The Florida Department of Law Enforcement Miami Regional Operations Center has charged two men with racketeering for their alleged roles in a $7 million Ponzi scheme which involved the fraudulent sale of airplane parts.
Victor Brown, 55, of Hollywood, and Roger Green, 78, of Stuart, were charged with one count of racketeering and one count of conspiracy to commit racketeering. Money laundering and securities fraud were part of the overall scheme. Both men were arrested without incident at their homes on Dec. 14 and were transported to the Broward County Jail where they are being held on bonds of $1 million each.
Special agents said Brown and Green are accused of using the fraudulently obtained funds to enrich their own lifestyles, to gamble and for the purchase of expensive cars and other items.
The investigation, named Operation Usual Suspects, began in 2009 after FDLE was contacted by victims regarding Brown and Green, who were the former owners of the now-defunct Military Air Parts International business in Broward County.
Investigators said the identified fraud involved 24 victim investors in Florida and elsewhere who were swindled out of $7 million through the fraudulent sale of C-130 and L-100 aircraft parts. These crimes occurred between 2004 and 2007, special agents said.
The scheme involved claims by Military Air Parts International that it was purchasing airplane parts that had been approved for resale by the Federal Aviation Administration to businesses and foreign international air forces. Military Air Parts International would then refurbish the parts and offer the airplane parts to the victim investors as part of an investment opportunity.
Agents said Brown and Green allegedly told the investors that they could acquire the aircraft parts, which were in great demand, and that they had committed buyers for the parts. Brown and Green then pre-sold the aircraft parts prior to the investors signing the investment contracts, which the victim investors were assured would provide a return of up to 18 percent on the resale of the parts within three to six months.
However, during the investigation, special agents found that Green and Brown did not acquire, nor were they in possession of, the aircraft parts they were offering to sell. The few aircraft parts they did obtain were used to acquire funds from additional victims.
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Office of Statewide Prosecution will be prosecuting the case.
For further information or to interview an investigator in your area contact:
Gretl Plessinger, Keith Kameg or Kristi Gordon
FDLE Office of Public Information
(850) 410-7001