A 69 year old male of Galesburg, Illinois and a 57 year old male of Burford, Georgia were charged with running the scheme, along with a third conspirator from late 2019 until early 2019. It resulted in tens of millions of dollars in losses for investors, the Department of Justice announced in their news release.
The third individual was already charged for his role in the scheme in the Central District of Illinois.
They also used Universal Herbs LLC to defraud investors in the marijuana business.
In all versions of the ponzi scheme, investors were promised returns on their investments of 10 to 20 percent in as short a time as several weeks.