May 2023 Ponzi Scheme Roundup

Posted by Kathy Bazoian Phelps 

Below is a summary of Ponzi scheme activity reported for May 2023. Ponzi scheme activity levels were higher this month with 16 new Ponzi schemes hitting the news. The new schemes involved over $200,000,000 of investor dollars. Over 33 years of prison sentences were imposed on Ponzi schemers. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed. 

Brett M. Bartlett was charged in connection with an alleged scheme run through 7M E-Group and Dynasty Toys that involved $20.5 million. Bartlett was also sued along with his father-in-law, Scott Miller, by the SEC in connection with the scheme. Bartlett and Miller sold promissory notes, stocks and fraudulent gold contracts to more than 1,000 investors, many of whom attended a large church in Illinois. They claimed that they needed funds to purchase inventory they were confident they could sell by Christmas, and they offered 8% to 20% returns to investors. 

Wynn A.D. Charlebois, 52, faced new charges in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme that ran from 2015 to 2022.  The scheme involved $6.9 million, and at least 39 investors were promised returns from investments through his companies, including WC Private, Wilcox Hybrid, and Damon Investments.

Derek Vincent Chu, 41, of California, was indicted on charges relating to an alleged $39 million Ponzi scheme. The scheme involved over 100 victims who were defrauded in a scheme involving the purchase and resale of professional basketball tickets and luxury suites at arenas for the Lakers, Clippers, and Warriors. The scheme ran from 2013 to 2020. Chu diverted more than $7.3 million for his own benefit to pay for travel, a luxury car, and jewelry.

Phillip Galles, 57, of Chicago, was arrested on charges that he ran a scheme that took in more than $6 million from more than 50 investors with promises of returns that exceeded 200%. The CFTC also filed charges relating to Galles’ investment program run through Tyche Asset Management. Galles misrepresented to investors that he had about $2 billion under management and that a Kuwaiti sovereign-wealth fund was interested in investing in the hedge fund.

Shawn Edward Good of Delaware was sentenced to 7 years and 3 months in prison and ordered to pay $3.61 million in restitution in connection with a Ponzi scheme that took in more than $7 million. Good is a former financial advisor who used his role to take advantage of at least 12 clients. He promised returns of between 6% and 10% over three- or six-month terms for investments in purported real estate projects and tax-free municipal bonds.

Cedric Dewayne Griffin, of Florida, defrauded 103 investors out of about $5.9 million in a real estate scheme he ran through his company, Premier Coast Realty. Griffin used some of the money for his own benefit and paid earlier investors purported returns in a Ponzi-like fashion. 

Chimene Van Gundy, 46, Outstanding Real Estate Solutions, Inc., and its salespeople, Michael Trofimoff, Santos Kidd, and Maria Tosta, were sued by the SEC on allegations that they were running an investment scheme involving $18.5 million and at least 600 investors. The scheme promised returns from investments in the purchase, refurbish, and resale of mobile homes. Gundy is the self-proclaimed “Queen of Mobile Homes” although she did not actually own the hundreds of mobile homes as represented. Outstanding Real Estate Solutions made Ponzi-like payments to investors.

Rolf Max Hirschman and Patrick Earl Williams aka BigRigBaby, and their company Integrated National Resources, Inc. dba WeedGenics, were shut down by the SEC in what is alleged as a Ponzi-like scheme involving $60 million and about 350 investors. They promised investors guaranteed returns of 36% from the expansion of their cannabis operations and the WeedGenics facilities. In reality, there were no such facilities. Hirschman and Williams instead spent the money on dining, adult entertainment, jewelry, luxury cars, and residential real estate.

Charles Thomas Lawrence Jr., of Connecticut, was sued by the SEC on allegations that he and his associates were running a $5 million Ponzi scheme. Lawrence ran the scheme through a fake Swedish financial services company called Compagnie Trust Privé KB, and he promised investors weekly returns of 25% to 100%. He created a fake web-portal to show investments and returns. Lawrence misappropriated at least $4.8 million from 11 investors and spent the money at Cartier and to charter jets and for international travel.

John Quadrino of New York was sentenced to 3 years and 5 months in prison and ordered to pay $3.3 million in restitution in connection with a Ponzi scheme run through Princess Cut Industries, Inc., Sassy Jewelry Buyers, Inc., and Golden Glitter Trading Inc. Investors were promised returns from the sale of gold, jewelry and diamonds to refineries and jewelers. The scheme ran for five years, brought in $13.1 million, and caused losses of about $3.3 million. 

Thomas D. Renison, 69, of Connecticut, was sentenced to four years in prison, and Timothy J. Allcott, 65, of Massachusetts, was sentenced to 2½ years in prison in connection with a scheme that took in over $6 million from 2015 to 2018. The scheme was run through ARO Equity LLC, and investors were promised returns from investments in three different businesses. 

Chander Singh, of New Jersey, was sentenced to 8 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges that he ran a Ponzi scheme through his investment firm, SC Capital Investors LLC. The scheme started in at least 2014 and ran for about 5 years, defrauding victims out of about $4.7 million. Co-conspirator Chandrika Basil Singh pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing. The criminal case of Shelly Singh-Camargo is still pending. Singh rolled losses from a prior investment firm, FC Investments, which was also a failed distressed property flipping business.  

Phillip Roy Wasserman, 66, of Florida, was convicted on charges relating to a Ponzi scheme that defrauded victims out of $6 million through a life insurance start up known as FastLife. Co-defendant Kenneth Rossman pleaded guilty in 2021. The FastLife product was described on Wasserman’s LinkedIn page as a “crazy fast” way for people to purchase life insurance from “highly rated insurance companies.” Investors in the startup were guaranteed an annual return of 10% to 12%. 

INTERNATIONAL PONZI SCHEME NEWS 

Australia

Linda Anne Marissen was charged with assisting in the alleged $250 million Ponzi scheme run by Chris Marco. The scheme allegedly defrauded six investors out of about $30 million. Marissen was Marco’s executive assistant.

Botswana

Ecoplexus Investment Group, an online scam, imploded after having spread rapidly through social media. The scheme promised exorbitant returns – as much as 1,544% returns per year – and was based on misrepresentations that victims’ funds would be invested in products of Ecoplexus, a real US company which specializes in the development, design, construction, and financing of renewable energy projects in the US and key international markets.

England

Christopher Toynton, 73, and Ross Gibson, 27, were sentenced 4½ years and four years five months, respectively, for running a Ponzi scheme though the Lottery Syndicate Club. The scheme was operated between 2017 and 2019 and took in about £4 million.  

Anthony Constantinou, 41, was convicted and found guilty on charges relation to a $62 million Ponzi scheme ran through Capital World Markets. Constantinou had skipped bail, but the trial continued in his absence. Constantinou had offered a 5% monthly return on investments in foreign exchange. Capital World Markets operated from 2014 to 2015, and funds were received from more than 250 investors. Their funds were not, however, actually invested in foreign exchange investments.

New Zealand

Thomas Alexander Kokouri Tuira aka Alex Tuira, and Aroha Awhinanui Tuiri, were charged in connection with an alleged $4.1 million Ponzi scheme run through Ngākau Aroha Investments Ltd and Power To Me Aotearoa Tapui Ltd. The scheme involved two funds and financial literacy training. More than 60 investors were defrauded.

Thailand

Pattanapon Kunjara Na Ayudhaya (“DJ Man”) and Suteewan Taweesin (“Baitoey”), along with Chatchai Kochatin, Teepatsakorn Kimwangtako, Suranat Narkmusik and Aryuwat Chaimethanarakul, were arrested on charges relating to the Forex-3D Ponzi scheme. The Forex-3D investment scheme was created by a brokerage company, RMS Familia, established in 2015 and run by Apiruk Kothi. 

Wantanee Tippaveth and her husband Methi Chinpa aka Boss Chinnapa, and nine others were found guilty of running a Ponzi scheme known as the Mae Manee Ponzi scheme.  They defrauded victims through a loan scam promising returns of 93% and causing total losses of 1.37 billion baht (approximately $51.3 million) to 2,533 people. Tippaveth and Chinpa were each sentenced to 12,640 years in jail, but the sentences were commuted to 5,056 years by the Criminal Court. The couple is expected to be in jail for just 20 years under the law of Thailand which limits jail time to 20 years.

April 2023 Ponzi Scheme Roundup

Posted by Kathy Bazoian Phelps 

Below is a summary of Ponzi scheme activity reported for April 2023. The good news is that the activity for Ponzi schemes was slightly lighter this month.  But there were still 9 new Ponzi schemes and 2 guilty pleas reported. The average age for the alleged Ponzi schemers was approximately 43. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed. 

Ted Brent Alexander, of Mississippi, changed his plea to a guilty plea for his role in a Ponzi scheme run through Madison Timber Properties by Lamar Adams. Alexander was a lobbyist for the scheme and was charged along with Jon Darrel Seawright in connection with the scheme that involved $164 million. The scheme purportedly involved buying timber rights from landowners and reselling them to mills at higher prices.

