GEORGE E. B. HOLDING
CONTACT: 919/856-4530
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
WEDNESDAY - MAY 30, 2007
SEVEN ARE CRIMINALLY CHARGED
IN RETIREMENT INVESTMENT SCHEME
RALEIGH - United States Attorney George E. B. Holding announced yesterday an eighteen-count Indictment charging seven individuals nationwide with what the Indictment alleges was “an extensive scheme to defraud individuals seeking financially secure retirements out of approximately seventy million dollars.” The seven charged in United States v. Lomas et al., 5:07-CR-117-BR, are MICHAEL A. LOMAS, of Pasadena, California; MICHAEL L. YOUNG, residing abroad; BARRY C. MALONEY, of Bethesda, Maryland; LAURINDA HOLOHAN, of Concord, Ohio; SUSAN KNIGHT, of Eastlake, Ohio; SCOTT B. HOLLENBECK, of Orlando, Florida; and ARTHUR J. ANDERSON, JR., of Raleigh, North Carolina.
The Indictment was issued by the Grand Jury on May 10, 2007, and unsealed as to all defendants yesterday.
The Indictment alleges that the seven defendants participated in a scheme to sell purported investments in “Mobile Billboards of America, Inc.” Individual investors were promised a 13.49% annual return, payable monthly, in exchange for seven-year investments in increments of $20,000. As part of the scheme, the Indictment alleges, individual investors were tricked into believing that: the defendants were operating a legitimate, established business that was generating sufficient money to make the promised monthly payments; that the defendants were capable of and had made sufficient arrangements for returning the full amounts invested at the end of seven years; and that the purported investment carried little or no risk.
The Indictment also provides notice that the United States is seeking forfeiture of property from the defendants, including all property constituting or derived from fraud proceeds.
Investigation of the case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the North Carolina Department of State, Securities Division. Assistant United States Attorney Clay C. Wheeler is in charge of the prosecution.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the United States’ burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
News releases are available on the U. S. Attorney’s web page at www.usdoj.gov/usao/nce within 48 hours of release.
