Motivation for the scheme allegedly was to impress his father-in-law and his new bride.
Multimillion-Dollar Ponzi Scheme Roils the Orthodox Jewish Community of St. Louis
By Nicholas Phillips • Riverfront Times
These days, Joshua David Gould of University City dances in a Statue of Liberty costume to lure customers toward an income tax preparer. But the 31-year-old Orthodox Jew knows how to sing, too. To the feds, that is.
Gould, a former securities broker for Woodbury Financial Services, recently came clean to authorities and admitted to stealing millions of dollars from dozens of his coreligionist clients over the past two years. (The total may be around $4 million, according to several sources.)
Gould is also the son-in-law of Jonathan Spetner, the well-respected third-generation operator of Spetner Associates, a local insurer).
No federal charges have been filed yet against Gould, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith isn't talking. But records show the Missouri Commissioner of Securities is looking into him.
And now the young man's attorney, Al Watkins, acknowledges that in the late fall of 2010, Gould "self-reported his crimes" to investigators and is "fully cooperating."…
Why did Gould do it? Allegedly, to impress his new wife and his father-in-law, but also because an investor from a previous deal threatened his family's safety and his life if he fessed up to those losses.
Allegedly, the ponzi scheme was in part a way to cover those previous losses.
Before Gould ripped off his investors, he looted his family trust
[Hat Tip: Norm.]