Kentucky

FROM KENTUCKY.COM - HEARLD-LEADER:

Lexington lawyer, wife indicted in oil scam

A Lexington lawyer took part in a long-running scheme to fleece investors of more than $34 million selling fraudulent investment programs to drill oil and gas wells, a federal grand jury charged Friday.



Bryan S. Coffman and his wife, Megan, both 46, were named in the 30-count indictment along with Gary Milby, 55, of Campbellsville and Vadim "Victor" Tsatskin, 36, of Ontario, Canada.



Brian Coffman, Milby and Tsatskin are charged with mail fraud and wire fraud. The Coffmans also face 11 counts of laundering money from the alleged scam.



The fraud raked in money from hundreds of investors in several states and countries by promising big returns from wells in south-central Kentucky that were actually "dry holes" in many cases, or which had little potential to produce as pledged, according to the indictment and a motion in a related lawsuit.



Coffman apparently is the same person who ran for 6th District U.S. representative in the Republican primary in 2004, and also ran for the Urban County Council in 2006, both times unsuccessfully.

A Lexington lawyer took part in a long-running scheme to fleece investors of more than $34 million selling fraudulent investment programs to drill oil and gas wells, a federal grand jury charged Friday.



Bryan S. Coffman and his wife, Megan, both 46, were named in the 30-count indictment along with Gary Milby, 55, of Campbellsville and Vadim "Victor" Tsatskin, 36, of Ontario, Canada.



Brian Coffman, Milby and Tsatskin are charged with mail fraud and wire fraud. The Coffmans also face 11 counts of laundering money from the alleged scam.



The fraud raked in money from hundreds of investors in several states and countries by promising big returns from wells in south-central Kentucky that were actually "dry holes" in many cases, or which had little potential to produce as pledged, according to the indictment and a motion in a related lawsuit.

Coffman apparently is the same person who ran for 6th District U.S. representative in the Republican primary in 2004, and also ran for the Urban County Council in 2006, both times unsuccessfully.

See, also:

Oilman seen on MTV indicted for second time

A Kentucky oilman featured on an MTV show about lavish teenage birthday parties has been indicted for a second time in this week by a federal grand jury on charges of wire and mail fraud.



Prosecutors say 55-year-old Gary Milby, of Campbellsville, Ky., and three other people were charged Friday by a federal grand jury in Lexington.