Home Charlotte Press Releases 2010 Terry Scott Hyder Indicted for Wire Fraud
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Terry Scott Hyder Indicted for Wire Fraud
Defendant Allegedly Defrauded Victims in Polk and Rutherford Counties

U.S. Attorney’s Office October 07, 2010
  • Western District of North Carolina (704) 344-6222

ASHEVILLE, NC—Terry Scott Hyder, 49, of Kissimmee, Florida, has been indicted on one count alleging wire fraud in connection with an investment scheme which resulted in monetary losses to numerous victims located in Western North Carolina and in Florida. Hyder was in custody in Florida and removed to the Western District of North Carolina on a federal criminal complaint filed in North Carolina on July 21, 2010. He was afforded an initial appearance in the Western District of North Carolina on September 27, 2010, and subsequently ordered detained pre-trial on September 30, 2010. Hyder’s arraignment on the indictment, which was filed on October 5, 2010, is currently scheduled for October 14, 2010 at 9:40 a.m. in Asheville before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis Howell.

Today’s announcement is made by Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, Owen Harris, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in North Carolina, and Polk County, North Carolina Sheriff Donald Hill.

The indictment alleges that beginning in June 2007 and continuing through July 2010 Terry Scott Hyder engaged in a scheme to defraud individual victims in Polk and Rutherford Counties in North Carolina and in Florida. To carry out the scheme, according to the indictment, Hyder established and maintained Sterling and Stratford, LLC, a Limited Liability Corporation organized and existing under the laws of Florida. The allegations contained in the indictment state that Hyder used Sterling as part of a scheme to convince victims to invest monies, representing it as a legitimate business engaged in multiple investment vehicles. The indictment also alleges that Hyder promised high rates of return on short-term investments.

It is further alleged that Hyder encouraged individual investors to place cash with him on behalf of Sterling, and that monies placed with Hyder were, in fact, never invested, but that instead Hyder simply deposited monies into accounts set up in the business’s name to pay for his personal expenses. According to the indictment Hyder had multiple individual victims invest through “real estate trusts” which he set up in the victims’ names. The individual victims were sent account statements supposedly showing the amounts of interest accrued, but, in fact, according to the indictment, investors never accrued interest as no monies were actually invested.

The account statements provided by Hyder to his investors, the indictment alleges, were fraudulent and given to them in order to lull them into not demanding payments. Hyder, it is alleged, communicated with victims and others in furtherance of the scheme via e-mail and the telephone in interstate communication.

The indictment includes a Notice of Forfeiture and Finding of Probable Cause that the defendant has or had an interest in at least $775,000 which is subject to forfeiture to the United States. The Notice includes the statement that the Grand Jury finds probable cause that the $775,000 is subject to forfeiture in that it represents proceeds of the violations alleged in the indictment.

If convicted, Hyder faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine, or both. The case was investigated by the FBI and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office with substantial assistance from the Marion County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office. The investigation began in April 2010. The prosecution is being handled for the government by Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey Ellis of the Asheville office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

U.S. v. Terry Scott Hyder
a/k/a Ryan Terry Hyder
a/ka/ Ryan Fred Wilson
Docket Number: 1:10cr70

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