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.
Mejdi Mahmoud Abousaoui, 37, was sentenced to 25 years in prison and was ordered to pay $2.8 million in restitution for his role in a $4 million that defrauded 70 victims. Abousaoui fraudulently promised monthly returns of 5% from the supposed purchase of equities, bonds, and other products. Abousaoui had previously pleaded guilty to charges.
Dean Alford, of Georgia, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 8 years in prison in connection with a scheme involving energy projects. Alford raised at least $23 million selling fake accounts receivable invoices.
Brent Reed Barber, 42, of California, was arrested on charges that he raised $13.8 million in an alleged Ponzi scheme. Barber is the co-owner of BNZ Capital One LLC along with Louis Alfonso Zimmerle, 62, who was also charged in connection with the alleged scheme and has agreed to a plea deal. The SEC also filed a parallel civil action. The scheme involved the buying and selling of real estate projects that promised investors “guaranteed” returns of between 8% and 10%. The scheme defrauded about 105 investors.
Eric V. Bartoli was sentenced to 20 years in prison in connection with a $42 million scheme. Bartoli was a securities broker accused of defrauding hundreds of investors and then of fleeing to Peru. At the resentencing hearing, Bartoli denied any wrongdoing during his sentencing and stated, “I can’t flee if no one is looking for me.” The 20-year sentence was more than double the penalty suggested in Bartoli’s plea agreement.
Storm Bryant and Elijah Bryant III, of North Carolina, were sued by the CFTC, along with their companies, CapitalStorm, LLC, GenerationBlack LLC, and NCome LLC. The charges relate to an alleged $1.05 million scheme in which they solicited funds to engage in off-exchange foreign currency on a leveraged, margined, or financed basis. The scheme took money from about 94 investors
Tochukwu Edeh, 31, was charged with operating an unlicensed money transfer business to launder the proceeds of online investment fraud schemes based in Nigeria. Edeh ran used-car dealerships and currency transfer services in Texas, Florida, and Nigeria. The scheme offered trading and Bitcoin investing services, but investor money was not used for those purposes.
Victor Farias, 48, of Texas, was sentenced to 11 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $7.4 million in connection with a Ponzi scheme that defrauded police officers. Investors were promised returns of 10% to 12% per year from a scheme that was supposed to generate profits from aircraft engines and other parts that would then be leased or resold to major airlines. About 90 investors were defrauded out of their retirement savings.
Larry A. Holley, 64, or Michigan, was sentenced to 100 months in prison in connection with a scheme that defrauded more than 140 investors. Holley, a pastor, ran the scheme with Patricia E. Gray, 60, through a entity called Treasure Enterprise LLC and promised investors large returns. They defrauded investors out of about $9.3 million. The funds were used to pay themselves, however, and to transfer money to Abundant Life Ministries. Gray was sentenced to 42 months in prison.
Albert Rossini, 73, was sentenced to 11 years in prison in connection with $7 million Ponzi scheme that he ran through Devon Street Investments. Rossini was convicted along with Babajan Khoshabe and his son, Anthony Khoshabe, who are awaiting sentencing. Investors were told their funds would be used to buy mortgages of Chicago-area apartment buildings at or near foreclosure. In reality, there were no buildings, and Rossini created fictitious documents and filed a fake lawsuit to defraud the victims.
Abner Alejandro Tinoco and his company, Kikit & Mess Investments, LLC, were charged by the CFTC on allegations that they fraudulently solicited over $3.9 million from 61 clients. The clients had given their money to be managed in customized client portfolios for foreign exchange and crypto trading. Most of the money was instead used to pay Tinoco’s personal expenses such as chartering a private jet, renting a luxury mansion and cars, and buying real estate.
Ann M. Vick, 59, of Colorado, settled the SEC’s charges that she was running a $3.2 million Ponzi scheme through her company, AMV Investments. The scheme allegedly defrauded approximately two dozen investors by promising them “exorbitant” returns from options trading. Vick and AMV promised monthly interest payments of 5% to 10%. Vick consented to a judgment enjoining her from future violations or selling securities, but she did not admit or deny the allegations.
INTERNATIONAL PONZI SCHEME NEWS
India
Virithgopalan Nair, 76, and his wife Valsala were arrested in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme run through VGN Jewellers, a well-known jewelry store. About 137 investors were defrauded in the scheme.
Harshul Kaushik and Gurmeet Sahni were arrested on charges that they were running a Ponzi scheme under the name E-Rickshaw on Rent. Complaints involving 1,100 victims have been received. The ran the scheme through a company called SOS Vehicle Service Pvt Ltd.
Israel
A bankruptcy court in Manhattan granted recognition of the Israeli insolvency proceeding against Michael David Greenfield aka Michael Ben-Ari. Greenfield has been dubbed “the Israeli Madoff” and is under criminal investigation for an alleged 15-year Ponzi scheme that may exceed $150 million.
Nigeria
Bamise Samson and Elizabeth Ajetunmobi are on the run after having been accused of defrauding thousands of investors out of 22 billion Naira through their business, Imagine Global Solutions Ltd. Rumors are that they obtained Antiguan and Barbudan passports, but authorities in those countries have stated that they will not serve as a refuge for criminals. Imagine Global was a micro lending service for small and medium business and offered investors 10% interest.
Philippines
Authorities charged Organico Agribusiness Ventures Corp. and its president, Cerrone Roial Posas, and officers Marve Subere Posas, Renato Subong, Anthony Butaslac, and Karen Maasin in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme.
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