New Here

[LostInSpace]

Hi guys, I joined CEP a few months ago and started with very little money. I had big dreams, and was going to deposit more until all of this weird stuff started happening. I can't get on the cep site at all anymore. I am just curious as to what the heck is going on?! I only have $250 in CEP but that is a lot of money to me!!! I feel so bad for all the others that have so much more involved than me. :(:(
Heidi

[mitrod3]

Hi guys, I joined CEP a few months ago and started with very little money. I had big dreams, and was going to deposit more until all of this weird stuff started happening. I can't get on the cep site at all anymore. I am just curious as to what the heck is going on?! I only have $250 in CEP but that is a lot of money to me!!! I feel so bad for all the others that have so much more involved than me. :(:(
Heidi

Welcome to the sight Heidi, and sorry to hear you got caught in the C E P mess.

You can pick up on it all reading over the threads here but basically the Security and Exchange Commission has shut them down for fraud. All funds are now locked up and probably most will not see any more money coming out and may or may not recover any money already in. Read through the other threads and posts and you will get the big picture.

I know a number of folks here with light to very heavy investments in C E P who are now in the same boat you are. Some are really struggling with the reality of what has happened and it's aftermath, both now and on done the line.

Good luck to you.

[nomore]

Yes, stupid me. I invested $2000 on the very day they froze accounts. How lucky is that? How stupid is that, I should say. It is my fault, I know. But
I hope Trevor Reed sees jail time......
Trevor Reed is an EVIL DOOER! He is the Devil himself!:flame: :flame:

[thisisboz]

Yes, stupid me. I invested $2000 on the very day they froze accounts. How lucky is that? How stupid is that, I should say. It is my fault, I know. But
I hope Trevor Reed sees jail time......
Trevor Reed is an EVIL DOOER! He is the Devil himself!:flame: :flame:
Understand your frustration Nomore. I also invested $1500 on May 18 and set the amount to 100% compound. From my understanding CEP had never failed to pay any one in almost two year of operation. Some folks were pocketing $18,000/month. My wife and I are retired. We decided to invest what we could afford to lose knowing that no matter what kind of testimonials there are investing any where there is that all important word --- RISK.

Here is my problem. I have read every thing posted here and SEC. While the SEC certainly is wordy in there affidavits/documents about fraud, registration, and improper reporting no where did I read where CEP ever short changed or stole dollars from anyone. I certainly understand the saying unless we learn from history it will certainly repeat itself. Yes, now I realize that 98% of these type of investment opportunities are ponzi's and eventually fail.

But what of the other 2% or 1% or for that matter let's say 0.5%????

I will repeat ---- can anyone show me where SEC has explicitly stated that anyone had not been paid??? Were there times when CEP ran across a glitch and were on occasions a little late. Absolutely --- but so has Principal Group (huge bank and brokerage house). Now I know I will never see any of my money and I am not that upset. My wife and I, except for this occasion, have used wisdom in our years of investing therefore we cannot possibly outlive our retirement money.

Who I feel sorry for are those who have unwisely invested more than they could afford and will take years to dig themselves out. The only part of this that makes me angry is just how much money the SEC will allow the receivership group to spend. While the attorney are pocketing $500 to $1000 per hour what does that leave for the folks who did the investing. I know they made an error in judgement but as usual the attorneys are the only ones who will benefit from this when the bulk of the money should be going back to those who invested and never received a penny in return.

Now I know someone will come along and nitpick this post. Someone will take a few lines out of context to prove a point. However, bottom line --- mistakes were made and some firm of attorneys will benefit by hundreds of thousands of dollars --- perhaps millions.

Anyone else see the irony????????

[MatrixWatch]

Welcome to the sight Heidi


I like Freudian slip there. :) You know, with us being able to see and all. :)

[Accountant]

I came back to add this comment:
I'm not exactly known for my modesty, but read this post, read it a few times, it explains precisely how a
ponzi can pay out for months, even years and never miss a single payment, but it is financially insolvent (fancy word for bankrupt) fromthe day it takes it's first deposit...this is, if I do say so myslef an excellent post....

