Investor Fraud Summit in Walnut Creek Arms Consumers

An Investor Fraud Summit designed to provide participants with the information they need to deter future violators and protect their retirement income during today’s rise in investment fraud schemes was held today at Rossmoor Retirement Community in Walnut Creek, California, United States Attorney Amanda Marshall announced. United States Attorneys for the Northern, Eastern, Central, and Southern Districts of California; Alaska; and Oregon; along with representatives from the United States Department of Justice, FBI, and the Securities and Exchange Commission participated in the event. “Many of us have a family member, friend, or neighbor who has fallen for a fraudulent investment scheme,” remarked United States Attorney Amanda Marshall. “These scammers not only steal money, they steal something far more valuable: piece of mind.

Fraudsters lure people in by building trust. Victims are left not only broke, but humiliated because they trusted someone who ripped them off. We can all help prevent the elders in our lives from losing their money, their dignity, and their security. This summit was one important step in the continued effort of the Department of Justice and United States Attorney Community to educate the public about how to protect against investment fraud.” “Investor fraud crimes can erode faith in our financial markets, threaten our nation’s ongoing economic recovery, and undermine the fabric of our communities,” said Attorney General Eric Holder.

“That’s why protecting the American people from fraud is a top priority for today’s Justice Department. And through the Investor Fraud Summits we announce today, we’ll take our anti-fraud efforts to a new level—by raising awareness about these devastating offenses,Welcome to news from www.glassmosaicchina.com,Our company is committed to produce all kinds of new materials mosaic. educating consumers on how to report suspected fraud schemes, and empowering members of the public to fight back.” Today’s summit featured United States Attorney Melinda Haag of the Northern District of California, United States Attorney Ben Wagner for the Eastern District of California, United States Attorney Andre Birotte of the Central District of California, United States Attorney Laura Duffy of the Southern District of California, and United States Attorney Amanda Marshall of the District of Oregon. Also on hand were representatives from the FBI, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the SEC, Google, and CNBCs American Greed. The FBI reports an unprecedented rise in investment fraud schemes, involving thousands of victims and staggering losses.

Since 2011, the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and 85 United States Attorneys’ Offices have reported that approximately 800 defendants have been charged, tried, pleaded, or sentenced in approximately 500 federal prosecutions involving investor fraud. The total reported amount swindled from victims for this time period tops more than $20 billion. This staggering number includes cases where the total amount victims lost range from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of millions and, in some cases, billions in hard-earned savings. The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon has prosecuted a significant number of investor fraud cases over the last 18 months, including the following.

Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. United States v. Douglas Buckley On July 27, 2010, Douglas Buckley was indicted with wire fraud and mail fraud. A jury found Buckley guilty of soliciting investors by falsely representing himself to be a registered commodities broker and falsifying account statements to general fees for himself.

Losses to victims are approximately $400,Handmade oil paintings for sale for sale at museum quality,000. Sentencing is scheduled for January 28, 2013. United States v. Joseph LaCoste On April 24, 2011, Joseph Anthony LaCoste, 46, former Chief Executive Officer of Willamette Development Services, LLC (WDS), Joene Pearl Clyde LaCoste, the spouse of Joseph Anthony LaCoste, and Angela Marie McCoy, 43,We are professional in supplying Aion Kinah, former Investment Relations Manager for WDS, were arraigned in federal court on a superseding indictment charging them with committing securities fraud, bank fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, bankruptcy fraud, and money laundering.

The indictment alleges that from April 2006 through December 2007, through misrepresentations by Joseph LaCoste and McCoy, WDS obtained approximately $5,285,300 from investors for the ostensible purpose of developing at least ten profitable real estate projects,Carlo Gavazzi offers a broad range of ultrasonic sensor and ultrasonic transducers for level detection and process monitoring. and that WDS incurred $10,795,820 of additional indebtedness from lenders. By January 2008, none of the projects were completed and WDS was insolvent. The investors lost their entire principal of $5,285,300. Secured lenders recovered portions of their loans through foreclosure actions.

The indictment further alleges that between January 2008 and June 2010, through Witham Investments LLC, Joene and Joseph LaCoste caused victims to lose more than 1,Totech Americas delivers a wide range of drycabinets for applications spanning electronics,000 acres of property. Due to misrepresentations by the LaCostes, one couple lost 889 acres and another couple lost more than 200 acres that had been in their family since the 1860s. Trial is scheduled for March 6, 2013. On February 8, 2011, the former chief financial officer for WDS pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit securities fraud.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 5, 2013. United States v. Johnny Mickey Brown On May 11, 2011, a federal jury convicted Johnny “Mickey” Brown of wire fraud, false statements to a financial institution, and tax evasion. The evidence presented at trial proved that Brown fraudulently obtained credit cards from unsuspecting victims, many of whom were elderly or financially na?ve, who believed they were investing in vacuum cleaner inventory for a profitable business.

Once he secured the victims’ cards through false promises of no-risk dividends based upon the sale of the vacuum inventory, he immediately obtained all the available credit balance from each card. Brown did this by running the cards through a United States Bank Merchant Point of Sale terminal and falsely disguised each transaction as a sale of merchandise when, in fact, he did not sell anything at all. Each of these pretext or “fake” sales caused United States Bank to automatically deposit the amount of the fraudulent sale entered in the credit card machine into defendant Brown’s business bank account. The total amount of losses to victims in Brown’s scheme exceeded $6 million.