Should we expect the Government to address issues related to one's fraudulent activity?

>> PUBLISHED ON OCTOBER 4, 2019

>> Prepared by Vladimir Milicev, CEO of VIDYPS 79 d.o.o. and Blue2Digital

INTRODUCTION:

Throughout the period 2012-2015, our company VIDYPS 79 d.o.o. operated as a music distribution service with the aim of connecting its clients with multiple digital music platforms including Vevo, Google Play, Spotify and many others.

VIDYPS 79 had a Membership Agreement with Merlin B.V. that stood for a "global digital rights agency for the world's independent label sector" based in the Netherlands (Europe). The digital platforms demanded that all the agreements and payments for the digital music sales be made through Merlin.

In 2012 we launched Blue2Digital as a highly successful digital music distribution service. It operated flawlessly all the way up until the first half of 2015, when we had to confront severe criminal and fraudulent activity committed by several companies and individuals associated with them against our company.

As a result of such activity, VIDYPS 79 d.o.o. and its clients have suffered both material and non-material damage. Every effort we made to reach an agreement and settle the matter was arrogantly ignored.

IN A NUTSHELL:

During 2016, 2017 and 2018 we filed seven reports and complaints to federal and state government agencies related to criminal and fraudulent activity of companies and individuals in three different countries:

THE UNITED STATES (5 reports/complaints: Incidence #1 - Incidence #3 - Incidence #4 - Incidence #6 - Incidence #7)

INDIA (1 report: Incidence #5)

THE NETHERLANDS (1 report: Incidence #2)

The documentation provided is extensive and sufficient as well as the evidence presented in each of the cases is clear and convincing. We are very disappointed to see the reactions of the federal and state governments going from intentionally ignoring our complaints, to steadfast refusal of taking any action to nearly panic attacks when supposed to face the evidence against the big players.

ALSO READ:

.:: Why did VEVO actually shut down its on-demand video streaming website and apps?

.:: Complaint against TD Bank related to approving a wire transfer fraud

.:: Meet the guys from New York who fabricate invoices, court decisions, official corporate, federal, state and court documents

INTRODUCING THE ISSUE NO.1:

.:: Why did VEVO actually shut down its on-demand video streaming website and apps?

In April 2015 one of the most respected New York based music video services, Vevo LLC (C T CORPORATION SYSTEM, 28 LIBERTY ST., NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 10005), started sending us the delayed royalty reports that did not reflect the actual number of views generated from the videos owned by Blue2Digital's artists. Millions of video views were missing (this especially goes for the most valuable ones made by the viewers in the United States) and we, as a socially responsible company, refused to send doctored reports over to our clients. Instead of providing us with genuine data, Vevo decided to take down the videos distributed by VIDYPS 79 i.e. Blue2Digital.

Vevo aborted any further payments to VIDYPS 79 having left an enormous debt of hundreds of thousands of dollars unpaid to our company and its clients. Making things worse, Merlin asserted that our company was "overpaid" in the past and illegally confiscated all the unpaid royalties VIDYPS 79 had with them.

WHAT WE TRIED TO DO TO GET THE ISSUE PROPERLY ADDRESSED IN THE UNITED STATES:

It took us a quite a long time before we had collected evidence we could go public with; on November 15, 2017 the case was submitted to the IC3 via WWW.IC3.GOV

None of the U.S. Federal or New York State agencies has ever informed us on the results of their investigation - if there was any investigation at all

We consider the issue UNRESOLVED

INTRODUCING THE ISSUE NO.2:

.:: Merlin Network - Are they intent on taking the control of the flow of revenues shared between the music platforms, indie artists and labels?

The Membership Agreement we had with Merlin B.V. (Damrak 377 Kamer 38, 1012 ZJ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) did not envisage any possibilty of confiscating our company's earnings prior to exposing evidence to assert as a position in the argument.

Merlin was aware of the fact that it was a criminal act, so they falsely tried to present that all the money owed to VIDYPS 79 was regularly sent to us. In December 2015 the status of all the invoices on our company's dashboard was changed from "PENDING" to "PAID", although no payment to VIDYPS 79 was made on Merlin's end.

Becky Bishop, Head of Finance at Merlin, explained why they had to do it:

"I had changed the status from PENDING to PAID in preparation for our end of year accounts"

Although caught in the act, Merlin showed no regard for what was right or honorable, not even a little sense of self-consciousness or shame.

