Post by atumdjeheuty on Mar 2, 2017 5:14:23 GMT 4
William Apostelos, 55, pleaded guilty to two of 27 charges against him in connection with a $70 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded nearly 480 investors out of $20 million. His wife, Connie Apostelos, is still scheduled for trial but is negotiating a plea agreement. They operated purported investment and asset management companies including WMA Enterprises LLC, Midwest Green Resources LLC and Roan Capital.
Sarah Francis Bolhuis, 70, was sentenced to 5 years and 10 months in prison and ordered to pay $5.2 million in restitution for a $7.5 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded over 50 people. Bolhius falsely represented that she provided financial services and investment loan opportunities.
Paul Burks, 70, was sentenced to 14 years and 10 months in prison and ordered to pay $244 million in restitution for his role in masterminding the ZeekRewards Ponzi scheme. The scheme involved about $939 million and defrauded hundreds of thousands of victims. Burks profited by at least $10.1 million from the scheme.
Brian R. Callahan, 46, and Adam Manson, 44, two brothers-in-law, were ordered to pay $68 million in restitution in connection with a $118 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded 40 investors. They have plead guilty to the scheme and Callahan has been barred by FINRA from participating in the securities industry.
Clarence Counterman, 59, and Robert Loya, 52, were sentenced to 12 years and 10 years, respectively, in prison. They had been found guilty in November 2016 of running a Ponzi scheme that convinced more than 50 investors to invest $2.1 million into solar energy related companies including Renewable Energy Consultant Inc., EP Solar Technologies, Inc. and Eco Global Corporation. A third defendant, Leopoldo Parra, 54, was sentenced to 30 months in prison following his conviction last year.
Randall Finer, 53, was arrested on charges that he solicited more than $800,000 from investors and diverted more than half of that for his personal benefit. Finer allegedly represented to investors that profits were made on well-performing stocks when in reality the investments were losing money.
Daniel J. Flynn III, 53, pleaded guilty to defrauding 10 victims out of $9.5 million. Prosecutors believe that Flynn actually defrauded 150 victims out of $21 million but they agreed to the plea deal in which he only admitted to 10. Flynn solicited funds to buy a building that he already owed and use the money to pay off past loans.
Matthew Harriton, 53, and Joseph Meli, 42, had their assets frozen in connection with an SEC lawsuit alleging that they were running a Ponzi scheme. They allegedly defrauded about 125 investors out of at least $81 million. They approached investors seeking to pool money to buy tickets to “Hamilton” and other in-demand shows, and offered to pay investors 10% profits. Meli told at least one investor that he had 35,000 tickets for “Hamilton” and could sell them at a markup. A group of investors filed a lawsuit against Meli and Harriton and their four purported ticket reselling businesses – Advance Entertainment, Advance Entertainment II, 875 Holdings, and 127 Holdings.
Kristine Louise “Kristi” Johnson, 60, was sentenced to 21 months in prison in connection with “The Achieve Community” Ponzi scheme. Troy A. Barnes, 52, was also charged in connection with the scheme that owed investors more than $51 million at the time of its collapse.
Steve H. Karroum aka Mustapha Karroum was accused by the SEC of running a scheme that defrauded investors out of $1.7 million through his company, FX & Beyond Corp. Karroum represented that his computer program would generate high returns on foreign exchange trades.
Michael Kwasnik, 47, and his father William Kwasnik, 68, were indicted on allegations that they ran a $13 million Ponzi scheme. They owned and operated an insurance company, Abby Grant, and allegedly carried out a scheme to defraud clients of Michael Kwasnik’s law firm, Kwasnik, Rodio, Kanowitz & Buckley and its successor, Kwasnik, Kanowitz & Associates. Funds were diverted from over 40 clients’ trust accounts to accounts controlled by the Kwasniks. The Kwasniks are also accused of laundering money through Abby Grant and Liberty State Benefits of Pennsylvania. Michael Kwasnik’s law license has been suspended in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He previously pleaded guilty to defrauding a 96 year old widow out of $1.1 million and served 5 months in prison.
