SPRINGBORO WOMAN GETS 30 MONTHS IN PONZI SCHEME
Connie Apostelos — with bills for Victoria’s Secret lingerie costing $400 a month and the wife of the man prosecutors called the “Bernie Madoff of Dayton” — was sentenced to 30 months in prison for her role in Dayton’s largest Ponzi scheme.
Apostelos, also known as Connie Coleman, 51, was sentenced Wednesday in Dayton’s federal court in connection with the $70 million Ponzi scheme operated by her and her husband, William Apostelos, 55.
She pleaded guilty in April to one count of money laundering. Her husband pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and theft or embezzlement from an employee benefit plan, and was sentenced in June to 15 years in prison.
Beginning in 2009, and continuing for at least five years, the Springboro couple and others orchestrated a Ponzi scheme in which nearly 480 investors collectively lost more than $20 million, according to court documents.
The couple recruited investors from 37 states to invest in their companies, telling them their money would be used for acquiring stocks or securities, purchasing real estate or land, providing loans to businesses and buying gold and silver, often promising returns between 10 and 60 percent.
Investigators said when the defendants were late on interest payments, they told investors that their bank account had been hacked, a bank mistakenly failed to wire payment and/or the deal the victim had invested in was temporarily on hold.
William Apostelos used investors’ money to pay for a lifestyle that included a $35,000 per month horse-racing business, trips to casinos and his wife’s $400 per month Victoria’s Secret bill, according to court documents.
“Connie Apostelos used the money of hard-working investors to pay for her extravagant personal expenses and is being held accountable for her actions,” said Ryan L. Korner, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office.
William Apostelos’ sister, niece and Centerville attorney Steven Scudder, 62, have previously been sentenced in connection with the scheme.