WHAT WE TRIED TO DO TO GET THE ISSUE PROPERLY ADDRESSED IN THE NETHERLANDS:

On February 22, 2016 the case was submitted to the FIOD - Fiscale Inlichtingen en OpsporingsDienst (Tax Information and Investigation Service)

FIOD Haarlem confirmed the receipt of our letter: "The Belastingdienst/FIOD is bound by legislation in the field of secrecy and protection of the personal privacy. Therefore, it is not possible to provide information with regard to the handling of your reporting."

None of the Netherland's agencies has ever informed us on the results of their investigation - if there was any investigation at all

We therefore consider the issue UNRESOLVED

INTRODUCING THE ISSUE NO.3:

.:: Meet the guys from New York who fabricate invoices, court decisions, official corporate, federal, state and court documents

John Guerrier De'Bey a.k.a. Sean Larvonde Thurman a.k.a. Sean L. Thurman a.k.a. Sean Thurman a.k.a. Sean Guerrier De'Bey a.k.a. John De'Bey. a.k.a. John Atiko a.k.a. David Giovanelli Jr. (74 W 92nd St, 17D, New York, New York 10025, United States), his wife Sylfronia King a.k.a. Sylfronia King-De'Bey a.k.a. Sylfronia De'Bey a.k.a. Rebecca White and his mother-in-law, Dorothea Oliver-King are suspected of numerous misrepresentations, fraudulent actions and submission of forged, falsified and altered documents, including but not limited to official corporate, federal, state and court documents, documents issued by the Internal Revenue Service, the Secretary of State of the State of Nevada and NY County Clerk, alleged court decisions, falsified stock purchase agreement, fabricated invoices for alleged license fees, tax payments and accounting fees, as well as various fictitious services by fictitious attorneys.

Our company paid over $87,000 to De'Bey and individuals associated with him based on these forged, falsified and altered documents.

WHAT WE TRIED TO DO TO GET THE ISSUE PROPERLY ADDRESSED IN THE UNITED STATES:

On August 30, 2017 the case was submitted to the IC3 via WWW.IC3.GOV

None of the U.S. Federal or New York State agencies has ever informed us on the results of their investigation - if there was any investigation at all

We consider the issue UNRESOLVED

INTRODUCING THE ISSUE NO.4:

.:: Meet the New York based company suspected of unauthorized use of around 1,000 music videos on Vevo

MarvMent LLC (C/O UNITED STATES CORPORATION AGENTS, INC., 7014 13TH AVENUE, SUITE 202, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, 11228) is suspected of an illegal use of International Standard Recording Codes (ISRC) assigned by IFPI to VIDYPS 79, abuse and misapplication of Blue2Digital's collection of independent works and data, copyright infringement arised out of unauthorized use of around 1,000 music videos originally distributed by Blue2Digital to Vevo, violation of the regular ownership transfer procedure and conflict of interest.

WHAT WE TRIED TO DO TO GET THE ISSUE PROPERLY ADDRESSED IN THE UNITED STATES:

On November 15, 2017 the case was submitted to the IC3 via WWW.IC3.GOV

None of the U.S. Federal or New York State agencies has ever informed us on the results of their investigation - if there was any investigation at all

We consider the issue UNRESOLVED

INTRODUCING THE ISSUE NO.5:

.:: Meet the first Assamese singer who faked tens of millions of views on Vevo

On June 18, 2013 our company VIDYPS 79 d.o.o. became an official distributor of videos submitted by Pranab Jyoti Hazarika a.k.a. Axl Hazarika (VILL/TOWN KAINADHARA PS BASISTHA, SUB DIVN GUWAHATI, OPP. KHANAPARA OVER BRIDGE, GUWAHATI 781022, ASSAM, INDIA) and his label for publishing on YouTube and Vevo.

Unfortunately, due to his criminal activities including (but not limited to) criminal breach of trust and cybercrime repeatedly committed over the period of May 2014 – July 2015, Axl Hazarika was suspected of fabricating tens of millions of video views on YouTube and Vevo.

The damage made to our company and its clients as caused by Mr. Hazarika's criminal activities exceeds $200,000 and the total damage exceeds $350,000.

WHAT WE TRIED TO DO TO GET THE ISSUE PROPERLY ADDRESSED IN INDIA:

The cybercrime complaint was submitted to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and other cyber crime cells all over India as well as to the Chief Minister of Assam, Mr. Sarbananda Sonowal and the Police of the State of Assam a couple of times starting August 2017

Before we became aware of Hazarika's fraudulent activities, our company had already sent several installments totalling thousands of dollars to Hazarika's bank account based on the revenues generated from his videos on Vevo and YouTube; with the money in his pocket, it is no coincidence that some time later this man started representing himself as a highly influential person with significant political connections in Assam

The Central Bureau of Investigation officially confirmed to have refused to take any action against Axl Hazarika: "It is to inform you that CBI has not taken any action on your compliant. You are requested to register the complaint with the local police in your country."

