Dawn Bennett was really good at raising capital, and even better at talking about it via different media channels. It’s always the little things that trip up those in the midst of a crime, and that is ultimately what landed Dawn Bennett a 20 year prison sentence.
The turning point of her downfall was claiming on television and other media interviews that she managed assets beyond $1B, when in reality it was a Ponzi scheme set up that was moving funds ‘here to there’ closer to $20M. Most of which she was using for personal purchases and lifestyle enhancements.
It wasn’t the Ponzi itself, but rather the boasting of incredibly inflated assets that were the beginning of the end for Dawn. Had she kept to herself, stayed out of the media, or at a minimum simply chosen not to grossly inflate her AUM she may have avoided detection significantly longer and maybe completely wiggled out of harms way. But that’s the thing with Ponzi schemes – at some point they take on a life of their own that begin to stretch beyond the control of the schemer that believes they have ‘everything under control’.
Via Media Reports:
“Former investment adviser Dawn Bennett was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Wednesday for defrauding 46 investors as part of a $20 million Ponzi scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Maryland.”
“The advisor, who hawked her services through a paid radio show called Financial Myth Busting, was convicted in October of fraud and conspiracy. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis on Wednesday also ordered her to pay $14.5 million in restitution to the victims.”
The inflation of her asset base via a paid radio show is what caught the attention of regulators at the SEC, and the rest is now jurisprudence history. The worst of it being that investors will most likely never see a dime of their stolen funds. Job well done by regulators.
