Ponzi Schemes Category
You have already read about Ponzi schemes. Don’t assume you can’t be victimized by these illegal programs. Most victims invested in them after they were told how great they were by someone they liked or trusted. People running schemes and scams use very sophisticated marketing tactics that are based on what you want to see and hear before you invest.
By: Jack Waymire | August 24, 2009 | Illegal Schemes & Scams, Ponzi Schemes
Gary Hutcheson pleaded guilty to operating a Ponzi scheme in Macon, Georgia. He and an accomplice defrauded 50 investors, including prominent doctors, attorneys and church members, of millions of dollars when he told them their assets would be invested in a hedge fund named Georgia Ionics Fund, LLC.
Some of the investors knew Hutcheson 30 years [...]
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By: Jack Waymire | August 10, 2009 | Ponzi Schemes
Frank Dipascali, the finance chief at Madoff’s defunct investment advisory firm may be helping prosecutors build criminal cases against other participants in the $65 billion Ponzi scheme.
There is no way Madoff perpetrated this massive fraud by himself. He may have been the mastermind, but he had a lot of help. Investigators should be looking in two places for active [...]
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By: Jack Waymire | August 6, 2009 | Ponzi Schemes
Federal officials are accusing Eldon Gresham, a long-time Peachtree City, GA resident, of swindling 75 investors out of their savings including retirement funds. In exchange for their assets, Gresham produced a promissory note he called an Investment Agreement. This tactic gave him physical possession of investor assets in a bank account that he controlled.
The feds say he produced fake reports [...]
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By: Evor Vattuone | July 29, 2009 | Illegal Schemes & Scams, Ponzi Schemes, Who Can I Trust?
The Affinity Group
Alarming numbers of new scams are being originated from what are called “affinity groups”. These are groups of people with similar values, lifestyles and/or ethnic identities, such as churches and women’s or senior groups. Predators use the most respected members of affinity groups to gain access to their constituents – and their built-in [...]
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By: Jack Waymire | July 16, 2009 | Investor Information, Ponzi Schemes
One characteristic of sleazy criminals like Bernie Madoff is their egotistical belief that they are smarter than everyone else. This may explain why Madoff thought his massive Ponzi scheme would go on forever. It also explains how he slept at night without concern for the financial carnage he was inflicting on thousands of people. I bet he never thought he would spend the [...]
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By: Jack Waymire | July 16, 2009 | Ponzi Schemes
Mike Kauffman, a Maryland investor, was recently vicitimized by two scams. Chris Coulther, an advisor with Ameriprise Financial in Florida, allegedly sold him tourism real estate investments in Costa Rica. He was told he would receive a 100% return on his investment. He was also sold CDs from Depository Pacific Bank in Costa Rico that were supposed to yield 12% risk free. It now [...]
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