G
Understand your frustration Nomore. I also invested $1500 on May 18 and set the amount to 100% compound. From my understanding CEP had never failed to pay any one in almost two year of operation. Some folks were pocketing $18,000/month. My wife and I are retired. We decided to invest what we could afford to lose knowing that no matter what kind of testimonials there are investing any where there is that all important word --- RISK.

Here is my problem. I have read every thing posted here and SEC. While the SEC certainly is wordy in there affidavits/documents about fraud, registration, and improper reporting no where did I read where CEP ever short changed or stole dollars from anyone. I certainly understand the saying unless we learn from history it will certainly repeat itself. Yes, now I realize that 98% of these type of investment opportunities are ponzi's and eventually fail.

But what of the other 2% or 1% or for that matter let's say 0.5%????

I will repeat ---- can anyone show me where SEC has explicitly stated that anyone had not been paid??? Were there times when CEP ran across a glitch and were on occasions a little late. Absolutely --- but so has Principal Group (huge bank and brokerage house). Now I know I will never see any of my money and I am not that upset. My wife and I, except for this occasion, have used wisdom in our years of investing therefore we cannot possibly outlive our retirement money.

Who I feel sorry for are those who have unwisely invested more than they could afford and will take years to dig themselves out. The only part of this that makes me angry is just how much money the SEC will allow the receivership group to spend. While the attorney are pocketing $500 to $1000 per hour what does that leave for the folks who did the investing. I know they made an error in judgement but as usual the attorneys are the only ones who will benefit from this when the bulk of the money should be going back to those who invested and never received a penny in return.

Now I know someone will come along and nitpick this post. Someone will take a few lines out of context to prove a point. However, bottom line --- mistakes were made and some firm of attorneys will benefit by hundreds of thousands of dollars --- perhaps millions.

Anyone else see the irony????????


There is a big difference between still paying and able to pay all you owe.
For instance, let me put it to you this way. You give them $100, at their published rate they owed you $670 (or something like, not sure of the exact payouts). Now if they are paying you $30 a month, they have to pay you for 4 months before you have recovered your "investment". Do they have enough money to pay that when you send it in? No....do they have a way to pay it as it matures? Well, yes they do, but it involves getting another person to send in $100, in fact, over the couorse of the term, it requires 7 or maybe 8 other people to send in $100. From an accounting point of view, (cash basis, keep it simple) they OWE you $670 when they recieve your $100 So while they can pay you for a few months like clockwork without any new investors, they eventually do need new money from somewhere. Legitimate businesses make and sell products or services for which consumers pay them this future income, ponzi schemes use new investors to pay the old ones, so you may be getting paid, if you get in early you'll often make a profit, but at any given time they owe $570 for every $100 they take in, which is not a good way to make money.

Even better, assume the above mentioned investment is a product, a tangible good. We'll call them "little Smileys".

Everyone wants litle smileys and you are the world's exclusive source, so you begin selling them for $100 each. To make them in your factory, you borrow what the materials cost from a bank. The first month you sell 100 little smileys so you have $10,000...and "Wow Mom, we gots Ten Grand! Let's party!!!!" You have no concern about the loan for the materials, plenty of time to make payments later, business is booming.
(in this month you took in $10,000, the little smileys you sold cost $67,000, you're $57,000 in the hole already)
Second month, the loan payment is due, you have to pay $1000 on the loan, you sell another 200 little smileys! WOW, we gots $19,000 this month, lets have a bigger party! We made the loan payment and still got plenty left over!! WOOOT

This month you took in $20,000 and spent $134,000, add the $57,000 net loss from last month and you are now $191,000 in the hole

Third month, you have a loan payment of $5000, wow, that's a lot, we might not have aparty this month....OH, we sold 1,000 smileys! MY GOODNESS that's $100,000 we got, even after the loan payment, we've got $95,000 left over!!! HIP HIP HOORAY!!!!

This month you took in $100,000, and spent $670,000 to make 1000 little smileys, add the 570k to the accumulated 191K and thats, ermmmm....$761,000 you owe, in just three months, but you haven't missed a single payment yet!

