FC: Con man bilks MS, Valley investors out of millions, DOJ says

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,44169,00.html

   Casino Investment Scam Craps Out
   By Declan McCullagh (declan () wired com)
   10:55 a.m. May 30, 2001 PDT
   
   WASHINGTON -- A federal grand jury indicted a 23-year-old Utah
   resident on charges of running a brash scam that bilked investors out
   of over $4 million by promising them shares of a Internet and casino
   gaming company.
   
   Robert Robb of Orem, Utah, falsely claimed that Microsoft CEO Steve
   Ballmer offered him $50 million, that magician David Copperfield had
   participated in a Las Vegas launch of the multiplayer gaming
   terminals, and that Mirage Resorts had licensed the systems, according
   to the 8-page indictment released Tuesday.
   
   Nick Humy, an assistant federal public defender in San Jose,
   California, said his client appeared in court on Tuesday and pled not
   guilty to each of the 11 counts of wire fraud and extortion.
   
   The case provides a glimpse into the seamier side of the Internet boom
   around September 1999, when Robb allegedly began to raise millions of
   dollars from wealthy Microsoft employees and Silicon Valley investors
   by forging documents and promising easy money from casinos.

   [...]



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