Man indicted on fraud charges

Thursday, Dec. 6, 2001 | 10:46 a.m.

A Clark County grand jury has indicted a Las Vegas man on 17 felony charges in an investment scheme involving the payment of medical bills of victims of violent crime.

Deputy Secretary of State Pamela Ashworth today said said Todd M. Selman, who operated Las Vegas-based U.S. Financial Group LLC and Vestors Group LLC, was indicted on one count of racketeering, four counts of securities fraud, two counts of theft under false pretenses, four counts of offering or selling an unregistered security, four counts of transacting business as an unlicensed broker-dealer and two counts of crimes against a person 65 or older, all felonies.

The indictment said Selman collected nearly $660,000 from six investors between August 1998 and August 1999.

Ashworth said Selman is accused of a scheme in which he said investor funds were placed in a special trust to acquire the debt of victims of violent crime in California.

Investors were told that the trust paid doctors and medical facilities for treatment at discounted rates. Then, they were told, a California program supported by the federal government to assist victims of violent crime would reimburse the accounts greater amounts for treatment.

The indictment said U.S. Financial promised a return of 100 percent to 166 percent when the state reimbursed the payment.

Ashworth said U.S. Financial never purchased debt from doctors or medical providers and never received payments from the state of California.

Selman -- whose whereabouts are unknown, Ashworth said -- could not be reached for comment.