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Pair Are Charged in Alleged Chain Scheme

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An investment group called the Platinum Club promised riches, but actually bilked four women--including three from the San Fernando Valley--of $2,000 each, a spokesman from the Los Angeles city attorney’s office said.

Stephanie Ahmadi, 31, of Beverly Hills, and Riener Nielsen, 41, of Pasadena, were charged Monday with two counts each of grand theft and “operating an endless chain scheme.” They are scheduled to be arraigned in Los Angeles Municipal Court on Dec. 18.

Convictions carry a sentence of a year in prison and/or a $1,000 fine on each count, said Mike Qualls, a spokesman for the city attorney’s office.

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The endless chain scheme involved Ahmadi and Nielsen allegedly persuading women from North Hollywood, Studio City, Reseda and Hollywood to invest in the Platinum Club.

Ahmadi and Nielsen promised a $16,000 return on a $2,000 investment, prosecutors said.

Two women told police they each gave Ahmadi and Nielsen $2,000 during a Platinum Club meeting at Nielsen’s home in November 1995, said Deputy City Atty. Keith De La Rosa, who is handling the case. The other two alleged victims told investigators they each gave the defendants $2,000 in December after hearing about the Platinum Club.

Investors made no profit and lost their original $2,000, prosecutors said.

Qualls said the charges represent a continuing crackdown on a “recent proliferation of pyramid games” in Los Angeles. He estimated that as many as two dozen convictions have resulted from the city’s prosecution of such crimes.

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