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CRE Capital Founder James Ossie Indicted for Setting Up Ponzi Scheme
Alpharetta, Ga businessman James G. Ossie has been charged with 10 counts of wire fraud related to a ponzi scheme he allegedly set up. A federal grand jury unsealed the indictment on Wednesday and Ossie is supposed to surrender himself in federal court on Friday.
“This indictment alleges yet another disturbing Ponzi scheme with a similar result: many victims lose a lot of their hard-earned money in a short amount of time,” U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias said in a statement.
CRE Capital was founded by Ossie as a currency trading program which proported unbelievable returns of 10% every 30 days or an annual rate of 120% on an investment. The SEC shut CRE Capital down in January stating CRE capital and Ossie had fraudulently obtained at least $25 million from investors during 2008.
The SEC’s complaint alleges violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. In addition to emergency relief, the Commission’s complaint seeks disgorgement of the defendants’ ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest and financial penalties.
CRE Capital offered investments in minimal amount of $100,000 and guaranteed the return of the initial deposit plus 10 percent interest within 30 days. Ossie claimed to be able to pay such substantial monthly returns because he typically made even more than that through his Forex currency trading activity.
Ossie told lawyers that CRE Capital hired outside auditors to review and confirm the accuracy of his numbers. The indictment also alleged that although CRE may have hired outside accountants for some projects, Ossie did not complete allow any access to the records of the trading accounts that would have revealed his substantial losses.
Each year, millions of people are the victim of Forex trading scams and ponzi schemes. The SEC has warned investors for years that if the return seems too good to be true, it it probably is.
by Olga Betrieb
I think it’s terrible that people can con people the way he has done. A lot of people are really struggling for money and there are people like this who just want to ruin other people for their own personal gain!
by Anne @ BestTermLife
I can’t fathom the mindset of these kind of person…doing business and yet they steps on others toes. Honesty should always be at the forefront in all business dealings. This ponzi scheme hurts not only a few but by the thousands. The hard earned money which was put to waste can never be recovered. The conviction of the “master” may serve as a warning if not a “stern” reminder that fooling your fellow will never go undetected.
by Peter
that’s the problem with people, they always want to believe that they are getting an inside deal and everything will work out instead of just working hard and doing well in the end. its the american way it seems and it makes the bad guy’s job easier.
by Sissy
i wonder how many people try and get away with stuff like this these days, i can’t imagine there are too many people getting away with it in the long run. i don’t know how people can look their company in the face and lie to them like that.
by Malistre
Gah… I’m sure there are more Ponzi schemes going around. Madoff just brought them all to light LOL…
by Vanessa
Now this is really very disturbing for me. How someone can rob all that money and who trust on such schemes. I think there were times when people were successful with these Ponzi schemes but they are not effective anymore. It was just my own exception.
by Leif
World has changed a lot.. people like this loves to cheat the innocent people and in that not only the specific person suffers but his complete family suffers. And the Problem starts when people get’s interested in investing such schemes and make investments. We should inquire and then only go ahead with the decision.. It’s not the people who play with us but we are only responsible for such things. We should think and then invest. in short we wake up in the morning and we are having many streets to walk in front of us but we should think and then choose the way to walk ahead.
by theblobscanvasprint
why do people get angry if they find out somthings a scam? they wanted something that sounded to good to be true,
‘”’ well hay guesss what it is”””’
by Zula
I think he is not the not the only guilty person, it depends on people who give money to such people without knowing the trends of internet. Whatever, it is good to read that he is going to be sued.
by Steve Khanelal
theblob, you are very true but scammers should be punished because they are very bad on our economy and culture.
by Michael Roberts of Mile2
Has anyone done research on the use of the term “Ponzi scheme” over the last five years? There seems to be a disproportionately high usage in these last few months.
by Reverse Lookup
I agree that finally another scammer and a thief has finally been found guilty for implementing another ponzi scheme. I really hate ponzi schemes because I’m also involved with this crap kind of making money through investment and giving out high percentage returns on that, and I lose money as well.
But still, I know there are others who are also ponzi scammers, hiding in their rooms doing online ponzi scheme business.
by TigerTom
Amazing how these old tricks still work, in a world of supposedly sophisticated consumers.
I think that when it comes to large amounts of money, people’s brains stop working. We’ll haggle over $50, but $50,000? Our brain goes numb.
[PS: To the site owner: At the time of writing there’s a spelling mistake on this site’s front page: ‘Webmaters’, up near the top.]
by Costello
I think it is difficult to put some sort of ban on Ponzi schemes because there are many parts of world where there are no rules exist about it. I think investors should be careful about it.
by Jessica
Ponzi schemes are the worst kind of financial trap to fall into, and there are many out there who would do just about anything to make money. In light of the recession, the best thing to do with any extra cash you have is to save it for a rainy day.