Ponzi Scheme

Perry Sawano of Wheat Ridge, Colorado, a suburb of Denver, was indicted by a Jefferson County grand jury for running a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of $4.8 million from 2007 to 2013. Sawano was indicted on seventeen counts: five counts of securities fraud and twelve counts of theft over $20,000. Sawano allegedly ran the scheme using his Integrity Financial Consulting firm, acting as a licensed investment adviser and investment adviser representative. At first, clients' money was invested in traditional custodial entities. From time to time, Sawano would then move the investors' funds out of those traditional financial instruments and into alternative investments without telling the investors. These alternative investments included businesses owned and operated by Sawano, himself. Sawano is believed to have lied to investors about his business operations and where he would put investments. Often times, investors money would be used to pay other investors, or Sawano would place the cash into shell company bank accounts he [...]

In the wake of an alleged multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme run by attorney Anthony J. Lupas, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has adopted new rules for attorneys in order to deter similar behavior in the future. According to changes to the Rules of Professional Conduct, lawyers will be banned from “brokering, offering to sell, selling or placing any investment product unless he or she is separately licensed to do so.” Lawyers will also be prohibited from recommending or offering investment products if they have a financial interest in the transaction. The new rules further require attorneys to maintain detailed ledgers on client money and allow for the immediate suspension of attorneys who do not promptly provide financial records to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel. According to prosecutors, Lupas conned a number of his clients by guaranteeing annual tax-free investment returns of seven percent or greater. Lupas, however, allegedly took their money for himself, using cash from new investors to pay earlier [...]

Timothy and Cassandra Wilson, the wife and brother of Ponzi scheme mastermind Ron Wilson, were sentenced this month to nine months of home confinement and one year of probation for their participation in a conspiracy to obstruct justice by hiding assets in the scheme. U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs at the federal courthouse in Greenville, South Carolina also sentenced Timothy to 200 hours and Cassandra to 225 hours of community service. Both cooperated with the government's investigation and were able to avoid jail time. Former Anderson County, South Carolina Councilman, Ron Wilson, had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to hide assets from federal investigators and is currently being held in jail, serving a sentence of nineteen and a half years. Authorities believe that almost eight hundred victims lost more than $57 million after investing in Ron's company, Atlantic Bullion and Coin. Investigators stated that Ron gave two ammunition canisters filled with $400,000 in cash and coins to Timothy and [...]