PatrickPretty.com

Category: Uncategorized

  • ASD ALL OVER AGAIN? Gold Nugget Invest (GNI) Collapse Brings Out The Conspiracy Theorists, Apologists; Theorists Claim Interpol Investigating SEC

    EDITOR’S NOTE: Conspiracy theories quickly became part of the AdSurfDaily story after federal agents seized tens of millions of dollars from the company in August 2008 amid Ponzi scheme allegations.

    Yesterday reports surfaced that Gold Nugget Invest (GNI), a High Yield Income Program (HYIP) positioned as a betting arbitrage, had collapsed. GNI reportedly announced that it had engaged in forex trading, an announcement that surprised some members who apparently believed they had invested in a sports-betting enterprise.

    As was the case with ASD, conspiracy theories surfaced quickly after GNI’s purported collapse. The post below summarizes some of the early, tortured claims.

    Here, now, the post . . .

    UPDATED 10:26 A.M. ET (U.S.A.) Did you know any of the following things:

    That Interpol had unearthed a complex plot by Former President George W. Bush to undermine the world economy and install banking puppets?

    That Bush had started “drug trafficking operations,” funding them with Ponzi proceeds and profits from manufacturing weapons?

    That Interpol was investigating the SEC for financial crimes and that others were suing the SEC for $3.87 trillion because the agency and President Bush somehow had established a secret trading platform and were operating their own Ponzi scheme on Wall Street?

    That at least one member of President Obama’s cabinet recently had been secretly arrested for a crime related to “sabotage” and then, apparently, secretly released and permitted to continue in his old job?

    That Obama himself had been warned that he faced arrest for the manner in which he was running the country?

    That U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the attorneys general of the U.S. states have been warned secretly that they face arrest?

    That the U.S. government and its clandestine operatives somehow had staged the attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight bound for Detroit on Christmas Day?

    That it was OK for GNI to collect large sums of money from new members — even if it knew it did not have the resources to pay its current members — because members’ first duty was to the company and not to themselves?

    That an apparent decision by GNI to lock up members’ funds for 14 months was entirely appropriate because its first duty was to save itself  so it later could redistribute the funds through a scheme with different rules?

    That members who placed money with the company and pulled it out with interest after 30 days were in no small part responsible for GNI’s problems?

    That criticizing GNI management in any way demonstrates that the critics are immature and not responsible adults?

    We knew none of these things until reports of GNI’s collapse and its hard-too-decipher “Re-organization” program surfaced yesterday. The reference to Interpol’s purported SEC probe  seems to be tied to SEC-initiated litigation against CMKM Diamonds and other individuals and companies.

    CMKM Diamonds was a Pinksheet stock.

    How all of the other conspiracy theories evolved is unclear.

  • REPORTS: Gold Nugget Invest (GNI) Has Collapsed; Belize Issued Warning In November, But Program Pitched On Surf’s Up In December

    There are multiple reports that the Gold Nugget Invest (GNI) HYIP has collapsed — although the early spin is that the program is embarking on a “Re-organization.”

    The government of Belize put out a warning on GNI in November.  Some members said the warning was meaningless, and continued to tout the program. GNI’s website now says it is offline for maintenance.

    “We are busy updating our site for you and will be back soon,” the site says.

    A purported announcement by the company of multiple problems — everything from “catastrophic script failure(s) to potentially catastrophic hackers” to an apparent banking investigation in Europe that led to assets being frozen — was circulating among members today.

    The purported announcement is filled with baffling prose, and members are trying to figure out what it all means.

    Here are a few paragraphs:

    As we welcomed Year 2010, we (Principals, Staff and Associates) felt the need to reflect on the challenges GNI faced and were able to overcome; and what if anything, we could learn from having faced these challenges.

    These challenges were broad in scope – which included catastrophic script failure(s) to potentially catastrophic hackers; from being flush with cash when we shouldn’t have been and devoid of funds when we should have (had ample amounts). Despite these hardships, and in contravention to those who wish nothing but our demise, never did we consider abandoning our friends and associates without whom we never would have experienced, learned and grew with the project uniquely known as GNI.

    The last quarter of 2009, however, placed significant obstacles in our pursuit of success, each having the capability of wiping out any well-managed program, anywhere!

