2010 September 08 « The Long Run Blog

Another Ponzi Scheme Busted

You’re shocked to hear about yet another Ponzi scheme aren’t you? Yawn. Why is he blogging about yet another Ponzi scheme gone bad? I bring you this tale because it highlights just how creative some fraudsters can be.

Sandra Venetis of upscale Branchburg, NJ used her company, Systematic Financial Associates, to steal some $11 million from clients, many of whom were “retired or unsophisticated”, according to the SEC news release. How did she do it? The SEC complaint alleges that she sold promissory notes yielding 6-11%. Naturally, that yield was supposedly tax-free due to a loophole in the tax code. All the more enticing if you are retired on a fixed income, right? Read more »

September 8, 2010 Posted by Brett | Frauds & Scams, Personal Finance | Leave a Comment

About

Brett Spurr has been on and around Wall Street since the age of 19, nearly half a lifetime ago. He helped make investment decisions for a $15 billion mutual fund complex. While locking horns with CEOs was fun, he now runs a personal financial planning firm helping individuals navigate their financial lives. Brett is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER ™ certificant and investment manager by day and a full-time geek who delights in debating all things financial or economic.

Karl Mamer is host of The Conspiracy Skeptic podcast, a 12-part look at conspiracies of today and the not too distant past. Karl is also the world’s greatest living proponent of Franglais. He also likes to bait Nigerian Bank Scammers and hosted his own podcast about teaching English in Seoul, South Korea. Karl lives in Toronto, Canada and works as a senior technical writer to pay the bills.

Julio Guardado is a former tech CEO who after surviving a tech start-up during the dot com bust decided to join the dark side and become an investment banker. While wining and dining CEO’s (we call it “locking horns”) is great, he enjoys getting inside their heads and companies even more. Julio also runs RV Investor, a web site that specializes in the recreational vehicle industry. Julio lives in Silicon Valley.

Jon Blumenfeld has been on and around Wall Street since 1989, as a trader and researcher in interest rates and their associated financial products. Most recently he was an Interest Rate Strategist at Bear Stearns and Co., where he was named to Institutional Investor Magazine’s All-America Fixed Income Research team for Interest Rate Derivatives in 2007.

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