Accused Ponzi Schemer Claims He’s Holed Up in a Hotel, Lawyer Says
A Chicago lawyer contacted the Chicago Tribune to report an unusual call from a client who disappeared after the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil suit accusing him of running an $11 million Ponzi scheme.
The client is David Hernandez, accused of bilking investors who thought they were funding a pay-day loan business by using the money for personal expenses and other ventures. One of the companies he funded with the money, according to the SEC, was a sports talk website called Chicago Sports Webio, the Chicago Tribune reported on Monday.
Lawyer Avni Shah, whose firm has done some transactional work for Hernandez, told the newspaper that she got a call from Hernandez today, the Chicago Tribune reports in a separate story. Hernandez reported that he was OK and staying in a hotel in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove.
Sgt. David Bormann of the Downers Grove police department was skeptical. He said police have already been checking local hotels. “He might just be throwing people off,” Bormann told the newspaper.