Anthony Massaro, 45, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in a $400 million Ponzi scheme run by Nicholas Cosmo. Massaro personally kept $6 million in connection with the scheme. Cosmo and his associates ran the scheme through Agape World and Agape Merchant Advance, and they defrauded 4,000 investors. Cosmo has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Wayne LeMar Palmer, 60, and Julieann Palmer Martin, 47, pleaded guilty in connection with a Ponzi scheme they ran through National Note of Utah. Palmer admitted to falsely representing to investors that their investments in National Note of Utah’s business of loaning funds to real estate based companies were safe and guaranteed. He also admitted that he failed to inform investors that new investor funds were being used, in part, to pay prior investors’ return of principal or the promised returns of 12%. The scheme raised more than $140 million from 600 investors.
Dee Allen Randall, 66, was sentenced to 9 to 30 years in prison in connection with the Ponzi scheme that defrauded about 700 people. The scheme took in more than $72 million. Some of Randall’s businesses were Horizon Mortgage & Investment, Horizon Financial & Insurance Group, Horizon Auto Funding and Horizon Financial Center.
Javier Ramirez, Gold Chasers, Inc., and Royal Leisure International, Inc., were the subject of a new CFTC complaint alleging that they were engaged in the fraudulent sales solicitations for the purported purchase of physical gold. They allegedly offered contracts to sell gold to at least 20 customers and fraudulently obtained at least $4.1 million. They promised to sell customers gold at a discount which was supposedly possible because they purchased gold at discount mines in Central and South America.
Richard Reynolds, 55, had his conviction affirmed on appeal, after he argued that he was denied his right to a speedy trial. Reynolds had been found guilty of stealing more than $44 million from 140 investors in a Ponzi scheme.
Robert Schroeder, 56, pleaded guilty to charges that he stole nearly $1.9 million in a Ponzi scheme. He was sentenced to 8 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $5.3 million in restitution. Schroeder’s company, All Points International Distributors, Inc., sold tents and prefabricated buildings to the U.S. military. As business declined when government contracts dropped off, Schroeder sought short-terms loans and promised high rates of return. Schroeder also issued bad check from his other companies, Hercules Global Logistics, LLC, RS Consultants, LLC and RGS Bergen, LLC.
Anthony G. Sciarra, 53, pleaded guilty to charges that he falsely promoted himself as an insurance agent and financial advisor. He solicited investors through AGS Financial and then through an entity he owned, Westport Enterprises, promising annual returns of 4% to 12%.
Hugh Lappe Scott Jr. was sentenced to 6 months in prison and ordered to pay a $1.2 million fine in connection with allegations that he ran a Ponzi-like scheme. Scott is a Texas attorney who was accused of defrauding insurance plan managers, and he plead guilty to a single charge that he hindered investigators examining the alleged scam.
Dror Soref, 66, had all but two counts in the criminal complaint against him dismissed as being filed outside of the statute of limitations. Soref and Michelle Seward were accused of persuading elderly investors to invest in the Soref-directed thriller “Not Forgotten” and a musical called “Twist.” Soref faced up to 75 years in prison but now faces a maximum of 6 years.
James E. VanBlaricum, 77, pleaded guilty to charges relating to an oil and gas fraud scheme that defrauded 53 investors out of $2.6 million. VanBlaricum operated the scheme through Signal Oil and Gas Co. and Texas Energy Management, which later became Texas Energy Mutual.
Mark Varacchi, 47, founder of Sentinel Growth Fund Management LLC, pleaded guilty to charges relating to the alleged $81 million Ponzi scheme being run by Matthew Harriton and Joseph Meli. The SEC filed a civil lawsuit against Varacchi the next day, accusing Sentinel of stealing $3.95 million from investors.
7A Capital was the subject of a new lawsuit alleging that it was running a Ponzi scheme. The lawsuit, filed by an investor, alleges that 7A Capital was acting as a financial consultant for real estate companies and promoted a “private investment opportunity” in a construction company called Almarse. The lawsuit additionally names the following defendants: Alejandro Rotundo, 7A Capital’s managing director; Almarse; and Alfonso Garcia-Gallo, Almarse’s CEO.