TelexFree top Ponzi pimp claims he’s a victim
One of the more dangerous side-effects of making a lot of money in Ponzi schemes, is the blowback you get from your downline when the scheme inevitably collapses.
An old-hand at scamming people in such schemes, Sann Rodrigues, being TelexFree’s top Ponzi pimp, is arguably now in the most dangerous position of all.
His exit strategy?
“I’m a victim just like you guys!”
Speaking to iG (a major Brazilian media outlet), Rodrigues’ story is now:
I am a victim of Telexfree today.
If you’re accusing [the company ] of being a pyramid, then the victims are the people who were participating.
The seed Rodrigues is trying to plant of course being that he is just one of those “victims” who participated.
I am an affiliate like any other. I joined as a promoter of Telexfree and understand that it was a good opportunity. I have no stake in, nor do I perform any other type of function in Telexfree other than as a recruiter of thousands of people.
Yes, Sann Rodrigues is just your “average joe” TelexFree affiliate victim, except that he’s directly responsible for recruiting “thousands of people” into the scam.
So effective was honest Rodrigues at recruiting people, that TelexFree used him as the posterboy of success for their events. At a recent inhouse awards ceremony in Madrid, TelexFree named Rodrigues as the “top promoter in the world” for 2013:
According to TelexFree’s 2013 profit and loss statement, the company paid out $622 million dollars in affiliate commissions last year. Exactly how much of that money went to Rodrigues that year is unclear.
iG attempted to probe Rodrigues about his Ponzi earnings, but beyond proclaiming himself a victim, Rodrigues wasn’t interested in providing any answers.
When asked about the size of his personal TelexFree downline, Rodrigues told iG he “did not have that information”.
Back in March 2013, when he was still actively recruiting new investors into TelexFree, Rodrigues was a little more forthcoming.
At a TelexFree event hosted by the Sheraton Gateway Hotel in Newport, Atlanta, Rodrigues tells the assembled crowd of prospective TelexFree investors:
I started in TelexFree (in) February 2012, and I buy one family plan. I put five ads a day and made $800 a week.
I don’t invite anybody to TelexFree, because every company I’m failing in in MLM, the compensation requires you to invite somebody to make money or I need (to) sell something or make sales to make money.
What Rodrigues describes above is TelexFree’s top-tier “AdCentral Family” investment package. Affiliates invested $1375 and received $100 a week passively for 52 weeks. Through AdCentral investment and re-investment, Rodrigues later claims in the video to have made three million dollars in TelexFree.
This is family plan, I keep this plan (for) two weeks.
After this, I have a Mercedes black 2004 640. Yeah? And I go to the bank and I refinance the car, I take the money, like a $12,000 and complete my first team-builder. This is my story in TelexFree.
“Team-builder” was an unofficial name TelexFree affiliates used to refer to the investment in a group of five AdCentral Family investment packages.
And I keep just one Team-builder for five months. February, March until June. June the 5th.
Everybody gets paid weekly in TelexFree. On June 15th I started to work professional (for TelexFree). I have a lot of Brazilian friends, Spanish and I sent texts to this guy (Rodrigues refers to one his partners off stage),
“Man I made $10,000 this week. Man I made $20,000 this week. Next week, made $100,000.”
Look, when I made the decision to put my life in this company, because I know the owners. Jean (Rodrigues partner), my first meeting with Jean was in 2006. Carlos Wanzeler too.
My heart is very… look when I put my heart in this business, my life has changed.
Compare this with what Rodrigues told iG yesterday,
How did you meet Carlos Wanzeler and James Merrill?
I met them through the Disk Will [ Wanzeler created by the U.S. ]. They had a company called Disk to Will and I only met them, but I never had relationship and then have only met through Telexfree.
How different the tune sounds when the golden goose stops laying eggs.
Rodrigues continues on, explaining why he “loves” TelexFree so much:
I now have many, many options in the MLM industry but (there are) two things (that) are very similar in all options.
The two things is you make money just if you invite person or sell something. TelexFree’s different.
You can make money yourself. Just place your ads everyday and everyone gets paid weekly.
What company in the world you don’t need to invite anyone or you don’t need to sell any product?
Now exists TelexFree (laughter).
Straight from the horse’s mouth, Sann Rodrigues “loved” TelexFree because he didn’t have to sell anything to make money.
Again, contrast this with what Rodrigues told iG yesterday,
If Telexfree exit these questions, you will re-invest in it?
First I’ve never invested in Telexfree, I never understood the Telexfree as an investment but as a multilevel marketing company that sells VoIP technology
I had the reassurance of seeing Telexfree as a legal opportunity to sell products in multilevel marketing.
