Underwater Sea Scooter No Help to Ponzi Scheme Perpetrator

Posted on November 17th, 2020 at 3:51 PM
Underwater Sea Scooter No Help to Ponzi Scheme Perpetrator

From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law LLC:

Matthew Piercey has been arrested by the FBI for his role in an alleged Ponzi scheme. Piercey, along with his business partner, Kenneth Winton, were indicted last week by a grand jury. Federal prosecutors have accused Piercey of convincing individuals to invest $35 million in two of Piercey’s companies, Family Wealth Legacy and Zolla. Piercey solicited these investments by promising guaranteed returns through the use of an “Upvesting fund” which used an algorithm with a history of success, according to federal prosecutors. Piercey and Winton allegedly used investor funds on their own business and personal expenses.

FBI agents arrested Piercey on November 16, 2020. Piercey attempted to evade arrest by leading FBI agents on a car chase which ended at Lake Shasta. Once at the lake, Piercey jumped into the lake with an underwater “sea scooter,” according to federal prosecutors. According to CBS Sacramento, Piercey spent 25 minutes submerged in the lake before he resurfaced and was arrested.

Piercey is looking at charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering and witness tampering. His partner, Winton, has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Both Piercey and Winton could be sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Eccleston Law also practice a variety of other areas of practice for financial investors and advisors including Securities FraudCompliance ProtectionBreach of Fiduciary DutyFINRA Matters, and much more. Our attorneys draw on a combined experience of nearly 65 years in delivering the highest quality legal services. If you are in need of legal services, contact us to schedule a one-on-one consultation today.

Tags: ecceleston, ecceleston law, ponzi scheme

Return to Archive

TESTIMONIALS

Previous
Next

I want to extend a tremendous thank you for your dedication, professionalism, hard work and patient demeanor through this challenging time. It was enjoyable interacting with everyone on your team, this certainly helped while dealing with the situation and working towards resolution.

Dan M.

LATEST NEWS AND ARTICLES

January 24, 2025
Fidelity to Shift Independent Advisor Cash to Lower-Yielding FCash Amount in 2025

Fidelity Investments plans to redirect cash balances in non-retirement brokerage accounts managed by independent financial advisors to its in-house sweep account, FCash, starting in 2025.

January 23, 2025
Barred Advisor Continues Pattern of Settlements at Western International Securities

Chris Kennedy, a barred advisor formerly associated with Western International Securities, has agreed to a $2.1 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over allegations of high-volume trading, or churning, in client accounts.

January 22, 2025
FINRA to Revise Outside Business Activities Rules

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is seeking to overhaul its rules on outside business activities (OBA) and private securities transactions.