Browsing articles from "January, 2009"

High-Yield Investment Program Fraud (Trade Programs)

Jan 19, 2009   //   by MJS Team   //   Blog  //  3 Comments

A ruinous scheme in which con artists lure unsuspecting investors into believing that their funds can be used to purchase securities (PRIME BANK GUARANTEES, DEBENTURES, TREASURIES, PROMISSORY NOTES, LETTERS OF CREDIT) at enormous DISCOUNT and sell them for equally enormous profits, typically during a forty-week turnaround.

ARBITRAGE, the purchase of FRESH-CUT SECURITIES from a CUTTING HOUSE which are then sold to the SECONDARY MARKET, FORFAITING, DISCOUNT HOUSES or DISCOUNT BANKS, SELF-LIQUIDATING LOANS, or a combination of all of these terms incorrectly used with wild abandon.

The financial instruments are always issued from a TOP WORLD BANK or PRIME BANK, and a great deal of secrecy is always paramount.

New twists are sometimes heard, but the basic system is always the same –

  1. LETTERS OF CREDIT, PRIME BANK NOTES or PRIME BANK GUARANTEES, DEBENTURES, SAFEKEEPING RECEIPT, or other financial instruments are created against the CONDITIONAL SWIFT transfer of investor funds
  2. The financial instruments are then “sold on the SECONDARY MARKET” which the swindlers call a trade.
  3. A portion of the profits from the secondary market sale goes to the investor, and the balance is set aside to purchase more financial instruments.
  4. The whole thing starts over again because there are “X” number of trades per week, month, day… and profits are “enormous”- ranging from 500% to 1700% per year, per month, per whatever.

There are other scenarios touting involvement in INFRASTRUCTURE LOANS supposedly guaranteed by the WORLD BANK, the INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, Swiss Banks, PARALLEL ACCOUNTS, FOREIGN CURRENCY EXCHANGE (FOREX), STANDBY LETTERS OF CREDIT (SBLC), and accounts over which the investor supposedly has sole control.

In every case funds disappear, which usually involves MONEY LAUNDERING.  So what happens to your money?

It goes toward paying new investors PONZI-fashion; it goes into travel, scam expenses, yachts, entertaining, jewelry, more scam expenses, houses, bribes, Mercedes-Benzes, gambling, and accounts stashed away in various countries in SHELL ACCOUNTS.

The way in which securities are used in no way allows for the kinds of profits described by these fraudsters; however, because fraudsters use half-truths and because it is difficult for you to understand the actual uses of some securities and international finance procedures, fraudsters are able to excite your imagination beyond and away from the boundaries of your normal investment precautions.

If you want real programs, ask our partner, MJS Capital to assist you with your financial instrument and project financing needs.

Factors that Influence Rice Prices

Jan 17, 2009   //   by MJS Team   //   Blog  //  No Comments

Rice prices fluctuate due to many factors. Many of the factors below decide the international market:

  • Weather: Role of weather in rice production is immense. Temperature, rainfall and soil moisture are the important parameters that determine the crop condition. Further, natural calamities can also affect crops. Markets keep watch of these developments.
  • Minimum Support Price: Changes in the minimum support prices (MSP) by the government also have immense impact on the price of rice.
  • Government policies: Exchange rates, Fiscal policies, Export incentives and export promotion also influence price.
  • Substitute Product: Availability of substitute products at cheaper rate may lead to weakness in demand. This situation happens especially when the main products price tends to become higher.
  • Consumption: Rice consumption depends on two factors – population and income. Lets take for example Asia. Rice is the staple food of Asia. Low-income groups consume more rice according to the per capita income increase. But as the income increases, there arrives a point when the consumption starts to dip. Income growth and reduction in population result in a low consumption of rice.
  • Seasonal cycles: Seasonal cycles are present in rice cultivation. Price tends to be lower as harvesting progresses and produce starts coming into the market. At the time of sowing and before harvesting price tends to rise in view of tight supply situation.
  • Demand: Import demands as well as domestic demand.
  • Breakthrough in the technology may increase the productivity and would lead to more supply. This may bring some softness in the price.

