Do you know how many times I've heard over the past few days how much the media is failing to follow the money in this story about the newly elected Rep. George #Santos? This story makes it clear that's exactly what happened.

https://www.theleaderonline.com/single-post/santos-filings-now-claim-net-worth-of-11-million (edit: replaced the paywalled WaPo story about how the MSM missed the big scoop with the big scoop itself).

So let's follow the money, shall we? Starting with Mr. Santos' latest filing for The #Devolder Organization, which is apparently responsible for his sudden unexplained wealth (Devolder is Santos' late mother's last name).

http://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/CorporationSearch/ConvertTiffToPDF?storagePath=COR%5C2021%5C0601%5C00184778.Tif&documentNumber=L21000206150

The organization lists its address as 336 N. Babcock St. Ste 104. The document also lists another organization at the same address but at Ste 101, called D&D International Investment Services Inc.

Both are affiliated with an individual named Devaughn #Dames, who appears to be both a physician and a CFO somehow. He's also very passionate about spreading his knowledge about how to handle your money wisely. His linkedin page mentions both companies. He also seems to be an IT expert; previous domains include https://web.archive.org/web/20160518071721/http://www.manageditsolutions.net/about.html

One of Mr. Dames' email addresses (dev.dames at gmail) was used to register the vanity domain devaughndames[.]com. Firefox didn't like what that site tried to do when I visited it, but it loaded an empty page that had the heading "Financial Educational Services." But the pop-up takes you to a domain called myuwe[.]net, which is for an entity called United Wealth Education.

Now, UWE is full of stock photos and videos, and there isn't much there about who runs it. And after spending a few minutes on this site, you'll probably come away with the conclusion that the site is tied to some type of scam.

Well, if you look up the name of what Myuwe[.]net used to be called -- Financial Educational Services -- you'll see they were shut down JUST THIS YEAR by the US Federal Trade Commission for being a giant pyramid scheme that bilked people out of more than $213 million.

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/05/ftc-shuts-down-credit-repair-pyramid-scheme-financial-education-services-which-bilked-more-213

How's that for following the money? :) Wait, I'm not done yet.

#devolder, #devaughndames #financialeducationservices #myuwe #unitedwealtheducation, #FTC #georgesantos

Santos Filings Now Claim Net Worth of $11 Million

By Maureen Daly Controversial US congressional candidate George Santos has finally filed his Personal Financial Disclosure Report on September 6th - 20 months late - and he is claiming an inexplicable rise in his alleged net worth to $11 million.. Two years ago, in 2020, Santos' personal financial disclosures claimed that he had no assets over $5,000 - no bank accounts, no stock accounts, no real property. A net worth barely above "zero". And his income was only just over $50,000 for the pr

theleader

So where were we? Ah yes, Mr. Dames, whose name and other info is attached to both of the addresses listed on Mr. Santos's Devolder entity.

Mr. Dames's linkedin page says he also was CFO at Harbor City Capital Management. Surprise! This one's an out-and-out scam as well. Per the SEC:

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced on April 26, 2021, that it filed an emergency action and obtained an asset freeze to stop an alleged ongoing fraudulent Ponzi scheme. The SEC claims that from 2015 to 2021, Harbor City Capital Corp. (“Harbor City”) and its founder and CEO, Jonathan P. Maroney raised more than $17.1 million from over 100 investors through unregistered, fraudulent securities offerings.

The defendants originally sold the securities as promissory notes and agreements, offering investors 2%-6% in interest rates for 12-36 months. The investors were promised a full return on their investment principal. The defendants solicited money through Harbor City’s website and online marketing videos posted to YouTube and social media platforms like Facebook. The investors were told in the marketing videos that their money would be used to fund Harbor City’s lead generation business which the SEC claim describes as the process of capturing online interest in a service or product for the purpose of developing sales leads. #devolder, #santos #georgesantos #harborcity #devaughndames

This part got me, from the NYT story on Dec. 19:

"His financial disclosure forms suggest a life of some wealth. He lent his campaign more than $700,000 during the midterm election, has donated thousands of dollars to other candidates in the last two years and reported a $750,000 salary and over $1 million in dividends from his company, the Devolder Organization.

Yet the firm, which has no public website or LinkedIn page, is something of a mystery. On a campaign website, Mr. Santos once described Devolder as his “family’s firm” that managed $80 million in assets. On his congressional financial disclosure, he described it as a capital introduction consulting company, a type of boutique firm that serves as a liaison between investment funds and deep-pocketed investors. But Mr. Santos’s disclosures did not reveal any clients, an omission three election law experts said could be problematic if such clients exist."

