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The depth and breadth of Ponzi schemes in widening (literally).

The Rogues Gallery...

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A. It was reported on September 13, 2010 that Michael Goldberg 39  (left),  formerly of Wethersfield, CT, pleaded guilty to operating a $100MM Ponzi scheme over 12 years. His scheme allegedly involved promising huge short term returns to investors whose contributions were supposed to be used to buy diamonds for resale or foreclosed assets from JP Morgan Chase.

  Wayne McCleod (deceased)

B. In July it was reported that Jacksonville Florida financial adviser Wayne McCleod, a self-described "retirement expert" who hired top federal law enforcement officials to work for him, and who used his alleged friendship with FBI Director Robert Mueller as a sales pitch, fleeced hundreds of federal agents out of at least $34 million in a Ponzi scheme. McLeod was actually hired by the FBI, as well as other agencies to conduct retirement planning seminars. 

In 1988, according to an SEC complaint, McLeod began offering investors "guaranteed, tax-free returns of eight to ten per cent annually" in return for long-term investments in a bond fund that was managed by his company, Federal Employee Benefits Group, Inc.

"In reality, the purported bond fund, which McLeod called the FEBG Bond Fund, did not exist," according to the complaint, which noted that McLeod "simply used new investor funds" to pay interest to other investors and enjoyed a lavish lifestyle until the bubble burst" in June 2010.

McCleod "wacked" himself after admitting to his scam.

  Frank A. Castaldi

C. On September 16, 2010 , the Chicago Sun Times reported that a suburban businessman Frank A. Castaldi was convicted of taking more than $30 million from hundreds of victims through a Ponzi scheme spanning more than two decades, was issued a maximum sentence of 23 years in prison Wednesday by a federal judge. Castaldi was an accountant and businessmen from Prospect Heights, who was charged in January 2009 after admitting his criminal activity to authorities. He pleaded guilty that August to one count of mail fraud and one count of impeding the IRS in the collection of taxes, according to a U.S. Attorney?s office release.

Castaldi, 57, promised hundreds of investors between 10 and 15 percent annual interest rates on promissory notes he sold them, according to the release. He used loans and other investors? principal payments to make payments to other investors, Instead of placing the money with financial institutions with whom he had a special relationship, like he told his clients.

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