$145 Million sandwich in a can fraud exposed in Utah

Saturday, July 03, 2010
Jonathan Stempel, Reuters

(Reuters) - The Securities and Exchange Commission has sued a Utah man for fraudulently misusing $139 million of investor funds on such things as a film about the Cub Scouts' Pinewood Derby car race and development of a "sandwich in a can."

According to a lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court in Salt Lake City, Travis Wright misappropriated all but $6 million of the $145 million he raised from about 175 investors between 2001 and 2009 by selling notes issued by his Waterford Loan Fund LLC.

The SEC said the 47-year-old Draper resident represented to investors that their money would be used for loans secured by commercial real estate.

The SEC said Wright also used $15 million to support a "lavish lifestyle" including trips to at least 12 countries for family members and friends, a home in an exclusive suburb that was upgraded with $133,000 of landscaping and imported French cobblestones for the driveway, and as much as $20,000 of "discretionary spending money" per month for his wife.

The lawsuit seeks to recover ill-gotten gains, impose civil fines, a ban on Wright selling securities, and other remedies.

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Posted by Editor on 07/03/10 at 02:31 PM • (0) Comments

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