Tag: Ponzi
This Blog's on Fire (And Other Stuff)
Fraud trial, white gloves in McGinn, Smith case
July 11, 2012Tess Nacelewicz
When the Securities and Exchange Commission charged alarm industry investors David L. Smith and Timothy McGinn in 2010 with running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of at least $80 million, one of the SEC's contentions was that some of the money was diverted to pay for “strippers and go-go dancers” on McGinn's You Only Live Once cruise ship business.
Now, a judge has ordered that another cruise business associated with the case—this one with the tonier name of...
This Blog's on Fire (And Other Stuff)
Problems at Platinum redux
February 8, 2012Tess Nacelewicz
I wrote last week about Platinum Protection suddenly laying off most of its employees. I'm still gathering information about what led to that abrupt Feb. 2 action by the summer model sales company based in American Fork, Utah, and want to make sure I have as many facts as possible before publishing a story.
I've yet to hear from anyone at Platinum in response to requests for comment. I'm told by a knowledgeable company insider—an employee who was among some 600 corporate, sales, technical and...
This Blog's on Fire (And Other Stuff)
Problems at Platinum
February 3, 2012Tess Nacelewicz
Word is that Platinum Protection suddenly laid off almost all its employees yesterday. So, is the summer model sales company based in American Fork, Utah closing, filing for bankruptcy? And does this abrupt action have anything to do with a recent lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, charging that the two men who provided the start-up capital for Platinum six years ago have been running a $220 million Ponzi scheme?
The industry is abuzz with such questions since the massive layoff...
McGinn, Smith indicted on fraud charges
February 1, 2012Tess Nacelewicz
ALBANY, N.Y.—Security industry investors Timothy McGinn and David L. Smith—already being sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission on a claim they bilked investors of at least $80 million in a Ponzi scheme—now are facing criminal charges that could send them to prison for years, if convicted.
A New York grand jury last week indicted McGinn, 63, and Smith, 66—the founders of an investment firm based here that conducted dealings in the alarm industry—on 30 counts...