Pearlasia Gamboa

Pearlasia Gamboa is a Filipino American business woman involved in controversial international banking, investment, and financial development transactions, including bank fraud,^[1][2][3] securities fraud,^[4][5] and passport fraud,^[6] from 1990 through 2010. She was also the president of the micronation known as the Dominion of Melchizedek in the 1990s, with her husband David Korem (Mark Logan Pedley) being vice president.^[2]

In August 2010, federal prosecutors for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) successfully prosecuted Gamboa for securities fraud involving her “Pearl Asian Mining” and “Znext Mining” in San Mateo County, CA. The federal judge in San Francisco ordered a lifetime ban on her selling securities or operating as Pearl Asian Mining. Gamboa’s husband, Mark Logan Pedley (David Korem), was arrested by the FBI and SEC for securities fraud involving “Znext Mining” and “Pearl Asian Mining” as part of Barack Obama’s Operation Broken Trust. Pedley was convicted and sentenced in February 2011.

In 1996, state prosecutors successfully prosecuted Gamboa for bank fraud for operating as “BankAsia AG” in California. The California state judge issued a lifetime ban against Gamboa using the name “BankAsia AG”, or representing herself as a banker. Gamboa stated that she did not recognize the laws of the State of California. According to United States officials, Gamboa operates her bank fraud operations out "in the open", presenting a “façade of religious respectability”.^[7] In 2011, an arrest warrant was issued against Gamboa in the Philippines for illegal use of aliases.^[8]

Banks and companies

Gamboa claimed to own banks, gold mining companies, biodiesel plantations and refineries, and other companies in the United States, the Philippines, and around the world, which the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) called empty shells in 2009.^[5]

According to media reports and those by state officials, Gamboa’s method of operation in her banks and companies is to claim that she is highly religious,^[7] to display wealth and provide luxury,^[9] to create associations with international achievement and celebrity, to use numerous variations of her names and aliases, and to use fictitious business names similar to existing businesses in order create the impression of being companies that they are not.^[2][5][10] In 1995, after being investigated for representing herself as a bank, Gamboa claimed a “religious freedom” by which she did not recognize the laws of the State of California, as the Dominion was set up as a religious theocracy, and she declared spiritual warfare on California’s Deputy Attorney General.^[1][11] In 2002, the address Gamboa listed with the SEC as an address for two of her businesses was the largest private residence in Beverly Hills, used as the fictitious residence of a wealthy film producer in the 90210 television series.^[12][13][14] In 2009, Gamboa’s name was listed as one of the authors of a local newspaper claiming that her son, Hazemach, won a gold medal in a national Karate competition.^[15] Gamboa has used hundreds or aliases and fictitious names; according to the SEC one of her business itself had 59 different names.^[4][5][16] Gamboa’s victims include people in Bangladesh, the Philippines, southern Italy, Europe, Fiji, China, and in America.^[2][6][10] The anti-Mafia Directorate in Rome has investigated Gamboa for her activities in Italy.^[10] Gamboa has been sought by police worldwide.^[17]

Banks

A United States law enforcement official said Gamboa's banks were involved in serious fraud and were being closely watched by law enforcement.^[18] Banking regulators in California and Indiana said Gamboa represented herself as BankAsia AG, and California state officials sued her to stop her from representing herself as a banker, receiving a default judgment against her in 1995.^[1][2][19] In 1994, the counsel for California State banking authorities describe Gamboa as having tried to get loans representing herself as BankAsia AG, causing the lender to alert state authorities, and local authorities sued her to stop her from doing business as a bank.^[1] Gamboa claimed net banking assets of $25 Billion, and the California State Banking Department sued Gamboa to prevent her from representing herself as a banker.^[2] She and her husband, David Korem (various aliases), continued to represent her as being in banking after the judgment.^[2][3] In America, state regulators described claims made in her business applications as “invalid”, and a Special Assistant to the United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said "this phony bank... it's a phantom bank"^[19] and "It's a con artists' operation through and through… It's a phony bank… the whole thing's a phony."^[2]

The anti-Mafia Directorate in Rome investigated Gamboa’s International Monetary Reserve banking scheme for fraud by her method of operation being to display vast wealth to convince customers of her many banks around the world, when in fact they did not exist.^[10] The First Canadian American Holding Corp and the International Monetary Reserve (IMR) were headquartered at 1156 Shadow Hill Way, Beverly Hills, CA, 90210, used as the fictitious residence of a wealthy film producer in the 90210 television series, and the largest private residence in Beverly Hills at the time, according to Bruce Nelson Real Estate of Beverly Hills.^[12][13][20] The United States Office of Comptroller General said about Gamboa’s bank, "It's a con artists' operation through and through… It's a phony bank… the whole thing's a phony".^[2][19]

