In the week beginning November 13, 2023, securities regulators in at least seven American states issued enforcement actions against the same operation, naming roughly a dozen individuals between them. The coordination was deliberate. In October 2023 the Texas State Securities Board and agencies across the United States and Canada had organised a working group to investigate Josip Heit, Dirc Zahlmann, Bruce Innes Wylde Hughes and the family of companies operating as GSPartners.
What emerged is one of the more complete public name lists attached to a single crypto operation, because each state named the people it found operating in its own jurisdiction.
The Names, State by State
California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation named GSB Gold Standard Bank Ltd. trading as GSPartners, Swiss Valorem Bank Ltd., GSB Gold Standard Corporation AG, and individually Josip Heit, Bruce Innes Wylde Hughes and Dirc Zahlmann.
Texas issued Emergency Cease and Desist Order ENF-23-CDO-1879 naming the GSB entities together with Josip Dortmund Heit, Hughes, Aline Lima and Zahlmann. New Hampshire’s Bureau of Securities Regulation issued Order 1-2023-000033 naming GSDEFI, GSB Gold Standard Trade, Swiss Valorem Bank and the same four individuals. Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation named Heit alongside Brian Cromley and Ruel Milson, together with Wealthbuilders Worldwide. Alabama named Heit with Nathaniel Hines Jr., Jeanette Morgan Hines, Del Frank Lewis and Diana L. Lewis. Kentucky named GS Partners Global and Heit. Arizona issued a temporary order against Swiss Valorem Bank, GSB Gold Standard Corporation AG and GSB Gold Standard Pay Ltd. Wisconsin’s Department of Financial Institutions opened case 246723.
Two Tiers of People
The lists divide into two categories, and the distinction matters. Heit, Hughes, Zahlmann and Lima appear as principals or executives across multiple states. Cromley, Milson, the Hines and the Lewises appear in single jurisdictions, in the pattern of local promoters who recruited within their own networks. Alabama naming two married couples alongside an entity called Wealthbuilders Worldwide is characteristic of how these operations spread: through people selling to the community they already belong to.
Florida’s regulator described the operation as promoting investments through a multilevel marketing scheme, paying lavish commissions, and using deliberately obscure and misleading information about how the organisation generated profits. Its action, like the others, was entered as an immediate final order.
What Happened to Each Tier
Heit settled in September 2024 with the fraud allegations against him withdrawn. The Texas Board recorded that the consent order does not reach the prior fraud allegations against Swiss Valorem Bank, Hughes, Zahlmann and Lima. Later filings confirm the 2023 Texas order is final and unappealable as to those four, because none filed a timely hearing request. The local promoters named in Florida, Alabama and elsewhere have not been the subject of further public federal action.
Two Tiers of Respondent
The lists divide into two categories and the distinction has held up over time. Heit, Hughes, Zahlmann and Lima appear as principals or executives across multiple states. Cromley, Milson, the Hines and the Lewises appear in single jurisdictions, in the pattern of local promoters recruiting within their own networks. Alabama naming two married couples alongside an entity called Wealthbuilders Worldwide is characteristic of how these operations spread.
Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation described the operation as promoting investments through a multilevel marketing scheme, paying lavish commissions, and using deliberately obscure and misleading information about how the organisation generated profits. New Hampshire’s order commenced an adjudicative proceeding in which the allegations, if uncontested, may be deemed true.
What Happened to Each Tier
Heit settled in September 2024 with the fraud allegations against him withdrawn. Texas recorded that the consent order does not reach the prior fraud allegations against Swiss Valorem Bank, Hughes, Zahlmann and Lima, and later filings confirm the 2023 order is final and unappealable as to those four because none requested a hearing in time.
The local promoters named in Florida, Alabama and elsewhere have not been the subject of further public federal action located in this reporting. Whether that reflects a decision about culpability or simply the limits of state jurisdiction is not something the public record answers.
Conclusion
Seven states moved in a single week in November 2023 against one operation, after a year of coordinated investigation across two countries. Between them they named twelve people: three executives who appear everywhere, one more who never contested the order against her, and a set of local promoters who sold to their own communities. Three years later the man at the centre has had the fraud allegations against him withdrawn by agreement, and the orders against three of the others are final and beyond appeal.
