In another disastrous episode of what the French call "savage capitalism"...
Utah County businessman Rick Koerber was indicted May 26 on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and tax evasion resulting from an alleged Ponzi scheme he conducted with numerous investors and several of his businesses.
Koeber contributed heavily to advance Utah's defeated school voucher bill, while ranting against "socialists" and worshipping Ayn Rand on his "Free Capitalist" radio show -- free, that is, to wipe out the worth of his many investors while help plunging Utah's economy into a recession.
From the Salt Lake Weekly: http://www.cityweekly.net/...
United States Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman announced today the business model was a classic Ponzi scheme that culled approximately $100 million in investor funds—over $50 million of which was used to pay off new investors.
The indictment also alleges investment funds were funneled into a number of personal expenses, including $1 million spent on expensive automobiles as well more than $5 million invested in film production. For tax evasion, Koerber was alleged to have used several of his business entities to cover his personal expenses and failed to pay roughly $250,000 in federal taxes...
A vocal critic of the Utah Division of Securities, Koerber has since 2007 gone on the offensive against investigators, challenging their investigations and even saying one had “the IQ of a rat” on his radio program the Free Capitalist show formerly on KTKK (K-Talk) 630 AM.
The Free Capitalist show broadcasts from a Provo studio and has been carried on KTKK (K-Talk) 630 AM radio for four years. During the duration of that run, Koerber has all but trademarked his own brand of capitalism as a cure-all for our politically troubled times. On the show, Koerber also has pitched his numerous other business interests, including his American Founders University. Koerber has taught thousands of students a process he calls “equity milling”—a real-estate investment strategy that, as some have practiced, has led to multistate securities-fraud charges against and investigations of more than a dozen Free Capitalist followers.
The fast-talking host’s radio rants bounce from pure dollars-and-cents business gab to apocalyptic diatribes about a socialist world takeover. In the course of a two-hour show, Koerber is as likely to reference Ronald Reagan and Ayn Rand as he is The Book of Mormon and the film The Matrix.
More here: How Rick “The Free Capitalist” Koerber’s real-estate scheme helped wreck Utah’s economy.
http://www.cityweekly.net/...