TelexFree @ BehindMLM

While the sentencing of James Merrill next month will see the criminal side of TelexFree proceedings in the US wind up, down in Brazil they’re just just getting started. Following a three year investigation by Brazilian Federal Police, last Thursday twenty-two Brazilian TelexFree scammers were indicted.

Following suspicion that the house Fabio Wanzeler’s Florida house had been purchased with stolen TelexFree Ponzi funds, last December the DOJ requested a restraining order against the property. The DOJ were concerned that if James Merrill and Carlos Wanzeler were convicted, steps might be taken to sell or transfer the property to obfuscate links to TelexFree. [Continue reading…]

Joseph Isaacs and his company ISG Telecom assisted TelexFree with telecommunications regulations. In early 2014, TelexFree retained ISG to register the VOIP phone service and mobile telephone service with various public utility agencies and to perform related services. For this service, Isaacs was paid hundreds of thousand of dollars in stolen Ponzi funds. In April, 2016 the TelexFree [Continue reading…]

In one of the more dramatic MLM underbelly arrests we’ve seen, earlier this month Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha was apprehended at a Best Buy in Massachusetts. Rocha led HSI agents back to a “stash house”, where they found $20 million stashed under a mattress. Rocha was allegedly acting on behalf of Carlos Wanzeler, who wanted to [Continue reading…]

If you’ve been paying any attention to the rumblings of the MLM underbelly, hours after Donald Trump is sworn in on January 20th Ponzi and pyramid schemes will be declared legal and a new golden era of scamming will be upon us. Until then, February is shaping up to be quite the win for US [Continue reading…]

As the years drag on, how TelexFree mastermind Carlos Wanzeler has been supporting himself in Brazil has been a bit of mystery. Insight into Wanzeler’s plans for the future have finally been revealed, following the arrest of a Brazilian national in Massachusetts.

Following a hearing held on December 21st, the TelexFree victim claim deadline has been extended until March 15th, 2017.

Tax authorities in Brazil aren’t done investigating TelexFree, with the latest seeing Carlos Costa sued for $1.3 million dollars in tax fraud.

The TelexFree victim claim portal went live earlier this year in May. In September, the TelexFree Trustee sought an extension to the claim deadline. This request was approved, with an extension for filing victim claims granted until December 31st, 2016. With the deadline only a few weeks ago, the Trustee has again sought a deadline [Continue reading…]

Realizing the gig was up, Carlos Wanzeler fled the US as regulators closed in on TelexFree. As one of the owners of the TelexFree Ponzi scheme, in July 2014 Wanzeler was indicted for fraud and conspiracy. A superseding indictment was filed back in September, focusing on money laundering and assets derived from unlawful activity. While is [Continue reading…]