Sunday, April 17, 2016

Is it just series of bad judgment, or "once a thief, always a thief"?

Given that how many of the Ponzi pimps have been around for years, it's quite surprising that people aren't using Google enough and pick up their history.

One of the most vocal supporters of OneCoin was Thomas E. McMurrain. This is him pitching his "Welcome to OneCoin AlphaTeam"

Thomas E. McMurrain, pitching his OneCoin Alpha Team
The guy really needs better green-screening. The sun is clearly coming from the RIGHT in the photo background, but his face is lighted from the LEFT.  But who said that these folks are exactly detail oriented?

But if you bothered searching his name for a bit (never mind his self-PR like "7th Disruption", a book he "wrote" to promote OneCoin) you'll find some rather... disturbing details, like how he kept picking losers... Such as... Solavei

Tom McMurrain touring country w/ Solavei in 2012
Solavei went belly up in 2015

For those who didn't keep up, Solavei closed its doors in late 2015.  Which is apparently when Tommy here picked up the OneCoin banner. He apparently posted on Facebook when Vemma was closed by FTC "come join us in OneCoin", much like ambulance chasers.

So what was Tommy doing before 2015? Well, we need to count, but there's FlexKom... a scheme that went nowhere except Turkey and pushed by Ponzi-pimp Ian Driscoll, formerly of BannerBroker.


Just a few months later, it apparently did not pay Tanju Colak a Turkish ex-footballer and local celebrity, whom joined FlexKom a while back. Mr. Colak sued and FlexKom lost. A possible class action lawsuit was still undetermined as of 2014, and I can't search in Turkish to find an update, but it is said to possibly involve 40000 FlexKom members in Turkey. The business also seem to have gone quiet at the end of 2014. Definitely NOT another winner, something that sells itself, as Mr. McMurrain claimed, if it can't even sell itself on their home continent.

So what else did Mr. McMurrain involve himself in? No less than one of the widest spread Ponzi schemes in US history:  ZeekRewards.

Tommy here registered a "join Zeek and make me $$$" domain in March 2012. For the record, Zeek Rewards was shut down in August 2012 by Secret Service, SEC, and other Federal agencies.  Again, Tommy can't seem to pick a winner.

So what was Tommy doing even before this?  TVI Express... an international pyramid scheme.



Here's proof that Tom McMurrain was a participant in TVI Express pyramid scheme:

Tom McMurrain was indeed a member of TVI Express, a international pyramid scheme

Tommy here even wrote spam-articles to promote TVI Express.

Spam article ending, confirms article was indeed by our Tommy boy here
where he touted his status as a reformed ex-con, but is he really reformed?

TVI Express disintegrated in 2012-2012 when Indian policed put out a wanted notice for its head Tarun Trikha, for defrauding thousands in India. Tarun Trikha was finally arrested in 2013 when he tried to transit through New Delhi. At least report, more than a dozen countries on all continents except Antarctica have issued warnings or made arrests regarding the global pyramid scheme TVI Express.

But wait, now you ask, Tommy here touted that he was an ex-con... What was he ex-con of?

Now here's the shocker... He operated a ponzi scheme from 1997 to 2000.

The TL;DR version: he opened a quick loan place in 1997 where he charges 22-25% monthly interest on people who can't get money otherwise... by signing over their car as collateral. You'd think that's a sure win business, but no, he still manage to lose money at this... but with the claim of high earnings and a boiler room company setup solely for soliciting investors, he managed gather up about 9 MILLION dollars from 80 investors over 3 years. Instead of using the money only for the loan place, he spent the money on his other companies, as well as made loans WITHOUT collateral to friends, AND spent about 700K on himself, and lost another 600K in day trading.  The indictment stated that McMurrain even claimed to have cancer and somehow beat it. When he was discovered (when the scam can no longer to hidden), he fled to Panama and hid there for years and had to be arrested and extradited back to the US. He plead guilty to mail fraud and wire fraud in 2005,

But his time in Panama (2000-2004) was apparently adventurous as well. Tom McMurrain, according to Panamanian press, managed to run ANOTHER scam down there, through a company called "San Cristobal Land Development", where they promised investors the money is going toward teak (wood) and noni (fruit) plantations and yield tremendous returns, but the returns never came. When local media reported their investigation, these "fine folks" sued the paper, and got their lawsuit thrown out. Soon after that McMurrain was arrested and taken back to the States in handcuffs.

You know the rest.

To summarize Tom McMurrain's... achievements

1997-2000  Emergency One Loan, collateral high interest loan to desperate people that's really a $9 million dollar ponzi scheme, escaped to Panama when the scheme collapsed

2000-2004  San Cristobal Land Development in Panama, a suppsed teak and noni plantation investment opportunity, tried to silence local media reporting about it with criminal libel suits, arrested and extradited to the US at FBI orders to face charges for his Emergency One ponzi scheme

2005-2010?  Spent time in jail

2010-2012?  "Gold member" in TVI Express pyramid scheme, actively recruited until it went bust

2012-2012   Participated in ZeekRewards ponzi scheme, registered domain name and website for it

2012-2015   Solavei rep, toured country in promotion until Solavei went kaput in 2015.

2014-????    Promoter of FlexKom, a suspect scheme (Report from UK, Report from Turkey)

2015-????    Promoter of Onecoin, suspected Ponzi scheme out of Bulgaria


So, either Tom McMurrain is the most inept and unlucky business person in existence... being participants or instigators of at least SEVEN scams or failed ventures since 1997...

Is it a coincidence that his book is called "The 7th Disruption"?

Or did he chose these "opportunities" intentionally?

Now he plies his trade in some sort of Forex Trading... and OneCoin, which was already called a scam by multiple cybercurrency experts.

Can you trust Tommy's judgement... or intentions?

Tread carefully.


2 comments:

  1. Great blog, great resource!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Seems ole Tommy boy is now doing a scam called CoinMD so watchout!!!!

    ReplyDelete