Best Story of the week comes from Law & Crime !
Guys, it’s the feds! We better run, errr, hide underwater!
The recent arrest of a fraud suspect took an aquatic turn when the man tried to flee in a sea scooter, federal authorities in California say. And, somehow, someway, President Donald Trump is referred to in the related claims.
Matthew Piercey, 44, allegedly engaged in a Ponzi scheme. The Department of Justice says for more than five years, he raised about $35 million of investor money through his companies Family Wealth Legacy, and Zolla. He and co-defendant Kenneth Winton, 67, worked to keep investor funds thorough lies, omissions and half-truths about fees, how investor money would be used, where the money went, the success of their investment strategies, and the stability of Family Wealthy Legacy and Zolla, the DOJ says. The alleged B.S. included a so-called automated algorithmic trading fund called the “Upvesting Fund.”
“Upvesting has not taken one penny,” Piercey admitted to an associate in October 2018, according to the DOJ. “We generically use the name Upvesting as a term referring to an alternative to the traditional markets. I now recognize this is probably sloppy and incorrect from a compliance standpoint.”
It’s a cliché, but Ponzi schemes are a house of cards pretty much by definition. Piercey and Winton allegedly paid off some investors using money gained from new ones. They managed to pay some of these debts, according to allegations. The DOJ claims that only $8.8 million made it back to investors. Of the remaining $26 million or so, “few if any liquid assets remain.”
That’s trouble enough, but prosecutors say Piercey did what he could to evade responsibility. When confronted by FBI agents on Monday, he allegedly led them on a vehicle case that went off-road twice in residential neighborhoods. Authorities say he abandoned his truck, took something out, and got into the nearby Lake Shasta. Piercey allegedly went underwater, so that the only thing officials could see were bubbles. He stayed in the cold water for about 25 minutes before emerging, law enforcement said. Investigators claimed to find him with a Yamaha 350LI underwater submersible. A sea scooter!
So that’s one thing, but Piercey allegedly tried to interfere in the prior investigation, by discouraging investors from responding to grand jury subpoenas. For example, he allegedly suggested to investors that the subpoenas were related to a banking reform proposal he made to President Donald Trump.
Read more at https://lawandcrime.com/crazy/fraud-suspect-tried-to-flee-from-fbi-in-underwater-sea-scooter-doj/
