Current Ponzi Schemes & Reference Information
1. Gurudeo “Buddy” Persaud
Ponzi Scheme Information
- Orlando broker
- astrology-based investment methods
- reportedly told his clients that he would be investing their money in debt, stock, futures, and real estate markets. In reality, he has subscribed to the idea that gravitational forces affect human behavior and, in turn, the stock market
- worked with at least 14 investors between July 2007 and January 2010 and according to the SEC complaint, he told them that the fund was risk-free.
- he misappropriated around $415,000 — nearly half of the investment money — for his own personal use. The claim goes on to say that Persaud worked in “typical Ponzi scheme fashion” by repaying earlier investors with money he brought in from new investors.
- White Elephant Trading Company
References
- http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2012/2012-118.htm
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/22/astrology-ponzi-scheme-sec-files-charges-_n_1618909.html
- http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2012/comp-pr2012-118.pdf
2. James Davis Risher
Ponzi Scheme Information
- victims were spread out across eight US states and Canada, although most were concentrated near Lakeland, Florida.
- sentenced to 19 years and 7 seven months in federal prison for mail fraud, money laundering, and engaging in an illegal monetary transaction
- court also ordered Risher to forfeit a 2007 Lexus, a 2008 Lexus, a 2008 Smart Car, ten pieces of diamond and other jewelry, and a painting, which are traceable to proceeds of the offenses
- court also entered a money judgment in the amount of $12.4 million – proceeds obtained by Risher, as part of the charged criminal conduct
- Risher pleaded guilty on September 9, 2011
- private equity fund, referred to as the Preservation of Principal Fund.
- funds would be held at Penson Financial Services, Inc.
- At least 106 victim-investors transmitted more than $21 million for investment in the purported fund.
- http://www.justice.gov/usao/flm/press/2011/dec/20111207_Rischer.html
- http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2011/2011-171.htm
- http://www.fbi.gov/tampa/press-releases/2011/convicted-felon-sentenced-for-his-role-in-more-than-21-million-ponzi-scheme
3. Norman Adie
Ponzi Scheme Information
- $530,000 from a number of cinema-loving backers for his apparently fake plans to update and expand the Heights moviehouse and two others he owned in Pennsylvania.
- he used the money on personal expenses and to keep his struggling theaters afloat
- http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/33/48/bh_heightscinema_2010_11_26_bk.html
- http://www.stopfraud.gov/news/news-11232010.html
4. Allen and Wendell Jacobson
Ponzi Scheme Information
- operate from a base in Fountain Green, Utah
- offer investors the opportunity to invest in limited liability companies (LLCs) in order to share ownership of large apartment communities in eight states
- SEC alleges that the Jacobsons represent that they buy apartment complexes with low occupancy rates at significantly discounted prices. They then renovate them and improve their management, and aim to resell them within five years
- Investors are said to share in the profits derived from rental income at the apartment complexes as well as the eventual sales.
- the Jacobsons raised more than $220 million from approximately 225 investors through a complex web of entities under the umbrella of Management Solutions, Inc.
- http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2011/2011-266.htm
- http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2011/lr22195.htm
5. Dunya Predovan
Ponzi Scheme Information
- bilked investors out of about $450,000 over six years
- http://www.forbes.com/sites/halahtouryalai/2012/05/14/the-latest-in-ponzi-schemes-pretend-you-know-george-soros/
- http://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen/051412_Woman_accused_of_Ponzi_scheme_in_Bergen_County.html
6. Frederick Darren Berg
Ponzi Scheme Information
- sentenced in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 18 years in prison, and three years of supervised release for Wire Fraud, Money Laundering and Bankruptcy Fraud
- The amount of restitution, $140 million
- founder of the Meridian Group of investment funds. The funds represented that $245 million in investor money was invested in real estate contracts and real estate
- http://www.justice.gov/usao/waw/press/2012/feb/berg.html
- http://www.fbi.gov/seattle/press-releases/2012/mercer-island-man-sentenced-to-18-years-in-prison-for-ponzi-scheme-and-bankruptcy-fraud
7. Mark Feathers
Ponzi Scheme Information
- SEC alleges that more than 400 investors were attracted to the funds by promises that profits from mortgage investments would yield annual returns of 7.5 percent or more.