The Basmati Patent

Jan 17, 2009   //   by MJS Team   //   Blog  //  No Comments

Basmati rice was developed by Indian farmers over hundreds of years, but in September 1997 a Texas-based company, RiceTec Inc., won a controversial US patent for a cross-breed with American long-grain rice. This company was granted a patent to call the aromatic rice grown outside India `Basmati’. RiceTec was granted the patent on the basis of aroma, elongation of the grain on cooking and chalkiness. Many have felt that the patent should not be granted since basmati is Indian property. India contested the patent for Basmati rice acquired by Rice Tec Inc, which had been challenged by the Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). The US Patent and Trademarks office accepted the petition and had re-examined its legitimacy.

Contrary to misinformation in some sections of the media, India did not lose the Basmati Patent Challenge. India has actually won and not lost the Basmati patent battle. In its original patent on ‘Basmati rice lines and grains’ – granted by the USPTO on September 2, 1997 – Rice Tec had made as many as 20 claims. Extensive documentation was submitted to establish that the various Basmati varieties cultivated over the centuries in the subcontinent contained all the ‘novel’ grain attributes mentioned in the patent. As a result of a worldwide citizen campaign against RiceTec Basmati patents, on Aug 14th 2001 the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office struck down large sections of the Basmati patent. In other words, the withdrawal of the grain-specific claims ensured that Rice Tec would not be able to block the country’s Basmati rice export to US; it could, however, produce ‘similar or superior grains’ outside India.

Nigerian Letter or “419″ Fraud

Jan 17, 2009   //   by MJS Team   //   Blog  //  No Comments

Nigerian letter frauds combine the threat of impersonation fraud with a variation of an advance fee scheme in which a letter, mailed from Nigeria, offers the recipient the “opportunity” to share in a percentage of millions of dollars that the author, a self-proclaimed government official, is trying to transfer illegally out of Nigeria. The recipient is encouraged to send information to the author, such as blank letterhead stationery, bank name and account numbers and other identifying information using a facsimile number provided in the letter. Some of these letters have also been received via E-mail through the Internet. The scheme relies on convincing a willing victim, who has demonstrated a “propensity for larceny” by responding to the invitation, to send money to the author of the letter in Nigeria in several installments of increasing amounts for a variety of reasons.

Payment of taxes, bribes to government officials, and legal fees are often described in great detail with the promise that all expenses will be reimbursed as soon as the funds are spirited out of Nigeria. In actuality, the millions of dollars do not exist and the victim eventually ends up with nothing but loss. Once the victim stops sending money, the perpetrators have been known to use the personal information and checks that they received to impersonate the victim, draining bank accounts and credit card balances until the victim’s assets are taken in their entirety. While such an invitation impresses most law-abiding citizens as a laughable hoax, millions of dollars in losses are caused by these schemes annually. Some victims have been lured to Nigeria, where they have been imprisoned against their will, in addition to losing large sums of money. The Nigerian government is not sympathetic to victims of these schemes, since the victim actually conspires to remove funds from Nigeria in a manner that is contrary to Nigerian law. The schemes themselves violate section 419 of the Nigerian criminal code, hence the label “419 fraud.”

Some Tips to Avoid Nigerian Letter or “419″ Fraud:

  • If you receive a letter from Nigeria asking you to send personal or banking information, do not reply in any manner. Send the letter to the U.S. Secret Service, your local FBI office, or the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. You can also register a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel, EU Commission or ICC.
  • If you know someone who is corresponding in one of these schemes, encourage that person to contact the FBI or the U.S. Secret Service as soon as possible.
  • Be skeptical of individuals representing themselves as Nigerian or foreign government officials asking for your help in placing large sums of money in overseas bank accounts.
  • Do not believe the promise of large sums of money for your cooperation.
  • Guard your account information carefully.

What is a Ponzi Scheme?

Jan 17, 2009   //   by MJS Team   //   Blog  //  1 Comment

A Ponzi scheme is essentially an investment fraud wherein the operator promises high financial returns or dividends that are not available through traditional investments. Instead of investing victims’ funds, the operator pays “dividends” to initial investors using the principle amounts “invested” by subsequent investors. The scheme generally falls apart when the operator flees with all of the proceeds, or when a sufficient number of new investors cannot be found to allow the continued payment of “dividends.”

This type of scheme is named after Charles Ponzi of Boston, Massachusetts, who operated an extremely attractive investment scheme in which he guaranteed investors a 50 percent return on their investment in postal coupons. Although he was able to pay his initial investors, the scheme dissolved when he was unable to pay investors who entered the scheme later.

