Officials: Man bilked woman out of $130,000 with charity scam

By Cara McCoy

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 | 2:08 p.m.

A former Las Vegas resident has been indicted on multiple felony charges stemming from allegations he bilked a woman out of $130,000 to make bogus investments in a charity for battered women, abused children and the Native American community, the Nevada Attorney General’s Office announced Wednesday.

Mark D. Jones, 43, has been indicted on multiple felony counts, including securities fraud, offering to sell an unregistered security, transacting business as an unlicensed broker-dealer or sales representative, and one count of theft.

Jones was arrested in February in Colorado, where he is awaiting extradition. All the charges against him carry a possible sentence of one to 20 years if convicted.

The Nevada Secretary of State’s Securities Division conducted the investigation, which it referred to the state attorney general’s office for prosecution.

At the time of Jones’ arrest, the Secretary of State’s office issued a statement about the investigation, saying it stemmed from Jones allegedly scamming a 44-year-old woman out of $130,000 she had obtained after selling a home in Rhode Island. Jones is said to have told her she was investing in Eaglefinger Enterprises, Inc., a nonprofit company that aided abused women, children and Native Americans.

The secretary of state’s office said she was also told she would earn a return on her investment of 2 percent per month for two years, at which point her entire principle investment would be returned.

Instead, authorities say Jones, who wasn’t licensed as a broker or dealer in Nevada, made false representations to the woman about Eaglefinger and withdrew the money as cash, which he used for travel or gave to other individuals.

An investigation into Jones began in 2005; an arrest warrant was issued in 2007 when the original complaint was filed. The state attorney general’s office said Jones’ whereabouts had been unknown since 2007 and said that investigators believed he intentionally evaded arrest. The secretary of state’s office said he was arrested on a tip from a Colorado citizen.

He is set to be arraigned April 1 in front of District Court Judge Valorie J. Vega.

“It is especially egregious that this scam claimed to assist Native Americans, battered women and abused children,” Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said in a statement. “This scam preyed on the sympathies of victims who believed their investments were helping underserved populations.”

The Secretary of State’s office urges residents to be vigilant when making investments.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the attorney general’s office at 486-3221.