And the beat goes on - or maybe I should say the beatings continue. Always good to see miscreants get their come-uppance. Unfortunately for more than a thousand people the come-uppance comes up too late to save their 'investment' and, in some cases, their retirement.

It's precisely this variability that makes this type of fraud so difficult to prevent. Although the two articles I posted earlier also involved Ponzi schemes and affinity fraud, the crimes are as different as night & day. In one, people with Hispanic surnames convinced other people with Hispanic surnames they could get them into homes they couldn't afford - sometimes multiple homes at once - and made money off them. In the second case, African Americans took gross advantage of other African Americans by promising returns of up to 50% a month for investing in a scheme to help others avoid default. 

In this case we have rich white dudes taking advantage of other (formerly) rich folks in a scheme that is pretty sophisticated. Of course if it's going to be based out of Irvine and the perps live in Coto de Caza you know it's going to be an upscale scam. No use wasting that opportunity just to scam a few million when your are surrounded by 'fat mooches'. This caliber investor would be less likely to be suckered in by a two-bit scam so you tailor the scam to the client and -viola - $52 million to spend on vacations, Beemers, airplanes, etc. Hey, if you're going to go - go large eh? 

Hopefully they'll be going large for the next decade in the Greybars Hotel & Spa with a close companion named Bubba.

News Release

January 23, 2009

For Immediate Release

Contact: Christine Gasparac [Press Secretary] 916-324-5500

Contact: Scott Gerber or Christine Gasparac, (916) 324-5500

Scott.Gerber@doj.ca.gov or Christine.Gasparac@doj.ca.gov

Attorney General Brown Files Criminal Charges in $52 Million Ponzi Scheme

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 23, 2009
Contact: Christine Gasparac or Scott Gerber (916) 324-5500 or Special Agent Supervisor Randall Hew (323) 855-4743

Attorney General Brown Files Criminal Charges in $52 Million Ponzi Scheme

ORANGE COUNTY – Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. yesterday filed 89 criminal charges against 6 men who “callously conned” more than a thousand people, including retired senior citizens, out of $52 million through sham real estate projects, using the investors’ money to buy planes, expensive cars and lavish vacations.

“These six men callously conned hundreds of people into investing $52 million into a company that they treated as their personal bank account,” Attorney General Brown said. “They fraudulently took investors’ money and spent it on an array of luxury items, relying on a Ponzi scheme to keep investors at bay.”

From 2001 to February 2006, Irvine-based Carolina Development Company peddled $52 million worth of stock to more than a thousand investors. The company claimed the proceeds would be used to buy and develop luxury resorts and upscale communities adjacent to golf courses designed by Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Greg Norman. Investors bought anywhere from $15,000 to $1 million in stock, including senior citizens who invested their retirement funds. The company bought some land, but did nothing to develop it, despite its claim that 85% of the $52 million invested would be used for land acquisition and development.

To persuade investors to buy shares of Carolina Development Company, the defendants claimed that Arnold Palmer had partnered with them. The defendants promised that investors would reap huge dividends and assured those who invested a minimum of $100,000 that their investment would be secured by deeds to specific parcels of land. None of these claims were true.

The defendants diverted more than $24 million for extravagant bonuses, personal medical bills, airplanes, fancy meals, BMWs, concert tickets and luxury vacations. To keep investors at bay, the defendants engaged in a Ponzi scheme, paying some investors “returns” on their investment using money from the new investors.

Department of Justice agents served arrest warrants against the following six defendants, who were charged with grand theft and securities fraud in Orange County Superior Court:

Lambert Vander Tuig, 50, of Santa Margarita, currently held in the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Jonathan Carman, 45, of Laguna Hills, currently held in the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Mark Sostak, 50, of Ladera Ranch, currently held in the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Bail is set at $4.5 million.

Scott Yard, 47, of Costa Mesa, remains at large.

Soren Svendsen, 43, of Coto De Caza, is currently being held in the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Bail is set at $2.2 million.

Robert Waldman, 48, is scheduled to turn himself in to authorities.

On Wednesday, representatives of the Attorney General’s Office obtained arrest warrants from Orange County Superior Court Judge Selim Franklin.

These criminal charges were preceded by civil actions brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC in 2007 won a $29.2 million judgment against Lambert Vander Tuig, the president of the company, and a $2.1 million judgment against Jonathan Carman, vice president of the company.

If convicted, defendants Vander Tuig and Carman could receive sentences in excess of 10 years in state prison. The remaining defendants would be subject to lesser prison sentences.

The criminal complaint and affidavit are attached.