Six of the seven people who admitted to various charges related to Tom Petters’ multi-billion-dollar fraud scheme will be sentenced in September, and one will be sentenced in August.
Sentencing dates have been set for seven people who pleaded guilty to charges related to Tom Petters’ $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme.
Each of the seven will appear before U.S. District Court Judge Richard H. Kyle in courtroom 7A in St. Paul.
Here’s a look at the dates and times of the scheduled sentencing proceedings:
• Gregory Bell—August 20 at 10 a.m. Bell is former manager of Chicago-based Lancelot Investment Management, LLC, who raised money from investors to feed Petters’ fraud scheme and profited from fees collected from defrauded investors.
• James Wehmhoff—September 7 at 9:30 a.m. Wehmhoff is a former accountant at now-defunct Petters Group Worldwide, who withheld taxable income and helped other Petters associates to cheat on taxes.
• Deanna Coleman—September 12 at 9 a.m. Coleman is former vice president of operations at now-defunct Petters Company, Inc., who conspired to commit mail fraud, and who blew the whistle on Petters’ fraud scheme in 2008.
• Michael Catain—September 13 at 9:30 a.m. Catain started Enchanted Family Buying Company, a shell company used to launder money from investors.
• Larry Reynolds—September 14 at 1:30 p.m. Reynolds is a Las Vegas businessman who was in charge of Nationwide International Resources, a Los Angeles-based firm that Petters Company, Inc., used to launder money from investors.
• Robert White—September 15 at 8:30 a.m. White is a former consultant for Petters Company, Inc., who created phony paperwork to make false transactions look valid.
• Harold Alan Katz—September 28 at 10:30 a.m. Katz is an Illinois accountant who created fraudulent banking transactions for Gregory Bell.
Both White and Catain filed motions last week asking for the same five-year prison sentence negotiated by Coleman—which represents a substantial decrease from their respective minimum sentences under federal guidelines. The government opposed their specific requests but did recommend less substantial downward departures, saying that the men provided critical assistance with the investigation by cooperating with authorities after the fraud scheme was uncovered.
Former Wayzata businessman Tom Petters was found guilty in December of 20 felony counts relating to fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering, for orchestrating a $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme that spanned a decade.
Petters, who maintains his innocence, was sentenced to 50 years in prison in April. His attorney filed a formal notice of appeal later that month.
—Christa Meland
(cmeland@tcbmag.com)