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Two Found Guilty In Fraudulent Investment Scheme

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – Two men were convicted of defrauding hundreds of investors out of millions of dollars in a complex investment scheme over the period of about a year and using the cash for a bizarre series of pet projects.

A federal jury found 69-year-old Ronald Wesley Groves and 54-year-old Donald Charles Mann guilty of wire fraud from their work as the leaders of Money Growth Solutions, a short-lived investment company that promised outrageously high returns on their investors' cash.

Between April 2005 and April 2006, the two men raised about $4.8 million from 642 investors to use for "international bank trades." United States Attorney Benjamin Wagner said the defends promised investors a 10-to-1 return on their money -- 1,000 percent -- in one program, and offered investors a 40-to-1 return in a later offering.

Despite promises that the money would remain in an escrow until the purported trades were completed, the two defendants pocketed about $300,000 each and began spending the rest on strange projects, including sending $300,000 to a Liberian presidential candidate and investing $2.5 million in a Florida company that fraudulently purporting to develop a revolutionary battery.

Groves and Mann earned the confidence of their victims by quoting scripture and claiming to be involved in philanthropic and humanitarian activities.

The defendants' sentencing has been put on hold until they face additional charges later this year.

"International bank trades" have been a common factor in investment scams in recent decades, and culprits often try to hide behind alleged non-disclosure agreements to avoid giving details about their investments.

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