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A Hawaii woman admitted responsibility in US District Court yesterday to concocting a Ponzi scheme. Suzette Anguay, aged 50, struck a bargain with federal prosecutors, agreeing to plead guilty to a count of mail fraud. She had been indicted on the charges in March 2012. Anguay’s day in court didn’t pass without excitement, however; after her plea she took a ride in an ambulance to the hospital for what reporters were informed was a “minor incident.”
Anguay ran her scam from 2007 to 2010, posing as a specialist in real estate investments through her company Money $en$e. While Money $en$e may sound like the name of a legitimate, trustworthy financial enterprise, Anguay was actually using this phony business to defraud some 15 families out of $800,000. The prime venue for peddling her wares, it seems, was at Pop-Warner football games, a typical weekend hangout for the sophisticated investor. As miniature helmeted heroes tackled and blocked their way down the gridiron, Anguay would tell their parents that Money $en$e could crank out 15-30% annual yield to pay off various debts and mortgage obligations.
Despite its promising potential, Money $en$e was really just Anguay’s method of paying off her own mortgage and for vacations, including a reported junket to Las Vegas. She would then apply another part of client funds to the distribution of false returns. Some investors have been “financially ruined” by Anguay’s deceit. Having had $140,000 stolen from her, Aiea resident Carolyn Jenovia told a local news station:
We’re at rock bottom right now. We’re about to lose our home and we’ll be out on the streets.
Out of 15 victims, 11 of them lost a total of $510,000. Anguay is set to be sentenced in February of next year.
SUZETTE ANGUAY
- Age: 50
- Job: Real Estate Investor
- Company: Money $en$e
- Scam: Real Estate Investment
- Profits: 15-30%
- Ponzi Time: 2007-2010
- Amount of Fraud: $800,000
- Victims: 15
- Location: Honolulu, HI
- Indictment: Mail Fraud
- Court: US District Court, District of HI
US v. Suzette Anguay Indictment
