Former Wethersfield Resident Charged with Running $20 Million “Ponzi” Scheme
| U.S. Attorney’s Office November 23, 2009 |
Nora R. Dannehy, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Kimberly K. Mertz, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that MICHAEL S. GOLDBERG, 38, was arrested today by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on a criminal complaint charging him with devising and executing a scheme to defraud investors of more than $20 million over an approximately 12-year period.
GOLDBERG voluntarily surrendered himself this morning and appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez in Hartford, where he was released on a $1 million bond. The case was adjourned for three months to permit the Government to continue to investigate the extent of GOLDBERG’s alleged scheme.
According to court documents and statements made in court, GOLDBERG ran the investment business Acquisitions Unlimited Group (AUG) from his former residence in Wethersfield. It is alleged that GOLDBERG falsely represented to prospective investors that he and AUG were in the business of liquidating assets held by JP Morgan Chase (formerly Chase Manhattan Bank), and that GOLDBERG induced investors to provide him and AUG funds by promising and paying up to 20 percent quarterly returns. However, it is alleged that GOLDBERG’s promises to his investors were false, and that GOLDBERG never had a relationship with Chase, nor did he purchase or liquidate assets as he represented. Rather, GOLDBERG paid old investors with new investor funds. Between 1997 and 2009, it is alleged that more than 100 investors provided GOLDBERG with more than $20 million through this alleged scheme.
On November 16, 2009, GOLDBERG, accompanied by his attorney, approached federal law enforcement in order to provide information about this alleged scheme. Federal authorities have since learned of AUG investors in Connecticut, New York, Florida, Arizona, California, and Vermont.
U.S. Attorney Dannehy and FBI Special Agent in Charge Mertz noted that the investigation into this alleged scheme is ongoing, and asked individuals who believe they may be a victim of this scheme, or anyone with information related to this scheme, to immediately contact the FBI at (203) 777-6311.
The criminal complaint charges GOLDBERG with using interstate wires in furtherance of his fraudulent scheme. If convicted of this charge, GOLDBERG faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.
U.S. Attorney Dannehy stressed that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is entitled to have this matter presented to a grand jury and, in the event an indictment is returned, he is entitled to a trial at which it will be the Government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David E. Novick.