'Shill' or 'Schill' (a.k.a. 'Outside Man'), is American slang for one of a crew of charlatans who is used to lure victims into frauds (particular rigged gambling games) by appearing to be an ordinary everyday guy in the crowd who keeps winning or (sometimes) losing. In the classic sleight-of-hand scam known as, the 'Shell Game', (a.k.a. 'Three Card Monte', 'Three Card Trick', 'Three Card Molly', 'Chase The Lady', 'Chase The Ace', etc.), victims are deceived into believing that the game is genuine and they can win, by the use of innocent-looking shills (often with highly-distracting females on their arms). In the end, no victim can win, because they are up against a team of experienced criminals who all act-out a carefully-scripted, closed-logic scenario which always inverts reality. If a losing victim begins to challenge the honesty of the front man 'Handler' (a.k.a. 'Tosser'), other muscle-bound criminals, also pretending to be ordinary members of the crowd, will falsely-accuse the victim of cheating, kick over the table, start a fight or an argument, etc., all these are pre-planned distractions created just to enable the 'Tosser' to run away with the money. Complaining-victims can also be silenced by telling them that they cannot go to the police, because they were breaking the law by gambling in the street.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
 |
Interestingly, if you disregard what finally happened to 'Enron,' then this multi-billion dollar shell game, and the multi-billion dollar version of the 'MLM Income Opportunity' fairy story entitled, 'Herbalife', are remarkably similar, in that they both survived for many years by hiding in plain sight; for right under the noses of a flock of dunces with diplomas, the market price of shares in both these effectively-valueless corporate structures was maliciously inflated, and maintained, by the constant repetition of mystifying lies, and half-truths, and the withholding of key-information.
In both cases, the racketeers behind 'Enron' and 'Herbalife' were assisted by echelons of attorneys (some of whom were former US regulators), accountants, stockbrokers, stock analysts, bankers, economists, academics, financial journalists, politicians, etc., and it became against the interests of almost everyone concerned (particularly, major investors) even to consider the truth in private, let alone face reality and blow the whistle in public.
We all now know that, in reality, 'Enron's' massive, and chronic, hidden trading losses were merely being off-loaded onto an expanding labyrinth comprising hundreds of legally-registered corporate structures, which (to casual observers) gave 'Enron' itself the appearance of perpetual expansion and prosperity.
Similarly, some of us have long-since worked out that in the 'Herbalife' racket, massive, and chronic, hidden losses have been off-loaded onto an endless-chain comprising millions of ill-informed persons whose unlawful investment payments have been laundered as 'sales,' and who have been (until very recently) arbitrarily defined in their take-it-or-leave-it contracts as 'Independent Distributors.' Yet again (to casual observers), these crimes have given 'Herbalife' itself the appearance of perpetual expansion and prosperity.
Just as in the case of 'Enron', there are far too many intellectually-rigorous observers who now know exactly how the 'Herbalife' racket has functioned. Thus, making it an inevitability that it too will eventually collapse. 
Readers should also be aware that, in the late 1990s, the bosses of the 'Enron' racket hatched a deal with the bosses of the 'Amway MLM income opportunity' racket, and the two gangs then used numerous deluded adherents of the 'MLM Income Opportunity' fairy story, to commit related-frauds in California.
Although briefly-reported by the media, these particular crimes have never been fully-investigated, let alone prosecuted.
|
 |
| 'Herbalife MLM Income Opportunity' Tossers (left to right): Michael O. Johnson Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brett R. Chapman General Counsel Des Walsh President Richard P. Goudis Chief Operating Officer Y. Steve Henig Chief Scientific Officer John DeSimone Chief Financial Officer |
 | ||||||||
'Herbalife MLM Income Opportunity' shill, Pedro Cardoso
According to the latest version of the 'Herbalife' fairy story:
'Mr. Cardoso has been an independent Herbalife Member for 22 years and a member of the Company's Chairman's Club since 2005. Mr. Cardoso has built a successful organization of Herbalife independent Members in several countries. He has been active in training Herbalife Members around the world, and is a member of various strategy and planning groups for Herbalife.'
Pedro Cardoso is also a company officer of 'Herbalife.'