Marcus Todd Brisco, 26, of Texas, was charged by the CFTC on charges that he and his companies, Yas Castellum LLC and Yas Castellum Financial LLC, ran a $146 million Ponzi scheme. Other co-defendants are Tin Quoc Tran, Francisco Story, Fredirick Safranko, Michael Sims, and SAEG Capital General Management LP.

Jason D. Bullard, 58, of Minnesota, and his wife, Angela Romero Bullard, 50, were sued by the SEC alleging that they ran a Ponzi scheme from 2007 through 2021 that took in more than $18 million from 200 investors.  The Bullards owed Empire Racing Stables LLC, a one timing winning horse operations. The SEC complaint alleges that the Bullards and their business, Bullard Enterprises LLC, promised returns of 10% to 12% annually from two funds used to trade foreign currencies. Some of the funds were used in their racing business and other unrelated ventures, including DLJ Real Estate LLC and Empire Investments LLC.

Christopher Burns, 40, of Georgia, was indicted on charges that he was running a Ponzi scheme through his entities, including Investus Advisers, LLC, Investus Financial, LLC, Dynamic Money, and Peer Connect, LLC. The scheme defrauded investors out of at least $10 million and ran from 2017 to 2020. Burns remains at large, having fled the day before he was scheduled to turn over documents to the SEC.

David J. Bunevacz, of California, had a default judgement entered against him in an action brought by the SEC alleging that he took more than $32 million in investor funds in a cannabis oil related Ponzi scheme. 

Marc Celello, 54, of Georgia, was ordered to pay $8.7 million for his part in a $40 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded about 100 investors. Celello is a disbarred attorney who was the general counsel for Credit Nation Capital LLC run by James Torchia, the mastermind of the scheme who was ultimately acquitted of criminal charges. The scheme involved promissory notes tied to life insurance policies and automobile loans.

Stefan Ciopraga, of Romania, and YieldTrust.ai were sued by state regulators in Montana, Texas, and Alabama in enforcement actions against the cryptocurrency trading platform. Ciopraga claimed that the decentralized application DApp aka Yieldbot is “powered by cutting-edge artificial intelligence.” Yieldbot promised returns of up to 2.2% per day.

Michael J. French, of South Carolina, and his companies MJF Holdings, LLC and MJF Capital LLC, were charged by the SEC on allegations that they ran a fraudulent scheme that defrauded over 400 investors out of more than $20 million. French promised returns of 12% from loans to small businesses or investments in commercial loans on a fractional basis. The scheme ran for two years, and French used at least $13.2 million on personal expenses and to make Ponzi payments to earlier investors. 

Harvest Keeper, Visque Capital, Coinbot, and QuantFund, along with Maxpread Technologies and its CEO Jan Gregory Cerato were the subject of cease and desist orders from the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. The companies are all cryptocurrency companies using artificial intelligence technology.

Michael R. Kuntz, of North Dakota, and his entities, National Sports Opportunity Partners, LLC and ICON Investment Group, LLC were accused of running Ponzi scheme. Jeremy L. Carlson operated and controlled Jamieson Capital Financial, LLC and he represented himself as Treasurer for National Sports Opportunity Partners, LLC.

Rand Heckler, 67, pleaded guilty to charges in connection with a $1 million Ponzi scheme. Heckler persuaded friends to invest in a hedge fund that he was managing that was invested in stocks.

Joshua David Nicholas was ordered to pay $300,000 as part of a consent judgment with the SEC in connection with a $40 million Ponzi scheme run through Empires Consulting Corp. The scheme involved a cryptocurrency platform called EmpiresX. Nicholas was previously sentenced to 51 months in prison in connection with the scheme run with alleged co-conspirators, Emerson Pires and Flavio Goncalves.

Rashawn Russell, 27, of New York, was indicted on charges that he was running a crypto Ponzi scheme. Russell guaranteed returns to investors, sometimes promising up to 25%. He falsified bank statements and created fake wire transfer confirmations.

Johann Steynberg was ordered to pay $1.73 billion in restitution to defrauded victims and another $1.73 billion in penalties in connection with the Mirror Trading International Ponzi scheme. The Bitcoin investment platform operated in South Africa and Australia and has been declared a Ponzi scheme. Over $589 million worth of cryptocurrency vanished from the firm, and at least 23,000 victims in the U.S, were impacted by the scheme.

Charles Winn LLC, Aaron David Scott-Britten (aka Aaron David aka Aaron Scott, aka Aaron David K. Britten), Ohran Emmanuel Stewart aka Elliott Stewart, Casey Alexander, and Charlie Jake Smith, were sued by the SEC for allegedly running an $8.5 million Ponzi scheme. The scheme involved investments in the sale of fine wine to at least 121 investors.  The co-defendants were to buy investment-grade wines for the investors, sell the wine at a profit, and share a portion of the profits with the investors. The investors were promised returns between 10% and 45%.

INTERNATIONAL PONZI SCHEME NEWS 

India

Nilish Kumar Kar was arrested in connection an alleged online Ponzi scheme run through Cloud-Fut. The scheme defrauded more than 80,000 investors.

Sachin Pal, Ankush Singh and Kuldeep were arrested on charges that they were operating a Ponzi scheme through www.r46.in. They promised commissions of 15% to 20% through a digital marketing site.

Sri Lanka

The accounts of the directors of OnmaxDT Ltd. were frozen in connection with an alleged crypto Ponzi scheme. The accounts were opened in connection with the Binance.com scheme. Accounts frozen were in the following names: Dhananjaya Gayan, Sampath Sandaruwan Lenaduwage, Saranga Randika Jayatissa,Vikramapeli Gedera Chandrakanti and Kahadawa Arachchige Athula Indika Sampath.

March 2023 Ponzi Scheme Roundup

Posted by Kathy Bazoian Phelps 

Below is a summary of Ponzi scheme activity reported for March 2023. This month revealed at least 13 new Ponzi schemes, 5 guilty pleas and over 30 years of new prison sentences. The average age for the alleged Ponzi schemers was approximately 48. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed. 

Matthew Beasley, 50, was indicted on charges relating to an alleged Ponzi scheme that took in about $460 million from more than 600 investors. Beasley was charged last year with one count of assault on a federal officer for pointing a gun at an FBI agent when investigating Beasley. The scheme involved the supposed purchase of insurance tort settlements where plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits wanted to borrow money against their pending settlements with insurance companies. Investors were promised returns of at least 12.5% every 90 days. Beasley used the money to buy luxury homes, cars, and to pay for other personal expenses.

Wynn Charlesbois was indicted on new charges relating to an alleged Ponzi scheme that defrauded at least 39 investors out of $5.3 million. Charlesbois has pleaded not guilty to charges that he ran a Ponzi scheme involving loans, subscription agreements, co-investments, and participation investments. 

Ryan Crawford aka Brody, 30, of Florida was charged in connection with an alleged scheme that took in $800,000 from investors. Crawford was to invest the funds in cryptocurrency and stocks, but instead spent the money on luxury rental cars and gambling. 

Garrett Elder, 30, of Alaska, was criminally charged in connection with a scheme run through Tycoon Trading LLC, The Daily Bread Fund, LLC, and other related entities. Authorities allege that they defrauded 130 investors out of approximately $25 million. Elder brought in about $30 million of investor funds, representing he was making money in securities and foreign currencies. He allegedly used some of the money to buy himself real estate, a boar, a camper and jewelry, among other things.

Yossi Engel, 35, was indicted on charges that he ran a $47 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded mostly Orthodox Jews. Engel had fled to Israel in 2021 but was arrested in Los Angeles this month. Engel promised returns from his company iWitness Tech the supposed purchase and installation of security cameras as a means of protection as antisemitic incidents were rising in the U.S. He also said he would use their funds to purchase renovate and sell property in Israel.

John Erasmus Frimpong, 42, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and Arley Ray Johnson, 63, was sentenced to 6 years in connection with a $28 million Ponzi scheme. The third co-conspirator, Dennis Jali, fled to South Africa in 2019. The three were pastors who ran a fictitious financial literacy and wealth management firm called The Smart Partners LLC, doing business as 1st Million LLC or 1st Million Dollars. The scheme promised investors monthly returns as high as 35% in foreign exchange and cryptocurrency ventures. At least 1,200 investors were defrauded. 

Daniel Eric Jay, 46, pleaded guilty to charges that he worked with reality TV star Maurice Fayne aka Arkansas Mo, 39, and others to run a Ponzi scheme through Flame Trucking LLC. The scheme defrauded more than 20 people. Jay also assisted Fayne in obtaining a $3.7 million Paycheck Protection Program loan by providing false financial information with the loan application. 

Min Woo Kang aka Kevin Kang, of Florida, and BKCoin Management LLC were sued by the SEC and the subject of an asset freeze, as revealed in unsealed court documents. The scheme involved $100 million taken from 55 investors, and the asset freeze also involved BKCoin Capital; BK Offshore Fund, Ltd.; BKCoin Multi-Strategy Master Fund, Ltd.; BKCoin Multi-Strategy Fund, LP; BKCoin Multi-Strategy Fund Ltd.; and Bison Digital LLC. Investors were told their funds would be used for crypto asset trading. The SEC is seeking disgorgement from Bison Digital LLC, which allegedly received $12 million from the investors. 

