UBLISHED WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2000
From staff reports
An 11th defendant in a $95 million pyramid scheme has pleaded guilty in federal court in Pensacola to fraud and money laundering.
Benjamin Gilliland of Memphis, Tenn., is charged with conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The fraud charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, while the money laundering charge carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.
William Harry West of Niceville is among the co-defendants in the trial. The men are accused of creating and operating three trading programs called Hammersmith Trust, Microfund and Luxor Capital Markets, which offered investors up to a 300 percent return on their investment.
U.S. Attorney P. Michael Patterson said the programs never existed and were a multi-million dollar pyramid, or Ponzi, scheme that used money from later investors to pay off earlier investors.
Money in the funds was laundered through several corporate entities and bank accounts both onshore and offshore before being distributed to the defendants.