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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

California Ponzi Man|Could Die in Prison

LOS ANGELES (CN) - A 69-year-old Californian will die in federal prison if sentenced to the maximum 40 years for running a $14 million Ponzi scheme to which he pleaded guilty Monday.

William Donnelly Yotty, now of Monarch Beach, a pricey neighborhood in Dana Point, but who ran his scheme from Lodi, pleaded guilty to mail fraud and wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Yotty has been held without bond since he was arrested in May 2014. He promised suckers 25 percent annual returns in what he called corporate debt obligations and distressed real estate that he and his salesmen said could be flipped for big profits.

He ran his scam through his Lodi-based corporations Global Capital Associates, Infostar Systems, Pacific Financial Solutions, The Money People, and Fortuno.

He took in $16 million and cost 240 investors $14 million when the Ponzi scheme collapsed, as all Ponzi schemes must.

He will be sentenced on Nov. 23.

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