BULLETIN: Michigan Ponzi Schemer Keith Epstein, Who Sanitized Caper With Charitable Donations While He Ripped Off Senior Citzens And Spent Their Money On Strippers, Sentenced To Federal Prison

Keith Epstein, 56, told senior citizens they could trust him with their money. Some of his investors believed him — and they liquidated legitimate holdings and gave the cash to Epstein.

But Epstein, of Farmington Hills, Mich., was running a $4 million Ponzi scheme, the FBI said.

He took the cash from his victims, spending it on gambling and to support “multiple exotic dancers,” investigators said.

Some investors received Ponzi payments, investigators said. Epstein plied his marks in part by visiting their homes, participating in their family functions and by putting “money toward[] charitable causes important to clients,” the FBI said.

Epstein, who’d been held in the Macomb County lockup for violating state laws and writing a bad check, now is on his way to an unspecified federal prison. He was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Nancy G. Edmunds to 97 months for the Ponzi scheme.

“We hope to send a message to investment advisors that we will aggressively prosecute those who steal from the elderly and other small investors,” U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade of the Eastern District of Michigan said.

“Many of his victims’ retirement funds have been completely eviscerated, leaving them with nothing after lifetimes of saving and hard work,” the FBI said.

Edmunds ordered Epstein to make resitution of $4.1 million to victims.