Pump & Dump

The Eight Percent Fund paid eight percent. Until the day it paid nothing.

For three decades, Miles Burton Marshall did taxes for his neighbors in Hamilton, New York, and sold them shares in something he called the Eight Percent Fund. On June 11, 2026, a judge entered $85 million in judgments against him for 988 people who thought they had savings.

Latest
MLM / Affinity

The minister knew everyone's first name. That was the lock.

Federal prosecutors say Winston Batino, a minister at the Chicago Church of Christ's North Ministry Center, spent five years collecting money from about 40 of his own congregants for luxury rehab facilities that never existed. The pews were the pipeline.

Ponzi / Pyramid

The hedge fund was a man with no face and a wallet that ate the deposit.

Utah's Division of Securities issued an emergency cease-and-desist on June 1 against BG Wealth Sharing, a crypto pyramid that promised 60% monthly returns and ran on an AI-generated founder. The machine collapsed the same week. The fees to "release" the money kept coming.

Ponzi / Pyramid

The ice cream vendor became a financier. Forty thousand people believed him.

For six years, Shivananda Neelannavar paid 3% a month like clockwork to investors across Karnataka and Maharashtra. The CID now says the clockwork was the trap.

Ponzi / Pyramid

The quarterly statement said sixteen percent. The fund said nothing at all.

Federal prosecutors say John Sterling Myers raised $4 million from 28 people and lost most of it before anyone knew the statements were fake. The arraignment is Friday.

The Daily Brief

The bridge loans never existed. The bridge to Tbilisi did.

Elena Ruiz · 5d ago

The valve in Dubai kept turning after the company said it stopped

Elena Ruiz · Jun 4

The land was always the lie. The hospital was where it hid.

Mark Tell · Jun 3

The halal label was the lock. The key was 36 percent.

Mark Tell · Jun 3

He told the court he was good with money. The ledger told the rest.

Elena Ruiz · Jun 3

The houses were supposed to belong to seniors. The seniors were the investors.

Elena Ruiz · May 30

The bot was the alibi. The wire was the whole machine.

Nico Reyes · May 29

The statements kept arriving. The money had already left.

Elena Ruiz · May 28

The Windermere house was the receipt. The investors were the down payment.

Elena Ruiz · May 22

The promissory notes were on letterhead. The bonds did not exist.

Elena Ruiz · May 22

The sea scooter surfaced. So did the wig and the Swiss francs.

Mark Tell · May 21

The compliance officer was the lock that did not lock

Elena Ruiz · May 19

The accountant was the last one sentenced. The generators never existed.

Elena Ruiz · May 14

The patriot economy paid thirteen percent. The interest came from the next believer.

Mark Tell · May 13
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