West Virginia Woman Gets 135-Month Sentence For "Unusually Sinister" $2.5 Million Ponzi Scheme That Swindled Family And Friends

A West Virginia woman will serve 135 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to operating a $2.5 million Ponzi scheme that victimized family and friends as questions still swirl over her late husband’s death. Natalie Cochran, 38, received the sentence after previously pleading guilty in an agreement with prosecutors that called for a sentence between 37 months to 135 months to be decided by the sentencing judge. At sentencing, U.S. District Judge Frank Volk described the fraud as “one of the most complex and practiced frauds the Court has seen” in handing down a 135-month term.

The Scheme

Cochran and her late husband Michael Cochran owned and operated Technology Management Solutions LLC (“TMS”) and Tactical Solutions Group LLC (“TSG”), both of which were registered as federal government contractors.  TMS allegedly operated as an information technology company that provided consulting services while TSG held itself out as a wholesale merchant and provider of durable goods.   

Beginning in mid 2017, TMS and TPG were touted as successful government contractors and a “leading supplier to the U.S. Department of Defense, national security agencies, federal civilian agencies, prime contractors, and worldwide non-profit organizations.” Investors were told that they could invest in individual contracts that had been awarded to TMS or TSG and receive a percentage of the ensuing profits from the government work.  Investors were provided with various information confirming the status of their investment, including contract numbers representing the purported government contract they were funding and forwarded emails from federal government employees or bank personnel about the contracts.  In total, TMS and TSG raised at least $2.5 million from 11 investors, including testimony from Cochran’s mother-in-law that she invested $250,000 in retirement savings.

Several months later, federal authorities filed a civil forfeiture complaint seeking to confiscate several properties owned by Cochran that had allegedly been purchased with illegal funds.  The filing alleged that TSG and TMS never had any government contracts and were instead used as a Ponzi scheme to pay fictitious returns to new investors using existing investor funds.  Investor funds were also purportedly used by the Cochrans “to support their outwardly lavish lifestyle by making luxurious purchases, dining out frequently, taking vacations and making payments towards the defendants' properties.  Cochran filed personal bankruptcy the next day, listing less than $600 in bank accounts and cash on hand and $1.4 million in liabilities that did not include any investors in TSG or TMS.  

Prosecutors claimed that neither TSG nor TMS ever had any claimed government contracts, instead claiming the companies used new investor funds to pay purported returns to existing investors and also secured cash advances from several financial institutions by claiming that investor deposits were actually business sales.  Cochran was accused of forging documents from a business valuation service, Senator Joe Manchin’s office, and a fictitious Federal Reserve employee that corresponded with investors.

Cochran pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering charges in September 2020.

Investigation Into Little League and Michael Cochran’s Death

Cochran’s sentence comes as separate investigations remain open into Michael Cochran’s death and Cochran’s alleged malfeasance while serving as treasurer of the Shady Spring Youth Baseball League. Authorities have an open criminal investigation into Michael Cochran’s death and had previously exhumed his body as part of that investigation. Cochran’s activities as treasurer of the Shady Spring baseball league are part of a separate ongoing investigation looking into a variety of suspicious transactions in the league’s bank account, as well as a league fundraiser hosted at the Cochran’s residence that purportedly raised over $16,000 from a bingo game and the raffling of semi-automatic weapons.  However, TSG’s check for the donation subsequently bounced.

Cochran’s indictment is below: