A Jefferson County grand jury has indicted a Wheat Ridge man in connection with a $4.8 million Ponzi scheme that swindled investors between 2007 and 2013.
Perry Sawano, 51, was indicted on 17 counts, including five counts of securities fraud and 12 counts of theft over $20,000, the county district attorney’s office said Tuesday.
Sawano is accused of running the scheme from his Integrity Financial Consulting firm, previously known as Providence Financial Services, as a licensed investment adviser.
Sawano was indicted Dec. 10 and arrested five days later.
Investors’ money at first was placed in traditional investment instruments, but Sawano at times moved the money “into ‘alternative investments’ without notification to investors,” the DA said in a news release.
Those alternatives included businesses owned and operated by Sawano, the office said. “He provided little, if any, disclosure and information describing risks, merits or terms and conditions of investments.”
Sawano is accused of lying to investors about how he conducted business and where investments would be placed. The office said an investor’s money would sometimes be used to pay other investors or Sawano would deposit money in shell company bank accounts he owned or controlled.
The investigation was conducted by the state Division of Securities and presented to the grand jury.
Sawano is free on $100,000 bail and is due in court Jan. 21.
