Irvine Man Sentenced to Prison in $80-Million Pyramid Scheme
An Irvine man who participated in an $80 million pyramid scheme was sentenced to serve one year in federal prison and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine by a Kansas federal judge on Monday.
Willard B. Bass Jr., 44, previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud for his role in a 1984 nationwide marketing scheme.
About 27,000 people paid millions of dollars to Bass and his associates for the chance to grow milk-based cultures allegedly used in manufacturing a line of women’s cosmetics.
But the cosmetics were never produced and the organizers pocketed most of the funds, according to a grand jury indictment.
Another Orange County man, Paul George Stemm, is scheduled to be sentenced today.
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