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Tag: Peter Jerald Frommer

  • BULLETIN: Peter Jerald Frommer, California Ponzi Schemer, Sentenced To 108 Months In Prison; Victims Tell Tales Of Devastation

    BULLETIN: Peter Jerald Frommer has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison for a Ponzi scheme that fleeced investors of more than $8 million. The scheme itself gathered $13 million, and Frommer, 35, advertised “guaranteed” returns of up to 15 percent in a period of only six weeks.

    The scheme was known as “Cap Exchange” and “Cap X.” Frommer, 35, acquired a $20 million  mansion in Malibu with fraud proceeds, prosecutors said.

    Victims described Frommer as a con man who caused horrible pain and ruined dreams.

    “The only event in my lifetime that was worse was the death of my child,” one victim was quoted as saying in a brief by prosecutors.

    “My son values his education and was very intent on attending a prestigious California university,” another victim wrote. “Unfortunately, he has not been able to attend that college because of the change in financial circumstances caused by Peter Frommer’s actions. What value do you put on the quashing of a teen’s dreams?”

    One of Frommer’s victims said the con man took advantage of vulnerable people and that the scheme ultimately spread to affect entire families.

    “I am sorry to admit my family was victimized by Peter Frommer,” the victim said. “A close relative of ours introduced us when my family and I were in California seeking cancer treatment for our youngest son. In a moment of weakness, when we were struggling with the cost of his cancer treatment, we were duped and convinced ourselves, our adult children, and a sister that this was a smart and safe investment. We made a terrible mistake.”

    U.S. District Judge George H. Wu also ordered Frommer to pay $8.1 million in restitution.

    See earlier story on Frommer.

  • FBI Makes Ponzi Arrest In California; Peter Jerald Frommer Faces Up To 233 Years Behind Bars If Convicted On All Counts

    UPDATED 5:23 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) A California man has been arrested by the FBI and IRS criminal investigators in an alleged Ponzi scheme involving $12 million.

    Peter Jerald Frommer was taken into custody this morning, after a federal grand jury returned a 17-count indictment yesterday.

    Frommer, 34, formerly of Malibu, was charged with two counts of mail fraud, seven counts of wire fraud, five counts of money laundering and three counts of failing to file federal income-tax returns.

    Prosecutors said he faced a maximum sentence of up to 233 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

    “Frommer operated a bogus investment scheme under the names ‘Cap Exchange’ and ‘Cap X’ that purported to trade in surplus property of defunct companies,” prosecutors said. “[He] told numerous victims throughout the United States that he used commercial auction websites to purchase large lots of equipment for resale at higher prices.”

    Between January 2004 and August 2006, prosecutors said, Frommer allegedly solicited “at least $12 million from victims by promising ‘guaranteed’ returns of 8 percent to 15 percent during cycles as short as six weeks.”

    Investors were told Frommer would use their money “to buy the distressed assets for Cap X, and then would share profits from the subsequent sales,” prosecutors said.

    “In addition to personal promissory notes, Frommer issued account statements that purported to show returns in the Cap X investment,” prosecutors said.

    More than 50 investors were targeted in the scheme, including residents of California, Oregon, Virginia, Illinois and Massachusetts, prosecutors said.

    Frommer did not purchase distressed assets with the victims’ money, prosecutors said.

    “Instead, [he] allegedly misappropriated this money to maintain his lavish personal lifestyle and to make Ponzi payments to victims, while falsifying Cap X account statements to lull victims into believing that their money was safe and earning high returns,” prosecutors said.

    It has been a busy week for Ponzi prosecutors in California.

    Miguel Salazar, 36, of West Covina, pleaded guilty to mail fraud Tuesday. Prosecutors said Salazar ran a Ponzi scheme “that took nearly $700,000 from victims who thought they were investing in latex gloves, which were portrayed as being in high demand following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.”

    Salazar’s former partner, Carlos Flores, 43, of Lakewood, pleaded guilty to mail fraud in December.

    In other Ponzi news, an auction company is preparing to sell six vehicles linked to the alleged Trevor Cook/Pat Kiley Ponzi and financial-fraud scheme in Minnesota.

    Among the items set to go up for bid Feb. 13 is a 1989 Rolls Royce Silver Spur linked to Cook. The Cook/Kiley scheme is alleged to be a fraud of at least $190 million.

    In Utah, meanwhile, prosecutors said that Jeffrey Lane Mowen — accused in both a Ponzi scheme and a murder-for-hire plot in which potential Ponzi witnesses were to be killed — used Morse code as part of the murder plot.