The following is courtesy of a gal with far more experience in scam research than Ireland has in skin care.
"The first thing to look for in a possible Ponzi scheme is whether the core business changed significantly right after it's first few filings. This means a name and ticker symbol change too. Note: IRS Employer number stays the same.
Schemers look for companies that are already public and then they often merge the public company with a private company that has a more "desirable" (i.e, sexy to investors)
core business. Pharma-this/pharma-that, bio-this/that, green technologies == all "buzz" word industries for investors.
Name: Bling Marketing changed to NuGene Inc.
Ticker: BLMK changed to NUGN
Core business (as seen in the boilerplate at the bottom of a news release) changed from a jewelry company to a bio/pharma company described with buzz words "stem cell" and "burn victim" -- that gets investors waaaaay more excited than investing in pendants, charms and earrings.
The first SEC Filing (Form S-1 Registration Statement on Dec 20, 2013) described the company's core business as:
Bling is a marketer and wholesaler of affordable jewelry in the United States. Since inception, we have been focusing on the development of our jewelry line. We will offer a large selection of jewelry styles, consistent product quality, and prompt delivery of product orders.
Our principal product line is a wide assortment of pendants, and rings. Our jewelry generally retails between $99 and $200. We will offer over the latest styles of pendants, and rings.
IRS Employer ID No = 46-3999052
VERSUS
NuGene International, Inc. through its subsidiary NuGene BioPharma, Inc. (“BioPharma”) is working with The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University and its contracted research center, Nanjing Regenerative Medicine Engineering and Technology Research Center located in Nanjing, China (collectively the “Research Institute”) to develop a study intended to evaluate whether Allantoin with conditioned media of adipose-derived stem cells (“Allantoin ADSC-CM”) would result in improved healing of burn wounds when compared to an Allantoin formulation (the “Study”).
IRS Employer ID No = 46-3999052 -- the same as the original jewelry company
They got rid of the jewelry CEO and brought on their own guys with, of course, a "world of experience and credentials" (just like Ray and Brad of RSMI). I'm sure the jewelry CEO got a nice severance check, What did the schemers get? A public company without jumping through all the SEC hoops to become public.
Couldn't find anything on financing activity -- but that would be key to know."
Anyone know who the financiers of NuGene are and who else they
have financed. This is a key piece of DD that we all need to
know.
