REDDING, Calif., May 23 (UPI) -- California Attorney General Jerry Brown says three men have been accused of running a Ponzi scheme that earned more than $200 million.
Brown alleged in a news release that the there Northern California suspects conned more than $200 million from thousands of people through the use of the fraudulent investment scheme, The San Francisco Chronicle said Saturday.
"These three men callously swindled thousands of individuals out of $200 million to bankroll their extravagant lifestyles," the state official alleged. "They took investors' money and used it to pay for an 80-acre castle estate, a Learjet, luxury homes and fancy cars. The Ponzi scheme ultimately collapsed under its own weight, causing hardship to thousands, many of whom were retirees who lost their life savings."
Those arrested and charged with 228 crimes are James Stanley Koenig, 57; Gary T. Armitage, 59; and Jeffery A. Guidi, 54.
The attorney general's office alleges the investment scheme, which was the focus of an 18-month investigation, began in 1997.
"What makes it a Ponzi scheme is that they would pay their investors not based on what a project made but with money from new investors," attorney general spokesman Scott Gerber told the Chronicle.
