SACRAMENTO — A Northern California man who tried to evade FBI agents with an underwater scooter pleaded guilty to a $35 million Ponzi scheme, prosecutors announced Thursday.
Matthew Piercey, of the Shasta County town of Palo Cedro, was convicted of 27 counts including wire fraud, money laundering and witness tampering, the U.S. Attorney's Office Eastern District of California said.
Prosecutors said that between 2015 and 2020, Piercey operated an elaborate investment fraud scheme under the guise of his two companies, Family Wealth Legacy and Zolla. He solicited funds from investors using false claims about trading algorithms, liquidity, and the financial stability of his two companies.
Piercey promised investors guaranteed returns using an "Upvesting Fund," which he marketed as an automated algorithmic trading fund. He privately admitted to an associate that this fund never existed, prosecutors said.
Piercey only paid back around $8.8 million of the $35 million he collected from investors, prosecutors said. He used the rest for personal and business expenses, including legal fees and the purchase of two homes.
"Many invested their life savings with Matthew Piercey's companies, not knowing that the claim of guaranteed returns were the empty promises of a Ponzi scheme," said FBI Sacramento Special Agent in Charge Sid Patel.
Court documents show that, upon learning he was under investigation, Piercey attempted to "dissuade investors and witnesses from responding to grand jury subpoenas," the U.S. Attorney's Office said. At this same time, Piercey moved nearly $775,000 from victim investors into a personal bank account.
The FBI had been investigating for more than a year when they moved in to arrest him on November 16, 2020. Piercey led law enforcement officials on a chase before abandoning his pickup truck near Shasta Lake, where he attempted to escape underwater using a Yamaha 350Li submersible device.
Piercey was in the lake for around 20 minutes before returning to shore and being placed in handcuffs.
In jail, Piercey was found to have used coded language to direct two visitors to take action with items stored in a U-Haul locker he had rented in Redding, prosecutors said. The locker, rented under a fake name with a forged ID, contained a wig and ₣31,000 in Swiss francs, among other items.
Those two associates were identified as Ken Winton and Gary Klopfenstein, both of whom have since pleaded guilty to their part in the scheme. Both men are scheduled for status conferences regarding sentencing on August 21.
Winton was originally recruited by Piercey to be an investor but eventually took on management responsibilities at Zolla.
Piercey, 48, faces up to 20 years in prison for each count and substantial fines. He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 4.
"Investment fraud schemes like the one led by this defendant can devastate lives, retirements, and undo decades of planning by hard-working people simply looking for a trusted place to invest their money," Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith said.
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