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Tag: Jon Jason Greco

  • BULLETIN: Pat Kiley, Trevor Cook Ponzi Pitchman, Sentenced To 20 Years in Federal Prison

    breakingnews72BULLETIN: Patrick Kiley, a radio host and conspiracy theorist who warned of “massive, massive chaos” and became a pitchman for the $194 million Trevor Cook Forex Ponzi scheme in Minnesota, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.

    Kiley, 75, now becomes the fifth person sentenced to a long prison term in the epic Cook caper, one of the largest financial frauds in Minnesota history. The others include Jason Bo-Alan Beckman, 43, (30 years); Gerald Joseph Durand, 62, (20 years); and Christopher Pettengill, 56, (90 months).

    Cook was sentenced to 25 years. The defendants each face a restitution order of more than $155 million.

    Like other scams, the Cook fraud traces part of its downfall to a decision to trade on a famous name — in this case, UBS. But the real UBS sued for trademark infringement, prompting Cook and his cronies to adopt other names and immerse themselves in a deeper and deeper sea of incongruity. Conservative Christians were the principal targets.

    Kiley emerged a key Cook rainmaker, but ultimately tried to paint himself a Cook victim, describing Cook as “Pontius Pilate,” the Roman prefect many Christians believe authorized the crucifixion of Jesus.

    At one point, Kiley tried to turn the tables on the CFTC — like the SEC, one of the agencies to sue Cook and Kiley — by asking the judge overseeing the case to sanction a CFTC attorney $1,000 and make the penalty payable to Kiley. Kiley asserted the CFTC lawyer filed an “offensive” pleading. He also contended that SEC recordings of his pitch were filled with “distortions” and that a website bearing his name had been put together by an individual with a high “sleaze factor.”

    Kiley made these assertions, according to court documents, after he earlier had lied while asserting that Cook’s outsized returns were possible because the scheme was borrowing money at zero interest from a bank that complied with Shariah law, which forbids the payment of interest.

    A judge ultimately ordered Kiley to undergo a psychiatric exam and a medical exam, delaying his sentencing until today.

    From a statement today by federal prosecutors (italics added):

    In 2007, when UBS, AG, filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Cook, Durand, Kiley, and others, the defendants began operating their scheme under other names, including but not limited to those identified by the terms “Oxford” and “Universal Brokerage FX.” They then continued to solicit investors for the currency program, utilizing telemarketing, media spots, and seminars in which they repeated the false representations noted above. Kiley, a Christian radio host, solicited investors for the scam through his radio talk show, which was carried on more than 200 stations across the country. On those programs, he regularly warned listeners to avoid financial ruin by giving their life savings to his company for investment.

    Some of the money linked to the Cook scheme literally was found jammed inside of walls. Other loot was found in a shopping-mall locker.

    Jon Jason Greco was sentenced to 10 months in prison for concealing loot linked to the Cook scheme.

  • Jon Jason Greco Pleads Guilty To Making False Statement In Trevor Cook Ponzi Case

    Jon Jason Greco, 40, of Minneapolis, has pleaded guilty to making a false and material statement in the Trevor Cook Ponzi scheme. He faces up to five years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not been scheduled.

    Greco came into possession of loot from the scheme after its 2009 collapse, stashing it in a locker at the Mall of America. When questioned, he lied to investigators, telling them that the property found at the mall belonged to him and was given to him by his uncle, prosecutors said.

    Investors were wiped out in Cook’s $194 million scheme. He is serving a 25-year sentence in federal prison.

    “Because of Greco’s false statements, the U.S. failed to recover approximately $6,000 of
    the assets,” prosecutors said.

    Investigators recovered foreign currency and coins at the mall.

    The case against Greco was bolstered when an exotic dancer told an IRS criminal investigator who was following leads that Greco, believed to have been unemployed for months, suddenly began to spend generously at a Minneapolis strip club and to plow $100 bills into slot machines at a gambling emporium.

  • BULLETIN: Christopher Pettengill Pleads Guilty In Trevor Cook Ponzi Scheme

    BULLETIN: Christopher Pettengill, a figure in the $194 million Trevor Cook Ponzi scheme, has pleaded guilty in Minneapolis to securities fraud, money-laundering and conspiracy, the FBI said.

    Read Breaking News coverage in the Star Tribune, which is reporting that Pettengill says he has been cooperating with federal investigators since January.

    Pettengill, 54, of Plymouth, Minn., was charged criminally on June 13. He potentially faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

    Cook is serving a 25-year sentence. Pettengill conceivably could be sentenced to a prison term shorter than 20 years, depending on his level of cooperation and his ability to persuade a federal judge that he deserves less time behind bars.

    Part of the Cook scheme traded on the acronymn UBS, a famous financial company, according to court records.

    It is common in the fraud universe for hucksters and criminals to leech off the brands of famous companies and to use famous names to sanitize fraud schemes.

