The story of Bold Funding.

[Revalin]

How is it a scam to try and help people save their homes?  This is a great libertarian alternative to big government welfare solutions to the problem.  It's sad that their business didn't work out, but that isn't criminal.

The idea is a fine one.  But if he was honest, he could have: a) turned down excess business because he couldn't handle it; b) held their check while he was backlogged; or c) refunded customers who were clearly too far down the list to help in a reasonable time.

Instead, he took the money, then didn't provide the service he promised.  The fact that he's only lost civil cases just means that the DA didn't think there was enough of a case to pursue fraud charges.  And the DA's right: it'd be hard to prove criminal intent.  It really could be that he's an incompetent douche who can't handle his money and business.

I think before people trust him again, he should answer:

1) Why didn't he refuse business or offer refunds to customers he was clearly never going to help?
2) I can understand him not giving up all of his assets (it takes money to make money), but why hasn't he at least taken a slice of his profits to start repaying the people he owes?
3) Why is he unwilling to let people audit his involvement in MyBitcoin?
4) If the real story is he's incompetent managing money, why should anyone ever trust him in financial matters?

[1715066470]

1715066470

[1715066470]

1715066470

[1715066470]

1715066470

[1715066470]

1715066470

[PinkiePie]

The idea is a fine one.  But if he was honest, he could have: a) turned down excess business because he couldn't handle it; b) held their check while he was backlogged; or c) refunded customers who were clearly too far down the list to help in a reasonable time.

Instead, he took the money, then didn't provide the service he promised.

Of course he did, he saw people who were suffering an did his best to try and help them.  His only crime was caring too much.  I would never have done what he did, people have to pay for their own mistakes and shouldn't depend on someone else to try and bail them out, but I can't blame him for having a generous heart and trying to help like a good Christian.

[mikegogulski]

I can't blame him for having a generous heart and trying to help like a good Christian.

Amen, ill pony-thing.

[wolftaur]

The idea is a fine one.  But if he was honest, he could have: a) turned down excess business because he couldn't handle it; b) held their check while he was backlogged; or c) refunded customers who were clearly too far down the list to help in a reasonable time.

Instead, he took the money, then didn't provide the service he promised.

Of course he did, he saw people who were suffering an did his best to try and help them.  His only crime was caring too much.  I would never have done what he did, people have to pay for their own mistakes and shouldn't depend on someone else to try and bail them out, but I can't blame him for having a generous heart and trying to help like a good Christian.

How many bitcoins did Brucie give you to pretend he's a nice guy? Or are you just doing it out of the stupidness of your heart?

[wolftaur]

Actually, I'm not even going to really bother any more with those of you who still try to insist that Bruce must be honest. There has been way, way too much evidence. Too much debate. Virtually everyone who defended him at first -- which, to be very direct, includes me -- has been convinced. Those of us who were around before the proof was provided demanded proof. Those of you who show up only after the proof was provided and insist it's not proof? Well, a few were just suspicious and extra thorough. Just about all of them have been convinced.

All that remain are the people who know full well he's guilty, but are either his accomplices, his close friends, his secret identities, and people he's bribed. Or just absolute idiots who wouldn't be convinced even if we had him on video for all of it.

It's clear, PinkiePie, that you are not a legitimate party to the discussion, but rather are here for the sole purpose of lying and pretending no proof is enough. I'll admit to being curious if you're Bruce, or just one of the beneficiaries of his fraud, but I don't really care. All the original doubters on this and other threads who have ever said one thing on this forum worth reading are now convinced that Bruce is a criminal, so take comfort in the fact you tried your best to sow the seeds of falsehood, because holy fuck did you and your friends ever fail.

[Revalin]

I care very much about you too, and I'd sincerely love to provide you as much of this kind of help as you can afford:  1D4VSSSUhHJphgFk3QsHghtGm5jexk7oAH

[FlipPro]

Actually, I'm not even going to really bother any more with those of you who still try to insist that Bruce must be honest. There has been way, way too much evidence. Too much debate. Virtually everyone who defended him at first -- which, to be very direct, includes me -- has been convinced. Those of us who were around before the proof was provided demanded proof. Those of you who show up only after the proof was provided and insist it's not proof? Well, a few were just suspicious and extra thorough. Just about all of them have been convinced.

All that remain are the people who know full well he's guilty, but are either his accomplices, his close friends, his secret identities, and people he's bribed. Or just absolute idiots who wouldn't be convinced even if we had him on video for all of it.

It's clear, PinkiePie, that you are not a legitimate party to the discussion, but rather are here for the sole purpose of lying and pretending no proof is enough. I'll admit to being curious if you're Bruce, or just one of the beneficiaries of his fraud, but I don't really care. All the original doubters on this and other threads who have ever said one thing on this forum worth reading are now convinced that Bruce is a criminal, so take comfort in the fact you tried your best to sow the seeds of falsehood, because holy fuck did you and your friends ever fail.

No he/she is a fake troll from SA lol...

