcissist fashion, you’ve made this about “you” when it has nothing to do with you and your lack of morals or integrity, but everything to do with preventing the innocent and naive from being defrauded by you and those like you.
What I can’t understand is why anyone would invest anything in USI Tech or other too good to be true schemes, without any audited financial statements or anything of substance on how the arrangements work on their public website.
This is all left to illiterate spruikers who got in early and will make a killing.
USI are now spruiking a $70 million cryptocurrency mining deal with a strategic partner, naturally under a NDA agreement.
You can bet your bottom dollar that announced details on the 28 October will promise lots of moolah.
Greed.
VIP affiliates leaked the partner was BitFury. BitFury confirmed USI management were lying and there is no partnership.
Not the Battery joke, another one with a strategic partner under a Non Disclosure Agreement to be announced in full on Oct 28.
Get fooled twice and you might just be a dumbass Ponzi investor.
I laugh when i read about usi-tech i mean i researched this with an open mind but everything just screams scam.
NO real address cannot even find them on any american securities, i asked about their mining, i asked about what exchange their registered with, i also ask for results and not just some crappy program they have but real results.
From what i can see theyre just circulating money around no real proof of work.
Usi just had their london show and what came out of that is their launching their own ico HAHAHA people in their Fb groups are just buying them with no proof of what will be done with it…
Also there is no mention of their 70mil contract with this so called mining company.. Good luck if youre involved with the company i hope you get your initial money before its gone.
The spruikers are now yelling the phrase “absolute transperency” about the upcoming ICO.
If you yell it a couple of hundred times people may start thinking it’s true. In actual fact very little transparency around the whole arrangement is evident.
It also confirms the ponzi involved in the Bitcoin packages supposed trading. No spruiking “absolute transparency” there. One huge con in an unregulated market
When you’re paying randoms to put together a cryptocurrency script you can be transparent. There’s nothing illegal about an ICO in and of itself (yet).
Funny how USI-Tech can’t be transparent about offering unregistered securities and bitcoin Ponzi fraud.
The ICO jack up the much needed cash injection required for them to run it another 6 months to faciliate managements exit strategies. Those of us that have been around to long know the signs.
I would have to agree with you there BIGc WONt be long i feel.
Yep… my thoughts exactly… create 1 billion “tokens” out of thin air to generate MILLIONS OF $$$ to keep the scheme chugging along for another 6-12 months.
From what ive seen on some of their secret fb groups, They’re saying there investing in renewable energy for their mining farms (still yet to see any proof of these farms) bitcoin atm machines, they’re even going to make their own exchange. Im lost for words.
It appears that a heap of usi people are missing some of their packs with this new webpage switch over… is this the begining of the pop?? I hope so.
I set up an account and tried to put in 0.2 BTC to test the waters.
That 0.2 BTC is not in my “USI Wallet” or any wallet…
It’s disappeared!!
I’ve tried contacting support but no answer yet.
I see many people on Facebook talking about missing funds and support not responding.
Could their event in London where they made a whole load of extravagant claims, including the release of “TechCoin”, have been one last big push to steal a whole bunch of money before disappearing into the night?
The “new website” would be a beautiful temporary cover up for missed payments, lack of response from support, etc., giving them time to flee with everyone’s bitcoins relatively unnoticed.
I hope that’s not the case.
But it’s probably the case. 🙁
I will tell you folks ONE MORE TIME…. Bitcoin is (Ozedit: irrelevant in determining whether USI-Tech are offering unregistered securities in the US. See below.)
@David
I invest funds in USI-Tech and USI-Tech pay me a passive ROI. That’s a security and offering a security to US residents requires SEC registration.
Crapping on about bitcoin not being this or that is irrelevant.
You guys keep posting the same ponzi stuff for the last 6 months. Are you going to stick to the same idea ’til their verified or until they close down ?
It’s not an idea, it’s fact. Using newly invested funds to pay off existing investors makes USI-Tech a Ponzi scheme.
Doing so makes USI-Tech a Ponzi scheme until it collapses or is shut down by regulators.
dedemneill who posted above, was previously in Sh8pe Club which Oz identified as a pyramid scheme here:
https://behindmlm.com/mlm-reviews/sh8pe-club-review-pay-to-play-gaming-autoship-recruitment/
Neill still has a website which links to it but Sh8pe Club’s site is now just a blank page so it’s obviously gone down the pan and the owner’s done a runner.
@oz
maybe a stupid question, but if usi tech does somehow show alternative revenue from mining and/or trading, would that legitamize the company?
hypothetical of course…
No, because there’s no link between trading activity and ROI payments. Auditing accounting would verify that.
An Ponzi in Australia has gone belly up after 4 years, so 6 months paying out steady returns is nothing. The Ponzi paid an annual Return Of 25% a year and was supposedly trading in forex.
