Three PTA moms from the Los Angeles area were recently charged with allegedly conducting a Ponzi scheme which defrauded more than forty people out of $1 million. The three women each face twenty-two felony counts of grand theft of personal property and securities fraud, according to a press release from the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
It is alleged that the three women used PTA and school events to build trust and court potential investors. “[T]he three women allegedly told victims they were investing in a contract with the Alta Dena Dairy to sell milk exclusively to Disneyland,” according to the L.A. County district attorney’s office. “More than 30 people from throughout Los Angeles County invested between $2,000 to $100,000 with the three women and were allegedly promised extraordinary rates of return. … The three allegedly ran the large-scale Ponzi scheme between June 2008 to August 2010.”
Captain Mike Parker of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said that one individual invested $208,000 in cash. He described the victims as “good, hard-working people” who didn’t want to miss out “on the opportunity to make a better life for themselves and their families.” The scheme was revealed after people began asking questions and demanding payment, until finally one of the investors contacted authorities who conducted a six-month investigation which led to the arrests of the three women.
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