St. Paul, Minn. — A U.S. District Court judge said Friday businessman Tom Petters will be held personally responsible for losses his investors suffered from a multi-billion-dollar fraud scheme.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Kyle says a judgment in the amount of about $3,522,880,614.10 will be entered against Petters. That's a result of Petters' conviction last December on fraud and money laundering charges.
A federal judge ordered the forfeiture Wednesday of several pieces of property owned by convicted businessman Tom Petters, including his former primary residence in Wayzata and the Plymouth home where his girlfriend and his two young children currently live.
The face of the movement is Thane Ritchie, a Chicago area investor/hedge fund manager who has sued imprisoned Minneosta Ponzi scheme operator Tom Petters for what Ritchie said were $150 million in losses that Petters' bamboozled from him.
"Ordinary, practical Americans deserve another option, a different path to address 'real solutions to the real issues' they face at their kitchen tables each night," said Ritchie. "So [Tuesday] I am announcing the formation of an ad hoc committee to explore the possibility of establishing a new political party here in Illinois and ultimately nationally."
Displaying a paranoia Ross Perot could appreciate, and a conspiracy theory Ventura would applaud, Barkley and Ritchie have tried to subpoena U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and ex-Sen. Norm Coleman among other "powerful interests" to see if they influenced the Strib's decision to cancel a 16-part Foundation's ad series. The ads ripped the courts and politicians for not letting Ritchie recoup more of the money he lost on Petters, who has since been convicted on 20 counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy and money-laundering.
The popular perception of a complex white-collar criminal case is of a bottomless font of billable hours for the attorneys involved. But the reality is often far different: The massive swindles and Ponzi schemes that have dominated local and national headlines for the last year have revealed just how hard it can be for the lawyers handling them to get paid.
From the statement given by his defense attorneys, Petters appears to have an incidentaloma: a stable tumor that isn't growing and doesn't require medical therapy or surgery.
So is his appeal for leniency on that basis just another fraud? From this distance it sure looks like the latter, but U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle will be the one to pass judgment on that. One thing can be said for certain: Petters' brain carries pathological features.
Sentencing for Thomas Petters has been rescheduled by U.S. District Court Judge Richard H. Kyle for 9 a.m. Thursday, April 8, at the U.S. Courthouse in St. Paul. A restitution hearing will be scheduled 60 days after sentencing. See the restitution order.
Click here to read the government's sentencing position brief
Click here to read the defense's sentencing position brief
Click here to read the scheduling order on the related defendant cases.
They say the 52-year-old Petters "has earned for himself a life sentence." But since federal law requires a sentence in years, they're formally asking for the maximum on all 20 counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering and conspiracy. That adds up to 335 years in prison.
Defense attorneys are asking for mercy at the sentencing for Minnesota businessman Tom Petters, saying he's suffering from a tumor on his pituitary gland.
ORDER APPROVING AND CONFIRMING THE SALE OF CERTAIN REAL PROPERTY LOCATED AT 3515 SECOND AVENUE SOUTH, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA AND DIRECTING DELIVERY OF DEED
Upon consideration of THE STIPULATION, together with its Exhibits, by and between Plaintiff United States of America, Defendant Frank E. Vennes, Jr., (“Defendant Vennes”), and Receiver Gary Hansen (the “Receiver”) [Docket No. 932], who stipulate to the approval of the sale of the property located at 3515 2nd Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota (the “Property”), the Court finds:
1. The Property is currently owned by 3515 2nd Avenue South, LLC(“Seller”). Seller is an entity formed by Defendant Vennes to hold title to the Property.
2. The Property is located at 3515 2nd Avenue South in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
3. The Property is a rectangular shaped lot consisting of a total land area of 8,123.22 square feet. The Property contains a 2.5 story boarding house constructed in 1923. The Property is in need of a substantial rehabilitation and is currently vacant. The City of Minneapolis conducted a Code Compliance Inspection of the Property and noted several deficiencies that must be corrected before the Property may be deemed code compliant and habitable.
A Chicago investment fund's federal lawsuit against former executives from Petters Group Worldwide can proceed, though the case will move from Chicago to the Twin Cities.
U.S. District Court Judge John Darrah made those decisions today. His written ruling said the case's "strong connection" to Minnesota weighed heavily in favor of a transfer. He also wrote that the transfer to Minnesota — which the defendants requested — will "promote more efficient, unified discovery."
The defendants in the civil lawsuit — former Polaroid CEO Mary Jeffries and Camille Chee-Awai, who led another business unit at Petters Group Worldwide — had asked Darrah to dismiss the case. He denied that motion.
This website is under construction. While we're waiting on my new home page to be completed you can use the web links below to access files from cases related to the Ponzi scheme prosecution of Thomas Petters, and similar receivership cases of Hoffman (D. Minn.) and Madoff.
On Thursday, Ritchie's civil racketeering suit against the former CEOs of Polaroid and Petters Capital is set for a hearing in federal court in Chicago, Ritchie Capital spokesman Lew Phelps said. The former executives of Petters and Polaroid are seeking to have the suit dismissed, Phelps said. If that fails, they'll ask that the court to move the case to Minnesota.
I’ve termed that suit “dangerous” — a rich guy’s attempt to bleed a publication through a bogus case. More on that in a bit. As part of Ritchie’s fishing mission, his suit names 30 “John Does” who may have pressured the Strib to pull the 15-part series after nine ads ran.
The sentencing of Tom Petters has been rescheduled for April 8, a court notice posted this afternoon says.
