Investor Fraud Summit

On October, 9, 2012, United States Attorney Melinda Haag along with the United States Attorneys for the Eastern, Central and Southern Districts of California; Western District of Washington; Alaska; and Oregon; in addition to representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice, FBI, and the Securities and Exchange Commission hosted an Investor Fraud Summit at the Rossmoor retirement community in Walnut Creek California.

Investor fraud is a serious national problem. The FBI reports that our country’s recent financial crisis has resulted in an unprecedented rise in investment fraud schemes, involving thousands of victims and staggering losses. The Western United States is no exception. In an effort to raise public awareness about this crime, the Department of Justice is hosting a series of investment fraud summits in select cities across the United Sates. Because of the volume, nature, and size of investment fraud schemes prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, the Northern District of California was selected to host one of these summits. The agenda for the October 9 Summit included the following presentations and panels:

Welcome Remarks
Melinda Haag, United States Attorney, Northern District of California Marc Fagel, Regional Director, Securities and Exchange Commission, San Francisco Donald Liddle, Rossmoor President
It Happens Everywhere: Investor Fraud from a National Perspective
Moderated by Ben Wagner – United States Attorney, Eastern District of California
It Could Happen to You: Stories of Recent Federal Prosecutions in California
Moderated by S. Amanda Marshall, United States Attorney, District of Oregon
Red Flags and Warning Signs – How to Avoid Being Victimized
Moderated by Andre Birotte, United States Attorney, Central District of California
In Conversation: Victims of Investor Fraud Scheme Share Their Story
Moderated by Brian Stretch, First Assistant United States Attorney, Northern District of California.
Closing Remarks
Karen Loeffler, United States Attorney, District of Alaska Jenny Durkan, United States Attorney, Western District of Washington Laura Duffy, United States Attorney, Southern District of California

Other participants in the Summit included:

Denis McInerney, Chief, Fraud Section, U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division
Christian Parker, Supervisory Special Agent, FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Marc Fagel, San Francisco Regional Director, Securities and Exchange Commission
Nicholas Colucci, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Washington, D.C.
Doug Sprague, Chief, Economic Crimes and Securities Fraud Section, USAO, NDCA
John Owens, former Criminal Division Chief, US Attorney’s USAO SDCA
Jina Choi, Assistant Regional Director of Enforcement, SEC, San Francisco
Sandy Samuels, Executive Director, Bet Tzedek, Los Angeles
Nicole Jones, Counsel for Information and Network Security, Google
Mike West, Executive Producer of American Greed, CNBC

This Summit was part of the ongoing efforts of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force which was created in 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced the Investor Fraud summits during a speech he made at the AARP Life at 50+ conference in New Orleans on Sept. 22, 2012.

The Department of Justice and the United States Attorneys are holding six regional Investor Fraud Summits to Educate Consumers throughout the United States. For more information about the Investor Fraud Summits, visit: http://blogs.justice.gov/main/archives/2511.