SEC accuses Miami couple of running $135M Ponzi scheme

[seafan]

Source: Miami Herald

Federal authorities on Wednesday charged a prominent Miami businessman and his wife with running a Ponzi scheme that bilked $135 million from elderly Cuban-American investors who were lured by the couple's credibility in the South Florida community and ties to religious and educational institutions.

In a statement, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that Gaston E. Cantens and Teresita Cantens, founders and co-owners of Royal West Properties Inc., a real estate development company, sold promissory notes to investors after acquiring various properties and later financing their sale.

The Cantens attracted investors by promising real estate investments with ``safe and secure'' annual returns between 9 and 16 percent. But when property owners defaulted on their mortgages, the Cantens used new investor money to repay earlier investors and pay Royal West's operating costs, the SEC alleges.
The Cantens also spent more than $20 million from investors to fund unrelated personal business ventures, pay themselves high salaries and divert money to their children and grandchildren, the SEC said.

.....

``The Cantens used their prominent standing in a close-knit Cuban-American community to ruthlessly exploit vulnerable elderly investors who trusted them with their life savings,'' said Eric I. Bustillo, director of the SEC's Miami Regional Office.
``They portrayed themselves as a pious couple closely involved with educational and religious organizations, while in reality they were living lavishly off money from defrauded investors,'' he said.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/03/1510055/sec-accuses-miami-couple-of-running.html

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Funny, how so many fraudsters proudly hide under the cloaks of religion and education.

[gratuitous]

1. They hide behind religion and education

Because if they were up front about the fact that they were cheating people, nobody would invest with them. So out comes the cross (or the crucifix) to distract the mark while the hand dips deeper and deeper into his pocket. Safe and secure annual returns between 9 and 16 percent. Whoof! Sounds too good to be true, and . . . it is.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. Dear SEC: there are MUCH MUCH bigger fish.....

like Goldman Sachs' trading games...
or all those hugely profitable trades being made seconds before Bernanke announces a Fed
policy change....

Ok...not holding my breath now.

[izquierdista]

3. If it were $135 Billion

They would be asked to run the Treasury and the Fed.

[AlecBGreen]

5. lol

sad but true

[Blue_Tires]

7. +1

[Judi Lynn]

4. That area is a real haven for financial frauds. Usually they are caught in Medicare scams,

sometimes involving great numbers of accomplices among doctors, attorneys, bogus patients, etc.

It seems there's a new enormous scam which gets outed every few months. A prominent case is the Cuban "exile" good friend of Jeb Bush, Miguel Recarey, who pulled of the largest Medicare scam in history before fleeing the country, ultimately to Spain.

Sure glad they've caught the Cantens. Hope they force them to cough up every penny stolen from unsuspecting people.

Thank you seafan.

[AlecBGreen]

6. Romans 2:24

"God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you"

They will answer for their crimes, during this life and afterwards.