Articles Posted in Ponzi Schemes

With all of the talk these days about the need to find alternative energy sources, there is a real demand for “Green” energy. There are a lot of legitimate entrepreneurs out there looking for investors to put up money to fund new energy-saving environmentally-friendly ideas. With every legitimate entrepreneur however, comes a hundred scam artists…

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC), Eldon A. Gresham, of The Gresham Company, a Peachtree City based company, has been charged with running a multimillion dollar Ponzi scheme. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission charges Gresham with soliciting more than $15 million from at least 75 investors to further his scheme. Particularly, it is alleged that…

According to newsday.com, many Ponzi Scheme victims will now be able to write off their financial losses under their state itemized tax deductions.  New York will allow victims to claim such loses as a “theft” deduction.  New York State is merely following the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) lead.  In March, the IRS issued a statement saying that…

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC), Robert Price Copeland, a Marietta, Georgia lawyer, pleaded guilty on April 20, 2009 to wire fraud relating to a ponzi scheme he had been running for five years. U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias said that in total Copeland owes more than $28 million to 125 investors.  The investors included senior…

Recently, there have been numerous Georgia articles discussing the ponzi scheme committed by Marietta attorney, Robert P. Copeland. Mr. Copeland, a real estate attorney, was charged by federal prosecutors with operating a ponzi scheme from 2004-2009.  In total, Mr. Copeland duped 125 investors out of $28 million. In a recent article in the Dalton Daily Citizen, U.S. Attorney David Nahmias stated, “But we…

When ponzi schemes implode, there is usually no money left behind for the victims to recover.  One silver lining for victims who lost money in ponzi schemes that actually made investments is that the fraudster typically can not accomplish the fraud alone.  Collateral parties such as brokerage firms are often involved to help execute trades or be…

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC), the U.S. Attorney Office has filed an action against Robert Price Copeland, a Marietta attorney.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office seeks to have Copeland forfeit a dozen properties that he allegedly bought with money he gained from the alleged ponzi scheme. It is alleged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office that Copeland…

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Wendell Ray Spell, of Gainesville, Georgia, pled guilty Tuesday to federal charges relating to a Ponzi scheme. Authorities say that the scheme defrauded investors out of more than $60 million dollars. It was alleged by authorities that Spell, who ran a construction equipment company, lured more than 50 individuals to invest their…

In a telephone conference today, Bart Chilton, the commissioner of the Washington-based Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) referred to the recent discovery of unprecedented numbers of ponzi schemes as “rampant Ponzimonium.” According to a Reuters article published today, Mr. Childers was making a play on the word “Lollapalooza,” a popular music festival. In that article, Mr. Chilton was…

On March 19th, Bloomberg published an article entitled, Ponzi Scheme Victims All Missed an Easy Clue: Bogus Auditors.  The article discussed how victims could have easily discovered that they were investing in ponzi schemes simply by calling the accounting firms that purported audited the financial of the bogus investments sold by Bernie Madoff, Allen Stanford and…