California Ponzi Scheme

A California man has been charged with scamming dozens of people in a $15 million phony energy company scheme.

Joey Dodson, 55, of Indio, CA, was arrested and indicted, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Dodson is facing 10 federal charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering, according to an indictment unsealed in a federal court in Northern California.

Dodson was chairman and managing partner of a collection of businesses he founded under the name Citadel Energy Services, LLC.

Between November 2012 and May 2015, Dodson raised $15 million from about 50 investors by promising them returns from limited partnerships that supposedly would supply fluid management services to oil and gas companies in North Dakota, according to the indictment.

But the indictment alleged that Dodson ran a Ponzi scheme where he “routinely commingled the monies between the three partnerships, which resulted in investor funds being used to pay the expenses of unrelated projects,” the U.S. attorney’s office said in a statement.

Dodson also diverted more than $1 million for his own use, which included gambling, leasing his wife’s BMW and repaying former investors in unrelated schemes, the indictment alleged.

Two years ago, Dodson was ordered to pay $2.8 million to resolve similar allegations made by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Brokerage Firms

It is not unusual for a Ponzi scheme to use a brokerage firm to distribute the fraudulent investment.  A brokerage firm is hired to disseminate the product for a fee.  Many times investors recover from brokerage firms despite the underlying fraudulent company no longer exists.

Speak with a Ponzi Scheme Attorney

The securities fraud attorneys at Law Offices of David Harrison bring civil court cases and arbitration cases on behalf of investors who suffered financial losses in Ponzis schemes throughout the United States. Our interest is to recover money for defrauded investors.

If you are looking for a Ponzi scheme attorney to review your rights and options, the Ponzi scheme lawyers at Law Offices of David Harrison represent individual and institutional investors who have lost money as a result of Ponzi schemes. We will aggressively pursue claims to recover your losses or damages.