Last Defendant In $550M Maryland Ponzi Scheme Pleads Guilty
BALTIMORE (AP) — A Texas accountant has pleaded guilty in Maryland to participating in a scheme to defraud investors of hundreds of millions of dollars.
U.S. Attorney Robert Hur's office says in a news release that 55-year-old Jay Ledford pleaded guilty Thursday to charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Hur's office says the charges stem from a $550 million investment fraud scheme that operated from 2013 through September 2018.
Two other people — 53-year-old Kevin Merrill of Towson, Maryland, and 28-year-old Cameron Jezierski of Fort Worth, Texas — previously pleaded guilty to charges related to the Ponzi scheme.
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Hur's office says Ledford provided Merrill with fictitious sales agreements and false tax returns to solicit investors to purchase consumer debt portfolios.
Ledford is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 29.
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