forbes.com | 11/13/08 | suspect: Alberto Vilar | victim: Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc.
Federal prosecutors closed their fraud case against the philanthropist Alberto Vilar on Wednesday by telling jurors that the opera-loving investment adviser "flat out stole" from some clients when his firm ran into financial trouble in the high-tech stock crash.
Continue reading "Philanthropist's fraud trial reaches close in NY" »
thestar.com | 11/11/08 | $800,000 | suspect: Xiandong Chen | victim: multiple
A Toronto man has been arrested for defrauding GTA and Vancouver residents of about $800,000 through a digital photo developing machine scam.
startribune.com | 11/7/08 | suspect: Frank Vennes Jr | victim: Investors of Tom Petters
Frank Vennes Jr., a Shorewood businessman who has been linked to an investment fraud scheme allegedly run by entrepreneur Tom Petters, got court approval Thursday to sell his Florida mansion for $5.8 million.
pe.com | 11/8/08 | $800,000 | suspect: Robert D. Barne | victim: Forward Investment Group, LLC
A Moreno Valley man who runs an investment company was arrested this week and is being held on suspicion of investment wire fraud, an FBI spokeswoman said Friday.
Continue reading "Moreno Valley trader arrested on suspicion of investment fraud" »
startribune.com | 10/25/08 | $3 Billion | suspect: Larry Reynolds | victim: Investors of Tom Petters
Larry Reynolds, who admitted in federal court Thursday to laundering money for Minnesota businessman Tom Petters in what authorities say is a $ 3 billion investment fraud scheme, is negotiating with prosecutors to be freed until he is sentenced.
Continue reading "Petters aide pleads guilty to money laundering" »
register-herald.com | 10/15/08 | Christian Giggenbach
Legal documents filed by a defense lawyer for Kevin Scott O’Brien, the central figure in the multimillion-dollar Greenbrier County cattle and banking scandal, say it’s not the “typical fraud case” and many of his victims’ losses were “unintended.”
Continue reading "Defense lawyer says cattle scandal not ‘typical fraud case’" »
startribune.com | 10/7/08 | David Phelps
A federal judge Monday authorized the seizure of several billion dollars worth of assets related to an investigation of businessman Tom Petters and several of his businesses and associates, who allegedly carried out a massive investment fraud scheme.
Continue reading "Petters allegedly has $10M Vegas gambling losses" »
bloomberg.com | 10/01/08 | David Glovin
Perched barefoot at a bamboo desk in his bedroom in the Bahamas, Viktor Kozeny spends 12 hours a day at his computer. He writes to the lawyers who are battling his extradition to the U.S. on charges of bribery, helps map strategy in a London lawsuit brought by former investors and updates his Facebook page with ideas for inventions using alternative energy. To relax, he swims in the blue-green waters of the Caribbean that lap onto a beach in his backyard.
Continue reading "Pirate of Prague Invokes Napoleon, Mandela as He Denies Fraud" »
ap.google.com | 9/30/08 | Larry Neumeister
Opening statements have been made in the fraud trial of an operaloving philanthropist accused of lying to clients of his investment company while gambling their money on risky technology stocks.
Continue reading "Opera philanthropist trial starts in NYC" »
sacbee.com | 9/26/08 | Dale Kasler
A small Rancho Cordova biotech company was accused by regulators Thursday of defrauding investors out of $6.5 million by making grandiose claims about its progress in finding cures for cancer.
Continue reading "SEC sues, settles with Rancho firm for cancer claims" »
investors.com | 9/25/08 | Sheila Riley
Think you're too smart to fall for a Nigerian e-mail scam? So did a Long Beach, Calif., attorney recently tricked into sending $193,000 to a bogus client via wire transfer.
lansingstatejournal.com | 9/22/08 | Kevin Grasha
People entrusted Jeffrey Sadlak with their IRAs and their life savings. Instead of investing the money in things such as real estate as he promised, Sadlak is accused of using it for other purposes. Authorities have not been specific.
Continue reading "Investors put their trust in theft suspect, lawyer says" »
news.yahoo.com | 9/10/08 | Larry Neumeister
A smooth-talking Italian businessman who once dated actress Anne Hathaway and claimed to have friends in high places at the Vatican pleaded guilty Wednesday in a multimillion-dollar real estate fraud case.
