The S-Group Ponzi scheme has collapsed.

On June 10th S-Group investors were informed of “maintenance work” on S-Wallet. Since then there’s only been one vague update. [Continue reading…]

Emerson Pires and Flavio Goncalves, co-founders of the EmpiresX Ponzi scheme, have copped a $45.8 million judgment in their SEC fraud case. [Continue reading…]

One of the executive ringleaders behind USFIA’s GemCoin Ponzi scheme has avoided prison.

Leonard Stacy Johnson pled guilty to two counts of fraud in July 2019.

On June 5th, Johnson was sentenced to two years probation and $45,871 in restitution. [Continue reading…]

Eteric Power fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website.

Eteric Power’s website domain (“eteric-power.com”), was privately registered on April 14th, 2023.

I noticed in Eteric Power’s source-code a reference to “Prudential Investments Pty Ltd”. A link to an ASIC search is provided.

There are a few matches so nothing definitive. The reference is commented out on the source-code though, suggesting Eteric Power is built on a template.

I ran a search for a text snippet on Eteric Power’s website and it returned 1230 results. 

It appears we have some very busy serial scammers on our hands.

As always, if an MLM company is not openly upfront about who is running or owns it, think long and hard about joining and/or handing over any money. [Continue reading…]

Brian Underwood is attempting to intervene in a lawsuit filed by Michael Rutherford against Pruvit.

In a Motion to Intervene filed on June 14th, Underwood claims he and Rutherford had “a longstanding agreement and de facto partnership”. [Continue reading…]

Dmatrx has received a pyramid fraud warning from Russia.

As per the Central Bank of Russia’s June 20th warning, Dmatrx exhibits “signs of a “financial pyramid”. [Continue reading…]

United Partners fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website.

United Partners’ website domain (“unitedpartners.io”), was privately registered on January 27th, 2023.

In an attempt to appear legitimate, United Partners provides an address in the UK on its website. This appears to correspond to the UK shell company United Fintech Solutions LTD.

Incorporation details for Triple Ex GmbH (Switzerland),  Triple Ex Crypto LLP (UK) and Stockpoint OU (Estonia) are also provided. [Continue reading…]

Vitru Global operates in the cryptocurrency MLM niche. The company doesn’t provide a corporate address on its website.

Vitru Global’s website domain (“vitruglobal.com”), was privately registered on March 27th, 2023.

Vitru Global represents it is headed by co-founder Ravinder Singh and CEO Frank Tornatore.

No verifiable information about either executive is provided.

Vitru Global affiliate marketing suggests Singh is from India and Germany, and Tornatore is from Spain.

I wasn’t able to independently verify this information, which is a red flag.

My first though was that Singh and Tornatore might be Boris CEOs. I was however able to verify they are being represented by real people:

The above is from an April 2022 Vitru Global Zoom webinar. It appears to be the only Vitru Global footage featuring the pair available.

On FaceBook Tornatore pitches himself as “Legal counsel specialize in inheritance Marketing (and) Specialist online and Blockchain”.

Photos over the last few years suggest Tornatore has, at the very least, attended various blockchain bro events.

The first thing you see on Ravinder Singh’s FaceBook page is a pinned post promoting the Solmax Global Ponzi scheme.

Solmax Global was a Ponzi scheme that primarily targeted Pakistan and neighboring countries.

Solmax Global collapsed in October 2021. A reboot was announced but never went anywhere.

Singh was still promoting crypto Ponzis right up until Vitru Global was set up in late March 2023.

Finex Prime appears to have collapsed just before Vitru Global launched.

Read on for a full review of Vitru Global’s MLM opportunity. [Continue reading…]

A top official believed to be behind Bulgaria’s ongoing protection of OneCoin has been fired.

On June 12th, Bulgaria’s Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) voted to dismiss Ivan Geshev as Prosecutor-General.

On June 15th, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev signed off on the SJC’s decree, effectively firing Geshev from his post. [Continue reading…]

TranzactCard operates in the banking and cashback MLM niches.

On its website, TranzactCard identifies its Founder and Chairman as Richard Smith.

On the corporate side of things;

TranzactCard LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of TZT Holdings LLC. TZT Holdings owns the brand “TranzactCard” and the TranzactCard Financial Ecosystem.

On LinkedIn Smith cites himself as TZT Holdings’ Executive Chairman.

Long story short, Richard Smith owns and operates TranzactCard.

TranzactCard operates from two primary website domains; “tranzactcard.com” and “mytzt.com” – both first registered in April 2021, with private registrations last updated on April 29th, 2023.

Although we didn’t know it at the time, BehindMLM first came across Richard Smith’s MLM work with Divvee in mid 2016.

Instead of the fronting the company he was a co-founder of, Smith initially hid behind CEO Allen Davis.

Divvee’s original concept flopped and it was rebooted as Divvee Rank and Share in November 2016. Sometime after Smith and co-founder Troy Muhlestein became the face of the company.

By July 2017 it was apparent Divvee Rank and Share had also flopped. This prompted a pivot to forex trading securities and commodities fraud.

Update 7th November 2023 – Back in 2010 Smith was was criminally charged with securities fraud in Utah.

The charges pertained to Ascendus and FFCF, two Ponzi schemes that defrauded consumers out of around $10.9 million dollars.

In November 2012 a court-appointed FFCF Receiver secured a $3.2 million default judgment against Smith.

In January 2017 Smith pled guilty to one count of Pattern of Unlawful Conduct, a second degree felony.

Smith was sentenced to pay $200,000 in restitution of which he has paid $100,000 with the remaining $100,000 to be paid in monthly installments of $1,667 for the next five years, which is the period of his probation, plus 250 hours of community service.

Smith’s sentencing was recorded on page 3 of a meeting minutes filing from the Utah Division of Securities Commission. /end update

After Divvee we had Nui – a continuation of the aforementioned securities and commodities fraud.

Nui devolved into a bunch of crypto schemes led by Darren Olayan. The mess culminated in Texas issuing a securities fraud cease and desist in July 2018.

The Texas State Securities Board would go on to fine Nui $25,000 in February 2019.

I don’t know exactly when Richard Smith left Nui but he resurfaced with The Digital Vault and RevvCard in March 2019.

The Digital Vault and RevvCard were supposed to bring fiat banking services to Nui’s crypto fraud.

In April 2019 The Digital Vault relaunched as R Network. RevvCard still hadn’t launched and wasn’t due to launch for another eight months.

By mid 2020 the original concept for RevvCard had been scrapped. Smith began offering stock ownership in R Network, despite neither himself or the company being registered with the SEC.

What was left of R Network quietly died off after that. In March 2021 what was left of R Network was sold off to iX Global.

We didn’t hear anything further from Smith until TranzactCard surfaced on or around April 2023.

Read on for a full review of TranzactCard’s MLM opportunity. [Continue reading…]