    During the Christmas / New Year Holiday, needing a crystal clear vision of our financial vortex, I met with Jurgen and others to obtain their trading reports and declare our Profit / Loss position to the Principals of GNI. With Arthur leading the way, we were able to evaluate with no uncertainty, our financial, technical and situational oversight in preparation for year 2010.

    Specifically, we looked at:

    1. Yesilada Bank. That entity having the most significant impact is / was the freezing of assets by the German Authorities, of Yesilada’s Correspondent Bank. This particular frozen account contains all of Yesilada’s client’s foreign exchange funds. There are dozens of legitimate clients, along with GNI, whose lives have been put on hold pending the resolution of an investigation which has NOTHING to do with GNI. It’s a matter of being at the wrong place at the wrong. time.

    Twenty-three weeks without the availability of OUR (and some of our best clients) funds, while continuing to honor our obligation of paying interest on those funds becomes a loss ranging from 10% – 12.5% a week. We arrive at those numbers simply by adding the percentage we could have received (which fluctuates based on the traders success) had they not been frozen, with that percentage we would have otherwise not had to pay out; over a twenty-three (23) week period. If we released the actual dollar amount that is involved, the numbers become staggering if not overwhelming.

    As significant as this amount became, it was a manageable scenario using reserves and our favorable Forex positions. In defiance of all economic logic, the dollar began and continues to this day to gather strength against the Euro; weakening our positions considerably.

    2. New Competition. About the same time (late September, early October) several well-managed, aggressive and unique Sports Arbitrage programs came on-line decreasing our market share, not in terms of investment dollars, more so for viable arbs.

    The bottom line seems to be that GNI, which almost certainly operated as a Ponzi scheme, doesn’t have the cash required to sustain itself — and doesn’t have the cash to pay members.

    We reported weeks ago about the Belize warning about GNI. (Also see our Dec. 4 report about an “egg-themed” pitch for GNI and three other HYIPs.)

    The pitch appeared on the Pro-AdSurfDaily Surf’s Up forum, saying in all-caps, “ALL MY EGGS ARE NOT IN ONE BASKET.

    “I MAKE $2000.00 A WEEK.”

    The promo later was deleted at Surf’s Up.

  • Court Gives Receiver Go-Ahead To Start Selling Property Tied To Alleged Trevor Cook/Pat Kiley Ponzi; Large-Screen TVs, Slot Machines To Be Auctioned

    UPDATED 4:06 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) A federal judge in the SEC and CFTC Ponzi scheme cases against Trevor Cook and Pat Kiley has paved the way for the receiver to begin selling property linked to the alleged $190 million scheme.

    Among the first items up for bid will be 12 large-screen televisions, two slot machines and a Craps table, according to court filings. The items were discovered at the Van Dusen mansion in Minneapolis and at a property in Burnsville, Minn.

    Receiver R.J. Zayed also wants to sell the mansion and the Burnsville property, and has begun the process of finding qualified professionals to assist. If court approval is gained for the sale of the real estate, it, too, will be auctioned, according to Zayed’s proposed plan.

    Cook, who had previous run-ins with CFTC over his business practices, is not cooperating with Zayed, according to court filings. Kiley is a former host on Christian radio. He is accused of pitching the scheme, which collapsed last year. The scheme’s alleged tentacles extended from the United States to Europe, and also to Panama.

    Zayed sought court approval earlier this week to sell the TVs and other items found at the Van Dusen mansion and the Burnsville property. Chief U.S. Chief District Judge Michael Davis now has issued an order, approving the sale.

    In addition to the large-screen TVs and gambling equipment, Zayed found 39 computer monitors with 22-inch screens; 19 monitors with smaller screens; 23 computers; a “keg cooler/tap”; a “Beertender dispenser”; a Karaoke machine; three shredders; and miscellaneous other equipment.

    Screen shot: Slice from receiver's filing on Cook/Kiley items up for sale.

    The alleged Cook/Kiley scheme has featured an assertion that Cook also bought a private island in Canada with proceeds from the scheme, and a submarine to access the island.

    One investor told the SEC that he’d heard Cook had purchased the two-person submarine on eBay for $40,000, but discovered the waters in Canada were too dark for the craft. Allegedly undeterred, Cook said he simply would move the sub to Panama on the belief its waters were clearer than Canada’s.

