Home Chicago Press Releases 2009 Wayne C. Scott Charged with Allegedly Swindling Investors of Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars in a Fraudulent Investment...
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Wayne C. Scott Charged with Allegedly Swindling Investors of Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars in a Fraudulent Investment Scheme

U.S. Attorney’s Office July 24, 2009
  • Northern District of Illinois (312) 353-5300

CHICAGO, IL—A South Holland, Illinois resident, who offered and sold investment interests to the public in 2007 and again in 2009 in purported “monthly advertising campaigns” was indicted by a federal grand jury yesterday and charged with mail fraud in connection with the two schemes to fraudulently obtain investors’ funds.

Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Thomas P. Brady, Inspector in Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, announced the return of the six-count indictment against Wayne C. Scott. In doing so, they also thanked the High Intensity Financial Crime Area (HIFCA) Task Force, a consortium of local and federal law enforcement agencies that share resources to investigate financial crimes, for its assistance in the investigation.

According to the indictment, Scott, 33, of South Holland, Illinois, fraudulently obtained funds from investors by misrepresenting (i) the manner in which the investors’ funds would be used; (ii) the risks of investing; and (iii) the returns that would be generated for the investors. More specifically, the indictment alleges that in 2007, Scott represented himself to be an advertising manager of Media Concepts, a South Holland business which purportedly had a tested and proven monthly advertising campaign through which Media Concepts generated returns for investors, and which returns were “absolutely guaranteed” to “at the very minimum double” within sixty days.

The indictment further alleges that Scott knew that Media Concepts did not engage in any advertising campaigns on behalf of investors and that no investors’ funds were invested in any advertising campaigns. More than 200 individuals invested more than $800,000 in the Media Concepts’s investment program, and Scott allegedly misappropriated some of that money for his own benefit. The indictment also alleges that in May and June 2009, Scott again represented himself to be an advertising manager, this time of Moyer Direct, a Scherervillie, Indiana, business which purported to offer an investment program almost identical to Media Concept’s. The indictment alleges that Scott used investment materials which were substantially similar to those he used in connection with Media Concepts to solicit investors for Moyer Direct’s investment program, which purportedly had a tested and proven monthly advertising campaign through which it generated returns for investors, which returns were “absolutely guaranteed” to “at the very minimum double” within sixty days. The indictment further alleges that Scott knew that Moyer Direct did not engage in any advertising campaigns on behalf of investors and that no investors’ funds were invested in any advertising campaigns. According to the indictment, Scott allegedly misappropriated some of the funds obtained from the investors in Moyer Direct.

The investigation is continuing. Persons with related information are invited to call the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 312-983-7924.

If convicted, each mail fraud count carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine, or the Court may impose an alternative maximum fine totaling twice the loss or twice the gain, whichever is greater. The Court, however, would determine the appropriate sentence to be imposed under the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The government is being represented by Assistant United States Attorney Kaarina Salovaara.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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