Herbalife LtdDirector Compensation for 2013
|
 |
| Pedro Cardoso + trophy wife, Juliane. |
 |
| Pedro Cardoso + trophy automobile. |
Deluded 'Herbalife' adherents, like Scotsman Ewan Robb, can be found on the Net admitting that virtually no one makes money from 'Herbalife,' but praising Pedro Cardoso as an 'Awsome Herbalife Leader.' The most deluded adherents have been conditioned to duplicate the example of their masters, by pretending to have access to a miraculous secret knowledge which has transformed their lives and which they are prepared to share with anyone.
 |
| http://www.buscape.com.br/a-viagem-ao-sucesso-licoes-do-vendedor-que-ficou-milionario-pedro-cardoso-8573125551.html#precos |
Pedro Cardoso is yet another (otherwise-mediocre) little, grinning charlatan play-acting the unoriginal comic-book role of ordinary poor man: turned multi-millionaire 'MLM' superman Saviour (admired by men and desired by women) who is prepared to share his miraculous secret knowledge with anyone (for a price). However, due to the fact that they have to keep acquiring, and flaunting, the kitsch trappings of wealth (trophy: cars, helicopters, planes, yachts, houses, wives, etc.), 'MLM' shills like Pedro Cardoso invariably turn out to be living the lie that they are financially free, when they are actually up to their eyeballs in a sea of mounting debts.
David Brear (copyright 2014)
_________________________________________________________________________________
NEW YORK/SAO PAULO (Reuters - November 13th 2014)) - A director of U.S. nutrition company Herbalife is among 12 people charged in a years-old Brazilian embezzlement case that has never been mentioned in Herbalife public disclosures, according to court documents and company filings.
Herbalife has become one of America's most closely-watched companies after billionaire investors William Ackman and Carl Icahn squared off with enormous bets on its future, with Ackman betting on its demise and Icahn on its success.
Prosecutors in Brazil charged current Herbalife board member Pedro Cardoso with money laundering in 2008 for allegedly participating in an embezzlement scheme a decade earlier that siphoned 26.7 million Brazilian reais ($10.4 million) from the state government in Espirito Santo.
The 8th Criminal Court of Vitoria ordered bailiffs to serve him with a subpoena in 2010, but they did not locate him and the case remains open, according to court filings and a court source.
According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's rules on disclosure, companies must report legal proceedings that are material to evaluating the integrity of a director. Herbalife has not made the information about Cardoso's case public, according to proxy statements it has filed since 2009 when Cardoso joined the company's board.
Cardoso said in a statement dated this week emailed to Reuters by an Herbalife official that the lawsuit was a private matter dating back to 1998 which had no bearing on his work for the company, and that he was unaware he was being sought in the case.
"I have received no official notification of any kind with regards to this matter," he said.
Herbalife declined requests for additional comment. The SEC declined to comment.
AP Images
The company is under investigation by the SEC, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations after billionaire Ackman began publicly accusing it of running a pyramid scheme that targets minorities, a charge Herbalife vehemently denies.
After Ackman announced a $1 billion short bet against the company in December 2012, other prominent Wall Street investors took the opposite side of Ackman's position, including Carl Icahn who has since become Herbalife's biggest shareholder.
Herbalife stock has tumbled 51 percent this year on weaker-than-expected earnings and guidance.
Cardoso is a member of Herbalife's Chairman's Club of top distributors and has been a board member since 2009.
According to the court, Jose Carlos Gratz, who was president of the Assembleia Legislativa do EspÃrito Santo (ALES) led a criminal operation that stole public funds by pretending to allocate donations to community centers, schools and hospitals. Instead the money was used to pay for private events that had no public interest.
Gratz has been sentenced to prison time but remains free while pursuing an appeal. He said in a statement posted on a personal blog that his signatures on checks issued by the local legislature were forged.
Prosecutors say Cardoso was part of the embezzlement scheme because a firm in which he was a partner cashed an ALES check for 6,000 Brazilian reais that was signed by Gratz in 1999, according to the court documents.
If found guilty by a judge, he could face anything from a fine to up to 10 years in prison, a court official in Vitoria informed Reuters in a written statement.
The court official said authorities have been unable to find Cardoso because he has moved several times without notifying the court as required by law.
Brazil's judicial system has a reputation for being disorganized and it is common for court cases to languish for years without being resolved.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-herbalife-board-member-a-target-in-long-running-brazilian-fraud-case-2014-11#ixzz3J1uC6sTj
________________________________________________________________________________
I will confidently predict that Pedro Cardoso will be air-brushed out of the 'Herbalife' fairy story in the very near future.
David Brear (copyright 2014)
If Pedro Cardoso and the other HLF shils haven't been making money, who has?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - Like all major 'MLM' shills, Cardoso and the other 'Herbalife' under-bosses have obviously been making money out of all the allied advance fee frauds (i.e. the peddling of: publications, recordings, tickets to meetings, leads, etc.), but what I'm questioning is how much these 'HLF' shills have been obliged to spend to maintain the illusion that they are fabulously wealthy.
DeleteIn many cases, when 'MLM' shills have been excommunicated (for getting caught committing fraud), they have turned out to be hiding massive debts.
That said, the 'Herbalife' front company was capitalized on Wall St. This means that US regulators have allowed effectively-valueless shares to be sold, and traded, in a dissimulated criminal enterprise.
