From today's WSJ - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1141...main_news_hs_h
Gee, you could have knocked me over with a feather
Freeze of Assets Is Sought
After Offer of 44% Return
For Looking at Online Ads
By MARK MAREMONT
February 27, 2006; Page C8
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a court action seeking to freeze the assets of 12DailyPro, and the agency is accusing the Web site and its operator of running an Internet Ponzi scheme that the SEC said has raised more than $50 million from more than 300,000 investors who were promised huge profits on their money.
The asset-freeze motion, filed late Friday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, seeks to have a receiver appointed to oversee the operations of 12DailyPro and its parent, LifeClicks LLC, according to an attorney familiar with the filing. The Internet company's operator, a Charlotte, N.C., woman named Charis Johnson, has agreed to the proposed order, according to the attorney. The filing wasn't available immediately through the court's electronic documents service.
A judge has yet to rule on the proposed order but judicial approval is considered likely.
Started last spring, 12DailyPro promised "members" that they could earn 44% returns on their money in just 12 days simply by viewing Web advertisements. Thousands of people from all over the world put up membership fees of as much as $6,000 every dozen days. For a while, some got the profits promised. But early this month, 12DailyPro essentially shut down after its primary online-payment processor, StormPay Inc., froze the company's funds, saying it had been alerted that 12DailyPro may have been conducting a fraud.
The SEC said the amount of investor funds voluntarily frozen by StormPay was about $50 million, the attorney familiar with the filing said, although it is unclear whether the full amount is still available. The SEC also is seeking to freeze about $1.9 million of funds transferred from 12DailyPro to bank accounts controlled by Ms. Johnson.
The 12DailyPro site was among the largest of dozens of so-called autosurf Web sites on the Internet. With names such as Auto.ExchangeTrade.com and Vegasurf.com, the sites ride a legitimate trend -- the surge in Internet advertising -- by promising generous returns to members who agree to view their ads. Most also let members advertise their Web sites to each other.
Autosurf sites can be legitimate, while some promise such huge profits that critics accuse them of running Ponzi schemes. Named for Charles Ponzi, an Italian immigrant to the U.S. who gained notoriety early in the 20th century, a Ponzi scheme is a fraud that promises huge returns to investors but pays them with money from subsequent investors rather than from revenue generated by business.
An attorney for 12DailyPro and Ms. Johnson couldn't be reached for comment. Ms. Johnson released a statement on the 12DailyPro Web site saying her company planned early this week to announce "a compromise" with authorities that "will lead to the resolution of this matter and the beginnings of an accounting and refund process." In the past, Ms. Johnson has maintained that 12DailyPro was a legitimate operation, and she blamed its woes on a commercial dispute with StormPay.
A key figure in the shutdown of 12DailyPro was Barry Minkow, a former carpet-cleaning executive who was convicted of securities fraud in the 1980s before he turned to helping regulators and investigators detect other frauds.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and various state officials also are investigating 12DailyPro.
Gee, you could have knocked me over with a feather
Freeze of Assets Is Sought
After Offer of 44% Return
For Looking at Online Ads
By MARK MAREMONT
February 27, 2006; Page C8
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a court action seeking to freeze the assets of 12DailyPro, and the agency is accusing the Web site and its operator of running an Internet Ponzi scheme that the SEC said has raised more than $50 million from more than 300,000 investors who were promised huge profits on their money.
The asset-freeze motion, filed late Friday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, seeks to have a receiver appointed to oversee the operations of 12DailyPro and its parent, LifeClicks LLC, according to an attorney familiar with the filing. The Internet company's operator, a Charlotte, N.C., woman named Charis Johnson, has agreed to the proposed order, according to the attorney. The filing wasn't available immediately through the court's electronic documents service.
A judge has yet to rule on the proposed order but judicial approval is considered likely.
Started last spring, 12DailyPro promised "members" that they could earn 44% returns on their money in just 12 days simply by viewing Web advertisements. Thousands of people from all over the world put up membership fees of as much as $6,000 every dozen days. For a while, some got the profits promised. But early this month, 12DailyPro essentially shut down after its primary online-payment processor, StormPay Inc., froze the company's funds, saying it had been alerted that 12DailyPro may have been conducting a fraud.
The SEC said the amount of investor funds voluntarily frozen by StormPay was about $50 million, the attorney familiar with the filing said, although it is unclear whether the full amount is still available. The SEC also is seeking to freeze about $1.9 million of funds transferred from 12DailyPro to bank accounts controlled by Ms. Johnson.
The 12DailyPro site was among the largest of dozens of so-called autosurf Web sites on the Internet. With names such as Auto.ExchangeTrade.com and Vegasurf.com, the sites ride a legitimate trend -- the surge in Internet advertising -- by promising generous returns to members who agree to view their ads. Most also let members advertise their Web sites to each other.
Autosurf sites can be legitimate, while some promise such huge profits that critics accuse them of running Ponzi schemes. Named for Charles Ponzi, an Italian immigrant to the U.S. who gained notoriety early in the 20th century, a Ponzi scheme is a fraud that promises huge returns to investors but pays them with money from subsequent investors rather than from revenue generated by business.
An attorney for 12DailyPro and Ms. Johnson couldn't be reached for comment. Ms. Johnson released a statement on the 12DailyPro Web site saying her company planned early this week to announce "a compromise" with authorities that "will lead to the resolution of this matter and the beginnings of an accounting and refund process." In the past, Ms. Johnson has maintained that 12DailyPro was a legitimate operation, and she blamed its woes on a commercial dispute with StormPay.
A key figure in the shutdown of 12DailyPro was Barry Minkow, a former carpet-cleaning executive who was convicted of securities fraud in the 1980s before he turned to helping regulators and investigators detect other frauds.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and various state officials also are investigating 12DailyPro.
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