Friday, October 31, 2008

Florida Man Charged In Massive Ponzi Scheme

Andres L. Pimstein, 48, of Miami was charged yesterday by the SEC of selling fraudulent securities in a $30 million Ponzi scheme through two investment vehicles, The Bottom Line of South Florida, Inc. and Summit Trading LLC. The fraud was committed from at least 2005 through April 2008 wherein at least 80 investors in 5 states purchased fake securities. The SEC specficially charged that Pimstein and his companies violated sections of the Securities Acts of 1933 and 1934. According to the complaint, Pimstein told investors that the companies would use the proceeds from their investments to buy personal electronic devices from US suppliers for resale in South America. According to reports, Pimstein promised returns of as much as 18 percent to the investors. He reportedly was able to use the University of Miami's computer systems and several employees to transfer funds and launder money.

Read the story here and here.

Read the SEC's release on this case here.

No comments: