A Leesburg man was arrested Monday after police say he conned residents out of thousands of dollars by posing as a stock broker.
Ronald Thomas Miller, 54, of 6808 May Lane, Leesburg, is charged with six felony counts including securities fraud and money laundering, in connection with a scheme dating back to 2013.
According to Sgt. Chad Hill, public information officer for Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department, the investigation began in the Chicago area in 2011.
KCSD was brought in to the case Feb. 7 with Det. Shane Bucher as the lead investigator.
According to court records Miller contacted the first victim in January 2013.
Miller met with Victim 1 and his girlfriend, Victim 2. Miller told them he was licensed stock broker and could make them a lot of money. He gave them a name of a woman who could vouch for him. The woman told them about a family with the last name of Donds who made a quater of a million dollars investing with Miller.
Later in January 2013, two more people decided to invest with Miller. Victim 3 invested $25,000 and Victim 4 invested $50,000.
Victim 2 gave Miller a check for $25,000 in order to invest an initial public offering for Boom Energy and Fisker automotive. On Jan. 24, 2014, Miller went to Gingerich and said he needed $5,000 to keep the investment alive and would create a double multiplier. She wrote him a check for the amount, court records state.
On May 27, 2014, Miller told Gingerich he was switching the investment and she needed to bank fees of $6,000 to move the cash.
Both checks were paid to a trust account set up in an attorney’s name.
Rondeau tracked down the Donds family and found out that they never invested money with Miller.
Bucher spoke with Tina McGuire, Miller’s girlfriend, who told him she had deposited $150,000 in a savings account for Miller. She said she would take $9,000 out each week and place in a safety deposit box. She said she did that when Miller wanted the money until it was gone.
Bucher spoke with the lawyer, Peter Hallam, that Nicole Gingerich wrote the checks to. Hallam told Bucher that Miller had provided him with Gingerich checks as a retainer for services. Hallam told police he provided $1,000 in services and then returned the rest of the money to Miller.
Bucher spoke with Miller, who admitted he was not a licensed broker, court records states. Miller said he invested the money in a firm called New York Capital. Bucher was unable to locate an investment company with that name, according to court records.
Bucher found another man, Greg Farrell, who said Miller had conned him into a investment into a storage unit for $4,000. Miller handed Farrell one of the ill-gotten cashier’s check for $25,000 and told him to take his investment out, court records state.
Miller first denied making the contracts, but once Bucher showed him the contracts, he admitted he entered the contracts and used his then–girlfriend to funnel the money.
Miller is currently being held in the Kosciusko County Jail on a $75,250 bond.
