After being indicted on multiple charges of fraud in 2009, Missouri resident Sharon Nekol Province has pleaded guilty to facilitating a massive $600 million Ponzi scheme run through the rather lucrative business of pre-paid funeral services. The 69-year-old Province was office manager for National Prearranged Services (“NPS”) of Clayton, MO. Until its collapse in 2008,… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: Arrest
“Major Play Fund” Was Major League Fraud
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesA North Carolina man has agreed to plead guilty to charges of securities fraud brought forward by the US Attorney’s Office in Charlotte. Vass resident James Alexander Shepherd, 58, admitted responsibility for running a $6 million scam that defrauded 176 investors. While the sum of claims is still be determined, Shepherd has agreed to pay restitution to victims… Continue Reading
Investors to Receive 4 cents on Dollar in Aftermath of Boy-Band Scam
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesIt’s been a long six years for victims of “Big Poppa” Lou Pearlman’s $317 million Ponzi scheme, and now they know what sort of recompense they’ll be receiving- just 4% of the funds they invested. Bankruptcy Trustee Soneet Kapila filed the liquidation plan for Pearlman’s estate on Wednesday, adding that investors could be due for… Continue Reading
CA Ponzi Schemer Wasn’t Serious About Guilty Plea
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesFolsom, CA, resident Anthony Vassallo has learned the hard way that it’s not so easy to renege on a guilty plea in US District Court. Last month the 33-year-old Vassallo attempted to withdraw from his plea agreement with federal prosecutors after admitting responsibility for an $83 million Ponzi scheme. Judge Garland Burrell Jr. ruled against… Continue Reading
Ponzi Schemers Caught in Diamond Heist
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesA husband-and-wife duo was sentenced this week in US District Court in Denver for running a rather audacious Ponzi scheme premised upon bank notes and diamonds. Richard Dalton, 66, and his wife Marie, 61, respectively received 10 years and 5 years of federal prison time for defrauding over 100 investors out of $17 million. Victims… Continue Reading
B-Movie Mogul Directed Ponzi Scheme
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesWhile some of the films that Hollywood cranks out should merit criminal charges, running a Ponzi scheme has been proven to land you in jail sooner or later. And so Orange County producer Mahmoud Karkehabadi, also known as Mike Karkeh, was given a stiff prison sentence not for making terrible movies, but for using them… Continue Reading
Woman Used Quilting Group as Launchpad for Ponzi Scheme
Posted in Ponzi VideoQuilting Con: Woman Ensnares Friends in Ponzi Scheme – WBAY. WBAY Connecticut native Robin Brass has been taking it easy in federal prison for almost a year now due to running a $2 million Ponzi scheme, but fresh details have emerged on how she solicited investors for her fraudulent enterprise. It turns out the 56-year-old Brass used a… Continue Reading
High-Yield Mushrooms Played Role in Alleged Ponzi Scheme
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesA Petaluma, CA, man is headed to trial after being accused of running a $20 million Ponzi scheme. Aldo Baccala, 72, will be appearing in Sonoma County Superior Court on June 12th for arraignment on 135 criminal counts that include grand theft, fraud and elder abuse. Arrested last year, Baccala is said to have scammed… Continue Reading
Investors Taken on $3 Million Ponzi Safari
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesAfter marketing himself as a benefactor of Africa and accusing investors of everything from plotting murder to being drug-crazed sex freaks, attorney Brian Ray Dinning of Suffolk, VA, did away with any further pretense and admitted in court to operating a Ponzi scheme. On Monday the 48-year-old Dinning made a plea agreement with the US… Continue Reading
Ponzi Schemer Went Underground at Disney World
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesJeffrey Kelly of Dublin, OH, has made a plea agreement with federal prosecutors after being accused of operating a $1.5 million Ponzi scheme that left 15 victims in its wake. The 45-year-old Kelly had been indicted last December in US District Court on 17 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and interstate transport of fraudulently… Continue Reading
“Habitual Fraudster” Treated Himself to Hog
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesLarry Michael Parrish of Walkersville, MD, decided to admit his guilt in running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded some 70 investors out of $9.2 million. The 49-year-old Parrish made a plea agreement with the US Attorney’s Office after being indicted in June of last year on multiple counts of wire fraud. In its own action… Continue Reading
Colonel Caught in Ponzi Scheme Off to Club Fed
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesA retired colonel in the California National Guard was sentenced to 8 years in prison Tuesday for operating a $3 million Ponzi scheme. Timothy Melvin Murphy of Orange County, CA, had been indicted by a federal grand jury in 2011 on 10 counts of mail fraud and one count of making false statements to federal… Continue Reading
Ponzi Video: Guilty Plea in Hawaii Scheme
