PatrickPretty.com

Tag: Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force

SCAMMER’S GAMBLE BACKFIRES: Fraudster Who Chilled Customer With Lawsuit Threat Pleads Guilty To Mail Fraud; Philip Pestrichello Faces Up To 20 Years In Prison After Plea In ‘Work-At-Home’ Caper

UPDATED 4:51 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) A convicted felon who emerged from prison and almost immediately launched a $1 million fraud scheme known as PPSN threatened to prosecute and sue a consumer who had filed an online complaint, federal prosecutors said. Although the threat caused the consumer to withdraw the complaint against Philip Pestrichello, Pestrichello’s bid…

Jul 19, 2010
DEVELOPING STORY: Douglas Ballard, Banker Accused Of Lending Money For Guy Mitchell’s Alleged ‘Private Island In The Bahamas,’ Pleads Guilty; Case Part Of $1 Billion Failure Of Integrity Bank

A Georgia banker accused of lending a now-accused Florida real-estate fraudster money to buy a “private island” in the Caribbean has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and to receive bribes, and to a single count of tax evasion, federal prosecutors said. Douglas Ballard, 40, of Atlanta, formerly was the executive vice president…

Jul 7, 2010
BULLETIN: KABOOM x 1,215! Feds Announce ‘Operation Stolen Dreams’ Mortgage-Fraud Sweep; 1,215 Defendants Charged In Largest Mortgage Scammer Takedown In U.S. History

BULLETIN: UPDATED 1:10 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) At least 1,215 criminal defendants have been named in “Operation Stolen Dreams,” which U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder described as a “three and a half month takedown of mortgage fraud schemes throughout the country.” The mortgage-fraud operation began March 1 and is the largest-such undertaking in U.S. history, Holder…

Jun 17, 2010
KABOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM! 5 Separate Federal Probes Lead To Dozens Of Fraud Arrests In Multiple States; 1 Case Alleges Nearly $2 Billion Scheme

BULLETIN: The U.S. government has announced charges against at least 43 defendants in five separate financial-fraud schemes, the largest of which allegedly involved $1.9 billion and contributed to the collapse last year of a bank with 346 branches and a mortage-lending company in Florida. Smaller schemes in cases outlined by federal prosecutors today involved tens…

Jun 16, 2010
New Jersey Woman Charged In Alleged $45 Million Ponzi Scheme; Antoinette Hodgson Faces Decades In Prison If Convicted

A New Jersey woman was arrested this morning on charges she fleeced more than 20 Greater New York investors by engineeringÂ a $45 million Ponzi scheme involving purported real- estate flips, the FBI said. Antoinette Hodgson, 58, of Montclair, New Jersey, was accused of conspiracy and wire fraud amid allegations she recruited clients by telling…

Jun 16, 2010
Ponzi Operator D.J. Harriett Pleads Guilty; Tells Judge He Attempted Suicide During Scheme’s Collapse And Also Is Suffering From Cancer

An Ohio man who fleeced more than 200 people in a $7 million Ponzi scheme tried to commit suicide in November when the scheme was collapsing and also is suffering from pancreatic cancer, the Warren Tribune-Chronicle is reporting. The story of David J. Harriett demonstrates the enormous emotional pressure on both perpetrators and victims in…

Jun 13, 2010
Head Of Justice Department’s Criminal Division Announces Guilty Plea Of Texas Man In Commodities Ponzi Case; Multiagency Crackdown Against Scammers Continues

In yet another sign that U.S. policy is to turn up the heat on Ponzi and HYIP purveyors, the head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced the guilty plea of a Texas man accused both criminally and civilly of running a Forex HYIP and Ponzi scheme. Ray M. White, 51, of Mansfield, faces up…

Jun 13, 2010
BULLETIN: Yet Another Florida Ponzi Scheme; SEC Accuses Luis Felipe Perez Of Operating $40 Million Fraud Backed By Fake Diamonds And Bogus ‘Pawn Shops’

EDITOR’S NOTE: Here’s one for your Bubba Blue notebook on the various ways to have a Ponzi scheme, as opposed to shrimp. UPDATED 5:50 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) A Miami man has been charged by the SEC with gathering $40 million in a Ponzi scheme, pocketing $6 million for himself and telling investors they were helping…

Jun 2, 2010
FBI, SEC Nab Pair Using Gmail To Run Insider-Trading Scam; Undercover Agents Responded To Offer To Sell Disney Earnings Report

So, you want to use Google’s free Gmail service to pull off a scam? From this day forward you should not be confident that you’re not already caught.Â The FBI today announced that it set up a sting to nail two people who were trying to sell the quarterly earnings report of Walt Disney Co. before…

May 26, 2010
SEC: Another Florida Ponzi Scheme; Financial Fraud Task Force: Guilty Plea By Attorney In California Mortgage-Fraud Case, Plus New Indictments

In a fast-moving news day on the fraud front, the SEC has accused two men and their Florida company of orchestrating a real-estate “promissory note” Ponzi scheme. Separately, the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force announced the guilty plea of a California attorney in a real-estate swindle, plus the indictments of seven other people in separate…

May 21, 2010
Feds, State Team Up In Virginia To Short-Circuit White-Collar Crime Wave; ‘All Too Clear’ Problem National In Scope, Top Federal Prosecutor Says

Calling it an “unprecedented partnership” brought about by a financial-fraud problem that is national in scope, federal and state officials today announced the creation of the Virginia Financial and Securities Fraud Task Force. The Virginia Task Force, which is part of President Obama’s interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, brings together criminal investigators and civil…

May 21, 2010