Jun.17, 2010

Four people involved in a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that targeted Haitian Americans were charged Wednesday with one count each of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The accused are Maxo Francois, Jean Fritz Montinard, Aiby Pierre-Louis and Maguy Nereus, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida said.

Court documents say their scheme, which was discovered in 2005, involved two businesses known as Focus Development Center and Focus Financial Group. They claimed to be offering 12-month notes with a guaranteed annual rate of return of more than 15 percent, claiming the money would be used to create Haitian-American jobs and businesses.

The companies made their sales pitches in churches and through a weekly talk show on Haitian radio station WLQY-1320 AM.

But Focus Development never generated the kind of profits needed to pay returns, and the quartet used money from new investors to pay off existing investors.

Over time, they raised about $8 million from more than 600 Haitian Americans in South Florida, who lost about $6 million.

They face up to 20 years on each charge and fines of up to $16 million.