When Vemma, BK Boreyko and Tom Alkazin filed their defenses to the FTC’s case against them, one of the more disturbing defenses raised was that somehow consumers were to blame for their losses.

The FTC and/or the consumers it purports to represent have failed to mitigate their losses, if any.

Any losses sustained by the FTC and/or the consumers it purports to represent were caused by the acts or omissions of third parties over whom the Corporate Defendants had no control or right to control.

Consumers represented by the FTC knowingly and voluntarily, and possibly unreasonably, exposed themselves to any claimed losses with knowledge or appreciation of the risk involved.

The above is how Vemma worded the defense. Boreyko and Alkazin filed similarly worded defenses.

The FTC objected to this shirking of responsibility onto consumers (many of which were/are Vemma affiliates).

The FTC argues that these are not valid affirmative defenses because relief under the FTC Act is equitable and dependent on the amount of gain by Defendants, not loss by consumers.

The good news is the court has agreed, with neither Vemma, Boreyko or Alkazin permitted to defend themselves by blaming Vemma consumers for their own losses. [Continue reading…]

Last October the FTC filed a motion asking Judge Tuchi to “clarify or reconsider” the Vemma preliminary injunction.

Specifically, the FTC sought to ‘enjoin Defendant Tom Alkazin from engaging in certain business activities.‘

The FTC argued that while the court intentionally excluded Alkazin ‘from the injunctive provisions relating to pyramid marketing‘, it might have

unintentionally excluded him from the provisions related to deceptive income claims, furnishing materials that contain false or misleading representations, and submitting new marketing or sales material to the FTC for review before publishing.

In addition to requesting the court clarify if this was the case, the FTC also asked it to

reconsider its finding and ruling as to Defendant Alkazin’s injunctive liability for marketing a pyramid scheme based on his participation in (rather than control of) the scheme, and place him under the provisions of Section I.A of the Order.

Inclusion of Section I.A of the order would see Alkazin subject to the same restrictions as Vemma and BK Boreyko.

Now, roughly eight months after the FTC filed their motion, Judge Tuchi has finally ruled on the matter. [Continue reading…]

With Paul Burks’ criminal trial just three days away and trial briefs field by both parties, objections have been raised regarding proposed expert witnesses.

Paul Burks is objecting to Tucker Greer of Price Waterhouse Coopers. The DOJ are objecting to John White and Morris Aaron. [Continue reading…]

There is no information on the BitRegion website indicating who owns or runs the business.

The BitRegion website domain (“bitregion.com”) was registered on the 22nd of October 2015, however the domain registration is set to private.

Default languages on the BitRegion website are English, Chinese, Vietnamese and Indonesian.

Alexa currently estimate that some 70% of all traffic to the BitRegion website domain originates out of Japan.

This strongly suggests that whoever is running BitRegion is likely based out of Asia.

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…]

Coinye is a cryptocurrency that launched in 2014. It was abandoned shortly after launch, following a trademark infringement lawsuit filed by Kanye West.

On January 6, 2014, Kanye West’s lawyers sent the development team a cease and desist order on the basis that the then-unreleased currency constituted trademark infringement, unfair competition, cyberpiracy and dilution.

In response to the legal threats, the development team changed the name of the currency from “Coinye West” to “Coinye” and moved to a new domain name.

By January 10, 2014, the development team stated that they had removed all references to West but instead “to a half-man-half-fish hybrid,” a nod to a South Park episode in which West fails to realize why people are jokingly calling him a “gay fish.”

These actions were not sufficient to appease West’s legal team and a lawsuit was filed against the creators of the coin, prompting them to sell their Coinye holdings and leave the project. (Wikipedia)

Coinye as a cryptocurrency has since stagnated. Development of the coin is dead but it’s still tradeable.

Now, through the website “coinyecoins.com”, someone is trying to attach an MLM opportunity to Coinye.

The Coinye Coins website appears to be modeled on existing marketing literature for Coinye. The website lists Robin Clayton as CEO of the company, alongside of a photo of deceased actor Robin Williams.

Similarly the photo provided for COO Clive Bruce, is actually that of Bruce Berkowitz, an equity fund manager and registered investment adviser.

Needless to say it’s highly likely that neither Robin Clayton or Clive Bruce, as represented on the Coinye Coins website, actually exist.

The CoinyeCoins website domain meanwhile was registered on the 25th of December, 2015. The registration appears to be bogus, listing “COINYEYE” of “COINYECOINS” as the owner. An incomplete address in Thailand is also provided.

This conflicts with the Coinye Coins website and compensation plan material, which provide an address for “Coinye Digitial Inc.” in Malta.

Further research reveals Coinye Coins Malta address actually belongs to Fairwinds Management Limited.

Fairwinds Management provides cost-effective and efficient company incorporation services in Malta.

The minimum share capital required to set up a company in Malta is €1,165. The share capital does not need to be paid in full, however a minimum of 20% needs to be paid up.

This suggests Coinye Coins exists in Malta in name only.

A source of further confusion is the Coinye Coins “User Agreement”, which starts off with “Welcome, and thanks for using coinye.co”.

Coinye.co appears to be the source for most of the information on the Coinye Coins website.

The Coinye.co domain was registered on November 21st, 2015. Anil Shah of Alibag Webhosting is listed as the owner, with an address in Maharashtra, India also provided.

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…]

Back in March OneCoin lost their Mastercard merchant issuer.

Turns out being part of a million dollar drug gang is bad for business.

Mastercard have since denounced OneCoin, effectively announcing they want nothing to do with the company.

Given Mastercard are watching for links between merchants and OneCoin’s many shell companies, we’re probably not going to see a OneCoin branded Mastercard anytime soon.

Through their many shell companies, OneCoin had to seek out alternative processing channels. [Continue reading…]

There is no information on the THW Global website indicating who owns or runs THW Global.

The THW Global website domain (“thwglobal.com”) was registered privately on the 29th of May, 2016.

Alexa currently estimate that 45.6% of all traffic to the THW Global website originates out of Russia. The Ukraine is the second largest source of traffic, coming at 10.3%.

This suggests whoever is running THW Global could be based out of Russia.

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…]

Just under a year ago, Daniel Filho was arrested in Florida.

Since then Filho has been in protective custody, with a criminal case slowly progressing to trial in the background.

A Joint Final Status Report was filed on June 13th, with a Final Status Conference scheduled for June 29th. [Continue reading…]

Paul Burks’ criminal trial is now less than a week away.

Last week the DOJ filed a lengthy trial brief, going over their gameplan for the trial.

As per judicial procedure in the lead up to a criminal trial, Paul Burks has filed his trial brief too. [Continue reading…]

The latest reincarnation of the failed BBOM Ponzi scheme saw them want a piece of the burgeoning MLM cryptocurrency niche.

Previously BBOM combined Ponzi ROIs with fictitious GPS tracker rentals. When the collapsed the scheme rebooted as InterBBOM, replacing GPS trackers with mobile apps.

That didn’t go anywhere and so the third attempt at BBOM began a few months ago… [Continue reading…]