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Tag: IRS

BULLETIN: Trevor Cook Charged Criminally With Mail Fraud And Tax Evasion In Alleged $190 Million Ponzi Case In Minnesota

BULLETIN: Trevor Cook, the reputed head of a $190 million Ponzi scheme in Minnesota, has been charged criminally with mail fraud and income-tax evasion. Cook, 37, previously had been charged civilly by the SEC and the CFTC. The criminal charges filed today came after a probe by the FBI and the IRS Criminal Investigations Unit,…

Mar 30, 2010
Secret Service, FBI, IRS Raid Steve Renner’s INetGlobal Operations In Minneapolis; Scene Resembled AdSurfDaily Raid In Florida

UPDATED 10:40 A.M. ET (U.S.A.) Federal and state agents have raided the Minneapolis offices of Inter-Mark Corp., seeking evidence of a Ponzi scheme, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis/St. Paul is reporting. Inter-Mark Corp. is operated by Steve Renner, who also operates a purported “advertising” service known as INetGlobal.Â In a scene that resembled the August 2008…

Feb 24, 2010
FBI Makes Ponzi Arrest In California; Peter Jerald Frommer Faces Up To 233 Years Behind Bars If Convicted On All Counts

UPDATED 5:23 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) A California man has been arrested by the FBI and IRS criminal investigators in an alleged Ponzi scheme involving $12 million. Peter Jerald Frommer was taken into custody this morning, after a federal grand jury returned a 17-count indictment yesterday. Frommer, 34, formerly of Malibu, was charged with two counts…

Feb 5, 2010
IT’S OFFICIAL: Scott Rothstein Is A Racketeer; Disbarred Lawyer Pleads Guilty, Forfeits $1.2 Billion; FBI Cites ‘Red Flags,’ IRS Cites ‘Lies’

Disbarred Florida attorney Scott Rothstein has pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy that included mail fraud and wire fraud, and to two separate counts of wire fraud. “Today’s guilty plea is an important step in bringing to justice those who perpetrated a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme under the guise of operating a legitimate law firm,”…

Jan 27, 2010
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. â€œ[S]uch disgraceful practices will never happen under my watch,â€ Ruderman declared in the…

Jan 12, 2010
News, Notes And Updates: Jailed And Disbarred, Former Massachusetts Attorney Who Fleeced 95-Year-Old Client Arrested On New Charges

EDITOR’S NOTE: This post distills recent news and development on the fraud and Ponzi fronts. CHARGED: Six people — including a disbarred attorney already in prison — have been charged in Massacuusetts in an elaborate mortgage-fraud scheme. Bruce Namenson, the former lawyer, was charged with 18 counts of of larceny for arranging bogus loan closings,…

Jan 8, 2010
SENIORS HARMED: Judge Issues Findings In CFTC Case Against Matthew B. Pizzolato; Says Investors Lost Retirement Savings In Scheme

A Louisiania man charged criminally in an alleged Ponzi scheme and sued civilly on the same day last month lied to investors, some of whom liquidated retirement savings and annuities only to suffer massive losses by entrusting funds to Matthew B. Pizzolato, a federal judge has ruled. The case against Pizzolato is proceeding on separate…

Dec 31, 2009
Raymond Frank Joseph Convicted On All 36 Counts In Michigan Ponzi Scheme; Federal Judge Revokes Bond

Federal prosecutors have scored another dramatic win in a Ponzi scheme case. Raymond Frank Joseph, 55, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., was convicted of three counts of wire fraud, nine counts of interstate transportation of stolen money or property and 24 counts of conducting monetary transactions in criminally derived property. Judge Gerald E. Rosen immediately revoked…

Dec 17, 2009
‘3 Hebrew Boys’ Guilty In $82 Million Ponzi/Affinity Fraud Scheme; Company Operated In Fashion Similar To AdViewGlobal Autosurf, Imploring Members To Maintain Secrecy

In yet another case that may cause widespread unease in the autosurf world, three men accused of defrauding participants in a bogus debt-relief “ministry” have been found guilty of 174 counts of mail fraud, money-laundering and transporting stolen goods. Parts of the case against “3 Hebrew Boys” were remarkably similar to events engulfing the AdSurfDaily…

Nov 21, 2009
BREAKING NEWS: Louisiana Man Indicted In Alleged $20 Million Ponzi Scheme Targeting Senior Citizens; Prosecutors Allege Witness Tampering, Obstruction

UPDATED 9:44 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) A Louisiana man has been charged in a 64-count indictment with operating a $20 million Ponzi scheme that fleeced retirees, federal prosecutors said today. So many fraud counts were filed against Matthew B. Pizzolato that he faces more than 1,100 years in prison if convicted of all of them. As…

Nov 20, 2009
Alleged Scott Rothstein Ponzi Probe Unfolding Like ASD Case; Forfeiture Proceeding Filed, But No Early Arrest

Federal prosecutors and agents today began the process of seizing assets from Florida attorney Scott Rothstein, amid allegations he had been operating a Ponzi scheme involving hundreds of millions of dollars since 2005. The early probe is shaping up in largely the same way as the early probe into AdSurfDaily, a Florida business accused last…

Nov 10, 2009