Teresa Gonzalez doesn’t go to church anymore, embarrassed for herself and livid with the man who talked her and her husband into investing $82,500 in what federal authorities say is a Ponzi scheme.
Gonzalez was so impressed by the investment opportunity that she invited friends and family members to put their savings into Diversity Capital Investments, a Chula Vista firm that promised monthly returns of between 4 percent and 8.25 percent with low risk.
“I feel guilty and I hide from God,” said Gonzalez, whose losses led her to default on her four-bedroom home in San Ysidro and move into an RV on the edge of El Cajon. “I recruited my sister and my friends, and I wanted them to benefit like I was.”
Diversity Capital, Mexican affiliate Diversity Capital Bancorp de Mexico, Strong Capital Investments of Chula Vista and San Diego-based The Optimus Fund are at the heart of a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint that alleges the companies preyed on churchgoing Latino residents from San Diego, Imperial, Los Angeles and Orange counties, swindling them out of more than $14 million.
Investors from Mexico also have filed complaints against the companies in that country.
U.S. authorities say Damian Meneses, a Mexican citizen who spent time in Chula Vista, operated Diversity Capital and its Mexican affiliate. Edward Lantz Ferguson, formerly of Chula Vista, is president of Strong Capital. Joel Ley of Chula Vista operated The Optimus Fund, authorities said.
The SEC has charged the three men and the four companies with securities fraud and operating a Ponzi scheme. The number of victims reaches into the hundreds, said authorities, who would not estimate the total in San Diego County. At least 27 local investors continue to meet as a group to exchange details about their situations.
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