At one time, the effectively-valueless 'HLF' company appeared to be worth around $8 billions, and there have been countless persons (particularly 'HLF' board members and company officers) who had had their noses in this stinking trough. As a Director, and shareholder, of the fake direct selling company known as 'Herbalife / HLF,' Mr. Pedro Cardoso has been one of these racketeers.
ReplyDelete'The court official said authorities have been unable to find Cardoso because he has moved several times without notifying the court as required by law.'
Cardoso claims that he had no idea that he had been charged by Brazillian prosecutors?, but Reuters says that Cardoso failed to notify the court that he had moved. Does this prove Cardoso was aware that he'd been charged?
Anonymous - This Reuters report certainly does imply that Pedro Cardoso is lying, because he knew that he'd been charged with money laundering in Brazil in 2008, but it is far from complete. I mean, was he arrested, and/or interviewed, by Brazilian law enforcement agents, and/or prosecutors, in 2008? or does the Brazilian Justice system just send out serious criminal indictments like parking fines, but then give up if those charged are not at home.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem to be rather unbelievable that Brazilian court officials have been unable to trace Pedro Cardoso for more than 5 years, when Mr. Cardoso has been the Director of a company that has been traded on Wall St and which has been making annual declarations to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Declarations which failed to mention that Mr. Cardoso has been charged with money laundering in Brazil in 2008, but which contain the private and corporate addresses of Mr. Cardoso, and which can be accessed by anyone.
It has also been possible to determine the precise whereabouts of Mr Cardoso, simply by searching the Internet. Cardoso has been regularly attending 'Herbalife' meetings in Brazil, these have been openly advertised.
Even if Pedro Cardoso knew he'd been charged, the fact that he didn't tell his colleagues on the HLF board is not their fault. HLF has not broken SEC rules.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - Fraud is defined as lying to, and/or withholding key-information from, people in order to take their money, property, etc. For various reasons, in the USA, the means by which the lies are broadcast in frauds (wire, mail), are also taken into consideration.
ReplyDeleteIt would seem that the board members of the fake direct selling company known as 'Herbalife,' have been abusing all-manner of broadcast systems (the postal service, radio, television, Internet, newspapers, magazines, books, videos, DVDs, public meetings, etc.) to lie to, and withhhold key-information from, the entire world (for decades), in order to continue to commit related multi-billion dollar frauds and to obstruct justice.
The proposition that the company officers of this outrageous corporate counterfeit have 'not broken SEC rules' is worthy of a stand-up comedy routine; for the registering, and capitalizing, of 'Herbalife' itself formed part of an overall pattern of ongoing major racketeering activity as defined by the US federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, 1970.
I had expected Cardoso to tender his resignation by now. Do you think he will try to brazen it out?
ReplyDeleteGood question Barbara. However, if 'Herbalife' was an authentic company rather than a front for major racketeering activity, then a cheap little crook like Cardoso would have never been appointed to the board in the first place.
ReplyDeleteFrom what has got into the press, Cardoso is charged with playing a minor role in a form of racketeering in Brazil, but it does demonstrate the true calibre of just one of the shills who has been sitting on the 'Herbalife' board.
If Cardoso remains on the board and his associates try to brazen it out, I think the persons who will be really rubbing their hands here, are all the Brazillian law enforcement agents, prosecutors, witnesses, etc.; for imagine what certain 'MLM' racketeers would be prepared to offer them in order to drop the money laundering case against Mr. Cardoso.
Remember, it's not in the interests of numerous other wealthy 'MLM' racketeers for 'Herbalife' to fall.
Presumeably, the FBI will be monitoring all these matters.
Perhaps Cardoso will fall on his sword like his late buddy, John Peterson?
ReplyDeleteAlthough an announcent of 'suicide' appeared in the media, as far as I'm aware, to date, no one really knows the full truth about how the 'Herbalife' shill, John Peterson, came to be found dead in his pickup truck, with a single gun-shot wound to the head.
ReplyDeleteVarious people who knew him intimately, have told me that Peterson was the last person to have killed himself.
Peterson had been acting in association with a whole gang of 'Herbalife' under-bosses and shills, particularly in Mexico and Canada. When the Ackman intervention broke, some of these characters had been excommunicated from the 'Herbalife fairy story in order to divert investigation into their crimes away from the rest of the organization. However, Peterson remained, and he was possibly under criminal investigation, or about to come under investigation.
The number of persons who had a significant financial interest in killing an investigation into Peterson, which might have then led to a wider investigation into how 'MLM' racketeering has functioned, is vast.
If Cardoso was also suddenly to be found dead in suspicious circumstances (looking like an accident or suicide), then the shit might then really hit the fan.
