Texas Man Indicted for $2 Million Ponzi Scheme

Authorities unsealed an indictment Thursday against a Texas man accused of bilking investors out of $2 million in an elaborate Ponzi scheme.  Scott Yermish, originally charged as Scott Lindemann, was charged with seven counts of wire fraud.  Each count of wire fraud carries a maximum prison sentence of twenty years and a criminal monetary penalty of up to $250,000.  If convicted, Yermish may also be ordered to pay restitution to defrauded investors.

According to the indictment, Yermish posed as Scott Lindemann with Interactive Brokers, an investment brokerage company in Greenwich, Connecticut.  Through false representations, Yermish induced investors to provide information allowing him to gain access to investors' accounts at Interactive Brokers, including user names, passwords, and security access cards.  Investors were then provided with account statements showing substantial profits in those accounts, when in reality the accounts had been raided by Yermish and subsequently closed.  In total, at least twenty investors are said to have suffered losses of $2 million.

Yermish was arrested in July by the FBI and is currently behind bars awaiting transfer to San Antonio.  He had previously served fifteen months in jail for fraud in 1994.  

A news release from the Justice Department is here.