Gregory D. Lone, 55, was sentenced to 8 years in connection with a Ponzi scheme run through Paramount Financial Advisors from 2016 through 2019.

Aaron Cain McKnight, 48, and his entities, BPM Global Investments LLC and BPM Asset Management LLC were charged by the SEC in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme that defrauded at least 28 investors out of more than $8.4 million. The complaint also charges Sherry Rebekka Sims, Harmony Brooke McKnight, Kenneth Miller, 72, and Frost & Miller with aiding and abetting certain of the alleged violations, and names Timothy Neher and his company, Accelerated Venture Partners, LLC, as relief defendants.

Franklin Ray, 51, of Michigan, pleaded guilty to charges relating to a $40 million Ponzi scheme run through his trucking business known as CSA Business Solutions LLC. Ray promised investors 77% of the net income from the operations of trucks that would perform delivery services for multinational e-commerce and shipping companies. Approximately 275 investors invested in the scheme. Ray claimed to have purchased over 2,00 trucks with the investors’ funds but in reality only operated a few trucks and had minimal revenue from trucking activities.

Pablo Renato Rodriguez pleaded guilty to charges relating to a crypto Ponzi scheme run through AirBit Club. AirBit was a purported cryptocurrency mining and trading platform and brought in more than $100 million. Gutemberg Dos Santos pleaded guilty in 2021. Scott Hughes, Cecilia Millan, Karina Chairez, and Jackie Aguilar have also pleaded guilty in connection with the scheme.

David Schamens, 65, of North Carolina, was indicted in connection with an alleged $7 million Ponzi scheme run through TD Trading LLC, TFG Trading Fund LLC, Tradestream Analytics LTD, Tradedesk Financial Group Inc., and others. Schamens promised returns of 12% to 30% from investments in Tradestream Algo Fund, an algorithm-based trading pool. The scheme defrauded at least 25 individuals out of approximately $7 million.

Noel Strachan, of Florida, was indicted on charges that he, along with 10 others, defrauded thousands of Jamaicans out of hundreds of millions of dollars. Strachan, ran the scheme along with Omar Etayem aka Omar Rivera, Odain March, Yegisibet Benli aka Lisa Benli, Yunior Muro, Michael Pardos aka Mario Cruise aka Gangster Mike, Anthony Jonas, Javier Arguelles aka Cuba, Marlon Foster, Demal Cheeks, and Derrol Scafe. They stole or fraudulently obtained high end vehicles and either sold them or used them as collateral for loans. Strachan is the former head of now-defunct Worldwise Partners, that ran an unregulated alternative investment scheme over a decade ago. 

David J. Varrone, 56, was sentenced to 9 years in prison after pleading guilty to a Ponzi scheme in which he defrauded more than 40 investors out of about $3 million. His wife, Sherry D. Varrone, also pleaded guilty to her role in the scheme. The scheme was run through The Credit Engineers, Inc. from 2018 to 2021 and offered returns to investors from short-term investments linked to hedge funds. Varrone helped investors apply for high-interest, short-term loans and then the victims leased the proceeds to Varrone and his business. 

Stephen Keith Woodard, Sr., of Hawaii was charged by the SEC in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme that he was running as an unregistered investment adviser.  Woodard raised approximately $6 million from about 30 investors who purchased promissory notes from Morganwood Ltd. Woodard promised a risk-free trading strategy.

John J. Woods, 58, of Georgia, was charged and pleaded guilty to a Ponzi scheme run through Horizon Private Equity III that brought in more than $110 million from more than 400 investors. A final judgment was also entered against Woods in an action by the SEC that was brought in 2021. Woods used Horizon to purchase investment advisor, Livingston Group Asset Management Company dba Southport Capital. Woods had promised investors 6% to 7% annual interest paid in monthly installments, and investors lost over $25 million in the scheme. 

INTERNATIONAL PONZI SCHEME NEWS 

Canada

Sabrina Ling Huei Wei, Justin Colin Villarin and James Bernard Law were ordered to pay $1.5 million in sanctions and were banned from the securities industry in connection a $15 million Ponzi run through DFRF Enterprises LLC that defrauded more than 1,400 investors. Investors had been promised returns from supposed gold-mining operations in Mali and Brazil.

England

Anthony Constantinou was accused of running a Ponzi scheme through Capital World Markets Ltd. that defrauded investors out of $61.7 million. 

Egypt

Authorities arrested 29 people in an alleged criminal network that stole LE 19 million through a cloud mining scam called HoggPool.  The HoggPool platform supposedly invested in cryptocurrency mining activities and promised users the possibility to rent “mining machines” to receive a daily profit of around 10%.

India

Harchand Singh Gill, a director of the Pearls Group, was arrested in connection with the Ponzi scheme founded by Nirmal Singh Bhangoo. The scheme had involved promising investors land in exchange for their investments, and over Rs 60,000 was stolen from investors.  Gill was the director and shareholder of PGF, a Pearls Group Company.

Authorities raided 15 locations in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme run by Lokesh Jain and Karthik Jain. The scheme promised 12% returns and ran from 2005 to 2016.

Authorities are looking for Md. Saif, a man accused of running an international Ponzi scheme. Rustam Khan and Md. Hakim, the directors of Hakim and Rustam Fabrics Private Limited, were arrested in February. The scheme involved a betting app known as “18football.com.” Naveen Poriwar, the head of Edudaddy Institute of Advanced Studies Private Limited, was arrested in connection with the online betting scheme. 

Akshay Sanjay Dhanuka, 32, was arrested in connection with an alleged online Ponzi scheme that brought in more than Rs 40 crore in 10 days. 

Israel

Michael Ben-Ari aka Michael Greenfeld was convicted in connection the operation of a $150 million Ponzi scheme run through EGFE Israel Ltd. that defrauded 1,000 investors in both the U.S. and Israel. He has been dubbed “the Israeli Madoff.”

Nigeria

Barmise Samson Ajetunmobi, the owner of Imagine Global Holding Company Ltd. and Imagine Global Solutions was arrested while trying to board a flight to the U.K. Barmise and his wife, Elizabeth Ajetunmobi, allegedly defrauded investors out billions of naira. They promised investors 10% returns monthly from supposed microloans to small and medium-sized companies and low-income workers in Africa. They used their company, TFS Finance Ltd., to lure in over 90,000 investors.

Scotland

Alistair Greig, 69, was jailed in connection with a £13m fraud. Greig had represented that he would place money in a short-term deposit scheme with the Royal Bank of Scotland for fixed periods of time. A total of 165 victims were identified. Greig used the money on a holiday home, a classic car business, and a Bentley and Range Rover, among other things.

Vietnam

Management of Hanoi firm Bankland were arrested on allegations that they defrauded 4,000 people in a Ponzi scheme. Chairman Quan Van Duong, CEO Nguyen This Nhu, Vu Due Tinh, Nguyen Due Minh, and Nguyen Van Minh were arrested in connection with the scheme. The company represented that it was a property developer and car trader and promised returns of 43.2%. In reality, the company did not do any business.

February 2023 Ponzi Scheme Roundup

Posted by Kathy Bazoian Phelps 

Below is a summary of Ponzi scheme activity reported for February 2023. This month revealed at least 7 new Ponzi schemes, 2 guilty pleas and over 29 years of new prison sentences. The average age for the alleged Ponzi schemers was approximately 54. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed. 

Eddy Alexandre, 51, pleaded guilty in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme run through EminiFX. The scheme involved a cryptocurrency and forex trading platform that promised investors 5% weekly returns that were supposedly generated through a secretive robo-advising technology. Alexandre has agreed to forfeit $249 million that was obtained from investors.

Gilbert Armenta, 59, was sentenced to 5 years in prison in connection with the Onecoin scheme. Armenta is the former boyfriend of the founder of Onecoin, Ruja Ignatova. Armenta helped launder $300 million from the crypto Ponzi scheme. 

Ray Brewer, 66, pleaded guilty to charges that he ran a Ponzi scheme involving cow manure. Brewer stole $8.7 million in connection with a scheme in which he claimed that he built anaerobic digesters on dairies in California that used microorganisms to break down biodegradable material, and turned it into methane. Brewer represented that he could then sell the gas on the open market. Investors were promised 66% of net profits and tax incentives.

Marcus Todd Brisco, of Hawaii, and his companies Yas Castellum LLC and Yas Castellum Financial LLC, were charged by the CFTC along with Tin Quoc Tran of Texas, Francisco Story of Utah, Fredirick “Ted” Safranko of Canada, Michael Shannon Sims, and SAEG Capital General Management LP. Tran was allegedly operating a fraudulent commodity pool scam that involved over $144 million taken from 913 pool participants with promises of returns from trading foreign exchange or margined or leveraged gold-U.S. dollar pairs. Brisco and his companies allegedly made misrepresentations to at least 43 pool participants through one company and to at least 57 participants through another, and then funneled the money to a Tran-controlled entity.