    The Cook scheme also traded on the name “Oxford.” Some of the money ended up in  a company known as Crown Forex, which had a regal theme.

    Cook, former radio host Pat Kiley, and Jason Bo-Alan Beckman have been sued by the SEC. Cook and Kiley also confront a lawsuit from the CFTC.

    Jon Jason Greco, 40, of Minneapolis, was charged criminally in March with making false statements to federal agents. Greco was accused of hiding loot from the scheme.

     

  • Second Man With Trevor Cook Tie Charged Criminally In Massive Minnesota Ponzi Scheme; Christopher Pettengill Faces Securities-Fraud, Conspiracy And Money-Laundering Accusations

    A Minnesota man has become the second person with ties to convicted Ponzi schemer Trevor Cook’s Forex scam to be charged criminally.

    Christopher Pettengill, 54, of Plymouth, “knowingly concealed information from investors concerning the foreign currency program sold by Pettengill, Cook, and others,” federal prosecutors said.

    He has been charged with securities fraud, money-laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the office of U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones of the District of Minnesota said.

    Cook pleaded guilty in the $194 million caper last year and was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison.

    Jon Jason Greco, 40, of Minneapolis, was charged in March with making false statements to federal agents. Greco was accused of hiding loot from the scheme.

    Pettengill was accused of lending credibility to the scam and encouraging people to invest money.

    “Pettengill allegedly conducted numerous wire transfers during the course of the conspiracy, and on September 3, 2008, he allegedly made a credit card payment of $11,369.19, which was derived from the proceeds of the securities fraud,” prosecutors said.

    He faces up to 20 years in prison, if convicted on all counts.

    The SEC and CFTC sued Cook and former radio personality Pat Kiley in November 2009. Earlier this year, the SEC filed suit against Jason Bo-Alan Beckman, another alleged promoter of the scam.

  • BULLETIN: Feds Charge Minneapolis Man Amid Suspicions He Used Loot From Trevor Cook Ponzi Scheme To Party And Gamble With Strippers While Victims Suffered

    BULLETIN: Five days after Ponzi swindler Trevor Cook pleaded guilty to defrauding victims in an elaborate international scam that reduced investors to ruin, a Minneapolis man hid proceeds from the caper from law enforcement and the court-appointed receiver, federal prosecutors said.

    Victims of the Cook scheme — many of whom were people of faith — were defrauded of tens of millions of dollars. Court records strongly suggest that some of the recoverable money was spent on booze, exotic dancers and gambling — after the scheme was exposed by the SEC and CFTC in November 2009 and Cook’s assets were frozen.

    Jon Jason Greco, 40, now has been charged with making false statements to federal agents. The case was filed under seal Tuesday, and the seal was lifted yesterday.

    Cook, 38, pleaded guilty on April 13, 2010, and is serving a term of 25 years in federal prison. His plea agreement in the $190 million swindle required him to disclose the whereabouts of assets and cooperate with investigators. Investors immediately expressed fears that money that could be used to help them recover from the devastating scam had been hidden and that Cook could not be trusted in any context.

    Some of the hidden loot was found months after the plea and cooperation agreement. Part of it had been concealed behind a toilet-paper dispenser and in air ducts in an apartment occupied by Cook’s brother, Graham Cook. Loot also was found in a storage locker at the Mall of America.

    Although the recovered loot made up only a tiny percentage of the $190 million scam, victims said every dime was needed and that justice demanded that no third party should be permitted to profit from Cook’s colossal fraud.

    Prosecutors now say that Greco came into possession of some of the loot on April 18, 2010 — five days after the Cook guilty plea. Greco helped hide the loot and lied about it when questioned by investigators, according to prosecutors.

    Court records suggest investigators established links among Cook, Graham Cook and Greco, who once worked briefly for Trevor Cook as a purported security guard at the Van Dusen mansion in Minneapolis. The big break in the case appears to have occurred in July 2010, when Greco’s roommate told federal agents that Greco was “holding assets” for the Cook brothers and impeding a federal investigation.

    Investigators had believed since at least June 2010 that Greco had stashed money from the caper, according to court filings.

    The case against Greco was bolstered when an exotic dancer told an IRS criminal investigator who was following leads that Greco, believed to have been unemployed for months, suddenly began to spend generously at a Minneapolis strip club and to plow $100 bills into slot machines at a gambling emporium.

    “Greco placed some of the assets in his possession in a locker at the Mall of America,” prosecutors charged. “On July 24, 2010, law enforcement seized the assets, valued at approximately $150,000. Subsequently, Greco allegedly claimed to investigators that the seized assets belonged to him.”

    But the assets were from the Ponzi caper, prosecutors charged.

    Greco faces up to 10 years in federal prison if convicted on two counts of making false statements.

    When interviewed last summer, Greco told agents that he had no knowledge of concealed assets belonging to Cook, when, in fact, he did,” prosecutors said.