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Tag: Kenneth Kenitzer

  • DEVELOPING STORY: Family Of Alleged Ponzi Schemer In Canada Targeted With Death Threats; Bullets Fired At Home

    Just how far will people go to avoid getting caught or convicted of operating a Ponzi scheme or to reclaim funds lost in a Ponzi scheme — or to send a message that designed to rattle nerves?

    There have been several recent Ponzi or financial-fraud cases with more than just a hint of violent intent.

    Implicated in a massive Ponzi scheme, disbarred Florida attorney surrounded himself with body guards prior to getting charged with racketeering, authorities said. Guns were pulled on multiple occasions, according to media accounts.

    Accused Ponzi schemer Jeffrey Lane Mowen is jailed in Utah amid allegations he sought to hire a fellow inmate to kill four witnesses in the case against him. Meanwhile, the FBI said last year that four individuals staged what effectively was the business equivalent of a coup d’état in California, wielding firearms and posing as federal agents to retrieve money purportedly lost in the alleged Kenneth Kenitzer/Anthony Vassallo Ponzi scheme at Equity Investment Management and Trading Inc.

    Last month, fleeced Texas investor Christine Cayton was arrested in Texas on charges that she brought a gun to the headquarters of Triton Financial LLC — implicated in an investment-fraud scheme by the SEC — and demanded a refund from Triton principal Kurt B. Barton

    Now comes word that bullets were fired in Canada at the home of family members of Tzvi Erez, accused of operating a “printing” Ponzi scheme that gathered $27 million. A school that youngsters in the Erez family attend added security after it received a threatening letter.

    Read the Erez story in the National Post.

  • BREAKING NEWS: California Man Expected To Enter Guilty Plea In Ponzi And Affinity-Fraud Scam; Kenneth Kenitzer May Face Up To 30 Years In Prison; Case Features Charge That A Vigilante Tried To Shake Down Business To Get Refunds For Investors

    UPDATED 6:51 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Kenneth Kenitzer of Pleasanton has become the most recent senior citizen to face significant jail time for his actions in a Ponzi and affinity fraud scheme. The California Ponzi fleeced investors and churchgoers out of at least $40 million, authorities said.

    Kenitzer, 66, is expected to plead guilty “in the near future”  to wire fraud and money-laundering for his role in the alleged Equity Investment Management and Trading Inc. (EIMT) scheme, federal prosecutors said.

    He faces up to 30 years in prison, but reportedly has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, according to the Pleasanton Weekly News.

    Anthony Vassallo, a business partner of Kenitzer, was arrested in the case in March. Kenitzer was named in a civil complaint filed by the SEC, but was not immediately charged criminally.

    Vassallo is 29.

    Alleged Vigilante Seeking Refunds For Investors Charged

    The EIMT case is notable for a reason that went beyond allegations of Ponzi and affinity fraud: an alleged shakedown attempt by a vigilante group to retrieve money for victims.

    On March 18,  federal prosecutors filed charges against Michael David Sanders, also known as David Dennis Sanders, for posing as a federal agent and “attempting to extort monies in connection with recovering funds for EIMT,” the SEC said.

    Sanders, 41, of Fair Oaks, Calif., was charged with conspiracy, impersonating a federal agent and attempted extortion. The FBI described the alleged crime as an attempted shakedown after Sanders and others tried to force their will on two businessmen involved with EIMT.

    “Upon entering the office suite, Sanders and several others displayed guns and handcuffs on their belts and wore bulletproof vests, radio earpieces, and badges on chains around their necks,” the FBI said in March.

    “During the meeting, Sanders and the others with him falsely identified themselves as agents with the FBI, SEC, and the Attorney General and told the businessmen that ‘you can tell us to leave the office, but if we leave, you are leaving with us in handcuffs,’” the FBI said.

    “When asked for their names and law enforcement credentials, Sanders and the others told the attendees to shut up and not ask questions. During the meeting, one of the individuals working with Sanders spoke into his earpiece stating that ‘one of the units’ was ‘in place’ at the one of the businessmen’s personal residence where he lived with his wife and young child.

    “Sanders and the others told the attendees that they had until noon on Monday, March 9, 2009, to wire $378,300.16 to a bank account at Patelco Credit Union in the name of the ‘Spirit Foundation,’” the FBI continued. “Sanders threatened the individuals with ‘search and arrest warrants’ if they did not comply with the request.”

    Three others later were charged in the alleged extortion scheme: Craig Anderson, 39, of Chicago; Cassandra Moore, 26, of Beverly Hills, Calif.; and Sean Smartt, 41, of Sacramento,Calif.

    Read statement by U.S. Attorney Lawrence G. Brown of the Eastern District of California.

    Read the SEC complaint against Kenitzer, Vassallo and EIMT.