Ponzi scheme

Washington, D.C., Nov. 16, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged four individuals and two companies involved in perpetrating a $30 million Ponzi scheme in which they persuaded more than 300 investors nationwide to participate in purported environmentally-friendly investment opportunities.

The SEC alleges that Wayde and Donna McKelvy, who were previously married and living in the Denver area, particularly targeted elderly investors or those approaching retirement age to finance such "green" initiatives of Pennsylvania-based Mantria Corporation as a supposed "carbon negative" housing community in rural Tennessee and a "biochar" charcoal substitute made from organic waste.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., Nov. 13, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged two computer programmers for their role in helping convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard L. Madoff cover up the fraud at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BMIS) for more than 15 years.

The SEC alleges that Jerome O'Hara of Malverne, N.Y., and George Perez of East Brunswick, N.J., provided the technical support necessary to produce false documents and trading records, and took hush money to help keep the scheme going.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., June 22, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a New York-based broker-dealer and four individuals with securities fraud, alleging that they collectively raised billions of dollars from investors for Bernard L. Madoff's Ponzi scheme.    » read more »

SEC Charges Operators of $80 Million Ponzi Scheme Targeting Korean-Americans

Washington, D.C., June 9, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged two California men and two companies they control for conducting an $80 million Ponzi scheme that targeted Korean-American investors with false promises of extraordinarily high returns from foreign currency (forex) trading.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., April 13, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged an El Segundo, Calif.-based promoter and her firm for operating a $23 million Ponzi scheme that purported to use investor funds to invest in risk-free, high-yield investment programs involving bank trading, oil and gold exploration, or real estate.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., March 26, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained an emergency court order halting a $68 million Ponzi scheme involving the sale of fictitious high-yield certificates of deposit (CDs) by Caribbean-based Millennium Bank.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., March 18, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the auditors of Bernard Madoff's broker-dealer firm with committing securities fraud by representing that they had conducted legitimate audits, when in fact they had not.

In its complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, the SEC alleges that from 1991 through 2008, certified public accountant David G. Friehling and his firm, Friehling & Horowitz, CPAs, P.C. (F&H), purported to audit financial statements and disclosures of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BMIS). The SEC previously charged Madoff and BMIS with committing securities fraud through a multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme perpetrated on advisory and brokerage customers of his firm.    » read more »

Mar. 12, 2009 -- Lev L. Dassin, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Joseph M. Demarest Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI, and Alan D. Lebowitz, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (DOL-EBSA), today announced that Bernard L. Madoff pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to 11 felony counts related to a massive Ponzi scheme.

Madoff pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Denny Chin to securities fraud, investment adviser fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, false statements, perjury, false filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and theft from an employee benefit plan.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., March 11, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Northern California residents Anthony Vassallo and Kenneth Kenitzer for orchestrating a multi-million dollar investment fraud. Vassallo agreed to a court order freezing his assets. The SEC is seeking an emergency court order to also freeze the assets of Vassallo's company, Equity Investment Management and Trading, Inc. (EIMT).    » read more »

May 30, 2008 -- SAN DIEGO -- California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that Theodore Swain, 60, was sentenced this morning to 24 years in state prison for running a $7 million Ponzi scheme that ripped off 100 investors in Southern California.

“This is the fourth time Swain has been caught ripping people off with his worthless investment schemes,” Attorney General Brown said. “Most recently, he convinced 99 consumers, including a doctor, lawyer and aerospace engineer, to invest tens of thousands of dollars in property which does not exist."

Today, the Honorable Judge Charles Gill sentenced Theodore Swain to 24 years in state prison and ordered him to pay $6.7 million in victim restitution.    » read more »

Recovers More Than $3.2 Million; Company Operated as a Ponzi Scheme

BALTIMORE, MD (December 13, 2007) - Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that the Securities Commissioner has reached a settlement with First Cash Express, Inc. and its owner Alvin Ambrose. The Commissioner found that First Cash Express and Ambrose violated the antifraud provisions of the Maryland Securities Act by misrepresenting the company’s history and legal status, and failing to explain the risks associated with an investment in First Cash Express, Inc.    » read more »

November 5, 2007 -- Lee Cash and Joey O’Kelly pled guilty today to charges arising out of a Ponzi scheme operated by the two men that focused on defrauding elderly individuals who thought they were purchasing insurance policies and securities. The two men entered guilty pleas before Judge Horace Johnson today in Walton Superior Court after charges were brought by Attorney General Thurbert Baker and Alcovy District Attorney Ken Wynne.    » read more »