Ever thought biochar claims were false and overinflated? turns out the SEC agrees.
And these guys think they can be trusted with CDM credits???? Jim ------ http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GreenBusiness/idUSTRE5AF50W20091116 SEC files charges over "green" Ponzi scheme Mon Nov 16, 2009 4:12pm EST By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged four individuals and two companies with running a $30 million Ponzi scheme that targeted elderly investors and people nearing retirement who were seeking environmentally friendly investments. In a civil lawsuit filed Monday in Denver federal court, the SEC accused Mantria Corp of Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania and its principals Troy Wragg and Amanda Knorr of raising $122 million from more than 300 investors nationwide in a dozen fraudulent securities offerings. The SEC said Mantria enlisted Speed of Wealth LLC, a Centennial, Colorado firm run by Wayde and Donna McKelvy, to encourage investors to liquidate retirement plans and home equity, and buy securities offering returns of 17 percent to "hundreds of percent" annually. It said the McKelvys encouraged victims through seminars, the Internet and phone calls "to move at the speed of wealth" to invest in Mantria's securities, receiving a 12.5 percent commission for their efforts. According to the SEC, Mantria purported to use the securities to finance such projects as a "carbon negative" housing community in rural Tennessee, and production of "biochar," a charcoal substitute made from organic waste. Instead, it said Mantria overstated its own investment success, and used much of the proceeds from new investments to repay earlier investors. "The only green these promoters seemed interested in was investors' money," said Don Hoerl, director of the SEC regional office in Denver, in a statement. The SEC charged Mantria, Speed of Wealth, Wragg, Knorr and the McKelvys with fraud and the sale of unregistered securities. It is seeking the return of illegal profits, civil fines, and a freezing of the defendants' assets. According to the regulator, Wragg, 27, and Knorr, 26, live in Philadelphia; Wayde McKelvy, 46, lives in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida; and Donna McKelvy, 43, lives in Parker, Colorado. A lawyer for Mantria, Wragg and Knorr did not immediately return a call seeking comment. The McKelvys could not immediately be located for comment, and it was unclear whether they or Speed of Wealth had retained counsel. The case is SEC v. Mantria Corp et al, U.S. District Court, District of Colorado. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Phil Berlowitz) ------ New York Times - November 16, 2009, 5:00 PM http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/16/regulators-file-lawsuit-against-alleged-green-investment-ponzi-scheme/ Regulators File Lawsuit Against Alleged ‘Green’ Investment Ponzi Scheme By DIANA B. HENRIQUES “The only green these promoters seem interested in was investors’ money,” an official of the Securities and Exchange Commission said of a green investment scheme. The agency filed a lawsuit, above, on Monday. Federal regulators have accused four people and two companies of using bogus claims about “green initiatives” to entice more than 300 investors into what was really a $30 million Ponzi scheme. The accusations were made in a civil lawsuitfiled on Monday in federal court in Denver by the Securities and Exchange Commission. According to the complaint, the fraud scheme’s promoters targeted elderly investors and those nearing retirement age. Investors were told they could reap substantial returns from such “green” initiatives as the development of “carbon negative” housing in rural Tennessee and the production and marketing of “bio char,” a charcoal substitute made from organic waste. In fact, regulators say, the private company in which investors sank their money had almost no assets or operations and the promoters were paying the promised returns to early investors with money collected from those who invested later — a classic Ponzi scheme. “The only green these promoters seemed interested in was investors’ money,” said Don Hoerl, director of the commission’s Denver office. The individual defendants are Wayde McKelvy, of Sunny Isle Beach, Fla.; his ex-wife Donna McKelvy, of Parker, Colo.; Troy Wragg, and Amanda Knorr, both of Philadelphia. In addition, the lawsuit names two companies, the Mantria Corporation in Bala-Cynwyd, Pa., run by Mr. Wragg and Ms. Knorr; and Speed of WealthL.L.C. in Centennial, Colo., a “wealth education” program founded by the McKelvys. A lawyer for Mr. Wragg, Ms. Knorr and Mantria did not immediately respond to messages left at his office. No lawyer was identified for the McKelvys, but they did not respond to messages left at their Web site, nor to voicemail. Update | Nov. 18 Christine Gresh, the executive administrative assistant to the chairman and chief executive of Mantria, wrote in an e-mail message: We are aware of the SEC action in Denver. We deny all the allegations raised by the SEC against Mantria and its principals and we are preparing our defense. We hope to obtain a favorable resolution of this matter. According to Mr. Hoerl’s office, investors had been encouraged through seminars and “webinars” to liquidate their retirement plans, mutual funds and home equity to invest in Mantria’s phony environmentally- friendly operations. Speed of Wealth operates live “wealth education” seminars in various states, as well as online seminars, telephone conference calls and Internet radio programs. According to the S.E.C.’s complaint, however, Speed of Wealth’s primary purpose since September 2007 has been to solicit investors to buy Mantria’s unregistered securities offerings. Regulators contend that Mr. Wragg and Ms. Knorr would participate in the Speed of Wealth seminars and other sales efforts, providing investors with a nearly fictional