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A federal grand jury in Atlanta has indicted a Utah man on criminal charges for leading an investment company that allegedly bilked more than 100 investors out of at least $30 million in a Ponzi scheme.
Thomas Repke of Holladay pleaded not guilty Monday to 22 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy that resulted from his operation of Coadum Capital and Mansell Acquisition Co. The 57-year-old was released on $250,000 bond.
The grand jury indictment says Repke and James Jeffery, a 58-year-old Canadian, promised monthly returns of 5 percent. But instead of keeping investor money safe in escrow accounts as promised, the indictment says the two transferred more than $20 million to accounts in Switzerland and the Mediterranean island of Malta. The pair also diverted "substantial sums" to themselves, to companies they controlled or to investments controlled by family members, the indictment states.
Attorney Pat Huddleston, a receiver who was appointed to oversee the companies after the Securities and Exchange Commission sued them in federal court, said the two indicted men themselves became victims of a scam when they sent investor funds to Europe.
"My investigation shows they were conned out of that money," said Huddleston of Kennesaw, Ga. "They might have believed they were making legitimate investments over there, but the person was essentially conning them."
Repke and Jeffery, whose attorney could not be reached for comment Monday, made false statements to investors about monthly gains and balances, the indictment said. They also used funds from some investors to pay off other investors, according to the charges and to Huddleston.
According to court documents, Coadum used investor funds to pay sculptor Stanley J. Watts of Kearns about $425,000 to create a 40-foot bronze statue of New York City firefighters for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation that was to be used as a 9/11 memorial. Watts did not immediately return a phone message Monday asking about the fate of the sculpture.
Huddleston said he has recovered $4.6 million in funds for investors, who were largely from states other than Utah. He said he hopes to recover as much as 40 percent.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.