Forth month comes around, the loans are 90 day commercial paper, so you have to pay off the first loan this month.
Call the bookeeper in, tell her to figure out the first month loan.

Okay, Little smileys cost $670 each to make, we borrowed $67,000 to make the first 100, paid $1000 the second month, and $5,000 the third month, but in fact, half of that was for the money we borowed to make the little smileys in the second month, so we paid a total of $3500 towrds trhe loan, we need to pay $63,500 to pay off the loan the first month, plus we have to pay $5000 towards the second months loan and $10,000 for the loan for this month...Grand Total from the bookeeper to pay in month 4 is $78,500.

Wow, that's a lot..we barely have any money left to party on this month.

Next month, well you get the picture...CEP in this situation is paying $670 each to make little smileys that they are selling for $100, and confusing CASH FLOW with PROFIT....now do you get it?

You can have positive cash flow (and even throw a party every month) for a long time, as long as the sales keep going up...but eventually, sales don't go up as fast as the loan payments and someone suddenly is a few million dollars in the hole, when just a week ago they had a million to spend on that month's party

[Accountant]

and there is no other 10%, 5% or 0.5% or even 0.00000000001%

they are all scams, every single one, and that Virginia is why there is an SEC, if the problem is this rampant with the SEC can you imagine how bad it would be without one?

[Accountant]

boy, the typing is bad tonight even by my own standards...

[thisisboz]

There is a big difference between still paying and able to pay all you owe.
Accountant --- I really do understand the "difference". All I stated was that in the entire "Civil Action" suit filed by the SEC there is no mention of anyone not being paid nor any mention of missing monies, nor theft. Neither defending or sitting in judgement of CEP and Trevor. Printed out the preliminary report issued by the SEC (some 12 pages long when I copied and pasted onto MS Word) and spent a considerable amount of reading and rereading. Enough 'Act #'/Section #'s' to fill two pages, lots of talk about record keeping, claims of misrepresentation, yet no mention of monies misappropriated.

For instance, let me put it to you this way. You give them $100, at their published rate they owed you $670 (or somethjing like, not sure of the exact payouts). Now if they are paying you $30 a month, they have to pay you for 4 months before you have recovered your "investment". Do they have enough mmoney to pay that when you send it in? No....do they have a way to pay it as it matures? Well, yes they do, but it involves getting anotehr person to send in $100, in fact, over the couorse of the term, it requires 7 or maybe 8 other people to send in $100. From an accounting point of view, (cash basis, keep it simple) they OWE you $670 when they recieve your $100 So while they can pay you for a few months like clockwork without any new investors, they eventually do need new money from somewhere......................................... ..........................
.................................................. .................................................. ..................................(Edited for saving space)............................................ .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ..............We'll call them "little Smileys".

Everyone wants litle smileys and you are the worlds exclusive source, so you begin selling them for $100 each, to make them in your factory, you borrow what the materials cost from a bank. The first month you sell 100 little smileys so you have $10,000...and "Wow Mom, we gots Ten Grand! Let's party!!!!" you have no concern about the loan for the materials, plenmty of time to make payments later, business is booming.
.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ............................................(more editing for space)....................................
.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ........

Next month, well you get the picture...CEP in this situation is paying $670 each to make little smileys theat tehy are selling for $100, and confusing CASH FLOW with PROFIT....now do you get it?
Cutesy story. About the only thing I "get" is your attempt at explaining to me like I am 12 years old. If I am mistaken about your attempt at humor I apologize in advance. However, I am sixty one years old, comfortably retired, and we had decided that whatever ROI made would be given to our church, charitable organizations, and on rare occasions when one of our children needed help provide it (which we will continue to do regardless of what happens to CEP).

You can have positive cash flow (and even throw a party every month) for a long time, as long as the sales keep going up...but eventually, slaes don't go up as fast as the loan payments and someone suddenly is a few million dollars in the hole, when just a week ago they had a million or so just setting under the mattress..

