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An alleged $500 million Ponzi scheme preyed on Mormons. It ended with FBI gunfire.
A folder on German’s desk contained court documents he’d started to gather about an alleged Ponzi scheme that left hundreds of victims in its wake.
Post reporter Lizzie Johnson began investigating, working with Review-Journal photographer Rachel Aston:
Post reporter Lizzie Johnson began investigating, working with Review-Journal photographer Rachel Aston:
Link to tweet
washingtonpost.com
An alleged $500 million Ponzi scheme preyed on Mormons. It ended with FBI gunfire.
In Las Vegas, a lawyer with huge gambling debts is accused of a financial fraud that left hundreds of victims in its wake
An alleged $500 million Ponzi scheme preyed on Mormons. It ended with FBI gunfire.
In Las Vegas, a lawyer with huge gambling debts is accused of a financial fraud that left hundreds of victims in its wake
An alleged $500 million Ponzi scheme preyed on Mormons. It ended with FBI gunfire.
In Las Vegas, a lawyer with huge gambling debts is accused of a financial fraud that left hundreds of victims in its wake
By Lizzie Johnson
February 1, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. EST
Las Vegas investigative reporter Jeff German was slain outside his home on Sept. 2; a Clark County official he had investigated is charged in his death. To continue German’s work, The Washington Post teamed up with his newspaper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, to complete one of the stories he’d planned to pursue before his killing. A folder on German’s desk contained court documents he’d started to gather about an alleged Ponzi scheme that left hundreds of victims – many of them Mormon – in its wake. Post reporter Lizzie Johnson began investigating, working with Review-Journal photographer Rachel Aston.
{snip}
Authorities had long suspected {Matthew} Beasley of running a massive Ponzi scheme with his business partner, Jeffrey Judd, that mainly targeted Mormons, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are often called. The investment was pitched as a nearly risk-free opportunity to earn annual returns of 50 percent by lending money to slip-and-fall victims awaiting checks after the settlement of their lawsuits. ... There was just one problem, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged in a civil complaint. None of it was real.
For five years, the SEC said, Beasley and Judd paid existing investors with money from new clients — a classic Ponzi scheme. The most notorious fraud of this kind, run by Wall Street financial guru Bernie Madoff, cost investors billions of dollars. By comparison, one expert said, the alleged Vegas scam was distinguished less by its size and more by its victims: It came to be known as the “Mormon Ponzi scheme.”
More than 900 people invested their savings — an estimated $500 million — between 2017 and 2022. They included surgeons, real estate developers, Mormon bishops, retirees and stay-at-home mothers. Money poured in from as far away as Singapore, Taiwan and Australia, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in July against Wells Fargo, where Beasley had an attorney trust account to hold and disburse client money. (The bank has moved to dismiss the lawsuit, denying any wrongdoing.)
Some people emptied their retirement accounts, according to more than two dozen interviews with investors by The Washington Post, while others took out a second mortgage on their house. ... “They’ve destroyed a lot of people’s entire lives,” said Greg Hart, 81, a retired entrepreneur who lives in Buckeye, Ariz., and fears he may be forced to sell his home. “About $2.2 million — 95 percent of our money — was tied up in it. … This has been completely and totally devastating.”
{snip}
Jeffrey Judd, Beasley’s alleged partner in the Ponzi scheme, owned this Las Vegas mansion that was raided by the FBI in March. (Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
{snip}
About this story
Las Vegas investigative reporter Jeff German was slain outside his home on Sept. 2; a Clark County official he had investigated is charged in his death. To continue German’s work, The Washington Post teamed up with his newspaper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, to complete one of the stories he’d planned to pursue before his killing. A folder on German’s desk contained court documents he’d started to gather about an alleged Ponzi scheme that left hundreds of victims – many of them Mormon – in its wake. Post reporter Lizzie Johnson began investigating, working with Review-Journal photographer Rachel Aston.
Editing by Lynda Robinson, photo editing by Benjamin Hager and Mark Miller, copy editing by Frances Moody and Christopher Rickett, design by Tara McCarty, design editing by Christian Font. Razzan Nakhlawi contributed to this report.
By Lizzie Johnson
Lizzie Johnson is an enterprise reporter at The Washington Post and the author of "Paradise: One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire." Twitter https://twitter.com/LizzieJohnsonnn
In Las Vegas, a lawyer with huge gambling debts is accused of a financial fraud that left hundreds of victims in its wake
By Lizzie Johnson
February 1, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. EST
Las Vegas investigative reporter Jeff German was slain outside his home on Sept. 2; a Clark County official he had investigated is charged in his death. To continue German’s work, The Washington Post teamed up with his newspaper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, to complete one of the stories he’d planned to pursue before his killing. A folder on German’s desk contained court documents he’d started to gather about an alleged Ponzi scheme that left hundreds of victims – many of them Mormon – in its wake. Post reporter Lizzie Johnson began investigating, working with Review-Journal photographer Rachel Aston.
{snip}
Authorities had long suspected {Matthew} Beasley of running a massive Ponzi scheme with his business partner, Jeffrey Judd, that mainly targeted Mormons, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are often called. The investment was pitched as a nearly risk-free opportunity to earn annual returns of 50 percent by lending money to slip-and-fall victims awaiting checks after the settlement of their lawsuits. ... There was just one problem, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged in a civil complaint. None of it was real.
For five years, the SEC said, Beasley and Judd paid existing investors with money from new clients — a classic Ponzi scheme. The most notorious fraud of this kind, run by Wall Street financial guru Bernie Madoff, cost investors billions of dollars. By comparison, one expert said, the alleged Vegas scam was distinguished less by its size and more by its victims: It came to be known as the “Mormon Ponzi scheme.”
More than 900 people invested their savings — an estimated $500 million — between 2017 and 2022. They included surgeons, real estate developers, Mormon bishops, retirees and stay-at-home mothers. Money poured in from as far away as Singapore, Taiwan and Australia, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in July against Wells Fargo, where Beasley had an attorney trust account to hold and disburse client money. (The bank has moved to dismiss the lawsuit, denying any wrongdoing.)
Some people emptied their retirement accounts, according to more than two dozen interviews with investors by The Washington Post, while others took out a second mortgage on their house. ... “They’ve destroyed a lot of people’s entire lives,” said Greg Hart, 81, a retired entrepreneur who lives in Buckeye, Ariz., and fears he may be forced to sell his home. “About $2.2 million — 95 percent of our money — was tied up in it. … This has been completely and totally devastating.”
{snip}
Jeffrey Judd, Beasley’s alleged partner in the Ponzi scheme, owned this Las Vegas mansion that was raided by the FBI in March. (Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
{snip}
About this story
Las Vegas investigative reporter Jeff German was slain outside his home on Sept. 2; a Clark County official he had investigated is charged in his death. To continue German’s work, The Washington Post teamed up with his newspaper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, to complete one of the stories he’d planned to pursue before his killing. A folder on German’s desk contained court documents he’d started to gather about an alleged Ponzi scheme that left hundreds of victims – many of them Mormon – in its wake. Post reporter Lizzie Johnson began investigating, working with Review-Journal photographer Rachel Aston.
Editing by Lynda Robinson, photo editing by Benjamin Hager and Mark Miller, copy editing by Frances Moody and Christopher Rickett, design by Tara McCarty, design editing by Christian Font. Razzan Nakhlawi contributed to this report.
By Lizzie Johnson
Lizzie Johnson is an enterprise reporter at The Washington Post and the author of "Paradise: One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire." Twitter https://twitter.com/LizzieJohnsonnn
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