A fraud trial opened Tuesday for a Utah businessman … charged with running a $100 million Ponzi scheme that prosecutors say drained people’s home equity, life savings and retirement funds.
Self-proclaimed “Latter-day Capitalist” Rick Koerber is charged with 18 federal counts including money laundering and securities fraud…
Koerber was once a larger-than-life figure in a cowboy hat offering $2,000 real estate seminars and hosting a radio show about American principles.
He spent lavishly on a mansion and luxury cars, once telling a story on his program about buying a Ferrari so he didn’t have to wait for service on his Maserati. When a radio caller questioned whether that was in accord with Christian teachings, he answered: “God is a capitalist, my friend.”
… [Koerber’s] lawyer … was wrestled to the ground in an Oregon courtroom after successfully representing Ammon Bundy in the occupation of a national wildlife refuge.