At this point you’re probably wondering why Sann Rodrigues is so obviously lying through his teeth in the wake of TelexFree being shutdown.
Taken from the Division’s complaint against TelexFree, here’s the answer:
Troublingly, TelexFree allowed certain participants to join the scheme despite prior run-ins with the law. TelexFree highlighted one such participant, Sann Rodrigues, as a top promoter in the world on the TelexFree website.
Rodrigues, a self-proclaimed millionaire, had previously operated a similar multi-level marketing phone card fraud shuttered by the SEC in 2006.
In 2006, Rodrigues was held liable for operating a fraudulent pyramid scheme targeting the Brazilian community. As part of the court proceedings, Rodrigues was permanently barred from the offer and sale of securities.
Rodrigues is named as a defendant in the Securities Division’s complaint, and for his part in participating in the TelexFree Ponzi scheme and selling unregistered securities to his downline, is likely now facing jail time.
In his iG interview, Rodrigues even goes so far as to plant the seed he was misled by MLM attorney Gerry Nehra (who gave TelexFree his “legal blessing”), despite Nehra not being involved in TelexFree when Rodrigues joined in 2012.
I’ll leave you now with one final quote from Rodrigues at his Atlanta event speech:
Some people ask me, “Sann, what do you think about this company’s future?”
Look, I think in the present and the future.
In the present (TelexFree) changed my life.
In the future, it will change the lives of my sons, of my family, my friends. I think that TelexFree is forever. I think that TelexFree has changed the MLM industry forever.
Forever indeed.
Footnote: Anyone who invested money in TelexFree under Sann Rodrigues and are now left wondering where their money went, would be advised to get in contact and ask him about his TelexFree ROI guarantee:
One guy, my friend told me, “Sann, I have $60,000 (and) I want to start in TelexFree – but I need one guarantee.”
What guarantee?
“If I lose my money, you give me my $60,000 back.”
Okay. But if you don’t lose, you give me $60,000.
The video Rodrigues makes the above ROI guarantee and the other statements quoted in this article, can be viewed on Vimeo.
@Oz
That actually took place in Spain, not in Brazil.
Typo, my bad. Thanks for the pickup.
Completely spot on post. Irrefutable.
Disk Will is probably “DiskAvontade”, Wanzeler’s pre-TelexFree company, and the actual renter of TelexFree office in MA.
In this video, froma gospel TV program, Sann describes himself as a former beggar and drug addict:
(Ozedit: video 404 as of March 2020)
Seriously…..Oz, Hoss, Dorthy, Chang,Norway, and Diego in your professional opinion are people going to prison over this and what is the likely hood of people getting their money back or partially?
Again, thank you for shedding light on this issue….
I bought the plan for disk a vontade n the plan sucked i never was, able to use it n they didn’t want to give me my only back. I had to fight for like 3 days to get 40% of my money back.
The customer service sucked as well. Wen I joined telex with two accounts it reminded me of disk a vontade. should’ve done the research…
My guess. Four or Five will be criminally prosecuted. Three will serve some time in the US and five will serve time in Brazil.
Recovery? USA residents about 10%, Brazil residents about 40% because the state of ACRE froze a lot of funds.
Don’t ask How I came up with these numbers ~ its a total guess based on past history and the fact that its white collar crime.
Wazzu: Dorothy
In as much as it’s worth it’s only my “opinion”.
I agree with Hoss that there is going to be prison time for some of the major players here. My hope is that the Telex story generates enough public attention causing pressure for strong justice in this case and setting a modern day example of how these scams will be dealt with. ( with the internet this is a new era for MLM industry…it isn’t the 70’s anymore) I would hope that this time the justice system not stop at only the top dogs but go after those promoters that time and time again market this garbage. The likes of Faith Sloan and Randy Crosby should also bare the legal sanctions befitting their roles in spreading the virus.
We only have past court cases to try to predict the legal future of Telexfree and all it’s smarmy characters but I have a gut feeling this case is going to be “special”.
In Brazil, maybe, just maybe, Carlos Costa alone. I mean, if he does not flee to another country.
A lot of recent scammers have runned away to Europe right at the time some criminal investigation on the scam they promoted came public (refer to BlackDever, Mister Colibri and Multiclick scams owners).
But even Carlos Costa may not be in jail for too long, if ever. Penalties in Brazil for that kind of scam are way too soft. Their lawyers always come up with “but no single person is pressing charges on us” and “nobody got hurt” legal BS.
