Recidivist Felon At It Again, SEC Says

DENVER (CN) - Brian Prendergast, a recidivist securities felon, defrauded old people in a prime bank scheme through his company, Enterprises LLC, the SEC claims in Federal Court. He took $300,000 from one victim, a 73-year-old man, by "guaranteeing" annual returns of 48% to 240%, and he pulled off the scam with cohorts Donald R. Smith, Yuail Enwia and their company, Worldwide Equity Corp., the SEC says.

Both defendant corporations sold securities in Colorado; Prendergast, 60, lives in Castle Rock, Colo., Smith in Aurora, Colo., and Enwia, 50, in Ceres, Calif.

The complaint lists a long series of securities complaints against Prendergast, including 12 felony convictions in 2002 in Colorado. He was sentenced to 10 years probation and was still on probation when he pulled this scam, which began in late 2008, the SEC says. It claims that around 15 people, some of them senior citizens, were taken in this scheme.

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