Along the journey of yours truly, the Capitalist Bum, I’ve come across some interesting characters. Abel Mesa of La Promesa Corporation, German Cardona of Finanzas Forex, and Paul Orberson of Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing. All of these seem to be people that singlehandedly pulled up a company by its bootstraps and rode it to the top through Multi-Level Marketing goodness.
Now it’s time for a new Condender: David Merrick.
A Wikipedia search for Mr. Merrick revealed that he is a dead Tony-Award winning theatrical producer. Clearly this isn’t the man I’m looking for.
The other David Merrick is the founder and CEO of the Traders International Returns Network. They are similar to Finanzas Forex, in that they both trade on the Foreign Exchange market, and both are registered in Panama. According to the flash animation on their homepage, TIRN trades on the Forex market, commidities, financial instruments, precious metals, and retail investments.
Judging by their web presence, TIRN certainly seems to be up-and-coming company. They have a twitter feed (but don’t seem to be doing anything with it), and their website is chock-full of rss readers that display the most current investment-news charts and graphs.
On the business end, they seem to be fast. Deposits and withdrawls are quick, taking about one business day to process (take that, Finanzas Forex!), and debit cards from the company are sent promptly. Like FFx, you make money from the investments of people on your downline, with a 5% initial payment, then a small residual payment per month.
Here’s their Return on Investment breakdown:
$500 – $999 = 9% return per month
$1,000 – 3,999 = 11% return per month
$4,000 – $9,999 = 14% return per month
$10,000 – $ 24,999 = 17% return per month
$25,000 – $49,999 = 19% return per month
$50,000 = 21% return per month
Minimum investment: $500
Maximum investment: $50,000
Add 1% if the investment is maintained for 6 months.
However, TIRN does have a shady side: The Comision Nacional de Valores of Panama (their version of the SEC) put out a document stating that TIRN has no licence to operate in Panama, and are not regulated by anyone. One of the conditions of signing up for TIRN is that you not speak negatively of them online, or your account may be terminated.
I’ll edit this post as I get more information, but my prospect for TIRN is the same as Finanzas Forex. Scam or not, I know that there is money being made. If I invest sometime in the future (I currently find myself penniless), I’ll use only the money that I can afford to lose.
ponzi
I have asked TIRN to provide documentation that they consistently earn more each month than they pay out & they won't provide any documentation. I challenge anyone to provide that kind of documentation.
Hey Bum!
I have investments with FFX, TIRN and (the superior) VanFunds. You should really give them a try. Read my blog for more information, you'll also find my contact info there.
Yours
Anders
(the guy with the old Swedish FFX blog, remember?)
On Oct 15th, they were shut down by the SEC: http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2009/lr21248.htm
Hey Sperious! Thanks for the invitation to VanFunds– I'll definitely check it out.
And the last guy that posted the link, thanks for that– it's always good to get something official. However, I point out that it seems like it was a sort of indictment made against TIRN. The language includes a lot of "allegedly"'s and "accused of"'s. We'll see how this plays out. For now, TIRN has partnered up with PMR (Precious Metals Returns) to start selling an actual product and escape from under the dreaded "P" word (Ponzi).
Again, thanks for the info. I might be posting on PMR soon.
TIRN is a scam. I found the SEC complaint on-line and called the lawyer who signed it. The Feds have shut them down and gotten all their money. Now they are going to go against pmreturns – another scam! My upstream keeps telling me not to worry, and that I should invest in pmreturns – what a joke! I'm suing so that I can get my money back. Anybody with any more info?
American authorities are performing some kind of witch hunt against all companies offering a good deal towards their customers. The US government has no interest in letting the average Joe into a market that has always been exclusive to the big corporations. The average Joe should be kept strictly to his 9 to 5 thing.
TIRN isn't a scam anymore than FFX. FFX will soon have their money unblocked since the US couldn't find a legal way to shut them down. The same will eventually happen to TIRN.
Like I mention above, I recommend using VF as of today. They keep their money out of the US, which is a good thing.
This is the first time I invested and I am really concern about the possibility of losing all my money in there. Can someone help me with honest information??
DUDE; its a scam!!! Scamo, in spanish. PMReturns is the same web site as TIRN. They have my money and there is no where to go and get it back. I will give you any informations you want on these guys.
i invested in tirn then pmr , 20,000 usd , i've losted them all! dont invest!
Can anyone tell mewhat happened.I invested 8000Euros on TIRN at the beginning of last year. All of a sudden it isn't TIRN anymore it is PMReturns. When I open the page the investments are there but it indicates "pending deposit amount" what is it? I try to contact them but get no return. thanks for any valid answer