Palm Desert man arrested for alleged investment scam targeting retirees
A 50-year-old Palm Desert man who heads up an Irvine-based financial services company was arrested today on federal charges of bilking about a dozen victims, many of them retirees, out of millions of dollars.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that Mehmet Fatih Biyikoglu, the CEO of Five Star Financial Services of America, was taken into custody by FBI and IRS agents for allegedly targeting older investors who put retirement savings and other assets under his firm’s management with the promise of major returns.
Federal prosecutors allege that Biyikoglu and two co-defendants, Anna Marie Holt, 58, of Fountain Valley, and Biyikoglu’s ex-wife, Ida Shaghoian, 38, of Palm Desert, instead spent the victims’ money on themselves, including “for real estate, jewelry and a Ferrari.”
Prosecutors allege that in 2014 and 2015, more than $4 million total was stolen from investors, who were told their money would be placed in personalized accounts with Chase bank, with fake Chase statements given to the victims for the appearance of legitimacy. When the victims were unable to withdraw funds from their accounts, they learned that Chase had no records of any accounts in their name, according to the affidavit.
Prosecutors said several victims lost their entire retirement savings, with one 70-year-old victim giving Five Star more than $1.6 million, while only reclaiming $20,000 at present.
Holt, Five Star’s president and chief operating officer, was expected to surrender to authorities Thursday. Shaghoian, who worked as a sales agent with the company, is a fugitive, but authorities believe she may be in the Las Vegas area, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The trio could face up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, prosecutors said.
The defendants and Five Star have also been the subjects of several lawsuits in the Coachella Valley, with victims’ accounts bearing striking similarities to those described in the federal affidavit.
Biyikoglu was on probation at the time of his arrest for two Riverside County felony convictions for making criminal threats, according to authorities.
Court documents state that in July 2016, he threatened the life of an attorney he’d hired, after the lawyer demanded that Biyikoglu pay him more than $10,000 he was owed, telling him during a phone call, “I’m going to slit your throat and kill your family.”
Biyikoglu was also prosecuted for threatening to shoot Shaghoian following an argument at their home, court documents show.
After pleading guilty to the charges last October, a restraining order was filed prohibiting Biyikoglu from being within 100 yards of his ex-wife or the attorney.
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