Acting United States Attorney Gregory G. Brooker today announced the guilty plea of JEREMY RICHARD LUNDIN, 30, for operating a Ponzi scheme through which he stole more than $1 million from individual investors. LUNDIN, who was charged via a criminal information on Sept. 1, 2017, pleaded guilty yesterday before Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright in U.S. District Court in Saint Paul, Minn. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
“Jeremy Lundin’s friends and associates gave him hundreds of thousands of dollars based upon outright lies. Mr. Lundin spent their hard-earned money - in some cases, their life savings - to travel, shop, drive luxury cars, and otherwise fund a lifestyle that many of his victims will never enjoy," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Amber Brennan. “Mr. Lundin has admitted his crime and he will now face the consequences of his criminal actions."
“IRS Criminal Investigation is committed to help put an end to the criminal behavior of those who prey on investors for their personal financial gain", stated Hubbard Burgess, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge of the St. Paul Field Office. “The guilty plea of Jeremy Lundin again emphasizes that we and our law enforcement partners will continue our aggressive pursuit of those who defraud and harm investors."
“Postal Inspectors will continue to protect the integrity of the US Postal Service and aggressively investigate and prosecute those cases where the US Mails are used to defraud individuals of their hard-earned money and property," said Denver Division INC Nicole Davis. “The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and its law enforcement partners play a critical role in protecting the American consumer from these types of fraudulent schemes."
According to the defendant’s guilty plea, from approximately December 2014 until May 2017, LUNDIN claimed that he conducted “options trading" through his company Big Island Capital. LUNDIN worked through a network of associates and friends to solicit investors to invest with Big Island Capital by promising those potential investors exponential growth through options trading. LUNDIN solicited more than $1 million from at least 51 investors, but instead of using the funds for options trading, LUNDIN spent investors’ money to fund his and his wife’s lavish lifestyle.
According to the defendant’s guilty plea, as part of the scheme, LUNDIN provided victim investors with written materials relating to his purported investment strategy. Through these materials, LUNDIN claimed that the goal of Big Island Capital was to “generate profits with options trading" and that while he could not “guarantee" an exact percent, he would “shoot for" returns of between 40 percent and 80 percent. LUNDIN also entered into contract agreements with victim investors. These agreements, titled, “Big Island Capital Investment Advisory Agreement," purported that the assets of Big Island’s account would be held for safekeeping in a brokerage account. LUNDIN regularly represented that the value of the account was several hundred thousand dollars. For example, “Welcome Packet" materials LUNDIN sent to a new victim investor on Nov. 24, 2015, claimed that the firm’s capital was then $730,000 when, in reality, LUNDIN did not even open the brokerage account until Dec. 21, 2015.
According to the defendant’s guilty plea, in order to appear legitimate and promote his scheme, LUNDIN created phony account statements. He also provided victim investors with online access to fictitious quarterly statements and purportedly “up to date" information about the rate of growth and the market value of the accounts, which commonly and falsely showed double-digit gains. As part of the scheme, LUNDIN directed his victim investors to make their checks payable to “Big Island Capital," he would then deposit those checks into a bank account he had established in the company’s name. Between May 2015 and May 2017, at least $992,000 was deposited into that account. During roughly the same time period, however, LUNDIN transferred $933,950 from the business account directly into his and his wife’s personal checking account. LUNDIN and his wife used the majority of those investor funds on personal expenses including travel, luxury automobiles, a boat, jewelry, retail purchases, and more than $366,000 in credit card payments.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Criminal Investigation Division of the IRS, Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Postal Inspection Service, and Minnesota Department of Commerce Fraud Bureau.
Assistant United States Attorney Amber M. Brennan is prosecuting the case.
Defendant Information:
JEREMY RICHARD LUNDIN, 30
Mound, Minn.
Convicted:
* Mail fraud, 1 count
* Money laundering - transaction involving fraud proceeds, 1 count
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