  • Ballroom Dancer Gets 18 Years In Financial Scheme; Wayne ‘Twinkle Toes’ Puff Case In New Jersey Combined Mortgage And Ponzi Fraud

    His case signaled that things were desperately out of control in the U.S. mortgage industry, and Wayne Puff was sentenced yesterday to 18 years in federal prison for swindling investors and banks in a massive mortgage and Ponzi scheme that operated between 1998 and 2005.

    Although Puff had been disciplined by regulators in New Jersey (2002) and Pennsylvania (2004) in a complex mortgage and securities scheme that featured unregistered offerings, the fraud continued. His New Jersey Affordable Homes empire, which had been propped up by fraudulent loan paperwork and real-estate appraisals that had been inflated by as much as 900 percent to create value where none existed, collapsed in 2005.

    Investors and banks lost tens of millions of dollars. The U.S. mortgage meltdown occurred two years later, owing to the types of schemes that fueled Puff’s New Jersey operation. Lenders found themselves holding worthless mortgages, and Wall Street found itself holding worthless bundles of securities.

    Puff, 61, enjoyed ballroom dancing. Commenting in the New York Times, a fleeced investor said, “We used to call him Twinkle Toes.”

    Investors were promised guaranteed annual returns of between 16 percent and 22 percent. “Money finders” — people who recruited investors into the scheme — were paid commissions of 4 percent. The purported business model was the buying, renovating and selling of real estate at a profit, but investigators discovered Puff was monumentally upside down because of skimming and institutional corruption.

    Among other things, the Puff case demonstrated the complexities that accompany Ponzi schemes and the enormous effort it takes to reverse-engineer an epic fraud. The SEC, for example, identified “at least 82 entities that are owned or controlled by, related to, associated or affiliated with, NJ Affordable and Puff,” according to court filings.

    Among the screaming advertising claims:

    “DOUBLE YOUR MONEY IN LESS THAN 5 YEARS.”

    “A FIRST MORTGAGE LIEN IS EXACTLY THE SAME COLLATERAL THAT A BANK GETS WHEN THEY LOAN YOU MONEY TO BUY A HOME. IT’S THE BEST, SAFEST COLLATERAL THERE IS. IF A BANK COULD DO ANY BETTER, THEY WOULD. BELIEVE THAT! IT’S THAT SIMPLE.”

    “A SAFETY NET OF 25% OR MORE BETWEEN THE APPRAISED MARKET VALUE AND THE FIRST MORTGAGE.”

    Appraisal values, however, were so grossly overstated that they almost were comedic, according to court filings. In one case, a property acquired for $60,000 was said to be worth $2,085,000; a property acquired for $7,500 and said to be worth $750,000; and a property acquired for $85,000 was said to be worth $3,900,000.

    In yet another nearly comedic example, a property acquired for the nominal sum of $1 was said to have an appraised value of $165,000, but NJ Affordable issued mortgages on the property totaling $261,068.03, according to court filings.

    Screen shot: From SEC complaint in Puff case.

    “Out of the $333 million in real properly sales that NJ Affordable recorded between January 1, 2004, and May 1, 2005, at least 90% ($30.4 million) was generated from sales to people closely connected to NJ Affordable, such as its investors, employees, insiders, affiliates, or nominees who had previously bought a property from NJ Affordable or one of its Affiliated Entities and transferred it to NJ Affordable Affiliated Entity,” the SEC said.

    “By selling to investors, insiders and nominees, NJ Affordable has generated ‘revenues’ while maintaining control over ‘sold’ properties,” the SEC said. “NJ Affordable has sold and resold the same property to different investors, and has also used a series of sales (or ‘flips’) to escalate a property’s sales price.”

  • Montana Broker Arrested In Alleged Ponzi; Authorites Say Arthur L. Heffelfinger Stole From 90-Year-Old Client With Dementia

    Arthur Leroy Heffelfinger has been arrested in Montana on a felony charge of exploitation of an older person amid allegations he raided the account of a woman in her 90s to sustain a Ponzi scheme he had been operating for years.

    Heffelfinger, 63, of East Helena, also was charged with a felony count under Montana state law of operating a pyramid promotion scheme and a felony count of theft. Officials said Heffelfinger stole at least $2.02 million from clients to fund a Ponzi scheme.

    The elderly woman, who died in October, was a patient in a nursing home. She suffered from “advanced dementia” and cognitive impairment, according to prosecutors.

