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.