I just do not understand why the governmental SOP is to make sure a firm of attorneys will be allowed to charge outlandish dollars per hour to bleed the originally invested monies to pennies on the dollar. If CEP/Trevor have actually broke the laws then part of restitution should be that the staff of CEP (overseen by a government arbitrator/mediator/whatever) distribute what funds are left to those who have money invested yet never made a dime in ROI. Whatever is left over can be distributed however is determined by the courts. I realize the down side to this scenario but there has to be more appealing alternatives than an already bloated/over spending governmental agencies subcontracting to law firms who charge top dollar because they can.

[Ponzi Nemesis]

thisisboz:

The fact that you keep mentioning that there is "no mention of anyone not being paid" makes it clear that there is something fundamental here that you do not understand.

People are paid with new money coming in, which in turn stacks up more debt for the future. As there are only so many people, and only so much money, in the world, eventually all these programs must fail, and the longer they last the more money will be owed at the end.

That is why they are illegal, and why the SEC takes action to get these programs shut down. I suggest you are more careful in future where you invest your money; I am sure you are not the sort of person who wants to find he has been helping fund a criminal scam again.

[surfer]

If CEP/Trevor have actually broke the laws then part of restitution should be that the staff of CEP (overseen by a government arbitrator/mediator/whatever) distribute what funds are left to those who have money invested yet never made a dime in ROI. Whatever is left over can be distributed however is determined by the courts. I realize the down side to this scenario but there has to be more appealing alternatives than an already bloated/over spending governmental agencies subcontracting to law firms who charge top dollar because they can.
Glad you realize the downside to letting criminals
handle the disbursement of funds.

The most appealing alternative is that people stop
investing in these illegal scams trying to make a
quick buck. Then there would be no need to pay
law firms outrageous fees to act as receivers.

It's a nice dream. :rolleyes:

These scams all end one of two ways:

1. Given enough time, they incur too much debt
from their ponzi structure, stop paying, and
shut down.

2. Or the authorities step in while the scam is
still paying and shut it down because it is
illegal and is guaranteed to end up like option
1 if they don't shut it down first.

The illegally earned ROI you may have donated
to your church and other charitable organizations
pales in comparison to the eventual amount of
money that similar organizations and individuals
would have lost had this illegal, unsustainable
scam been allowed to continue.

Did we mention that the whole thing was illegal?? :head:

[Accountant]

Accountant --- I really do understand the "difference". All I stated was that in the entire "Civil Action" suit filed by the SEC there is no mention of anyone not being paid nor any mention of missing monies, nor theft. Neither defending or sitting in judgement of CEP and Trevor. Printed out the preliminary report issued by the SEC (some 12 pages long when I copied and pasted onto MS Word) and spent a considerable amount of reading and rereading. Enough 'Act #'/Section #'s' to fill two pages, lots of talk about record keeping, claims of misrepresentation, yet no mention of monies misappropriated.


Cutesy story. About the only thing I "get" is your attempt at explaining to me like I am 12 years old. If I am mistaken about your attempt at humor I apologize in advance. However, I am sixty one years old, comfortably retired, and we had decided that whatever ROI made would be given to our church, charitable organizations, and on rare occasions when one of our children needed help provide it (which we will continue to do regardless of what happens to CEP).



I just do not understand why the governmental SOP is to make sure a firm of attorneys will be allowed to charge outlandish dollars per hour to bleed the originally invested monies to pennies on the dollar. If CEP/Trevor have actually broke the laws then part of restitution should be that the staff of CEP (overseen by a government arbitrator/mediator/whatever) distribute what funds are left to those who have money invested yet never made a dime in ROI. Whatever is left over can be distributed however is determined by the courts. I realize the down side to this scenario but there has to be more appealing alternatives than an already bloated/over spending governmental agencies subcontracting to law firms who charge top dollar because they can.


Okay, let me make it even more simple, because my cutesy story didn't get thru to you.

Take the story I told and try to consider who gets heurt

The scammer is the one making/selling the little smileys. He is not hurt, he's made a few hundred thousand dollars.

The people who got the little smileys are the early investors, they didn't get hurt, they got little smileys.

But what about the bank who loaned the money (which is you and all the investors who loaned the money to make little smileys) Depeniding on when you get in, a small number of them get something back, but most of them, if no one stops the scammer, loose everything they put in?

