PatrickPretty.com

Tag: Patelco Credit Union

  • UPDATE: Ponzi ‘Shakedown’ Suspects Who Impersonated Federal Agents Get 6 Months’ Home Detention And Are Placed On Probation For 2 Years

    Three people charged with conspiring to impersonate federal agents in a bid to rattle the nerves of a Ponzi scheme suspect and recover money have been sentenced to 180 days of home confinement and placed on federal probation for two years.

    A fourth defendant in the shakedown scheme avoided a sentence of home confinement but was placed on federal probation for two years.

    The bizarre shakedown scheme unfolded in March 2009, when Michael David Sanders, 43, of Fair Oaks, Calif.;  Craig Anderson, 41, of Chicago; Sean Smartt, 42, of Sacramento; and Cassandra Moore, 27, of Beverly Hills, Calif.,  entered a California hedge-fund office suite in a bid to recover investor money “lost in a Ponzi scheme carried out by federal defendant Anthony Vassallo,” the FBI said.

    “The defendants entered dressed to give the impression of authority (bullet proof vests, ear pieces, fake credentials, hand cuffs, and badges),” the FBI said.  “Sanders and Anderson announced they were with the FBI and the United States Security and Exchange Commission.

    “In their guilty pleas the defendants admitted to creating an environment that was intimidating and causing the individuals to believe that they were not free to leave,” the FBI continued. “Anderson told the hedge fund operators that they had until noon on Monday, March 9, 2009, to wire $378,300.16 to a Patelco Credit Union bank account in the name of the ‘Spirit Foundation’ and to send an e-mail confirmation to an e-mail address they provided. No money was ever turned over to the defendants.”

    Moore was the only defendant who avoided home detention.

    The shakedown bid was connected to the the alleged Equity Investment Management and Training Inc. (EIMT) Ponzi scheme that gathered more than $40 million.

    It is illegal to impersonate a federal agent. Had the defendants not accepted a plea deal and not qualified for probation, they could have been sentenced to federal prison. Each pleaded guilty and accepted the deal. The IRS assisted in the probe.

  • 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.