Savvy conman steals from victims in investment scam
An investment opportunity where you can double your money sounds promising, but can also be too good to be true.
The scam started with someone who appeared to be a savvy investor, but turned out to be a savvy conman.
Authorities say Ronald Roberts stole from victims of an investment scam.
"He would approach potential victims, telling them they could double their investment and he would make good on that first investment," said U.S. Postal Inspector Donald Washington.
For example, if someone invested $10,000, they would get $20,000 back at the end of the 30 days.
"Once he got you on the hook for a larger amount, such as $50,000 or $100,000, he wouldn't make good on that return," Washington said.
The investment opportunity involved real estate.
"He would tell them that a large retailer was interested in some property that he co-owned with some of his relatives and that if they invested with him to help him buy out his relatives they would double their money once the large retailer paid him."
Authorities said it was all a scam.
"Our suspect was a very savvy conman," Washington said. "He only dealt in cash. He was one of the best conmen I've ever seen because he was able to talk people into giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to him in cash, and cash only, that way it was very hard to follow the paper trail."
Fifty victims lost more than $2 million.
"Our suspect was an avid gambler; he would gamble as much as $30-$50 thousand dollars a day."
Postal inspectors warn to always do your researched before investing.
"Chances are something like that that sounds too good to be true, probably is. I don't know of any investment scheme that can guarantee you a 100 percent return on your money within 30 days," Washington advised.
Ronald Roberts has been charged with three felony counts of wire fraud and one felony count of mail fraud. This is not his first run-in with the law. Postal inspectors say he's a repeat offender who has been to prison before similar schemes.
