Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Ponzi Schemeing, Canadian Style

We're learning that nearly C$400 million ($369 million) from Canadian and international investors has gone missing in Canada's biggest ponzi scheme to date. Bloomberg reports that Allen Brost and Gary Allen Sorenson created Syndicated Gold Depository SA, which agreed to lend money to Merendon Mining Corp., with the promise of tax breaks and high rates of return to investors, police said Sept. 14. Initially, the men were alleged to have bilked more than C$100 million from 1999 to Dec. 31, 2008, from investors in Alberta, Canada.

For more information, please click here.



Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!


Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Health Care Supplier is Involved in $18.4 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme

According to this post on Detroit News Suresh Chand is being charged with health care fraud and money laundering charges because he was a major figure in a $18.4 million scheme to defraud Medicare. He faces up to 30 years in prison and fines which total up to $750,000.

Chad owned 4 medical companies and submitted false claims to Medicare between the years of 2003 and 2007. He pleaded guilty for these charges and will be sentenced soon.



Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!


Monday, September 28, 2009

Ponzi scheme exposed in Michigan

According to the Wall Street Journal, Frank Bluestein, a Michigan stock broker, ran a Ponzi scheme which convinced elderly individuals to refinance their homes. The Ponzi scheme totaled $250 million, and made $74 million with 800 investors during the five years it was in operation. Read the full story here.



Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!


Friday, September 25, 2009

'McMansion' Mortgage Fraud Scam: Huge Homes Allegedly Became Boardinghouses

The Washington Post reports that allegedly that the family of Ruben Rojas would recruit straw buyers, help them file false loan applications and execute phony "HUD-1" settlement statements on down payments and closing costs. The Rojases would allegedly pay the straw buyers and reap the benefits of quick "flip" sales along with real estate commissions in some cases. Investigators have identified 34 houses bought using unqualified buyers and turned into illegal boardinghouses. The total value of those properties is about $20 million, police said. Investigators expect that the scheme might ultimately involve more than 200 houses in Virginia.

For more information, please click on the link below.

Va. Family Targeted in 'McMansion' Mortgage Fraud Scam



Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!


Wednesday, September 23, 2009

East St. Louis pair pleads guilty for fraud in accociation to a daycare

According to the Chicago Tribune, Robby Owens and Monica Owens, a couple running a daycare in East St Louis, defrauded the government of $1.2 million by not paying taxes from 2004-2004. They also received $150,600 in federal funds for children who weren't in their care. Read the full article here.



Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!


Monday, September 21, 2009

AMLAC 2009 Speaker Profile: Dennis Wood, OFAC

Dennis Wood
Assistant Director
OFAC

Dennis has been in charge of compliance outreach and implementation at Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control for the past 23 years and has been involved with financial services industry issues for well over 30 years. He has first hand experience with S.W.I.F.T., and served on what used to be the Council on International Banking's Letter of Credit Committeee. Previously, he served two terms by appointment of the U.S. Secretary of Commerce on the U.S. District Export Council, was named a "Financial Services Advocate of the Year" by the U.S. Small Business Administration, and was a Director and officer of the N.C.I.V. under the auspices of the United States Information Agency.

Don't miss Dennis speak on Incorporating Effective OFAC Compliance Strategies to
Avoid Costly Fines at the AMLAC Conference in NY from October 19-21.



Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!


Thursday, September 17, 2009

FBI investigations into mortgage increase 63%

The New York Daily News reports today that FBI investigations into mortgage fraud have increased by 63%. "The schemes have evolved with the changing economy, targeting vulnerable individuals, victimizing them even as they are about to lose their homes," Robert Mueller, Bureau Director, told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

The FBI has more than 2,600 cases open, with most of them involving losses of more than $1 million, Mueller said. That's more than triple the number of three years ago and up from 2,400 cases Mueller said were open in May.



Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!


Wednesday, September 16, 2009

AMLAC 2009 Speaker Profile: Rachel Rojas, Supervisory Special Agent, FBI

Rachel Rojas
Supervisory Special Agent
FBI

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was forced to reallocate its manpower in New York to deal with recent frauds involving subprime mortgages, auction-rate securities and Madoff, who prosecutors said confessed this month to bilking investors out of $50 billion, FBI official David Cardona said in an interview.

“We have to work those cases which we think pose the greatest threat,” he said. “In this case, it’s a threat to the financial system and Wall Street.”

Special Agent Rachel Rojas, who once worked on tracing terrorist financing and al-Qaeda, now oversees 15 agents investigating mortgage fraud, said Cardona, a career agent with 23 years at the bureau. He declined to say how many other agents he has reassigned from anti-terror work to financial crimes.