Banking micronation

Further information: Dominion of Melchizedek

Gamboa was the president of the defunct micronation known as the Dominion of Melchizedek during the 1990s.^[21][22] She and her husband, vice president David Korem, (a.k.a. Mark Pedley, Mark Wellington, David KorMAN “Branch Vinedresser”), conceived of the Dominion of Melchizedek international bank fraud scheme shortly after Mark Pedley’s release on parole from Walla Walla prison in the early 1990s.^{[2][3][18][23][24]} Gamboa used the Melchizedek scheme by defrauding small farmers and investors in southern Italy, buying time until the victims found out they had been cheated, when it was too late.^[25]

Among Gambo's Melchizedek schemes was to defraud hundreds of Filipinos, Chinese, and Bangladeshis to pay as much as $35,000 for useless Melchizedek passports which purchasers were told were internationally recognized.^[6] State of California and United States officials alleged her micronation was a front for criminal activity, a front for international fraud since 1990, and only existed in the mind.^[1][26] Gamboa stated that she did not recognize the State of California, and ran afoul of its laws.^[1] As president of the Dominion of Melchizedek, she declared spiritual warfare on California’s Deputy Attorney General.^[1] The Washington Post wrote that “getting to the truth requires a walk down a bizarre labyrinth that includes a home-brew religion…it appears to exist mainly so that money can be whisked through shell banks”.^[2]

Companies

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Gamboa of selling securities in empty shell corporations from 2007 to 2009, using falsified financial information to make them look real, and in August 2010 a court ordered her to stop selling securities in the United States and to reimburse her victims.The SEC alleged that from 2007 to 2009, Gamboa had sold nearly 2 billion shares in what she claimed were Philippine gold mines but the companies were in fact only empty shells with falsified accounting, and only had names that were similar to real gold mines.^[4][5][16] According to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), between 2007 and 2009, Gamboa sold nearly 2 billion shares in what says are phony gold mining companies in the Philippines.^[5][9] In 2009, the SEC alleged that Pearl Asian Mining was not a real gold mine, but just an empty shell corporation which Gamboa was selling shares in as a real Philippine gold mine.^[27] Pearl Asian Mining, ZNext, and First Canadian American Holding Corporation are empty shells according to the SEC.^[28] In 2009, The United States Securities and Exchange Commission filed against Gamboa to stop her from selling securities of any kind again, and to reimburse victims of her fraudulent activities.^[29]

Operation Broken Trust

Further information: Operation Broken Trust

Gamboa's Znext mining fka Pearl Asian Mining was the target of this SEC action, as well one of the targets of United States president Barack Obama's Operation Broken Trust, involving Homeland Security, the FBI, the SEC, the Secret Service, and numerous other government agencies, in which her husband, David Korem, was convicted and imprisoned in August 2010.^{[4][5][30][31][32]} Operation Broken Trust was the largest investment fraud sweep by the Federal government of the United States, conducted between August 16 and December 1, 2010.^[32] The stated purpose of the operation was to "root out and expose" investment scams within the U.S. and to educate the public.^[32] The operation involved 343 criminal cases with damages of $8.3 billion and 189 civil cases with damages of $2.1 billion;^[33] more than 120,000 victims were affected.^[34] The operation included arresting Gamboa's husband, David Korem, involving her ZNext Mining fka Pearl Asian Mining. According to the December 6, 2010 joint press release by the United States Attorney General Eric Holder, the Office of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the United States Secret Service (USSS), the Postal Inspector of the United States Postal Inspection Service, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Trade Commission Southeast Region (FTC), the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the State of Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation, and the Miami Police Department, their nationwide investment fraud investigation involving Znext Mining aka Pearl Asian Mining, “Operation Broken Trust is the first nationwide operation of its kind to target a broad array of investment fraud schemes that directly prey upon the investing public.”^[30] In the joint press release involving Znext Mining fka Peral Asian Mining, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer said that some investors "lose their entire lives’ savings. While the victims of fraud are financially ruined, the fraudsters live a life of luxury."^[30]

