“If You Can’t Trust Banks, Who Can You Trust?”
In a post 9/11 world, “due diligence” is constantly on the forefront—or at least we are expected to believe that. Although banks these days are preaching “due diligence,” it appears that at least one bank does not practice what it preaches. Monterey County Bank, based in Monterey California, http://www.montereycountybank.com that supports several card platforms for businesses providing prepaid debit card products for use on the internet and at atms, has missed the boat on “due diligence,” at the expense of those who entrusted it.
One of those businesses that it sponsors, Digital World Global Card, Inc., http://www.digitalworldcard.com , based out of New York, New York, is owned in full by sole shareholder Joseph Simon LaCroix, aka Joseph Simon, a convicted felon in the province of Ontario, Canada, according to Rowena McDougall, Senior Manager, Public Affairs, for the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) .
On October 3, 2005 Joseph LaCroix, the sole officer and director of Digital World Financial, pleaded guilty to the charge of conducting the business of a loan and trust corporation without being registered in the province of Ontario. LaCroix was fined $50,000 and placed on probation for two years. As a condition of the probation LaCroix must pay approximately $2.2 million in restitution to depositors. Good luck on collecting that!
LaCroix also pleaded guilty to carrying on the business of insurance in Ontario without a licence and was fined $5,000. Seems Canada garners favor with criminals, as its criminal penalties certainly don’t seem to discourage crime.
For more on LaCroix’s convictions, see the following:
http://www.claimsurvey.com/english/pubs/news/2005/20051007-digitalworld.asp
http://www.fsco.gov.on.ca/english/pubs/news/2005/20051007-digitalworld.asp
http://www.ontarioinsurance.com/english/licensing/ceasedesistorders/cdo-digitalworld.asp
http://www.ontarioinsurance.com/english/pubs/bulletins/mebulletins/2006/g-03_06.asp
http://www.fsco.gov.on.ca/English/licensing/ceasedesistorders/cdo-digitalworld.asp
Now, less than three years later, LaCroix’s Digital World Global Card, Inc. was shut down on April 1, 2008, by Monterey County Bank after LaCroix has allegedly misappropriated the funds of its many cardholders. Those cardholders had put their trust in Digital World Card, Inc. as well as Monterey County Bank—after all, if you can’t trust a bank, who can you trust? To add insult to injury, LaCroix had his staff to tell cardholders that their accounts were being audited by the bank, implying that they had somehow done something wrong. His staff has since become non-existant. Calls to the company (866) 878-8020 go directly to voice mail, and are not returned. Calls to LaCroix’s cell phone (347) 853-4746 went unanswered.
It should be noted that apparently all of LaCroix’s resellers were left out in the cold. It should also be noted that the ONLY cards affected are those that have the name Digital World Global Card at the top of the card – No others. Funds were sent to Digital World Card, Inc. for the benefit of cardholders, and instead, went to the benefit of LaCroix. In reported cases, LaCroix even emptied funds already on cardholders cards!
LaCroix’s site, Digital World Card, Inc., still maintains its website at http://www.digitalworldcard.com . Do Not Order From This Site! Do not become one of his victims! If the bank backing your prepaid debit card is Monterey County Bank, do your OWN due diligence!
Please remember that Monterey County Bank merely shut his program down on April 1, 2008. They offered absolutely NO COMPENSATION for their cardholders whatsoever. Do you think they would feel the same if you owed them money?
Remember, Buyer Beware!
On a darker note, we now learn that the FBI has actually frozen the funds of all US clients, which were still ‘on account’ at NETeller the online e-wallet. It was earlier believed that the digital money would be refunded to US players and now they are calling it evidence and the cash is on ice.
HYIP: E-gold Ltd. tolerates them or perhaps even loves them because they generate new account holders and fees. Looking at the amount of tiny or small daily spends one may conclude that the HYIP business accounts for a majority of e-gold spends each day. Exchange agents love them and some may say its the life blood of the industry. Without all that buying and selling of DGC, surely exchange agent revenues would dry up.
Many online participants will tell you, “But I’ve made money from these (investments)” so why does anyone want to interfere and stop their operation? The same argument could be made for online sports betting which is now taking a beating from the US legal system. People are going to gamble one way or another, why is the US prosecuting these presumed legal foreign systems?
Why are some operations ‘ethical’ and other not? Why is online horse betting legal and approved but poker is not? People online lose tens of millions each year to these HYIP schemes. Can you ask, “Is the digital currency at fault for allowing their product to be used for such operations?”
The recent flurry of legal activity against online gaming and payment processors has only served to fracture the market. Where one large processor has vanished a dozen smaller ones now are taking its place.
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