Mario Pino - Mellon Research - Wall Street Securities - Nicolaas Johannes Botha Ripoff Was responsible for theft of $320,000 in Australia Phoenix Arizona
Company
Mario Pino - Mellon Research - Wall Street Securities, Inc., Nicolaas Johannes Botha
Address:
2415 E. Camelback Road, Suite 700
Phoenix Arizona 85258
U.S.A.
Phone Number:
602-912-5860
Fax:
I want to put out there information on two crooks operating out there in the financial services arena, Mario Pino & Nico Botha. Although I don't have any detailed information on Nico Botha due to his residence outside of this country, I do have information on Mario Pino. I stumbled across a story about him and was amazed to see him actually being put out there as a legitimate enitity now.
I met Mario Pino back in 1997 and he said he could assist me in finding funding I was looking for for an overseas project. He connected me with a man in Australia by the name of Nicolaas Johannes Botha. To make a long story short, Nico, masquerading as an international financier, was in business solely to steal large amounts of money from unsuspecting and unsophisticated persons such as myself, at that time. Mario was one of his conduits for bringing sheep to the fox. Nico was arrested by the Queensland Police Service in late 1997 and spent approx. 2.5 years behind bars and then was extradited to his home country of S. Africa. I lost $320,000 and a person I met during the court proceedings lost just under $100,000. The Qld Police flew me, and two others, out twice to testify against Nico
It was estimated that in the years Nico had been doing this, he amassed over $10 million dollars. Percentages were paid out to people like Mario for their assistance in the con. For some info on Nico that I found on the net
Now this is where things get interesting. I stumbled across Mario's name while doing some research recently and was amazed to discover that he was now trying to make a name for himself in legitimate business circles, at least so I thought. To see this guy that set me up for the kill, and who I went to the FBI on with no result, now representing himself as a legitimate financial player really ticked me off.
I studied his Mellon Research Website and also the Wall Street Securities website and laughed at the fact that they are identical.
I have come to the following conclusions:
1. Mario is still in relations with Nico Botha. The financial forms used in previously linked website are almost identical to the ones used when I was dealing with Nico.
2. Mario is trying to look legitimate while still doing devious and unethical practices. Why else would he use well known names such as Mellon Research or Wall Street Securities...to give folks a false sense of security. I truly believe as well that the vast majority of the press releases he sends out are manufactured to keep folks on the hook.
Do not do business with this man or you will get burned!
For the benefit of others,
Barry
xxxxxxx, California
U.S.A.
sorry, …allowing you to give a competitors name would instigate others to just file against their competition, to only come back later to suggest their company… your comments on this policy are welcome! CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.
Types of Securities Fraud
Micro-Cap or "Chop stocks" constitute a vast underworld of the securities markets that accounts for a $10 billion a year business. These stocks are increasingly exploited by perpetrators of fraud, including organized crime, as the potential profits are considerable. Micro-Cap fraud typically involves high pressure telephone sales of risky and low-priced stock, generally in start-up companies with little or no track record. Often, their stocks are sold by unregistered brokers who call investors from boiler rooms, using elaborate scripts. Micro-Cap schemes involve violation of the SEC Rule 144 reporting requirements and market manipulation of the stock price, often concealing the fraudulent activities through the use of foreign bank and brokerage accounts. Micro-Cap fraud, though only one segment of the market, can and does cause catastrophic harm to individual investors, and if unchecked, could erode the confidence and overall operation of the securities market.
Securities offered over the Internet have added an entirely new dimension to securities fraud investigations. Investors are able to research potential investments and invest over the Internet with ease. Investors are electronically linked to a number of services that provide stock and commodity quotations, and critical financial information. Both the low cost of setting up a web page and the anonymity available, have made the Internet especially vulnerable to crime. The Internet has helped democratize the investment process by providing widespread access to the most specialized information, giving the appearance to thousands of investors of having equal access to what was otherwise difficult to obtain data. There is a growing problem with chat rooms and newsletters that provide fraudulent information related to publicly traded stocks.
The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) has estimated that Internet-related stock fraud is currently the second most common form of investment fraud. That same source estimated that investors lose $10 billion per year (or $1 million per hour) to this type of fraud. The arrival of the Internet as a trading vehicle also may cause tragic harm to individual investors, and if unchecked, could erode the confidence and overall control and operation of the securities market.
With the globalization of the securities and commodities marketplace, other investment schemes will continue to rise. Those schemes include "Prime Bank" investments, which are fraudulently sold as if from financial instruments of well-known domestic or foreign financial institutions, the World Bank, or a country's central bank. The financial instruments may be sold as notes, letters of credit, debentures, or guarantees. The schemes include false claims of high rates of return, of being "risk free," of the financial instrument being traded on a worldwide secret exchange, and of being issued in formats approved and/or sanctioned by the Federal Reserve, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) or other well-known international organizations.
Other investment schemes involving international entities are related to trading of foreign currency options in the unregulated interbank market. The schemes include claims of high rates of return, of relative safety of principal, and of having worldwide currency exchange opportunities. Solicitations to these investors are often done utilizing boiler room sales tactics, with the scheme often a variation of the Ponzi or pyramid scheme. Little or no currency exchange actually takes place in such schemes.
With the tremendous increase in trading volume in both securities and commodities, fraud among the licensed brokerage community itself will continue to be a crime problem. The schemes include broker embezzlement of clients' and firms' funds by means of forgery of investor checks, unauthorized transfer of funds or securities, sale of nonexistent securities, acceptance of non-disclosed kickbacks in the sale of investments, along with false and misleading statements in the sale of the investments. Other schemes involve insider trading, defined as trading by persons who possess material nonpublic information about a company whose stock is publicly traded, and manipulation of market prices of stock within the regulated exchanges. Often, foreign banks and brokers are used to execute the insider trades, with kickbacks being paid to individuals who are willing to provide the nonpublic information. The fraudulent schemes perpetrated in the regulated brokerage community directly impacts the faith in and trust of the investing public in the national trading marketplace, which trading marketplace is essential in the securing and transferring of capital for the benefit of the national economy.
The criminal elements in the United States that perpetrate fraudulent schemes involving the investment industry may ultimately disrupt the ability of the current trading institutions, which include both securities and commodities trading, to continue to be successful in maintaining their order and integrity by seriously damaging the confidence and trust of the investing public who rely upon such institutions.