Banking and corporate methods

According to a Special Agent for the United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Gamboa works in the open, presenting a “façade of religious respectability”, including to victims in the Philippines who were “conned out of in excess of $1 million”,^[7] saying "Everything that comes out of this so-called religious organization is phony."^[3] Gamboa listed a residential address with the Securities and Exchange Commission as being 1156 Shadow Hill Way, Beverly Hills, CA, 90210, at the time, the largest private residence in Beverly Hills according to John Bruce Nelson Real Estate of Beverly Hills.^[13][14] Among Gambo's schemes was to defraud hundreds of Filipinos, Chinese, and Bangladeshis.^[6] under her "Bae Katiguman" alias, Gamboa is listed as Chairman and Director of Royal Oil & Alternative Energy Co., Inc. (PROL), using the honorific "Princess" in her emblem, in her corporate filings published by the Penny Stock News and her company website.^[35][36] The same filing lists a "Brother" as both corporate executive and head of the Missionaries in Action outreach to local Catholics program, Operation Reach Out, who is also stated to be the "former regional director of the Philippine Anti-Graft Center".^[35][36]

International scope

Gamboa is from the Philippines, and has operated internationally and in numerous states, including Redwood City California, Los Altos California, Portola Valley California, Palo Alto California, Woodside California, San Francisco California, Sacramento California, Las Vegas Nevada, the State of Oregon, the State of Washington, Las Vegas Nevada, the State of Hawaii, the State of Delaware, and other countries and cities such as Canada, Germany, Venice Italy, London, Mexico, Tahiti, Colombia, and Fiji.^{[2][17][19][37][38][39][40]}

In 1994-1995, Shasta County, California, and the State of Indiana were used for BankAsia AG.^[1] In 2002, Gamboa listed Beverly Hills California as the corporate contact address for her International Monetary Reserve (IMR, different from International Money reserves - IMR's).^[10][13] She operates as Gamboa Properties and owns land in Hawaii. Anti-Mafia law enforcement has been monitoring her activities in Italy.^[10] The SEC alleged that from 2007 to 2009, operated using the alias "Elivra Katiguman" and "Pearl Asian", and lived in Foster City, California.^[4][5][16] In 2009, she wrote newspaper articles about her son "Hazemach" under her "Pearl Asian" alias in Moraga California, in 2009.^[15] In her various corporate filings in 2009-2010 for her Philippines Royal Oil & Alternative Energy Co., Inc. (pinksheets PROL, different from Phillips Oil, Inc.) alternative energy and Missionary outreach company, and its subsidiaries such as Greengold Ray, she listed Corpus Christi Texas as one corporate address and location of biodiesel refineries, the Philippines as the location of land and Jatropha plantations, and used multiple aliases in the filings.^[35][36]

Use of aliases and corporate names

Gamboa has operated under various aliases and fictitious business names, described by the Securities and Exchange Commission as being a “woman with multiple aliases”, and by the Washington Post newspaper, “names that change with kaleidoscopic ease”.^[2][5] Aliases include Bae Catiguman, Bae Katiguman, Princess Bae Katigumen, Bae Cat, B. Cat, pbc, Rebekah Mesaleah, Elvira Katiguman, Elvira Catiguman, Bae Elvira Gamboa, Pearlasia Gamboa, Ming Zhu, Pearlasia Korem, Pearlasia Grace Gamboa, Grace (Pearlasia Gamboa), E. Pearl Asian, Elvie G Gamboa, Elvira G, Elvira Gamboa, Elvie Austin Gamboa, Elvira G. Austin, and Maria Gamboa.^{[1][2][5][7][13][15][15][19][36][41][42][43][44]}

Gamboa uses numerous business names in her activities.^[1][5] Gamboa’s business names have aliases; in 2009, The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed suit against her under multiple alias names, alleging 59 subsidiary names for one Canadian “company” alone.^[5] Names include “BankAsia AG”, "BankAsia", “Pearl Asian Mining” (“Pearl Asia Mines”), “ZNext Mining”, "BIO-Genex Laboratories", “Gamboa Properties”, “Banco de Asia”, “BUB Microfinance Bank”, "Bae Rural Bank", “First Canadian American Holding Corp”, “Greengold Ray”, “GreenGold Ray Energies, Inc.”, “GRYE”, “International Monetary Reserve”, “IMR”, “ Guardian Savings & Guaranty”, “Express Bank”, “Consortium Finance Corporation”, and “Dominion of Melchizedek”.^{[1][5][7][13][19][43][44][45]}

