ANOTHER BIG FRAUD IN FLORIDA: Racecar Driver Henri Zogaib Arrested In Alleged $5 Million Ponzi Scheme
Henri Zogaid: Source: Lake County Sheriff's Office
Former Grand-Am racecar driver Henri Zogaib has been arrested and jailed in Florida for the felony crime of organized fraud, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) said.
Once known for living large, Zogaib, 36, of Longwood, Fla., is listed as an inmate in the Lake County Jail. His bail was set at $100,000.
He is accused of stealing “approximately $5.1 million from 19 different victims across the country who had invested their money with Zogaib through his company, Executive Investment Group,” police said.
Among the victims were fellow racecar drivers.
The crime of organized fraud, also known as the Florida Communications Fraud Act, is a felony in Florida that may carry a maximum prison term of 30 years.
“Zogaib would convince potential investors to commit funds to the investment with the promise of large returns,” authorities said. “[He] supplied investors with documentation that demonstrated significant financial growth on their investments with the suggestion that the funds be reinvested for further financial gain. Investors eventually discovered that their money had never been invested and Zogaib had instead taken the money for his own personal use.”
The arrest culminated a joint investigation by FDLE, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office and the Daytona Beach Police Department into allegations that Zogaib operated an organized Ponzi scheme, authorities said.
Quick note: AdSurfDaily members might want to familiarize themselves with the crime of organized fraud, which has a communications component.
a) Any person who engages in a scheme to defraud and obtains property thereby is guilty of organized fraud, punishable as follows:
1. If the amount of property obtained has an aggregate value of $50,000 or more, the violator is guilty of a felony of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
2. If the amount of property obtained has an aggregate value of $20,000 or more, but less than $50,000, the violator is guilty of a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
3. If the amount of property obtained has an aggregate value of less than $20,000, the violator is guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
(b) Any person who engages in a scheme to defraud and, in furtherance of that scheme, COMMUNICATES with any person with intent to obtain property from that person is guilty, for each such act of communication, of communications fraud, punishable as follows:
1. If the value of property obtained or endeavored to be obtained by the communication is valued at $300 or more, the violator is guilty of a third degree felony, punishable as set forth in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
2. If the value of the property obtained or endeavored to be obtained by the communication is valued at less than $300, the violator is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as set forth in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
(c) Notwithstanding any contrary provisions of law, separate judgments and sentences for organized fraud under paragraph (a) and for each offense of communications fraud under paragraph (b) may be imposed when all such offenses involve the same scheme to defraud.
In the case against Zogaib, prosecutors alleged “[He] supplied investors with documentation that demonstrated significant financial growth on their investments with the suggestion that the funds be reinvested for further financial gain.”
Still want to tell autosurf investors to monitor the growth of their money in their electronic back offices (numbers on a screen) while pushing autosurf 80/20 programs?
Patrick
[…] authority to sell the phony securities at issue.” Arrested: Former Grand Am racecar driver Henri Zogaib has been arrested again after making bail in the original case filed against him in Florida, WFTV […]