The fact that it falls within the jurisdiction of the State of Assam and India in its entirety was obviously irrelevant to the premier investigating agency of India

We consider the issue UNRESOLVED

INTRODUCING THE ISSUE NO.6:

.:: Complaint against TD Bank related to approving a wire transfer fraud

In December 2015 two payments totalling $43,490 were initiated by our company VIDYPS 79 d.o.o. to a fake company allegedly owned by a TD Bank's client with the name of Sean Thurman.

TD Bank N.A. was under an obligation to confirm whether the bank account holder was legally bound to the beneficiary customer or not prior to approving the wire transfer, which they failed to do. We therefore submitted a complaint against the bank related to approving a wire transfer fraud and reporting no inconsistency with the nature of the Receiver's known legitimate business activities.

WHAT WE TRIED TO DO TO GET THE ISSUE PROPERLY ADDRESSED IN THE UNITED STATES:

The complaint was submitted to the New York State, Department of Financial Services

The Department of Financial Services contacted TD Bank regarding the matter, but the Bank refused to take any action on this matter by referring to a lame excuse totally irrelevant to our complaint

On February 22, 2018 - several months after our complaint's initial submission - the Department of Financial Services officially confirmed that they would take no further action either: "...Your complaint appears to involve a question of fact concerning wire transfers your company sent to an unrelated party at TD Bank, N.A. for which the bank cannot release that party's records to you due to U.S. privacy laws and regulations. Accordingly, your complaint falls outside the purview of the Department of Financial Services. You may want to consider consulting with an attorney for assistance with your complaint..."

The Department of Financial Services should have helped resolving the matter by giving its professional opinion based upon all available facts and documents as provided, but we knew beforehand that nothing would come of it

We consider the issue UNRESOLVED

INTRODUCING THE ISSUE NO.7:

.:: Complaint against JPMorgan Chase Bank related to approving a wire transfer fraud

On July 22, 2015 our company VIDYPS 79 d.o.o. initiated a payment of $17,950 based on the Agreement with "Universal Music Group Distribution" ("UMGD") to a "JPMorgan Chase Bank" bank account holder. Some time later we found out that the bank account owner, previosly introduced as a "UMGD treasurer", had nothing to do with "UMGD" from a legal point of view.

JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. was under an obligation to confirm whether the bank account holder was legally bound to the beneficiary customer or not prior to approving the wire transfer, which they failed to do. We therefore submitted a complaint against the bank related to approving a wire transfer fraud and reporting no inconsistency with the nature of the Receiver's known legitimate business activities.

WHAT WE TRIED TO DO TO GET THE ISSUE PROPERLY ADDRESSED IN THE UNITED STATES:

The complaint was submitted to the State of New York, Department of Financial Services

The Department of Financial Services contacted JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. regarding the matter, but the Bank refused to take any action on this matter by laying a guilt trip on our company and our bank in the Republic of Serbia

On April 6, 2018 - several months after our complaint's initial submission - the Department of Financial Services officially confirmed that they would take no further action either: "...You may wish to contact the bank that your company used in Serbia to originate this wire transfer and see if they are able to recall the wired funds. Accordingly, your complaint falls outside the purview of the Department of Financial Services. You may wish to file a police report regarding this matter. You may also want to consider consulting with an attorney for assistance with your complaint..."

We consider the issue UNRESOLVED

CONCLUSION:

It's no doubt we are particularly devastated by the behavior of the United States agencies' officials. We expected this country to enforce the law by shooting straight from the hip, but we were given the cold shoulder instead.

Simply put, people working for the federal and state government agencies do not want to bother with the big players or individuals associated with them. They may be afraid of being fired, or who knows, someday they might get a chance to work for their companies. Why would they ever go against them? Yet if financed by taxpayers' money, they are expected to provide more than just giving primitive advices in favor of filing private lawsuits. It is neither moral nor ethical, but no one seems to care.

Another question to be raised is why, for example, does the State of New York allow business owners to hide their identities? What would it look like if the whole world worked that way?

How long it will take for things to change - if they ever change - is yet to be seen.

* This content is in compliance with our Terms Of Use. We are a socially responsible company whose goal is to warn people of the inconvenience and damage that irresponsible companies and individuals can cause.

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