Media characterizations

The activities of Peralasia Gamboa have received unusually strong descriptions in the mainstream media, as well as in her own media promotion. In 1994, the Indiana Star newspaper described her activities as being “like a novel full of global intrigue and biblical ties."^[19] In 1995, the Washington Post newspaper describes Gamboa’s numerous aliases, company names, and the complexity of her activities as “names that change with kaleidoscopic ease and a history of more legal proceedings than 'Melchizedek' has syllables… getting to the truth requires a walk down a bizarre labyrinth that includes a home-brew religion…it appears to exist mainly so that money can be whisked through shell banks”.^[2] In 2000, the Asia Times described Gamboa’s operations as “an astonishing series of worldwide swindles”.^[18] In 2002, the Italian newspaper La Republica described her international banking scheme as “A trap of luxury for the victims of one of the most diabolical international scams ever devised in recent years”.^[9] In the corporate filings published by the Penny Stock News and the Philippines Royal Oil & Alternative Energy Co., Inc. (PROL) website listing Gamboa as Chairman and Director, Gamboa (Bae Katiguman) is described as "spiritual and a true visionary" with a "passion to aid humanity", and as having as her company executive Brother Manny Tecson, the former regional director of the Philippine Anti-Graft Center, working on her Missionaries in Action program, Operation Reach Out.^[35][36]

Personal life

Gamboa’s previous husband was Roque Austin (also "Rocky Austin", "Roque Lallanas"), with whom she had daughter Bernadette Austin (Bernadette Austin-Bower) and son Raymond Austin ("Greengold Ray", Ray Austin, Raymond James Austin).^[46][47] Bernadette Austin is employed at California Capital in the same area as Gamboa, financial development.^[48] Bernadette Austin, a graduate of Woodside Priory School and St. Mary's College, entered UC Davis for Master's degree in Community Development.^[46][48] Her husband Michael Bower is the son of Peggy Bower and John Bower of Gualala, California.^[46][48] At Woodside Priory School, Austin was salutatorian, and Bower was valedictorian.^[48][49]

Gamboa had a second son Hazemach (“Hazemach” with no last name, “Haze Mach”, “Hazemach Hazemach”, "Hazemach Korem", “Hazemach Gamboa”, “Hazemach Pedley-Gamboa”, "Hazemach Pearlasia", “Z”, “Branch”,) with her husband “TZMach David Korem”, (“David Korem”, “Mark Pedley”, “Mark Logan Pedley”, “TZMach”, “Branch Vinedresser”, “David Korman”, “Jack Williams”, “Mark Wellington”, “TZMach David Netzer Korem”), the son of David Wellington who was convicted of bank fraud in Mexico, and who disappeared as he was transferred from a Mexican jail to the United States for prosecution.^{[2][7][15][50][51][52][53]} Hazemach Korem won the Mathematical Association of America American Mathematics Competition School Certificate of Merit in 2008.^[54]

Gamboa, as “Pearl Asian”, wrote an article for a local newspaper with Thomas Westernoff. The article was about Westernoff as “Sensei”, naming his business “Karate & Fitness Place USA”, and about her son, referring to him as both “Hazemach” and "the local product", then Westernoff wrote a subsequent article naming the son “Haze Mach”.^[15][53] According to the first article "Hazemach" was a student at Woodside Priory School in 2010 and won two Karate gold medals in Kobuto (weapon) and Kata (form) at the 2009 Amateur Athletic Union to represent the United States on the Junior World Karate Team at the World Karate Competition.^[15] The second article states that "Haze Mach" won a silver and bronze medal at the World Karate Confederation's World Karate Championships held in Venice, Italy in December 2010.^[15][53][55]

See also

• Operation Broken Trust
• Corporate shell
• Securities fraud
• Pump and dump
• Dummy corporation
• Aliases
• Fictitious business name
• Bank fraud
• Crime against international law