- Small Business Capital Corp.
- raised $42 million by selling securities issued by Investors Prime Fund LLC and SBC Portfolio Fund LLC – two mortgage investment funds they controlled.
- http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2012/2012-125.htm
8. Scott Rothstein
Ponzi Scheme Information
- Florida lawyer sentenced to 50 years in prison for running a $1.2 billion ponzi scheme
- http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-03/convicted-ex-lawyer-scott-rothstein-says-that-funds-didn-t-warn-investors.html
- http://www.fbi.gov/miami/press-releases/2010/mm060910.htm
9. (14 ) sales agents : Bryan Arias, Hugo A. Arias, Anthony C. Ciccone , Salvatore Ciccone, Jason A. Keryc, Michael D. Keryc, Martin C. Hartmann III , Laura Ann Tordy, Christopher E. Curran, Ryan K. Dunaske, Michael P. Dunne, Diane Kaylor, Anthony Massaro, Ronald R. Roaldsen Jr.
Ponzi Scheme Information
- misled investors and illegally sold securities for a Long Island-based investment firm at the center of a $415 million Ponzi scheme.
- http://www.floridastockfraudblog.com/2012/06/ponzi-scheme—south-florida-fraud-and-misrepresentation-finra-arbitration-and-litigation-attorney.shtml
- http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2012/2012-112.htm
- http://www.fbi.gov/newyork/press-releases/2012/former-agape-world-inc.-account-representatives-charged-in-new-york-with-massive-ponzi-scheme
10. Stanley Shew-A-Tjon
Ponzi Scheme Information
- raised approximately $16 million from more than 9
- http://www.fbi.gov/washingtondc/press-releases/2012/florida-man-sentenced-to-96-months-for-ponzi-scheme-that-defrauded-more-than-900-victims-of-8-million
11. George Levin/Frank Preve
12. R. Allen Stanford
13. Brian Ray Dinning
14. Martin B. Feibish
- http://www.fbi.gov/boston/press-releases/2012/investment-broker-sentenced-in-5m-ponzi-scheme
- http://www.justice.gov/usao/ri/news/2012/april2012/feibish.html
15. George Elia
- http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2012/lr22319.htm
- http://www.fbi.gov/miami/press-releases/2012/fort-lauderdale-investment-advisor-arrested-in-las-vegas
- http://www.fbi.gov/miami/press-releases/2012/south-florida-investment-advisor-indicted-for-investment-fraud-scheme
16. Ray Bitar
17. Keith Franklin Simmons
- http://www.fbi.gov/charlotte/press-releases/2012/ponzi-scheme-mastermind-sentenced-to-50-years-in-prison
- http://www.justice.gov/usao/ncw/pressreleases/Charlotte-2012-05-23-simmons.html
18. Alan G. Flesher, Nancy Carol Khalial
19. Thomas E. Kelly
20. Wayne L. Palmer and his firm, National Note of Utah, LC
21. Samantha Delay-Wilson
22. Anthony John Johnson
23. Jason Bo-Alan Beckman, Gerald Joseph Durand, Patrick Kiley
- http://www.fbi.gov/minneapolis/press-releases/2012/federal-jury-convicts-three-individuals-in-connection-with-trevor-cook-ponzi-scheme
