Saturday, July 16, 2011

Operator Of $21 Million Forex Ponzi Scheme Charged

The Securities and Exchange Commission on July 14, 2011 filed fraud charges against the CEO of a purported foreign currency trading firm, alleging he scammed hundreds of investors with false promises of high, fixed-rate returns while secretly using their money to fund his start-up alternative newspaper.

First Capital Savings & Loan Ltd. Chief Executive Jeffery A. Lowrance, who had fled to Peru and was arrested there earlier this year, was arraigned today on criminal fraud charges in a 2010 indictment filed by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois. In addition, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed fraud charges Thursday against Lowrance and First Capital.

The SEC alleges that Lowrance raised approximately $21 million from investors in at least 26 states, including California, Oregon, Illinois and Utah by promising huge profits from a specialized foreign currency trading program. In reality, First Capital conducted little foreign currency trading, lost money on the little trading that it conducted, and never engaged in any profitable business operations. Lowrance targeted investors by purporting to share their Christian values and limited-government political views. He solicited investors through, among other things, ads in his start-up newspaper USA Tomorrow, which he distributed at a September 2, 2008 political rally in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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