Naturally there were no records. Over $200 million scammed.
You can bet your bottom dollar that if there are no verified records in any so called investment, you are in a Ponzi.
The video showing the hook up that includes Ralf Gold and Charles Scoville of Traffic Moonsoon fame, clearly shows USI for the fraud it is.
Gold goes to lengths to explain why transparency on the cryptos trading was difficult as they couldn’t disclose the identities of the third party traders they use. Any Accounting student would know all that was needed are the statements showing monies or cryptos flowing in and out of USI ‘s accounts.
Gold is a con artist extraordinaire. The trouble is the income model for fellow spruikers is addictive. A lot of people will ultimately feel the pain.
follow up Q then…
if there is forensic accounting done that shows linkage to ROI, then that would legitimize them? isnt that pretty easy to find out? lol.
should be easy to prove if its happening, but if not clearly its smoke and they’re stealing from sheeple with nothing to steal from but what they give. sad.
It would somewhat. They’d still need to register with the SEC as clearly a passive investment opportunity (security) is being marketed to US residents.
It’s trivial for a legitimate company with nothing to hide. For a Ponzi scheme like USI-Tech they won’t for obvious reasons.
This may sound like a defense of USI, but it is NOT. It is a question.
USI deals exclusively with Bitcoin. At the advise of council it does not deal with any fiat currency at all. Bitcoin is legally defined by our government as PROPERTY, not currency. My understanding is that this is why this program IS legal, and is NOT a security.
True or False?
A security is a passive return derived by the efforts of others. There’s nothing limiting the definition of a security to “fiat currency” in the Securities and Exchange Act.
You invest in something and get a passive return? That’s a securities offering and if offered to US residents, requires SEC registration.
If you read the SEC advice on their website it specifically refers to a Ponzi Bitcoin scheme promising returns of 7% a week. USI is exactly the same.
Incorrect.
In the USA, a security is broadly defined as any “financial asset”
So if you loan (Ozedit: If you wish to discuss loans do it elsewhere)
^^^ USI-Tech is an MLM investment opportunity. Don’t try to redefine it or shift the goalposts.
Strawman argument.
We’re not talking about a private arrangement between two people.
We’re talking about a company openly and publicly offering passive investment.
I do not disagree, but the “private loan” umbrella has been opened before as a legal defense. I cannot see where they claim to be an investment or use investment in any description.
The legal product is defined as a “Bitcoin Package”, and soon to include a “Forex Package”. Using the 1% per day example for simplicity only… because that is NOT the return, the first 100 payments are return of principal, the next 40 interest.
I am NOT pretending to “know” or trying to say I am right. You guys are telling me EXACTLY what I want to hear so that I can understand both sides of the argument.
Okay! That is what that means! Thank you as I had heard of the Strawman argument but did not understand what that meant. Thank you.
Not for an MLM company offering securities to the public at large.
Show me one case where an SEC action has been overturned against an MLM Ponzi scheme because they claimed it was a “private loan”.
Securities regulation in the US doesn’t take pseudo-compliance into consideration. A company can call it’s investment opportunity whatever they want, how it functions is what matters.
You might want to read up on Charles Scoville and Traffic Monsoon to see how the “but we didn’t call it an investment” holds up in court.
USI-Tech affiliates are investing 50 EUR and collecting a 70 EUR ROI after 140 days, paid out of subsequently invested funds. How you dress that up is irrelevant.
sec.gov/oiea/investor-alerts-bulletins/investoralertsia_bitcoin.html
If Scoville’s scam ran for 3 years befire the SEC took action, the USI guys are probably hoping for the same timespan for their scam.
If you are a punter, go ahead and spin the wheel for a cycle or two.
Ponzi schemes Using virtual Currencies: sec.gov/investor/alerts/ia_virtualcurrencies.pdf
TelexFree (2014) and Zeek Rewards (2012) net-winners are still being pursued by their respective Receiver/Trustee today.
Ralf probably whited out the il leaving the legal on the powerpoint shown at the presentation.
That is indeed a security. A loan is a type of security.
If you ask me to lend you a dollar in return for 140% back later, you are offering me a security. However, you are not caught by the US Securities Act because you are not offering it to the general public, only to me. This is the distinction which prevents friends lending each other a tenner for beer being caught by securities legislation.
If you asked a thousand random people to lend you a dollar in exchange for a 140% ROI via the Internet, then you would need to register with the SEC.
(Dead thread but I thought the question deserved the correct answer.)
USI never promised 140% ROI. Their contract wording has always been “return of principle plus 40%”.
“Here’s return of principle plus 40%” == 140% ROI promise. #dumbass
Now we all know why courts base their decisions using substance over form and don’t use TV as their reference library like David Brubaker does.