GEG / Guardian Equity Group Scam – Robert vs David Cullen Fiasco Unwinds, GEG / UPBAN Scam Follows Ponzi Scheme Trails

Posted on February 3rd, 2010 by Mr. Ryz

In early September of 2009, I had been asked to review the Guardian Equity Group and then attempted to explain my honest opinions about the program as “nicely” as I could.  When comparing Guardian Equity to similar sophisticated, long-term ponzi schemes, GEG fit the bill without any doubt in my mind.

In the previous article weighing the likelihood of Guardian Equity being a scam, we discussed some of the major red flags:

#1. GEG offered its investors between 5.1% to 5.9% per week for nearly 50 weeks straight.  Some risky investments can occasionally return 20% to their investors, but such outrageous monthly performance without variance is absurd and essentially impossible in any financial market – and by “essentially impossible,” I mean a confidence level of 0.00000000001% – i.e. basically zero.

#2. Not one single form of proof has ever been displayed or referred to GEG researchers, and the only ridiculous response that followed the questioning of this absence of proof was along the lines of: “Oh…. well if you want to fly out to meet the people running the company, I know a guy who knows a guy whose best friend’s father has seen some proof regarding GEG. You could do the same.“  As if I should be required to fly out a couple thousand miles just to receive proof of legal and ethical investments, as any professional or respectable company would provide to its members via simple and convenient 24/7-available electronic resources?

#3. Discussion on GEG topics outside the officially approved “Guardian Equity forum” was forbidden. Many Guardian Equity members discussing the program outside their forum were threatened by other paranoid and/or self-righteous members and told they would be reported to GEG administration and have their accounts “banned.”  Guardian Equity refused to offer even the bare minimum proof of legitimate assets to their members, and yet these members couldn’t so much as let one peep of “GEG” outside the GEG forums without risking the safety of their account?

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As of January 28, many Guardian Equity members are now familiar with the e-mail and follow-up sent by Mr. David Cullen and Robert of GEG, respectively.  David Cullen’s side of the story indicates that Robert was not only unqualified to handle thousands of trusting individuals’ investments, but also that he does not necessarily plan on fulfilling promised payouts to GEG members.  Note that if Mr. Cullen’s testimony is true – i.e. Robert’s operation of the company was completely dysfunctional and unprofessional, no records of trades or balance sheets existed, and the program’s investments (what’s left of them anyway) are “missing” – then Robert was most likely running nothing more than a crafty ponzi scheme model the entire time.

Considering the “creativity” that’s been witnessed throughout the history of major, long-term ponzi schemes in the HYIP industry, there is some legitimate debate about the possibility of this “Robert vs Mr. Cullen” fiasco being nothing more than a clever drama designed to buy the scam artists behind GEG some more time before they run off with the remnants of GEG members’ money.  However, whether David Cullen is telling the truth or not, it appears Guardian Equity and the UPBAN (United Pacific Bancorp Limited) project is drawing its last breaths.

Activities on the official Guardian Equity forum were recently brought to a halt, leaving many GEG members complaining about being unable to access any information for days.  Several testimonies by angry members have now been brought into light, many of which sound similar to the following:  “I have been patiently waiting for Guardian Equity to complete my withdrawal request for months! They reassured us on the forums that cashouts would soon resume, but now the forum is closed!!”

I don’t think Guardian Equity’s recent actions of closing its forum after releasing troublesome news to its “investors” is a coincidence of any sort.  I think the dark secrets behind the true operations of Guardian Equity are about to come into the light; the ponzi scheme pool has dried up, and efforts are already being made to silence the uproar that will soon develop.  Unfortunately, I fear the GEG operators are currently sitting on their island in the Carribean, smuggly counting the remains of loyal GEG investors’ money, and attempting to plan their next steps to “close shop” for good.

Many Guardian Equity “investors” currently believe their funds are safely tucked away in CDs (certificates of deposit) issued by GEG / UPBAN.  CDs are generally issued by banks to balance their assets, the most common of which are mortgage-backed securities for commerical and residential real estate.  However, I fear this was just another gimmick devised by GEG owners based on these simple reasons:

#1. United Pacific Bancorp is NOT a legally registered bank
#2. GEG / UPBAN does NOT even possess basic financial statements that prove the “CDs” it is offering are properly backed by real assets, as required by real organizations.

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I have already explained this line of reasoning to many current GEG members, and most of them only ask me the following question:  “Should I withdraw my money?”

Hopefully, those who recognize these intense red flags will still have the opportunity to reclaim at least a percentage of their investments; however, at this stage, don’t be surprised to hear many angry GEG members telling stories about delayed payments and little to no communication on GEG’s part.  If you are presented with an opportunity to withdraw some of your funds from GEG – even if you face a penalty – I recommend you do so immediately.

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- Mr. Ryz

www.MrRyzFinancial.com

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Note: Comments will be enabled for those who wish to express their concerns or problems with Guardian Equity / UPBAN.  This is NOT the place, however, to rattle off cheerleader praise or “I was paid” rants.  These and all other off-topic comments will be deleted immediately.

Tags: David Cullen, GEG, GEG Robert, Guardian Equity, Guardian Equity forum, Guardian Equity Group scam, ponzi scheme, United Pacific Bancorp, UPBAN, UPBAN scam

Guardian Equity Group Scam or Forex Wonder? Could the private forex HYIP be legitimate and not another ponzi scheme operation?

