BULLETIN: Trevor Cook To Be Given Lie-Detector Test; Sentencing In $190 Million Ponzi Case May Be Delayed
BULLETIN: The FBI will administer a lie-detector test to Ponzi schemer Trevor Cook. Meanwhile, his July 26 sentencing date may be delayed, a source told the PP Blog.
The date upon which the test will be administered was not immediately clear. The source, however, suggested that Cook could be subjected to the polygraph as early as tomorrow.
Under the terms of Cook’s April agreement in which he pleaded guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion in a $190 million Ponzi scheme case involving more than 1,000 investors, Cook is required to take a polygraph exam “[i]f requested by the government.”
Victims have expressed fears that Cook, 38, has hidden money from the scheme and could emerge from prison in his early sixties to reclaim the loot. The scheme was operated out of Minneapolis.
R.J. Zayed, the court-appointed receiver in the case, has recommended that the government administer the lie-detector test, according to his website.
Victims arranged a meeting with prosecutors, and the polygraph became a topic of conversation, according to a source who has knowledge about the meeting. Prosecutors have instructed the FBI to administer the test.
The Cook case has turned into an international paper chase. Zayed has served court orders on more than 400 financial institutions.
“We also have served subpoenas on approximately 250 individuals and institutions,” Zayed noted on his website. He added that he expects investor losses to top $139 million.
FBI Director Robert Mueller has warned Congress at least twice this year about the increasing complexities of white-collar crime, including criminals’ reliance on shell companies and a “shadow” banking system to frustrate efforts to detect and unravel schemes.
Cook was at the center of an international fraud scheme, part of which involved companies with confusingly similar names, according to court filings.
Victims have said they fear he is incapable of telling the truth.
My own concern is he could pass it with flying colors especially if he is sociopath. They can lie to your face and believe they are telling the truth. That’s why most con men are so good at what they do. They really don’t believe they are lying.
Interesting point Lynndel. Do polygraph tests work on sociopaths, psychopaths, etc?
Hi Lynn,
You’ll recall that Cook had a tie to KINGZ Capital Management — the company AdViewGlobal claimed was its new offshore wire facilitator.
This POTENTIALLY puts Cook at the center of two murky worlds: underground forex schemes and autosurf/HYIP schemes. It makes sense to leave no stone unturned.
I’d be interested in knowing if Cook actually was involved in MULTIPLE Ponzi schemes, including HYIPS such as Genius Funds and Gold Nugget Invest.
Those wells started to run dry after Cook’s assets were frozen in November. That does not mean he was a player, but it is worth checking out. Given his propensity for gambling and the thrill of the game, it would not surprise me if he was knee deep in the corrupt worlds of the surfs and HYIPs. He also appears to have had an interest in gold, which potentially translates into another outlet through which he’d risk investor funds.
Regards,
Patrick
There’s a series of very good reasons why results of “polygraph” tests are considered inadmissible in many/most courts.
The fact that such tests may not work on people with delusional disorders is one of them.
This is more particularly so when the “polygraph” is of the type which depends primarily on simultaneously measuring heartbeat, blood pressure, respiration and galvanic skin response.
well this is interesting, a lie detector test to a guy that people thinks is a liar. Now this would be a great pay-per-view buy.
Perhaps the question should be “does the polygraph work at all”? This is an interesting site & the book is quite revealing:
http://antipolygraph.org/
If I were a victim I wouldn’t be getting my hopes up.