telexfree-logoWith an affiliate-base of almost two million and an estimated three billion dollars invested, TelexFree is undoubtedly the biggest MLM Ponzi scheme we’ve seen yet.

Now, as we near the two-year anniversary of the scheme’s shutdown, the first round of clawback litigation has been filed against its top investors.

Two separate filings were made by Trustee Stephan Darr on January 15th, listing fifty-six TelexFree investors and the amounts they stole.

In the US some twenty-three affiliates were named:

  • Benjamin Argueta from Massachusetts stole $4,014,207
  • Alexandro Rocha from Massachusetts stole $3,115,717
  • Jose Neto from Massachusetts stole $2,604,994
  • Julio C. Paz from Massachusetts stole $2,401,578
  • Euzebio Sudre Neto from Massachusetts stole $1,677,831
  • Hugo Alvarado from Massachusetts stole $1,343,234
  • Ana R. Ramos from Massachusetts stole $1,325,909
  • Linda Suzanne Hackett from Massachusetts stole $1,208,132
  • Ruddy Abreau from Massachusetts stole $1,184,460
  • Marco Almeida from New Jersey stole $1,082,464
  • Rodrigo Montemor from Massachusetts stole $1,006,856
  • Laureano Arellano from Utah stole $859,545
  • Aaron Ataide from California stole $855,234
  • Rosane Cruz from Massachusetts stole $819,327
  • Omar Quinonez from Florida stole $739,057
  • Carlos C. Dejesus from Massachusetts stole $736,061
  • Bilkish Sunesara from Texas stole $633,692
  • Andres Bolivar Estevez from New York stole $609,258
  • Jose Lopez from Massachusetts stole $564,454
  • Ana Rosa Lopez from Texas stole $523,495
  • Frantz Balan from Massachusetts stole $516,875
  • Marcelo Dasilva from Massachusetts stole $430,469
  • Gladys Alvarado from Massachusetts stole $259,764

Darr has requested that the above affiliates, labelled “among the largest net winners” in TelexFree, be appointed Class Representatives of the Net Winner Class.

The Class Representatives will be adequate and appropriate representatives of the Net Winner Class in the course of and by virtue of their own defense to the same claims.

Because they have substantially more (or certainly at least as much) incentive to vigorously defend against the Trustee’s claims as any unnamed class member, these Defendants will fairly and adequately protect and represent the interests of the unnamed members of the Net Winner Class.

Outside of the US, thirty-three net-winner affiliates were named:

  • Paola Zolli Alecci from Canico, Portugal stole $2,528,899
  • Maria Ricardina Sousa Dos Santos Delgado from Machico, Portugal stole $2,292,890
  • Fernando da Silva Gonzalez from Funchal, Portugal stole $1,929,151
  • Yuncheng Wu from Anhui, China stole $1,488,075
  • Yanmin Liu from Haerbin, China stole $1,425,657
  • Ligia Maria Freitas Andrade from Canico, Portugal stole $1,275,690
  • Sonia Maria Nunes Viveiros from Funchal, Portugal stole $1,181,950
  • Abraham Perez Dominguez from Huelva, Spain stole $1,151,105
  • Yong Wu from Shuangcheng, China stole $1,131,604
  • Roberto Araujo from Funchal, Portugal stole $1,043,260
  • Rui Gouveia from Santa Cruz, Portugal stole $997,629
  • Diana Lucia Mendez from Neiva, Colombia stole $991,451
  • Felipe Fernandes from Funchal, Portugal stole $937,556
  • Bruno Egidio Coelho Gomes from Canical, Portugal stole $828,854
  • Fernando Silva from Barcelos, Portugal stole $787,974
  • Jianxin Wang from Haerbin, China stole $735,082
  • Elvis Janer de Aza from La Romana, Dominican Republic stole $730,532
  • Duarte Nelio Dias de Oliveira from Funchal, Portugal stole $729,672
  • Adriano Silva Alves from Machico, Portugal stole $798,928
  • Gracia Luisa Andrade from Funchal, Portugal stole $691,211
  • Liquing Liu from Haerbin, China stole $688,041
  • Sandro Diosdado Sesma from Irapuato, Mexico stole $461,187
  • Yuen Ting Cheng from Srewsbury, UK stole $459,052
  • Yi Zhao from Ontario, Canada stole $310,195
  • Michael Williams from Ontario, Canada stole $352,441
  • Eliana Candido Neves from London, England stole $216,816
  • Sergio Silva from Bournemouth, UK stole $265,790
  • Fabio De Lima from Ontario, Canada stole $268,736
  • Wanwen Huang from Ontario, Canada stole$285,880
  • Rafael A. Demetrio from Oxford, UK stole $169,372
  • Marcelo Goncalves from Merthyr Tydfill, UK stole $138,782
  • Jie Zhang from Ontario, Canada stole $231,901
  • Suthakaran Ratnam from Ontario, Canada stole $137,390

Combined, the above scammers stole a whopping $56.1 million from TelexFree victims.

Still to come is clawback litigation against almost 100,000 net winner affiliates. Approximately 15,000 of these affiliates reside in the US and 78,000 overseas.

With respect to TelexFree’s international top scammers, it’ll be interesting to watch how the Trustee proceeds with clawback litigation in countries like China.

I don’t like his chances but hey, you’ve got to start somewhere.

Looking forward, I can’t see the court denying Darr’s motions, which will then see top US affiliates named Class Representatives.

They’ll present their “TelexFree wasn’t a Ponzi scheme” arguments, Darr will demolish them and then default judgement will be sought from those who don’t settle.

Stay tuned…

 

Update 26th January 2016 – A hearing was held on the 21st of January which saw Judge Hoffman grant the Trustee’s request for ex-parte relief.

A hearing to “consider the (class) Certification Motion” has been scheduled for April 13th.

 

Update 21st April 2016 – A Proposed Amended Complaint filed by the Trustee earlier this month has added an additional eighty-two US-based TelexFree investors to the clawback litigation.