- http://carlsoncaspers.com/OurExperience/SECvJasonBoAlanBeckmanetal
24. Richard H. Nickles
25. Andrew S. Mackey, Inger L. Jensen
26. Joseph Blimline
27. Anthony C. Morris
28. Robert G. Tunnell, Jr.
29. Daniel Wise
30. Steven Bartko
31. Shervin Neman
32. Ephren W. Taylor II
33. Timothy Melvin Murphy
34. Brett A. Amendola
35. C. Tate George
- http://www.fbi.gov/newark/press-releases/2012/former-nba-player-and-ceo-of-the-george-group-indicted-in-ponzi-scheme
- http://www.justice.gov/usao/nj/Press/files/George, C. Tate Indictment News Release.html
36. Kenneth Alfred Scudder
- http://www.fbi.gov/houston/press-releases/2012/woodlands-man-sentenced-in-ponzi-scheme
- http://www.justice.gov/usao/txs/1News/Releases/2012 March/120312 Scudder.html
37. Lauren Baumann
38. William Wise, Jacquline Hoegel
- http://www.fbi.gov/sanfrancisco/press-releases/2012/two-indicted-in-129-million-ponzi-scheme-case
- http://www.tklaw.com/millennium_bank_receivership.cfm
39. John Terzakis
40. Jonathan D. Davey, Chad A. Sloat, Michael J. Murphy, Jeffrey M. Toft
- http://www.fbi.gov/charlotte/press-releases/2012/four-hedge-fund-managers-indicted-in-40-million-ponzi-scheme
- http://www.justice.gov/usao/ncw/pressreleases/Charlotte-2012-02-28-hedge.html
41. Ira J. Pressman
42. Joseph Mazella
43. Richard Pettibone
44. CHARLES MICHAEL VAUGHN
45. Laurie Schneider
46. Gregory Viola
47. Ronald W. Shepard
48. ALGIRD M. NORKUS
49. Jenifer Devine
50. Douglas F. Vaughan
51. Johnny “Mickey” Brown
52. GEOFFREY A. GISH, MYRA J. ETTENBOROUGH
53. Richard Elkinson
54. Louis J. Borstelmann
55. David Lincoln Johnson
- http://www.justice.gov/usao/cac/Pressroom/2012/088.html
56. Celia Gallardo
57. Miko Dion Wady
58. Edward P. May
59. Daren Palmer
60. Kurt Branham Barton
61. Dante DeMiro
62. Wifredo A. Ferrer
63. Martin T. Sigillito, James Scott Brown, Derek J. Smith
64. Jeremiah C. Yancy
65. Timothy Durham
66. Francisco Illarramendi
- http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2011/lr21970.htm
- http://www.justice.gov/usao/ct/Press2011/20110307.html
67. Frederick H.K. Baker, Mark W. Akin
- http://durangoherald.com/article/20110304/NEWS01/703049915/0/s/2-suspected-in-Ponzi-scheme-in-Durango
- http://www.heraldextra.com/news/state-and-regional/utah-man-in-ponzi-scheme-gets-months/article_8e0ac695-4e03-5b0f-8297-4ed3c5ee963a.html?comment_form=true
68. Paul Cirigliano
- http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/rockford/2011/pr1027_01.pdf
- http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110226/news/702269938/
69. Anthony Eugene Linton
- http://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/pr5970-11
- http://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/pr6174-12
- http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/press_releases/2012/APR/PR_05152012_Linton.html
70. Richard Saunders
- http://www.justice.gov/usao/moe/press_releases/archived_press_releases/2012_press_releases/march/saunders_richard.htm
- http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Local-man-charged-for-operating-4-million-Ponzi-scheme-114820989.html
71. Lawrence Hamel
- http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-03-10/news/fl-boca-raton-ponzi-20110310_1_ponzi-scheme-baron-federal-cour
- http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/suburban-lake-worth-man-accused-of-running-2-mil-1/nLpkq/
72. Christopher Jackson
- http://www.fbi.gov/sacramento/press-releases/2010/sc111510.htm
- http://www.justice.gov/usao/cae/news/docs/2011/02-03-11JacksonIndictment.html
73. Shaine Joseph Lavoie
- http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2011/02/shaine_joseph_lavoie_ezekiel_f.php
- http://www.ocregister.com/articles/lavoie-287365-felony-counts.html
74. Larry Benny Groover
- http://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/pr5986-11
- http://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/pr6165-12
75. Kent R.E. Whitney
- http://www.fbi.gov/chicago/press-releases/2011/former-chicago-options-trader-sentenced-to-44-months-in-prison-for-investment-fraud-scheme/
- http://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/pr5952-10
- http://www.fbi.gov/chicago/press-releases/2011/cg021611.htm
76. Victoria Scardigno
- http://articles.cnn.com/2011-02-16/travel/continental.employee.fraud_1_vouchers-airline-tickets-sales-agent?_s=PM:TRAVEL
- http://www.justice.gov/usao/nys/pressreleases/July11/scardignovictoriasentencingpr.pdf
