Wednesday, January 21, 2009

SEC Charges Texan With Runing Ponzi Scheme

The Securities & Exchange Commission today announced that it has brought an action against Rod Cameron Stringer, 43, of Lamesa, Texas and a former bail bondsman, charging him with running a Ponzi-type investment fraud and misappropriating investor funds. The action also freezes Stringer's assets. According to the complaint, Stringer has been defrauding his clients since at least 2001. Through his purportedly hedge fund, RCS Hedge Fund, Stringer promised returns as high as 61 percent. The SEC alleges that Stringer only invested 20% of the investment funds, the remainder of which he used to pay off older clients and to enrich himself. He raised some $8.5 million since 2007 alone. The complaint alleges Stringer used investment funds to "finance a horse racing partnership, purchase a luxury boat, build a swimming pool at his office, purchase several pieces of jewelry, pay off mortgages on at least two houses, and purchase several expensive cars and trucks," among other things.

Read the SEC's litigation release here.

Read the story here, here and here.

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