Miss-Delectable
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Swindle targeting deaf investors ensnares Wisconsin residents
A multi-million-dollar international swindle targeting deaf investors that recently drew federal warnings has snagged at least a dozen Wisconsin residents, investigators at the Department of Financial Institutions report.
Nationwide at least 7,133 deaf investors sent money to a Texas middleman, and Securities and Exchange Commission investigators believe $4 million of $7 million collected in the scam came primarily from deaf investors.
The Wisconsin numbers may never be known, said Bureau of Enforcement supervising attorney Leslie Van Buskirt in the Department of Financial Institutions.
“There is a reluctance on the part of many investors to come forward, particularly while many of these people still believe they are going to get money,” Van Buskirt said.
That probability is about zero, state and federal investigators confirm.
The victims were solicited via email and deaf-related Internet sites to invest in “Imperia Invest IBC,” promising that an initial $50 investment in insurance policy sales, known as Traded Endowment Policies, and purchase of debit cards, would pay an astronomical return of 1.2 percent per day.
“They were taking money from people who don’t have a lot of money to begin with and were people who also invested in other scams,” said Van Buskirt, who said her office was alerted of the swindle by Wisconsin victims of an earlier swindle, called “Swiss Cash.”
She counted 13 victims in nine Wisconsin cities noted in federal lists of victims, though amounts invested were not known.
The problem for enforcement agencies in these types of swindles is that by the time investigators get to identify the perpetrators, the money and the crooks have vanished. In this case, the money went overseas. DFI in Wisconsin has issued orders, a formality, against Imperia.
“To prevent it in the first place is the main thing,” Van Buskirt said.
Federal securities officials warned about the swindle again last week after a Texas man, who is deaf, was charged with being the go-between. The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a warning in sign language via Internet video about the investments.
Only one of the Wisconsin victims was willing to speak with the DFI about the case.
A multi-million-dollar international swindle targeting deaf investors that recently drew federal warnings has snagged at least a dozen Wisconsin residents, investigators at the Department of Financial Institutions report.
Nationwide at least 7,133 deaf investors sent money to a Texas middleman, and Securities and Exchange Commission investigators believe $4 million of $7 million collected in the scam came primarily from deaf investors.
The Wisconsin numbers may never be known, said Bureau of Enforcement supervising attorney Leslie Van Buskirt in the Department of Financial Institutions.
“There is a reluctance on the part of many investors to come forward, particularly while many of these people still believe they are going to get money,” Van Buskirt said.
That probability is about zero, state and federal investigators confirm.
The victims were solicited via email and deaf-related Internet sites to invest in “Imperia Invest IBC,” promising that an initial $50 investment in insurance policy sales, known as Traded Endowment Policies, and purchase of debit cards, would pay an astronomical return of 1.2 percent per day.
“They were taking money from people who don’t have a lot of money to begin with and were people who also invested in other scams,” said Van Buskirt, who said her office was alerted of the swindle by Wisconsin victims of an earlier swindle, called “Swiss Cash.”
She counted 13 victims in nine Wisconsin cities noted in federal lists of victims, though amounts invested were not known.
The problem for enforcement agencies in these types of swindles is that by the time investigators get to identify the perpetrators, the money and the crooks have vanished. In this case, the money went overseas. DFI in Wisconsin has issued orders, a formality, against Imperia.
“To prevent it in the first place is the main thing,” Van Buskirt said.
Federal securities officials warned about the swindle again last week after a Texas man, who is deaf, was charged with being the go-between. The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a warning in sign language via Internet video about the investments.
Only one of the Wisconsin victims was willing to speak with the DFI about the case.
