WESTLAKE, Ohio — *Editor's Note: The video in the player above is form a previous report.
An Olmsted Falls woman pleaded guilty in federal court on Thursday to participating in a Ponzi scheme.
47-year-old Tara M. Brunst pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, mail fraud, and three counts of wire fraud.
Burnst and her alleged co-conspirators engaged in a conspiracy that devised a plan that stole approximately $9,366,976.37 from investors, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The cases of Brunst’s alleged co-conspirators, Raymond A. Erker, of Avon and Kevin Krantz, of Olmsted Falls, are still in progress.
Court records say that the three involved sold investments to clients that they misrepresented as annuities and senior secured notes that had no risk of loss and had a guaranteed rate of return. Then, without the approval or consent of the investors, the funds were diverted to other entities controlled by the co-conspirators as well as personal bank accounts.
To keep up with the rates of return that were promised to investors, court record say, Brunst and the other alleged co-conspirators falsely represented that payments to previous investors were rates of return and interest when the payments were actually funds from new investors.
In an attempt to avoid being detected, office fronts were set up in Delaware and Nevada, according to the Department of Justice. The office fronts were complete with false websites and account statements.
This investigation was conducted by the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Securities, the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Westlake Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian McDonough and Kathryn Andrachik.
A sentencing date has not yet been announced.
*Editor's Note: The video in the player above is from a previous, unrelated report.