Ramon Salvador Delgado-Gomez aka Ramon S. Gomez, and his companies FX Latino and FXL Investment PR LLC, along with Walmy Rivera-Santiago and her company JRH Services Inc., and Hector Javier Santos-Pagan and his company Infinity Investment Construction Management Corp. were sued by the CFTC on allegations that they were running a Ponzi scheme involving more than $27 million. The scheme involved pooled investments in retail foreign currency trading and targeted over 2,000 investors in Puerto Rico and the U.S. 

John K. Eckerd, 58, of Texas, was indicted along with Afif Baltagi, 45, in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme involving the financing of giant tires used on mining and earth-moving vehicles. More than 50 investors were defrauded in the scheme involve $50 million. Eckerd and his co-conspirators represented that they had access to heavily discounted tires that they could sell at full price to buyers and could generate returns of up to 20%. Prosecutors say that almost no tires were actually bought and sold. Eckerd previously pleaded guilty to an unrelated scheme to launder money. Jason E. Adkins, 46, was previously convicted and sentenced in connection with the scheme. Todd Wilkin, 60, was also previously convicted in connection with the scheme.

Amberjit Endow has been accused of running a more than $41 million investment fraud while working at Deloitte in Australia as a partner. The alleged scheme was run through his private company, Endow Family Cap, which is now under investigation. Endow promised investors returns of 39.02% in 6 months from the supposed purchase of Indian government-issued bonds. The bonds were purportedly linked to a large government infrastructure program that is improving India’s rural road network.

Joseph W. Floyd, IV and his brother William F. Floyd Jr., of North Carolina, were sentenced to 5 years in prison in connection with a Ponzi scheme they ran through their family insurance business, Floyd Insurance Agency. They took in more than $20 million through a supposed loan program in which 150 investors were given promissory notes and promised returns and redemptions upon demand.

Ryan Guidry, 45, was sentenced to 6 years and 6 months in prison for his role in the DC Solar Ponzi scheme. Guidry became vice president of operations in 2015, and prosecutors alleged that he knew that investors were being defrauded. The scheme was run by Jeff Carpoff, 52, and his wife Paulette Carpoff, 49. DC Solar manufactured solar generator units and claimed there were favorable federal tax benefits from investments in alternative energy, but the company sold more solar generators than they manufactured and falsified documents to conceal the fraud. Jeff Carpoff was sentence to 30 years, Paulette Carpoff was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months, and others have also been sentenced as follows:  Joseph W. Bayliss, 47, was sentenced to 3 years, Robert A. Karman, 45, was sentenced to 6 years, and Alan Hansen was sentenced to 8 years. Robert J. Roach, 55, pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.

Vladimir Okhotniko aka Lado, Olena Oblamska aka Lola Ferrari, Mikhail Sergeev aka Mike Money aka Gleb aka Gleb Million, and Sergey Maslakov were charged in Oregon on allegations that they stole more than $340 million in connection with a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme known as Forsage. The four and previously been charged along with 7 others by the SEC in connection with the alleged scheme that was a purportedly decentralized finance (DeFi) cryptocurrency investment platform. They used “smart contracts” which are self-executing contracts on the blockchain so that earlier investors would be paid money as soon as an investor would buy a slot in a contract.

Jeffrey Soberman Parket, 59, of New York, pleaded guilty in connection with a $65 million Ponzi scheme that led to over $37 million in victim losses. Parket is a former bond trader and hedge fund founder and admitted to forging and falsifying documents to bring in more than $65 million in loans supposedly for short-terms funding for investment opportunities or to buy real estate. The scheme ran for six years.

Martin Silver, 65, was sentenced to 13 months in connection with a $100 million Ponzi scheme run through International Investment Group LLC. His co-conspirator, David Hu, was previously sentenced to 12 years. The scheme involved over-valuing distressed loans and creating falsified documents and fake loans to hide losses. The company supposedly specialized in global trade financing, providing loans to small and medium-sized businesses in Central and South America using coffee, fish, and other food products as collateral. 

Reva Joyce Stachniw, 71, and Ron Throgmartin, 59, were each sentenced to 6 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $35 million in restitution and forfeitures. They promised 10% to 20% returns and raised $650 million by promising profits from a cattle business and a marijuana business known as Universal Herbs LLC in Colorado. The scheme ran from 2017 through 2019 and was operated along with Mark Ray who pleaded guilty in 2020.

Armen A. Temurian, of California, and Vista Network Technologies were sued by the CFTC on allegations that they were running a Ponzi scheme involving Bitcoin. The scheme involved $7 million, and investors were promised returns from trading of digital assets using “robot traders” which did not exist. Investors were promised a 2.5% daily return or “double in just 80 days.”

INTERNATIONAL PONZI SCHEME NEWS 

Australia

David Spinina was charged in connection with an alleged $180 million foreign exchange Ponzi scheme run through Courtenay House. Authorities allege that Spinina defrauded at least 585 investors, promising them returns from foreign exchange and futures markets. Tony Iervasi, the mastermind behind the Courtenay House scheme, was found guilty in 2022, and Athan Papoulias pleaded guilty just after that.  

Canada

Colin Murphy, 26, was accused of operating a Ponzi scheme within a Ponzi scheme. Murphy was allegedly working with Aiden Pleterski in connection with a $35 million scheme. Murphy allegedly raised over $850,000 for the cryptocurrency and foreign exchange trading company and showed investors his Porsche and Lamborghini as evidence of the returns on the investment. Murphy also stored boxes of cash at his grandfather’s house which he claimed were returns stored for other investors.

Christopher Uitvugt was permanently banned by authorities from working in the securities field or in the investment market. Uitvugt was the CEO of Next Level Investments and ran a foreign exchange scheme that promised 550% returns on a three-month term investment.

India

Jagdish Mishra was convicted and sentenced to 5 years in prison in connection with a Ponzi scheme run through Raj Godson Services Private Limited.

Authorities arrested two directors of Hakim & Rustam Fabrics Private Limited on allegations that they defrauded more than 800 investors in connection with a football betting and gaming App.

Philippines

Authorities warned against investing in what is alleged to be Ponzi schemes run through Oyala, which is an unregistered entity not licensed to sell investments to the public. Oyala supposedly invested in retail, education, real estate, banking, telecommunications, water infrastructure, renewable energy, electronics, information technology, automotive, healthcare, management, and business process outsourcing.  The scheme promised 30% in a stable products investment program, 5% in welfare products, and 2% for indirect recommendations.

Authorities warned that Meta Trade is operating as a Ponzi scheme which promised 30% returns after 5 days, 70% after 10 days, and 400% after 30 days.

Authorities warned that BKC Trading is a Ponzi scheme that promises between 12% and 36% returns within three to six months.

South Africa

Dennis Mbongeni Jali, a pastor wanted by the FBI, was arrested in connection with a $28 million scheme run through Forex Billionaires Club. Jali’s co-conspirators, John Frimpong and Arley Johnson, 63, posed as pastors as well, encouraging people to invest in a business that would supposedly help churches and congregants make money. The men ran an investment company called The Smart Partners LLC which operated 1st Million or 1st Million Dollars.

Thailand

Prosecutors indicted 8 people, including Pattanapon Minthakhin and his girlfriend, Suteewan Thaweesin, in connection with the Forex-3D alleged Ponzi scheme. 

January 2023 Ponzi Scheme Roundup

Below is a summary of the activity reported for January 2023.

The start of 2023 saw at least 7 new Ponzi schemes reported worldwide, and at least 7 new criminal sentences were imposed for a total of about 32 years. There was also 1 guilty pleas and 3 criminal convictions. The average age for the alleged Ponzi schemers was approximately 49. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed. 

Gregory Altieri, 55, was ordered to pay $23 million to the SEC in connection with a Ponzi scheme that raised almost $70 million from at least 80 investors, most of whom were firefighters and police officers.  The scheme promised returns ranging from 30% to 100% from a jewelry business. 

Charles Richard Burgess aka Dick Burgess, 67, of Vancouver, was sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison for a Ponzi scheme that defrauded 32 investors out of $4.3 million. Burgess had pleaded guilty, selling 64 investors $13.6 million in unregistered investments. He took more than the 50% of the pool profits that he represented was his fee, but tried to blame COVID-19 for the loss of funds.

Carl Carro, 62, and James Doyle, 74, were sentenced in connection with a Ponzi scheme run through Endeavor Management Solutions and Endeavor Consultancy. Carro was sentenced to 4 to 8 years and Doyle to 5 years’ probation. They took in over $1,000,000 from more than 50 investors. Endeavor was supposedly a headhunting firm hired by prestigious clients to find candidates for openings on their boards of directors. Carro and Doyle represented that the investor funds would be held in an untouched cash reserve account that held over $1 million, and investors were guaranteed a 10% to 20% return after 30 days. They spent over $500,000 of the funds on personal expenses and to pay returns to earlier investors. 

Yossi Engel, 35, of California, was sued by the SEC on allegations that he ran a $47 million Ponzi scheme through iWitness Tech LLC that targeted Orthodox Jewish community members from December 2018 to January 2021. Engel represented that he needed capital for his business installing security cameras and that investors would receive returns form fees generated by the business. iWitness was never profitable and only ever brought in about $20,000. Engel admitted to running a Ponzi scheme in 2021 and then fled to Israel. Engel spent the funds at casinos, flying on private jets, and funding a lavish lifestyle.

