IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
A Moreno Valley man has been arrested in connection with an investment fraud operation in which more than $11 million was stolen from investors who were promised major returns from oil and gas projects.
Timothy Aubrey, 53, surrendered to FBI agents in Riverside this week after charges of mail and wire fraud were handed down against him by a federal grand jury, according to a published report.
Aaron Glasser, 30, of Mission Viejo, was also arrested by federal authorities on the same charges in connection with that indictment. Both men were taken into custody without incident, according to the report.
Timothy Aubrey’s brother, 51-year-old Jerry Aubrey, was in custody before Tuesday’s arrests.
Both men are accused of operating a telemarketing company called Progressive Energy Partners in Costa Mesa, which was actually a Ponzi-like scheme that called potential investors and closed bogus deals, according to the report.
More than 200 investors were defrauded between 2005 and 2010. The indictment alleges that most of the money raised by Progressive Energy was used by the Aubrey brothers for personal expenses and to pay large commissions.
Less than 10 percent of the money collected was used to invest in well.
The brothers allegedly set up a series of pyramid-style payments to some of their initial investors to create the illusion that Progressive Energy was a growing company, according to the report.
