Posted by Kathy Bazoian Phelps
Below is a summary of the activity reported for December 2021. The reported stories reflect at least 2 new Ponzi schemes worldwide, 4 guilty pleas, more than 48 years of prison sentences, and an average age of approximately 46 for the alleged Ponzi schemers. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed.
Posted by Kathy Bazoian Phelps
Below is a summary of the activity reported for November 2021. The reported stories reflect at least 3 new Ponzi schemes worldwide, 1 guilty plea, more than 116 years of prison sentences, and an average age of approximately 45 for the alleged Ponzi schemers. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed.
Posted by Kathy Bazoian Phelps
Below is a summary of the activity reported for October 2021. The reported stories reflect at least 8 new Ponzi schemes worldwide, 1 guilty plea, more than 78 years of prison sentences, and an average age of approximately 55 for the alleged Ponzi schemers. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed.
Posted by Kathy Bazoian Phelps
Below is a summary of the activity reported for September 2021. The reported stories reflect at least 8 new Ponzi schemes worldwide, 6 guilty pleas, more than 67 years of prison sentences, and an average age of approximately 50 for the alleged Ponzi schemers. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed.
Posted by Kathy Bazoian Phelps
Below is a summary of the activity reported for August 2021. The reported stories reflect at least 4 new Ponzi schemes worldwide, 3 guilty pleas, more than 32 years of prison sentences, and an average age of approximately 57 for the alleged Ponzi schemers. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed.
Posted by Kathy Bazoian Phelps
Below is a summary of the activity reported for July 2021. The reported stories reflect at least 5 new Ponzi schemes worldwide, 5 guilty pleas, more than 72 years of prison sentences, and an average age of approximately 52 for the alleged Ponzi schemers. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed.
George S. Blankenbaker Jr., 56, was sentenced to 5 years in prison in connection with a fraudulent scheme run through his companies, three business entities, Stargrower Commercial Bridge Loan Fund 1 LLC, Stargrower Asset Management LLC and EDU Holding Trust. More than 100 individuals invested more than $10 million in the scheme that supposedly needed funds to finance the use of shipping containers of food.
Posted by Kathy Bazoian Phelps
Below is a summary of the activity reported for June 2021. The reported stories reflect at least 9 new Ponzi schemes worldwide, 2 guilty pleas, more than 34 years of prison sentences, and an average age of approximately 46 for the alleged Ponzi schemers. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed.
Lee Anglin, 50, was sentenced to 6 months in prison. He had been released from prison three years ago after serving 12 of his 15-year prison sentence for a $10 million real estate Ponzi scheme. He was sentenced again for after violating the terms of his probation by engaging in new money-making schemes that included providing legal services for inmates even though he isn’t a lawyer and negotiating to buy two businesses in Utah.
Posted by Kathy Bazoian Phelps
Below is a summary of the activity reported for May 2021. The reported stories reflect at least 4 new Ponzi schemes worldwide, 1 guilty plea, about 77 years of prison sentences, and an average age of approximately 55 for the alleged Ponzi schemers. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed.
Ted Brent Alexander, 55, and Jon Darrell Seawright, 49, of Mississippi, were indicted on charges relating to the $100 million scheme run through Madison Timber Properties LLC that was owned by Arthur Lamar Adams. The two solicited over $20 million from more than 50 investors in connection with the scheme. The scheme promised guaranteed returns to investors who thought they were lending money to a broker enterprise purchasing timber that was then to be marketed to multiple lumber mills.
Posted by Kathy Bazoian Phelps
Below is a summary of the activity reported for April 2021. The reported stories reflect at least 4 new Ponzi schemes worldwide, 3 guilty pleas, about 22 years of prison sentences, and an average age of approximately 49 for the alleged Ponzi schemers. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed.
George S. Blankenbaker Jr., 54, of Indianapolis was charged and agreed to plead guilty in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme run through Stargrower Commercial Bridge Loan Fund 1 LLC, Stargrower Asset Management LLC, and EDU Holding Trust. Blankenbaker is the president of Stevia Corp. About 109 people invested more than $11 million in the scheme and were told that their funds would be used to finance the use of shipping containers of food in the international consumer products market. Blankenbaker instead diverted funds for personal expenses and unrelated business ventures. A total of over $1.4 million was lost by 34 investors.
Posted by Kathy Bazoian Phelps
Below is a summary of the activity reported for March 2021. The reported stories reflect at least 5 new Ponzi schemes worldwide, 3 guilty pleas, about 50 years of prison sentences, and an average age of approximately 47 for the alleged Ponzi schemers. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed.
Jose Angel Aman, 51, of Florida, the co-founder of Argyle Coin, was banned from the securities industry but also released from an obligation to pay a $4.5 million fine to the SEC after more than $23.8 million was paid to the SEC in restitution in a parallel case. Aman operated three successive Ponzi schemes and was sentenced to 7 years in prison in 2019.
Posted by Kathy Bazoian Phelps
Below is a summary of the activity reported for February 2021. The reported stories reflect at least 3 new Ponzi schemes worldwide, 1 guilty plea, over 62 years of prison sentences, and an average age of approximately 51 for the alleged Ponzi schemers. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed.
Edison Denizard, 41, of Florida, was sentenced to 4 years and 9 months in connection with a music concert scheme. Denizard, along with his co-conspirator, Andres Fernandez, represented that investor funds would be used for specific music concerts by top artists. Victims lost about $7.5 million in the scheme. Fernandez previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced last year to 10 years in prison.
Posted by Kathy Bazoian Phelps
Below is a summary of the activity reported for January 2021. The reported stories reflect at least 3 new Ponzi schemes worldwide, 4 guilty pleas, 16 years of prison sentences and one life sentence, and an average age of approximately 51 for the alleged Ponzi schemers. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed.
Stacey L. Bean, 35, and Travis Laska, 26, were fined $7,500 each in connection with their role with the VisionQuest Wealth Management LLC Ponzi scheme run by Stephen C. Peters. They were accused of assisting in a fraudulent offering of $10.1 million in promissory notes. Peters also owned VisionQuest Capital LLC and VQ Wealth LLC.