Arley Ray Johnson, 63, of Maryland, was sentenced to 6½ years in prison in connection with a $28 million Ponzi scheme involving 1st Million, a purported wealth management and financial literacy company. Johnson conspired with Dennis Mbongeni Jali, 37, and John Erasmus Frimpong, 42, to defraud investors through several related entities including The Smart Partners LLC, which did business as 1st Million Dollars or 1st Million. The scheme promised monthly returns ranging from 6% to 35%.

Katie Lynn Mancuso, 41, of Tennessee, was sentenced to 5 years and 10 months in prison in connection with a $2.8 million scheme she ran through Gray Area Marketing. Mancuso had falsely represented that her agency had been awarded contracts to perform marketing services for professional athletes and she overstated Gray Area’s assets and receivables. She promised returns within 90 days of 15% to 25%. She solicited funds from at least 26 investors, causing total losses of more than $1.1 million. 

Robert Cortez Marshall, 43, was sentenced to 2 years and 10 months in prison in connection with a Ponzi scheme run through R.B.J. Generational Wealth Management LLC dba Adz on Wheelz. The scheme solicited more than $5 million from more than 200 investors. Marshall represented that Adz on Wheelz owned and operated a fleet of luxury vehicles that could be customized for digital advertising and that the company received millions of dollars in contracts from advertisers. Investors were promised guaranteed weekly returns and told they could cancel anytime and receive a refund of their investment. 

Austin Danger Ellison-Meade, 24, was sued by the SEC on allegations that he defrauded 31 investors out of $2.8 million. Ellison-Meade represented he was using a proprietary trading algorithm that he developed and that he was the managing partner of an investment club and pooled investment vehicle called Baycap.io. The SEC alleges that Ellison-Meade did not use the funds to invest but represented to investors that “this year we have a projection of around 800% returns.” 

Kumar Arun Neppalli, 56, was indicted on 23 charges relating to an alleged Ponzi scheme that targeted the Indian American community in North Carolina. Neppalli, a native of India, allegedly defrauded 15 investors out of $1.9 million in connection with business loans and 12 investors out of $900,000 in a real estate development scheme in North Carolina.

Nestor Nuñez a/k/a Salvador Molina, 64, was arrested in Spain on fraud charges, and Ramon Perez, 40, surrendered in connection with an alleged cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme known as Forcount. Last month, criminal charges were brought against Francisley Da Silva, Juan Tacuri, and Antonia Perez Hernandez in connection with the scheme. The scheme was based in Brazil and defrauded Spanish-speaking investors. Perez is accused of laundering proceeds through shell companies and real estate. Nunez is accused of being an actor paid by Da Silva to present himself as Forcount’s CEO using the alias Salvador Molina. Jose Ramiro Coronado Reyes has also already been charged in connection with the scheme.

Judith Dianne Paris-Pinder, 49, of Florida, was sentenced to 4 years in prison in connection with a Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 500 people out of $2.4 million. Paris-Pinder was president of Pinder Associations Inc. and took in about $4.6 million from investors under the pretense that she represented litigation plaintiffs who had settled claims and were just awaiting payouts from insurance companies. Paris-Pinder solicited funds from “hard money lenders” to finance payments to the plaintiffs pending payment of the settlement checks, at which time she represented she could pay returns as high as 50%. She previously pleaded guilty and admitted that she did not work with lawyers and that there were no settlement agreements.

Abner Tinoco, 27, of Texas, pleaded guilty to charges relating to his operation of a Ponzi scheme. The scheme brought in about $9 million, and Tinoco spent about half of that on personal expenses including luxury cars, private jets, real estate, and jewelry. Tinoco represented that he would invest their funds in cryptocurrency and foreign exchange markets. The CFTC had previously reported that Tinoco misappropriated over $7.2 million from at least 322 investors.

INTERNATIONAL PONZI SCHEME NEWS 

India

MD Nurul Hague, Khagokpam Jogeshwari Devi, and Nongmaithem Sharmila Devi were found guilty of running a Ponzi scheme through MDFI. The mastermind’s father-in-law, Khagokpam Kham ba Singh, and brother-in-law, Khagokpam Naoba Singh, are also under investigation.

Authorities arrested Sanasam Jacky Singh, the managing director of Lamjingba Group of companies, in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme. The scheme allegedly took in more than Rs 580 crore with a promise of exorbitant returns.

Sheikh Sadiq Ali, Yogesh N., Pramod Gopinath, and Sunil Joshi were arrested in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme run through E-Biotorium Network Private Limited that received investment funds from over 1,000 customers. 

Philippines

Authorities issued a warning against investing in Ground Zero Poultry Agricultural Corporation. The SEC warned that the company “is enticing the public to participate in its poultry farm pursuits” and stated that investors could invest P20,000 with 36% returns and up to 80% guaranteed returns for lockup periods of 6 months or 12 months.

The Securities and Exchange Commission shut down Silverloin Livestock Trading Corp. on allegations that it was running a Ponzi scheme. The scheme promised returns of 2.3% per day or 35% after 15 days. Criminal charges were filed in December 2022 against CEO Ryan Cagod Ladoing, Renan Lara Ladoing, Rosemarie Alvarez Guzman, Neña Ewayan Algoy, John Paul Dellara Lopez and Michael Villalobos Berja.

Singapore

Daryl Cai Yonghui, 32, was arrested in Thailand in connection with the Forex-3D Ponzi scheme. The scheme defrauded thousands of investors out of more than $608 million. Dozens have been arrested in connection with the scheme, and Eddy Polgari is still at large. Forex-3D founder Apirak Kothi was arrested a year ago.

Ong Jian Zhen was arrested in Thailand and is wanted in Singapore in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme.

Thailand

Police issued 11 arrest warrants in connection with the dietary supplement company Primaya, including for Pichnaree Tantiwit aka May Primaya, the CEO of Primaya. The charges related to wildly exaggerated advertisements for the investment scheme on TikTok and other social media platforms. The company claimed that investors could earn up to 15 million baht in 3 months from an investment of 6,000 baht.

December 2022 Ponzi Scheme Roundup

Posted by Kathy Bazoian Phelps 

Below is a summary of the activity reported for December 2022. Closing out the year, at least 13 new Ponzi schemes were reported this month. There were 2 guilty pleas and 3 criminal convictions. About 70 years of prison sentences were imposed. The average age for the alleged Ponzi schemers was approximately 45. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed. 

Rodney Buckle, 65, of Nevada, was arrested and accused of running a Ponzi scheme through businesses called Rodd United, Rodd U, and Rodd One. He called himself a life coach and financial advisor, offering supposed guidance on stock investments and sports betting. Buckle’s co-defendant, Warisra Stevens, pled guilty last year to securities fraud and was sentenced to 19 months in prison. 

David Carmona, Marco Ruiz Ochoa, Moses Valdez, Juan Arrellano, David Brent, and Gustavo Rodriquez were charged in connection with two alleged cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes known as IcomTech and Forcount Trader Systems (later known as Weltsys). Francisley Da Silva, Juan Tacuri, and Antonia Perez Hernandez were also charged in connection with their involvement with Forcount. IcomTech and Forcount were purported cryptocurrency mining and trading companies. Investors were promised returns in exchange for their purchase of purported cryptocurrency-related investment products. As investors started making complaints because they could not make any withdrawals, the promotes started offering proprietary crypto-tokens known as “Icoms” in the IcomTech scheme and “Mindexcoin” in the Forcount scheme, that they represented would eventually be worth a lot of money. More than $8.4 million was raised in connection with the schemes.

Mauricio Chavez, 41, and Giorgia Benvenuto, 55, are being investigated by the SEC in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme run through CryptoFX, LLC. More than 5,000 are believed to have invested in the company, which targeted mostly Latino immigrants. Investors were promised up to 15% profit per month.

Milendophe Duperier, 31, and his fiancée, Vanessa Joseph, of Massachusetts, were charged in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme that targeted members of the Haitian community. Duperier is the son of a pastor at a Haitian church, and he worked with Joseph to keep the scheme going for over 2½ years. The pair represented that they had discovered a method to achieve profits by trading options in both bear and bull markets. Neither had any formal training in investing, however. They promised annual interest rates of 60%, paid monthly, but allegedly used the money for their personal expenses, and to buy real estate and luxury vehicles.

John Fernandez, 26, and his two companies, Avail Progression and Elite Generators, were charged by the SEC on allegations that the unregistered schemes were operating fraudulent forex trading schemes. The SEC alleges that they raised over $4.3 million and defrauded more than 100 investors. Fernandez represented that he was a “trading savant with a proven track record who could guarantee returns up to 100% based on his trading strategies in the forex markets.” Instead, Fernandez misappropriated the money to fund his personal lifestyle and made a “litany of excuses” when investors asked for their returns. 

Andrew Fuller, 55, is facing extradition in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme run through Bordeaux Cellars Ltd. and Bordeaux London. Fuller is accused of lying about the size and vintage of the firm’s fine wine collection and defrauding investors out of $99 million. Fuller is alleged to have assisted the firm founder Stephen Burton, who pleaded guilty in 2019. Fuller denies the charges and opposes his extradition.

