"Let's say you're a Divison I NCAA athlete. And let's say your team is invited to take part in a retreat in a wildly popular vacation destination like, say, the Bahamas. That sounds great, right - you and your teammates having some quality time to bond on an idyllic island in the Caribbean? Unfortunately for the George Mason University men's basketball team, what they thought was going to be a memorable trip turned out to be memorable for very different reasons."
"According to the post, the travel agent collected over $100,000 from the university and from some supporters of the team, only for the vacation to never materialize.The basketball team wasn't the only group left deprived of a scheduled trip. Maurice Eugene Smith, who was sentenced to 13 months in prison, confessed to operating a Ponzi scheme and defrauding a number of clients who believed that they were paying for enticing vacations."
Maurice Eugene Smith collected more than $100,000 for a planned Bahamas retreat for the George Mason University men's basketball team and other clients, but the vacation never occurred. Smith pleaded guilty to defrauding the team and others and was sentenced to 13 months in prison. Smith operated a Ponzi scheme that took funds from multiple clients who believed they were paying for vacations. A separate company, VII Group, had been hired to plan the trip and subcontracted Smith; VII Group became suspicious when Smith stopped responding to inquiries. Law enforcement, including police and the FBI, opened investigations. Pandemic-related economic pressures likely contributed to Smith's financial misconduct.
Read at InsideHook
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