SEC Calls CRE Capital a Ponzi Scam

(CN) - The SEC obtained an emergency order halting CRE Capital Corp.'s alleged $25 million Ponzi scheme. The SEC claims Georgia-based CRE and its president James G. Ossie defrauded investors, whom they called "correspondents," and did it in part through the Internet.

Ossie and CRE claimed they operated a currency trading program and promised monthly returns of 10% to 20%, the SEC says. But it was a classic Ponzi scheme, with old investors paid off with money from new victims, according to the complaint. Of the money the defendants did invest in currency trades, they lost $12 million, the SEC says.

Ossie and CRE told their victims on Jan. 9 that they could no longer make payments because the SEC had frozen the company accounts - "This statement was false," the SEC says.

CRE operated out of Alpharetta, Ga. Ossie, 48, lives in Atlanta.

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