Eugene Fusting, 79, and Christopher Fusting, 52, father and son, were convicted of running a Ponzi-like scheme through a pooled investment fun in securities. They obtained $800,000 but spent the money on personal expenses instead. Eugene was sentenced to 18 months home detention, and Christopher will serve 12 months home detention.

Karl Sebastian Greenwood pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the OneCoin Ponzi scheme. Greenwood was a co-founder of the scheme along with Ruja Ignatova. The scheme took in more than $4 billion worldwide.

Christopher Humphries, 48, lost his motion to dismiss charges by the SEC against him in connection with an alleged scheme run through CJ Investments LLC. A court found that the SEC properly alleged that Humphries sold unregistered securities, was not a registered broker or dealer, and made misleading misrepresentations in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme run by Las Vegas attorney, Matthew Beasley.

Austin Delano Page, 27, was sentenced to 8 years in prison and Brandon Alexander Teague, 27, of North Carolina, was sentenced to 4 years in prison in connection with a scheme that defrauded over 300 victims out of more than $4 million. Page and Teague were operating the hedge fund scheme through D&T Investment Group and were supposedly investing in various securities. They promised that principal investments were guaranteed and that investors would receive 70% of the trading profits.

Christopher A. Parris, 42, of Georgia, was sentenced to 20 years and 4 months in prison and ordered to pay $160 million in restitution in connection with the scheme run with business partner, Perry Santillo, 41, through Lucian Development that raised money for City Capital Corporation, a business run by Ephren Taylor. The scheme involved over $115.5 million and defrauded over 1,000 victims. Parris had previously pleaded guilty. Santillo was previously sentenced to 17½ years in prison.  In addition to the Ponzi scheme, Parris had also offered to sell the veterans administration $125 million worth of N95 masks through his company Encore Health Group, and attempted to get a $3 million dollar payment upfront, knowing he did not have the masks. 

Volodimyr Pigida, 48, was convicted on charges relating to a multimillion Ponzi scheme that he ran with his wife, Marina Bondarenko, 39, through Trend Sound Promoter AMG Corp. The scheme was a “work-at-home” email scheme that supposedly conducted advertising and music promotion over the internet. The scheme brought in $22 million, but investors lost about $11 million. Bondarenko pleaded guilty in 2019 and was sentenced to 3 years, 2 months in prison.

Mark Ramkishun, 28, of New York, was charged on allegations that he was running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 20 people out of more than $1.3 million. He targeted members of the Healing Center Church, and the church also invested in the scheme. 

Frank Schneider is facing charges in connection with the $4 billion OneCoin Ponzi scheme according to a 2020 indictment unsealed this month. The OneCoin scheme was launched in Bulgaria in 2014, founded by Ruja Ignatova who remains at large. Christopher Hamilton has been extradited to the U.S. and Robert McDonald has avoided extradition on human rights grounds. Mark Scott, the lawyer behind OneCoin, was found guilty in the U.S. of laundering $400 million for the scheme.

Jeremy Spence, 25, of Rhode Island, was ordered to pay over $2.8 million in restitution in connection with the Coin Signals cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme. Spence fraudulently solicited investors to invest in digital assets such as bitcoin and ether. He was sentenced to 3½ years in prison in connection with the scheme.

Jay Taylor II pleaded guilty in connection with a $14 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 70 investors. More than 70 investors lost more than $3.5 million in an oil and gas scheme. Taylor promised returns from oil and gas sales revenue on refurbished leases. Bill Marcum Jr. is a co-defendant in connection with the scheme.

Frederick Voight, 65, was sentenced to 6½ years and ordered to pay over $40 million in restitution in connection with a Ponzi scheme run from 2009 to 2018. Voight ran the scheme through F.A. Voight and Associates, LP, (FAVA), Voight Financial Services, Inc., and Daystar Funding, LP.  Voight represented to investors that he would search for companies that had an "excellent and innovative product in a growing market" but were short of the cash needed to take their product to market. The investors lost more than $40 million. 

INTERNATIONAL PONZI SCHEME NEWS 

India

At least 7 people were arrested in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme. Godevari Street ran the scheme through Nine Star Enterprises, bringing in funds and then fleeing with the money. Vanaparthi Venkata Naga Mani Kumar, 48, was one of the accused that was arrested.

Israel

Michael Ben-Ari aka Michael Greenfeld was extradited from Bosnia in connection with a $150 million Ponzi scheme. Ben-Ari is to stand trial for allegedly defrauding investors for 15 years in a large scam in Israel. Ben-Ari has been called the “Israeli Madoff” and ran the scheme through his investment company, EGFE Israel Ltd.

Nigeria

A bench warrant was issued for Dr. Victoria Yemisi Imase-Regal in connection with an alleged N36.45 Ponzi scheme. She was charged along with her four companies, Yellowpoint Group, Media Enterprise, Yellowpoint Investment Limited and Yellow Point FT. International Limited.

Pakistan

Sidra Humaid has been accused of stealing about Rs 420 million from investors, mostly women, in a Ponzi scheme. Humaid owns the “Daily Bites” which is a monthly ballot committee system, and she promoted her scheme on social media.

Philippines

Ryan Cagod Ladoing, 36, is on the run as authorities investigate a scheme Ladoing ran through Silverloin Livestock Trading Corp. Criminal charges were filed against the company's incorporators and officers Renan Lara Ladoing, Rosemarie Alvarez Guzman, Neña Ewayan Algoy, John Paul Dellara Lopez, Michael Villalobos Berja and Ladoing.

Regulators issued cease and desist orders against Sophia Francisco Holding OPC and Beastnessallday Corp. The scheme guaranteed earnings as much as 3% daily for 20 days, or 10% to 12% per month and supposedly involved investments, sale of gadgets, real or personal properties, luxury vehicles, shoes and other apparels.

Authorities confirmed that OTCJKE (also known as OTC Automated Trading Platform and JKE International Limited) and the A Power (also known as APower Pro, A Power PH, APower Power Bank, APower Power Bank Sharing Solution OPC) are illegally soliciting investments. OTCJKE represented that it was a “high-frequency trading encryption platform,” and promised investors that they would earn between 3% and 8% daily which they could withdraw anytime. APower represented that it was a Silicon Valley company and is “an innovative intelligent infrastructure manufacturer and operator for consumer scenarios, that it is committed to mobile charging solutions, providing users with convenient and timely mobile power rental services.”

Authorities are warning the public to exercise caution in dealing with Royal Bull Master Trading International and SPBoss (SPower or Sun Power) as they are alleged to be running Ponzi schemes. The companies were offering 120% returns in 7 days and 180% in 30 days. Investors were also promised 10% to 50% referral commissions.

South Korea

Six executives in the V Global cryptocurrency scheme were sentenced. V Global was a crypto exchange that promised around 50,000 investors 300% returns along with referral fees for brining in new customers.  Mr. Yang and Mr. Oh received 8 and 3-year sentences, respectively, and four others received three-year sentences and five years of probation. The CEO known as Mr. Lee was sentenced to 22 years in early 2022.

Spain

James Robinson, 46, and David Kennedy, 47, were arrested in Spain in connection with the Bar Works Ponzi scheme. They received more than $2 million in commissions from their efforts through their company, United Property Group, to solicit more than $7.5 million into the scam. The U.S. is seeking extradition of the two. The Bar Works scheme offered investments into former bars and restaurants around the world and obtained more than $57 million from at least 800 victims. One of the other perpetrators, Briton James Moore, 60, was previously sentenced to 11 years in prison, and Savraj Gata-Aura, 36, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 4 years.  Renwick Haddow, the main promoter of the scheme, has not yet been sentenced.

United Arab Emirates

Edvard Sabirov was arrested in connection with the Finiko investment scheme that defrauded investors in Russia out of about $95 million. Zygmunt Zygmuntovich was arrested in UAE early in the month, and Russia is pursuing extradition of both back to Russia. Finiko was a crypto investment fund and operated as a multilevel marketing scheme that offered returns of up to 5% a day. Marat Sabirov is still at large. 

November 2022 Ponzi Scheme Roundup

Posted by Kathy Bazoian Phelps 

Below is a summary of the activity reported for November 2022. There were at least 7 new Ponzi schemes revealed this month. There were two guilty pleas and one ‘not guilty’ plea. There was also one criminal conviction this month and more than 64 years of prison sentences were imposed. The average age for the alleged Ponzi schemers was approximately 43. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed. 

Syed Arham Arbab, 25, was sued by the SEC along with five others in connection with a “free-riding” scheme in which they made more than $2 million in bogus deposits into brokerage accounts. Arbab is just set to begin a 5-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to running a Ponzi scheme from a fraternity house near the University of Georgia. The current scheme involves using “instant deposit” credit they obtained from the brokerage firms to buy and sell securities online and then to quickly withdraw profits before their accounts were frozen. Arnab’s co-defendants are Tomas Javier Jimenez, 24, Blake Douglas McKinney, 26, Mushfiqur Rahman, 21, John Ryan Shows, 25, and William Carl Spagnoli, 24.