Cardoso is one of Saints in the Church of HLF.
ReplyDeleteA good comparison Anonymous: for the '100% positive Herbalife' propaganda has sold shills, like Pedro Cardoso and John Peterson, as icons, i.e. perfect role models for the imperfect faithful to copy in order to achieve the 'Herbalife' Utopia.
ReplyDeleteWhen I began to examine the phenomenon of criminogenic cults, I quickly discovered that the more 'Saintly' the leaders are portrayed by their own reality-inverting propaganda: the more sinful they turn out to be.
It seems that the news about Mr. Cardoso dropped and then absolutely nothing has happened. No resignation, no follow up by any media sources, just the sound of crickets......
ReplyDeleteIs this going to be just one more revelation about the inherent criminality at herbalife that goes absolutely nowhere?
Barbara - UK law enforcement agencies, and journalists, have also been offered a mass of information about Mr. Cardoso's British equivalent, David Bevan - yet another absurd 'Herblife' shill with a made-up impressive-sounding title, Ferrari, etc., and who has also featured on Pershing Square's Website. http://www.herbalifepyramidscheme.com/perpetrators/david-bevan-jane-clark/
ReplyDeleteAgain, as far as I'm aware, absolutely nothing has happened in Britain. Yet Mr. Bevan, just like his criminal associate Mr. Cardoso, has quite obviously been running various advance fee frauds behind the closed-market swindle known as 'Herbalife.'
Cardoso was NOT on HLF's BoD in 1998 when this minor unresolved incidence occurred, right? I mean, the check of 2,300 USD cashed by someone in a business where Cardoso was a partner, hardly means he knew about that check - for starters. Later, we find that a state official was responsible for criminal activities - not Cardoso.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous (or should that be be Pedro?) - Your transparent attempt to trivialize these serious matters is all too typical of an 'MLM' propagandist.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that a 'Herbalife' board member was indicted in Brazil (in 2008) for alleged money laundering (in 1998), and that this key-information has never been given to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, is only part of what is at issue here.
According to you, we are now not only supposed to believe Cardoso's fairy story that he was completely unaware that he'd been charged with serious criminal offence in Brazil in 2008 (because he'd moved house several times), but also that he was completely unaware that a company in which he was a partner, had been used to launder funds stolen by a corrupt Brazilian state official in a multi-million dollar racket.
Given that as a 'Herbalife' shill, Pedro Cardoso's entire life has been a lie: Why would anyone in their right mind be so foolish as to believe anything which he has to say on any subject?
Indeed, why would anyone (other than Pedro Cardoso himself or one of his criminal associates in the 'Herbalife' racket), insist that Pedro Cardoso is an honest man?
DeleteBrazil is one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/andersonantunes/2013/11/28/the-cost-of-corruption-in-brazil-could-be-up-to-53-billion-just-this-year-alone/
Cardoso was charged with a minor offence and he remains innocent until proven guilty.
A. N. Other Anonymous - Brazil is amongst the most corrupt countries in the world, but the infiltration, and corruption, of taditional culture on a global scale by US-based 'MLM income opportunity' racketeers, is a criminogenic phenomenon of historic significance.
DeleteIt's not merely the fact that 'MLM income opportunity' shill, Pedro Cardoso, was charged in Brazil in 2008 that is at issue here, or even whether he is guilty or innocent of the offence with which he stands charged.
No one disputes that Mr. Cardoso has a criminal indictment for money laundering hanging over his head in Brazil - a piece of key-information which, as a Director of a public company traded on Wall St., he has consistently failed to declare to the SEC.
Cardoso, and his criminal associates at the 'Herbalife' Ministry of Truth, have lately claimed that he was completely unaware that he had been charged with money laundering, and that his ignorance of these 'minor' matters was completely the fault of Brazillian court officials who were unable to trace him for 5 years. However, news reports suggest that Pedro Cardoso was fully-aware of these serious matters, because, according to a Brazilian court official, he was under a legal obligation to notify the court of any changes of address, but he failed to do so.
Can you post more info about Herbalife in the UK and David Bevan?
ReplyDeleteAnon UK - I presume that you have not clicked on my link to Pershing Square Capital's Website http://www.herbalifepyramidscheme.com/perpetrators/david-bevan-jane-clark/
DeleteJudging by the comments which I have lately received, the 'Herbalife' racket seems to finding new victims in Wales.
I have been planning to run a feature article on 'Herbalife' in Britain for a while.
Please send your contact details in the form of a comment (these will not be posted).
Hello - Im a former cop turned journo - have perosnal experience of this scam - would like to undertake investigation to turn into feature/vid - is there any way to contact you?
ReplyDeleteThanks
Anonymous - Please send me your contact details in a comment (these will not be posted).
Delete