Editorial: Gambling-averse Utahns take wild investment bets

by **RamblerNash** Wed Jul 13, 2016 12:09 am

Editorial: Gambling-averse Utahns take wild investment bets

First Published Apr 01 2016 06:03PM • Last Updated Apr 01 2016 07:27 pm

Another day, another Utah fraud conviction. Logan businessman John Scott Clark pleaded guilty this week in federal court to defrauding investors of $1.84 million. That's a lot of money, but not anywhere close to the major fraud cases that have floated through this state.

What makes Clark's case a little different is that he started the fraud scheme while he was on supervised release for a 2012 guilty plea in a New York federal court to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice.

And that came after Clark had been sued in Salt Lake City by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly operating a $47 million Ponzi scheme through his payday loan operations. In that case he was ordered not to violate federal securities laws and he was required to pay more than $5.6 million.

In other words, this guy is not someone to trust with your money, and yet there were 46 people willing to give him the $1.84 million.
At least some of the victims came through church associations, and that has an all too familiar ring. Utah is thought to have the highest rate of affinity fraud, in which scammers use religious and other associations to gain trust from victims.

Aware of the reputation, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes has championed a state white collar crime registry, and the registry's website recently launched with 106 people listed (with photos). That may be helpful, but this case also shows the limitations of such lists. Clark, for all his history, is not among the listed, at least not yet.

The greed of these perpetrators is obvious, but what is less acknowledged is the greed of the victims. Consider what Clark was selling. He promised returns of 15 percent to 15,000 percent on foreign oil contracts by telling investors he and his business partner "were members of a top secret U.S. military and government program and held special security clearances which enabled them to invest in the purchase and sale of Iraqi dinar and oil contracts."

Who in his right mind would buy that line?

That brings us to another state effort to counter our fraud-capital rep. Utah is one of only a few states to require high school students to take a course in financial literacy. The standards for that class say students are required to "understand that investments put principal at risk." On the sliding scale of risks vs. rewards, there is a point at which investing is more like gambling, and 15,000 percent returns are definitely past that point.

And that is where gambling-averse Utahns may be easy prey. Along with counseling our children on benefits of wise money management, maybe we should be teaching them how to play poker. Then they won't be surprised when someone in real life tries to bluff.

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/3730586-155/editorial-gambling-averse-utahns-take-wild-investment

by **Ponee** Mon Jul 18, 2016 10:03 am

by **Ssmith** Mon Jul 18, 2016 10:37 am

I believe AdminBill is from Utah. Also several of his mods are as well.

Editorial: Gambling-averse Utahns take wild investment bets

Editorial: Gambling-averse Utahns take wild investment bets

Re: Editorial: Gambling-averse Utahns take wild investment bets

Re: Editorial: Gambling-averse Utahns take wild investment bets