Alleged fraud targeted some service members

[unhappycamper]

Alleged fraud targeted some service members
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Feb 28, 2008 17:07:59 EST

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged individuals at three California companies in a scheme that allegedly forced some military members into home foreclosure and personal bankruptcy.

The scheme also allegedly targeted the Southern California Filipino community and church members in California, Arizona and elsewhere.

SEC officials in the Los Angeles regional office said the Ponzi-like scheme cost more than 75 investors an estimated $10 million. Information was not available from the SEC about the number of people in the military community who were victims.

Using “sham investment seminars” and “referral partners,” including an Air Force technical sergeant, the defendants gained control over investors’ finances, the SEC alleges. In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Riverside, Calif., the SEC describes an Air Force technical sergeant at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., as one of the scheme’s “largest referral partners,” soliciting more than 48 investors, including some of his fellow airmen at Davis-Monthan.

SEC officials had no comment about whether the technical sergeant is considered a victim. A Davis-Monthan spokesman said the individual has retired, and the Air Force has no actions pending against him.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/military_fraud_sec_031008w/