[wolftaur]

Actually, I'm not even going to really bother any more with those of you who still try to insist that Bruce must be honest. There has been way, way too much evidence. Too much debate. Virtually everyone who defended him at first -- which, to be very direct, includes me -- has been convinced. Those of us who were around before the proof was provided demanded proof. Those of you who show up only after the proof was provided and insist it's not proof? Well, a few were just suspicious and extra thorough. Just about all of them have been convinced.

All that remain are the people who know full well he's guilty, but are either his accomplices, his close friends, his secret identities, and people he's bribed. Or just absolute idiots who wouldn't be convinced even if we had him on video for all of it.

It's clear, PinkiePie, that you are not a legitimate party to the discussion, but rather are here for the sole purpose of lying and pretending no proof is enough. I'll admit to being curious if you're Bruce, or just one of the beneficiaries of his fraud, but I don't really care. All the original doubters on this and other threads who have ever said one thing on this forum worth reading are now convinced that Bruce is a criminal, so take comfort in the fact you tried your best to sow the seeds of falsehood, because holy fuck did you and your friends ever fail.

No he/she is a fake troll from SA lol...

I thought I had that covered with 'absolute idiots'

[wolftaur]

MyBitcoin.com USERS HAD BITCOIN STOLEN. They are returning a portion 49% of them to you: Not sure where to send them? CALL ME. 646-580-0022

Have fun.

[repentance]

And this: https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1orWPXoft3jOGWvXumlbUsdqswlbVu8RNDbQ3jfpEGTw

Nagle discovered that the registered address of Bold Funding belonged to an "incorporate in Nevada" legal firm specialising in "asset protection". 

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=40503.msg494416#msg494416

My Bitcoin's registered address was that of a Nevis corporation mill which also offered services aimed at preventing the corporate veil being pierced.

[wolftaur]

And this: https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1orWPXoft3jOGWvXumlbUsdqswlbVu8RNDbQ3jfpEGTw

Nagle discovered that the registered address of Bold Funding belonged to an "incorporate in Nevada" legal firm specialising in "asset protection". 

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=40503.msg494416#msg494416

My Bitcoin's registered address was that of a Nevis corporation mill which also offered services aimed at preventing the corporate veil being pierced.

There's thousands of places that do asset protection, and liability shielding is a slightly different ball game, though there's some overlap in the client base.

[mikegogulski]

The story is only loosely tied right now, but I think it's going to go something like this:

Late 2002: Bruce and Ed quit Columbus, OH after a string of really bad luck which includes Ed losing his license to practice as a chiropractor, both of them getting evicted repeatedly, Bruce's "IT Proactive" business going in the crapper after losing contract disputes with clients, etc. They move to the suburbs of Detroit.

2003: Our boys hook up with Ronnie Edward Duke and pals, who teach them the ins and outs of the mortgage scam business, which they've been at for a few years already. Ronnie goes a bit psycho, though, starts stalking our heroes, and has to have a restraining order filed against him.

Start of 2004: Bruce is ready for action, exercises contacts in Chicago to get them settled there and incorporates Bold Funding in Nevada. Bruce/Bold try to get ads on the air/printed and get themselves listed in various business directories and are partly thwarted because Bold Funding Inc. (Nevada corporation) isn't yet registered to do business as a foreign corp in Illinois.

May 2004: Bruce finally gets Bold Funding registered for trade in Illinois. Large-scale ad campaign begins. Who knows where the money to pay for -that- comes from?

Spring-Summer 2004: Bruce perfects the patter necessary to make shmooze calls and send soothing letters to mortgage scam marks. "Non-refundable non-guarantee finders fees" roll in to the tune of at least $115k, likely far more. What's the "John Buck Company" connection?

October 2004: Teh heat is on. Bold Funding is a known scam operation, despite Bruce's sockpuppet astroturfing to the contrary. Bruce and Ed enjoy some holidays in Pattaya, Palm Beach, Lake Tahoe, Barcelona, etc.

November 2004: Bold Funding and Bruce Wagner indicted. Are all prospective plaintiffs represented by the Illinois State's Attorney, or just the Illinois ones? Unknown.

2005: First attorney quits or is fired. Bruce and Ed fuck off to the Big Apple.

2006: Second attorney for Bold Funding quits representing Bruce/Bold just before judgment. Judgment against Bruce/Bold for ~$365k. Bruce and Ed go into "media" business. Bruce and Ed get involved in some kind of dodgy illegal sub-lease to a Manhattan apartment. Before year-end, Bruce has time to describe his "THREE-PRONGED attack" for picking up "boys" for sex in Thailand as well as sketching the outlines of his misogynistic rape apology online.

Late 2007: Deal with dodgy landlord blows up, our heroes sued for over half a million USD in NYC. Landlord is certifiable, but who knows what went on?

Early 2010: Bruce's mortgage fraud mentor in Michigan, Ronnie Edward Duke, indicted along with six others in $100M fraud case.