Posted in Ponzi VideoIn our new Ponzi video feature, Hackard Law will share news clips on recent investment fraud stories. Last week Jason Pascua of Honolulu, HI, pleaded guilty to running a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of $1.4 million. Pascua claimed to be promoting concerts while he was really just spending client funds on himself. He is… Continue Reading
Admitted Ponzi Schemer Now Denies Guilt
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesAnthony Vassallo of Folsom, CA, is seeking to withdraw his guilty plea from US District Court after having made a plea agreement with federal prosecutors earlier this year. In February the 33-year-old Vassallo admitted responsibility for running an $83 million Ponzi scheme that racked up $45 million in damages to 300 victims. Vassallo’s attorney told… Continue Reading
Man Promised African Treasure to Investors
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesLake Forest, IL, resident William Block has received a six-year prison sentence in US District Court after being found guilty on a single count of wire fraud. The 54-year-old Block was originally indicted by a federal grand jury in 2008, when the US Attorney’s Office charged him with running an investment scam that would ensnare upwards… Continue Reading
SF Real Estate Broker Was Looking Out for Number One
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesSan Francisco real estate broker W.B. Coyle has become the subject of intense media scrutiny after what alleged victims assert has been a “decade of deception.” The State of California’s Department of Real Estate filed a complaint against Coyle and his business, charging that the broker engaged in numerous fraudulent practices against clients while managing… Continue Reading
Scammer Nominated Himself for Nobel Peace Prize
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesA Kansas City, MO, preacher and four co-conspirators were convicted last week for running a large-scale investment scam that exploited black churchgoers. Owen Isreal Hawkins, 57, masterminded a fraudulent stock offering that would swindle around 9,000 unqualified investors out of $10.2 million, causing $7.2 million in losses. After being indicted in 2010, he has been… Continue Reading
“Unlimited Cash, Inc.” Turned Out to be Ponzi Scheme
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesThree Ventura County, CA, residents were sentenced yesterday in US District Court to federal prison time for operating a Ponzi scheme. Alan Flesher, 65, his brother Wayne, 62, and Nancy Khalial, 65, received respective terms of 17 years, 6 years and 4 years after pleading guilty to fraud charges in June of 2012. The trio… Continue Reading
Accused Scammer Offered Investors Returns at Ludicrous Speed
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesSt. Peters, MO, resident Michael Kitchen has some explaining to do over what authorities say was an investment scam that raised over a half million dollars from at least five investors. The 47-year-old Kitchen was indicted last week by a federal grand jury on charges of wire fraud and money laundering. Kitchen had already been… Continue Reading
Ex-Football Star Threatened Investors, Says US Attorney
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesRuss Erxleben, a former kicker for the University of Texas and the New Orleans Saints, is scoring news headlines again after his January indictment for a running a $2 million Ponzi scheme. This time an unsettling detail of the case has emerged: according to the US Attorney’s Office in Austin, Erxleben made death threats to… Continue Reading
Huckster Bamboozled Church Congregation out of $1.5 Million
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesAn Orange County, CA, man has been sentenced to 46 months in prison for running a bogus investment scheme in New Jersey. Robert Schroy, 68, had earlier admitted guilt to counts of wire fraud and tax evasion in a plea agreement with the US Attorney’s Office. In another case of affinity fraud, Schroy had scammed… Continue Reading
$250 Million Ponzi Scheme Featured Castle Estate
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesJames Koenig of Redding, CA, was convicted yesterday of operating a $250 million Ponzi scheme that victimized upwards of 2,000 investors, many of them senior citizens. A jury in Shasta County Superior Court found Koenig guilty on all but one of over three dozen criminal counts he faced. Koenig’s partner in the fraud, Gary Armitage… Continue Reading
Man Accused of Dating Women, Ensnaring Them in Showbiz Scam
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesKissimmee, FL, resident Scott Campbell, 48, has gained some unwanted publicity due to allegations that he has been conning women out of their money after meeting them through internet dating services like Match.com. Campbell was exposed yesterday by Orlando news stations after several victims contacted both law enforcement and the media regarding his exploits. He… Continue Reading
Real Estate Fraudster Found Himself ‘in a Pickle’
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesFolsom, CA, resident David Romo was sentenced on May 3rd to 10 years in prison for running a complex real estate scam. The 42-year-old Romo, originally indicted by a federal grand jury in 2011, had managed to bilk several investors out of $6.9 million through a series of fraudulent property development projects. While initially declaring… Continue Reading