I hate hearing how people get fooled. There are so many scams out there these days. One got justice on Friday. James Lewis Jr got the maximum sentence for scamming people out of 311 million dollars.
Over 1600 people believer what Mr Lewis told them over the years as he was a "trusted money manager"
Former investor Collene Campbell testified she and her husband lost the money they were saving for a down payment on their granddaughter's first home, a grandson's college savings, and the contents of a scholarship fund for another grandson.
Other people talked about how their retirement savings was gone. Their hopes and dreams as well.
The judge asked how Lewis could keep up his scheme for nearly two decades.
"As long as you're able to raise money and keep paying the promised annual or monthly payments, you can keep going until you implode," Kane said. "And Mr. Lewis was about to implode when he was arrested."
Lewis told investors he was earning returns of 18 percent to 40 percent by leasing medical equipment, financing purchases of medical insurance, making commercial loans and buying and selling distressed businesses.
Missouri Sectary of States listsPonzi Schemes and Pyramid Schemes as one of the top 10 investor scams of 2006.
These investment scams are essentially “robbing one person to pay another.” Initial investors are paid off with money taken from new investors. As long as a steady flow of new investors keeps coming in, there will be money to pay off the old investors. This early return on investment is misleading, however, because when new investors stop coming in, the scheme collapses, investors lose their money and the fraudsters walk away rich.
We have seen 2006 already with some ponzi scams such as Auto Surfing Programs being at the top of the list.
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