Ponzi victims in line to share $4.6M

Swindler duped 1,500 people

Nearly 1,500 people who invested in a Ponzi scheme by a South Florida man purporting to be a Christian pastor will share more than $4.6 million in restitution, according to the court-appointed receiver, Jonathan E. Perlman.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Hurley in West Palm Beach approved the distribution plan this week. Checks are expected to be mailed Friday, said Barry Blum, counsel for Perlman.

George Theodule, operating out of the Lake Worth area, gained the trust of investors, including Haitian-Americans in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties, according to Perlman.

“A lot of these people were very poor and were afraid of banks,” he said. “That’s who he preyed on.”

From 2007 to 2008, Theodule collected in excess of $68 million through more than 100 investment clubs formed by relatives and friends to invest in his Creative Capital Consortium, Perlman said.

The receiver said Theodule’s companies had less than $28,000 in bank accounts when he was appointed to the case in 2008.

“I’m lucky that all my lawyers, accountants and staff have been willing to stay along for eight years,” said Perlman, a partner in the Genovese Joblove & Battista law firm in Miami.

Theodule pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison in February 2014.

The payout to investors amounts to 34 percent of their approved claims, Perlman said.

Investors can get more information on the case by visiting creativecapitalreceivership.com.

FILE PHOTO/SUN SENTINEL Fraudster George Theodule collected more than $68 million through investment clubs using cards like this.