Re: GSB Gold Standard Corporation litigation misinformation
A few days after BehindMLM reported on Billionico being a suspected secret GSPartners backdoor, a paid press-release popped up on a random website.
Supposedly authored by “T. Chandler”, the headline for The Fort Worth Press article reads:
BEHINDMLM BLACKMAIL WITH ANONYMOUS SLANDER ON THE INTERNET
What follows is typical of unsubstantiated nonsense scammers upset with BehindMLM’s reporting come up with.
In the ever-growing digital world, police, prosecutors, and law enforcement agencies face the challenge of keeping up with the increase in defamation and slander on the internet, especially when it is committed by mafia structures and criminal organizations like the creators of behindmlm.com.
These harmful actions can destroy the lives of individuals and undermine trust in online communication and divide society.
Facing this threat, law enforcement agencies around the world have stepped up their efforts to combat defamation and slander, as well as extortion through “behindmlm” on the internet.
Within 24 hours syndicated paid press-releases were claiming GSB Gold Standard Corporation had filed a lawsuit against BehindMLM.
These articles and press-releases all point back to The Fort Worth Press article.
So what’s going on here?
For starters, “T. Chandler” doesn’t exist outside of The Fort Worth Press’ website.
As for the publication itself, the actual Fort Worth Press was a Texas publication that went out of business in 1975.
The impersonator website spreading misinformation about BehindMLM was set up sometime after the domain was last registered on September 20th, 2023.
Before it was repurposed to circulate misinformation press-releases late last year, The Forth Worth Press domain hosted a right-wing commentary blog.
Something odd on The Fort Worth Press impersonator website is its “imprint” page.
Before we get into that though, what is an imprint page?
According to SecurePrivacy;
The Impressum (sometimes also called an Imprint) is a required page on all websites in German-speaking countries, such as Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, that reveals information about the publisher of that site.
Interesting.
Here’s The Fort Worth Press impersonator website’s imprint page:
Note that ownership information isn’t disclosed. Instead The Fort Worth Press claims it is “represented” by Durathor LLC, a Texas shell company.
Durathor LLC is then “represented” by Durathor LLC, a Florida company.
Durathor LLC as a registered Florida company was dissolved in 2014.
That aside, why would a US website pretending to be a Texas publication comply with German law?
They wouldn’t.
Note the highlighted “commercial register” link in the imprint screenshot above. It’s hosted on an EU Amazon Web Services server.
Whoever is actually running The Fort Worth Press is based out of Europe, and likely has ties to Germany, Austria and/or Switzerland.
While I can’t say for sure, two butthurt lawyers from Germany come to mind.
GSB Gold Standard Corporation, which holds itself out to be a “German software, IT, and blockchain company”, is owned by Josip Heit (right).
Heit is a German national originally from Croatia.
Back in 2021 Heit announced he’d acquired defunct German media companies Berliner Tageeszeitung, Berliner Tageblatt, and Deutsche Tageszeitung.
Berliner Tageblatt has disappeared but Berliner Tageeszeitung and Deutsche Tageszeitung are attached to respective German websites in their name.
These websites display syndicated news from third-party sources. The idea is to make them appear like actual news sites.
Sprinkled in with the syndication though are press-releases published by Heit. Or was.
Heit’s been recently deleting previously published press-releases. Here’s a Google archive of a headline announcing Heit’s recent hiring of an Arizona attorney to defend regulatory fraud charges.
That article has been deleted.
Last year BehindMLM reader Melanie documented a Berliner Tageeszeitung press-release pertaining to Heit’s chum Alex Bodi.
That press-release has also been deleted. So have the past ones mentioning BehindMLM.
The takeaway is that The Fort Worth Press impersonator website looks and functions much in the same way Heit’s German press-release “news” websites do.
