| Multi-Level Marketing, a Hidden Peril in China
HONG KONGMulti-level marketing (MLM) 1 , also know as pyramid schemes ( chuanxiao ), has become prevalent again in China in the past two years 2 . Millions of people, including students and farmers, are involved in this sector, drawing 50 billion yuan (US$6.66 billion) into the scheme. Chinese authorities continue, however, to be wary of direct sales on a number of grounds, among them pyramid scheme frauds, strong networking capabilities and loss of social stability. With such a large and well-organized sales force, MLM has caused panic on the authorities. In July and August of this year, the authorities significantly strengthened the co-operation with related departments in fighting illegal pyramid selling. According to Oriental Daily News in Hong Kong, MLM salespeople, dissatisfied with the authority's bans, often gather a crowd to attack governmental agencies.
SEC probes transactions by Clifton investment firm Kay Services
Federal securities regulators are investigating whether a Clifton business that allegedly promised investors 100 percent risk-free returns is a fraud. Securities and Exchange Commission attorneys are looking at the dealings of Kay Services LLC and the potential that millions of dollars from the operation may have gone to its principal and her family. The investigation is in its early stages and there has been no finding Kay Services or those involved violated any securities laws. But in court documents, SEC attorneys said the investments in Kay Services may be part of a Ponzi or pyramid scheme and noted the improbability of such guaranteed annual returns. "Such astronomical returns, promised risk-free, are hallmarks of fraudulent schemes," regulators wrote in a federal court filing earlier this week.
Wife who skipped religious pyramid scheme sentencing back in court
Cynthia Setser, who was in hiding for a year after skipping out on a sentencing hearing before a Dallas federal judge in a multimillion-dollar securities fraud case, pleaded not guilty this week to a charge of failure to appear. The FBI located and arrested Ms. Setser, 50, at a home in Florida on Dec. 6 after she missed a Jan. 16, 2007, sentencing hearing in Dallas. Ms. Setser was to be sentenced for her role in a multimillion-dollar pyramid scheme spearheaded by her husband, Gregory Setser. The scheme, aimed largely at Christian investors including televangelist Benny Hinn, bilked hundreds of people from Texas and California out of more than $170 million before the FBI shut down the Setsers' sham import company, IPIC Investments, in 2003. Mr. Setser received 40 years in prison.
Chandler man admits his guilt in church-fraud case
One of the owners of a Christian non-profit company accused of defrauding churchgoers in Arizona and 12 other states has admitted funneling millions in investors' money into offshore accounts as part of a pyramid scheme. The Arizona Attorney General's Office announced Tuesday that Gregg Wolfe of Chandler has agreed to turn state's evidence against his partner, Edward Purvis, as part of a plea deal in a case that involved bribing a Chandler police officer and filing bogus legal claims against public officials. Purvis has denied any wrongdoing in the case. .
The case of the dubious diamond dildo.
L.A. Times--Scooped again? ... 10:15 P.M. Army of Shrums Update: On reflection, homemade YouTube ads seem more potentially subversive than I originally thought. I try to explain here. ... Not only do these amateur ads seem to evade the campaign finance laws, they seem to undermine the whole assumption of those laws, which is that candidates with more money enjoy a proportional advantage. No they won't--at least if they're typically undone by whichever catchy,15-second spot cooked up by a teenager on blogspot gains the most viral exposure (by being re-shown on the TV news in addition to being viewed on the Web). The outcome of a true YouTube election will be more random--but, arguably, more substance-related. ... To Be Sure: I'm not saying we're already past the time when races get determined by what Bob Shrum and Roger Ailes, or their successors, spend donors' millions to tell voters.
Friday wild card
The S-R's very own Steve Smith gets profiled in the Boston Phoenix this week in a piece pegged to the paper's live webcasts of editorial meetings. Mark Jurkowitz calls the editor "one of journalisms most vocal, fearless, and controversial thinkers and experimenters" and "a firebrand and an outside-the-box thinker in a generally status-quo business where change is usually incremental and painstaking." On the other hand, "Smith can be headstrong, stubborn, and in [Jay] Rosen's words 'a tough man to work for.'" (Click on the Rosen link above to read a piece by S-R online publisher Ken Sands, who helped Al Gore invent the Internet. Kidding, Ken, kidding, but just barely...) For the rest of the post by Frank Sennett/Hard 7, click here. Question: Has SR Editor Steve Smith made an impression on you? .
Minister's claim of helping Canadian in Mexican jail sparks outrage
Federal minister Helena Guergis is being accused of crass politicking in the case of a Canadian woman imprisoned without trial in Mexico for nearly two years. Supporters of Trenton, Ont., native Brenda Martin were astonished when they learned that Guergis, the secretary of state for foreign affairs and international trade, has claimed she and her government have worked hard behind the scenes to expedite Martin's case and to ensure her legal and human rights have been respected. Incredulity turned to anger when Guergis went further, warning in a letter to the editor published in today's Journal that "those who are playing politics with Ms. Martin's regrettable situation ... are not helping to advance her case or get her home any faster." .
Around The Campaign 2008 Sphere
This version will only contain election-related links. It will appear several times a week until Election Day. The Latino Vote Is Solidly Behind Senator Hillary Clinton – or IS IT? Al Giordoano reports in the Huffington Post that the vote is more up for grabs than people think. One lingering issue: the powder-key issue of whether to grant drivers licenses for illegal immigrants. Senator Ted Kennedy's Endorsement Of Barack Obama was highly significant, according to Dick Polman, who has a post that needs to be read in full. A tiny taste of it: Edward Kennedy's endorsement of Barack Obama is clearly a major blow to the Clintons - and not just because the senior keeper of the Kennedy flame is tight with the kinds of primary voters that Obama needs most (downscale workers, union members, and Hispanics); and not just because Ted will stump for Obama in key Feb.
Balancing cheap cars, pricey gas and the environment
Whichever it is, cars that cost less than a cheap vacation make a mockery of the already pathetic changes Canadian and American citizens have made to compensate for federal governments that don't give a damn about climate change. There I was: taking the subway, doing laundry in the off-peak dark hours and mulching yard waste like it mattered. But that effort is made irrelevant by someone out to crush his next-door neighbour's self-esteem in Delhi's version of keeping up with the Joneses. Viral affluenza There's a disease called affluenza. The British psychologist Oliver James has written about it extensively (and so shall I this coming year). He says it's a virus that causes victims to "place a high value on acquiring money and possessions, looking good in the eyes of others and wanting to be famous." We in the West are soaked in it, which is why our greatest complaint is not something reasonable like hunger or a sore foot, but depression, anxiety, narcissism … Every disease has a social fallout.
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