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SALT LAKE CITY -- The man accused in what the federal government calls a $100 million Ponzi scheme went on the offensive Friday. Utah County businessman Rick Koerber didn't just restate his innocence, he released secretly taped conversations in an attempt to prove it.
Koerber called a news conference late Friday saying he would release recordings of various employees with the Utah Division of Securities, recordings he claims prove the state never had a case against him to begin with.
Securities investigators started looking into Koerber's business practices several years ago. The department director says at the time of the recording, employees were not aware they were being taped, something Koerber admitted Friday.
Koerber claims state securities employees admitted there was a lack of evidence and one investigator even cleared him of any wrongdoing. He touted the excerpts as a "smoking gun" and said they demonstrate a pattern of abuse.
He shared a couple of excerpts from separate conversations he had with division of securities employees.
"There is no conduct that has been isolated to my satisfaction that you violated any laws or rules. There is none. You are not going to be put in jail. There is no warrant, and I would tell you if there was," one employee says.
Another tells Koerber, "We've seen their balance sheets, and they've got a shortfall of $60 million, so it's a matter of time before that collapses. So, if you know anyone that's invested: Bye-bye, they've lost their money."
Koerber also explained how he got the recordings. "After being investigated for years and having rumors being spread, I started telling everyone I know, ‘Hey, any time you talk to government regulators put a recorder in your pocket.' And some people did, including myself," he said.
State officials contend the excerpts are out of context and were recorded early on in the state's investigation, but Koerber says he has enough evidence and plans to file a civil rights lawsuit against the state for its actions.
Koerber faces the possibility of 45 years in prison in light of this week's federal indictment that he allegedly ran a Ponzi scheme. Again Friday, he denied the allegations and said he will enter a not guilty plea when he appears in federal court in two weeks.
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Story compiled with contributions from John Daley and Marc Giauque.
