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Ronald D. Catrell
Charged with Scheme to Sell Phony Investments in Facebook
December 20, 2011
 A
Kansas man has been charged with devising a scheme to sell phony
investments in Facebook.
Ronald D. Catrell, 45, Overland Park, Kan., is charged with three counts
of bank fraud, one count of money laundering, one count of wire fraud
and one count of aggravated identity theft. Federal criminal charges
were filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan.
The charges allege Catrell fraudulently obtained business loans from
three banks including Valley View Bank, Bank of the West and M&I Bank.
In order to obtain the loan from Valley View Bank, for instance, he gave
the bank a personal account statement claiming his account balance was
more than $297,000 when the actual balance was less than $179.
As part of the investment fraud scheme, Catrell created a business
called Blue Valley Capital Management, LP, which he claimed had an
office at 244 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1882, New York, N.Y. In fact, the
building at that address did not have an 18th floor and the business
located there, Aerobeep & Voicemail, offered postal mail boxes to
persons or businesses desiring a mailing address on Fifth Avenue in New
York.
Catrell offered investors the opportunity to purchase Facebook stock
through him. He falsely told investors he could purchase stock in
Facebook through Goldman Sachs. In fact, Facebook was a privately held
company that was not publicly traded. One victim, identified as William
L., gave Catrell $35,000 to invest in BCVM and $50,000 to invest in
Facebook stock.
 Upon
conviction, the crimes carry the following penalties:
- Bank fraud: A maximum penalty of
20 years and a fine up to $1 million.
- Aggravated identity theft: A
mandatory two years and a fine up to $250,000.
- Money laundering: A maximum
penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000.
- Wire fraud: A maximum penalty of
20 years and a fine up to $250,000.
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