Pathway-2-Prosperity is another HYIP Scam Gone
Baysville man wanted for illegal investment scam
April 29, 2009 - by Laura MacLean
Police are on the hunt for a Baysville man who is wanted for an illegal investment scheme that he was operating as a pathway to his own personal prosperity.
According to Huntsville OPP Const. Lynda Cranney, at the beginning of April members of both the Muskoka Crime Unit and the OPP’s Asset Forfeiture Unit ****uted a search at 51-year-old Nicholas Smirnow’s home, located on Fairy Falls Road. The search resulted in the seizure of property and assets related to the large-scale investment scam. Through his online investment business, Pathway-2-Prosperity, also known as the P2P Network, which he had operated from 2007 to 2008, Smirnow made over $1 million in illegal profit, police said. Known as a high-yield investment program, the scam promised high rates of return over short periods of time.
At the beginning of December, a local victim of the scam was the first to be interviewed by police. Since then, a handful of other area residents have come forward.
Huntsville OPP detective Andy Muller told this newspaper that Smirnow had been living at his Baysville residence since 2005 with his wife Diana, who is wanted by police for defrauding the Ontario Disability Support Program of $55,000.
“Once we got that first call, it really started to snowball after that,” said Muller. Two more victims of the fraud, both from the United States, were identified through the national fraud call centre Phone Busters, he continued. “Things really skyrocketed in March when I posted information on financial forums in relation to my P2P scam investigation. That’s when the gates opened and I had about 30 inquiries a day about it. Once the police got involved, the Internet chatter really started to increase. Some investors don’t know what to believe and others are still waiting for their money and believe it’s not a scam. Some people invested $100 and some $50,000. We even have a few victims from the United Kingdom, South America … a guy even called me from Nigeria.”
Victimized investors who have come forward have lost a total of about three-quarters of a million dollars, he said.
Muller indicated that when Smirnow first started Pathway-2-Prosperity in early 2007, some investors were getting paid because money was rolling in. However, he said, when it comes to scams like this, it’s only a matter of time before “the whole system folds.”
He added that the scam is a prime example of a business operator getting greedy.
“He left the area prior to us being aware of the scam, but we know where he is. He’s in the Philippines and his wife is with him. His passport has been flagged by the federal government, so if he travels over a border and his passport gets swiped or scanned, we can track his movements. (Smirnow) knows the investigation is going on.”
The U.S. postal service in the state of Illinois has launched a criminal investigation into the scam. The Securities and Exchange Commission is also aware of the scam and is monitoring it.
In August of last year, the North Dakota Securities Department issued a cease and desist order for Pathway-2-Prosperity and declared it an illegal investment scheme. According to the department’s website, commissioner Karen Tyler announced that the department was actively investigating a Canadian-based Internet fraud scheme that was being promoted in several communities in North Dakota. The website stated that Pathway-2-Prosperity was “promising returns of 1.5 per cent to 2.67 per cent per day. An example hyped in its website of $100 invested in the 60 Day Plan would return over $260 in just two months.”
Smirnow is believed to be of Russian descent and is originally from the Niagara/Hamilton area.
Those who have been victimized by the Pathway-2-Prosperity scam are encouraged to call the Huntsville OPP detachment at 705-789-5551.
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