Rutherford County man sentenced in Ponzi scheme
A Rutherford County man was sentenced this week to four years and nine months in federal prison for defrauding at least 30 Charlotte-area investors of about $2 million.
Chuckie Beaver, 52, of Ellenboro, pleaded guilty to securities fraud in November 2014.
Beaver owned Best Services Inc., which repaired industrial electronic equipment.
From 2012 to 2014, prosecutors said, Beaver coaxed friends, neighbors and fellow church members to invest in what turned out to be a fraudulent scheme. He falsely claimed that his company needed more capital to buy materials to complete a large number of outstanding repair orders from major corporations, according to prosecutors.
The people he scammed live in Mecklenburg, Gaston, Cleveland and Lincoln counties.
Authorities said Beaver created and showed them fake documents, including bogus repair orders indicating significant work activity, fake customer checks and fake customer emails. The documents gave investors the false impression he had strong relationships with major corporations, prosecutors said.
Court records show that Beaver often gave his victims post-dated checks at the time of their initial investment, written for the full amount of the promised investment plus up to 100-percent interest.
According to court records, when the investors’ checks were returned by the bank for insufficient funds, Beaver made up a number of excuses to his victims. In some cases, authorities said Bank induced them to invest more money with the promise of even greater returns.
Beaver previously admitted in court that he used the money to pay for personal expenses and to make payments to earlier investors, commonly referred to as Ponzi payments.
“Everybody needs to watch out for this defendant,” U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn Jr. said in announcing Beaver’s sentencing. “It is obvious he is a con man. Once a con man, always a con man.”
Joe Marusak: 704-358-5067, @jmarusak
This story was originally published October 28, 2015 at 6:45 AM with the headline "Rutherford County man sentenced in Ponzi scheme."