William Apostelos indicted on 13 counts of wire fraud
Following the disappointment of an FBI affidavit revealing Genesis Acquisitions affiliates have “no chance” of recovering invested funds, some respite today with the news William Apostelos is facing criminal charges.
Apostelos, who with his wife Connie orchestrated a $70 million dollar Ponzi scheme through WMA Enterprises and Midwest Green, was indicted on thirteen counts of wire fraud.
William and Connie Apostelos are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, eight counts of mail fraud and 13 counts of wire fraud, each crimes punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
They were also charged with two counts of money laundering, which each carry a potential 10-year prison sentence.They were also charged with one count of theft or embezzlement from employee benefit plan, which carries a maximum penalty of up to five years imprisonment.
Finally, Connie Apostelos is charged separately with one count of making a false statement, which carries a maximum penalty of up to five years imprisonment.
That’s an awful lot of jail time there… s’long Bill.
A year ago BehindMLM ran a report on Genesis Acquisitions, after it was observed serial MLM Ponzi scammer Ken Russo was promoting a suspicious-sounding opportunity.
Soliciting investments of $5000, a 20% ROI through Apostelos’ $70 million dollar Ponzi empire was pitched.
Michel Palermo runs Genesis Acquisitions, and was in charge of coordinating investments into Apostelos’ scheme.
Through Genesis Acquisitions, it was touted that Apostelos’ WMA Enterprises was “SEC compliant and 100% legal and secure”.
Those reassurances of course turned out to be baloney, when the FBI froze Apostelos’ known assets a month later.
How many thousands of dollars was lost by those who followed Ken Russo, Michael Palermo and Genesis Acquisitions recommendations is unclear.
Interestingly enough, I was recently contacted by Michael Palermo himself.
Seeking to distance himself from Apostelos’ Ponzi scheme, an email dated the 10th of October from Palermo reads:
Hello Oz,
I am reaching out to you because I would like to talk to you regarding Genesis Acquisitions and William Apostelos.
As evidenced by the information on your blog and what the FBI has made very clear William Apostoles conned many out of their hard earned money including my group.
I only knew Bill for a few months and was simply raising money for a land purchase that he lied to me about. He did irreparable damage.
Genesis Acquisitions has legitimate business that it conducts however in addition to what Bill did your blog is also hurting that business.
I would like to give you all the details so we can discuss it further. I appreciate your services that you perform and wish that people would do business credibly.
To which I replied on October 13th:
“Genesis Acquisitions has legitimate business that it conducts…”
Such as?
I reviewed Genesis Acquisitions as it was being marketed at the time. The review is datestamped to reflect that.
-Oz
I never heard back.
well, this criminal indictment took a long time coming. as the old adage goes, ‘better late than never’.
interesting details have emerged in an article by the dayton daily news published on oct 30, 2015.
the apostelos’ have been facing bankruptcy proceedings and a civil forfeiture case over the last year.
it appears they were not expecting criminal action and arrest, as according to connie apostelos’ lawyer: “We’ve been working, having open communication with the (U.S. Attorney’s Office).
the suddenness of the arrest saw the apostelos’ appear in court in tracks and shorts! william apostelos lawyer informed the judge that his client did not have time to dress.
how long does it take to pull on a pair of trousers? i think the apostelos’ were trying to create the impression that authorities were being unduly harsh on them to gain some court sympathy for the pre trial detention hearing.
connie apostelos’ lawyer thinks she was a ‘sideshow’ and not the main perpetrator :
the apostelos’ ponzi scheme began failing in late 2012, and its been downhill from there for the couple:
daytondailynews.com/news/news/crime-law/couple-accused-of-running-70m-ponzi-scheme/npCrR/
You don’t stumble into a $70 million dollar Ponzi scheme.
Throw the book at them and be done with it.
The problem with a lot of these ponzi operators is they think they can “get out of cash crunch” if everybody would just give them enough time (which is forever). And they may actually BELIEVE they can do it… if they’re deluded enough.
What’ll happen likely is the criminal court will take charge, put all the civil trials on hold, then a receivership or bankruptcy trustee appointed to liquidate. Which means those that did get a judgement already may be lucky as they’d be considered primary creditors.
Everyone else who’s not primary will have to settle for a share of what’s left.