BMO Harris Bank was hit with a jury verdict of $484 in actual damages and $79 million in punitive damages on charges that Marshall & Illsley Bank (M&I), which BMO Harris Bank had acquired in 2011, aiding and abetted Thomas Petters in the breach of his fiduciary duty to his firm, Petters Company Inc. Petters ran a massive Ponzi scheme through Petters Group Worldwide that stole more than $3.7 billion from victims.

David Bunevacz, 53, of California was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison in connection with a $35 million Ponzi scheme involving cannabis. He raised a total of $45.2 million from more than 100 investors. Bunevacz is an American Philippine citizen who is a former UCLA decathlete. He defrauded victims by promising returns from financing companies that marketed cannabis vape pens. Instead, he spent the money on a luxury home, vacations, jewelry, and other lavish expenses. 

Tommie “Tom” Carter Jr, 64, was convicted and sentenced to 40 years in prison in connection with a scheme in which he took in over $1 million from investors. Carter promised returns from the buying and reselling of real property and distressed business equipment. Derrick R. Trussell is a co-defendant who pleaded guilty in connection with his role of fraudulently offering securities. 

Marc Celello, 51, was sentenced to two years in prison in connection with this role in a $40 million Ponzi scheme. Celello, a former attorney, pleaded guilty in 2019. Celello was the vice president and general counsel of Credit National Capital LLC, a company run by James Torchia that purchases life insurance policies and subprime automobile loans. 

Wynn A.D. Charlebois, 52, of North Carolina, was accused of running a Ponzi scheme and pleaded not guilty. The indictment alleges that Charlebois ran the scheme from 2015 through October 2022 and took in more than $6.9 million from more than 39 investors. The alleged scheme was through WC Private, Wilcox Hybrid and Damon Investments. Charlebois represented that he had stock options in certain companies and investors could purchase the options and make profits. 

FTX owned by Sam Bankman-Fried, 30, filed bankruptcy. While no determination has yet been made that FTX was operating as a Ponzi scheme, the allegations of fraud and lack of any internal controls or accounting were substantial. 

Rathnakishore Giri, 27, of Ohio, was arrested on charges that he was running a cryptocurrency investment scheme that raised at least $10 million from investors. The indictment states that Giri held himself out as an expert cryptocurrency trader with a specialty in bitcoin derivatives and promised investors profits with no risk to principal. In reality, Giri was allegedly using funds from new investors to pay off earlier investors. Giri was charged by the CFTC earlier in the year.

Brad Heinrichs, of Idaho, was sentenced to a year of house arrest and 10 years of probation for his role in a Ponzi scheme run by Stephen J. Hatch. The scheme defrauded over 100 investors and involved the use of Bible quotes and religion to prey on investors. Over $82 million was raised on promises of returns from real estate, but the real property was over-leveraged despite promises to investors that their investments were secured by deeds of trust.

Horizon Private Equity III LLC and Livingston Group Asset Management Co. dba Southport Capital were ordered to pay $60.9 million and $5 million, respectively, in connection with a Ponzi scheme that left investors with claims of $110 million. John J. Woods, the architect of the scheme, disputes the SEC’s allegations that he was running a Ponzi scheme. 

Jebara Igbara, aka Jay Mazini, 27, of New Jersey, through his Instagram account, pleaded guilty to running a Ponzi scheme that targeted New York’s Muslim-American community. He solicited money in return for stock, electronics, and COVID-19 protective equipment and also created a bitcoin scheme promising high rates of return in a short period of time. Igbara allegedly stole at least $8 million. Igbara launched Halal Capital LLC in 2019 and claimed he was worth $33 million. In March, Igbara was sentenced to 5 years in prison for kidnapping and beating a rival who threatened to expose him.

Adrian John Kawuba, 33, of Massachusetts, was charged in connection with a sports venture in Africa. Kawuba promised returns to investors through supposedly lucrative “international sports and entertainment projects, principally in Africa.” He offered returns as high as 60% from the supposed finance of “short-term private financing solutions to soccer clubs for transfer market transactions and deals.”

Royce Newcomb, 60, of California, was indicted on charges that he ran a $4.2 million Ponzi scheme through Strategic Innovations LLC and that he took out fraudulent COVID-19 and other government loans of more than $260,000. Newcomb’s company supposedly made technology that was to fight package thefts and prevent weather damage to packages. The scheme ran for about 5 years.

Joshua David Nicholas was sentenced to 4 years and 3 months in prison in connection with the crypto platform, EmpiresX. Nicholas claimed that EmpiresX would make daily “guaranteed” returns using a trading bot that utilized “artificial and human intelligence” to maximize returns. Nicholas operated the scheme with Emerson Pires and Flavio Goncalves. The scheme run for two years.

Steven Parish and his company Premiere Global Corporation, of Kentucky, were sued by state securities commissions on allegations that they are running a Ponzi scheme. Parish and other owners raised about $100 million from at least 570 investors, using the money to buy real estate in Belize and Las Vegas. Parish is currently on the run.

Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin, both 37 and from Estonia, were arrested in Estonia following a joint investigation by U.S. and Estonian authorities. They are accused of running a series of cryptocurrency and money laundering scams that defrauded hundreds of thousands of victims out of $575 million. The scheme was running since 2013 under the business called HashCoins. The business purportedly manufactured and sold Bitcoin and other virtual-currency-mining hardware and equipment, requiring full payment when equipment was ordered. In reality, the company did not manufacture its own equipment and instead of providing refunds, the company promised a percentage of profits from a new mining operation called HashFlare.  They also created another company called Polybius Bank that was to be funded through an initial coin offering that raised more than $25 million.  

Jamie Thompson and William Logsdon were arrested and charged with running a scheme through National Royalty Group that involved the selling of oil and gas leases. The scheme defrauded investors out of nearly $1 million.

Douver Torres Braga, 45, Joff Paradise, 60, Keleionalani Akana Taylor, and Jonathan Tetreault were sued by the SEC for their roles in the Trade Coin Club Ponzi scheme that raised more than 82,000 Bitcoin valued at $295 million from more than 100,000 investors worldwide. The scheme promised returns from the trading activities of a purported crypto asset trading bot that supposedly made “millions of microtransactions every second” to assure minimum daily trading profits. The scheme promised .35% daily. Tetreault agreed to pay about $781,000 to settle an SEC complaint that he had run a Ponzi scheme that raised $295 million in Bitcoin..

INTERNATIONAL PONZI SCHEME NEWS 

Australia

Tony Iervasi pleaded guilty to charges relating to a $180 million Ponzi scheme run through Courtenay House and Courtenay House Capital Trading Group, both of which are now in liquidation.

India

Two individuals were accused of running two Ponzi schemes through Aryan Pratidin Fund and Aryan Reserve Fund. 

Malta

Authorities warned that QuickX Ltd. is a Ponzi scheme involving cryptocurrency. QuickX was launched in 2018 by brothers Vaibhav Adhlakha and Kshitij Adhlakha.

South Korea

Two suspects were wanted in connection with an international scheme that defrauded thousands of victims in South Korea. The Polish suspect, 49, and the German suspect, 61, were arrested in Greece and Italy.

Authorities are investigating a crypto mining firm names Btbank aka OK-Bit, which has failed to pay back investors after promising monthly returns of up to 12%.

Thailand

Authorities are seeking extradition of two individuals, one Hungarian, Eddy Polgari, and another Singaporean, Daryl Cai Younghui, in connection with the Forex-3d scam. They are among 16 suspects in connection with the Forex-3D scheme and believed to be close friends of Apiruk Kothi, the owner of Forex-3D.

Trinidad and Tobago

New regulations make it a crime to “establish, operate, advertise or participate in ‘prohibited schemes’” which includes Ponzi and pyramid schemes. The regulations also criminalize activity of inviting people to join a prohibited scheme – “For knowingly advertising or inviting another person to join a prohibited scheme a person is liable, if convicted, to pay $2,000,000 or to imprisonment for 3 years.”

October 2022 Ponzi Scheme Roundup

Posted by Kathy Bazoian Phelps 

Below is a summary of the activity reported for October 2022. New Ponzi schemes and lots of prison sentences dominated the Ponzi scheme news this month. There were at least 7 new schemes reported worldwide and 101 years of prison sentences were imposed. The average age for the alleged Ponzi schemers was approximately 52. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed. 

John Acker, 53, of Florida, was sentenced to 11 years in prison and ordered to pay $3.2 million in restitution in connection with a $4 million scheme that he ran through shell companies including Miracle Strip Holdings X LLC, Miracle Strip Holdings XV LLC, Fujimo Development LLC, and Shipwreck Road LLC.

Michael Atkins, 49, is being held in custody in Ohio as authorities seek to extradite him to Singapore in connection with an alleged $4 million Ponzi scheme. Atkins is one of three directors of Aureus Capital, a foreign exchange trader in Singapore. The scheme promised returns of 40% to 50%. Atkins had fled Singapore by obtaining a new passport at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta after his original passport had been taken by Singaporean authorities,

Darrek Arnold Aviss, 64, of California, was sentenced to 11 years and one month in prison and ordered to pay about $14.5 million in restitution in connection with a scheme that stole about $14 million.  The scheme involved the purchase of annuities from insurance companies based in Switzerland and promised interest rates ranging from 5% to 7%.