They also share remarkably similar website source-code. Here’s the source-code of Berliner Tageeszeitung’s imprint page (click to enlarge):
And here’s The Fort Worth Press impersonator website’s imprint page source-code (click to enlarge):
You can scroll through both and compare yourself. They’re not identical but they’re similar enough to strongly suggest both sites are based off the same template source-code.
I’ll leave it up to you to put two and two together.
As to GSB Gold Standard Corporation filing a lawsuit against BehindMLM, they haven’t.
In late 2022 GSB Gold Standard Corporation filed a petition with the NYSC. Respondents to the petition were Google and GoDaddy.
BehindMLM is a non-party but has since intervened. In the interests of transparency, I published a detailed article explaining what was going on last November (note Heit’s law firm Irle Moser recently had that article blocked in Germany).
I continue to provide legal updates as I’m able to. The latest being BehindMLM’s motion to quash subpoenas attached to GSB’s petition is under appeal.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation recently filed an amicus brief in support of BehindMLM’s appeal that’s worth a read.
Another amicus brief from GlassDoor, Indeed, Pubpeer Foundation, Reddit, TripAdvisor and Yelp was filed a few days ago. I’ll report on that pending court approval.
As to the baloney about US authorities “put[ting] a stop to the criminal activities of the internet terrorists from behindmlm.com”, here’s what US authorities are doing:
- Texas described GSPartners as “various fraudulent investment schemes that are threatening immediate and irreparable harm”
- Washington described GSPartners’ MLM business as “fraudulent activity”
- Alabama claims GSPartners was “evading Alabama laws and making guarantees that are unrealistic”
- California described GSPartners as a “fraudulent crypto investment scheme”
- Kentucky asserted GSPartners “acted as an unregistered issuer of unregistered securities through its publicly available websites”
- Wisconsin described GSPartners as a “global fraud scheme”
- Arkansas claimed GSPartners is “perpetrating numerous fraudulent investment schemes that are threatening immediate and irreparable harm to investors”
- New Hampshire accused GSPartners of “fraud and deception”
- Arizona determined GSPartners’ threat to “public welfare requires immediate action” and
- Florida’s undercover investigation into GSPartners revealed “unlawful activities“
- Mississippi described GSPartners’ Ponzi scheme as the “offering and selling fraudulent (of) certificates tied to digital assets”
- Georgia fined GSPartners, Josip Heit and Michael Dalcoe $500,000 for securities fraud
- Massachusetts’ Attorney General’s Office counted GSPartners in a list of “crypto scams”
An ongoing US federal investigation into GSPartners and Heit is also underway.
GSPartners is owned by GSB Gold Standard Corporation. This all started with BehindMLM’s GSPartners review in 2021, with Heit unable to let his bruised ego go since.
Really hoping I don’t have to update this article but if we see anymore silly press-releases I’ll leave an update below.
Update 15th March 2024 – Sure enough Josip Heit’s German law firm Irle Moser is tied to the Fort Worth Press impersonator website.
An application for The Fort Worth Press as a European Union Trademark was filed last September.
As discovered by BehindMLM reader “Concerned” in the comments below, Irle Moser is the registered trademark correspondent.
Liudmyla Starosud is the trademark owner. No idea who she is but Starosud is also the registered owner of GSMedia.
As per its website, GSMedia is “a media division of: GSB Gold Standard Corporation AG”.
And with that, we’ve come full circle to GSB Gold Standard Corporation being the confirmed source of misinformation about GSB and BehindMLM documented in this article.
This is extremely childish Josip. I get being stuck in Dubai is probably doing your head in but your legal troubles with US authorities extend well beyond BehindMLM at this point.
I’d appreciate you sparing me your man-child tantrums in the future. I’ve got actual MLM news to research and report on, thanks.
Oz – it would be such a shame if there was a way to prove that those two “butthurt lawyers from Germany” were the legal representatives of that trademark.
trademarkelite.com/europe/trademark/trademark-detail/018929834/The-Fort-Worth-Press
You’re fucking kidding me. Geez these guys are sloppy.
