Amarillo, Texas Businessman Charged with Securities Fraud
A businessman in Amarillo, Texas has been arrested for investment fraud involving $1 million and at least 100 people.
Last week, Amarillo police arrested John Langford of Langford and Associates on nine felony charges. He faces charges of securities fraud and selling unregistered securities. 
He is being held at the Potter county jail on a $500,000 bond for each charge.
According to reports, Langford promised high rates of return to new investors. He then used new investor funds to pay off earlier investors. According to the district attorney, John Langford probably does not own sufficient assets to cover the amount he has defrauded. Anxious investors have been contacting the DA, worried about their investments. So far, Sims says, the number of investors seems to be more than 100 people, and these numbers are expected to increase as the investigation progresses.
We are still waiting to hear more details from the DA’s office but to securities attorneys, this much is clear:
- Langford seems to have operated a Ponzi scheme.
- A number of elderly people appear to have been included as victims. Sims has confirmed that many of the victims are senior citizens who purchased annuities, but received no benefits when Langford defaulted.
Langford is facing a total of nine felonies:
- One second degree charge of fraudulent sales of securities
- One third degree felony charge of selling securities without being a registered dealer
- Three third degree charges of selling unregistered securities in Texas
- Four first degree felony charges of fraudulent sales of securities
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According to Sims, his office worked together with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for about two weeks before moving in. Sims is asking investors who purchased annuities from Langford to contact the DA's office.
Hopefully the SEC's proposed plans to crack down on securities fraud with specialized groups will come to light and operate succesfully. Too many ponzi schemers and investment fraudsters are still on the loose, taking advantage of naive investors.
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In a classic investment fraud tactic, Merriman promised his investors returns of up to 20%, but lost approximately $400,000 from the initial funds. It was then that Merriman started another fund to pay investors in a Ponzi scheme operation. As the scale of the fraud grew, he added two more funds to pay withdrawals. He traded securities during the first year of his scam, but eventually stopped and focused completely on his scheme. The SEC asked that Merriman‘s assets be frozen and that he be ordered to pay his investors back with interest.
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In March, the 38-year-old Schrenker was put through mental evaluation tests to determine whether he was competent to stand trial. Those evaluations came about as a result of Schrenker’s bizarre behavior prior to his arrest. On January 11th, Schrenker, aware that he was facing a black hole of investment fraud charges and lawsuits, got into his plane, put it on auto pilot, and parachuted out of it, leaving the aircraft to crash into an Alabama swamp. Once safely on the ground, Schrenker hopped onto a motorcycle he had earlier hidden in a storage unit and drove away. His ingenious, Bondesque escape plan was unsuccessful, however, and he was arrested two days later on Florida camping grounds.
For Greenwood and Walsh, the trouble began in February when their firms were subjected to an audit by the National Futures Association. They refused to cooperate and were suspended from the organization. Since then, the two have been the subject of several 
Drier's scheme involved the selling of at least 85 fake promissory notes that were said to pay an interest of 11.5 percent. He is charged with selling fake promissory notes to three separate investors and 13 hedge funds between 2004 and 2008. Most of the money went to fund Dreier's extravagant lifestyle, while some went to fund his law firm operations and pay returns to early investors, in a classic 
Instead, Haroutunian funneled most of his investors' money to himself and his co-conspirators. On Monday he pled guilty to mail fraud in Los Angeles and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Earlier, he pled guilty to siphoning approximately $450,000 from Bank of America in 2003 when he worked there as a customer care officer. He has also pled guilty to tax fraud.
Investors who wish to see their frozen funds released
Friehling was not charged for knowledge of the 
Earlier in the week Madoff refused to agree to a plea deal with prosecutors and admit to conspiracy, implicating others. Because of his refusal investigators will have no help in identifying others involved in the scheme. According to 
A few employees from the Houston headquarters will be kept on long enough to wrap things up at the office and close the company down. After, however, they will also be out of a job.