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/nyregion/george-santos-ny-republicans.html

Something tells me the SEC and/or the FTC know a lot about his, er..."clients."

#devolder #devaughndames #nyt #georgesantos

New York Republican George Santos’s Résumé Called Into Question

Mr. Santos, a Republican from New York, says he’s the “embodiment of the American dream.” But he seems to have misrepresented a number of his career highlights.

The New York Times
BTW, anyone casually glancing at Harbor City Capital Management's employee profile pages on LinkedIn (if anyone can actually view them), would immediately go WTF???? #devolder #devaughndames #georgesantos #harborcity
Sometimes, it helps to see things visually. I know it does in my case. That's usually the only way I see all the connections. #devolder, #devaughndames #georgesantos #harborcity

It's probably also worth repeating that myuwe[.]net is more than likely just a continuation of the pyramid scheme the FTC shut down just this summer.

Update: Yeah, the FTC says United Wealth Services Inc and Financial Education Services are the same thing: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/DE%201%20-%20Complaint.pdf

Looking at Mr. Dames' resume on LinkedIn a bit closer, and I see he's a virtual CFO for a bunch of companies. And a physician (Dr.) I guess the best that can be said is that he picked some loser companies to be virtual CFO for.

The first address listed in the Florida Devolder incorporation documents — 336 N. Babcock St, Suite 101 — is displayed in Google Street View as the address for a gynecology clinic, at which Mr. Dames’s LinkedIn page says he’s the virtual CFO.

According to a Dec. 23 post on TalkingPointsMemo.com, D&D was first incorporated in 2007 and led by two directors: DeVaughn Dames, and Odette Daley, a gynecologist whose practice has earned decidedly mixed reviews. From that story:

“The pair, who are married according to multiple records, initially operated their company out of a residence before moving its ‘principal place of business’ to the office park in 2010. In the park, D&D was headquartered at the same address as Daley’s gynecological practice, which has since closed.”

“D&D continued to be based out of Daley’s medical office even after she filed paperwork to resign her position as a director of the company in February 2020. Daley, who continued to be identified as a vice director at the firm in its 2021 and 2022 annual reports, did not respond to a message left at her office. In its 2022 annual report, D&D’s ‘principal place of business’ was identified as the address of a mailbox rental company.”

The other suite at that address listed on the Devolder application — Suite 104 — is the home of ManagedITSolutions[.]net, which lists its point of contact as “Mike Ricks.” But the phone number associated with that domain — 786-390-1377 — is also in the WHOIS registration records for devaughndames[.]com. Perhaps Mr. Dames is or was virtual CFO here as well, although his extensive LinkedIn profile is silent on this front.

A generous reader of the Florida incorporation documents for Devolder Organization might conclude that perhaps Mr. Dames was acting purely as its registered agent. But the fact that the Devolder records name three addresses and entities tied to Mr. Dames hints at a stronger connection.

#devolder, #devaughndames #georgesantos

An older record for #Devolder Organization LLC lists George A Devolder Santos at 801 Del Rio Way, #602, in Merritt Island, Fla. The Florida Secretary of State site says there are at least two other active organizations at this address, including Jayson Benoit & Associates Inc., and Redstone Strategies LLC.

From that TPM story I mentioned earlier (but failed to link to) https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/george-santos-devolder-organization-florida

"Jayson Benoit & Associates Inc. is the registered agent for Redstone Strategies and the “Devolder Organization LLC” is an authorized member, though it is identified as having a Queens address in the company’s paperwork. According to Mother Jones, Jayson Benoit was the former chief technology officer of Harbor City. Jayson Benoit & Associates Inc. was first associated with the condo address in the company’s April 2022 annual report. Previously, the company, which was incorporated in 2020, was based in the same office park that was the first home of the Devolder Organization and Dames was its registered agent.

Two firms associated with Benoit have been paid by Republican congressional campaigns in New York.

Between June and December 2021, RED STRATEGIES USA, LLC, which was formed in Florida that same year, received 76 payments totalling over $110,000 from the campaign of Tina Forte, a right-wing activist who was badly beaten by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) last month."