The current network of companies of Josip Heit.
share-your-photo.com/5ccae38473
GSB Gold Standard Finance Europe SE was dissolved and deleted in June 2021. Josip Heit, Harald Seiz and Leon Filipovic were partners in this company.
Well researched OZ and the team. GSP and Josep Heit are once again exposed for what they really are.
Heit and his cronies seem to have a fairly standard SEO poisoning and business playbook
DMCA
Court cases in obscure jurisdictions
Business registrations in countries known for lax financial regulations
Paid-for-syndication linking to poisoned newswells under their control
Good thing I’ve never given a crap about offsite SEO. Nobody who doesn’t already know BehindMLM finds us by randomly searching for BehindMLM.
Josip Heit’s childish and delusional stupidity never fails to amaze me. He really is a dollar store gangster.
Oz – really terrific work! Now that you’ve been outed as “mafia” will you also be taking up chain-smoking, cosmetic surgery and networking with Romanian pimps?
Spent the afternoon walking around clicking my fingers. My dogs ignored me. If I can’t even get them to “what’s up boss?”, I don’t fancy my chances with the mafia.
Think my life in organized crime might be over before it began.
Start an MLM blog –> internet terrorist is quite the career progression though. Might print that out and put it up on the wall, next to the spot I’m saving for Heit’s indictment.
Great entertainment! They’re on a different planet to the rest of us.
OZ, you are the BOMB. Seriously, your dedication and attention to detail are inspiring. Wish there were more link you in the “mainstream press”.
You are by far the most informed source about Ponzis. Should you ever decide to start one, please let me know. You probably know exactly what to do to avoid detection and arrest.
You are awesome, Oz. And greeting to Concerned, Melanie and the bunch.
Croatian serial fraudster Josip Heit is a hard-working company founder. On November 29, 2019, he founded five companies in the UK, each with a founding capital of just GBP 1. At the time, he claimed that he lived in the United Kingdom.
– GSB FINANCIAL SERVICES LTD (12340493)
share-your-photo.com/1b9aeef49d
– GSB GOLD STANDARD B CORPORATION LTD (12340447)
share-your-photo.com/eaa42928de
– GSB PREMIER EXCHANGE CORPORATION LTD (12341123)
share-your-photo.com/6d09433013
– GSB ASSET FINANCIAL LTD (12341601)
share-your-photo.com/76f5ef703a
- GSB MONEY LTD (12340312)
share-your-photo.com/dc9487d87c
This company was dissolved on July 6, 2021.
Another company was founded by Josip Heit on December 10, 2019, with a founding capital of GBP 100,000.
– GSB GOLD STANDARD PLC (12357501)
share-your-photo.com/25611898d5
find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/XVBdIb_FeCpN3M3IrCvqTsetk2s/appointments
I quote from gspartners.global/legal from December 13, 2023.
share-your-photo.com/d8c8c466e5
web.archive.org/web/20231213181838/https://gspartners.global/legal
Josip Heit provided two e-mail addresses from swissvalorembank.com:
share-your-photo.com/4adcc43825
I tried to contact Josip Heit to apologize, but unfortunately that was unsuccessful because the domain swissvalorembank.com no longer exists:
share-your-photo.com/fcc4644cf6
Am I a criminal now? Will the police arrest me? This is too dangerous for me and I will say goodbye to BehindMLM.
Welcome to the BehindMLM internet terrorist mafia.
Popcorn is on the table to the right, softdrink to wash it down with on the left.
Our secret passphrase to identify one another is “Josip Heit’s hairline”.
