Meyer Wilson’s Investigation Uncovers Significant Details Regarding Pat Miller’s Alleged Ponzi Scheme, as TV Report Airs on Pittsburgh’s Action News 4
Important details are emerging about how former Pennsylvania stockbroker Patricia S. Miller perpetuated her alleged Ponzi scheme and the steps she took to mislead investors.
An investigative report on the Ponzi scheme aired on Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 (WTAE TV) on June 9th. The victim interviewed for the story by Action News 4 has hired the investment fraud lawyers at Meyer Wilson to help recover her lost investments. Meyer Wilson has teamed up with the local Pittsburgh law firm of Rosen, Louik & Perry.
Back on May 29th, we explained that our investigation into the investments sold by former stockbroker Patricia S. Miller found evidence of a classic Ponzi Scheme.
Back To Main Patricia Miller Page
While the full scope of investors’ losses are not yet known, it now appears certain that Miller never made any legitimate investments with the money that she obtained from her clients. Instead, Miller misappropriated the money entrusted to her for her own improper use.
According to the criminal complaint announced by the US Attorney’s office, representatives from Miller’s supervising brokerage firm, Investors Capital Corporation (ICC), arrived at Miller’s McMurray, Pennsylvania, offices on May 19, 2014, to interview her regarding a recent customer complaint. Before entering the office, the ICC representatives searched a garbage dumpster adjacent to Miller’s building. In the dumpster they found two white garbage bags containing documents from Miller’s business, including what appeared to be fake account statements.
The criminal complaint alleges that during an examination, Miller admitted to the ICC representatives that she had previously lied to ICC and improperly taken money from customers.
While at Miller’s offices, the ICC representatives reviewed paper files, electronic files saved on Miller’s desktop computer, and online bank statements. Among the items discovered during this examination include:
* Blank ICC account statements. When asked about them, Miller said that she hired someone associated with a technical school to create the account statements, which were apparently used by Miller as a template for the fake account statements she generated for her customers.
* Fake Huntington National Bank statements. These documents, which were created by literally cutting and pasting paper together, were found in a credenza in Miller’s office and purport to show a bank account in the name of Miller and her husband with a balance of $2 million.
* Purported K-1 statements relating to KS Investments, one of the alleged Ponzi scheme entities. While Miller might have provided K-1s to her clients, she admitted that she never submitted K-1s to the IRS.
Miller was terminated from ICC on May 21.
On May 29, criminal charges against Miller were filed in federal court in Massachusetts, which is where ICC is headquartered. The complaint asserts one count of wire fraud. If convicted, Miller faces a maximum sentence under the statute of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Miller was arrested and taken into custody on June 6.
We are conducting an Informational Meeting in Pittsburgh on Thursday, June 12. To schedule your meeting with our investment fraud attorneys in Pittsburgh, call Meyer Wilson toll-free at either 1-888-390-6491. You may also call our co-counsel, the Pittsburgh law firm of Rosen, Louik and Perry, at (412) 281-4200.
All of the firm's cases are handled on a contingency fee and no retainer is requested. The seven attorneys at Meyer Wilson have handled nearly 1,000 investment fraud case over the past 15 years.