Rojas heads one of two such mortgage-fraud squads that work with federal prosecutors in Brooklyn and Manhattan and other federal agencies.

Bio courtesy of Bloomberg.com

Don't miss Rachel Rojas speak on Understanding the Latest Law Enforcement Initiatives for
Identifying Trends and Preventing Fraud at the AMLAC Conference in NY from October 19-21.



Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!


Tuesday, September 15, 2009

New Jersey comes top for anti-money laundering compliance

According to this post on the Wealth Bulletin New Jersey has received praise from the International Monetary Fund for being top for anti-money laundering compliance. The report which was published by the IMF states that NJ has put in place a "comprehensive and robust" framework for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. Now that we know who's on top it would be interesting to see what state came out at the bottom of the list.



Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!


Thursday, September 10, 2009

Madoff's Ponzi scheme showing holes

According to CNN, new audio tapes have surfaced where Madoff shares with another colleague, Amit Vijay, chief risk officer of the Fairfield Greenwich Group, how to dodge any questions or inquires that came from the SEC. It was not evident when this phone call was made. In the phone call, Madoff stated, "You don't want to have that information because ... the commission, when they ask questions, they try and draw out information," Madoff said. "The less that you know how we execute ... the better you are."

Read the full article here.



Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!


Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Hockey Owner to Pay $67.5M in Restitution

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that former co-owner of the San Jose Sharks, venture capitalist William "Boots" Del Biaggio III, 41, of San Jose must surrender Jan. 8 to begin serving a sentence of eight years and one month, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said at a hearing in San Francisco.

The judge also ordered Del Biaggio to pay $67.5 million in restitution.

Federal prosecutors said Del Biaggio defrauded numerous people to obtain and guarantee loans of about $100 million in connection with various ventures, including the purchase of a $25 million stake in the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League.

Former Sharks co-owner gets 8 years for fraud



Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!


Tuesday, September 8, 2009

AMLAC 2009 Speaker Profile: Les Joseph, US DOJ

Lester Joseph
Principal Deputy Chief- Asset Forfeiture & Money Laundering
US Department of Justice

Principal deputy chief, Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, he guides and assists federal prosecutors and law enforcement agencies throughout the United States in money laundering and forfeiture cases, including various “Deferred Prosecution Agreements”. He advises Justice Department officials on money laundering control legislative and prosecutorial policies and procedures and has participated in some of the landmark U.S. money laundering prosecutions, including several that established the extraterritorial reach of the U.S. law.

Don't miss Les speak on Understanding the Latest Law Enforcement Initiatives for
Identifying Trends and Preventing Fraud at the AMLAC Conference in NY from October 19-21.



Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!


Thursday, September 3, 2009

Owner of Diamond Ventures Arrested for Wire Fraud and Money Laundering

According to this article in the Herald Tribune Beau Diamond from a Sarasota based Diamond Ventures group was recently charged with money laundering and wire fraud. Officials claim that he operated his venture like a Ponzi scheme, using investors' money to make profit payments to other investors and collecting about $38 million from over 200 people. $6.6 million of those funds were used for personal expenditures including a waterfront condominium, a Lamborghini Gallardo, and vacations. The FBI have been investigating Beau since early January.



Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!


Wednesday, September 2, 2009

SanFran City Workers Dupe City $200K


The San Francisco Chronicle
reports that two San Francisco public employees are under investigation for allegedly masterminding a scheme that duped the city out of more than $200,000 in goods. The pair, Donnie Alan Thomas and Miles Bonner each made more than $95,000 a year as electrical line workers for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. The pair's alleged scheme from 2003-2007 paid for personal goods including high-end car stereo equipment, furniture, designer window shutters and redwood decking, authorities said Tuesday.

The two each face 41 felony and two misdemeanor counts ranging from grand theft to failure to pay unemployment insurance. If convicted, they each face up to 21 years in state prison.



Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!


Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Societe Generale Trader to Face Trial in 2010

CNN.com reports that French trader, Jerome Kerviel will face charges including forgery, breach of trust, and introducing fraudulent data into the bank's data system, Societe Generale lawyer Jean Veil told CNN. He faces a penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to €375,000 euros ($538,000), Veil said. The bank also will ask that Kerviel reimburse them for almost 5 billion euros ($7.1 billion), "which probably he will not pay," Veil said.

The trial is expected to start in the first half of 2010, perhaps in May or June, Veil said. It will take place at the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris, he said.


Trader faces trial over alleged $7B fraud



Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!