North Carolina Ponzi schemes

EDITOR’S NOTE: Thanks to a PP Blog reader for pointing us to the Charlotte Observer’s story on the sentencing of Jonathan Davey. One of the key figures in the bizarre “Black Diamond” Ponzi caper in North Carolina has been sentenced to 21 years in federal prison. Here is the URL from the Charlotte Observer on […]

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (UPDATED 8:05 P.M. EDT U.S.A.) From the standpoint of avoiding financial accountability, it may have become more difficult for serial scammers who foist HYIP scams on the international public to thumb their noses at law enforcement and the courts. The court-appointed receiver in the Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme case has […]

UPDATE 8:07 A.M. EDT (APRIL 4, U.S.A.) The report did not air during the 8 p.m. or 11 p.m. broadcasts, possibly because developments in other stories took precedence. Our April 3 story is below . . . The Blog of CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 is carrying this teaser today: “360 Wednesday[:] One of the biggest […]

In a development that could give pause to promoters of the purportedly “private” Profitable Sunrise scheme now on the radar of regulators in North America and Europe, a Florida man has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for his role in pitching a purported “opportunity” known as Queen Shoals. The announcement of the […]

With the alleged $600 million Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme dominating local headlines in North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad region, including the city of Lexington in Davidson County, an earlier, smaller fraud scheme operating in the region largely fell out of the news. But the Integra Capital Management LLC Ponzi and fraud scheme operated by Nicholas Cox […]

UPDATED 7:08 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) Jonathan D. Davey, a Newark, Ohio, certified public accountant and purported hedge-fund manager, has been convicted of all four counts against him in the “Black Diamond” and “Divine Circulation Services” Ponzi and fraud schemes in the Western District of North Carolina. A federal jury, according to prosecutors, took only 45 […]

BULLETIN: With seven defendants already convicted of Ponzi-related crimes and a North Carolina bank accused of turning a blind eye to the fraud, four new criminal defendants have been named in the Black Diamond Capital Solutions probe. A federal grand jury in Charlotte has returned an indictment against Jonathan D. Davey, 47, of Newark, Ohio; […]

EDITOR’S NOTE: Both the CFTC and SEC have encountered incredibly elaborate fraud schemes — some with elements that only can be described as bizarre and deeply disturbing. The story below is based on  a fraud case brought by the CFTC against Gary D. Martin and Brenda K. Martin of St. Augustine, Fla. The Martins are […]

A North Carolina man sued by the CFTC last year in an alleged $3 million Forex and commodities Ponzi scheme now has been arrested by federal agents on criminal charges. The allegations in the case destroy a myth advanced by financial hucksters and shills that a company that issues 1099 tax forms could not possibly […]