Sun City West man accused of $500K fraud scheme

by **Ssmith** Fri Aug 21, 2015 2:01 am

Sun City West man accused of $500K fraud scheme

A former chiropractor living in Sun City West is accused of bilking an investor out of more than $500,000 in a foreign-currency trade scheme.

Murray John Lawson, 64, a Canadian citizen with United States residency, was arrested Tuesday after authorities say he made false and fraudulent claims regarding the trading of foreign currencies made on behalf of an investor, according to documents from the IRS. Instead of investing the money as promised, officials allege he used nearly all of it to fund his personal lifestyle.

Lawson was indicted Tuesday in federal court on 30 counts, including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and transaction money laundering, documents say. He pleaded not guilty to all counts, court records show.

Lawson approached the investor shortly after closing his chiropractor clinic in 2008. Documents say he told her that he traded foreign currency full time at a bank in Switzerland and had a system where he could guarantee between 30 and 40 percent return on an investment.

Federal prosecutors allege he created the identity for an attorney in the Midwest, who Lawson claimed would send the money to the Swiss bank through Belize or the Cook Islands, documents say. Lawson told the investor that the attorney was a former CIA case officer and registered certified public account and sent her e-mails from a fake account certifying the attorney's authenticity, according to the indictment.

The investor reported sending the first payment of $10,000 to Lawson in December 2009, which he deposited in his personal bank account, documents say. Lawson provided the woman with a fake bank account number for Dukascopy Bank in Geneva, Switzerland and sent statements every other month to her that alleged the investment was profiting, the indictment says.

After seeing the positive return, she sent additional payments of $40,000 in June 2010 and $25,000 in Dec. 2010 and then sent $480,000 to Lawson between March 2011 and June 2011, according to the indictment. Lawson spent the money or deposited it in his personal bank accounts, documents say.

The investor asked for a return of her money in January 2012. After an initial return of $15,000, Lawson told her he was working on returning the investment for several months, documents say. He ceased communication in August 2012.

According to the indictment, between December 2009 and January 2013 Lawson used $250,000 of the investor's money on himself, spending $67,000 on two cars, $38,000 on travel, $26,000 at Costco and Walmart, $23,000 on gifts for family members, $12,000 on golf, $6,000 on Starbucks coffee, $5,000 on purchases from QVC and the Home Shopping Network, and $2,000 on dating websites.

Lawson's trial is set to begin in mid-October.

by **Ponee** Fri Aug 21, 2015 9:39 am

Iam trying to remember who it was that sent me a PM telling me that someone contacted them with "official CIA or FBI badges" or something or other .... saying that they had to see their DINAR. It was about 1 year ago.

by **Kevind53** Fri Aug 21, 2015 5:56 pm

Dunno, but from reading this I do not think it is connected to the dinar, at least not directly, but more Forex in general.

by **aksafeone** Sat Aug 22, 2015 11:39 am

Sounds like this dude deserves what he gets. It also reminds me of the dinar reserve/lay away program and how easy it was for the dealers to "skim" off the money when the RV did not happen as the 'roos claimed and the month expired. I can not for the life of me see any difference between the two. In both cases the victim lost their "investment." Hmmmmmmm.

Makes one wonder why some of the dealers sold out doesn't it? I wonder who? Prosecution?

Once the decision is made to prosecute these low lifes one only hopes that the courts relate to the victims and instruct that the money be returned in kind to the "investors." It isn't that hard to prove that one sent in their money - the dealers insisted on bank transfers etc. Bank records would indicate who and how much if the "investor" failed to keep the documentation. It seems unreal to imagine that any dealer would keep the exact number of dinar on hand that they had out on reserve PLUS a ready amount for sale.

Sun City West man accused of $500K fraud scheme

Sun City West man accused of $500K fraud scheme

Sun City West man accused of $500K fraud scheme

Re: Sun City West man accused of $500K fraud scheme

Re: Sun City West man accused of $500K fraud scheme

Re: Sun City West man accused of $500K fraud scheme