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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Ponzi Man Wasted|No Time, SEC Says

MIAMI (CN) - The day the "investment adviser" took $125,000 from a retired clergyman, he spent $10,000 of it to pay his credit card bill and make a payment on a BMW, the SEC says.

Phil Donnahue Williamson of Miami targeted retired teachers and police officers in his Ponzi scheme, the SEC said Monday. The retired pastor who gave him the $125,000 also was a retired teacher.

Williamson promised his suckers 8 to 12 percent annual returns from his Sterling Investment Fund, but spent the money on himself and on Ponzi payments, according to the SEC.

The U.S. attorney in Miami filed parallel criminal charges.

Williamson agreed to settle the SEC complaint by disgorging $748,050.01, the SEC said. It did not explain the penny.

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