2 Charged With Bilking Investors in ATM Scheme

Two Orange County men have been charged in Nevada with racketeering, conspiracy and securities fraud in selling $75,000 worth of investments in a company to own and operate automated teller machines.

The Nevada attorney general’s office said Wednesday that it is searching for Michael James Sweaney, 33, of Newport Beach and John Joseph McCormick, 71, of Fountain Valley.

The two men are accused in a complaint filed Friday with illegally selling stakes in a limited partnership that would own a large group of ATMs, which in turn would generate income for investors from transaction fees.

But the complaint alleges that the men never purchased or operated any ATMs and that any profit was “illusory.” While some victims received returns on their investment, it came from other investor money in what is known as a Ponzi scheme, Deputy Atty. Gen. John Cunningham said.

Sweaney and McCormick called victims from Carson City between September 1995 and June 1996, Cunningham said. At least seven victims lost a total of $75,000, he said.