United States v. Robert L. Holloway
Court Docket Number: 2:11-CR-00984

This case has been reassigned to 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.

Trial has been set for October 8, 2013 at 8:30 a.m. in Courtroom 220 before United States District Judge Robert J. Shelby. Status conferences were held in the case on November 2, 2012, February 1, 2013 and May 7, 2013.

On December 8, 2011, the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah unsealed an indictment, filed on December 7, 2011, charging Robert L. Holloway, investment manager and chief executive officer of US Ventures, LC (US Ventures), with four counts of wire fraud (Counts 1-4: 18 U.S.C. § 1343) and one count of making and subscribing a false income tax return (Count 5: 26 U.S.C. § 7206(1)) stemming from a $25 million investment fraud scheme. Holloway was arraigned on December 16, 2011, and continued on the $20,000 bond that previously had been set in this case.

According to the indictment, from October 2005 until at least April 2007, Holloway recruited investors for US Ventures by making false representations about the investment entity. According to the indictment, Holloway falsely claimed that US Ventures used proprietary trading software that was consistently profitable; that US Ventures had more than $32 million under management and generated returns of 0.8 percent per trading day; and that US Ventures would retain a 30 percent share of investors' profits as a management fee. The indictment alleges that US Ventures raised more than $25 million from investors for its trading activities.

During the course of US Ventures' existence, Holloway allegedly generated and distributed reports to investors containing false daily returns on their investments, which did not disclose that U.S. Ventures was, in fact, steadily losing money. According to the indictment, between October 2005 and April 2007, US Ventures lost more than $10 million in trading. The indictment alleges that the "profit" figures on the investor reports were entirely fabricated. Holloway and US Ventures also made "profit distributions" to investors that consisted of funds solicited from new investors, not actual profits.

The indictment also alleges that Holloway misappropriated investors' funds for a variety of personal expenses, including supporting his then-wife's eBay business and Holloway's lifestyle. During 2006 alone, Holloway diverted more than $1.2 million in investor funds to a business account used for his personal use despite the fact that, as alleged in the indictment, he falsely filed a false personal tax return for 2006 in which he claimed a gross income of only $27,500.

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 Andres (Court Docket No. 2:11-CR-00985), Andres is charged in a five count indictment charging him with wire fraud.

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 defendants' 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.

Victim Impact Statement Form

Order of Release

Indictment