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Tag: securities fraud

BULLETIN: California Man Sentenced To 90 Years In Prison For Fleecing Elderly Investors In Ponzi Scheme

BULLETIN: Convicted Ponzi swindler Jeffrey Gordon Butler has been sentenced to 90 years and eight months in a California state prison. Butler, 51, of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., was convicted in June 2009 of 693 felony counts, including making untrue statements of material fact in the offer and sale of securities, the offer and sale…

Jan 4, 2010
BREAKING NEWS: FBI Tells Senate Judiciary Committee It Is Probing 314 HYIP Schemes Only Months After ASD Members Asked Panel To Probe Prosecutors

And to think that only months ago — in February 2009 — various members of AdSurfDaily wrote to the Senate Judiciary Committee trying to elicit support for Ponzi schemes. The letter-writing campaign was spearheaded by “Professor” Patrick Moriarty and pushed by the Pro-AdSurfDaily Surf’s Up forum. But now the FBI has told the committee, led…

Dec 10, 2009
Ponzi Suspect to Judge, ‘Jail Me’; Judge To Ponzi Suspect, ‘OK’; Minnesota’s Gerard Frank Cellette Jr. Booked Into Hennepin County Jail On 36 Felony Counts

Gerard Frank Cellette Jr. was implicated by prosecutors in an alleged $53 million Ponzi scheme in Minnesota last month. Cellette, 44, of Andover, Minn., asked a judge to jail him yesterday — and the judge granted his wish. Cellette now is Inmate No. 2009034708 in the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Jail. He was charged Nov. 5…

Dec 10, 2009
Racketeering Alleged In 14-Year-Old Denver Ponzi Scheme; Mark J. Jackson Indicted Under State Law By Local Prosecutor

Think the Feds are the only thing to worry about if you’re in the Ponzi scheme business? Think again. In yet another prosecution that demonstrates Ponzi schemers have more to fear than federal agencies such as the SEC, the CFTC, the FBI, the Secret Service, the IRS and the Postal Inspection Service, a Colorado man…

Dec 3, 2009
Joseph Forte Charged With $50 Million Ponzi Fraud

First the SEC sued fund manager Joseph Forte, accusing him of running a Ponzi scheme that fleeced investors out of tens of millions of dollars. Now Forte has been charged criminally with mail fraud. Authorities said his victims included a church, a charity and a private school. The SEC sued Forte, 53, of Broomall, Pa.,…

Jan 21, 2009
Regulator Cites Uptick In Ponzi Fraud

â€œWe are seeing an uptick in Ponzi scheme cases because, in this economic climate, new investors cannot be found to perpetuate the scheme. As these schemes collapse, the CFTC will move swiftly to prosecute those who harm innocent investors.â€ — Stephen J. Obie, CFTC “Run the other way” if someone promises you exorbitant investment returns,…

Jan 19, 2009
Marcus Schrenker Captured Near Quincy, Fla.

BLOG UPDATE 12:44 P.M. EST (USA): The U.S. Marshals Service has issued an updated statement on the capture of Marcus Schrenker. It is reproduced at the bottom of this post. Here, directly below, is our initial post . . . Authorities said they believed Indiana investment adviser Marcus Schrenker staged the crash of his Piper…

Jan 14, 2009