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} “State and U.S. officials… say the Dominion of Melchizedek… may be the front for illegal activity… Pearlasia says the state of California doesn't exist. The declaration of "spiritual war" from the leader of the ‘ecclesiastical sovereignty’ was the latest salvo in an odd legal skirmish that began last June when Pearlasia, also known as Elvira Gamboa, came to the attention of the California State Banking Department. She had tried to obtain a $20,000 auto loan from a small Shasta County bank, identifying herself as an official of 'Bankasia A.G.', said Steven Suchil, Banking Department counsel, and the local bank alerted the state… authorities sued her in Shasta County Superior Court to stop her from doing business as any of 11 different banks, such as the Zurich Credit Bankers A.G. or Asia Pacific Bank Ltd… Branch Vinedresser… according to state officials and published accounts, is a pseudonym for Mark Logan Pedley, a former Sacramento man twice convicted of fraud for his involvement in a real estate swindle and a scam involving the conversion of Mexican pesos into dollars… California Pacific Bankers & Insurance Ltd., was shut down by the California Department of Insurance… Vinedresser was convicted of mail and interstate fraud in 1983 and.. for selling land he didn't own in Sacramento... convicted again in 1986 for the peso conversion scam..”, NATION WAGING “SPIRITUAL WAR” ON STATE OFFICIAL, Sacramento Bee - Feb 13, 1995, [1]
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p} THE RUSE THAT ROARED, Washington Post, November 5, 1995, Richard Leiby, James Lileks
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Fantasy Island, CBS NEWS 60 MINUTES, April 10, 2000
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} SEC Sues ZNext Mining and its Principal for Fraud and Registration Violations, United States Securities and Exchange Commission Litigation Release No. 21084 / June 12, 2009, Securities and Exchange Commission v. ZNext Mining Corporation, Inc. and Elvira G. Gamboa, United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Civil Action No. CV 09-2611 (VRW), [2]
5. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m} “sold nearly 2 billion shares in a supposed gold mining company in the Philippines, but ZNext Mining Corp. aka Pearl Asian Mining Industries is just an empty shell, the SEC claims in Federal Court”, SEC Ties Gold-Mining Shares to Empty Shell, Courthouse News Service - Jun 15, 2009, [3]
6. ^ ^{a b c d} “They had duped hundreds of local Filipinos, Chinese and Bangladeshis to pay up to $3,500 for worthless Melchizedek travel documents they were told were ‘internationally-recognized passports’”, Cyber Nations with Real Repercussions, Asia Times, Feb 17, 2000, James Knight, [4]
7. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Presentation of Mr. John Shockey, Former Special Assistant, U.S. Comptroller of the Currency, to the 4th International Financial Fraud Convention in London, May 27, 1999
8. ^ Criminal Case # 46240709, Metropolitan Trial Court of Manila, Judge Juliet Manalo-San Gaspar
9. ^ ^{a b c} “A trap of luxury for the victims of one of the most diabolical international scams ever devised in recent years”, “Dominion of Melchizedek” Ghost State, (”una trappola di lusso per le vittime di una delle piu diaboliche truffe internazionali mai escogitate negli ultimo anni”, 'Dominio di Melchizedek' Stato Fantasma Sull), La Repubblica, Massimo Lugli, March 15, 2002 (15 maggio 2002), page 5 (pagina 5), Section:Rome, (sezione: ROMA), [5]
10. ^ ^{a b c d e f} “District Anti-Mafia Directorate in Rome, to defeat a matter of fraud of enormous proportions… 200 Italian victims of the scam… Elvira Gamboa, well-known international crooks, and varied financial structures in England, USA, Australia and France… the real scam. A plurality 'of banks around the world - entirely fictitious… fake company directors' going back and forth with great displays of wealth, so that the customer is convinced… International Merchant's Reserve (IMR), headquartered in Via Appia Nuova. A very similar name - an acronym identical - to the International Monetary Reserve, the governor of the Dominion…”, “Si articola cosi' l'operazione "Mulciber" - dal nome di colui che costrui' il palazzo del Diavolo all'Inferno - sgominata dai Carabinieri di Roma. Due anni di indagine, sette ordinanze di custodia cautelare emesse dalla Direzione Distrettuale Antimafia di Roma, per sgominare un giro di frodi di proporzioni enormi… 200 italiani vittime della truffa - A gestire praticamente l'intera operazione, Tzemach Ben David Korem e sua moglie Elvira Gamboa, notissimi