A Las Vegas attorney has been charged with setting up a $460 million Ponzi scheme to finance a “luxury lifestyle” that includes luxury homes and cars.
Sin City-based attorney Matthew Wade Beasley will face wire fraud and money laundering allegations on Wednesday after being criminally indicted by the United States District Court for the District of Nevada.
According to the indictment seen by luckBeasley “ran a Ponzi scheme”, soliciting investors to invest in bogus contracts and using their money to pay interest to previous investors.
Beasley, who had a license to practice law in Nevada, fraudulently told investors he could find plaintiffs in “slip and fall” lawsuits who wanted to borrow money against pending settlements with insurance companies. was accused by the authorities of
He falsely claimed that a hoaxed personal injury plaintiff was willing to pay a high interest rate to borrow money for 90 days and created false documents to identify an unnamed person (referred to as Individual-1). brought with them, court documents say. Filing — subconsciously to his plans.
According to the indictment, because the number of investors had “substantially increased,” Beasley had Individual-1 recruit several more investors as “promoters,” whose job it was to create an intention to put money into the scheme. was to hire some new people.
Investments were only available in $80,000 or $100,000 increments.
According to prosecutors, the promoters of the scheme made a number of material misrepresentations to prospective investors, including that Beasley had access to personal injury plaintiffs who wanted to borrow money at high interest rates and that they The plaintiffs included claims that they would send reimbursements to investors, prosecutors said. At the end of the 90-day borrowing period.
He used the new investor’s money to pay interest and return the principal to the previous investor, according to court documents.
“Hundreds of Investors”
According to the indictment, from about 2017 to about March 2022, Beasley “allowed hundreds of investors to ‘invest’ more than $460 million … and he maintained the appearance that his investments were genuine. We used that substantial amount to pay investors to do so.” .
“Beasley used the money he earned from the scheme to buy luxury homes, cars, recreational vehicles, and otherwise live in luxury.”
In August 2021, an undercover FBI agent wired $100,000 from a bank account in New York to Beasley Law Group in Nevada.
Beasley was shot and wounded earlier this month when FBI agents visited his home and interviewed him as part of an ongoing investigation. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
He has been in custody since the confrontation after a judge ordered him to be held without bail.
Beasley made his first appearance in court on March 7 via conference call, pleading not guilty to the charge of assaulting a federal employee, The Associated Press reported.
