Trevor Cook

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The September 2009 Asset Search Blog article “Money Laundering By Minneapolis Money Managers?”, raised the issue of whether Associated Bank had violated federal anti-money laundering regulations.  This article discussed whether an account opened at Associated Bank in the name of Crown Forex, LLC, had been used to launder Ponzi scheme proceeds.  It pointed…

A StarTribune article says that Trevor Cook’s currency program fraud was the second-largest Ponzi scheme in Minnesota history. The article too mentions that prosecutors have accused one of the scheme’s participants, Gerald Durand, of a murder-for-insurance plot.  The suspected plot surfaced at the “Government’s Motion For An Evidentiary Hearing Regarding Durand“, filed December…

At “Hockey bid a factor in Beckman’s Ponzi trial”, the StarTribune analyzes the Second Superseding Indictment filed in the criminal prosecution against Jason Bo Beckman, Gerald Durand and Patrick Kiley.  This StarTribune article explains the three are accused of money laundering and other alleged crimes arising out of Trevor Cook’s securities fraud which was one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in Minnesota history.  The article too reveals that the Second Superseding Indictment differs from two earlier ones.

This was true because the Second Superseding Indictment appears to accuse Mr. Beckman of using Ponzi scheme proceeds as part of an alleged attempt to buy an ownership interest in the National Hockey League’s Minnesota Wild team.  There is however, another difference between the Second Superseding Indictment and the previous indictments in this matter.  Unlike the earlier indictments, Counts 24-25 at pp. 34-36 of the Second Superseding Indictment, basically accuse Mr. Durand of using a nominee’s bank account at Wells Fargo to secretly convert nearly $22,000 in Swiss francs to U.S. dollars.

This supposed currency conversion had conceivably caused Wells Fargo to unknowingly file Currency Transaction Reports with material omissions in them, about who participated in said conversion.  Although suspected crimes related to Currency Transaction Reports are typically charged under 31 U.S.C. §§ 5322 &/or 5324, Counts 24-25 of the Second Superseding Indictment allege that Mr. Durand concealed material facts and / or made false statements to the Federal Government in violation of 28 U.S.C. §1001.Continue Reading Prosecutors Add To Indictment Connected To Ponzi Scheme Case

A February 3rd civil complaint filed against Forex dealer Peregrine Financial Group, (“PFG”), alleges “PFG ignored or failed to discern a myriad of objective red flags of fraud…” Complaint at pp. 5-6 ¶12.  The complaint asserted a $48 million dollar claim under Minnesota’s fraudulent conveyance law and it was filed by Receiver…