Is that simple enough for you?

I didn't mean to be condisending in the original post, but if you cannot understand now that they haven't missed a payment but they still stole $12 million, you're too thick handle your own affairs and deserve to lose what you have left.

[littleroundman]

I just do not understand why the governmental SOP is to make sure a firm of attorneys will be allowed to charge outlandish dollars per hour to bleed the originally invested monies to pennies on the dollar. If CEP/Trevor have actually broke the laws then part of restitution should be that the staff of CEP (overseen by a government arbitrator/mediator/whatever) distribute what funds are left to those who have money invested yet never made a dime in ROI. Whatever is left over can be distributed however is determined by the courts. I realize the down side to this scenario but there has to be more appealing alternatives than an already bloated/over spending governmental agencies subcontracting to law firms who charge top dollar because they can.

And, how, exactly, would you organize that ??

The Decree specifically mentions that few, if any, records were kept.

With due respect to Accountant, I sincerely doubt that membership and deposit records are either accurate OR will match with REAL people. In my experience, claims of verifying membership are as likely to be true as CEPs' claims to be SEC sanctioned.

The receiver doesn't operate on his own. He or his company employ staff, pay expenses, taxes, run offices and further incur costs. With 5000 "members," multiple deposits, "compounding," false names AND no records, tracing monies is likely to be a time consuming nightmare.

Besides, which government department bureaucracy would you trust to run the receivership in a "timely manner" ??? Either you'd end up owing MORE money or the receivership will still be running when your grandchildren die.

How, exactly, would you define "staff" ???

This whole charade has been run by the 2 defendants from a house.

It is highly unlikely "moderators," cheerleaders and pimps can be classified as "staff" The most likely scenario is that they were "paid" with early positions and/or inside info, not wages.

After rereading your posts several times, I'm now firmly convinced you STILL don't have a handle on how, exactly, HYIP ponzis work. It appears, to me at least, the normal "grieving process" which occurs after a ponzi collapse such as this, has you firmly stuck in "anger" at the minute.

Might I respectfully suggest a "calming down" period and then a fresh look at the situation, rather than transferring your angst to the Govt, the SEC or anyone other than the two perpetrators.

[thisisboz]

Okay, let me make it even more simple, because my cutesy story didn't get thru to you.

Is that simple enough for you?
Where did you get the idea that I did not understand what a ponzi was???? It would appear what would have been simple was to thoroughly read my posts and then you would understand. I know exactly how it works -- look at my first post again -- it specifically states "that 98% of these type of investment opportunities are ponzi's and eventually fail." Perhaps my using the percent of "98%" is what has led a few astray in their attempts to make it "simple enough" for me to understand.

Fact -- I do know that the SEC does not permanently shut down 100% of all internet cases they investigate. For that matter perhaps 98% is a bit too high.
Fact -- No where in the SEC litigation investigation have they made any statement about theft, misappropriation, or embezzlement of funds.
Fact -- the SEC has stated that CEP/Trevor "have sold approxiamately $12 million worth of securities" (SEC's bolding in original findings -- not mine)
Speculation at this point -- that CEP/Trevor does not have sufficient funds in reserve to pay or cover the above amounts and then some.
Speculation from this forum -- CEP/Trevor is a thief. A low life form of human who needs to be imprisoned.
Supposition-- if by some improbable possibility their are sufficient funds to cover all investors it will not last long because some subcontracted law firm who charges extravagant/overprived fees will see to that. Does not matter how anyone tries to justify using these firms. How or who could handle the disbersement ---if Uncle Sam can employ thousands to spend billions on entitlement programs................... ooohhh never mind. Another discussion for some other month.

Bottom line is I do not expect to receive any of my original seed money. Since I did not receive any ROI I have come to the conclusion that the "risk" I spoke of in my original post has come to pass. Also, as I stated in my original post my wife and I invested an amount that we knew could not jeopardize our retirement. I sincerely feel for those who made the unwise decision to investment more than they could afford. For nearly two years a $30K investment was returning $18K per month --- this is also a fact since an individual I know showed me. He has not been contacted by the receiver as yet but I am sure he will since he made a point of paying estimated taxes quarterly.

