It’s annual pet scammer week! That’s a lie. But it sure feels like it. Eric Stein was charged with running an investment scam through Return-A-Pet LLC. Return-A-Pet was a New York company that allegedly facilitated the return of lost pets to their owners. Stein was out on supervised release for a previous investment fraud scheme …
As tax season rolls around it’s no surprise to see tax refund check cashing schemes arising in the news. Announced Monday was the filing of a criminal Information charging defendants Wilson Lau, and his wife, Kate Yuee Lau, for their participation in a check cashing scheme involving more than $5 million in fraudulently obtained tax …
The former President of Encap Golf Holdings LLC (“Encap”), William Gauger III, was indicted this week for his participation in a scheme to extort approximately $100,000 from a financial consultant and a fraudulent invoicing scheme relating to his work for a New Jersey-based management firm. Gauger allegedly hired his brother-inlaw Craig Groce, who was originally …
Whole Bakers owner, Patricia “Patty” Stewart, was sentenced yesterday to the statutory maximum of 60 months in federal prison for running an investment fraud scheme. The scheme defrauded investors, including elderly Texas citizens, of more than $2 million. According to documents filed in the case, from December 2005 through May 2010, Stewart, who owned and …
A federal grand jury in Pheonix returned a 25 count indictment against Gerald Lee Kelly on four counts of wire fraud, six counts of mail fraud, 10 counts of money laundering and five counts of structuring financial transactions to avoid federal bank reporting requirements. The indictment alleges that in 2006 and 2007, Kelly operated a …
The last defendant in the MTA debt collection scheme has pleaded guilty. Paul Anthony Vasquez pleaded guilty on January 17, 2012 to conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud and money laundering. Vasquez also agreed to pay full restitution and forfeit assets seized by federal agents, including over $950,000 in cash and a 1.5 carat …
Wednesday marked the announcement that Anthony Cutaia was sentenced to 51 months in prison for mail fraud “Ponzi” investment scheme. Cutaia had pled guilty in July 2011 to Count 2 of a Criminal Information filed in June 2011, which charged him with mail fraud in connection with his participation in a real estate investment scheme …
On Wednesday of last week word broke about the largest insider trading scheme involving single stock charged to date. Three defendants have pled guilty and are cooperating with the government’s investigating a scheme that allegedly netted more than $61.8 million in illegal profits. Charges were announced against seven investment professionals, who worked at three different …
Bradley Stark, the fraudster defendant who represented himself at trail was convicted by a federal jury for deceiving investors about an investment scheme that involved more than 200 victims and more than $14 million. Following Stark’s five-day trial he has been convicted on all counts of an indictment charging him with seven counts of wire …
In September I covered a story about two leaders of the Hells Angels that had been accused of mortgage fraud. A mortgage broker in the San Francisco bay area was charged with conspiracy to arrange more than $10 million in fraudulent home loans including the two Hells Angels leaders. Raymond Foakes, former President of the …