-
A Florida company must pay $1 billion for defrauding thousands of elderly people in a Ponzi scheme
A Florida federal court on Monday ordered an alleged Ponzi scheme operator to pay $1 billion for defrauding 8,400 investors, many of them senior citizens. In December 2017, the SEC charged a group of unregistered investment funds called Woodbridge Group of Companies and owner Robert Shapiro with operating a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme. The SEC said the company, formerly headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, had promised to pay these investors interest of 5-10% annually. Woodbridge had said its primary business was the issuance of loans to third-party commercial-property owners that paid 11-15% annual interest. But the ... (full story)