36 Indicted for Investor Fraud, Money-Laundering in Florida
May 06, 2011
MIAMI -- Thirty-six former employees and others tied to a company that brokered supermarket food and beauty supplies were indicted Friday on charges of laundering $4 billion and defrauding investors of $300 million. Investigators said the scam at the now-defunct Premium Sales Corp. of North Miami amounted to a giant Ponzi scheme -- early investors were paid with money from new ones. About 1,800 people invested in the company, which promised to take advantage of price differences by selling big shipments of groceries and health and beauty aids in regions where the goods were in high demand. Premium instead concocted billions of dollars in purchase orders and invoices for nonexistent products, investigators charged. Salespeople with grocery companies took bribes to confirm the fake purchases. The company was shut down by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1993 after four years in business, but investigators said executives managed to shift money out and spend it on luxuries such as real estate, a jet, a racing boat and jewelry for Premium executives and their relatives. The defendants laundered nearly $4 billion by sending the money through a succession of shell companies and bank accounts in Florida, Puerto Rico, California, Arizona, Nevada and the Bahamas, the 169-count federal indictment charged. ``It took the skills of some of the best financial investigators in the country to put this case together,'' said Jesica Stowe, an Internal Revenue Service investigator. Premium President Kenyatta Eakin, 59, was arrested Friday at his home in Palm Desert, Calif.. His son Sean, 37, of Miami Beach also was arrested. Twenty-two of the 36 indicted on money laundering and fraud charges have signed plea bargains. The charges carry up to life in prison and millions of dollars in fines. Before it was shut down, Premium attracted investors with promises of 50% returns. Some invested several million dollars, but the typical commitment was $100,000 or $250,000, investigators said. Baseball great Joel Demello invested $300,000 and withdrew $27,616 before Premium was closed. ``This shows that even the most sophisticated investor can be taken,'' FBI agent Paulene Pierre said.
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