Most of these accounts are managed at Pershing LLC, the clearing firm for the majority of Stanford accounts. Janvey, however, has also considered releasing accounts held at JP Morgan Clearing Company..jpg)
According to Business Insurance, contrary what you might expect, most of these lawsuits were not filed in the latter half of 2008, when the extent of the credit crisis became clear. Rather, most of the cases were filed in the first half of the year, 
In January, Burden and the Gagosian Gallery purchased the gold, through Stanford Coins & Bullion, from Dillon Gage Group, a rare coins and metal dealer unrelated to Stanford or any of his businesses. The parties agreed that Burden and the Gagosian would wire the payment for 
Guiana Island is Antigua's largest island measuring 2.5 miles across and .5 miles wide. With extensive mangroves, coral reefs and wildlife it is one of Antigua's ecological treasures. It is home to Antigua's national animal, the European fallow deer, and the endangered West Indian whistling duck..jpg)
The next day, authorities found Nadel's vehicle in a local airport parking lot. He also left his wife a handwritten note explaining he left documentation enough for her to take over what is left, "even documentation for divorce" and felt "extreme guilt." He also advised her to withdraw money as soon as possible, knowing the assets would be frozen shortly.
According to the SEC, since 2004 the schemer swindled nearly $900 million from naive investors. Soon after 
In a different lawsuit, J. Mark Brewer sued to SEC in an attempt to get access to frozen retirement accounts. His funds are held by a clearing firm called Pershing, who handled Stanford transactions. Brewer argues that, although, Stanford may be guilty, his dealings with Pershing have nothing to do with his situation. Brewer is one of many investors unhappy with the freezing of their Pershing assets. Some of the others, however, have taken a different approach; they are on board with the SEC's civil lawsuit in Dallas.
Also, in 2001, Stanford, claimed he was a descendant of Stanford University's founder, Leland Stanford. Stanford University officials denied any relation and, in 2008, filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against the billionaire, claiming his actions were "injurious" to the university's name and caused "public confusion." This odd attempt at name dropping supports the idea that the egomaniacal Stanford is after power in every way. 
At least 300 investors with their 
In a classic case of the foxes guarding the hen house, Lena Stinson, who served as the 
Florida has been hit particularly hard in the recent series of investment fraud scandals that have come to light. The victims of 
In December of 2007, former Stanford Financial Group (SFG) financial advisers, Charles Rawl and Mark Tidwell quit their jobs for fear of being held criminally liable due to the 
According to insiders, nearly half of all 
Much like investors, senior employees at Stanford had limited access to the bank's investment methods themselves. At least one employee, Michael Zarich, told .jpg)
equaling the donation Stanford made to his election campaign to charity. Several lawmakers have also followed suit. According to sources, the Stanford Financial Group spent approximately $4.8 million in donations to American politicians over the past decade. Stanford worked hard to spread his influence in American politics. He, not only donated to the Obama, McCain and Clinton campaigns, but in 2002, donated heavily to Florida senator Bill Nelson who served as vice chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee during the time Congress was debating the introduction of harsher anti-investment fraud laws. .jpg)
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In September of 2007 BCI and their CEO, Cooper, began taking advantage of naive investors by giving presentations and seminars at Deaf Community centers and events. The fraudster ultimately collected $4.4 million from 125 investors and, rather than investing the money, bought himself a new home, among other things.
It is one of the oldest investment fraud schemes, and its low risk, high yield mantra has helped it become one of the most successful forms of investment fraud. A Ponzi scheme works similarly to a pyramid scheme. Here, the fraudster collects funds from investors, and uses them to pay off previous investors. As long as the number of investors is limited and there is enough money to pay off previous investors, Ponzi scheme fraudsters have little risk of getting caught. However, when funds begin to dry up, older clients cannot be paid as quickly, which is when the scheme begins to crumble. The financial meltdown that went into full gear a few months ago resulted in a credit crunch, which meant that Ponzi scheme fraudsters like Bernie Madoff and Ralph Russell were unable to continue making payments to earlier investors and keep the fraud alive. That is why there have been a large number of Ponzi scams uncovered since the meltdown began. These fraudsters are able to survive well in times of a booming economy, but as soon as the economy falls, their schemes are busted.
The Antigua-based Stanford International Bank Limited assured clients that it’s certificates of deposit were as secure as “U.S. government insured accounts”. As SEC agents and U.S. marshals raided the company's Houston office, investors had already begun to reveal the attraction the 
scandal was a flash in the pan and that few other Ponzi schemes and 