A Canadian man who pleaded guilty last fall in an online Ponzi scheme bilking thousands out of millions is going to prison for 65 months, following his February 25 sentencing.
Keith Nordick, who also lived in Mexico at one time, pleaded to mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to money laundering, as part of a probe into the Tri-West Investment Club which investigators said used Websites to solicit investments promising 120 percent in annual returns but bilked investors out of about $60 million.
Nordick and two other men, Alyn Waage and Waage’s son Cary, were the leaders of the scheme, with the elder Waage said to be the mastermind and Nordick admitted he stayed with Tri-West even after he knew it was a fraud, according to authorities in the case.
Nordick’s admitted role in the scheme, which was exposed in September 2001, included providing false information to victims of the scam, helping with data entry, and helping to move assets from Mexico and Costa Rica.
The scammers used proceeds from Tri-West to buy land in Mexico and Costa Rica and even luxury items like a yacht and a helicopter, according to published reports.
The elder Waage has pleaded guilty to mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to launder money, and faces a March 11 sentencing date. The younger Waage is serving fifty months in prison following his July 2004 guilty plea to mail fraud and conspiracy.