Oz wrote:
The imprint of gsmedia.group gives the following address in Berlin:
share-your-photo.com/fdf973dec0
The imprint of Josip Heit’s newspaper “BERLINER TAGESZEITUNG” is identical:
share-your-photo.com/3e3a4a9183
berlinertageszeitung.de/Seite/Impressum.html
The imprint of the law firm irlemoser.com gives the following address in Berlin:
share-your-photo.com/47ad2d2cb5
irlemoser.com/de/#impressum
The offices of Josip Heit’s company “GSmedia” and the lawyers Dr. Ben M. Irle and Christian-Oliver Moser are therefore only a few meters apart. Was this a coincidence or was it carefully planned?
For information: Berlin has an area of 892 square kilometers and 3.8 million inhabitants. The street “Unter den Linden” is a magnificent boulevard with the highest rents in Berlin.
share-your-photo.com has been no longer accessible for about an hour. Did Josip Heit launch a DDoS attack on the server?
Spaadi reported yet another case of Josip Heit running a “newspaper” site to push a paid article:
It is boring again to see this paid stuff masquerading as news. To find it quickly search for (keep the typo intentionally) “chartiman Josip Heit”
Use any of those paid press release copies to go to the source at “lepaysdefrance.fr” which is a domain created 2023-06-29 and showing Liudmyla Starosud on “Unter den Linden 21, Berlin” for the GSB Gold Standard Banking Corporation AG.
And the “newspaper” name again refers to an old publication, as Wikipedia knows this one was running in WW1 and stopped around 1919
The pattern is clear and they are repeating themselves, most likely there is also some claim on the name in some EU register… But the domain info is enough for me. F-ing obvious and another case of self incrimination.
Yeah I saw that. Hijacking the EU Commissioner and falsely claiming Heit is “working together” with him.
Rolled eyes and didn’t figure it was even worth noting.
Not really sure who this ongoing PR circus is for. Anyone with two brain cells isn’t taking paid press-releases put out by Heit as actual news.
That leaves ego. Dental work, hair implants and gym gear I can understand. This is just… sad.
lepaysdefrance.fr currently has ~729 visitors a day and they live in Chile, Guadeloupe, Vietnam, Senegal and Turkey.
French people or other Europeans don’t even know this French “newspaper”. Really funny! 😀
ibb.co/fG4HYpw
Free advertising for BehindMLM on lepaysdefrance.fr 😀
ibb.co/Z6LQJvw
lepaysdefrance.fr/en/Politics/285816-le-commissaire-europeen-thierry-breton-et-le-president-de-gsb-gold-standard-corporation-ag-josip-heit-dans-la-lutte-contre-la-diffamation-en-ligne.html
The same “article” was also published on pressat.co.uk
pressat.co.uk/releases/eu-commissioner-thierry-breton-and-gsb-group-chartiman-of-the-board-josip-heit-in-the-fight-against-online-defamation-1f49c2e18cf038255c6edc8822896b07/
Just wondering if this is a lackluster attempt at “newswashing” Josip Heit’s name on Google News etc.
The point being that if you type in his name you won’t see articles about fraud warnings but rather about him being an upstanding businessman. JH is both stupid and arrogant enough to waste money on this fruitless endeavor.
It’s obviously that but those results were obviously newswashed dating back to 2021. This isn’t new for Heit.
The question is why bother renewing those efforts? It’s not like US authorities are going to see nonsense PR spam and drop their respective investigations.
GSPartners investors remain screwed, so I don’t think they’re going to care much about the spam either. Who is this theater for?
I wonder at a reach if its for you – feel flattered. Maybe in JH’s and his legal team’s twisted logic they think that a judge might type in GS Partners and that them seeing “good honest businessman” might sway the case, given that the articles are about “defamation”.
So you could think of this as your very own big warm Marlborough smelling hug.
Who knows. It’d be hilarious if these press-releases turned up in court filings though. Pointing them back at GS Media would be epic lulz.
Liudmyla Starosud from Berlin is also named in the domain registration of bombaydurpun.in from August 28, 2023, updated on December 27, 2023.
ibb.co/X8BdKCp
This “newspaper” only has readers from Moldova. The number of visitors cannot be measured. Moldova has a population of only 2.7 million.