Posted on September 7th, 2009 by Mr. Ryz

During the past year, I’ve had many friends call me up and several random people e-mail me about my thoughts concerning the Guardian Equity Group. The reports of their successful “trading” and payouts have reached the ears of many people who have been sick and tired of the dark HYIP / Autosurf Industry.

For the past 1.5 years, the Guardian Equity Group has generated an average of 5.6% per week for members. If a member decided to cash out his or her earnings each month, a 25% fee would be charged. However, those conditions were recently changed and a new policy was adopted: A 12.5% fee is now charged each month, whether the member withdraws money from his account or not. Weekly compounding has also been downgraded to monthly compounding.

What does this indicate? Well, if you’re searching for ponzi scheme red flags in Guardian Equity Group, technically any new policies that decrease earnings or add to the manager / administrator’s pocket do increase the likelihood that the program is attempting to slow the exponential drain on the ponzi money pot. However, this policy change alone is not enough to convict the group of operating a scam, in my opinion.

What does confuse me is the reasoning behind these changes according to GEG. The group states that these measures were taken to ensure that member’s money would never “run into risk,” based on “market uncertainties” during these days and months to come. I have spoken with experienced traders this past month, and none of them have mentioned any rising levels of “market uncertainties.” I would think Guardian Equity would have been wise to elaborate on this point, though in any case, I suppose a professional forex trader could always argue he “acknowledges trends that others don’t.”

What is my stance on the Guardian Equity Group?

I believe I was officially introduced to the GEG concept last November. I decided to watch on and stay updated within my own inner circle of private forex HYIP researchers. Eventually, I decided to decline any participation Guardian Equity Group, because I just wasn’t convinced their evidence for legitimate, long-term trading was strong enough.

These are the primary reasons I did not become involved with Guardian Equity Group:

#1. GEG traders have supposedly been earning over 5% each week. On average after compounding, that’s 20 – 25% per month. Now, I am most certainly willing to recognize and state that producing consistent profits in the 20 – 30% ROI range for short term intervals is very possible. I know some stock day-traders that have earned closer to 50% per month in the short term and kept their role or “lucky streak” (as one called it) going for more than 1 full quarter.

However, notice the key words here: SHORT TERM. All expert forex traders that I’ve discussed monthly trading performance with agree that turning a 20% profit or higher each and every month is essentially impossible. It doesn’t matter how advanced or particular your forex bot is – you can NOT have a perfect record and earn profits of those heights each and every month. As stated in previous articles, some of the richest forex traders in the world make over $1 Billion a year and don’t make any more than 5% per month. That’s something to think very seriously about.

#2. I haven’t met a single individual within the Guardian Equity Group that has seen even a shred of evidence regarding the existence of GEG’s trading activity. I acknowledge the standard argument: Trading reports are privileged information and cannot be publicly distributed. Sure, that’s quite understandable, but I’m surprised even some of the more loyal members haven’t been presented with any proof of legitimate profits. Even if someone were able to honestly claim they had seen the trading records, I suppose I would be at least somewhat relieved. From what I gather, no real evidence is available.

#3. Discussion of all Guardian Equity Group related topics is completely forbidden on all other forums. In fact, on one popular HYIP related forum, Money Maker Group (MMG), a member even threatened to report all other GEG members to the program’s administration if they were found posting about GEG related topics. Why is such strict censorship needed? I can understand if GEG wanted to restrict the full, private details about their investment activities and trading secrets to a specific level of membership. However, the acts of silencing all discussion about GEG on public forums does raise that inevitable question: “What exactly are they trying to hide?” To even obtain the information I have presented thus far, I had to bang on the backdoor of private contacts.

The Verdict on Guardian Equity Group: Scam Land or Road to Riches?

I know some current GEG members will reach this point and be compelled to rant along the lines of “How DARE you put the words ‘Guardian Equity Group scam and ponzi scheme’ together!!” Yet others who have heard of GEG and are dying to know the truth will be asking- “So, should I invest or not?”

Unfortunately, I don’t have enough evidence to make a strong prediction one way or the other at this given time. I have trained myself to carefully inspect any and all red flags that suggest ponzi scheme elements, and I will say that the Guardian Equity Group does have several characteristics that make me extremely skeptical. Most of these have already been summarized above, though I will provide updates if any shocking news should come my way.

What is my recommendation to current GEG investors? Well, I always had a golden rule back in the day: If a program ever started showing any signs of potential ponzi scheme elements, I made sure to immediately cash my money out and wait 6 – 12 months before re-entering. If the program is legitimate and can exist without new member’s investments, it will survive for another year. When most long term HYIP ponzi schemes start showing major red flags, they don’t even survive for another solid 2-3 months. Therefore, if you recognize the signs, make your move and make it fast!

In fact, here’s another golden investing rule worth mention: If you haven’t put yourself in a safe position, I recommend you immediately start taking money out so you are merely playing with profits. That way, if the worst should fall upon GEG, at least you didn’t lose any of your hard earned money. Good luck!

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- Mr. Ryz

www.PonziSchemeAlert.com

Tags: forex HYIP, GEG, Guardian Equity, Guardian Equity Group, Guardian Equity Group scam, ponzi scheme