Local Businesswoman Pleads Guilty in $70 Million Ponzi Scheme
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdoh/pr/local-businesswoman-pleads-guilty-70-million-ponzi-scheme
Department of Justice
U.S. Attorneys Office
Southern District of Ohio
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Local Businesswoman Pleads Guilty in $70 Million Ponzi Scheme
DAYTON Connie Apostelos, also known as Connie Coleman, 51, formerly of Springboro, Ohio, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today to charges related to a $70 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded nearly 500 victims. Specifically, she pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering.
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Apostelos and her husband, William Apostelos, were indicted in October 2015. According to court documents, beginning in 2009, and continuing for at least five years, the couple and others orchestrated a Ponzi scheme in the Dayton area in which nearly 480 investors lost more than $20 million collectively. They received $70 million in investment funds in total.
Connie Apostelos operated and oversaw multiple companies in the Dayton area, including Coleman Capital, Inc. and Silver Bridle Racing, LLC. These companies were operated through improper use of investor funds to William Apostelos companies. William Apostelos also operated and oversaw multiple purported investment and asset management companies in the Dayton area, including WMA Enterprises, LLC, Midwest Green Resources, LLC and Roan Capital. He falsely reported that he held a degree in mathematics and was a registered securities broker.
The couple recruited investors from
37 states to invest in WMA and Midwest Green, telling the investors that their money would be used for acquiring stocks or securities, purchasing real estate or land, providing loans to business and buying gold and silver. Rather than investing the money, the couple used it to pay for personal luxuries. According to court documents, the couple was spending $35,000 per month on Connies horse racing company and $400 per month on Victorias Secret lingerie. When the defendants became late on interest payments to the victims, they advised that their bank account had been hacked, a bank mistakenly failed to wire payment and/or the deal the victim had invested in was temporarily on hold.
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