Mid-2010: The "Bruce Wagner" helping pump a HYIP scam called "goldcollarinvest" is completely unrelated to our boy.

Late 2010: Bruce gets a Bitcoin.

... (fill in the blanks)

Late summer 2011: somethingawful.com hauls Bruce up on charges. Bruce denies everything, blatantly lies about the "three-pronged attack" and utterly misrepresents his Bold Funding fraud. Bruce goes to Tokyo, smooth-talks Mark Karpeles a bit, who's too busy to care anyway.

Today: Full-spectrum fail unfurls.

[cypherdoc]

http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/iscroll/SQLData.jsp?IndexNo=101308-2008#

INDEX NO.:          101308-2008
PLAINTIFF:            POST, JAMES
DEFENDANT:        WAGNER, BRUCE
CASE STATUS:      RESTORED (REOPENED)
ACTION:               OTHER
LAST UPDATE:      08-31-2011 10:00AM
JUSTICE:               TINGLING, M.A.

So he can afford to jet-set around the world, host conferences, rent very expensive apartments in NY, pay his staff and buy a shit load of new equipment ( which is rarely used) but as of last count he owes over a cool million to his victims and the state(s) as a result of his massive fraud schemes?

This will end well. I'm sure there are plenty of agencies angling to get their hands on all of those ill-gotten gains. Just hope there's enough left to actually compensate the real victims of his scams.

Someone needs to send a letter to the court clerk making sure they know that Bruce had access to over $250,000.

More than 25,000 bitcoins he lost to mybitcoin.com by his own public statement. I'm sure the court would love knowing Bruce had all that money and had no intention whatsoever of paying the court's judgment...

i swear that on one of his later shows he said he got compensated fully by MyBitcoin for his 25000 BTC.

[btcmerchant]

What I'm wondering is how this scandal is going to effect the sponsors of his show.  I know I certainly wouldn't want my company to be in any way affiliated with him even if it was just as a sponsor. If things continue to escalate the reputation of those companies may be undeservedly tarnished.

And if his sponsors go, the show won't be far behind.

[repentance]

i swear that on one of his later shows he said he got compensated fully by MyBitcoin for his 25000 BTC.

I remember him saying that he'd been compensated but that it wasn't OK others still hadn't been compensated.  I think he was vague about the amount of his compensation though and didn't specifically say whether he'd received the same 49% others were getting or a greater amount.  I thought it was Episode 38 where he said it but 38 was a conference episode.

[cypherdoc]

i swear that on one of his later shows he said he got compensated fully by MyBitcoin for his 25000 BTC.

I remember him saying that he'd been compensated but that it wasn't OK others still hadn't been compensated.  I think he was vague about the amount of his compensation though and didn't specifically say whether he'd received the same 49% others were getting or a greater amount.  I thought it was Episode 38 where he said it but 38 was a conference episode.

yeah, i just went back and listened to the beginnings of several shows going back to 34 but didn't hear it.  must be buried somewhere deeper within one of those shows.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/iscroll/SQLData.jsp?IndexNo=101308-2008#

INDEX NO.:          101308-2008
PLAINTIFF:            POST, JAMES
DEFENDANT:        WAGNER, BRUCE
CASE STATUS:      RESTORED (REOPENED)
ACTION:               OTHER
LAST UPDATE:      08-31-2011 10:00AM
JUSTICE:               TINGLING, M.A.

So he can afford to jet-set around the world, host conferences, rent very expensive apartments in NY, pay his staff and buy a shit load of new equipment ( which is rarely used) but as of last count he owes over a cool million to his victims and the state(s) as a result of his massive fraud schemes?

This will end well. I'm sure there are plenty of agencies angling to get their hands on all of those ill-gotten gains. Just hope there's enough left to actually compensate the real victims of his scams.

Someone needs to send a letter to the court clerk making sure they know that Bruce had access to over $250,000.

More than 25,000 bitcoins he lost to mybitcoin.com by his own public statement. I'm sure the court would love knowing Bruce had all that money and had no intention whatsoever of paying the court's judgment...

i swear that on one of his later shows he said he got compensated fully by MyBitcoin for his 25000 BTC.

He did! The first time to Travell Perkins of BTC Alarm at Expo2011.

[Stalin-chan]

This case is open and Bruce will be a wanted man soon enough, he has already missed 2 court dates between jan and sep of this year.

http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/iscroll/Appearances.jsp?IndexNo=101308-2008

"STATUS CONFERENCE" this is a court-ordered meeting to decide the date of a trial.

I wonder what will happen.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

This case is open and Bruce will be a wanted man soon enough, he has already missed 2 court dates between jan and sep of this year.

http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/iscroll/Appearances.jsp?IndexNo=101308-2008

"STATUS CONFERENCE" this is a court-ordered meeting to decide the date of a trial.

I wonder what will happen.

Allow me to guess:

[MPOE-PR]

From that link it seems it's moving to trial?

TINGLING, M.A.   10   Wednesday,
May 23, 2012   IAS TRIAL READY 44   -   -   -