Ponzi Scammers Get |Long Prison Terms

(CN) - Two men - one of them a lawyer - were sentenced Thursday to long prison terms and ordered to pay $64 million in restitution to victims of a Ponzi scheme they ran under the names Learn Waterhouse, Wealth Builders Club and Qwest International.

Randall Treadwell, 51, of Savannah, Ga., was sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to repay $44 million.

Arnulfo Acosta, 45, of Edinburg Texas, an attorney, was sentenced to 7 years and 3 months in prison and ordered to repay $20 million.

Two more defendants - Ricky Sluder and Larry Saturday - will be sentenced on Jan. 12.

The gang promised returns of 2% to 50% a month - and in one case, "guaranteed" returns of 500% in 40 banking days, "risk free."

But it was a Ponzi scheme. Treadwell used his money to buy a luxury box to Jacksonville Jaguars games, buy a $100,000, sail around the Caribbean and pay the mortgage on his house.

Acosta admitted that while he knew he was being investigated by the FBI, he lied to agents, telling them he was not involved in Learn Waterhouse.

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