Posted on 10/08/2013 5:48:36 AM PDT by Colofornian
SALT LAKE CITY — Quintin Fullmer Smith, 33, walked down a 3rd District Court hallway Monday, flanked by family members.
Minutes earlier, the group huddled outside the courtroom, several of them weeping.
Smith has four days to turn himself in to Davis County Jail, where he will serve a term of 180 days on work release for two counts of attempted securities fraud, a class A misdemeanor, and begin paying restitution.
His father, Michael Kay Smith, 66, was sentenced to serve one year in the Salt Lake County Jail for two counts of attempted securities fraud, third-degree felonies amended to class A misdemeanors.
"I was optimistic to the end," Michael Smith said of his failed business Newport Financial Services.
The father and son told investors they could receive an 18 percent return by buying contracts from furniture store customers who could not qualify for standard credit options.
The pair reportedly said they invested $1 million of their own money, which investigators report was not true.
Norm Chow, a former assistant football coach at the University of Utah and BYU, was among at least 18 investors who gave nearly $3 million to Newport Financial Services. Chow gave $500,000, and his oldest son, Carter, who is a sports agent whose clients include former BYU wide receiver Austin Collie, invested $400,000.
Six people listed in the charges received little or no return from their investments...
The final restitution amount is pending additional restitution claims, including that of Norm Chow...
The Smiths falsely told investors they were earning “100 percent on every dime they put out there,” investigators said.
They allegedly told one investor that "if everything were cut off today, we would have enough to pay every investor back and still have $2 million left over," charging documents said.
(Excerpt) Read more at deseretnews.com ...
What we find here is what happens spiritually -- defrauding on a major scale for over 180 years -- has come home to roost financially as well.
I’m surprised at so many Mormons behaving in a naive manner with their money. I thought the majority already understood the secular world is full of greedy sneaky people. Maybe these scam victims were the very elderly.
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