United States v. Robert J. Andres
Court Docket Number: 2:11-CR-00985

This case is assigned to the Magistrate Judge Paul M. Warner, United States District Court for the District of Utah, Frank E. Moss Courthouse, 350 South Main Salt Lake City, Utah 84101.

Andres was arraigned on December 16, 2011, and continued on the $100,000 bond that previously had been set in the case by U.S. Magistrate Judge Frances Stacy. He was then arrested for violating his pre-trial terms of release on July 3, 2012, and was ultimately released with modified terms of release, which are set out in the link below titled Order Setting Conditional Release. Status conferences were held in the case on November 2, 2012, February 1, 2013 and May 7, 2013. Another status conference has been set for July 9, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 150 before Magistrate Judge Warner. The Court is allowing the defendant and his counsel more time to review the voluminous discovery produced in this case. No trial date has been set.

On December 8, 2011, the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah unsealed an indictment, filed on December 7, 2011, charging Robert J. Andres, sole investment manager and trustee of the Winsome Investment Trust (Winsome), with five counts of wire fraud (Counts 1-5: 18 U.S.C. § 1343) stemming from a $72 million insider investment fraud scheme.

According to the indictment, from October 2005 until at least January 2011, Andres recruited investors for Winsome by misrepresenting Winsome's assets and asset allocation and the way in which funds were invested. Between October 2005 and April 2007, Andres allegedly raised more than $39 million from Winsome investors by disseminating false and misleading Winsome balance sheets and by representing to investors that Andres would invest all of their funds in a trading program or a mostly automated trading business.

The indictment alleges that between April 2007 and January 2011, Andres used false and misleading information to raise an additional $32 million from new investors. Furthermore, Andres allegedly failed to disclose that new investors' funds would be used to pay earlier investors. The indictment also alleges that Andres used new investor funds to make purported "profit" payments to earlier investors to create the false impression that Winsome was profitable. During this period, Andres allegedly misappropriated approximately $2.2 million in investor proceeds for personal use, including hotel bills and living expenses.

In January 2011, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission obtained a federal court order freezing assets held by defendants Robert L. Holloway of San Diego, Calif., and US Ventures LC of Salt Lake City, Utah and Robert J. Andres and Winsome Investment Trust (Winsome), both of Houston, Texas.

An indictment is merely a charge, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Related Case: In a related case pending in the District of Utah, United States v. Robert Holloway (Court Docket No. 2:11-CR-00984), Holloway is charged with four counts of wire fraud and one count of making and subscribing a false income tax return.

If you have suffered losses as a result of this scheme, you have the right to submit a Victim Impact Statement (or letter) during the sentencing phase to explain how the crimes affected you. Victim Impact includes physical, emotional and/or financial loss. Because there are many victims in this case, we are asking that you complete this statement now as it relates to this defendant and mail it to: Pam Washington, U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Fraud Section, 10th & Constitution Avenue, NW, Bond Building, Room 4216, Washington, DC 20530. Alternatively, you may also fax the statement to Ms. Washington at (202) 514-7021. This statement is completely voluntary but is important to us because it reflects what you are having to personally and financially endure because of the defendant's crimes.

If you have any questions, please call Pam Washington (888) 549-3945 or email her at victimassistance.fraud@usdoj.gov. The court-appointed trustee has posted information about its activities at http://www.kleinutah.com/index.php/receiverships/us-ventures. Investors and/or victims should consult those websites for additional information.

Order Setting Conditions of Release

Victim Impact Statement Form

Order of Release

Indictment