Matthew "Beau" La Madrid and his brother Lance La Madrid pleaded guilty in federal court today (Jan. 3) to conspiracy and fraud charges. The two, along with several others, worked out of an El Cajon office. According to court records, Beau La Madrid fraudulently solicited more than $30 million for his Plus Money Premium Return Funds. He told investors the money was going into "covered calls," a stock market strategy by which an investor enhances income by selling call options on stocks already owned. But he used much of that money to pay off earlier investors (making it a Ponzi scheme), and he secretly funneled more than $7 million to a bank account he controlled. To soothe investors, he sent them fictitious monthly statements. (Does any of this sound familiar, San Diegans?) He also took investor money for a phony real estate scheme. And he got millions of dollars from lenders by submitting false loan documents.
His brother, Lance Madrid, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of executing a fraud scheme through the U.S. mails.
There is a completely separate Ponzi scheme occupying federal courts today. Escondido attorney Gustav G. Bujkovsky was sentenced to a year in prison for his role in concealing proceeds of a Ponzi scheme operated by his client, Mohit Khanna and Khanna's business, Mak 1 Enterprises. Khanna had solicited millions from the public by falsely claiming he was engaged in a foreign currency trading program. (Does this sound familiar, too?) Bujkovsky concealed the scam from investors and also lied to federal regulators about Khanna.
Matthew "Beau" La Madrid and his brother Lance La Madrid pleaded guilty in federal court today (Jan. 3) to conspiracy and fraud charges. The two, along with several others, worked out of an El Cajon office. According to court records, Beau La Madrid fraudulently solicited more than $30 million for his Plus Money Premium Return Funds. He told investors the money was going into "covered calls," a stock market strategy by which an investor enhances income by selling call options on stocks already owned. But he used much of that money to pay off earlier investors (making it a Ponzi scheme), and he secretly funneled more than $7 million to a bank account he controlled. To soothe investors, he sent them fictitious monthly statements. (Does any of this sound familiar, San Diegans?) He also took investor money for a phony real estate scheme. And he got millions of dollars from lenders by submitting false loan documents.
His brother, Lance Madrid, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of executing a fraud scheme through the U.S. mails.
There is a completely separate Ponzi scheme occupying federal courts today. Escondido attorney Gustav G. Bujkovsky was sentenced to a year in prison for his role in concealing proceeds of a Ponzi scheme operated by his client, Mohit Khanna and Khanna's business, Mak 1 Enterprises. Khanna had solicited millions from the public by falsely claiming he was engaged in a foreign currency trading program. (Does this sound familiar, too?) Bujkovsky concealed the scam from investors and also lied to federal regulators about Khanna.