Tag: James Blackman Roberts
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SENIOR FRAUD CAVALCADE CONTINUES: Ponzi Schemer, 86, Pleads Guilty; Stephen J. Klos Ripped Off Fellow Senior Citizens, Prosecutors Say
Stephen J. Klos, an 86-year-old church usher who sold elderly congregants in the Seattle area into a $3 million Ponzi scheme that began in 2004, has pleaded guilty to 10 counts of securities fraud, the office of King County Prosecuting Attorney Daniel T. Satterberg said. Klos “met several of victims at his church and told…
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California Man, 72, Sentenced To 110 Months For HYIP Rip-Off; Richard M. Hersch Also Ordered To Pay ‘At Least’ $9.2 Million In Restitution
First, Richard M. Hersch, 72, told investors they’d earn up to 6 percent a week by plowing money into his company, All States ATM Inc. He then explained the company had “contracts” with major horse-racing tracks in California and elsewhere to operate Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) on the “back side†of the tracks. Ordinary horse-racing…
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Senior Citizen Guilty In Michigan Ponzi Scheme; Feds Say Richard Taft Johnson Sold ‘Charitable’ Program To Fellow Seniors, Duping Them Into Ruin
Both state and federal prosecutors in Michigan have been attacking Ponzi schemers and affinity fraudsters. Yesterday the office of Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox charged three men with racketeering for their roles in an alleged time-share Ponzi scheme targeted at senior citizens. In a separate Michigan case, federal prosecutors have announced the guilty plea of…
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68-Year-Old Texas Woman Charged In Alleged Ponzi
A 68-year-old Texas woman has been charged with running a $500,000 Ponzi scheme. Julia Ann Schmidt was indicted in Waco. She now joins a roster of other senior citizens recently implicated in alleged Ponzi schemes or convicted of crimes in which a Ponzi was the modus operandi. Federal prosecutors said today that Schmidt posed as…
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Seniors In Gallery Of Ponzi Rogues; Grandpa Breaks Bad
We noted Sunday that a startling number of senior citizens have been implicated in Ponzi schemes or accused of monumental financial misdeeds. Featured in this graphic are (left to right): Andy Bowdoin, president of fundamentally defunct AdSurfDaily Inc. of Quincy, Fla.; Bernard Madoff, head man at fundamentally defunct Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities of New…