The Canadian masterminds behind one of the largest international penny stock frauds in history were ruthless operators who bragged that bilking Americans was “like taking money from a baby,” according to FBI wiretaps.
The Canadian masterminds behind one of the largest international penny stock frauds in history were ruthless operators who bragged that bilking Americans was “like taking money from a baby,” according to FBI wiretaps.
In wiretaps released by the FBI, a person said to be Canadian national Kolt Curry described the advance fee scheme in the following way: “I would say that 100 percent of these stocks are like uh pink uh...just dumps...so...ya know they’re totally, they’re like, so a lot of these guys are dying...to get rid of this crap....The money is good, it’s easy. It’s easy money. Definitely easy money, and it’s good money.”
Wealth Professional reported last week that charges had been laid against Canadians Sandy Winnick, Kolt Curry, Greg Curry and others for schemes to defraud international investors by enticing them to invest in inactive Ontario-registered companies -- BMF and Liquid Gold -- through a fictitious Singapore investment bank.
As set forth in US court filings, the defendants masterminded securities fraud and advance fee schemes that victimized investors in approximately 35 nations and generated more than $140 million through various brokerage and bank accounts under their control. To uncover the international aspects of the scheme and gather evidence, the FBI used wiretaps in the US and undercover agents in foreign countries.
In one newly released FBI wiretap transcript, Kolt Curry brags about his prowess as a fraudster: “I had a guy send me a million dollars over one phone call .... He actually sent me almost two million dollars over the period of the hit .... I guess in the industry they coin it as a ‘smash and grab.’”
As for the group’s recent plans to open a call center in Brooklyn, New York, defendant Kolt Curry said, “I tell you what man...hitting the Americans would be like taking money from a baby.”
The Ontario Securities Commission revealed the charges against Kolt Curry and the others last week, but were unable to disclose further details, including the nationalities of the accused. “Since the matter is still before the Commission, we are unable to comment at this time,” and OSC spokesperson had told WP. “All public information on the matter can be found on our website.”
The FBI’s release provides much deeper detail. The Bureau said it on Tuesday arrested six men in New York, Arizona, New Jersey, Florida, and California for engaging in an international fraud conspiracy that spanned the globe from North America to Europe and Asia. A seventh defendant was also arrested on a provisional arrest warrant in Ontario, Canada.
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The arrests resulted from an indictment charging nine defendants with 24 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud, and false personation of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees in connection with the sale of securities and conspiracy – the investigation showed that the identities used were fictitious and that no IRS employees were involved in the scheme.
The FBI said the indictment and arrests were the result of one of the largest international penny stock investigations ever conducted by the Department of Justice and the bureau and marked the unveiling of a multi-year, ongoing investigation, which included significant assistance from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as well as from other US agencies and law enforcement authorities in England, as well as assistance from Thailand and China.
“The defendants used our securities markets as a platform from which to run elaborate fraudulent schemes to victimize unsuspecting investors across the globe. Where others saw citizens of the world, the defendants saw a pool of potential marks,” said US Attorney Loretta Lynch.
“They cheated, lied, and swindled investors into buying billions of shares of worthless stock, then turned around and used a second scam to cheat those investors again. But today, the defendants were the marks, and it was law enforcement that ran the table.”
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Lynch thanked the RCMP, the Financial Crime Intelligence Unit in Vancouver and the Integrated Market Enforcement Team in Toronto.
The defendants have been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 15 counts of wire fraud, four counts of securities fraud, and two counts of false personation of an officer of the US.
If convicted, the defendants will face up to 20 years’ imprisonment for each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, substantive wire fraud and substantive securities fraud and up to five years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to commit securities fraud. The defendants face up to three years in prison for each count of false personation of an officer of the US. In addition, all proceeds of fraudulent schemes are subject to forfeiture.
The nationalities and locations of arrest for the nine individuals are Sandy Winick, (Canadian citizen arrested in Bangkok, Thailand), Gregory Curry (Canadian arrested in Bangkok), Gregory Ellis (Canadian arrested in Ontario), Gary Kershner (US citizen arrested in Tucson, AZ), Joseph Manfredonia (US arrested in Tom’s River, NJ), Cort Poyner (US arrested in Boca Raton, FL), Songkram Roy Sahachaisere (US arrested in Huntington Beach, CA) and William Seals (US arrested in Fallbrook, CA).
