A federal court has temporarily halted a multimillion-dollar business venture scam, known as “Blueprint to Wealth,” at the request of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The scheme had been operating since 2018 under several aliases and was recently charged for its fraudulent actions.
The FTC’s complaint names three individuals—Samuel James Smith, Robert William Shafer, Charles Joseph Garis Jr.—and a company owned by one of them, Business Revolution Group, as the orchestrators of the deceptive operation. The scheme primarily targeted consumers looking to establish their own businesses, offering a program that allegedly held little to no value beyond commissions generated from recruiting others into the scheme.
“Blueprint to Wealth exploits consumers with false promises of extraordinary returns, leaving their finances in ruins,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The FTC remains committed to pursuing and shutting down those who deceive consumers out of their hard-earned money.”
According to the complaint, consumers were duped into paying between $3,000 and $21,000, along with additional administrative fees, to join the scheme. In return, they were promised turnkey online businesses that would be managed on their behalf. However, the complaint alleges that all advertising and marketing for these businesses were under the control of the scheme’s operators, and the businesses existed solely to sell Blueprint to Wealth memberships.
The FTC further alleges that the scheme’s marketing was saturated with false claims, including robocalls from supposed members claiming to earn $50,000 each month. Promotional websites boasted that consumers could start earning $3,500 weekly within 3-10 days and featured videos of purported members making tens of thousands of dollars in a short period.
Shafer and Garis reportedly used robocalls, telemarketing, and social media ads to engage consumers and persuade them to join the scheme. One particular call involved Garis convincing a retiree in her seventies that joining Blueprint to Wealth would expedite her debt repayment and profit-making process.
Smith, as per the complaint, served as the scheme’s administrator, overseeing its online base and the goods and services that consumers received upon joining Blueprint to Wealth.
The court order provisionally prohibits the defendants from misrepresenting or assisting others in misrepresenting any business or money-making opportunity and freezes their assets pending further court action. The FTC’s complaint urges the court to permanently shut down the scheme and allow the FTC to provide refunds to the scheme’s victims.
The decision to file the complaint was authorized by a unanimous 3-0 Commission vote and was submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
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