I wonder if all the other “victims” of this scam have a mansion, Mercedes, Lamborghinis and Ferraris like “poor victim” Sann Rodrigues…
This worthless piece of S@#$T makes me puke…
It depends on the investigation. Telexfree involved many people DIRECTLY in criminal activity, e.g. potential tax fraud. It was built into the program, and SOME people were actively using it.
Some people received payments DIRECTLY from the people they recruited, and used internal funds to pay TelexFree.
* The money the received was never registered as a payout from Telexfree.
* The internal funds they used to pay Telexfree was never registered as a monetary transaction.
* RESULT: Money has “disappeared” from the system into people’s bank accounts.
Some teams used that method as clawback protection / potential protection against taxes. I pointed out that the method was far from bulletproof and commonly known, it wasn’t a “new genious idea”.
The shutdown of Telexfree will be much more “chaotic” than the shutdown of Zeek Rewards. The program was much more fraudulent in itself, if we can use “degrees of fraud” as a measurement. People were much more willing to involve themselves DIRECTLY in fraudulent activities, e.g. using fake registrations to bypass the restrictions in Brazil.
DELIRIUM: Graça Luísa, Madeira top leader and one of TF toplist creditors (BTW say explicitly says that her claimed credit value is from ONE of her accounts, ONE of them) and says the promoters are to blame because they don’t know what is MLM, are outrageous people with no team spirit, are alienated of society’s ethics (just like that), etc, etc.
People that are “denigrating” TF leaderships are unworthy. She also says that many are cowards because they comment on FB under false identities. And so on, and on….
She also clearly says she has given instructions for her staff to keep records of all people/promoters that manifested dissatisfaction, outrage and injury online in order report them to the company and take further actions against them soon.
She also says that the (good) ones will remain with the company hoping for a positive outcome.
I hope you enjoy this public display of TF “leadership”. She also repeats that people who complain lack “audacity to be happy”. I’d love to hear your comments.
PS – she insists critical TF promoters should be punished by the company.
Here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b0MXu6MIW4#t=1058
check this link about San Florida Home
http://www.polkpa.org/CamaDisplay.aspx?OutputMode=Display&SearchType=RealEstate&ParcelID=272613704001000370
On Sales history you able to find that San “QUIT CLAIM” his home,that mean hi transfer the home to friend,or families or other people of interest, i think hi was preparing for this.
Hopeless brainwashed people. I don’t believe she will escape unharmed from this.
Standard scam excuse: “They did it wrong.” Seen it before in TVI Express, then again in Zeek.
http://amlmskeptic.blogspot.com/2012/05/they-did-it-wrong-argument.html
Pretty sure Livia Wanzeler is in Brazil… supposedly Carlos Wanzeler’s daughter from previous marriage?
Haha! Video in the blog post has been removed by the user…
Damn it was so inspirational. I was just thinking of joining all over again.
Looks like Sloan is trying to delete the paper trail.
Oh well, that’s what transcripts are for. And I’m sure the SEC have already saved a copy.
Dont forget that 90% of Brazilian and Hispanic Boston and Florida promoters are in the country illegally, some alleged in sham marriages to get a green card once they made enough money, others used fake social sec numbers or ITN numbers as part of the scam.
When U.S. immigration checks into their backgrounds, including how Sann Rodriguess got his green card, well, deportations and jail sentences would be appropriate. Also, figure out who is sitting on cash for when the dust settles after court proceedings, convictions and bankruptcy.
Only a naive person would think that these guys haven’t hidden cash in gold or currency through friends or safe hiding places.
Read in one of the bankruptcy court documents filed by SEC that one of their agents had been reading claims by top affiliates for HOURS on Youtube and the web. Presumably, saved plenty of copies. And they can always subpoena Youtube for an archive. 🙂
But Jamil, you’re painting things with too large a brushstroke. Please stick to the relevant points. We know they are crooks. There’s no need to slander them further. Remember, ICE is already on the case.
SEC knew every bit of money transfered from TelexFree to the top promoters and company executives. It stands to reason that SEC knew about their individual transactions too. You can expect some major clawback actions when the venue is moved.
I BELIEVE ,THAT TOP PROMOTERS AND THE OWNERS OF TELEXFREE HAS TO BE PUNISHED, THEY WAS GETTING RICHED FROM THE PEOPLE THAY WAS SIGNING UP INTO THE SCAM.
LIKE DANIIL SHOYFER IN NEW YORK, PERSONALY WAS INVOLVED WITH THE OWNERS OF THE TELEXFREE, BUTWAS CONVINCING PEOPLE TO SIGN UP ONTO THE SCAM. I BELIEVE IN JUSTICE SYSTEM AND BELIEVE THAT THEY WILL BE PUNISHED.