77. Brian Kim
- http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-02-15/news/28619620_1_million-ponzi-scheme-cnbc-separate-theft
- http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/kim_admits_scam_YkdA8h7gihllGmFdDeiCxM
78. Michael Hudspeth , Timothy Bailey
79. Monroe L. Beachy
- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/16/AR2011021607415.html
- http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/business/in-amish-country-accusations-of-a-ponzi-scheme.html?pagewanted=all
80. Peter Sbaraglia
- http://www.financialpost.com/news/Ontario+part+Ponzi+scheme/4348848/story.html
- http://www.osc.gov.on.ca/en/Proceedings_soa_20110224_sbaraglia.htm
81. Josh Gould
- http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2011/03/josh_gould_orthodox_jewish_securites_broker_ponzi_indicted.php
- http://www.fbi.gov/stlouis/press-releases/2011/sl030311a.htm
82. Jeanette and Elliott Berney
- http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/03/03/monsey-mother-and-son-accused-in-10-million-ponzi-scheme/
- http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/elderly_upstate_ny_woman_son_charged_5cRC0EzGsyUQaR7hcnPOfL
83. Larry Michael Parrish
84. Dale Edward Lowell
- http://www.bonnercountydailybee.com/news/local/article_9f759d34-715c-11e0-bf59-001cc4c002e0.html
- http://www.cdapress.com/news/local_news/article_069fc4b4-372b-11e1-b6c8-001871e3ce6c.html
85. Ibis Febles, Giancarlo Giuseppe
86. Michael Crook, Roderick Rieman
- http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2011/pr0408_01.pdf
87. Garry Bradford
- http://www.justice.gov/usao/cae/news/docs/2011/08-12-11BradfordGuiltyPlea.html
88. Royce Newcomb
- http://www.news10.net/news/article/134775/2/Granite-Bay-man-charged-with-Ponzi-scheme
- http://www.dailyrepublic.com/real-estate/roseville-man-gets-3-years-for-ponzi-scheme/
89. Steven Bingaman
- http://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/33-8179.htm
- http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/Legal/News/2011/05_-_May/New_York_man_indicted_on_Ponzi_scheme_charges/
90. Michael Morawski and Frank Constant
- http://www.examiner.com/article/two-charged-with-ponzi-type-scheme-palatine-illinois
- http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/05/10/palatine-businessmen-charged-in-real-estate-ponzi-scheme/
- http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2011/pr0510_01a.pdf
91. Nicholas Cox
92. John S. Dudley
- http://www.fbi.gov/saltlakecity/press-releases/2011/slc053111.htm
- http://www.justice.gov/usao/ut/press/releases/Dudley indicted in ponzi scheme case.pdf
93. Michael Kratville, Jonathan W. Arrington, Michael J. Welke
94. Steven White, Martin Kinsey
- http://www.ifaonline.co.uk/ifaonline/news/2076425/british-advisers-named-gbp10m-ponzi-scheme-trial
95. Spero X. Vourliotis, Carey Michael Billingley
96. Anthony Cutaia
- http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/well-known-radio-host-charged-with-running-ponzi-1/nLs65/
97. Victor E. Cilli
- http://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/pr6053-11
- http://www.stopfraud.gov/news/cilli-victor-complaint.pdf
98. Juneval Eduardo Machado
99. Christopher Blackwell
- http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/06/24/37662.htm
100. Fidel Bermudez
- http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/jun/27/miami-man-charged-with-ponzi-scheme-targeting/
101. Jamie Campany
- http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-06-28/news/fl-gold-bullion-campany-20110628_1_global-bullion-exchange-jamie-campany-ponzi-scheme
- http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Founder-of-Buy-Gold-Firms-Admits-to-30M-Ponzi-Scheme-126850328.html
- http://www.justice.gov/usao/fls/PressReleases/111118-02.html
102. Wayne Ogden
103. Shawon McClung
- http://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/pr6236-12
- http://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/pr6063-11
104. Edward Allen, David Olson
- http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2011/lr22019.htm
- http://www.wytv.com/content/news/local/story/Suspect-in-14M-Ponzi-Scheme-Changes-Plea/274G6d24rUuGIsfSWALBQg.cspx
105. Robbie Dale Walker
- http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/crime/man-arrested-for-alleged-ponzi-scheme
106. Richard Dalton
If you are involved in a Ponzi Scheme that is not listed on this page – contact Richard S. Lehman, Esq.