This is a repost of a story that appeared yesterday on ksl.com. December 16th, 2010 @ 7:33pm By Jasen Lee SALT LAKE CITY — For much of his life, Eric Nelson had been a person who saved and planned for his family’s future. After doing so diligently for more than 20 years, he now finds… Read more »
Support Senator McAdams New Fraud Litigation
If you or a family member have been affected by investment fraud, please call your Utah House and Senate representatives and urge them to support Senator McAdams’ bills. I have met with him several times to discuss these bills and I think he is really on the right track. UPDATE: On September 17th The Salt… Read more »
Former Mormon Bishop and Art Collector Will Spend 12 years in Prison
Today there was yet another article about an individual who held a position of trust in the LDS Church and used that position to commit fraud. U.S. District Judge Marcia Krieger sentenced Shawn Merriman to 12½ years in federal prison this afternoon for defrauding 67 victims out of $21 million. Merriman was a Bishop in… Read more »
Good Article on Affinity Fraud Among LDS Members
There was a great article in the Las Vegas Review Journal today about the problems of affinity fraud among LDS Church Members titled “Thieves in the temple: How ‘affinity fraud’ hurts LDS church members.” Definitely worth a read. Among other things, he writes, “In Utah, fraudsters exploiting a connection to the LDS church and its… Read more »
Former Stake President, Regional Representative… and Scam Artist
R. Dean Udy, 71, a former stake president and regional representative in Brigham City, Utah was sentenced to 1-to-15 years in state prison last week on securities fraud charges. He pled guilty to a scheme that ran for 12 years or more. According to the article in the Ogden Standard Examiner, “Udy’s victims total 1,500,… Read more »
Even Ponzi Schemers Pay Their Tithing
As a follow-up to my last post, my friend Lon Jenkins has just sued the LDS Church in a “claw back” lawsuit for the RCH2 receivership he is handling. Lon is seeking return of at least $160,306 plus interest from the Church that was paid as tithing. Virtually anyone who takes money from a Ponzi… Read more »
Yet Another SEC Case Alleging A Ponzi Scheme Within the LDS Community in Utah
On June 23, 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed fraud and other charges in connection with three Ponzi schemes that targeted members of the Mormon community. The SEC’s complaint alleges that the defendants raised at least $3.6 million by convincing at least 36 investors to invest in two companies, Zufelt, Inc. and Silver Leaf… Read more »
RADIO WEST on KUER: Faith and Fraud
On June 25, 2010 my friend Jennifer Napier-Pearce spoke with several experts on our local public radio station about why Utah investors keep falling for schemes that are too good to be true. Listen to the complete broadcast here.
PREYING ON THE FAITHFUL: Thoughts about the Salt Lake Tribune article
Tom Harvey put together a well-researched article on investment scams in Utah that appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune this weekend. I have just been reading all of the comments about it (149 so far) and aside from the usual anti-Mormon drivel that always seems to fill up the comments in any article that even… Read more »
The Perils of Investing with Friends and Family members
Every week I get calls from Utah residents who have lost money by investing money with friends, family or neighbors they trusted — but who were not licensed to sell securities. Many of these people have given someone a short-term, high-interest loan with a promissory note that has not been repaid. Others have invested money… Read more »