A federal grand jury has charged an Illinois woman and a Georgia man with running a Ponzi scheme that took in $650 million from investors from throughout the United States. Reva Stachniw, Ron Throgmartin and co-conspirator Mark Ray solicited hundreds of millions of dollars from investors, promising returns of ten-to-20 percent within a matter of weeks. The victims were told their money would be backed by investments in cattle. In reality, the funds were used to repay other investors in a Ponzi-style scheme or for personal benefit. Stachniw and Throgmartin allegedly took in millions of dollars while investing little or no money of their own. Federal charges include wire and bank fraud.
