I began BehindMLM nearly fourteen years in the past. Subsequent April the location turns fifteen.
After seeing an advert on TV that regarded suspicious, I revealed a “overview” of it on my then private weblog. That took off and shortly sufficient I had readers requesting opinions of different MLM firms.
I ultimately realized I needed to separate the MLM content material from my “common” posts. Thus BehindMLM’s web site area was registered on April tenth, 2010.
Over the following decade plus I might go on to publish over 9000 MLM associated information articles and opinions. I don’t know for certain however I imagine BehindMLM is the most important repository of written MLM associated content material on the web.
What began off as a mission to see how far I may push an internet site has changed into a profession in client consciousness.
There’s been heaps to be taught and infrequently I’ve discovered myself in uncharted territory. An enormous a part of that comes all the way down to the character of BehindMLM’s content material.
Whereas I may not have began out with the intent to spend as a lot time on it as I do, right this moment BehindMLM primarily covers MLM associated monetary fraud.
This has been in response to the ever-growing risk to customers, exponentially elevated in magnitude by the rise of cryptocurrency fraud.
The place issues can get dicey is BehindMLM working properly forward of legislation enforcement and regulators. That is a part of my work that I’ve needed to learn to navigate on the job, so to talk.
Generally I’ve gotten fortunate with (typically unintended) foresight. Different occasions errors have been made and learnt from. Protecting the MLM trade at this stage is receiving a relentless barrage of curveballs.
For probably the most half I don’t actually talk about this aspect of BehindMLM. My job is to offer customers with probably the most correct well timed MLM associated due-diligence I’m in a position to. That is and stays the first goal.
Something that comes up or interferes with this goal is handled as a part of me working BehindMLM, however this doesn’t have to be shared.
Not less than that’s been the case up till now. Which brings us to Josip Heit’s retaliation in opposition to BehindMLM by ongoing abuse of US and worldwide courts.
How did we get right here?
If we consider Karatbars which, no less than so far as its cryptocurrency providing went, Josip Heit was closely concerned in, BehindMLM started reporting on this specific subject in April 2014.
Particular to Heit, BehindMLM revealed its unique GSPartners overview in February 2021. Since then we’ve revealed sixty-two GSPartners articles, documenting and reporting on ongoing fraudulent exercise.
This didn’t go unnoticed by Heit, who initially dismissed our reporting as legal conduct.
Realizing that wasn’t convincing, Heit subsequent turned to the Ukraine courts to acquire an ex-parte order. I realized concerning the order in mid 2021, by Heit’s partners-in-crime in Germany, Irle Moser.
For these of you unfamiliar with authorized phrases, “ex-parte” means the proceedings had been performed with out a responding social gathering. In different phrases, there was no due course of.
The Ukraine order, primarily based on unchallenged false representations, banned entry to BehindMLM’s protection of GSPartners within the Ukraine.
Heit’s venue alternative of Ukraine, unrelated to both GSPartners or BehindMLM, to focus on was ripe for lampooning – which we naturally did.
Maybe realizing once more {that a} ex-parte court docket order from Ukraine didn’t truly imply something, Heit approached the German courts.
With assistance from Irle Moser, Heit as soon as once more initiated ex-parte proceedings. This time his goal was Google, BehindMLM’s web site internet hosting supplier.
I can’t converse for Google’s authorized workforce however they didn’t take part within the proceedings. This isn’t uncommon, BehindMLM is simply buyer #blah to Google and so they in any other case had no stake within the case.
What Heit did obtain although was ex-parte judgment in his favor. Google was ordered to pay €90,000 in authorized prices and ordered to cease serving BehindMLM’s reporting on GSPartners to German residents.
One may need anticipated some stage of due course of from the German courts however, like in Ukraine, that didn’t happen.
Apart from noting that legislation corporations routinely threaten the media with the blessing of German courts, I’m not accustomed to Germany’s authorized system to supply any additional perception right here.
The end result of the German court docket resolution (which once more I had no thought about till after the actual fact), resulted within the resolution to dam BehindMLM’s GSPartners protection in Germany.
This wasn’t a choice taken frivolously. I imagine entry to client consciousness is a basic proper and Heit’s actions clearly didn’t sit proper with me.
Then again GSPartners, regardless of being domiciled as GSB Gold Normal Company AG in Dusseldorf, in any other case wasn’t lively in Germany. This compromise allowed BehindMLM to proceed elevating client consciousness in GSPartners’ core markets – specifically the US.
