The Slow Wheels of Justice - Kim Inman's YMMSS-Success Through Advertising Scam

[surfer]

Better late than never, right.

This is the one that burned me out.

I spent countless hours over a 2 year period battling Kim Inman's YMMSS(Your Money Machine Success System), which morphed into STA(Success Through Advertising).

This doubler ponzi started in June of 2002, I started warning people about it's inevitable collapse on my own site in early 2004 and then eventually teamed up with the now virtually dead MatrixWatch.com website which created a section just for YMMSS/STA (http://www.matrixwatch.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=84)

Even though the ponzi really failed in November, 2004 when it went over it's guaranteed 90 day cycle times, Kim Inman kept things sputtering along until he finally shut his ponzi scam down in March, 2007.

Over the last few years, I've occasionally tried to find something, anything, that would indicate Kim Inman finally faced some repercussions for starting this scam.

Tonight, I finally stumbled on some further information from the Indiana Secretary of State Securities Division.

There is an Order To Show Cause filed on March 23, 2011 (https://myweb.in.gov/SOS/AAOnline/ShowFile.aspx?ID=2043) and a Consent Agreement filed on August 3, 2011 (https://myweb.in.gov/SOS/AAOnline/ShowFile.aspx?ID=2229).

If I'm reading things correctly, Kim Inman has agreed/been ordered to pay $2,000,000.00 in restitution to investors.

It doesn't appear that any further punishment is happening at this time.

Considering that I calculated Inman could have pocketed in the neighborhood of $32 million (http://www.matrixwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3268), it's a bit disappointing to see that he may still be a wealthy man after all of this time.

I'm no expert in reading and understanding these types of documents.

So, is there any chance that he will face any further fines and/or jail time?

[littleroundman]

It is important to note:

* The proceedings were "civil/administrative" not "criminal"

* The penalty can be viewed as a administrative "fine" with any "restitution" available to a limited number of Indiana residents

* They pertained to Indiana. Inman is/was an Indiana resident when he carried out his fraud.

* The agreement is a "no admission" agreement. In it, Inman makes no admission of guilt or otherwise.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc153/thelittleroundman/consent.jpg

[surfer]

So it's kind of like the civil version of a "no contest" plea, eh.

He probably hid the money somewhere anyway.

According to this thread at WorldLawDirect.com (http://www.worldlawdirect.com/forum/ymmss-sta-complaints/3255-legal-actions-against-kim-inman-12.html#post226644),


Update: In 2008 we filled out a 5-page form for an investigator with the Indiana Secretary of State's Securities Division in their effort to prosecute Kim Inman. I recently wrote to the investigator to ask if there had been any progress in their investigation/prosecution of Mr. Inman. He referred me to Attorney Paul Lawson of their office. I just spoke to Mr. Lawson, and he said that the Secretary of State's office would not be prosecuting Inman, but that a civil lawsuit was the best they could do and which they have done. He said that he expects that there will be a judgement issued against Inman within the next two weeks -- I'm to call him back for the results.

He said Inman claims to have no money, but they suspect that there is money that is outside the United States (Belize, maybe?). If a judgement against Inman is issued, it will result in no recovery of funds for the victims. He said he regretted having to tell me this.

He said "the IRS got Inman's house and everything."

[littleroundman]

Obviously none of us have any way of knowing for sure, but, I wouldn't be surprised if the amount of money offshore, if, in fact, there is any, is a whole lot smaller than people imagine.

From memory, YMMSS went on way longer than what a smart HYIP ponzi owner would have allowed.

Remembering that there was no outside source of income, and every single cent paid out came from memberships, and that there was a lengthy period when payments were irregular and selective, it would not surprise me in the least to find out Inmans' ego had him actually running in the red near the end.

Bryan Marsden of P.I.P.S. HYIP ponzi fame, for example, was almost destitute by the time the Malaysian authorities busted his operation.

P.I.P.S. BTW, reportedly churned through as much, if not more, cash than YMMSS during its' lifespan.

[apricot]

Surfer, thanks for posting the documents. Littleroundman, thanks for the comments. This must be the judgment the attorney was referring to that would be issued, and the one wherein he says even though a judgment is issued, it's unlikely we'll recover any of our money. We're Indiana residents and most likely on the list of 1,685 investors in Indiana.

Again, thanks so much and hope we'll all still keep in contact in the event there is any activity with this unfortunate scam on us.

[surfer]

Obviously none of us have any way of knowing for sure, but, I wouldn't be surprised if the amount of money offshore, if, in fact, there is any, is a whole lot smaller than people imagine.
Well, if he's not going to be coughing any money or suffer any other consequences, I sure hope that is the case.

From memory, YMMSS went on way longer than what a smart HYIP ponzi owner would have allowed.

Remembering that there was no outside source of income, and every single cent paid out came from memberships, and that there was a lengthy period when payments were irregular and selective, it would not surprise me in the least to find out Inmans' ego had him actually running in the red near the end.
Yes, but when he morphed it into STA, he wiped out all of his doubler/ponzi obligations. So for the 4 years that it ran well, he had it set up so that essentially all the money that went into doubling positions that weren't mature and unable to be claimed came to him via the 25% fee.

When it turned into STA, the payments were miniscule and most likely weren't coming out of Inman's pocket

Bryan Marsden of P.I.P.S. HYIP ponzi fame, for example, was almost destitute by the time the Malaysian authorities busted his operation.

P.I.P.S. BTW, reportedly churned through as much, if not more, cash than YMMSS during its' lifespan.
Not certain, but I believe PIPS also had a significantly larger member base.

I didn't follow PIPS all that closely as it was already collapsing around the time I started to really pay attention to this stuff.

[surfer]

Surfer, thanks for posting the documents. Littleroundman, thanks for the comments. This must be the judgment the attorney was referring to that would be issued, and the one wherein he says even though a judgment is issued, it's unlikely we'll recover any of our money. We're Indiana residents and most likely on the list of 1,685 investors in Indiana.

Again, thanks so much and hope we'll all still keep in contact in the event there is any activity with this unfortunate scam on us.

You're welcome apricot.

Sorry that WLD didn't come through on anything for the victims. Or any other government agency for that matter.

Very disheartening that these dirtbags are allowed to roam free after ruining lives.