    Monies for the elderly couple were entrusted to Heffelfinger beginning in 2001. The woman’s husband, who also was in his 90s, died in 2002, according to court records.

    Two days after Heffelfinger received the elderly couple’s initial investment of nearly $97,000 on March 12, 2001, prosecutors said, he started doling in out in Ponzi payments. Records suggest he set aside more than $36,000 of the opening deposit for his own use, and also caused “unnecessary tax consequences.”

    After the woman’s husband died, according to records, Heffelfinger continued to manage money for the woman. Subsequent funds entrusted to him also went to Ponzi payments. Records in the case suggest a tax-refund check for the woman in the amount of $28,776  received in June 2003 and entrusted to Heffelfinger immediately was used to make Ponzi payments and pay Hellelfinger’s bills.

    Here is what happened to a $28,776 tax refund, according to Montana prosecutors.

    In September 2009, the woman’s daughter reported that checks to her mother’s nursing home had bounced. Believing that her mother’s funds had been invested in a Real Estate Income Trust (REIT) through Heffelfinger — the local manager of KMS Financial Services — the woman became alarmed, fearing that her mother suddenly would have to go on Medicaid to pay for her care.

    A KMS official flew to Helena to shut down Heffelfinger’s office, according to court filings. A state investigation ensued, and the Ponzi scheme was exposed. Before long, investigators determined that the scheme dated back at least to 1998 and that at least 28 investors from at least eight Montana counties had been fleeced.

    Heffelfinger’s case will be prosecuted in Lewis and Clark County. The state already has named a special prosecutor.

  • Former Talk-Radio Host Gregg Rennie Pleads Guilty In Ponzi Scheme; Weizhen Tang Arrested At Toronto Airport

    Weizhen Tang: Arrested Jan. 13, 2010

    A Massachusetts man accused of targeting senior citizens and people of faith — and fleecing millions of dollars from them in a Ponzi scheme — has pleaded guilty.

    Meanwhile, Canadian-citizen and Ponzi-scheme suspect Weizhen Tang, the self-described  “Chinese Warren Buffet,” was arrested last night at Pearson International Airport in Toronto.

    Tang was taken into custody after returning to Canada from China. He was whisked to jail, and has a court appearance scheduled today. Toronto police asked for the public’s help in locating Tang earlier this month. Tang said he was aware a warrant had been issued for his arrest, and his attorney said Tang was returning to Canada to face the charges.

    In the Massachusetts case, Gregg T. Rennie pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to 13 counts of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud. He potentially faces decades in prison and fines in the millions of dollars.

    “Financial crimes that prey on trusting investors, as alleged in this case, will not be tolerated,” said U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is dedicated to protecting investors from financial predators and will aggressively pursue those who exploit the trust of the investing public.”

    Rennie, 44, of Quincy, former was the host of the “Your Money” radio program. Christians were targeted in the scheme, which gathered at least $3.2 million, prosecutors said.

    “[H]e stole no less than $3.2 million from a number of victims, including an elderly gentleman whom Rennie had known since his childhood, retirees who invested their retirement savings with Rennie, and individuals who listened to Rennie’s radio show,” prosecutors said. “[His] victims also included a church congregation that had invested funds that the congregation had raised in anticipation of building a new church.”

    Rennie fleeced investors by telling them he handled “risk free federal housing certificates with guaranteed rates of return,” prosecutors said.

    He “told his victims that these investments involved government grants or loans for housing projects, or were otherwise investments in federally subsidized real estate developments,” prosecutors said.

    But Rennie “used the funds to pay for his own personal and business expenses as well as to make periodic payments to other victims,” prosecutors said. “To conceal his fraud, [he] showed some of his victims prospectuses for legitimate investment vehicles from respected investment companies. He further sent his victims bogus invoices which appeared to reflect their investments.”

    Rennie is at least the third talk-radio host recently implicated in a financial-fraud scheme. Christian radio host Pat Kiley of Minnesota was accused by the SEC and the CFTC of participating in a $190 million Ponzi scheme with Trevor Cook.

    In Beverly Hills, Calif., radio host John Farahi is accused by the SEC of targeting Iranian-Americans in a debentures-scheme pitched in Persian.