Continue reading "Businessman who dated Anne Hathaway pleads guilty" »
latimes.com | 9/11/08 | Kim Christensen
A Santa Ana insurance salesman accused of bilking investors out of tens of millions of dollars and spending it on exotic sports cars and Las Vegas real estate was indicted Wednesday on federal wire fraud, mail fraud and money-laundering charges. The 16-count indictment against James R. Halstead comes a week after a federal judge ordered him to pay investors more than $66 million in damages in civil lawsuits.
Continue reading "O.C. salesman James Halstead indicted on fraud, money laundering charges" »
newswaverly.com | 9/9/08 | Kevin Cole
A native of India was sentenced Monday in Omaha to two years in prison in connection with an international fraud scheme that caused nearly $400,000 in losses.
libn.oom | 9/8/08 | Associated Press
The attorney general of New York is negotiating settlements with eight student loan companies to reform deceptive practices in the industry. A particular focus is the marketing of products so they appear to be federal loans, an official said Friday.
Continue reading "NY AG, student loan firms talk settlement" »
ap.google.com | 9/2/08 | Terry Kinney
A business owner convicted of defrauding customers seeking male sexual enhancement products and a variety of herbal supplements was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in prison.
Continue reading "Enzyte company owner gets 25 years in fraud case" »
mercurynews.com | 8/22/08 | Karl Fischer
An El Cerrito man went to jail Wednesday after his father found $37,000 in counterfeit traveler's checks in his mail — from a Nigerian penpal who police say used the suspect to defraud people selling things via classified advertising.
Continue reading "El Cerrito police arrest middle-man suspect in fraud case" »
James Halstead of Santa Ana must repay $22 million to more than 100 people whose money he used to support a Las Vegas mistress and buy Ferraris rather than investing in the equities he had advertised, a federal judge in Santa Ana said in a ruling released today.
James Halstead of Santa Ana must repay $22 million to more than 100 people whose money he used to support a Las Vegas mistress and buy Ferraris rather than investing in the equities he had advertised, a federal judge in Santa Ana said in a ruling released today.Continue reading "Investment advisor must repay $22 million for scheme" »
bizjournals.com | 7/30/08 | Staff Writer
The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed suit against two Denver companies and a handful of individuals, claiming they participated in a fraud scheme involving nonexistent high-yield bank notes.
courierpress.com | 7/20/08 | Len Wells
A Southern Illinois man with a lengthy history of defrauding investors in oil deals and his daughter have entered guilty pleas to charges they used an Internet pitch to scam investors out of millions of dollars in bogus oil well ventures.
chron.com | 7/19/08 | Dave Kolpak
FARGO, N.D. — A man accused of setting up a bogus bank trading program to defraud investors out of millions of dollars is being allowed to live in his recreational vehicle in Minnesota while he awaits trial.
Continue reading "Man pleads not guilty to investment fraud" »
bizjournals.com | 7/17/08 | Bob Mook
The self-described multimillionaire, real estate guru and founder of Mile High Capital Group LLC was found guilty of violations of the organized crime control act, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud and theft. He was found not guilty of 14 counts of securities fraud and two counts of theft.
Continue reading "Dryer guilty on 44 counts in real estate fraud" »
signonsandiego.com | 7/13/08 | Kristina Davis
CARLSBAD – Police unraveled an elaborate scheme Friday involving two men who allegedly posed as landlords and then collected up to thousands of dollars in payments from unsuspecting renters, authorities said.
Continue reading "2 men arrested in scam with foreclosed homes" »
chicagotribune.com | 7/4/08 | Becky Yerak
It's not every day that the worlds of Chicago banking and boy bands collide.
mercurynews.com | 7/1/08 | Sanford Nax
State officials accuse the developers of the failed Running Horse project in southwest Fresno of defrauding investors of millions of dollars in an effort to raise money.
Continue reading "Fresno developers accused of bilking $6 million from investors" »
baltimoresun.com | 6/26/08 | Brent Jones
A Baltimore judged yesterday ordered the business partners of Michael McCrary to pay the former Raven about $33 million in damages for a fraudulent insurance claim involving a condominium project in New Orleans, according to McCrary's lawyer.
Continue reading "The victim of partners' fraud, ex-Raven awarded $33 million" »
ap.google.com | 6/25/08 | Staff Writer
An Italian businessman who once dated actress Anne Hathaway was arrested Tuesday on charges he posed as a representative of the Vatican to fleece wealthy investors in a real estate company that sought to buy and redevelop Roman Catholic Church
property.
