person swimming signThe U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California announced the arrest and indictment of Matthew Piercey in connection with a fraud and Ponzi investment scheme involving Family Wealth Legacy and Zolla. Mr. Piercey is alleged to have raised approximately $35 million from investors between 2015 and 2020. In an unusual twist on investment fraud cases, Mr. Piercey allegedly fled in a vehicle from law enforcement when they attempted to arrest them. The chase ended at a lake where witnesses saw Mr. Piercey take something from his truck before swimming into the water. The Sacramento Bee reported that Mr. Piercey remained in the lake for approximately 25 minutes, using a submersible sea scooter to move around underwater. 

The indictment, describing the fraud and Ponzi scheme in detail, is available here.

On June, 3, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) obtained a preliminary injunction against investment adviser Paul Horton Smith, Sr. and related entities. The SEC alleges Smith and his entities engaged in a Ponzi scheme targeting senior citizens.

The SEC’s complaint refers to three entities associated with Smith: Northstar Communications, LLC, eGate, LLC, and Planning Services, Inc. Through these entities, the complaint alleges that Smith targeted seniors, guaranteeing investors annual interest payments in so called “private annuity contracts.” Smith did not in fact invest the money as promised, the SEC explained, and instead used the money to pay investors in a Ponzi-like fashion. The SEC also alleges that Smith held himself out to be a trusted fiduciary.

The case is Securities and Exchange Commission v. Paul Horton Smith, Sr., et al., Central District of California, No. ED CV 20-1056 PA (SHKx).

JP Morgan will pay $218 million to settle a putative class action brought by investors who lost millions in the Bernard Madoff scandal, according to a settlement preliminarily approved by a New York federal judge.  U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon granted preliminary approval to the deal, which is part of a package of separately negotiated deals to repay the victims of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.

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