And in order that’s the place Heit struck subsequent.
Heit and his GSB Gold Normal Company AG shell firm are represented by Daniel Podhaskie within the US.
Paradoxically, Podhaskie (proper) cites “regulatory compliance” as a follow space on his Warren Regulation Group LLP bio.
Armed together with his two ex-parte kangaroo court docket orders, Heit filed an ex-parte petition with the New York Supreme Court docket on December twentieth, 2022.
The petition sought figuring out info of BehindMLM proprietor(s), from each Google and GoDaddy. GoDaddy is the area registrar of BehindMLM’s web site area.
Arguing that BehindMLM’s protection of GSPartners was “defamatory and false”, Heit cited the German ex-parte order in his petition;
GSB has obtained injunctions in different courts in opposition to respondent Google requiring the Defamatory Statements be eliminated.
The German Court docket order particularly preclude Google from “claiming or disseminating and/or inflicting others to assert or disseminate” quite a few false and defamatory statements about GSB on the BehindMLM web site.
I realized of Heit’s shenanigans in New York in February 2023. Neither Google of GoDaddy made an look or responded to Heit’s petition (once more, neither firm has a direct curiosity within the proceedings), leading to a default order issued on February twenty fourth, 2023.
Heit publicising this order in non-contested proceedings as a “vital court docket victory” is how I learnt of the NYSC proceedings.
This was shortly after the order was issued. Thereafter it wasn’t till June 2023 that I obtained notification GoDaddy and Google had obtained the granted subpoenas.
This prompted me to have interaction native New York counsel, shortly after which a Movement to Quash was filed.
Noting Heit’s petition filings lacked any supporting proof, our authorized argument centered on that over going toe to toe with Heit’s unsubstantiated assertions.
Courts throughout the nation have held that, with out an enough evidentiary exhibiting that plaintiffs would succeed on their underlying claims, the First Modification proper to talk anonymously bars such discovery.
The petition comprises solely conclusory allegations and gives no proof in assist of plaintiff’s claims of falsity and of injury.
The petition doesn’t append any proposed pleading.
The petition is merely a professional forma doc which
(A) fails to set forth a replica of any proposed pleading;
(B) fails to offer any detailed breakdown of which statements are false and in what respect they’re false;
(C) fails to offered any proof that any of the info alleged are false;
(D) comprises no proof indicating why a New York court docket would have jurisdiction over this nameless poster or why venue in New York county could be correct;
(E) mixes collectively alleged opinions and hyperbole with non-derogatory statements of truth;
(F) appends a purported “verification” which (i) is unsworn, (ii) just isn’t in authorized type, (iii) doesn’t specify that the signatory has private data, and (iv) states that the signer is exterior the USA however doesn’t say the place;
(G) boasts of plaintiff’s “world repute for integrity and transparency” however supplies no proof of similar; and
(H) alleges that plaintiff has been broken by the statements, however gives no proof of similar. GoDaddy.com, LLC (“GoDaddy”) has been served with a subpoena duces tecum, dated Could 22, 2023, the response to which might disclose BehindMLM’s id.
BehindMLM respectfully strikes to quash the subpoena.
All in all Heit had two events to complement his filings with supporting proof. He failed to take action each occasions.
Plaintiff has nonetheless not been in a position to give you a shred of proof in assist of its subpoena to deprive BehindMLM of her anonymity.
This movement gave plaintiff a superb alternative to come back ahead with the proof it has, if any, exhibiting that it truly does have a case.
It got here ahead with no proof in any respect, from which it should be inferred that plaintiff has no proof that any of movant’s statements had been false or that they precipitated plaintiff any cognizable harm.
There is no such thing as a proof of any defamatory false assertion of truth, no proof of falsity of any assertion of truth, and no proof of damages ensuing from any defamatory assertion of truth.
In reality, no proof in any respect is submitted.
Plaintiff rests upon its attorneys’ memorandum of legislation, which isn’t proof and which depends upon nonsensical arguments that BehindMLM must be certain by a choice in Germany to which he was not a celebration, and this Court docket’s willpower of the unopposed movement for ex parte discovery, once more to which she was not a celebration.
These arguments, if accepted, would stand due course of on its head.
The above is from our remaining submitting, made on September thirteenth, 2023.