Some Tips to Avoid Ponzi Schemes:

  • As with all investments, exercise due diligence in selecting investments and the people with whom you invest.
  • Make sure you fully understand the investment before you invest your money.

Prime Bank Note Scam

Jan 17, 2009   //   by MJS Team   //   Blog  //  Comments Off

Letter of Credit Fraud

Jan 17, 2009   //   by MJS Team   //   Blog  //  No Comments

Legitimate letters of credit are never sold or offered as investments.

Legitimate letters of credit are issued by banks to ensure payment for goods shipped in connection with international trade. Payment on a letter of credit generally requires that the paying bank receive documentation certifying that the goods ordered have been shipped and are en route to their intended destination.

Letters of credit frauds are often attempted against banks by providing false documentation to show that goods were shipped when, in fact, no goods or inferior goods were shipped.

Other letter of credit frauds occur when con artists offer a “letter of credit” or “bank guarantee” as an investment wherein the investor is promised huge interest rates on the order of 100 to 300 percent annually. Such investment “opportunities” simply do not exist. (See Prime Bank Notes for additional information.)

Some Tips to Avoid Letter of Credit Fraud:

  • If an “opportunity” appears too good to be true, it probably is.
  • Do not invest in anything unless you understand the deal. Con artists rely on complex transactions and faulty logic to “explain” fraudulent investment schemes.
  • Do not invest or attempt to “purchase” a “Letter of Credit.” Such investments simply do not exist.
  • Be wary of any investment that offers the promise of extremely high yields.
  • Independently verify the terms of any investment that you intend to make, including the parties involved and the nature of the investment.

The Reality of the Sugar Industry

Jan 16, 2009   //   by MJS Team   //   Blog  //  No Comments

There are now literally millions of untrained, misinformed global commodity sugartrading.jpgtraders (intermediaries) who are trading from home and attempting to secure huge commissions by buying or selling exportable sugar. Thousands of new “agents” are drawn to the business daily. 99% of which will never achieve a single successful deal because even though they mostly set out with good intentions, they do not know how to close a deal from start to finish – most do not even know how to start a deal correctly, let alone bring it to a final conclusion. But this is not the main problem.. these agents are always ”trading” with unverified offers.

Many of these offers have been orbiting the planet for years. Some may have originally been real and reliable trade opportunities which then got altered, sanitized, un-sanitized, by every other trader whose hand it fell in, passed by email, fax, post, and fax again through hundreds of hands, uploaded to a BBS in 1993, posted on Newsgroups in 1995, saved to a hard disk untill one broker, down on his luck dug it up and not understanding the time-limited nature of any offer and quote, re-used it in the desperate attempt to find a buyer, then it was posted and downloaded again, and again, and again, etc…

The reality is that apart from these continuous “traveling offers” wandering the internet like ghost ships, there is another, darker, more sinister traveler involved.. This type of offer is a scam offer, posted years ago by a “seller”, who was in reality a scammer.

And a patient one at that…

That scam offer is passed on by sincere brokers and intermediaries untill it finds the one in a thousand person or company willing to accept it and post money for the shipment… and quickly like fire excitement buzzes through the broker network, calls are made, NCND’s are signed, faxed, signed again, details are passed from hand to hand and if the deal doesn’t collapse due to lack of knowledge and skill on part of a particular trader, or due to greed on the part of another broker, the “deal” makes it’s way home to it’s master, who ensures that everyone is circumvented on his non existent product and he dines well that night on ill gotten gains, leaving scores of disillusioned intermediaries and the buyer behind.

And all of this, simply further destroying the business of the private trade intermediary.

Every broker in above mentioned scenario was a victim, and every broker in the chain was also to blame on some small level for the total failure of all. And the buyer who was defrauded, if only he had done his due diligence and actually do some research on the sugar industry or at least ask questions of people who should know, this could all have been avoided.

We encounter Sugar buyers who are seduced by absurdly low prices offered in various FCOs, floating around on the internet, some reflecting real market prices from long ago, as the same offer is copied over and over again by broker after broker for years even! Give such one a bargain price and greed will set in quickly.

Always investigate a matter before you invest in it, no matter who the seller or broker is. If the price is too good to be true, then it most certainly is.  There is an old saying: – “In God we trust, everyone else we verify, verify, verify!“

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