A 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
Tag Archives: Plea Agreement
“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
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
Man Operated Ponzi Scheme out of Trump Tower
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesChicago resident Christopher Varlesi, 53, was sentenced last week in US District Court to 5 years in federal prison for running a Ponzi scheme. Varlesi, who admitted guilt in a plea agreement with prosecutors in December 2012, managed to raise approximately $1.5 million from 18 investors, many of them family and friends, ostensibly for use… Continue Reading
Party’s Over for Wilton Manors Ponzi Promoter
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesWilton Manors, FL, resident Jim Ellis, the middle-man in a Ponzi scheme that raised $11 million from 40 investors, has been sentenced to three years and two months in prison after making a plea agreement with the US Attorney’s Office in February. The 69-year-old Ellis had acted as the promoter in an investment fraud engineered… Continue Reading
Alleged Ponzi Team Now Accused of Stalking
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesAn Anchorage duo under federal indictment for running a Ponzi scheme has also been accused of stalking a state employee. Floyd Leroy Lee, 32, and Mary Transki, 26, are charged by the US Attorney’s Office with defrauding 10 victims out of $62,000 through their company Platinum Investments. Now new allegations of criminal wrongdoing by the… Continue Reading
Ponzi Schemers Pulled Off Comic Book Caper
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesIn a case worthy of corny 1960’s superhero canon, three Chicago-area men have been sentenced in US District Court for running a Ponzi scheme centered on comic books. Daniel Parrilli, 62, John Lauer, 48, and Christopher Andersen, 57, are all headed back to club fed for respective 70-month, 31-month, and 95-month prison sentences. All three… Continue Reading
Fake Pastor Sentenced for Ponzi Scheme
Posted in Ponzi AnalysisAfter making a plea deal admitting to the sale of unregistered securities in March, Allen County, IN, resident Bradley Collins was sentenced last week to two years of work release and six of probation for promoting a $46.5 million Ponzi scheme. The 56-year-old Collins had originally been indicted in October of 2012 on additional charges… Continue Reading
American Ponzi: The Blur Between Fantasy and Reality
Posted in Ponzi Analysis, Ponzi ProfilesWhile a work of fiction, the following report is a composite narrative based on actual events taken from real-life Ponzi schemes. Links are to stories Hackard Law has previously covered. California hedge fund wizard and snow-cone king Gonzo Wiggler, 50, was indicted by a federal grand jury today on multiple counts of conspiracy, fraud and… Continue Reading
“Phantom Holdings” Disappeared with Investor Funds, Say Prosecutors
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesIn 2008 Michael Wilson, just 21 at the time and sporting a stetson cowboy hat, made himself the toast of Buffalo when he closed on two of the city’s most expensive residential properties for $6.3 million. Yet Wilson’s spending spree was fueled by a scam that looted $3.3 million in investor funds, says the US… Continue Reading
Gridiron Coach Used Ponzi Playbook to Score $81 Million – Indictment
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesWhile he used to run the famous wishbone offense, former University of Georgia football coach and onetime ESPN commentator Jim Donnan has now been indicted for running an $81 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded 94 investors. The 68-year-old Donnan, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame who also led West Virginia’s Marshall to… Continue Reading
Poker Joker Pleads Guilty in $300 Million Scam
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesRaymond Bitar, founder of online gambling service Full Tilt Poker, pleaded guilty to fraud conspiracy charges after he and ten other men were indicted for running a massive Ponzi-type scheme in 2011. The 41-year-old Bitar made his admission to the US District Court in Manhattan by video feed from his home in Glendora, CA. While… Continue Reading
Kim Rothstein: Costume Queen in a Ponzi Scheme
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesKim Rothstein, the wife of convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein, has had her sentencing delayed until June. The 39-year-old Mrs. Rothstein had earlier pleaded guilty in US District Court to money laundering conspiracy, witness tampering and obstruction. Scott Rothstein, the infamous Fort Lauderdale lawyer who engineered a mammoth $1.4 billion scam based on phony structured… Continue Reading
Fake Navy SEAL was on Ponzi Mission
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesTiburon, CA, resident and phony US Navy SEAL Glenn Kane Jackson decided to make a plea deal with local prosecutors after facing charges that he stole $3 million from investors in the course of a Ponzi scheme. The 46-year-old Jackson admitted guilt on 27 counts of securities fraud and grand theft before his trial was… Continue Reading
Ponzi Poster: Jason Meyer’s “3 Hooligans Investments”
Posted in Ponzi PostersThe dubious honor of starring in this week’s Ponzi Poster goes to Jason Meyer, principal of 3 Hooligans Investments. Meyer, 35, was sentenced to 5 years in prison on charges of wire fraud and money laundering after bilking several investors out of at least $11 million. Meyer used 3 Hooligans and another entity, Getting Paid… Continue Reading
How High Was Ponzi Schemer?
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesIn certain cases of fraud one cannot but suspect the influence of narcotics, giving new meaning to high-yield investment programs. When a con-man formulates outrageous rates of return that would have the late, great Charles Ponzi rolling in his grave from laughter, we can only ask the question, “How high was this guy?” Such has… Continue Reading
Super-Secret Investment Program was Another Scam
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesAfter years of high-stakes financial hijinks and evading the law overseas, Garry Milosevich was sentenced to 6 ½ years of incarceration for his role in a $2.5 million Ponzi scheme. Formerly a resident of Duluth, MN, the 57-year-old Milosevich had agreed to plead guilty to a charge of wire fraud in US District Court in… Continue Reading
Father, Son Bonded Together in Ponzi Scheme
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesWhile some fathers and sons might attend baseball games together or go hunting, John and Antonio Bravata shared a rather unique bonding experience: running a Ponzi scheme. The father-son duo was convicted last week in US District Court in Detroit for operating a $53 million investment fraud that swindled 440 victims. From 2006 to 2009… Continue Reading
Hawaii Man Promoted Fake Concerts in Ponzi Scheme
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesA Hawaii man is set to plead guilty to a single count of wire fraud after being indicted by federal authorities for running a $1.4 million Ponzi scheme. Jason Pascua, 38, has agreed to admit responsibility for relieving 29 victims of their funds through bogus entertainment projects. While currently residing in Arizona, he has agreed… Continue Reading
Man Dressed Up as Pastor to Market Ponzi Scheme
Posted in Ponzi ProfilesIn another case of religious affinity fraud, Bradley Collins of Fort Wayne, IN, has agreed to plead guilty to selling unregistered securities in a $46.5 million Ponzi case. The 56-year-old Collins acted as pitchman for the alleged scam, orchestrated by David McQueen of Grand Rapids, MI. In addition to the unregistered securities charge, Collins originally… Continue Reading