International Law

Good Advice from FBI

Some excellent advice from the FBI in the Randall Joseph Ponzi scheme.

"According to court records, during 2002 through 2006, Joseph solicited money from several individuals to invest in a number of business ventures.

Joseph promised them a stated date of repayment with a fixed amount of return. When Joseph received the investment money, he deposited it into financial accounts that he controlled.

Some of these investor's checks totaled over $350,000.

As in a typical "Ponzi" scheme, some of the money was used to repay the other investors who had earlier invested with him and some of it was used for his own personal expenses, including credit card, house and car payments.

As a result of his fraudulent acts, Joseph obtained over $1 million in which he failed to repay back to the investors.

United States Attorney Stephen J. Murphy stated, "Even sophisticated business people can be deceived by an attractive Ponzi scheme, because at first, the returns look like the real thing".

Although federal investigators are well-equipped to unravel such schemes, Investors need to be on their guard against these schemes as the first line of defense."

This is one of the very few candid remarks that I have seen from a regulator/police agency about white collar criminals.

They are criminals who can deceive even sophisticated business people.

As Thomas Schelling said of Pearl Harbor, " we forget what a fine target a deterrence makes." If you have money and are a sophisticated business person, then you are a target.

Full post as published by Misleading Advertising Law on February 22, 2008 (boomark / email).