Category: The Economy
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Former Talk-Radio Host Gregg Rennie Pleads Guilty In Ponzi Scheme; Weizhen Tang Arrested At Toronto Airport
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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Hedge-Fund Manager With ‘Great Tan’ And Porsche ‘Getaway Car’ Sentenced To Decade In Prison For Ponzi Scheme; Judge Scolds Bradley L. Ruderman At Sentencing
After Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme was exposed in December 2008, Beverly Hills hedge-fund manager Bradley L. Ruderman wrote a letter to clients assuring them them their money was safe and deploring Madoff’s “chicanery,” federal prosecutors in the Central District of California said. “[S]uch disgraceful practices will never happen under my watch,†Ruderman declared in the…
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SEC Goes After $42 Million In Alleged Ill-Gotten Gains From Arthur Nadel Ponzi; Neil And Christopher Moody Accused Of A Reckless Lack Of Due Diligence And Misleading Investors
UPDATED 5:12 P.M. ET (U.S.A. JAN. 12) So, you want to mislead your clients about your role in your business, rely on the assertions of your business colleague and not perform thorough due diligence and double-check his claims that your investors are making enormous profits? Want to say later — after a Ponzi scheme collapses —…
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Iranian-Americans Targeted In Beverly Hills Investment- And Affinty-Fraud Scheme, SEC Says; Debentures Program Allegedly Pitched On Persian-Language Radio Show
UPDATED 7:03 P.M. ET (U.S.A. JAN. 12) A Beverly Hills radio host pitched his fraud scheme in Persian and targeted Iranian-Americans in Greater Los Angeles, the SEC said today. Client funds were used to build a mansion for John Farahi, 52, and and his wife, Gissou Rastegar Farahi, 50, the agency said. Client funds also…