Matthew Beasley was a Las Vegas sports betor and lawyer who came under fire last year for his alleged involvement in a $460 to $500 million Ponzi scheme. Beasley initially refused to cooperate, but it is now believed that he was part of a group who took money from over 600 investors in order to live in luxury. In a new lawsuit, it is alleged that his bank may have also been involved.
The scheme involves millions of dollars in investor’s money
According to the lawsuit, Beasley, along with other participants in the scheme, used investors’ money for private jets and boats, luxury cars, and properties. The lawyer also used some of the money to settle his gambling debts, according to earlier findings. He was alleged to owe sportsbooks $4 million
The man resisted the police and threatened suicide with a firearm when they arrived to arrest him. Beasley refused to put down the gun when asked, and pointed it directly at the officers, who shot him but not fatally.
Beasley believed that the scheme he participated in was led by J&J Entities’ owner Jeffrey Judd who, according Beasley had all the names of those involved in the fraud.
Beasley has been indicted on five counts of wirefraud and three counts for money laundering. His license as an attorney was eventually revoked.
Well Fargo Could Not Have Missed This Scheme
Wells Fargo Bank was the bank that Beasley had used. They should have known what was going on. The financial service is now facing a lawsuit.
A federal judge had requested that a court-appointed receiver (Geoff Winkler) bring the lawsuit against Well Fargo. The judge believes that Well Fargo should have identified the fraud scheme immediately.
According to the lawsuit, Well Fargo was supposed to have noticed the suspicious activity because the money from the Ponzi scheme went through Beasley’s account. This is according to previous findings. According to the lawsuit “a Ponzi Scheme of this Magnitude cannot be run secretly through an IOLTA or various related-party account.”
The lawsuit also claims that Well Fargo employees may have actively helped Beasley. It turned out that some Well Fargo staff, including a manager in a Nevada branch, had reported the suspicious activities. Well Fargo did not take any action at all, and even asked branch employees to complete the suspicious transactions.
It is not the first time that Well Fargo was accused of collecting money through the scam. A lawsuit was filed around the time Beasley’s arrest to determine the bank’s connection with the fraudsters.