truffatori internazionali, e variegate strutture finanziarie in Inghilterra, Stati Uniti d'America, Australia e Francia. Nell'operazione sono rimasti coinvolti circa 200 italiani, la maggior parte dei quali residenti nella zona di Taranto, per una cifra di circa 1,5 milioni di euro… 200 italiani vittime della truffa - A gestire praticamente l'intera operazione, Tzemach Ben David Korem e sua moglie Elvira Gamboa, notissimi truffatori internazionali, e variegate strutture finanziarie in Inghilterra, Stati Uniti d'America, Australia e Francia. Nell'operazione sono rimasti coinvolti circa 200 italiani, la maggior parte dei quali residenti nella zona di Taranto, per una cifra di circa 1,5 milioni di euro… La frangia italiana dell'intera operazione e' fisicamente incentrata sulla International Merchant's Reserve (Imr), con sede in via Appia Nuova. Un nome molto simile - un acronimo identico - alla International Monetary Reserve, del governatore del Dominion. Quattro esperti della finanza illegale, Bruno Adamu, la convivente Carolyn Ann Russel, Maurizio Cremona e Marco Dibari (ma quest'ultimo ha cambiato diversi nomi negli ultimi anni) si occupano giorno per giorno di procacciare e servire clienti.”, Cronaca. Operazione Mulciber, una colossale truffa internazionale sgominata dai carabinieri,RAI News 24, [6]
11. ^ “In the statutes of the "Domain", we learn that it is a sort of theocracy: excellent way (in the U.S.) would be safe from legal trouble by invoking the law on religious freedom and persecution on religious grounds.”, LA REPUBBLICA DAL, MASSIMO LUGLI, 'Dominio di Melchizedek' stato fantasma sull' Appia, 15 maggio 2002, pagina 5, sezione: ROMA, [7]
12. ^ ^{a b} ”This is Navid Shirazi's house, which can be seen in the season one episode "The Games People Play", when Adrianna goes over to his house for dinner”, Locations Info, 90210 Locations, [8]
13. ^ ^{a b c d e f} First Canadian American Holding Corp • 8-K • For 1/7/02
14. ^ ^{a b} ”1156 Shadow Hill Way (“at that time the largest private residence in Beverly Hills)”, Beverly Hills, John Bruce Nelson Real Estate, [9]
15. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} "Pearl Asian... The local product trains at The Karate & Fitness Place USA under the direction of Sensei Tom Westernoff. Hazemach", Local Boy Qualifies for US Karate Team, by Tom Westernoff and Pearl Asian, La Morinda Weekly, July 22, 2009, [10]
16. ^ ^{a b c} COMPLAINT FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE FEDERAL SECURITIES LAWS, Securities and Exchange Commission v. Znext Mining Inc., fka Pearl Asian Mining industries, Inc., and Elvira G. Gamboa, aka Pearl Asian and Bae Katiguman, United States District Court, Northern Division, San Francisco Division Case # CV 09-2611
17. ^ ^{a b} “ Elvira Gamboa, hunted by the police all the world”, LA REPUBBLICA DAL, PAUL VIOTTI, Treasure Island? No… Scams, May 15, 2002, page 6, [11]
18. ^ ^{a b c} “an astonishing series of worldwide swindles”, Cyber Nations with Real Repercussions, Asia Times, Feb 17, 2000, James Knight, [12]
19. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "The story of the mysterious financial company and state regulators' efforts to shut it down reads like a novel full of global intrigue and biblical ties… Asia Pacific Bank Ltd… listing a charter from Melchizedek, asked for, and got, permission to do business in Indiana… Eric Roberts, a Financial Institutions official, said several attempts have been made to make Asia Pacific go away. It has been a slippery chase, as Asia Pacific has no offices other than a telephone answering service… it wanted authority for a subsidiary, Bankasia A.G. No dice, replied Michael W. Padgett, deputy secretary of state. If a company wants to call itself a bank, Padgett wrote, it has to be organized as one… Padgett said last week that he was telephoned by PearlAsia, who describes herself as the president of both Asia Pacific and Melchizedek. She told him that in her tongue the word "bank" doesn't necessarily mean bank… "I said, `Well, it means bank in English, so you can't use it,' " Padgett said. Bank means bank in California, too, where authorities have sued Bankasia and PearlAsia to get her to stop using that four-letter word. California got into the act because Asia Pacific's U.S. offices (headquarters are in Shanghai, China) are in tiny Big Bend, Calif. The federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency also has issued a warning about the bank. "There were a number of letters of credit issued by this phony bank which appeared in circulation," said John Shockey, special assistant at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. "It's a phantom bank.".. PearlAsia said she didn't know what all the huff is about. In response to written questions, she said Asia Pacific and Bankasia have never really conducted business in Indiana and use the Indianapolis offices only "to facilitate communications." PearlAsia, also known as Elvira Gamboa,… "The Bible defines the Dominion of Melchizedek as an eternal state of peace and righteousness," PearlAsia wrote… A call to their California consulate was answered by a man who said he was unable to take a message. He said he was in a hot tub of sorts at the moment and didn't have a note pad…", Indiana trying to expel `phantom' Asia Pacific Bank, Indianapolis Star, Nov 9, 1994, SP DINNEN, [13]
