Feds charge men with alleged $364 million Ponzi scheme

AP
/ Mary Cybulski

• Federal prosecutors have charged three men in
  connection with an alleged $364 million Ponzi scheme that could
  have more than 400 victims nationwide. 
• The men were indicted on charges of conspiracy, wire
  fraud, identity theft, and money laundering.
• 
  The
  indictment alleges that the three men took $73 million of
  investors’ funds “to purchase and renovate high end homes in
  Maryland, Texas, Nevada, and Florida, purchase luxury
  automobiles, jewelry, boats, and a share in a jet plane, gamble
  $25 million at casinos, and support a lavish
  lifestyle.”
  

A
federal grand jury has indicted three men on charges related
to an alleged $364 million ponzi scheme.

The three alleged fraudsters — Kevin B. Merrill, Jay
B. Ledford and Cameron Jezierski — promised to pay
investors significant profits from the purchase and resale of
consumer debt portfolios, but in fact, they “touted their
purported investment expertise to siphon millions of dollars from
unsuspecting investors,”
according to the SEC’s complaint. 

A press release from the Department of
Justice US Attorney’s Office in the District of Maryland
said: 

“The indictment alleges that Merrill, Ledford, and
Jezierski personally enriched themselves and concealed their
diversion of $73 million of investors’ funds to purchase and
renovate high end homes in Maryland, Texas, Nevada, and Florida,
purchase luxury automobiles, jewelry, boats, and a share in a jet
plane, gamble $25 million at casinos, and support a lavish
lifestyle.

The men were charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, identity
theft, and money laundering, according to the Department of
Justice. The victims included small business owners,
restauranteurs, bankers, talent agents, professional athletes,
and financial advisors. 

“We allege that the defendants engaged in a brazen fraud,
deceiving investors to perpetuate their wrongdoing and line their
pockets with ill-gotten gains,” said Kelly L. Gibson,
Associate Regional Director of the SEC’s Philadelphia Regional
Office. “Investors should be warned that low-risk, high-return
investments that never lose should be a red flag.”

According to the SEC, Ledford misappropriated at least $40
million. That includes the transfer of at least $17 million to
personal bank accounts, and the purchase of: “a $368,000 Ferrari,
a $330,000 seven-carat diamond ring, and a $168,000 23-carat
diamond bracelet, while transferring $13 million to casinos.”

Merrill misappropriated at least $45 million, according to
the SEC. The SEC said: 

“He transferred over $7 million to his personal bank
accounts, spent $10.2 million on at least 25 high-end automobiles
(including a 2008 Bugatti Veyron, a 2014 Pagani Huayra Diablo, a
2014 Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, a 2017 Rolls Royce Dawn, and
multiple other models made by Ferrari and Lamborghini), $5.5
million toward the purchase of a house in Naples, Florida, over
$2 million for home renovations, $500,000 for an interest in a
Gulfstream 200 private jet, a $100,000 club membership in Naples,
$350,000 on a boat, and transferring approximately $1 million to
casinos.

Attorneys for the three men were not listed in court
documents.