A former Aurora and Parker resident who was on the run from law enforcement for at least seven years after being indicted in a Ponzi scheme has been arrested.
According to the U.S. Marshals Service, Marlyn “Milt” Hinders was taken into custody at the Houston airport on June 1, seven years after fleeing to Mexico to escape charges in a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that stretched from Colorado to California and from Costa Rica to Hong Kong.
Hinders, along with eight other suspects including Littleton resident Richard B. Leonard, told investors they were putting their money into highly profitable foreign currency trading. However, according to a 2003 indictment from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the defunct private investment fund called the Genesis Fund was actually funneling the money into offshore accounts in Costa Rica, Hong Kong and Belize for the benefit of the suspects.
The indictment alleges that between May 1998 and June 2002, Genesis Fund investors entrusted more than $80 million with the defendants.
According to court documents, the eight other suspects were arrested in a multi-jurisdictional sting operation in 2005 — five in Southern California and three others who had fled to Costa Rica.
Hinders moved to Mexico in 2004 and evaded authorities until a recent tip to law enforcement led to his arrest.
Hinders, 72, is facing several charges, including conspiracy, obstruction, mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, tax evasion, failure to pay taxes and seeking the forfeiture of assets. He is being held without bail in a jail in Los Angeles, where the case is being prosecuted. His trial is set for Aug. 9 in federal court, unless he pleads guilty.
Citing privacy statutes, federal authorities with the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office have not disclosed whether Hinders had any victims in Colorado.
