‘SURF/HYIP HELPERS BEWARE: Woman Who Helped Tennessee Ponzi Schemer Cover Up Fraud Sentenced To 6 Years In Federal Prison; Donna Jones’ Role In $12.3 Million Caper Outlined By Jailed Boss In Court After Investigators ‘Follow The Paper Trail’

EDITOR’S NOTE: Although Donna Jones did not run an autosurf or online HYIP fraud, the case against her is instructive. Indeed, prosecutors said, Jones was an insider who was aware of the Ponzi scheme being conducted by her boss, Michael J. Park. And Jones took an active role in the scheme, encouraging customers to invest, hustling cash even as the scheme was unraveling, creating bogus “spreadsheets” and fabricating information given to investors.

It is common for autosurf and HYIP insiders to solicit funds for fraud schemes, use spreadsheets with bogus or illusory information to reel in and (later) lull prospects, siphon investor funds and simply lie to maintain their ability to keep drinking from a criminal well.

At least seven federal, state and local agencies became part of an intense probe to reverse-engineer the Park scheme. In the end, Park himself testified against his former employee.

UPDATED 9:58 A.M. EDT (U.S.A.) A woman employed by a Tennessee Ponzi schemer added $19,000 in new clothes to her wardrobe, withdrew $225,000 in cash and spent more than $300,000 on home renovations, federal prosecutors said.

Now, Donna Jones has been sentenced to 72 months in federal prison. Jones, 37, of Dickson, Tenn., also was ordered to pay nearly $8.2 million in restitution to victims.

Jones was the office manager of Park Capital Management Group (PCMG), a Brentwood, Tenn.-based business operated by Michael J. Park. Park, who is serving a 96-month prison sentence, testified about Jones’ knowledge of the scheme at her sentencing hearing, prosecutors said.

Federal, state and local law-enforcement agencies worked together to expose the fraud, prosecutors said.

Among the agencies working the criminal probe were the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the IRS, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Brentwood (Tenn.) Police Department. The SEC sued Park in a civil case.

“Jones repeatedly encouraged people to invest by falsely promising security, growth and inflated returns on their money, but instead the investors lost their savings as part of an elaborate Ponzi scheme,” said U.S. Attorney Jerry E. Martin of the Middle District of Tennessee.

Park advised U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger that Jones used a “spreadsheet” to keep track of “fictitious” PCMG accounts and that he and Jones “pooled” investor funds and used them as “their own personal bank account,” prosecutors said.

“This case further demonstrates how effectively IRS Criminal Investigation agents work jointly with our federal and state law enforcement partners in investigating complex financial crimes,” said Darryl Williams, acting special agent in charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation unit in Nashville.

“IRS Criminal Investigation agents were able to use their expertise to conduct a complex financial investigation, follow the paper trail, and unravel violations of federal law,” Williams said.

It also was Jones’ idea to use the seal of the Securities Investor Protection Corp. (SIPC) to create the illusion that investing with PCMG was safe, according to Park’s testimony.

But “PCMG was not a member of the SIPC, and the SIPC provided no protection for PCMG investors,” prosecutors said.

Jones, who also was accused of concealing the scheme by fabricating documents and soliciting funds to cover shortfalls, pleaded guilty to mail fraud and money-laundering in January.

Among the documents were IRS 1099 forms, but “none of the funds listed in PCMG investment accounts were ever invested,” according to Park’s testimony.

It is common in the autosurf and HYIP spheres for purveyors to claim an “opportunity” is legitimate because the company gathers tax information and sends 1099 forms.

Park also was the subject of a 2008 complaint filed by the SEC, bringing the number of state and federal agencies involved in PCMG-related litigation to at least seven.

“Park used investor funds, among other things, to help purchase a $1 7 million home, pay for expensive golf memberships, to purchase a Porsche automobile and to purchase a Mercedes Benz sedan worth more than $90,000,” the SEC said in September 2008.