On November 1st, Decide J. Machelle Sweeting (proper) issued a four-page order;
This court docket has reviewed the document, together with the preliminary injunctions in opposition to respondent Google dated March 22, 2022, and August 17, 2022 issued by the Regional Court docket of Hamburg.
The Document reveals {that a} court docket has already decided that the statements made are defamatory per se; thus they don’t seem to be topic to safety and anonymity beneath the First Modification.
I don’t know if Decide Sweeting truly learn the German court docket order, but when she did she ought to have seen that it particularly acknowledged;
Because the respondent didn’t react to concrete grievance by the candidates … it should be assumed that the statements that the candidates function a “Ponzi scheme” should be unfaithful.
To drive house some extent:
- Josip Heit secured an ex-parte order in Ukraine, prohibiting publication of BehindMLM’s GSPartners protection nationally.
- Heit took the Ukraine ex-parte order and filed uncontested ex-parte proceedings in Germany in opposition to Google.
- Google didn’t reply to the proceedings, leading to one other ex-parte order.
- Heit took the German ex-parte order, which assumed his filed false statements and representations had been true primarily based on Google not making an look within the case, and used it as the premise of a petition filed within the New York Supreme Court docket (NYSC).
- The NYSC denied BehindMLM (who has not been a celebration in any proceedings), due course of and its First Modification proper primarily based on the German ex-parte court docket order.
In working BehindMLM I’ve discovered myself in some unusual positions earlier than however this positively takes the cake.
BehindMLM is being denied constitutional rights within the US as a result of Google didn’t make an look in a German court docket case, that BehindMLM itself was not a celebration to (and even knew about until after the actual fact), leading to an assumptive order not supported by any proof.
Courts apart, whereas all of this has been happening GSPartners has obtained a number of securities fraud warnings from Canada – certifying fraudulent conduct Heit has represented to the NYSC that GSPartners just isn’t engaged in.
Moreover, as of earlier right this moment, BehindMLM publicly confirmed GSPartners and Heit are beneath federal regulatory investigation within the US.
Evidently we’re within the strategy of organizing an attraction in opposition to Decide Sweeting’s order.
What’s the risk to BehindMLM?
Heit’s escapades within the NYSC quantity to a fishing expedition. The objective is to acquire personally figuring out info – however not for the acknowledged function of pursuing authorized motion.
In mild of 1 with the ability to…
- display GSPartners is committing securities fraud in violation of the Securities and Change Act;
- display GSPartners is committing commodities fraud in violation of the Commodities Act;
- cite a minimum of seven regulatory GSPartners securities fraud warnings from Canada; and
- produce communications between myself and US regulators confirming a number of ongoing US regulatory investigations into GSPartners for fraud
…taking additional authorized motion could be pointless.
This brings us to GSPartners and Josip Heit’s ties to organized crime in Europe.
The total extent of commingling between GSPartners and arranged crime is past my functionality as a civilian investigative journalist to establish.
What I can do although is present some perception, by Josip Heit’s private relationship with Alex Bodi.
Bodi is a well known Romanian underworld crime determine. His father is Adrian Tamplaru, the previous lieutenant of Romanian mafia don Ion Clămparu.
Clămparu was a part of a gaggle of 450 organized crime figures charged with “homicide, youngster abuse, human trafficking, and cash laundering”. He was sentenced to thirty years in jail by a Spanish court docket in 2012.
In Romania, Alex Bodi and Tamplaru had been charged with and arrested for comparable crimes in 2020.
As reported by NewsWeek in 2022;
After Clamparu was arrested, Tâmplaru opened his personal community of human trafficking and pimping, and certainly one of his lieutenants is Alex Bodi, his son.
Tâmplaru and Bodi have been arrested since final 12 months following probably the most in depth DIICOT actions lately.
Whereas beneath home arrest, Bodi met with leaders of the Carani Clan, a gaggle throughout the Romanian mafia.
In keeping with the indictment, the leaders of the community led by Tâmplaru had been in a relationship with the “Hells Angels” group, a global organized crime group, specialised in trafficking in individuals, medicine, weapons, assassinations and different violent crimes.
NewsWeek goes on to element the extent of Tamplaru’s legal enterprise;
Younger girls, some minors, had been trafficked throughout Europe and even in Dubai “Some victims had been offered to different traffickers, for the aim of exploitation. (…)
There have been additionally conditions during which the perpetrators had been not in a position to management the victims, even after making use of bodily corrections, during which case, with a purpose to make them not run away or return to the nation, they demanded totally different quantities of cash, which the victims didn’t have the chance to pay, being, thus, obliged to proceed the prostitution exercise for his or her profit.