20. ^ ”1156 Shadow Hill Way (“at that time the largest private residence in Beverly Hills)” 1156 Shadow Hill Way, Beverly Hills, John Bruce Nelson Real Estate, [14]
21. ^ “Dominion of Melchizedek, his Filipina wife, Elvira Gamboa, goes under the name ‘Ms Pearlasia’, the president.”, Fiji's cyber secession, Craig DeSilva, Asia Times, February 5, 2000
22. ^ , “... up the Dominion of Melchizedek soon after his release from a Washington penitentiary installing his Filipina wife as President Pearlasia of the dominion ...”,Cyber Nations with Real Repercussions, James Knight, Asia Times, Feb 17, 2000, [15]
23. ^ “Mark Pedley had just been released on parole from prison of Walla Walla.”, LA REPUBBLICA DAL, MASSIMO LUGLI, 'Dominio di Melchizedek' stato fantasma sull' Appia, 15 maggio 2002, pagina 5, sezione: ROMA, [16]
24. ^ “Dominion of Melchizedek soon after his release from a Washington penitentiary installing his Filipina wife as President Pearlasia of the dominion”, Cyber Nations with Real Repercussions, Asia Times, Feb 17, 2000, James Knight, [17]
25. ^ “the Dominion of Melchizedek … above all, was a national bank… when the victims were aware of having been cheated was too late. Among them, dozens of small farmers in the province of Taranto (Italy), in financial difficulties because of the drought… Still elusive, however, are the two minds of that colossal scam, which in Italy alone has claimed two hundred victims among entrepreneurs, traders, professionals and farmers: they are the 'boss' Mark Pedley his wife, Elvira Gamboa, hunted by the police all the world. They are the "founders" of Melchizedek, a religious state that in fact, say the investigators, only serves to make fraud all over the world…. A trick to buy time.”, LA REPUBBLICA DAL, PAUL VIOTTI, Treasure Island? No… Scams, May 15, 2002, page 6, [18]
26. ^ “US officials warn that it is part of a major international fraud, which has been perpetrated worldwide since 1990”, Fiji's cyber secession, Craig DeSilva, Asia Times, February 5, 2000
27. ^ “supposed gold mining company in the Philippines”, SEC Ties Gold-Mining Shares to Empty Shell, Courthouse News Service - Jun 15, 2009, [19]
28. ^ “The SEC sued ZNext and Elvira Gamboa aka Pearl Asian aka Bae Katiguman … Gamboa, 57, siphoned off more than $1 million from the unregistered shares… chairwoman and sole control person of ZNext … PAIM was formerly a subsidiary of First Canadian American Holding Corporation ('FCAH') … PAIM was formerly a subsidiary of First Canadian American Holding Corporation ('FCAH')”, SEC Ties Gold-Mining Shares to Empty Shell, Courthouse News Service - Jun 15, 2009, [20]
29. ^ SEC SUES ZNEXT MINING AND ITS PRINCIPAL FOR FRAUD AND REGISTRATION VIOLATIONS , U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 21084 / June 12, 2009, Securities and Exchange Commission v. ZNext Mining Corporation, Inc. and Elvira G. Gamboa, United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Civil Action No. CV 09-2611 (VRW), [21]
30. ^ ^{a b c} "first nationwide operation of its kind to target a broad array of investment fraud schemes", Press Release by the United States Attorney General Eric Holder, the Office of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the United States Secret Service (USSS), the Postal Inspector of the United States Postal Inspection Service, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Trade Commission Southeast Region (FTC), the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the State of Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation, and the Miami Police Department, [22]
31. ^ United States District Court, Southern District of Florida, Miami Division, Case #1:10-cv-23604-CMA
32. ^ ^{a b c} Federal Bureau of Investigation (December 6, 2010). "Operation Broken Trust". http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2010/december/fraud_120610/fraud_120610. Retrieved December 7, 2010. 
