Utah Man and Canadian Citizen Indicted In Georgia for Conspiracy, Mail and Wire Fraud, May Have Been Conned by Their European Contacts
As reported in the Salt Lake Tribune, Thomas Repke of Holladay, Nevada, has been indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on 22 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud. The charges are based on allegations that Mr. Repke, through the companies Coadum Capital and Mansell Acquisition Co., allegedly defrauded more than 100 investors of more than $30 million. Mr. Repke and James Jeffrey, a Canadian citizen, are alleged to have promised investors monthly returns of 5 percent on their investments. The indictment charges that Mr. Repke and Mr. Jeffrey promised investors that their money would be kept safe in escrow accounts, but allegedly transferred $20 million in investor funds to accounts in Switzerland and Malta, as well as allegedly diverting substantial funds to themselves, companies which they controlled and investments of family members. The defendants are alleged to have made false statements to investors about their monthly gains and account balances and to have used funds from investors to pay off other investors in what a Ponzi scheme.
Mr. Repke's and Mr. Jeffrey's uses of investor funds do not appear to have been totally selfish, however. Coadum is alleged to have used $425,000 of the funds to commission a 40-foot bronze statue of New York City firefighters for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation for a memorial to September 11, 2001. Furthermore, in a novel twist, comments by Pat Huddleston, a receiver appointed to oversee companies operated by Mr. Repke and Mr. Jeffries, indicates that the two men might have been victims themselves, deceived by individuals in Europe who they dealt with. "My investigation shows they were conned out of that money," Huddleston stated. "They might have believed they were making legitimate investments over there, but the person was essentially conning them."
Mr. Repke pleaded not guilty to the charges yesterday and was released on a $250,000 bond. The U.S.Securities and Exchange Commission has also sued Mr. Repke and Mr. Jeffrey.
