Draper man indicted for fraud in alleged theft of $24M

Draper man indicted for fraud in alleged theft of $24M

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SALT LAKE CITY — A Draper man who was the president and CEO of American Pensions Services has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly misappropriating millions of dollars from customers.

Curtis Lynn DeYoung, 58, was indicted Wednesday on 15 counts of mail fraud for defrauding more than 5,000 customers out of more than $24 million, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for Utah.

APS, formed in 1983, acted as a third-party administrator for self-directed individual retirement accounts. From about 1998 through April 2014, DeYoung is accused of using "false and fraudulent representations, promises and omission of material facts … to make personal high-risk, unsecured investments," according to a prepared statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In an effort to conceal his scheme, DeYoung mailed false APS account statements to all customers that contained inflated cash balances, according to prosecutors. Then in October of 2009, DeYoung "made a false accounting entry in APS records in the amount of $24,789,313.65 to conceal the fact that he misappropriated these funds," authorities stated.

DeYoung faces up to 20 years in prison for each count of mail fraud if convicted as well as a potential fine totaling $3.75 million.

In April of 2014, the Better Business Bureau of Utah reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was alleging that American Pensions Services" had misappropriated funds, made unauthorized investments, forged direction letters and inflated asset values, according to emails sent to the company's customers."

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Pat Reavy

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