U.S. authorities brought charges against a South Florida woman Monday accusing her of running a Ponzi scheme targeting the Colombian expatriate community, which included victims in Canada.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Monday that it is alleging that Jenny Coplan told investors that her company, Immigration General Services, would invest their funds in immigration bail bonds and turn a profit. It says that she guaranteed high annual returns and told investors their money was insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC).
However, the SEC says that Coplan never placed investor funds, and their money was never FDIC insured. Instead, she paid supposed profits to earlier investors using funds from newer investors, and, it says, she stole approximately $878,000 of investor money for her own personal use. Overall, it says she raised approximately $4 million from more than 90 investors in Florida, California, Georgia, Texas, Canada, and Colombia.
In a parallel action, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of Florida also announced criminal charges against Coplan. The SEC is seeking disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, financial penalties, and permanent injunctions.
The allegations in the case have not been proven.
“Coplan deliberately misled investors into believing their investments were safe and secure when in reality she was lining her own pockets,” said Eric Bustillo, director of the SEC’s Miami regional office. “Her predatory scheme exploited the trust and friendship of members of her own community by using empty promises to convince them to trust her with their hard-earned savings.”