  • Records Suggest Cook/Kiley Firms Owned At Least 12 Large-Screen TVs And Beer-Dispensing Equipment

    In a case that already has featured assertions that alleged Minnesota Ponzi schemer Trevor Cook purchased a submarine on eBay to access his private island in Canada, the receiver in the case has filed papers that suggest Cook also had an affinity for large-screen TV sets.

    Receiver R.J. Zayed listed 10 TV sets with 50-inch screens and two sets with 42-inch screens as assets of the alleged Cook/Pat Kiley Ponzi scheme.

    Nine of the 50-inch sets were manufactured by Panasonic, and the model number suggests they are plasma TVs. One 50-inch set was manufactured by Akai, and the 42-inch sets were manufactured by Insignia.

    Also listed among the assets of the Cook/Kiley enterprises were at least 39 computer monitors with 22-inch screens and at least 19 with 19-inch or smaller screens, miscellaneous computer, office and sound equipment, three shredders, a “Beertender” dispenser, a “keg cooler/tap,” a craps table, a wine fridge and a karaoke machine, according to Zayed’s filings.

    Cook and Kiley — and their companies — were implicated by the SEC and the CFTC in an alleged $190 million Ponzi scheme. Zayed said Cook is not cooperating, and the SEC is seeking sanctions — including a contempt of court order that could jail him — to get him to cooperate.

    Both Cook and his wife have taken the 5th Amendment in the case.

    Among the allegations against Cook is that he purchased hard-to-trace gift cards after a federal judge froze assets in the case and is hiding assets in other ways. The Star Tribune of Minneapolis/St. Paul reported yesterday that a supermarket became concerned when Cook was observed shopping in the store, fearing he could be using frozen assets to pay for groceries.

    Cub Foods put Cook under video surveillance while he was inside and outside the store.

    Read Zayed’s listing of some of the assets in the Cook/Kiley case.

    Read the Star Tribune story/view the video.

  • FBI Arrested Ponzi Suspect Aboard Jet Preparing For Flight To ‘Overseas’ Destination Last Month; Tarakeswar Chaudhary Taken Off Emirates Airlines Plane

    Federal agents and airport police have arrested a man suspected of operating a Ponzi scheme and fleecing investors in a fraudulent Google stock offering, the FBI said.

    Tarakeswar “Tarak” Chaudhary, 49, of Tustin, Calif., was arrested last month at San Francisco International Airport after he boarded an Emirates Airlines flight bound for an “overseas” destination, the FBI said.

    U.S. Marshals now have returned Chaudhary from San Francisco to Santa Ana to face the charges.

    Emirates Airlines is wholly owned by the government of Dubai and flies to 100 cities in 62 countries across the Middle East, Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, Europe, the Far East, South America and North America, according to its website.

    “Chaudhary was removed from an Emirates Airlines flight bound overseas at the time of his arrest,” the FBI said.

    Chaudhary, 49, operated a company known as Transpacific Intertrade Inc. He was charged with mail fraud in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, Calif., on Dec. 7.

    “[He] defrauded victims by promising to invest their money in initial public offerings and secondary share offerings by companies such as Google, Inc., when in fact, no such investments were made,” the FBI and Acting U.S. Attorney George S. Cardona said.

    At least three victims “are believed to have provided over $3 million to Chaudhary,” the FBI said.

    As part of the scheme, Chaudhary mailed forged statements on Morgan Stanley letterhead to at least one victim from whom Chaudhary obtained $1 million,” the FBI said. “The forged statement indicated that stock purchases had been made through a Morgan Stanley account, when in fact, no such account existed.

    In make investors feel safe, Chaudhary “lulled” them by fabricating “the identity of a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley,” the FBI said.

    “Chaudhary told at least one victim that his investment of $995,000 was gone and that he had also defrauded at least 20 people out of a total of $10 million or more,” the FBI said. “Chaudhary recently admitted to another victim that he was running a Ponzi scheme and that he had not invested any of the victims’ money.”

  • Do Ponzi Schemes Pose A Threat To National Security? New PP Poll Asks A Simple Question

    Our new poll asks a simple question: Do Ponzi Schemes Pose A Threat To National Security? You may vote only one time. Until voting closes, the poll also will be in the sidebar to the right.

    Feel free to argue your points in the Comments section of this post.

  • UPDATE: California Woman Arrested Last Week In Ponzi Case Charged Separately With Stealing From 90-Year-Old Widow And Using Money For Liposuction

    A woman jailed in California on Ponzi scheme charges has been charged in a separate case with stealing from a 90-year-old widow and using some of the money to have a liposuction procedure performed in Mexico.