And to bring this full circle, from a Daily Beast story on April 3, 2022 (!): https://www.thedailybeast.com/george-devolder-santos-maga-house-candidate-in-new-york-haunted-by-gig-at-alleged-ponzi-scheme?ref=scroll

Five of the six companies involved in Red Strategies belong to former Harbor City employees, including the ex-CFO; the last belongs to Devolder-Santos’s campaign treasurer. None of the individuals involved were singled out in the SEC complaint for any alleged misconduct.

#georgesantos #devolder #tpm #jaysonbenoit #redstrategies

Inside The Tangled Web of George Santos

An alleged ponzi scheme, get-rich-quick seminars, AOC’s challenger, and a network of mysterious Florida businesses are tied in various ways to Rep.-elect George Santos.

TPM – Talking Points Memo
Here is a snapshot of devaughndames[.]com circa 2017. I feel like this image doesn't really need a caption, but for my visually impaired followers, it's a picture of DeVaughn Dame's vanity web site, showing him standing in front of a private jet and leaning on a giant stack of US money. #devolder #georgesantos #devaughndames

And here is #George Santos as #George Devolder, @devolder on Twitter, c/o archive.org.

https://web.archive.org/web/20201110030604/https://twitter.com/devolder

He describes himself as an "Economist, Regional Director at Harbor City Capital."

#Devolder #georgesantos

George Devolder (GADS) (@Devolder) | Twitter

Les tout derniers Tweets de George Devolder (GADS) (@Devolder). Economist,Regional Director at Harbor City Capital. This is my professional page for political related topics follow @santos4congress. New York, NY

For the record, it appears that after the FTC sued Financial Education Services/United Wealth Services this summer -- calling it a $213 million pyramid scheme -- a month later their preliminary injunction against this entity was denied. It's still not clear why.

https://behindmlm.com/companies/ftc-denied-financial-education-services-preliminary-injunction/

That might explain why the UWE site that comes up when one visits Mr. Dames' vanity domain is still going strong.

Also, FES/UWE has two Apple store apps -- UWE Agent, and MyHealthCare2Go.

https://apps.apple.com/us/developer/financial-education-services-inc/id1446777066

#Devolder #georgesantos #devaughndames

FTC denied Financial Education Services preliminary injunction

@briankrebs One might ask, who appointed the judge that denied it?

@zakalwe @briankrebs That would be Mr. Trickle-Down.

It looks like there's a trial set for next October if they don't reach an alternate resolution first. I think the transcript of the June 30 hearing, in which hizzoner's basis for revoking the TRO would be laid out, is available (docket entry 73), but no one has purchased it yet, F'ing PACER fees.

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/63343121/federal-trade-commission-v-finacial-education-services-inc/?order_by=desc

Docket for Federal Trade Commission v. Finacial Education Services, Inc, 2:22-cv-11120 - CourtListener.com

Docket for Federal Trade Commission v. Finacial Education Services, Inc, 2:22-cv-11120 — Brought to you by the RECAP Initiative and Free Law Project, a non-profit dedicated to creating high quality open legal information.

CourtListener
@briankrebs I would not normally raise the issue, but, given everything else, one does have to wonder about what went into his immigration status, what representations.
@briankrebs
This story provides some detail on Harbor City Capital, plus his interesting entanglements with his newer company, Devolder. https://www.thedailybeast.com/george-devolder-santos-maga-house-candidate-in-new-york-haunted-by-gig-at-alleged-ponzi-scheme
George Devolder-Santos, MAGA House Candidate in New York, Haunted by Gig at Alleged Ponzi Scheme

George Devolder-Santos served as regional director of accused scam firm Harbor City Capital, which allegedly misappropriated millions.

The Daily Beast
@briankrebs I get this feeling that stack of cash is not real.

@PhilHagen @briankrebs It’s probably a free stock photo at pixels dot com or unsplash dot com. The likelihood they got a paid-for stock image from Adobe or Getty Images is low.

Not gonna look. It doesn’t advance the real story.

And if they pirated a stock photo, well, it pales in comparison.

@briankrebs

this thread reminds me of the following story
Journalism student to Izzy Stone: how come you have so many great scoops ?

Mr Stone: since I am deaf, I can't go to the press briefing; instead I read the documents

[ bonus points if Caro comes to mind ]

@briankrebs Other way around: some sketchy companies need a CFO willing to sign off on their sketchy finances. What kind of CFO will do that? They found one.
@briankrebs Total superb investigative work. Hope you forward this on to law enforcement sources.

@briankrebs I know exactly what you meant, but I'm still amused by the question, "How can you see something *other* than visually?"

