SEC Says Investment Scam Shut Down

A federal judge issued emergency orders shutting down an $88-million nationwide investment scam, the Securities and Exchange Commission said.

The SEC alleged defendants operating from Phoenix, Chicago and Houston sold several bogus investments, including “prime” bank investments and certificates of deposit from a bogus Native American chartered bank.

The SEC said the scam was a classic fraud in which investors are promised their money will be used to buy and trade “prime bank” financial instruments that supposedly trade on clandestine overseas markets to generate huge returns. Neither the instruments nor the markets on which they allegedly trade exist, the SEC warns on its Web site.

In this case, the SEC alleged that a bogus bank granted business charters by the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Rosebud Sioux tribe which worked with a Houston-based company to sell $78-million bogus investments, including the prime bank investments and certificates of deposit in the bank.