According to Investopedia, affinity fraud is a type of investment fraud in which a con artist targets members of an identifiable group based on things such as race, age, religion, etc. The fraudster either is or pretends to be, a member of the group. These schemes work because the victims are more likely to trust […]
Revictimizing the Victims – "Reloading" Common in Ponzi Schemes
[Original post October 2010, post supplemented and republished April 2020] Recently an unemployed woodsman from Washington state was convicted of nine federal offenses including blowing up his own mailbox (destruction of a mail box is a federal crime.) What was he doing? Trying to convince victims of a Ponzi scheme to give him money in […]
Alliance & Nikolai Battoo – “Figment of Criminal Imagination”
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged yet another player in the massive Ponzi scheme orchestrated by Nikolai Battoo. Marketed as PIWM, Maven Assurance or Maven Life, the Ponzi scheme is estimated to have raked in over $150 million dollars. Already the principals, Nikolai Battoo and his chief marketer Tracy Sunderlage, have been charged […]
Nikolai Battoo and Tracy Sunderlage – "Sons of Madoff"?
It’s Halloween weekend and kids throughout the country are dressed in costume. (Same for a fair amount of adults in college towns too.) 75 years ago, the public was terrified when the hit movie Son of Frankenstein was released in theaters. Today it takes more than a movie to scare most adults. For this Halloween […]
Sunderlage / Battoo Litigation Mired In Guernsey Court
Hundreds of Americans have suffered tremendous losses from investing with Tracy Sunderlage and Nikolai Battoo and funds related to them. Some say the two men are responsible for $1.5 billion in investor losses. One of the biggest battles being fought today concerns the whereabouts of the missing money. To date we have spoken with dozens […]
Court Denies Hedge Fund Loss In Ponzi Scheme Case
A federal judge in Tampa has barred a Swiss hedge fund from making claims against an alleged Ponzi scheme. In an opinion that could have far reaching implications in other investment fraud cases, the court said the fund shouldn’t be allowed to participate in the claims process because it missed too many red flags before […]
22 Year Sentence Upheld In Hollywood Investment Fraud Case
There is a popular perception that courts simply give white collar fraudsters a slap on the wrist – a quick court appearance in the afternoon and then home in time for dinner. While we believe that the government hasn’t prosecuted enough criminal fraud cases against the big banks and Wall Street, federal judges do hand […]
Anderson Scott Hall Faces New Charges In Abaco Securities Scam
In June we wrote about Anderson Scott Hall, head of Abaco Securities International. At the time, Hall was awaiting trial on 20 counts of wire and mail fraud. Prosecutors say he bilked millions of dollars from teacher and school district employees near Jacksonville, Florida. Hall’s case was scheduled for trial in August but a federal […]
Nikolai Battoo – 10 Months Later
With great fanfare and a big press release, the SEC sued Nikolai Battoo, Tracy Sunderlage and BC Capital in September of 2012. A great number of stock fraud lawyers blasted the Internet hoping to drum up clients. If the SEC is correct, Nikolai Battoo and company have ripped off investors to the tune of $1.5 […]
Justice Delayed – The Story Of Anderson Scott Hall & Abaco Securities
From 2006 through 2011, Anderson Scott Hall and the company he ran, Abaco Securities International, were household words in Jacksonville, Florida. Abaco conned many Duval County teachers and administrators into turning over their hard earned savings. Prosecutors say millions in savings. Hall’s clients were promised stable, secure investment returns from 6 to 18%. Instead of being invested, […]
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