SEC Orders Cali Ponzi Scheme To "Disgorge" "Ill-Gotten Gains"
The SEC has busted another Ponzi scheme and ordered its operators to "disgorge their ill-gotten gains." In this one, Anthony Vassallo of "Equity Investment Management and Trading" recruited investors through his church by saying he had a computer program that would guarantee a 3.5% return on stocks. Eventually he stopped trading and paid off investors using other investor's money, while shoveling the rest of the funds into other schemes and scams. Vassallo was eventually busted when his investors ganged up on him and said his reports were phony-baloney.
(Photo: The Searcher)
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Ponzi Schemes: The new American way
Best picture ever?
So the SEC didn't bust the guy. It was his "investors" that ganged up on him. I guess this guy was scamming smarter people than Madoff did.
haha it suits my asian-ness. and dang it, the reply button was just working a few minutes ago arrrrrrrrrrrr
any attribution on this one? Like to read more about it.
or did the 3 headed panda disgorge this story to you in a secret memo tied to a carrier pigeon?
I've recently seen several scams that were proliferated through church members believing impossible claims. I wonder why...
"phony-baloney"
I want a reason to use this term.
Are Pandas the new kittens? Can Cosumerist handle the cute overload?
And more importantly, how does Captain Duvel Moneycat feel about this?
@alpinerover: Of course now I see that the picture was supposed to show disgorgement of the money, but I can dream, can't I?
OMG - that picture is like Lisa Frank meets Armageddon.
Something tells me that Tinky-Tink the three-headed panda got hold of some bad hooch...
@m4ximusprim3: PS: If it was the panda, he also told these people: [www.bizjournals.com]
so you could link to them. you know, if you wanted to be journalistic.
I'd like to "disgorge" after having eaten a 12" Tuna sub.
@Canino: Every single pyramid scheme people have tried to introduce me to, they were introduced to at their church. While there is some irony in people propagating scams within churches I am really tired of seeing people get duped out of their money in an environment they think they can trust.
3.5% return? Really? That's enough to make people go "KA-CHING??" Up until very recently you could get that on online savings accounts.
I knew some people that were in it, very sad. It was 3.5% a month. I knew it was too good to be true.
@youbastid: Monthly. They were talking 40+ percent annually.
Like the kind of returns only someone with a giant imaginary friend would think are legit.
Wow, this is crazy. I go to a church in folsom (where this happened), and a week or two ago the pastor got up and very publicly stated that the members of the church should not advertise their businesses around church, and people that are solicited around church should refuse and ask them not to solicit around the church. At first I thought he was talking about your average run of the mill pyramid schemes (think primerica or quixtar).
I wonder if it had anything to do with this...
That pic makes me warm and fuzzy also makes my tummy rumble.
No link to an article on a real news site? I have to google to read about this? :(
>I've recently seen several scams that were >proliferated through church members believing >impossible claims. I wonder why...
On the off-chance that was a serious question, there's actually a serious answer. All of us tend to be more trusting of people we feel an "affinity" for: people of the same religion, same college, same fraternity, etc. This is a psychological fact that conmen and scammers consciously exploit this (and always have). Church membership is an especially easy target because churches explicitly encourage trust and friendship towards other members of your congregation.
And as for the "impossible claims" part... if the story at top is accurate, he was only guaranteeing 3.5% -- not at all implausible. The weird part is what made this attractive given that the market allegedly returns 7% in the long run. A big difference from the 22% promised in today's other Ponzi Scheme story...
It seems ponzi schemes are the "african prince" scams of America, maybe these investors should start calling up the african royalty and telling them they could double their money! That would show them.
And i wish the image came in a bigger size, it would definitely be my wallpaper.
@czar: See above. 3.5% MONTHLY. NOT YEARLY. 42% YEARLY.
The SEC: A three headed panda shooting rainbow death rays at Ponzi schemers everywhere. I like it.