LOS ANGELES – A 58-Year-old Nevada resident admitted Thursday in federal court to ripping off victims by saying he was making profits of 1 percent to 5 percent a week through a commodity futures trading program involving E-mini S&P 500 futures contract, officials said.
Gordon Driver,of Henderson, Nevada, plead guilty to two felony counts of federal wire fraud and false charges related to a Ponzi scheme involving at least $15 million, according to authorities.
Driver is facing up to 25 years in prison.
In a plea agreement, Driver admitted that he falsely told victims that he was making profits of 1 percent to 5 percent a week through a commodity futures trading program involving E-mini S&P 500 futures contracts.
Driver also told victims that he had never sustained a monthly net loss as a result of his trading.
In reality, his trading activity was overwhelmingly unprofitable, causing him to lose nearly almost all the money that he used to trade commodities.
Investigators believe that Driver took in at least $15 million and that investors – including several Southland residents and people in Canada – collectively the victims lost at least $9 million as a result of the scheme.
Driver solicited investments through Nevada-based companies with names like Axcess Automation LLC, which was under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2009 when Driver testified under oath, officials said.
Driver testified that he lied and told victims that did not have a monthly negative return during the second half of 2007.