Continue reading "Italian accused of cashing in on fake Vatican ties" »
cchwallstreet.com | 6/24/08 | Staff Writer
The SEC has shut down Irvine, California boiler room. It has also closed its case against five unregistered brokers who sold $50 million worth of unregistered securities and pocketed millions in illegal commissions.
charleston.net | 6/12/08 | Schuyler Kropf
During good times and bad, failed investment leader Al Parish lined his own pockets with more than $7.7 million until his overly ambitious world of investment pools collapsed, court documents filed Wednesday contend.
forbes.com | 5/22/08 | Liz Moyer
The feds have broadened a year-old investigation into the inner workings of Wall Street, announcing four more arrests Thursday for allegedly fraudulent stock-lending schemes.
smartpros.com | 5/23/08 | Associated Press
May 23, 2008 (Associated Press) — NEW YORK - Eight people were charged on Thursday in a series of schemes involving kickbacks and fraud at the stock-loan desks of Wall Street brokerage firms.
Continue reading "8 Accused of Kickbacks, Fraud at Wall Street Brokerage Firms" »
bostonherald.com | 5/19/08 | Associated Press
WORCESTER - The head of a former Worcester-based investment firm has been convicted of cheating investors out of about $13 million to cover trading losses and personal expenses.
Continue reading "Former investment manager guilty in fraud case" »
mercurynews.com | 5/6/08 | Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO—A former San Francisco State music student is facing up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal fraud charges of bilking collectors out of valuable violins and bows.
Continue reading "Former student pleads guilty to fraud charges in violin scam" »
usnews.com | 5/2/08 | Mary Duan
William "Jay" Zubick was issuing change orders almost as fast as his contractor in Idaho could write them down. Battling a serious heart infection, the 42-year-old investment counselor and Ironman triathlete decided in January 2007 that rather than return to his home in an exclusive gated estate community on California's Monterey Peninsula, he would take his wife and four children to the lakeside home he was having built in Coeur d'Alene to convalesce.
reuters.com | 5/2/08 | Ros Krasny
CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. authorities on Friday charged a California firm with bilking hundreds of investors of almost $26 million in an illegal commodities trading scheme, in a complaint that said one owner used $1 million in victims' funds to invest in a golf course.
Continue reading "Two charged with bilking hundreds in fraud scheme" »
smartpros.com | 4/28/08 | Mark Davis
April 28, 2008 (The Kansas City Star, Mo.) — Regulators dismissed 3.5-year-old civil fraud charges today against the brokerage business of H&R Block that arose from its sales of Enron Corp. bonds to investors shortly before its spectacular 2001 failure.
Continue reading "Fraud Charges Against Block Brokerage Dismissed" »
bloomberg.com | 4/14/08 | Thom Weidlich and David Glovin
April 14 (Bloomberg) -- Samuel Israel, a co-founder of Connecticut hedge-fund company Bayou Group LLC, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $300 million after pleading guilty to defrauding investors in his nowbankrupt firm.
Continue reading "Bayou's Israel Gets 20-Year Term for Hedge-Fund Fraud" »
reuters.com | 4/8/08 | Leslie Gevritz
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former New York Mercantile Exchange board member pleaded guilty to defrauding customers and tampering with evidence on Tuesday in exchange for serving 5 months in prison and paying $850,000 in fines and penalties.
Continue reading "Ex-NYMEX director pleads guilty to fraud" »
forbes.com | 4/8/08 | Associated Press
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday filed charges against CMKM Diamonds Inc., accusing the tiny mining company of violating federal securities laws by fraudulently issuing hundreds of billions of shares".
Continue reading "SEC Files Charges Against CMKM Diamonds" »
iht.com | 3/21/08 | Associated Press
NEWARK, New Jersey: Overseas investors lost more than $50 million ( 32.4 million) over the past three years through a stock fraud operation that was based in Brazil and included a company supposedly based in Trenton, New Jersey, authorities said.
Continue reading "US authorities say stock fraud cost overseas investors $50 million" »
reuters.com | 3/13/08 | Michael Christie
MIAMI (Reuters) - A father-and-daughter team accused of duping 15,000 mainly elderly British investors out of $70 million was arrested in Florida on Thursday and charged with a series of crimes, U.S. officials said.
Continue reading "U.S. father-daughter duo charged in $70 million fraud" »