In some instances, the members of the legal group married their victims with a purpose to be extra convincing within the legal method and to manage them utterly”, the indictment states.
One of many victims of the pimp community is from town of Târgu Jiu and was recruited utilizing the “loverboy” methodology.
The younger lady was even married to the one who sexually exploited her for 4 years. This era was an actual ordeal.
“The defendant pressured her (threatened her with acts of violence and beat her with the phone cable) to go to Germany to turn out to be a prostitute for his profit, though the sufferer had no intention of leaving the nation.
She was ceaselessly overwhelmed by the defendant, who reproached her for not making sufficient cash, whereas others made thousands and thousands of euros from such actions.
There have been conditions when he threatened her with a gun to the temple, lower her with a knife on her arms, legs, thigh”, the investigators point out.
The younger lady had a “goal” and was overwhelmed if she didn’t obtain it. In 2015, the sufferer returned house as a result of her mom had most cancers.
The pimp threatened her in each approach to return to him: he threw a calf’s head over the fence, threw stones at night time, despatched her photographs of him holding a bottle of gasoline.
The younger lady was assaulted by the pimp and needed to go to the hospital on account of her accidents, ultimately having to go to Germany once more and work as a prostitute, the place she was additionally continuously assaulted.
Along with a person with a tattoo within the space of the correct eye and one other bald man, they took her to the bed room, the place there was a big mattress with iron bars.
The defendant beat her together with his fists and toes, threatening her with demise and telling her that he was the grasp of her life.
The injured particular person was tied up and compelled to have sexual relations with the three defendants.
The person with the tattoo in the correct eye space untied her and punched her till she handed out, then took her to the toilet and put her head in the bathroom bowl.
One other man crammed the bath, and the defendant put her head within the water, holding her for some time, after which he threatened her with demise and acts of violence in opposition to members of the family, persevering with to place her head within the water.
Subsequent, the defendant took her to the bed room and known as the boys who had been within the condo to have intercourse. Some had been photographing her, standing in entrance of the door and laughing.
One of many males, whom she discovered was doing tattoos, injected her with a substance, probably heroin”, the indictments state.
Bodi has since been launched and, as I perceive it, spends his time between Dubai and Romania.
The case in opposition to Bodi and his father stays pending. Heit’s private involvement in Bodi’s alleged legal actions is unclear.
Not less than for a while throughout the interval of alleged crimes in Bodi’s indictment, he and Heit shared an condo in Romania.
On social media Heit refers to Bodi as a “brother for all times”.
Mister Helmet cites Heit and Alex Bodi as co-founders of Karatbars Worldwide, courting again to 2011.
Romanian media cite Bodi as a enterprise associate of Heit’s, I’ve additionally seen him cited as a GSB shareholder.
And Bodi recurrently attends GSPartners advertising and marketing occasions in Dubai.
Bodi’s precise position in Heit’s fraudulent funding schemes has by no means been formally disclosed, and even acknowledged.
Getting again to Heit’s NYSC petition, ought to he succeed, there’s each risk Heit intends to move on info obtained to accomplices within the Romanian mafia.
I’m in direct contact with federal US legislation enforcement and they’re conscious and have been briefed on the matter. As have each the SEC and CFTC.
Typically talking concentrating on client consciousness publications has been frowned upon by US regulators.
Particular to BehindMLM, OnPassive’s makes an attempt to undermine our reporting, by a spoof web site and social media profiles, was cited by the SEC of their current $108 million securities fraud lawsuit.
Legal professionals who’ve focused BehindMLM haven’t fared a lot better.
A celebration with ties to organized crime hounding BehindMLM by the NYSC beneath false pretenses although, is actually an escalation.
Why is BehindMLM publishing this info now?
Ideally Decide Sweeting would have granted BehindMLM’s movement to quash, I wouldn’t have needed to prematurely disclose the US GSPartners investigations and, in due time, civil GSPartners fraud lawsuits and (unconfirmed) indictments would have dropped.
As an alternative issues are messy. However I’m doing my finest to navigate unfamiliar waters.
Have you ever ever learn a information story and been left with unanswered questions? Ought to one thing occur to BehindMLM and myself on account of all this, I didn’t need that to be the case.
If one thing occurs, I don’t need there to be any uncertainty as to what’s occurred, who’s concerned, what position they performed and who’s accountable.
