Consultant faces federal charges

Amber Willard

A former Burbank man is expected to plead guilty next month to

federal charges that he conspired to obstruct an investigation by the

Securities and Exchange Commission into a $600-million Ponzi scheme.

As part of a plea agreement filed Tuesday afternoon, Daniel W.

Jacobs, 60, will likely be sentenced to five years in federal prison

and ordered to pay a fine of up to $250,000 for the conspiracy

charge. The plea agreement also includes a restitution payment of $1

million. He is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 4 in United State

District Court.

Jacobs, a business consultant, allegedly worked with Reed Slatkin,

whom federal officials allege masterminded the fraudulent investment

plot, to conceal millions of dollars that Slatkin had collected.

Slatkin lived near Santa Barbara and the two initially worked

together on legitimate investments for Slatkin, prosecutors said.

“They were both Scientologists and they may have met through the

church,” Assistant U.S. Atty. Steven Olson said.

To hinder the SEC’s investigation, the men allegedly gave the

agency false documents they generated for a fictitious brokerage

company they claimed held the investors’ money.

Jacobs, who recently moved to Michigan, was paid about $1 million

in gold coins for his role in the scheme, prosecutors said.