Mr. Loja is one of about 400 investors — mostly immigrants from Latin America — who say they are the victims of a Ponzi scheme that robbed them of at least a combined $10 million dollars. Though most of the victims lived in Queens, others are scattered around the country in places like Florida and New Jersey. The company stopped issuing checks last year and has since closed up its office and warehouse; its principals are nowhere to be found. Complaints have been lodged with multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Queens district attorney’s office and the Federal Trade Commission. The communities that were singled out are grappling with the sense of being betrayed by some of their own people, who used their victims’ financial naïveté, distrust of government and common cultural ties to earn their trust. Read New York Times report here.
