Flashy Miami Jeweler Accused in Ponzi Scheme, Fraud

As a kid, Luis Felipe Perez cleaned bathrooms at a taco joint. By his 30s, he was a high-end jeweler, riding the streets of Hialeah in a Bentley. He traveled with bodyguards. Donated tens of thousands of dollars to local and national politicians. And even dined at a fete for the king and queen of Spain when the royal couple visited Miami. But his businesses, the feds say, were a sham. His jewelry companies had no employees -- and the man known simply as ``Felipito'' orchestrated a $40 million Ponzi scheme and took part in a $12 million bank fraud conspiracy, according to law enforcement authorities. [Source: Miami Herald]

http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2010/lr21544.htm

According to the SEC's complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Perez began his scheme in 2006 when he began raising money from investors, many of them Hispanic, under the guise of investments in his purported jewelry businesses. Perez was the president and sole owner of Lucky Star Diamonds Inc. and Luis Felipe Jewelry Design Corp., neither of which ever had any employees. Both companies have now ceased operations.