BehindMLM receives 10,000 to twenty,000 guests a day on common. It is a public paper path documenting precisely how we received right here and why.
Past some issues associated to investigations which I nonetheless can’t disclose, with respect to GSPartners and Josip Heit you in any other case now know what I do know.
What occurs subsequent?
Our rapid concern is submitting an attraction in opposition to Decide Sweeting’s order. Past that, I actually don’t know.
Something I can replace I’ll make sure you do on the finish of this text and make a remark noting it.
As for issues about my private security, I’ve finished what I can.
I would miss a day or two right here and there however in any other case BehindMLM has a fairly constant publishing schedule. I don’t foresee any interruptions.
If I cease posting and BehindMLM’s content material dries up with out warning, assume the worst.
If it’s significantly ugly somebody would possibly decide it up within the information. I do know that sounds macabre, however it occurs.
I’m not so naive to assume that BehindMLM would proceed eternally, however fourteen years is a fairly good run. Ditto on the private danger I take, waking up every day and researching and writing about criminals who’d reasonably function in secret.
So long as I’m in a position to, I intend to maintain BehindMLM working. Correct and well timed client consciousness is missing on-line and I believe this is without doubt one of the finest methods I can fight it.
Instantly or not directly, BehindMLM has fingerprints on just about each main MLM securities, commodities and/or wire fraud bust over the previous decade.
I hold an inventory of names we’ve helped ship to jail. And whereas that particularly just isn’t one thing I prioritize or immediately work in direction of, it’s nonetheless personally some extent {of professional} delight.
Just a few years in the past I spotted that, with the rise of cryptocurrency fraud, it was simpler than ever for scammers to steal massive quantities of cash in a brief period of time. Fractions of a % of misappropriated funds may then be directed to threaten BehindMLM.
Because of the nature of our reporting, this might occur properly earlier than authorities transfer in. One may argue that’s the case with GSPartners.
Up till now the specter of showing on US legislation enforcement’s radar seems to have been a major deterrent to scammers in search of retaliation in opposition to BehindMLM. Whether or not Heit was unaware of that danger when he filed in NYSC or is just too egotistical to care, who is aware of.
Both method, Heit and Daniel Podhaskie have now inadvertently given US legislation enforcement and regulators extra ammunition.
Again to the rising risk, to fight it I applied a collection of initiatives on my finish. We’re not fairly there but however ultimately the thought is to make BehindMLM resistant to such concentrating on – or no less than be capable to fight it with minimal interruption to my everyday work.
On a considerably associated observe a number of weeks again Google despatched me an electronic mail advising BehindMLM had been accepted for “Reader Income Supervisor”. This isn’t one thing I’d utilized for and got here out of the blue.
In brief it’s a reader contribution system, not in contrast to what you discover on YouTube and different content material creation platforms. Choices are preset single donations or a month-to-month subscription (set in USD).
On the core of this Reader Income Supervisor is an annoying popup that I’ve seen in motion. I can’t appear to disable that utterly however I’ve set it to the minimal (apparently 5 to 7 web site visits).
What I’d ideally simply have is the button on the finish of each article. I’m not 100% on maintaining this method lively if the popup begins going loopy. That’s clearly a foul person expertise and, fundamental as it’s, BehindMLM is constructed with person expertise first in thoughts.
Be aware that is only for individuals who need to assist BehindMLM. Just a few occasions a month I’ll have a reader or two ask about financially contributing and up till now I’ve all the time politely declined.
I need to be clear about there not being any particular advantages or perks to contributing (aside from serving to hold BehindMLM going). This technique received’t have any impact on BehindMLM’s publishing schedule or content material availability.
It’s additionally not one thing I’m going to pitch or nag about. Like our electronic mail subscription service, it’s simply an choice that’s there. If the whole lot goes properly I’ll by no means point out it once more.
Apologies upfront if it breaks something, please let me know!
As for private info, Google collects electronic mail addresses however, once more like our electronic mail subscription service, this listing isn’t something I’ll ever do something with.
A few of you could have been subscribed through electronic mail to BehindMLM for over ten years. In that point I’ve by no means used equipped electronic mail addresses for something. And that’s by no means altering.
Sorry for the size of the article. This was an advanced concern to cowl and I needed to handle among the misinformation GSPartners had been spreading. Hopefully I’ve laid the whole lot out clearly sufficient.