"Greenlight" and "Treasurygate?" Here's a quick tutorial (pay attention, there will be a quiz later).Anonymous said...
Yes....ANY information on Greenlight or treasury gate would be most helpful. After the Department Of Justice demise of our beneficent leader, we get NOTHING of intel. God help us all that this should come to a fruitful end for Greenlight, because the Department Of Justice and those who prosecuted will have theirs coming. A strenuous pursuit of the misadjudication will be pursued and amen.
December 31, 2011 7:07 PM
FEDERAL GRAND JURY INDICTS AMARILLO MAN FOR
RUNNING A BOGUS INVESTMENT SCHEME CALLED “TREASURY GATE”
TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 2010
Fraud Involved Nearly 2000 Victims
AMARILLO, Texas — A federal grand jury in Amarillo, Texas, returned a 39-count indictment today charging Tommy Lee Buckley, 63, with mail fraud — frauds and swindles, related to his operation of a fraudulent “investment” scheme, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Buckley, of Amarillo, is expected to surrender to federal authorities.
According to the indictment, Green Light (GL) and Aragon Tontine Green Light (ATGL) were names that Buckley gave to a group of people who supported his efforts to redeem supposed financial instruments that Buckley described as “certificates of obligations.” Some of these certificates were drawn on the U.S. Treasury and made payable to heads of state in foreign countries, and some were drawn on foreign financial institutions. In fact, in 1991, Buckley attempted to obtain a receipt from the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas for a counterfeit certificate, in the amount of $33 billion, payable to “Sadam Husein.”
GL and ATGL had approximately 1800 members. “Treasury Gate” was the name that Buckley gave to his mission to redeem the certificates.
The indictment alleges that from January 1990 until the date of this indictment, Buckley ran a scheme to defraud and obtain money from other persons by convincing them that he possessed genuine financial instruments that he could redeem for trillions of dollars, and that he would share the proceeds from the certificates with GL/ATGL members. Buckley, however, was well aware that the certificates were not genuine.
As early as 1990, Buckley solicited people to join GL/ATGL by advertising in newspapers low interest loans which would be funded by the certificates. Buckley also conducted seminars to solicit people to join GL/ATGL. He charged a $50 to $1000 “up front fee” to most persons who joined GL/ATGL. Buckley represented that the certificates were genuine and worth “trillions of dollars” and that GL/ATGL members would share in the proceeds when he redeemed them.
He divided GL/ATGL into two groups ---- the “actives” and the “inactives.” The “actives” were persons who purchased a periodic, usually monthly, newsletter that Buckley penned, which cost between $14 and $17 per issue. Buckley repeatedly told the “actives” that they would receive a greater share of the proceeds than the “inactives,” who did not purchase the newsletter. In his newsletter he described his purported efforts to redeem the certificates and enticed the GL/ATGL members into continuing to send their money for the next newsletter by repeatedly representing that the redemption of the certificates was imminent.
Between 2004 and May 2008, Buckley deposited approximately $2.8 million, consisting of monthly checks and money orders sent to Buckley by GL/ATGL members, into his business account at a bank in Amarillo. He paid his wife $2500 per month out of monies he received from GT/ATGL members.
Buckley appropriated funds received from GL/ATGL members for his own use. As his only source of income, he used these GL/ATGL funds to maintain a lavish and leisurely lifestyle for himself, his wife and his extended family, including country club memberships at La Poloma Golf Club and Amarillo Country Club, Mercedes-Benz and BMW automobiles and high-end residences.
An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. However, if convicted, each of the 39 counts carries a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
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Federal jury convicts Amarilloan on 24 mail fraud charges
June 30, 2011 - 02:08am
After a week of testimony, an Amarillo federal jury on Wednesday convicted Tommy Lee Buckley of collecting millions of dollars in a mail-fraud scheme that spanned more than 20 years.
Jurors heard charged arguments from both sides Wednesday before they deliberated for more than four hours.
They found the Amarillo man guilty on all 24 counts listed the government's indictment. He pleaded not guilty last week to all charges.
For more than 20 years, Buckley told at least 1,800 people that he had "certificates of obligation" for trillions of dollars made out to former and current world leaders.
He starting accepting monthly payments in exchange for a newsletter updating his supporters on his efforts to redeem the certificates, which the government said Buckley knew were fraudulent.
Bonnie Gunden, Buckley's attorney, told the jury in closing arguments that the "TreasuryGate" chief never knowingly intended to defraud the thousands of true believers who sent him money every month for a newsletter on his progress.
He was always transparent with federal investigators and his followers about his mission to verify and redeem the certificates, she said.
"No one could have scripted this," said Gunden, the federal public defender.
"They (the government) knew about the notes because Buckley told them about them."
On at least three occasions in the 1990s, Buckley was confronted with opinions from federal officials who said the notes were fraudulent, including a U.S. Secret Service forensic review, said Vicki Lamberson, the government's attorney.
The various historical inaccuracies and misspellings of names on the certificates also indicated that Buckley knowingly defrauded his supporters, she said.
Despite the roadblocks, Buckley continued to rally supporters to his cause and often dismissed questions from his subscribers, she said.
Unemployed for more than 20 years, Buckley used the money to maintain a lavish lifestyle for his family in Amarillo, and he knew all along that certificates were fraudulent, she said.
"He devised a scheme to create a job for himself," Lamberson said.
Gunden said Buckley did not create an investment program, and he never promised his supporters a payout would definitively occur.
She said his supporters were only signing up for a monthly newsletter, and the money they sent Buckley could be used at his discretion.
"Whether the government likes it or not, that's Tommy Lee Buckley's money," she said.
"That's the way the situation evolved."
About a half-dozen of Buckley's friends, who were in the courtroom all day, were visibly upset when U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson read the jury's verdict.
All day, they continued to show Buckley support.
"Good luck, my friend," one supporter said to Buckley. "You will prevail."
Buckley will be sentenced after a presentence investigation is completed and reviewed by the judge.
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Federal prosecutors are seeking the forfeiture of a southwest Amarillo house and two cars owned by convicted scammer Tommy Lee Buckley, who committed suicide hours after jurors convicted him of mail fraud in June.
“In order to pursue forfeiture and make funds potentially available for restoration to victims in this case, the government is pursuing a civil forfeiture action,” according to the federal complaint.
An Amarillo jury found Buckley guilty in June of 24 counts of mail fraud. Buckley failed to appear at a scheduled forfeiture hearing the next morning, when he shot himself to death at his home, officials said. U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson dismissed the jury shortly after.
I remember being shocked and stunned when I read this. People from Amarillo are called Amarilloans? From Tommy's obit:
He had a loving and giving spirit that shown through in everyone's life that he touched. He worked with a tireless dedication to benefit the lives of others.