A former Westminster man has been accused of defrauding investors out of their retirement savings and home equity in a nearly $2 million Ponzi scheme, according to a federal indictment unsealed Thursday in Florida.
Jasper Buck, 59, who lived in Westminster and in Sanford and Lake Mary, Fla., faces five counts of mail fraud. Federal prosecutors are seeking the forfeiture of $1.96 million; the money would be returned to Buck's alleged victims.
Buck was arrested Thursday and scheduled to appear in court later that day. Court records were not available online late Thursday afternoon and it could not be determined whether Buck had retained an attorney.
According to prosecutors, Buck worked for mortgage companies but had a side company called Portfolio Financial Group, where he claimed to be an investment adviser. He also occasionally used another company he incorporated called Prestige Partners Group. The charters of both companies were revoked by the state of Maryland for failure to file a tax return.
The indictment alleges that Buck falsely told investors that there were other owners and employees of PFG and that he would use the money to make loans to people who could not obtain them from traditional lenders. But, the indictment says, the money was not invested and instead went to his personal use and to make payments to some investors so they would believe they were earning interest.
One of five investors who was defrauded in the scheme sent Buck a check for $98,600, according to the indictment. Investors used their retirement savings and home equity, and other lines of credit to invest in the scheme.
By January 2014, Portfolio Financial Group's funds had run out and Buck could no longer make any payments, prosecutors said. He gave investors various explanations, including that the company was slowed by new federal regulations, that he could not access the money and that the company was updating its software.
If convicted, Buck could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of the five counts.