Two women, Maricela Barajas, 41, and Juliana Menefee, 50, were arrested Tuesday July 5, 2011 in their Diamond Bar homes on suspicion of operating a scheme that defrauded a number of people out of an estimated $1.5 million.
Also arrested in the case was Eva Perez, 51, who serving an 11-year state prison sentence after pleading guilty in San Bernardino County court last year to multiple felony counts of grand theft in connection with the same scheme.
Barajas, Menefee and Perez each face at least 20 counts of grand theft and
securities fraud. If convicted on all counts, each faces up to 20 years in state prison.
As members of the Armstrong Elementary School PTA, the women were able to gain the trust of many of their victims during school events and at social functions.
The victims believed they were investing in the AltaDena Dairy company, a firm the women said would get high rates of return because they had exclusive rights to distribute those products at Disneyland, Disney Hotels and to small retailers.
Victims were told they would receive returns of up to 100%. They were assured that even if they did not get the promised return on their principle, their cash investment would be guaranteed.
Besides Chino and Diamond Bar, the victims include residents of Gardena, Granada Hills, Lawndale, Los Angeles, North Hollywood, Norwalk, Pacoima, Pico Rivera, Pomona, Rancho Cucamonga, Redondo Beach, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Fe Springs, South Gate, Torrance, Whittier, Wilmington and Salt Lake City.
The suspects racked up investors and cash between 2008 and 2010. But eventually people began to ask questions and began demanding payment.
The ponzi scheme began to collapse.
Barajas and Menefee are being held in the Los Angeles County Jail and will be arraigned at the Pomona Superior Court on Thursday, July 7, 2011.
If you or someone you know is facing fraud charges, our federal defense lawyers in Los Angeles will immediately get on your case.
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***What is a Ponzi Scheme
A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to separate investors, not from any actual profit earned by the organization, but from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors.
The Ponzi scheme usually entices new investors by offering returns other investments cannot guarantee, in the form of short-term returns that are either abnormally high or unusually consistent. The perpetuation of the returns that a Ponzi scheme advertises and pays requires an ever-increasing flow of money from investors to keep the scheme going.
The system is destined to collapse because the earnings, if any, are less than the payments to investors. Usually, the scheme is interrupted by legal authorities before it collapses because a Ponzi scheme is suspected or because the promoter is selling unregistered securities.