What Mallorca is for German tourists, Dubai is for German entrepreneurs. An offshore paradise, but with a familiar German-speaking environment. Measured by the number of cheated investors, the pending criminal charges and the investigating authorities a German stands out in Dubai – “Michi” alias Michael Sander.
The Undercover Investigator “Michi” Sander
Michael Sander formerly know as Michael Wobbe was the founder of Obtainer Online, an online media website which reported on global MLM businesses for some years. In June 2007 the Obtainer was launched and only one year later the online magazine allegedly had over 500,000 subscribers, who read the purportedly investigative stories on MLM schemes.
The role of an investigator was a preprogrammed role for the former skinhead and undercover investigator for the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Verfassungsschutz). Allegedly, one learns on Wikipedia about Michael Wobbe, he was active in the neo-Nazi scene as an undercover investigator. In 1997, the journalist Burkhard Schröder wrote a book about Wobbe’s role as V-Man. Consequently, the Obtainer focused on investigative reports on the MLM scene.
As a matter of fact, the site not only published investigative reports but also published favorable (sponsored) fake news about PONZI-schemes like WCM777, (shut down by the SEC in 2014), ViziNova, Bonefa, and many more. Not shy of conflicts of interest Sander also advised and consulted those PONZI-Schemes, i.e. he worked on both sides of the game. Sometime in 2014, Michael Sander was engaged by the Ponzi-scheme ViziNova as a consultant which resulted in a very positive report about the scheme. ViziNova was considered as the successor system of the fraudulent WCM777, which was prohibited by the SEC and other authorities. The founder of WCM777, Renato Rodrigues, was also behind ViziNova. It was Obtainer’s task to carry out the appropriate public relations so that this would not become known. Obtainer became a defender of the German MLM schemes and also supported the Bonofa PONZI-scheme. Obviously, for private and financial reasons, Sander closed down the Obtainer in 2014 to start a new life as MLM entrepreneur himself.
As most of the German MLM-PONZI guys “Michi” Sanders is living in Dubai. He and his companies are in good company of other MLM-artists such as Stephan Welk, Christian Michel Scheibener, Robert Velghe, or Christian Thomale. And they all play the very same game – catch me if you can. But unfortunately, the authorities except the U.S. FBI seem not really been to eager to go for them. Well, maybe the former undercover agent Michael Sander still has got his connections?
Evolution and Arrival in the Crypto-Scene
According to the Burrenblog, “Michi” Sander became involved with the meanwhile collapsed MoneyLine (Israel) and since then sticked to the “line” label. After Moneyline’s collapsed, Sander became involved in the quite prominent Global Dynamic Marketing (GDM), a revshare MLM-scheme, which offered the GDI-Line, this Ponzi-scheme evidently was the successor of MoneyLine.The scheme’s website domain (“globaldynamicmarketing.com”) was privately registered on June 10th, 2016. The scheme obviosly collapsed after just a few months.
Evidently, Sander recognized the crypth-hype and rebooted GDM as Global Dynamic Marketing 2.0 (GDM 2.0). The new website domain (“globaldynamicmarketing2.com”) was privately registered on May 27th, 2017. GDM 2.0 evolved the GDI Line into the cryptographic CTX Line which issued its “native” Token the Centauri Coin or CTX. The CTX Line was technically presented as a clone of the Litecoin blockchain and structurally as sort of DAO to potential (naive) investors. In his video, he promised potential investor incredible profits and presented himself als a future billionaire “powered by CTX Coins”.
Sander is a legendary MLM artist and has a big entourage of loyal followers and people he has trained. Among the websites that have focused on reviews of MLM systems, financial news or investor protection there is hardly one where Michi Sander does not appear prominently. The Burrenblog, the Cafe4Eck or GoMoPa have filled many posts with this busy scam artist. Actually, he is an important content provider for them. Sander also employs investigative and supervisory authorities in some countries. He spends the money of the investors of his PONZI-schemes on his personal luxury with which he presents himself in the social media.
According to tho the marketing papers, Alpha Centaurì`s Inc (successor of Global Dynamics Marketing LTD 2.0) target was to concentrate on the mining of the Centauri Coins (maximum 84 Mio Coins). The Centauri Coin (CTX) was declared as being the only valid currency within the CTX network. So any investments in the system had to be made by exchanging FIAT money into CTX. Commissions for recruiting additional members for the PONZI-scheme as well as any payout are done with CTX. Information on the Source Code of the blockchain (?) and on the mining process were promised but never was delivered.
Sander promised a continuous increase in the value of the CTX and the ultimate exit scenarios: a soon to be conducted IPO of the company’s shares and/or a listing of the CTX at USD 10. Sander´s main battlefield for the CTX marketing campaigns was Austria, accompanied by Germany and Switzerland.
Up to now (September 2018), neither the Centauri Coins nor the shares of Alpha Centauri are publicly listed. The CTX can only be sold on internal GD marketplaces (ctx-line or krypto-market). These sites are thinly populated with offers from other CTX Line affiliates collecting CTX coin.
Regulator Warnings in 2017
The Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) has repeatedly issued warnings against Michael Sander’s PONZI system:
- January 2017, a warning was issued in connection with a Global Dynamic Marketing LTD (Singapore);
- June 2017, a warning against Alpha Centauri Inc. (Chile) was issued;
- August 2017, a warning was issued against Global Dynamic Marketing 2.0 – GDM 2.0 (Qatar).
The multiple warnings of the supervisory authority did not impress Michael Sander in the least at first. The domains and websites mentioned in the warnings of the FMA went offline. This is no problem for Sander because he and his network of companies have registered enough other domains. The Sander network continues to advertise its PONZI scheme with constantly changing company constructions, domains, and websites.
Sometime in autumn 2017, however, the CTX line was discontinued and the mining of the CTX coins stopped. The system is once again submerged in darkness. However, there is still the possibility to invest real money in the Centauri Coin.
The Billionaires Gate
On a website that claims to be Sander’s personal blog, you can read that he currently has a new project, Billionaires Gate, which specializes in “luxury concierge services” for the rich. And, yes, of course, it’s structured as an MLM scheme. So again a new playing field for Sander´s ongoing game: how to “rip off people”?
to be continued with part 2 and the “Resurrection of the Centauri Coin”.