account of Mantria’s operations and prospects. Regulators are seeking an injunction to block further activity by the defendants, as well as financial penalties and recovery of illegal profits. The case was developed with the assistance of the division of securities in the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies. The investigation is continuing, regulators in Denver said. see also the Securities exchenge commission release here: http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2009/2009-247.htm http://patrickpretty.com/2009/11/17/federal-judge-issues-restraining-order-asset-freeze-in-alleged-mantria-ponzi-scheme-video-featuring-president-obama-former-president-clinton-and-world-business-leaders-pulled-from-speed-of-wealth/ Federal Judge Issues Restraining Order, Asset Freeze In Alleged Mantria Ponzi Scheme; Video Featuring President Obama, Former President Clinton And World Business Leaders Pulled From 'Speed Of Wealth' Website By admin on November 17th, 2009 In a day of notable irony, the Obama administration announced the creation of an Interagency Financial Fraud Task Force led by the Department of Justice. Critical support functions will be provided by the Treasury Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Securities and Exchange Commission. One of the first cases the new Task Force may find itself discussing is the alleged Mantria Corp. Ponzi scheme - a scheme in which a video featuring an image of President Obama and recorded remarks by former President Clinton was used in marketing materials by the alleged schemers. Even as the Task Force announcement was being made, the SEC was announcing that a federal judge had granted a Temporary Restraining Order and asset freeze in the alleged "green" Ponzi operated by Mantria Corp. of Pennsylvania and sold by Speed of Wealth LLC of Colorado. Within minutes, a video featuring a snapshot of President Obama and recorded remarks by President Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) annual meeting in New York Sept. 25 went missing from Speed of Wealth's website. Meanwhile, the Mantria website defaulted to a message that read, "We Are Rebuilding this Site to Make it the Most Informational Site Possible. Please check back with us in 10 days." Only yesterday the Mantria website showcased a PDF that appeared to have been assembled in part from CGI press materials to spotlight President Clinton's efforts to improve the world. The Speed of Wealth video, a marketing prop that dropped the names of famous politicians and international celebrities such as former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and actor Matt Damon, still had been accessible this morning. That changed quickly after the announcement of the TRO and asset freeze. The SEC announced civil charges against Speed of Wealth and Mantria yesterday. Speed of Wealth's video highlighted Mantria's purported devotion to the environment, under the headline "Mantria Honored by President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton." In the video, Mantria CEO Troy Wragg appeared on the stage next to President Clinton, Secretary of State Clinton and others. CGI had lauded Mantria for helping to "mitigate global warming through the use of its Carbon Fields site, where Mantria will perform trials on their product BioChar, a carbon-negative charcoal, to prove how this product can sequester carbon dioxide, improve soil quality when buried, and reduce emissions in developing countries." Regulators said yesterday that BioChar was part of a $30 million Ponzi fraud. Despite claims that "Mantria was the world's leading manufacturer and distributor of biochar and had multiple facilities producing it at a rate of 25 tons per day," the SEC said, "Mantria has never sold any biochar and has just one facility engaged in testing biochar for possible future commercial production." Others featured in the Speed of Wealth video included President Laurent Gbagbo of the Ivory Coast, Mike Duke, CEO of Wal-Mart and Muhtar Kent, CEO of the Coca-Cola Co. All of the individuals were among the prominent attendees of President Clinton's CGI function. It is not unusual for companies to promote themselves by trying to establish ties to prominent figures. AdSurfDaily, a Florida company accused by the U.S. Secret Service and federal prosecutors of operating a $100 million Ponzi scheme, was featured in promotions that claimed company President Andy Bowdoin had received a special award for business achievement from President George W. Bush. Prosecutors said the claim was false. What ASD promoters had called an important award from the White House, investigators called a souvenir for donations to the National Republican Congressional Committee. What was unusual about the Speed of Wealth video is that it shamelessly dropped so many names of well-known people who attended the CGI event, a dignified function hosted by President Clinton that annually draws global political and business leaders. Some of the snap shots used in assembling the video appeared to have been pulled from media materials on CGI's website. Along with showcasing the video cobbled together from one of President Clinton's signature events, the Speed of Wealth website announced what it described as "the Partnership of the Century!" between itself and Mantria. Speed of Wealth said money was to be made while itself and Mantria were saving the environment and "helping Middle America secure its financial future!" Topics covered included: 0. Why investing in foreclosures today will make you rich and the only way you should be doing it is sitting on the beach in Bermuda while your foreclosure empire grows. 0. How to build $2,000,000 dollars of wealth with absolutely no money out of your pocket ever. How to easily receive up to 25% returns on your money annually in an investment that I believe to be safer than a bank CD.. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en.
