FBI looking for potential victims in Nevada slip-and-fall Ponzi scheme
By Elaine Emerson
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LAS VEGAS, Nevada (KVVU) — The Federal Bureau of Investigation is seeking additional information about possible victims of a Ponzi scheme.
The FBI said the operation took place in Nevada, California and Utah from 2017 to March 2022. According to the FBI, members in this scheme sold “‘settlement contracts,’ ‘lawsuit settlement contracts,’ ‘settlement funding contracts,’” or similar contracts related to slip-and-fall lawsuits.
The FBI said the defining characteristics of the scheme include:
Contracts were often sold in increments of $80,000 or $100,000 Investors were promised a return of 10-13% in 90 days Earlier contracts were four to five pages long and often contained a reference to a slip-and-fall incident, the name of the slip-and-fall victim’s attorney, a settlement monetary award, a non-disclosure agreement, a purchase agreement, and an investor agreement; investors were asked to reinvest their original principal into a new contract after the initial 90 days More recent contracts were more than 100 pages and changed to a “membership,” where 90-day renewals were not required Salespeople described the contracts as scarce and led buyers to believe they may not be able to immediately invest Investors were asked to verbally commit to a purchase between Thursday and Sunday and were required to wire money to the organization the following Monday or Tuesday Investors were asked to wire money to a company IOLTA (interest on lawyers’ trust account) Investors were asked to set up an LLC to collect their return Investors were introduced to the scheme by persons who shared the same faith, hobbies, gym memberships, etc.
Those who feel they may have been a victim of the scheme are asked to fill out on online form by the FBI. If you know someone who may have been a victim, the FBI asks you encourage the person to fill out the form themselves.
Responses are voluntary, the FBI says, and may be used in a federal investigation.
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