    Redondo Beach police said they were investigating Mariana Montes for a separate crime when they discovered she was running a Ponzi scheme targeting Latin immigrants. The separate crime turned out to be financial abuse of the elderly.

    Police described it as a $682,000 fraud case in which it is alleged Montes conned the elderly woman into taking out home-equity loans, refinancing her home three times and making out blank checks that Montes cashed.

    The $900,000 home, which had been in the elderly woman’s family for 100 years, had no mortgage before Montes conned the woman, police said. The Daily Breeze newspaper of Torrance, Calif., reported that the woman was forced to sell the home to pay off the bank after Montes scammed her — and that Montes gave some of the money to friends and used some of it to have liposuction.

    Montes, 41, ran a fraudulent company known as “Fast Results Investments.” Redondo Beach police said she targeted Latin immigrants in a Ponzi scheme. The preliminary loss was estimated at $500,000 in the Ponzi case, but investigators said the figure could increase.

    “[She] used the investors’ money to purchase designer clothing, a new vehicle and to fund her daily activities,” police said.

    See our earlier story on Montes.

    See the Daily Breeze story about the alleged fleecing of the 90-year-old woman.

  • California Man Who Tried To Flee Country While His Ponzi Was Disintegrating Sentenced To Prison; John Anthony Miller Was Targeted In FBI/State Department Sting

    A California man who tried to adopt the identity of a deceased classmate from his school days to flee the United States while his Ponzi scheme was unraveling has been sentenced to 159 months in federal prison.

    The FBI and the State Department already were aware that John Anthony Miller’s scheme was falling apart when they targeted him in a sting in November 2008.

    Miller, who was convicted in 1998 of racketeering “predicated on mail fraud, wire fraud, and securities fraud offenses” was operating a Ponzi scheme a decade later through a company known as JAM Jr. Enterprises of Newport Beach, Calif., according to the criminal complaint in the case. Miller, 52, lived in San Clemente.

    Working with an informant, an FBI agent who also was an attorney and a former clerk for a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, set up a sting operation. Miller’s telephone calls with the informant were recorded as the scheme was collapsing.

    Miller sought the informant’s help in obtaining a passport to a country that did not have an extradition treaty with the United States, according to the complaint. Using a story that a family friend knew a corrupt passport official, the informant set up a meeting between Miller and the purportedly corrupt official, who was actually an undercover officer from the U.S. Department of State.

    <!–adsensestart–>Miller agreed to pay $20,000 for the passport, with $5,000 paid up front and the balance of $15,000 upon delivery of the passport. Miller paid the undercover officer $5,000 in cash that had been stuffed in an envelope. He then filled out a passport application that used the identity of his deceased classmate, according to the complaint.

    Worried about his ability to honor redemption requests in the Ponzi scheme, Miller told the informant that he had been “meditating” since 2007 over whether it was best to “hide out in the United States or abroad” and had contacted at least one other individual about obtaining a “fake identity,” according to the complaint.

    By October 2008, according to the complaint, Miller needed between $4 million and $5 million to meet redemption requests and did not have the money. He was worried about “tense” people who could bring him unwanted attention “quick” and wondered how long it would take for the FBI and the SEC to respond to complaints about him if “someone pull[s] the trigger.”

    Miller ultimately concluded it was best to flee the country. After using Ponzi proceeds to pay the undercover agent the $5,000 deposit  required for the bogus passport in November 2008, Miller was told it would take seven to 10 days for the documents to be prepared. He provided two photographs of himself, and used the name, Social Security number and date of birth of his deceased Catholic school classmate in the application.

    FBI agents who had been keeping Miller under surveillance arrested him while he was preparing to flee. He was charged with mail fraud (for bogus statements he sent to investors), bribery, passport fraud and identity fraud. He pleaded guilty last year.

    Investors lost more than $15 million in the scheme, which also involved a Miller company known as Forte Financial Partners.

    “Miller promised investors ‘guaranteed’ annual returns of between 10 percent and 18 percent per year, telling investors that their money would be invested in foreign currency trading, oil wells, real estate and other vehicles,” prosecutors said.

    Some investors raided their IRAs to invest with Miller, who promised better returns, prosecutors said.