33. ^ Yost, Pete (December 6, 2010). "'Operation Broken Trust' Targets Financial Fraud". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/06/AR2010120602898.html?nav=rss_business/industries. Retrieved December 17, 2010. 
34. ^ John Carney (December 6, 2010). "Operation Broken Trust: Over 500 Charged in $10.4 Billion Investment Fraud Sweep". CNBC. http://www.cnbc.com/id/40533058. Retrieved December 7, 2010. 
35. ^ ^{a b c d} Philippines Royal Oil & Alternative Energy Co., Inc. (PROL) , Corporate Filings, Penny Stock News, [23]
36. ^ ^{a b c d e} Philippines Royal Oil & Alternative Energy Co., Inc. (PROL) website
37. ^ “A Foster City woman with multiple aliases”, SEC Ties Gold-Mining Shares to Empty Shell, Courthouse News Service - Jun 15, 2009, [24]
38. ^ “Dominion of Melchizedek, his Filipina wife, Elvira Gamboa, goes under the name ‘Ms Pearlasia’, the president.”, Fiji's Cyber Secession, Craig DeSilva, Asia Times, February 5, 2000
39. ^ “Filipina wife as President Pearlasia of the dominion”, Cyber Nations with Real Repercussions, James Knight, Asia Times, Feb 17, 2000, [25]
40. ^ “...in Italy alone has claimed two hundred victims among entrepreneurs, traders, professionals and farmers.. Elvira Gamboa, hunted by the police all the world say the investigators, only serves to make fraud all over the world…. A trick to buy time.”, LA REPUBBLICA DAL, PAUL VIOTTI, Treasure Island? No… Scams, May 15, 2002, page 6, [26]
41. ^ ZNext Mining to Open Its XYZ Gold Processing & Refinery, Znext self promotion, [27]
42. ^ “Elvira Gamboa, goes under the name ‘Ms Pearlasia’, the president.”, Fiji's cyber secession, Craig DeSilva, Asia Times, February 5, 2000
43. ^ ^{a b} BLACK FOREST INTERNATIONAL. LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, Plaintiffs. v. LEGENT CLEARING LLC, a Delaware limited liability company; … GAMBOA PROPERTIES, INC., an Oregon corporation, PEARL ASIAN MINING INDUSTRIES, INC., a Wyoming corporation, E. PEARL ASIAN, A.K.A. ELVIRA GAMBOA, A.K.A. BAE KATIGUMAN, [28]
44. ^ ^{a b} GreenGold Ray Energies expands plantation in the Philippines, Biodiesel Magazine, Erin Vogele, July 14, 2008, [29]
45. ^ GreenGold Ray Energies Inc (GRYE.PK), Reuters, 22 Mar 2011
46. ^ ^{a b c} , “Bernadette Austin and Michael Bower… The bride is the daughter of Pearlasia Gamboa and Rocky Austin of Woodside, Calif”, Weddings, Austin-Bower, Palo Alto Weekly, November 15, 2006, [30]
47. ^ Northeastern Law School Directory
48. ^ ^{a b c d} Austin-Bower, The Almanac, November 22, 2006 p. 25
49. ^ Weddings, Palo Alto Weekly, November 15, 2006
50. ^ “Mark Pedley, and his wife Elvira Gamboa, better known as "Lady Pearlasia", LA REPUBBLICA DAL, MASSIMO LUGLI, 'Dominio di Melchizedek' stato fantasma sull' Appia, 15 maggio 2002, pagina 5, sezione: ROMA, [31]
51. ^ “Mark L. Pedley, A/k/a Jack Williams, Mark Wellington… On September 1, 1982…, Mexico nationalized its banking system, converted all dollar deposits to Mexican pesos, and restricted the exchange of pesos for dollars. The peso underwent severe devaluation. At the knock of opportunity, a black market sprang up to facilitate the conversion of pesos into dollars on terms more favorable than Mexican law permitted. Within a few weeks, David and Mark Wellington, nee Pedley, father and son,2 launched MBT. They invested $10,000 to acquire the corporate shell from James Phillips, a lawyer practicing in the Northern Mariana Islands (where the bank was chartered). Nivica, a Massachusetts attorney, acted as MBT's general counsel and recruited the bank's first board of directors, comprising three compliant individuals who were already directors of a Bahamian bank.”, 887 F.2d 1110: United States of America, Appellee, v. Gjon N. Nivica, Defendant, Appellant.united States of America, Appellee, v. Mark L. Pedley, A/k/a Jack Williams, Mark Wellington,defendant, Appellant, United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit. - 887 F.2d 1110, Heard June 5, 1989.Decided Sept. 29, 1989, [32]
52. ^ ORDER INSTITUTING ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDINGS PURSUANT TO SECTION 17A(c)(4)(C) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 AND NOTICE OF HEARING, SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 Release No. 63788 / January 28, 2011, ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING File No. 3-14208 In the Matter of TZEMACH DAVID NETZER KOREM, [33]
53. ^ ^{a b c} Karate Kid Shines at the World Karate Championships, La Morinda Weekly, December 08, 2010, Thomas Westernoff, [34]
54. ^ Math Awards, Living Wisdom School
55. ^ Moraga Chamber of Commerce

External links

• Fantasy Island: The Strange Tale of Alleged Fraudster Pearlasia Gamboa
• Independent Media Center
• Financial & Tax Fraud Education Associates