Denver Man Sentenced To Federal Prison For Ponzi Scheme That Defrauded 175 Investors out of Nearly

Denver Man Sentenced To Federal Prison For Ponzi Scheme That Defrauded 175 Investors out of Nearly $20 Million


DENVER – Daniel B. Rudden, age 72 of Denver, Colorado, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Court Judge Christine M. Arguello to serve 121 months (just over 10 years) in federal prison, followed by 3 years on supervised release for mail fraud after he defrauded 175 investors out of more than $19 Million, announced U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn and FBI Denver Field Office Special Agent in Charge Dean Phillips. Rudden was also ordered to pay restitution of $19,609,905.21 to victims of his Ponzi scheme. Rudden appeared at the hearing free on bond and was remanded at the hearing’s conclusion.

According to court documents, Rudden was the President and sole owner of Financial Visions, Inc. (FV). FV’s business model was based on taking assignments on life insurance policies in order to pay for funeral expenses. When a family experienced the death of a family member and could not afford the funeral expenses, FV would pay the funeral home and/or cemetery for those expenses and take an assignment on the deceased’s life insurance proceeds. When the insurance company paid the proceeds, it would pay FV directly for the funeral expenses that FV had fronted. FV charged the family of the deceased a 4 to 5 percent fee for this service.

Individuals who decided to invest in FV received a promissory note signed by the defendant. Through the promissory note, the defendant promised to pay back to the investor the principal amount invested plus interest. Most investors were promised 12% simple interest per year on their principal amount invested, to be paid on a quarterly basis.

Over the years, the defendant continued to take in money from new investors, but the number of funeral homes using FV’s services did not continue to grow at a commensurate rate. As a result, FV owed investors more and more in interest payments while FV was not making a profit sufficient to sustain such payments. The defendant ultimately began using later investors’ funds to make the interest payments to earlier investors. The Ponzi scheme ended up defrauding 175 investors out of more than $19 million. More than 65 victims lost over $100,000 each, and two people lost over $1 million.

Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-co/pr/denver-man-sentenced-federal-prison-ponzi-scheme-defrauded-175-investors-out-nearly-20