Investors who sunk more than $190 million into a suspected Ponzi scheme promoted by some Twin Cities money managers can now keep up to date on the case and file claims for restitution on two new websites or a toll-free phone line set up by the government.
Web, phone aid for investors who lost
Court sets up information portals for those who put money into a currency program that regulators say was a Ponzi scheme.
December 22, 2009 at 4:40AM
Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis set up a website through the U.S. District Court to make it easier for investors to stay apprised of government efforts to recover their money, as well as legal proceedings against the embattled money managers. The site is www.mnd.uscourts.gov/SEC-CFTC.
In addition, Minneapolis lawyer R.J. Zayed, appointed as a receiver to help find assets for victim restitution, has set up a toll-free hot line (1-877-316-6129) and is completing work on another website (www.cookkileyreceiver.com) to gather claims information and tips, and to distribute information to investors.
Investors have complained about a lack of information since mid-July, when their money managers suddenly shut down and stopped answering calls in the wake of a federal lawsuit by nine Ohioans who complained that they couldn't withdraw nearly $5 million from a supposedly safe currency investment program pitched by Minneapolis money manager Trevor Cook and his business associate, Burnsville radio talk show host Patrick Kiley, among others.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission filed suit Nov. 23 in Minneapolis accusing Cook, a principal in Oxford Global Partners, and Kiley, who's associated with a number of business entities with "Universal Brokerage" in their titles, of running a Ponzi scheme. The regulators say Cook and his associates enticed more than 1,000 people into a bogus currency investment program that promised returns of 10.5 to 12 percent with no risk to the principal.
Zayed told Davis at a hearing Monday that tips have begun coming in from investors and Cook's and Kiley's former business associates, leading to the seizure of six more cars and the location of more bank accounts. Former federal investigators now working with a private agency in White Bear Lake called WayPoint Inc. proved "instrumental in tracking down various employees who used to work with Mr. Cook," he said.
"Through this process we located the six vehicles," Zayed said.
The receiver now has found about $3.1 million in cash, as well as seven parcels in Panama that were to be developed as a casino and a condominium tower, and some land that Cook owned on Rainy River in Canada, just north of Fort Frances, Ontario.
Zayed also has seized the historic Van Dusen mansion just south of downtown Minneapolis. He also seized a single-family home Cook owned in Burnsville, where Kiley had once lived and produced his once-popular radio program, "Follow the Money."
Zayed said he is obtaining appraisals on the properties and expects to put them up for sale.
Dan Browning • 612-673-4493
The funding is expected to give more than 5,000 Minnesotans, especially in rural areas, high-speed broadband access across the state and help at least 139 businesses and 368 farms.
