Published: May 10, 2006 09:25 am      

Web of deceit?

Local internet site center of investigation

Could Corsicana be the at the center of a nation-wide Internet scheme? Or was the operation, known as “The POPN” simply what it claimed to be; a Web site of generosity among friends?

These are questions that are being investigated, according to a source who spoke to the Daily Sun on the condition of anonymity.

The operation is also the focus of an investigation conducted by Brett Shipp of WFAA-TV in Dallas, scheduled to air during the station’s 10 p.m. news today.

Corsicana Police Chief G.M. Cox said that his office did not have sufficient evidence to conduct a criminal investigation at present. He said that his office had received two inquires about the “POPN.” Navarro County District Attorney Steve Keathley told the Daily Sun that no one in his office had been contacted about the organization or its activities.

“POPN,” short for “Power of the People Network,” had a Web site promoting its program that called for “gifting” of money to other participants in the organization. Those members, in turn, would receive “monetary gifts” from other members that they recruited into the group.

Membership in the group was said to be by invitation, but the Web site the Daily Sun checked offered a link to sign up for participation. That Web site has since been removed, and replaced by a site with a different offering.

How Corsicana came into play, according to the source, involved where some prospective members were told to send their “gift” to the group. The source said prospective members were given an address on Lafayette Street in Corsicana, and a contact name at that address. Addresses in Florida and Irving have also been used for the organization.

Instructions also included some additional advisories; nothing was to be sent by U.S. Mail; participants were told to only use private overnight couriers, such as Federal Express or United Parcel Service. Also, no checks or money orders were to be used, only cash.

Those who chose to participate, and to tell others to encourage their participation, were also provided with some very specific phrases to use, and to avoid, when communicating with others. The group’s operators said their reasoning was to comply with Internal Revenue Service guidelines.

The Daily Sun source, however, said he has been told by others who have been involved with the “POPN” that the group provided the guidelines and phrasing to keep law enforcement officials at bay.

A WFAA-TV television news crew was seen outside the home on Lafayette last month, attempting to interview one of the individuals said to be involved in the Web site operation.

Information received by the Daily Sun indicated that complaints were coming in on the group from all over the nation. The complaints were from people who had “gifted” money to others in the organization and had been given assurances they would also receive money. That didn’t happen, according to the complainants.

The Daily Sun spoke with two individuals, one in California, another in an East Coast state, who told essentially the same story of losing money by “gifting” into the network. Neither were recruited directly by anyone located in Corsicana, nor did they send any money directly to Corsicana.

Both said they had been told “they would be dealt with severely,” should they complain to anyone about their involvement with the “POPN,” and both expressed fear of retribution for talking with reporters or authorities.

A new offering by what is said to be the same operators, including the one reportedly based in Corsicana, offers members of the previous operation an opportunity to join the new group at a reduced rate, according to the Daily Sun source.

The new Web site, checked by the Daily Sun this week, is offering a “life skills coaching” program for an investment, with all money to be sent via MoneyGram to the organization. The Web site recommends that participants use Wal-Mart MoneyGram locations to submit their payments, that go to a company named “The POPN Life-Dallas, Texas.”

An internet search of “The Power of the People Network” turned up over a dozen links to various Web sites citing complaints about the program, stories of losing money by “gifting” to the program and names of individuals said to be involved in the operation.

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Bob Belcher may be contacted via e-mail at belcher@corsicanadailysun.com.