BULLETIN: Pat Kiley, Trevor Cook Ponzi Pitchman, Sentenced To 20 Years in Federal Prison

BULLETIN: Patrick Kiley, a radio host and conspiracy theorist who warned of “massive, massive chaos” and became a pitchman for the $194 million Trevor Cook Forex Ponzi scheme in Minnesota, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.

Kiley, 75, now becomes the fifth person sentenced to a long prison term in the epic Cook caper, one of the largest financial frauds in Minnesota history. The others include Jason Bo-Alan Beckman, 43, (30 years); Gerald Joseph Durand, 62, (20 years); and Christopher Pettengill, 56, (90 months).

Cook was sentenced to 25 years. The defendants each face a restitution order of more than $155 million.

Like other scams, the Cook fraud traces part of its downfall to a decision to trade on a famous name — in this case, UBS. But the real UBS sued for trademark infringement, prompting Cook and his cronies to adopt other names and immerse themselves in a deeper and deeper sea of incongruity. Conservative Christians were the principal targets.

Kiley emerged a key Cook rainmaker, but ultimately tried to paint himself a Cook victim, describing Cook as “Pontius Pilate,” the Roman prefect many Christians believe authorized the crucifixion of Jesus.

At one point, Kiley tried to turn the tables on the CFTC — like the SEC, one of the agencies to sue Cook and Kiley — by asking the judge overseeing the case to sanction a CFTC attorney $1,000 and make the penalty payable to Kiley. Kiley asserted the CFTC lawyer filed an “offensive” pleading. He also contended that SEC recordings of his pitch were filled with “distortions” and that a website bearing his name had been put together by an individual with a high “sleaze factor.”

Kiley made these assertions, according to court documents, after he earlier had lied while asserting that Cook’s outsized returns were possible because the scheme was borrowing money at zero interest from a bank that complied with Shariah law, which forbids the payment of interest.

A judge ultimately ordered Kiley to undergo a psychiatric exam and a medical exam, delaying his sentencing until today.

From a statement today by federal prosecutors (italics added):

In 2007, when UBS, AG, filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Cook, Durand, Kiley, and others, the defendants began operating their scheme under other names, including but not limited to those identified by the terms “Oxford” and “Universal Brokerage FX.” They then continued to solicit investors for the currency program, utilizing telemarketing, media spots, and seminars in which they repeated the false representations noted above. Kiley, a Christian radio host, solicited investors for the scam through his radio talk show, which was carried on more than 200 stations across the country. On those programs, he regularly warned listeners to avoid financial ruin by giving their life savings to his company for investment.

Some of the money linked to the Cook scheme literally was found jammed inside of walls. Other loot was found in a shopping-mall locker.

Jon Jason Greco was sentenced to 10 months in prison for concealing loot linked to the Cook scheme.