Securities Arbitration Lawyers BlogPonzi Scheme – All Hat, No Cattle
Two people have been charged with running a Ponzi scheme connected to the cattle business that raised around $650 million from victims across the country. The alleged Ponzi schemers, revealed Tuesday, May 11, 2021, by an unsealed federal indictment in Colorado, are Reva Joyce Stachniw, 69, of Galesburg, Illinois, and Ron Throgmartin, 57, of Buford, Georgia. In 2020, a third man, Mark Ray, resident of Denver, was charged by criminal information in the scheme.
According to the indictment, beginning around early 2017 and continuing through early 2019, victim-investors were directed to wire money into several bank accounts, primarily a checking account associated with an Illinois-based business called RM Farm & Livestock LLC. Victims were also directed to make payments directly to purported business associates but who were in fact other victim-investors. “False and fraudulent pretenses” were also used to solicit money for a Colorado marijuana business controlled by Stachniw, Throgmartin, and Ray, Universal Herbs LLC, the indictment says.
Silver Law Group is a national securities and investment fraud law firm which represents Ponzi scheme victims in claims against the Ponzi schemer and any third parties who materially participated in the fraud or are otherwise liable under the law.
The indictments came after a Department of Justice investigation. According to the allegations:
In all three variations of the conspirators’ investment fraud scheme, victim-investors were promised returns of approximately 10% to 20% over periods as short as several weeks. At no point did Stachniw, Throgmartin, or Ray tell victim-investors that they were primarily using their money to repay other investors in a Ponzi-style investment scheme, or to enrich themselves.
Stachniw transferred approximately $9,000,000 traceable to victim-investors to her personal investment accounts, including approximately $1,000,000 in or around August 2018. Throgmartin received more than approximately $3,000,000 over the course of the conspiracy, including at least approximately $800,000 from Stachniw in or around August 2018.
Stachniw and Throgmartin are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, five counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to engage in money transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity. They were arraigned in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.
If you invested in RM Farm and Livestock LLC; Custom Consulting & Product Services LLC; MR Cattle Production Services LLC; DBC Limited LLC; or Universal Herbs LLC between 2017 and 2019, contact Silver Law Group for a no-cost consultation at (800) 975-4345 or ssilver@silverlaw.com. Scott Silver recently presented on prosecuting Ponzi schemes to the American Association of Justice and has a successful track record of recovering money for Ponzi scheme victims.