'Oil deals' in Nigeria part of Ponzi scheme, charges state

'Oil deals' in Nigeria part of Ponzi scheme, charges state

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SALT LAKE CITY — Charges were filed in an indictment Wednesday against a man authorities say solicited several people to invest in purported "oil deals" in Nigeria.

Brandon Benson was charged with four counts of wire fraud in U.S. District Court.

Benson, who resided in Salt Lake City and Orange County, California, began soliciting to investors in 2007, saying shipments of oil would be purchased at locations in Africa and transported and sold at higher prices at other locations in Africa, charges state.

Benson would use money obtained from new investors to pay money owed to earlier investors, and "in this respect … conducted a Ponzi scheme and the payments to earlier investors were Ponzi payments," charges state.

Investors were given a number of false assurances, including that their funds would be deposited in a "protected account," sometimes described as a "Guaranteed Oil Fund," and that they could expect an annual return on their investment between 40 percent and 120 percent, according to court documents.

From September 2007 to April 2010, Benson attempted to obtain about $1.4 million from seven investors, according to charges. From 2009 to 2010, he made three successful wire transfers amounting to $44,700, charges state.

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Morgan Jacobsen

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