TelexFree @ BehindMLM

The criminal trial of James Merrill is quite possibly one of the most anticipated MLM Ponzi regulatory actions to date. Two years in the making, Merrill is currently scheduled to stand trial on October 23rd. In an eleventh hour filing however, Merrill has now asked the court to delay the trial for three weeks. Among [Continue reading…]

In a September 28th trial brief filing, the DOJ claim TelexFree was a massive pyramid scheme that roped in about a million people worldwide and caused about a billion dollars in losses. TelexFree paid participants a yearly return of over 200% without requiring them to sell anything. All they had to do was (a) pay TelexFree [Continue reading…]

In preparation for James Merrill’s upcoming October 24th trial, the DOJ has filed exhibit and witness lists. In total the DOJ are looking to enter 618 exhibits into evidence and call up forty-three witnesses.

In May of 2015 TelexFree top investor Sann Rodrigues was arrested for visa fraud. Rodrigues initially plead not guilty, however a Status Report filed back in August strongly suggested a plea agreement was on the table. As part of a plea agreement filed on September 28th, Sann Rodrigues will now plead guilty to visa fraud.

To date Brazilian authorities have seized and fined TelexFree for over R$1 billion ($308 million USD). On top of that the Brazilian IRS have issued TelexFree with more than R$3 billion ($924 million USD) in tax-related penalties. The state of Acre, who were first to freeze to TelexFree in Brazil, are trying to secure these [Continue reading…]

In late May the TelexFree victim’s claim portal went live. Since then “approximately 80,000 claims” have been filed by TelexFree victims. The cutoff for victim claims is currently September 26th, however the Trustee now wants that date extended.

On September 8th, a superseding indictment was returned by a Grand Jury against TelexFree owners James Merrill and Carlos Wanzeler. The pair were originally indicted in July, 2014 on eight counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Unavailable at the time the order denying James Merrill’s supression motions was published, Judge Hillman’s accompanying memorandum has since surfaced. In the memorandum the reasoning behind Judge Hillman’s decision is explained. In great detail too I might add, with the memorandum coming in at a whopping twenty-five pages.

We haven’t quite reached Paul Burks levels of desperation yet, but James Merrill was certainly channeling him when he asked a court to suppress all evidence collected against him. Merrill’s motion, if granted, would have effectively gutted the DOJ’s case against him – leaving the regulator unable to use any evidence obtained via seizure of [Continue reading…]

Last we checked in the DOJ was negotiating with Sanderley Rodrigues in an attempt to resolve Rodrigues’ visa fraud case without a trial. As per a Status Report filed yesterday;