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Tag: SEC

SPECIAL REPORT: Alleged Colorado Ponzi Schemer Had Criminal Record For Securities Fraud, Previous Bankruptcy Record; Allegations Reminiscent Of ASD/Golden Panda Cases

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is about securities and fraud allegations leveled in Colorado against Philip R. Lochmiller and others. The case was brought amid assertions Lochmiller was operating a real-estate Ponzi, although the backdrop of the story is similar to the backdrop of the story on the “advertising” Ponzi allegations against Florida-based AdSurfDaily. Some of…

Dec 27, 2009
SEC Moves Against Triton Financial After Woman With Gun Showed Up At Firm’s Texas Office To Demand Refund; Alleged Fraud Scheme Embarrasses NFL, Heisman Trophy Winners, PGA Champions Tour

A case in Texas may provide the clearest sign yet that securities fraud in the United States is separating people from their senses — not that law enforcement missed the important clues provided by an earlier case in California in which investors who were purportedly fleeced allegedly posed as federal agents and attempted an armed…

Dec 23, 2009
Receiver In Gold Quest International Ponzi Scheme Case Settles With Charles Capps Ministries For $100,000; Other GQI Money Is Part Of California Homicide Investigation

All that glitters was not gold in the seedy world of Gold Quest International (GQI), according to the receiver in the GQI Ponzi scheme case. Corrupt money was given to a ministry in the form of a gift, and other corrupt money is part of a homicide investigation in Los Angeles, according to court filings.…

Dec 21, 2009
SEC Seeks Contempt Order Against Trevor Cook; Minnesota Man Said To Have Bought Two-Person ‘Submarine’ With Ponzi Proceeds

Trevor Cook, the Minnesota man implicated with Christian radio host Pat Kiley in a Ponzi and currency-trading scheme that collected at least $190 million, already has taken the 5th Amendment in a civil case brought by the SEC. The SEC now is seeking a contempt ruling against Cook, amid allegations he violated the asset freeze…

Dec 21, 2009
EDITORIAL: Think ‘Offshore’ Means ‘Shelter’ From The SEC Or The FBI Or The IRS? Don’t Tell That To John And Marian Morgan — Or Jeffrey Lane Mowen

You’ve seen the ads or heard the pitches trying to persuade you to put money in “offshore” ventures such as the AdViewGlobal, AdGateWorld and MegaLido autosurfs. You’ve been told they were safe. You’ve been told the people who run them are out of the reach of U.S. securities regulators and law-enforcement agencies. And you’ve been…

Dec 18, 2009
RECOMMENDED READING: ‘Speed Of Wealth’ Defendant In Ponzi Scheme Case Pounds Denver Reporter With Offers To Join Trump Network, Other Opportunities

EDITOR’S NOTE: The story below references a column by Renee McGaw in the Denver Business Journal. Make sure you read the column. The link is at the bottom of this story. The column reminded us of what occurred in the opening hours of the prosecution against the assets of Florida-based AdSurfDaily Inc., accused in August…

Dec 3, 2009
REPORT: Former SEC Supervisor Aided Arizona ‘Numerologist’ Running A Ponzi Scheme; SEC Employee In Separate Case Probed For Threatening Boss, Bringing Weapons To Work

A former supervisor with the Securities and Exchange Commission unwittingly aided a man accused of operating a Ponzi scheme in Arizona, according to a report by SEC Inspector General H. David Kotz. Meanwhile, Kotz reported that the Office of Inspector General (OIG) also investigated a case in which an SEC enforcement accountant allegedly threatened a…

Dec 2, 2009
Shawn Merriman Pleads Guilty In Colorado Ponzi Case; Faces 20 Years In Prison For Swindling Investors And Using Money To Buy Rembrandt Paintings And Go On Safari

Shawn R. Merriman has pleaded guilty to mail fraud in a Ponzi scheme case that swindled dozens of investors in Colorado,Â Minnesota and Utah. The scheme involved more than $20 million, prosecutors said. Merriman, 46, of Aurora, Colo., faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The SEC said…

Dec 2, 2009
BREAKING NEWS: Two-Time Convicted Felon With $3 Million Judgment Against Him Emerged From Prison And Targeted Ponzi Scheme At Chinese-Americans In Oklahoma City, CFTC Says

A man imprisoned between 1996 and 2001 after being convicted in Texas of two financial felonies emerged from the penitentiary and targeted Greater Oklahoma City’s ethnic Chinese in a Ponzi scheme, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said. Kenneth W. Lee also had a $3 million civil judgment placed against him in the 1990s…

Nov 25, 2009
Conservative Radio Host Allegedly Cited Islamic Law To Dupe Christian Investors; Pat Kiley Issued Dire Warnings About ‘Greed’ Of Former President Clinton And ‘Massive Chaos’ To Come Under Obama

A radio host pitched his Ponzi scheme to listeners and told some clients that his strategy employed an unnamed Islamic bank that complied with Shariah law in an apparent bid to make investors believe the firm borrowed money to trade currency on international exchanges without having to pay interest, according to the SEC. Shariah law…

Nov 25, 2009
BREAKING NEWS: ‘Billionaire Boys Club’ Attorney In Michigan Ponzi Scheme Case Indicted In North Carolina For Running His Own Securities Scheme

UPDATED 7:02 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) A Georgia attorney representing defendants in the alleged “Billionaire Boys Club” Ponzi scheme in Michigan has been indicted in North Carolina on charges he ran his own securities-fraud scheme. Gregory Bartko, 56, of Berkeley Lake, Ga., was indicted in North Carolina under seal Nov 4, according to U.S. Attorney George…

Nov 24, 2009