Pearlasia Gamboa

Pearlasia Gamboa (born Elvira G. Gamboa) is a Filipino American business woman involved in controversial banking and investments, for which she has been successfully sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and various state agencies. She was connected to the Dominion of Melchizedek, an unrecognized micronation that has been used as a front for fraudulent criminal activity.

Pearlasia Gamboa
Born
Elvira G. Gamboa

Manila
OccupationBusinesswoman
Spouse(s)Rocky Austin (bf. 1993),
Mark Logan Pedley (1994-present)
Children2

Personal life

Gamboa was born Elvira G. Gamboa,[1] in 1950,[2][3] in Manila.[2]

Career

In 1994 companies run by Gamboa, and which were purporting to be banks, were prevented from operating in Indiana[4] and California.[5]

Banking micronation
Further information: Dominion of Melchizedek

Gamboa was the president of the micronation known as the Dominion of Melchizedek, set up by her husband Mark Pedley.[6] The micronation, which only exists in cyberspace, is a front for fraudulent criminal activity.[7][8]

ZNext Mining

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission took her to civil court over a company she owned, ZNext Mining, in 2009, alleging that she had used fictitious reports of gold mining operations to profit by fraudulently sell shares, siphoning off more than $1 million.[3][9] She maintained that any fraudulent manipulation of stock prices was carried out by her husband without her knowledge. After Gamboa failed to appear in federal court to contest the government's accusations, a default judgment was ordered against her in August 2010 totaling $1.8 million; a $650,000 fine for the ZNext corporation, and $1.18 million for Gamboa personally. Gamboa was also permanently barred from selling penny stocks. In 2011, she said she had not paid the fine and was attempting to have the decision overturned.[2]

ZNext Mining was investigated by a multi-agency taskforce as part of Operation Broken Trust, a US-wide operation in 2010 that targeted investment fraud. Although her husband Mark Pedley was charged, under the name Tzemach David Netzer Korem, and pleaded guilty, Gamboa was not.[10]

Use of aliases

Gamboa has operated under various pseudonyms, including Pearl Asian and Bae Katiguman,[3] and Pearlasia.[2]

References
  1. "The Ruse That Roared". The Washington Post. 5 November 1995.
  2. "Fantasy Island: The Strange Tale of Alleged Fraudster Pearlasia Gamboa". SF Weekly. 6 July 2011. Archived from the original on November 23, 2014.
  3. "SEC Ties Gold-Mining Shares to Empty Shell". Courthouse News Service. 15 Jun 2009. Archived from the original on March 19, 2012.
  4. "Indiana trying to expel 'phantom' Asia Pacific Bank". The Indianapolis Star. 9 November 1994. p. E1.
  5. ""Nation" Waging "Spiritual War" on State Official". The Sacramento Bee. 13 February 1995. p. B1.
  6. "Cyber Nations with Real Repercussions". Asia Times Online. 17 Feb 2000. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013.
  7. "Dominion of Melchizedek". Quatloos!.
  8. Tillman, Robert (2002). Global Pirates: Fraud in the Offshore Insurance Industry. Northeastern University Press. pp. 113–5. ISBN 9781555535056.
  9. "SEC Sues ZNext Mining and its Principal for Fraud and Registration Violations". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 12 June 2009. Archived from the original on June 15, 2009.
  10. "U.S. ATTORNEY ANNOUNCES REGIONAL RESULTS OF "OPERATION BROKEN TRUST" TARGETING INVESTMENT FRAUD". United States Department of Justice. 6 December 2010. Archived from the original on January 21, 2011.
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