U.S. District Judge Ann D. Montgomery has issued an order closing the receivership of Thomas J. Petters and discharging the Receiver in one of the nation’s largest and most complex Ponzi schemes, according to a DOJ press release. Through the efforts of the receiver, the U.S., and related bankruptcy trustees more than $722 million was distributed to victims and creditors. The U.S. commenced the receivership case in October of 2008 to enjoin the ongoing fraud by Petters and the other named defendants and to preserve all assets owned by the defendants for ultimate restitution and forfeiture in the criminal investigations of the defendants, which were pending at the time. The U.S. immediately moved to freeze the assets of the named defendants, including all assets owned by Petters. On October 14, 2008, the court issued the injunction against Petters and appointed Douglas A. Kelley as the receiver of the assets of Petters and the other named defendants. At the time none of the defendants had yet been indicted. The receiver immediately began taking control of the assets and property owned by Petters and the other named defendants. Petters and the other defendants had created a vast web of more than 150 entities over the course of thirteen years — entities that were all propped up by fraud. Some of the entities, however, were legitimate businesses that employed innocent persons.
