Still promoting HYIP frauds on the Ponzi boards and elsewhere?
A Canadian citizen was arrested in British Columbia June 3 and now has been indicted in the United States on charges of wire fraud, mail fraud and money-laundering, authorities said.
Randi A. Bochinski, 46, of Kelowna, B.C., potentially faces decades in prison and huge fines if convicted.
A company known as Carlant Holdings Ltd. was “among other schemes” Bochinski promoted, federal prosecutors said.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the IRS Criminal Investigations Division, and will be prosecuted by the Economic Crimes Unit of U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz in Boston.
Bochinski “promoted a series of high-yield investment programs, whereby he promised investors significant returns on their investments within a short amount of time,” prosecutors said.
“[A]mong other schemes, Bochinski solicited investors to invest in” Carlant by stating “they would receive returns of 8-10 times their investment within 90 days,” prosecutors said, adding that neither the purported returns nor the purported payout timeline ever materialized.
Investors were told their money would remain in an escrow account, but Bochinski “transferred the investments out of the escrow account without notifying the investors,” prosecutors said.
“To date, only small portions of the initial investment have been returned to the investors, none of it was returned within 90 days, and the promised returns have been non-existent,” prosecutors said.
Bochinski “also promoted several other fraudulent investments to investors throughout the country and used funds invested by newer investors to make payments to previous investors,” prosecutors said.