I didn't mean to be condisending in the original post, but if you cannot understand now that they haven't missed a payment but they still stole $12 million, you're too thick handle your own affairs and deserve to lose what you have left.

Let me see if I can understand this. You did not "mean to be condisending" in your first post which after you posted it you went back in and completely edited the post. Then you start this post the way you did (is that simple enough for you), apologize for being condescending, then end the post with a comment; "you're too thick handle your own affairs and deserve to lose what you have left."

Could that be called a back handed apology???? Or just wanted to get in one more insult after the apology. Or did not have any intentions on the comment being any of the above. I started reading this forum after I joined CEP (plus a couple others). IMHO, there is so much hate, so much loathing, so many intentional insults, and most definitely deliberate name calling --- not by the folks who lost money in CEP but by individuals who are members of the forum.

I am in no way angry, mad, nor even upset with Trevor and his staff (whomever they may be). For that matter my wife and I pray for them nightly. We pray they will be safe, sound, in good health, and most of all they do not have to go to jail. We refuse to sit in judgement of what they did for GOD proclaims in the Good Book (Bible) in Matt 7:1-3; Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"

I have never meant Trevor nor talked to him. He is a complete stranger. However, like all mankind, he sins and like the rest of us falls short of the glory of GOD. Remember that GOD created all of us in His image, therefore He loves ALL of us since He created all of us.

You folks argue and debate amongst yourselves. I thought it possible to express an opinion to 'nomore' since he appeared to be in emotional pain. However, like I said, some would come on board and nitpick my post and some would take parts out of context. It is your priviledge to do so but it is also my GOD given right to ignore those who practice hatred, are incapable of forgiveness, and sit in judgement of people they have never known.

[Linda]

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"


With all due respect, I don't think you could call what Trevor/etc. did a "speck of sawdust." There are many people who can little afford it who got hurt very badly. You could say that they shouldn't have spent the money if they couldn't afford it, and you'd be right. But then, everyone who gets to your age hasn't necessarily had the opportunity or means to save for a good retirement. There are some who joined CEP/C88 who were in very dire situations and had nowhere else to turn. I don't think they would consider this all a "speck of sawdust."

[nomore]

THAT IS SO TRUE LINDA! I admit how stupid it was of me, but it hurts. I lost the last of my savings of $2000. This is very serious for me.

Today I heard of a guy who took out a second mortgage on his home to invest with this DEVIL Trevor Reed. You just can't get more evil than this guy is.

As I said in a previous post, I hope he goes to prison and his cell mate his a huge guy and he keeps Trvevor for his Bitch! :head: :mad: :rant: :swear: :flame: :weep: :crazy: :evil: :swear:

[Ponzi Nemesis]

[...]DEVIL Trevor Reed.[...]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v193/cepcep/trevorac.jpg

[MatrixWatch]

Let's continue to raise the level of dialog on this issue and not descend into this sort of mockery..

MW is a place where victims act together as a community to make a positive change.

CEP is indeed dead, so let's get out there and give advice to consumers, and possibly raise awareness about other related scams as well.

[HonestIncome]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v193/cepcep/trevorac.jpg

Now, now ponzi nemisis that wasn't very nice.....:(
and you stole the pic off MMG :p

Let's continue to raise the level of dialog on this issue and not descend into this sort of mockery..

MW is a place where victims act together as a community to make a positive change.

CEP is indeed dead, so let's get out there and give advice to consumers, and possibly raise awareness about other related scams as well
Neither PN or myself are victims and CEP isn't quite dead....
THe victim above though is rightly angry and those kind of
outbursts are to be expected
I am hanging around to make sure there is no resurrection

I agree that we should keep seeking Scam Justice org

[nomore]

I did tell the truth from my heart, I needed to get it out of my system. I promise to keep it on a proffesional manner. I do like the horns however:applause:

There will be no return. They signed the documents, they pleaded guilty, no contest. They scamed, they stole, and that is the end of this story. ...oh yes... The people who were in profit also took part in an illegal activity, and will most likley have some money to pay back.