Vania May Bell, 57, of New Jersey, was sentenced to 6½ years in prison and ordered to pay about $8 million in restitution in connection with the scheme run through Executive Compensation Planners. Bell helped run the scheme with her father, Hector May. The scheme involved more than $11 million stolen from 15 clients. May is currently serving a 13-year prison sentence.

Joshua Burrell, 39, was sentenced to 4 years in prison and ordered to pay $5 million in restitution in connection with a scheme that brought in $6.3 million from 14 investors. The scheme was run through Activated Capital.

Mauricio Chavez, 41, of Texas, was sued by the SEC in connection with his company, CryptoFX, which he founded with Giorgio Benvenuto, 55. The SEC alleges that Chavez was running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded 5,000 investors, mostly in the Latino community. Chavez represented that investors could earn back half their investment in profits in 3 months and 90% in six months. The scheme raised more than $12 million but only $1 million was invested in crypto assets. Most of the money went to buy real estate, was used for personal expenses, and was diverted to their company, CBT Group. 

Michael J. DaCorta, 57, of Florida, was sentenced to 23 years in prison in connection the scheme run through Oasis International Group, Ltd. At least 700 investors lost more than $80 million in the scheme. Investor were told the investments were risk-free and that OASIS was profiting by being a “market maker” and collecting “spread” on FOREX trades. In fact, Oasis had no true revenue. DaCorta used investor funds to buy a Maserati and Range Rovers for his family members, a country club membership, multiple million-dollar homes in Florida, college tuition for family members, flights on private jets, and vacations.

Ray E. Grabato II, 43, Daniel Coley O’Brien, Thomas Nicholas Salzano, 64, and Arther S. Scuttaro, 62, along with the New Jersey-based company, National Realty Investment Advisors, LLC (NRIA), were charged by the SEC in connection with an alleged scheme that raised approximately $650 million from about 2,000 investors. The scheme promised investors returns of up to 20% from the supposed purchase and development of real estate properties. Olena Budinska and Jamie Samul aka Jamie Samul Salzano were named as relief defendants. The real estate fund was operated through NRIA Partners Portfolio Fund I LLC. Salzano, Scuttaro, and Grabato were criminally charged. Scuttaro pleaded guilty.

Arley Ray Johnson, 63, or Maryland, was convicted in connection with a $28 million Ponzi scheme run through The Smart Partners LLC dba 1st Million and 1st Million Dollars. Co-defendant Dennis Mbongeni Jali fled the country but has since been arrested in South Africa, and co-defendant John Erasmus Frimpong, 42, previously pleaded guilty. 1st Million held itself out as a wealth management and financial literacy company and offered a 12-month guaranteed investment contracts called “Corporate Guarantees.” Monthly returns of 6% to 35% were promised to investors, and more than 1,200 investors were defrauded. 

Anna Kline fka Jordana Weber, 33, of New Jersey, was indicted on charges relating to all alleged $7 million advance fee Ponzi scheme.  Kline owned and operated several companies that purported to loan money to small business in high value loans, often in excess of $100 million. A fee of up to 5% of the potential loan amount was charged as a “fee” prior to the loan being funded. Kline used the fees for personal expenses, along with her significant other, Jason Torres. 

Ari J. Lauer was sued by the SEC in connection with the DC Solar Solutions Ponzi scheme. The SEC alleges that Lauer deceived investors and help run the fraudulent scheme that brought in more than $910 million of investor funds. Lauer was paid more than $4.4 million in ill-gotten gains. Lauer was allegedly aware of the lack of legitimate lease revenue and provided false financial information to at least one investor. Owners Jeffrey Carpoff, 51, and Paulette Carpoff, 48, were sentenced to 30 years and 11 years, respectively.

Andrew Middlebrooks, of Michigan, was charged with running an alleged Ponzi scheme through EIA All Weather Alpha Fund Partners. He developed a specialized research program to analyze stocks and funds in real time but was unable to produce the returns promised to investors. Middlebrook reported positive returns of 135.74% when he knew EIA had incurred losses over $13 million. The alleged losses to at least 100 investors exceeded $27 million. 

Richard Lee Ramirez, 53, of California, was indicted on charges that he was running a “Ponzi-style” scheme through his company, JMJ Capital Group. The alleged scheme brought in at least $8 million from investors, promising returns of 10% to 14% within 90 days based on the supposed purchase and resale of personal protective equipment (PPE), factoring of accounts receivable, imports of furniture, and refurbishment of cruise ship air-conditioning units. Instead, Ramirez used the funds to pay for luxury cars, travel, other personal expenses, and to pay other investors. He allegedly stole at least $5 million of the $8 million he received from investors.

Perry Santillo, 42, of Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in connection with the Ponzi scheme run through First Nationle Solution LLC, Percipience Global Corporation, and United RL Capital Services LLC. The business reportedly used several names including Advice and Life Group, Poconos Investments, First American Securities and Financial Planners Group of America. Santillo admitted in his plea agreement that he took in approximately $115 million from investors who lost $70.7 million. 

Trendon Shavers, of Texas, was ordered imprisoned for civil contempt after he refused to produce certain documents and payments to the SEC. Shavers and his company, Bitcoin Savings and Trust, were previously sued by the SEC on allegations that they were running a bitcoin Ponzi scheme. Separately, Shavers pleaded guilty to criminal fraud charges. 

Stephen Romney Swensen, deceased, was sued by the SEC in Utah along with others in connection with a Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 50 investors out of more than $29 million. Investors placed their money with Crew Capital Group LLC, a Nevada entity, and were promised returns between 5% and 10%. Crew Capital did not purchase any securities with the money, but Swensen siphoned off the money for his own expenses instead. Clients were given false documents showing Pacific Investment Management Company as a subadvisor to Crew Capital. The SEC alleges that Crew Capital continues to display false information to investors on its website and the investor funds sent to Crew Capital is now being spent and dissipated.

David Varrone, 56, and his wife Sherry Varrone, of Florida, were charged in connection with an alleged scheme run through The Credit Engineers Inc. that took in approximately $6.4 million. The scheme was a credit leasing scheme in which individuals with good credit were offered a short-term “Credit Leasing” investment program that was tied to a purported hedge fund that would pay a guaranteed return and fully repay the loans within 3 years or less. The Varrones helped victims apply for the high interest, short-terms loans and then “lease” the proceeds to The Credit Engineers. 

INTERNATIONAL PONZI SCHEME NEWS 

Brazil

Authorities raided 20 addressed linked to the crypto fraud network controlled by Francisco Valdevino da Silva aka “Sheikh dos Bitcoins.” The scheme promised returns of up to 20% and took about $766 million from thousands of investors.

Canada

Sabrina Ling Huei Wei, James Bernard Law, and Justin Colin Villarin were found to have conspired in securities violations in connection with a scheme run through DFRF Enterprises LLC that was promoted by Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho. They were found to have actively solicited investors on DFRF’s behalf when they knew or should have known that Filho was running a fraudulent scheme. The scheme promised investors returns from gold mining operations in Africa and Brazil that did not actually exist.

Larry Renton, who was being investigated for running a Ponzi scheme through The Miami Group, passed away. Renton was 58 and was a retired police officer who had allegedly defrauded friends and fellow officers.

England

David Ames,70, was sentenced to 12 years in prison in connection with a Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 8,000 investors out of £398 million. The scheme involved luxury Caribbean holiday homes and was run through Harlequin Group, a hotel and resort development venture. Harlequin sold about 9,000 property units to investors, but fewer than 200 were actually built.

Abdul Mukith, 42, was sentenced to 8½ years in jail in connection with a scheme run with four others through Essex and London Properties Ltd, which falsely claimed to refurbish properties along the Elizabeth Line.

PGI Global U.K. was shut down after it allegedly defrauded investors out of about $709,000. Investors were promised returns of up to 200%. PGI is part of Praetorian Group International Trading, which was shut down by the U.S. Department of Justice. 

India

The crypto trading app, Ece Limited, vanished and is being investigated by authorities. The platform had more than 19,000 members. Ece claimed to be a U.S.-based firm and gave a $200 bonus to those who brought in new investors.

Jaydeep Raha, the managing director of Jetex Ocenair Pvt Ltd. was arrested on allegations he was running a fraudulent scheme in which Rs 1.83 crore were diverted to the account of OAK India Multistate Credit Co-operative Society of which Raha is the current managing director. 

Pradeep Sethy was sentenced to 5 years in prison in connection with a Ponzi scheme run through Artha Tatwa Group.

Sanjay Kumar Singh was arrested on allegations that he colluded with Soumyarp Bhowmik in connection with a Ponzi scheme run through Sunmarg Welfare Organisation. 

Sri Lanka

Five individuals, including Shamal Keerthi Bandara and Zhang Kai, were arrested in connection with a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme called Sports Chain, which was supposedly a cryptocurrency investment platform. Investors were directed to transfer their “Sports Chain coins” to an option called the “Power Pool” where the coins would supposedly be multiplied times 5.

Uganda

BLQ Football Club shut down after cause losses that are believed to be greater than Shs60 billion.