Ponzi Scheme

Getting Money Back From a Thief is Possible

As current news testifies, there are no shortages of Kenneth Stars and Bernie Madoffs in the world. This type will repeatedly attempt, and will often succeed, at taking money from even the most sophisticated. Most victims, however, turn out to be unsophisticated investors, the elderly, literal widows and orphans, and others that are least able to bear the loss of financial plunder.

How it Happens

Most schemes can be explained as traditional Ponzi schemes or straight embezzlement.
Yet, the vehicles of fraud are limitless. Current popular variants include:

• Fraudulent Real Estate Development Schemes (ski resorts, retirement communities, luxury resorts, etc.)
• Fraudulent Energy (solar, petroleum or natural gas) Development Schemes
• Fraudulent Start Up/Venture Capital Schemes in Technology
• Fraudulent Start Up/Venture Capital Schemes in Pharmacology/Bio-Med

Tell-tale signs you have been defrauded:

Though the vehicles of fraudulent schemes can widely vary, the pattern will nearly always be the same in the beginning, middle and end.

Beginning:

• Promises of above market returns. Promises of 10%, 30% and even over 100% are not uncommon.
• Promises of a guaranteed return.
• Promises of a fast return, sometimes within 1 to 12 months.
• Assurances that the victim is on the “ground floor” and is being given an offer that those who come later will not enjoy.
• The investment is limited to the thief’s select few.

Middle:

• Paper gains will show at least the originally promised return, often much higher.
• Actual money may be given.
• Up selling: “You see on the chart that you have already doubled your money. Would you like to invest more?”

End:

• Payments slow or stop.
• Excuses for poor performance is given, none of which are the fault of the thief.
• Offers of increased interest are made.
• Offers of other “better” investments are made.
• Good news is perpetually “just around the corner”.
• Correspondence are answered increasingly slowly.
• Thief stops responding.

Getting Your Money Back

Getting money back out of a fraudulent scheme without a team who knows how to do it
can be next to impossible. This is due to three traditional reasons which Gaston and Gaston has overcome.

First, criminal prosecutorial agencies are inundated with claims of fraud. Many of the claims which are made are not in fact fraud, but instead are money disputes between business partners and/or investors. Even after Federal or State agencies sift through the non-fraudulent cases, the victims’ out of pocket cost are usually a relatively small amount (under $1 million), and the number of victims and thieves is huge. Federal and State agencies simply cannot investigate, much less prosecute, every case. Ergo, many victims of fraud will be told that their case is a “civil matter” and advised that they should hire an attorney.

This leads to the second traditional difficulty which is a lack of motivation on the part of the victim and by extension, their civil attorney. Generally, victims and their potential attorneys will assume, often wrongly, that the thief, even if he was caught, has spent all the money. Ergo, a victim will be unwilling to spend potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars on attorney’s fees to receive no return. Alternatively, and due to the same misunderstanding, attorneys are unwilling to take the case on contingency.

The third and most important reason most people do not recover money placed in a fraudulent scheme is that they do not have the proper team. Gaston and Gaston has successfully overcome the traditional barriers to recovery by putting together the necessary components of a successful team. These include:

• Highly Effective Private Investigators
• Highly Effective Forensic Accounting/Accountants
• Highly Effective Attorneys who Practice:
• SEC Law
• State Blue Sky Laws
• Financial Advisor Malpractice Claims
• Legal Malpractice Claims
• Federal and State Common Law Business Torts
• Federal and State Statutory Business Torts
• Insurance Bad Faith Claims
• Bankruptcy
• Appeals
• Probate and or Trust and Estates Law
• Business Litigation
• Investor Suits
• FINRA

In addition to the above indispensable skills, it is necessary for an effective recovery team to have ongoing and good relationships with the following prosecutorial agencies:

• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
• Securities and Exchange Committee (SEC)
• Department of Corporations (DOC)
• Attorney Generals (AG) Offices
• District Attorney (DA) Offices
• City Attorney or other municipal prosecutorial agencies

By bringing the above skills, abilities and relationships together, it is possible to get money back from a thief.

If you think that you or someone you know has been victimized by a fraudulent investment scheme, contact Gaston and Gaston right away at 619-398-1882 or our contact form.

Business Disputes

Common disputes are business dissolution and breach of contract. The latter includes non-performance and improper performance. Learn about Business Disputes >

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