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Passive Income Autopsy

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Latest case #021

Crypto11 min read

The $35 Million Is Not in the Document. Both Numbers That Are Say "Deemed Satisfied."

BUSTEDHigh confidence

busted, and not by us. A court adjudged Mashinsky guilty on two counts in December 2024, one of them a scheme to induce investors into the Earn Program by making false and misleading statements about Celsius's financial condition. He was sentenced to 144 months and agreed to forfeit $48,393,446. Those are court outcomes, recited in the document below.

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Case index

21 cases, 10 still open

  1. #021“that depositing cryptocurrency into Celsius's Earn Interest Accounts was a way to earn a high yield without doing anything and without taking real risk. The original complaint alleges Mashinsky described the model as "sleep to earn", and quotes him: "you don't have to do anything, you just go to sleep, and every Monday we pay you yield." It alleges Celsius advertised yields "up to 17% per year".”BUSTEDCrypto
  2. #020“that a prospective Premier Martial Arts franchisee reading the franchise homepage was looking at what an average PMA studio grosses. The Federal Trade Commission alleges the homepage carried "average 2021 gross sales" of $548,345 from 2022 until at least 24 August 2026.”OPENFTC
  3. #019“that PlanNet Marketing's 2025 Income Disclosure Statement works as what the company's own compliance team calls "a strong marketing tool", because it shows the average Rep earning $38.15 and "a small amount of extra effort" lifting that to $752.71.”BUSTEDMLM
  4. #018“IBOs who build a team of 25 to 48 IBOs will have 'earnings' of about $40,000 a year." That sentence is not marketing copy pulled off a website. It is the Federal Trade Commission's description, at paragraph 17 of its complaint, of what Amway-approved recruiting presentations tell prospects.”OPENFTC enforcement
  5. #017“Put in $24,000, take 25% a year with compound interest, and in ten years you have $1,000,000 and can retire on $250,000 a year.”OPENSEC enforcement
  6. #016“Your money funds our lending business, and your guaranteed return comes out of what the borrowers pay back.”BUSTEDPromissory notes
  7. #015“Buy into the companies everyone will want at IPO, at market prices, before the market can.”OPENPre-IPO
  8. #014“that buying into Location Ventures and its URBIN affiliate was — in the SEC's own phrasing, not ours — a set of "passive investment opportunities" in South Florida real estate: capital in, a share of the development profit out, none of the developing.”OPENReal estate
  9. #013“that you can find out, before you sign anything, what a typical Scentsy Consultant is actually paid — because the company publishes the figure itself.”CONFIRMEDMLM
  10. #012“that the Botanic compensation plan, with its published bonus ladder running from $500 to $50,000, describes an earning opportunity a prospect can evaluate.”INCONCLUSIVEMLM
  11. #011“that money placed with Capital Funding ASAP LLC would fund short-term loans to small businesses and pay a fixed return of 22% to 53% on a one-year investment, or 9% to 10% over two to three months, with the principal guaranteed and, for some investors, secured by collateral.”OPENSEC enforcement
  12. #010“that placing money with Goliath Ventures through a "Joint Venture Agreement" would generate "ongoing passive income" from crypto liquidity pools, at 3% to 10% a month, with the principal guaranteed to come back.”OPENCrypto
  13. #009“that a real estate sponsor had "grown their business, protected the entirety of the principal, and never missed a distribution.”OPENReal estate
  14. #008“Copy the EXACT system hundreds of my students use to make $1k to $3k a month in passive income.”INCONCLUSIVEFTC enforcement
  15. #007“Real estate done for you — put money in, collect the rent, do none of the work.”OPENReal estate
  16. #006“Connect your account and crypto mining pays you recurring passive income.”OPENCrypto
  17. #005We Sent 50 AI Agents to Find One Faceless Etsy Success StoryINCONCLUSIVEEtsy
  18. #004“Faceless print-on-demand stores are passive income.”BUSTEDPrint on demand
  19. #003“Start a blog, earn passive income in months.”BUSTEDBlogging
  20. #002“Day trading for a living is learnable by most people.”BUSTEDDay trading
  21. #001“MLM is a real path to passive income.”BUSTEDMLM

New case files, as they open

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