Global Prosperity Group

Government's Sentencing Memorandum in USA vs. Charles Nolon Bush at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

Government's Trial Brief in USA v. Charles Nolon Bush at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

One of the co-founders of the fraudulently-operated 'wealth-building' group known as Global Prosperity Group and the Institute of Global Prosperity has been convicted of tax evasion and conspiracy to defraud the United States.

A trust promoter with a history of involvement in fraudulent offshore investment schemes has been sentenced to seven years in prison in the United States.Dennis Poseley, a former resident of Phoenix, Arizona, was also fined $175,000 at his sentencing at the U. S. District Court for the District of Arizona on June 29, 2006.

OffshoreAlert long ago exposed the fraudulent oil and gas-related securities offerings of Kentucky-based conman David Graham Rose, who raised a substantial amount of his millions of dollars at offshore seminars, including those organized by the now-defunct Global Prosperity Group, a.k.a. Institute of Global Prosperity.Now he has been exposed by his local newspaper, the Courier-Journal, in Louisville, Kentucky, which published more than a dozen, in-depth articles about Rose and his business empire over March 19 and 20, 2006.

Two husband-and-wife teams who specialized in selling sham offshore tax evasion vehicles to U. S. taxpayers via the Global Prosperity Group were dealt with by the criminal courts in December.

A fugitive international fraudster now living in Panama tried to impress potential victims by carrying around a "brown bag of cash" to buy a yacht and other expensive items, according to a court judgment. David Struckman, co-founder of the now-defunct Global Prosperity Group, obtained the money by emptying multiple ATMs of all their cash, it was claimed. Details of Struckman's purported spending habits were disclosed during proceedings at the U. S. District Court for the District of Oklahoma. Struckman was held in default for failing to comply with court rules and, on November 10, 2004, the court issued a judgment for $4.65 million against him and two of his firms, Pinnacle Quest International Inc., of Panama, and Synergy Productions International Inc., of Missouri, which he formed after abandoning GPG.

Like lambs to the slaughter, scores of Americans and Canadians will be led to Bermuda in December for a financial culling arranged by an organization formerly known as the Global Prosperity Group. They are being lured to a seven-day conference on the promise that they will learn 'little-known' secrets about investing offshore that the wealthy of the world have hitherto selfishly kept to themselves, not wanting the ‘little man' to prosper.

Daniel Andersen has become the latest member of the Global Prosperity Group - which specialized in investment and tax fraud - to be convicted in the United States.Andersen, of Leominster, Massachusetts, and Oxnard, California, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Washington on July 15, 2004.

A criminal complaint was brought against three principals of a long running scam known as Global Prosperity Group and the Institute of Global Prosperity at U. S. District Court for the Western District of Washington on May 4, 2004.Defendants are

A former janitor whose groups persuaded Bermudians to cash in their pension plans and invest in fraudulent 'get-rich-quick' schemes has received a 30-year prison sentence in the United States.John Wayne Zidar, 60, of Gardnerville, Nevada, orchestrated a Ponzi scheme that took in approximately $74 million from about 3,200 people in the United States, Bermuda and other countries.

Yet another person associated with the Global Prosperity Group, which promotes tax and investment fraud at offshore conferences, has been criminally indicted in the United States on tax-related charges.John J. Rizzo, who owns a home in the Bahamas, hid his income from the sale of a tax evasion product known as the Millennium 2000 Reliance Defense Program, accroding to the indictment.Rizzo, 51, a.k.a. John Rizzo-Nix; his wife, Carol Ann Rizzo, 57, a.k.a. Carol Rizzo-Nix; and Cheryl A. Cully were indicted on April 4, 2003 at the U. S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

Two senior members of the tax evasion/investment fraud organization known as the Global Prosperity Group and the Institute of Global Prosperity, one of whom organized a conference in Bermuda in 1998, have pleaded guilty to tax evasion in the United States. Worryingly for tens of thousands of U. S. residents who are believed to be IGP clients, Margo E. Jordan and Shoshanna B. Szuch have agreed to co-operate with investigations into others in return for leniency.

A civil complaint has been filed against a group that has made a fortune by persuading U. S. citizens they are legally not required to pay income tax and by promoting fraudulent get-rich-quick schemes at conferences in offshore centers such as Aruba, Bermuda and the Bahamas. Plaintiff David Wayne Starkey claims he followed the tax advice only to end up being sentenced to eight months in prison in August, 2000 for willful failure to file a return.

In the 'Corruptions Perceptions Index 2002' recently published by Transparency International, Costa Rica was perceived to be the 40th most corrupt of 102 countries reviewed.That might change, however, following two recent incidents in a country that has become a magnet for North American investment fraudsters fleeing criminal investigations in their home countries.

The Canadian Venture Exchange has blocked a reverse merger attempt by a firm offering online stockbroking products to offshore investment firms.British Virgin Islands domiciled Blue Chip Online Ltd., whose President is Canadian businessman Richard Czerlau, had been trying to reverse

Ned Richard Hart, who was criminally indicted on February 23, 2000 along with Nevis based offshore provider Raymond David Finzer and Christian G. Cooper, pleaded guilty to one count each of fraud and money laundering on May 21, 2001 at

About 200 people who invested more than $6 million through Nevis-based Global Dominion Financial Services are unable to redeem their investments, OffshoreAlert can reveal. One investor, a 39-year-old disabled woman residing in Washington State, is due to have her house repossessed on June 24, 2001 because she cannot meet her mortgage payments.

John Wayne Zidar and four others who were allegedly involved in a multi-million dollar investment fraud that was heavily promoted in Bermuda, as well as other countries, were arrested in April and are currently being held in custody after being criminally indicted at the U. S. District Court for Western Washington on March 28, 2001.

A group that has held highly dubious offshore seminars in Bermuda, the Bahamas and other offshore centers was exposed by CBS News' television program '48 Hours' on January 25. The program, which included an interview with OffshoreAlert's publisher, David Marchant, focused on the activities of the Global Prosperity Group, now known as the Institute of Global Prosperity.

CBS News' television program '48 Hours', which is hosted by Dan Rather and averages approximately 11 million viewers per show, has filmed Offshore Alert's editor, David Marchant, for a television program on Cybercrime that is due to be aired on the evening of Thursday, January 25, 2001.

An unlicensed, unaudited mutual fund group into which over 550 investors invested approximately $13.2 million has been forced into Receivership by the Bahamas Securities Commission. It has triggered a bitter legal battle for control of the Hawthorne-Sterling family of funds between their Receiver, accountant Clifford Culmer, and their founder, American Ian L. Renert.

Global Village Market and the World Investors' Stock Exchange, Global Prosperity Group charges attendees $17,000 each for its get-rich-quick conferences, John Mathewson and the FBI, Cayman bank officer lived in home owned by client, says source; Harris Organization tries to subscribe to Offshore Alert, journalists seek information on Michael Ashcroft, Harris Organization officer Alan McAloon professes ignorance over Florida property ownership.

A businessman who is alleged to have defrauded about 170 investors out of more than $6 million through a high-yield investment scheme is in custody after being arrested this month in Florida. The FBI picked up Rudolph Linschoten, who also goes by the name Rudolph Van Lin, in Fort Lauderdale on April 18.