(Notice my username.)

@nitpicking i knew someone was going to do that. in the spirit of sharing my process as it unfolds, I was kind of just getting my thoughts down quickly so I could share them. This is about 1 hour of research, plus the few minutes it took to write these posts.
@briankrebs Like I said, I completely understood your meaning (and I do appreciate your research, esp. on the Santos stuff).

@briankrebs I once made a report for a small investment company in Italy on the information flow ( #privacy #risk assessment documentation for compliance). They didn't think data was shared across too many parties. When the report got presented they reaction was: WTH - seriously?

Documentation is essential, presenting it in a comprehensive way is vital for awareness and understanding.

@briankrebs Veritasium has a video about the origin of cubed equations and math duels, which went over my head for the most part.

(I swear, this is related to your post.)

However, one bit I do recall says that modern algebraic notations like equal signs and such were only invented in the last few centuries; all math problems used to be word problems describing equations at hand.

One of the mathematicians actually memorized his "formulas" through couplets!

Anyway, that's what your map reminded me of: reformatting a puzzle using different languages / notations than you'd usually use to describe the problem, so you get a fresh perspective.

I think it's the mental equivalent of an artist walking around a sculpture in progress to find the next place to chisel.

More people should reformat issues like this, instead of whamming at the problem in the same way and in the same place.

Edit: found the video! "How imaginary numbers were invented" -- https://youtu.be/cUzklzVXJwo

How Imaginary Numbers Were Invented

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

YouTube
@StrykerNoStriking Yes. I generally approach writing in much the same way as research: Throw everything you have that's possibly useful onto a whiteboard, virtual or otherwise. Then you can start moving things around and seeing any connections or narrative paths.

@briankrebs @StrykerNoStriking having performed some of this crosscheck against obvious charlatans in the past (Joe Kent for WA-03 most recently), I think Santos is only 50% more fraudulent than the average GOP candidate. It's a shame it doesn't matter more, but we all knew Trump is insanely corrupt with emoluments going back 30 years or more. It's a profound failure of the legal system that these crimes are rewarded with public office.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/30/trump-taxes-foreign-income-00075872

Trump taxes show foreign income from more than a dozen countries

While Trump surrendered day-to-day control of his business empire, he kept ownership.

POLITICO

@pinsk @briankrebs @StrykerNoStriking

Yes! Amway is the GOP metric. He’s maybe 1SD beyond Amway level scam so well within GOP norms.

Trump is much smarter about his scams.

@briankrebs That is amazing work, Brian.
@briankrebs
There's Something About Carla.
@paultmorrison Yeah, she's not a real person. At all. That is a poorly generated AI creation if I ever saw one 😂

@Cybermindgrrl Right. I would never dox a real person. Robo Carla needs to decide what color eyes she has and add a cute pixie hair style.

That jaw that unhinges to make room for eating an entire stuffed turkey in one bite is the creepiest part.

@paultmorrison I'm old enough to remember that scene in "V" lol.

@Cybermindgrrl You mean a scene where her jaw unlocks and she eats an entire stuffed turkey?

Never saw the movie. Made it up. I was going with eat a baby including the bassinet but I thoght that was a little off the wall so switched to something yummy.

Which goes to prove you can think of the weirdest stuff and to ruin it you google and find it was made into a movie decades ago.

@paultmorrison Could it be the disturbing resemblance to...
@lucasgonze OMG the image was cut off so we did not see the red ribbon!
@briankrebs Thank you for this analysis. No wonder he is under criminal investigation!
@briankrebs It's I guess time for bot-owned-and-operated companies to go public. #bythebotsforthebots
@briankrebs 12 connections? are they all the fake profiles on the first pic?
@briankrebs ai generated profile pics and everything
@briankrebs Kind of refreshing to see such a classic scam after all the recent crypto scams. 6% return from lead generation love to see it.
@anarchistaesthete @briankrebs The Amway precedent makes it hard to act on these scams. Amway has deep GOP support so Santos fits right in.
@briankrebs All we need now is a revelation he was selling “big dick toilets” and 2022 bingo will be complete.
@ampersine @briankrebs This would explain why my Devolder toilet needs to be flushed ten times to get it to work.
@briankrebs @dpnauton @ampersine I hear that’s a communist toilet
@robinbrenizer @briankrebs @dpnauton @ampersine more like 'sparkling socialist' toilet. It is America, after all.