The Associated Press

Tue, Jan 6, 2009 (1:54 p.m.)

Two Montana men and three Nevada companies they operated have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that they bilked more than 700 investors in a foreign currency exchange investment scam, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Richard Young, 49, of Lewistown, and William Willard, 65, of Bozeman, face 11 counts each of money laundering and engaging in money transactions with property derived from criminal activity. In addition, each faces five counts of mail fraud, five counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy.

The two men and their companies, Global One Group LLC, Maelee Enterprises Inc., and Badie, Inc., were indicted Dec. 3, but the charges were sealed until Dec. 30 and announced Tuesday by the Nevada U.S. attorney's office in Nevada.

Young and Willard were scheduled to appear in court Jan. 22 for arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Valerie P. Cooke in Reno. It was not immediately known if they had lawyers.

Prosecutors allege Young and Willard received nearly $1 million from foreign and domestic investors that they then used for their own gain from April 2006 to October 2007.

"Individuals should be particularly cautious of promises of unusually high rates of return on investments," Nevada U.S. Attorney Greg Brower said in a written statement. "Offers that sound too good to be true could actually be part of a fraudulent scheme devised to steal your money."

According to the indictment, Young and Willard marketed Global One, which wasn't a licensed broker, as a company that provided educational opportunities on trading techniques on the foreign exchange market.

Investors were charged $500 annual memberships for access to Global One's Web site, conference calls and Web-based seminars, and instructed to open accounts with foreign exchange brokers recommended by Global One.

In presentations, investors were told that Young made 8,000 successful trades in a year without suffering one loss, and that the company had a software trading program that could automatically execute trades.

Authorities allege Global One also received money from some investors in the form of loans, and in some cases received power of attorney from investors to handle their trades.

Young and Willard allegedly transferred money received by Global One from investors into the bank accounts of Maelee Enterprises and Badie, Inc., for their own use.

Young and Willard face up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine on each conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud count, up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine on each money laundering count, and up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count of engaging in money transactions in property derived from unlawful activity, prosecutors said.