Former Commercial Director of Essex Holdings Inc. Charged In $30 Million Ponzi Scheme

[nitpicker]

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/pr/former-commercial-director-essex-holdings-inc-charged-30-million-ponzi-scheme-and

Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of Florida

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Former Commercial Director of Essex Holdings Inc. Charged In $30 Million Ponzi Scheme and Separate $2.7 Million Scheme Related to South Carolina Development Funds

The former Commercial Director of Essex Holdings, Inc., was charged in two separate fraud schemes totaling more than $33 million in fraudulently obtained funds. The first scheme involved nearly 100 investors who purchased $30 million of promissory notes purportedly secured by interests in iron ore mining in Chile. The second scheme involved unlawfully obtaining $1.2 million in economic development funds as well as valuable industrial property from the State of South Carolina.
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Anthony Joseph Baker, 37, formerly a resident of Miami-Dade County, Florida, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349, and six counts of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343. The case is assigned to United States District Judge Robert N. Scola in Miami. In related cases, Navin Shankar Subramaniam Xavier, a/k/a "Navin Xavier," 44, formerly of Miramar, was convicted in Case No. 16-20685-CR-DPG of related charges and was sentenced on May 16, 2017 to 180 months imprisonment. Charles E. Ashby, 46, of Pembroke Pines, was convicted in Case No. 17-20478 –CR-UU and is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro on October 17, 2017 in Miami.

According to documents filed in court, from October 2012 through May 2014, Xavier, Baker, Ashby and others operated Essex Holdings, Inc. (“Essex Holdings”) from an office in Miami Gardens. Xavier was the Chief Executive Officer, Baker was the Commercial Director and second most senior employee, and Ashby was the head of IT operations. Xavier, Baker and others raised more than $30 million from nearly 100 investors for supposed investments in sugar transportation and shipping, as well as iron ore mining in Chile. The conspirators used a false financial statement, forged documents, and false promises of fixed rates of return, to induce investors to invest with Essex Holdings. Most of the money was used for purposes other than what was promised, including to support lavish spending by the conspirators. Eventually, Essex Holdings used new investor money to pay old investors in a Ponzi-like fashion before the scheme collapsed. Evidence filed in court in a related criminal case showed that actual investor losses from the scheme exceeded $29 million.

The second scheme involved Xavier using Essex Holdings to obtain $1.2 million in payments and approximately $1.5 million worth of commercial real estate from the South Carolina Coordinating Council for Economic Development (“SCCCED”), a division of the South Carolina state government, that was supposed to be used to develop a dilapidated industrial property into a diaper plant and rice packaging facility. According to documents filed in court, Baker provided false financial documentation to SCCCED in order to obtain the contract. In order to get paid under the contract, according to the Indictment, Baker and Ashby participated in the falsification of invoices and bank statements to make it appear that Essex Holdings had performed work at the site and paid a contractor for that work. These false documents were then provided to South Carolina authorities so that the conspirators could get paid under the contract. Funds from the South Carolina fraud were then diverted to the personal benefit of the conspirators, and were used to make payments in relation to the Essex Holdings iron-ore scheme.
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