Simon Stepsys, a notorious Ponzi scammer from the UK, has pled guilty to tax fraud.
As per a case brought by the UK’s Insolvency Service, Stepsys’ tax fraud related to Simon Stepsys Success International.
Stepsys set up Simon Stepsys Success International to launder money through in 2013.
Circa 2013 Stepsys was promoting the Banners Broker Ponzi scheme.
As per BusinessForHome’s “Top Earners Hall of Fame“, by January 2013 Stepsys had already stolen ~$2.4 million through Banners Broker.
In 2015 Canadian authorities shut down Banners Broker, confirming it was a $93 million dollar Ponzi scheme.
As per a court-appointed Receiver, Simon Stepsys Success International
In the years between 2016 and 2019 there were no accounts kept so when the company began to be wound up there were no accounts for the Official Receiver to deal with.
Mr Stepsys was invited to produce his accounts but he was unable to do so.
Mr Stepsys was interviewed. During the interview he said he had failed to keep his accounts.
He said he was not very good at keeping paperwork. He admitted he had no paperwork.
As at June 2016, £199,000 was the official balance recorded in Simon Stepsys Success International’s bank account.
When asked where the money went, Stepsys claimed
he had spent that money on living costs for himself and his wife.
He said he wanted to cooperate with the official receiver but said he was not in the best place.
Stepsys went on to admit he had failed to “fulfill his duties as director of” Simon Stepsys Success International.
He said he had no idea how much he owed HMRC. He appears to have prioritised paying money to himself rather than HMRC.
HMRC stands for HM Revenue & Customs, essentially the UK’s IRS equivalent.
After Banners Broker collapsed Stepsys went on to promote MyAdvertisingPays, or MAP for short.
Stepsys’ solicitor represented that, through MAP, that Stepsys sold
advertising online and his income was based on a click or click through remuneration.
In reality, like Banners Broker, MyAdvertisingPays was a Ponzi scheme.
MyAdvertisingPays first collapsed in late 2015. A reboot, which excluded US investors, collapsed again in September 2016.
A second reboot was launched in November but lasted less than a month. In December a third reboot was launched as The Advert Platform.
I believe The Advert Platform collapsed in 2017. Simon Stepsys promoted all of the MAP reboots.
Stepsys’ solicitor claims that, following MAP’s four collapses;
Stepsys had gone into a ‘spiral of depression and ill health’ and received online blame for the collapse of the company which he said was not his fault.
It should be noted that Stepsys, as the Ponzi scheme’s top promoter, was very much the face of My Advertising Pays.
In handing down Stepsys’ sentence, District Judge Jack McGarva stated;
Limited liability in a company s a privilege which brings with it responsibilities. There is a strong public interest in ensuring these responsibilities are met
In this case your failure to keep records made it impossible for the official receiver to complete his duties causing a significant loss to the public purse as a result.
Though I am making it clear I am sentencing for failing to keep records rather than concealing of assets.
Stepsys was handed down a 16 week suspended jail sentence. He is also required to undertake 200 hours of community service and pay £3,990 in court costs.
Stepsys’ regulatory problems date back to 1998, wherein the Office of Fair Trading
accused Stepsys of ‘preying on the vulnerable’ with home-working schemes that promised lucrative returns.
In 1999 the UK’s High Court banned Stepsys from “promoting the ‘get rich’ quick schemes.
Banners Broker launched in 2012. And we’re now coming up on a decade of Simon Stepsys “promoting the ‘get rich” quick schemes”.
Other than tax fraud, UK authorities have taken no action against Stepsys defrauding consumers out of millions.
Stepsys’ latest scam was the Russian Ponzi scheme Meme Club.
Launched on or around May 2022, Meme Club collapsed earlier this month.
Our readers have been asking why UK authorities haven’t investigated Stepsys since at least 2016:
Stepsys is a great example of why BehindMLM has and continues to be highly critical of the UK’s failure to protect consumers from blatant “out in the open” financial fraud.