October 29, 2019

The co-defendant of a man recently sentenced for orchestrating the largest Ponzi scheme ever charged in Maryland has been sentenced to 14 years in prison and ordered to pay at least $189 million in restitution.  To facilitate the scheme to sell fake consumer debt portfolios, Jay Ledford create fake sales agreements, tax returns, and other documents to co-defendant Kevin Merrill, knowing they would be used to defraud investors.  When the two were arrested in 2018 with fellow co-conspirator Cameron Jezierski, the five-year scheme had already raked in over $396 million, with only 14% actually used to purchase consumer debt portfolios.  USAO MD

Tagged in: Financial and Investment Fraud, Misrepresentations, Ponzi Schemes,