Category Archives: ponzi scheme
Canadian Jury Convicts Two Men for Running $400 Million Ponzi Scheme
On Feb. 14, a jury in Calgary, Alberta convicted Gary Sorenson and Milowe Brost of securities fraud for their role in what has been described as the largest Ponzi scheme in Canadian history. Prosecutors for the Canadian Crown presented evidence Sorenson and Brost defrauded more than 3,000 people, including a number of U.S. residents,… Read More »
SEC Charges Fort Lauderdale Broker With Running Ponzi Scheme
On January 15th, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil lawsuit against a Fort Lauderdale man and various entities under his control. The SEC accuses Frederic Elm of running a Ponzi scheme, defrauding dozens of investors out of more than $17 million. A federal judge has already agreed to freeze Elm’s assets… Read More »
Fort Myers Pair Plead Guilty to Criminal Ponzi Scheme
On Dec. 8, the United States Attorney’s office in Miami announced two Fort Myers residents had pleaded guilty to criminal charges in connection with a real estate-based Ponzi scheme. According to prosecutors, Barry J. Graham and Ricky Lynn Stokes took approximately $300 million from 1,400 investors over a four-year period. Graham, Stokes and three… Read More »
Prosecutors Extradite Accused Ponzi Scheme Operator from Brazil to Florida
On Dec. 8, former Miami Beach concert promoter Jack Utsick made his first appearance in federal court on eight counts of mail fraud related to a Ponzi scheme he ran for nearly 10 years. Utsick previously settled civil charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission related to the scheme. But four years ago,… Read More »
Federal Prosecutors Charge Operator of Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme
On Nov. 6, the United States Attorney’s office in Manhattan charged Trendon Shavers with securities fraud in connection with his defunct Bitcoin Savings & Trust, an alleged Ponzi scheme targeting users of the popular virtual currency Bitcoin. Shavers was arrested at his home in Texas. Back in August, a federal judge rejected Shavers’ argument… Read More »
Federal Agencies Focus on South Florida Securities Fraud
In December 2010, several federal government agencies began cooperating with each other to combat securities fraud. Known as the “Southern District of Florida Securities and Investment Fraud Initiative,” or just “the Initiative,” this effort has had tremendous success in the last three-and-a-half years. Recently, the Initiative reported that eighty-five defendants have been charged since… Read More »
Black Diamond Ponzi Scheme
Three more members of the infamous Black Diamond Ponzi Scheme were sentenced to prison and ordered to pay millions in restitution to victims. Within the Ponzi scheme, the members claimed that they were a legitimate hedge fund operating in North Carolina, and it came crashing down in 2012 after the operation lost over $40… Read More »
The Frequency of Ponzi Schemes
Not every Ponzi scheme—a fraudulent financial operation where the operator pays returns on old investments from new investors—makes the national news. Certainly, the implosion of Bernie Madoff’s scheme in 2009 was uniquely destructive. Investors with Madoff lost approximately $17 billion (the next worst Ponzi scheme of all time also unraveled in 2009, with $7… Read More »
