Our very own Ponzi Scheme robs NJ Elderly

by: Jason Springer

Fri Dec 19, 2008 at 10:30:00 AM EST

Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal Justice Director Deborah Gramiccioni announced that a Salem County investment broker was arrested this morning on money laundering and theft charges, accused of defrauding South Jersey investors out of $1.3 million through a Ponzi scheme.

According to Director Gramiccioni, Jeffrey Joseph Southard, 44, of Pittsgrove, was arrested at his mother's home without incident this morning on charges filed by the Division of Criminal Justice. Southard was charged with first-degree money laundering, second-degree misapplication of entrusted property, second-degree theft by deception, and second-degree securities fraud.

Southard allegedly perpetrated the fraud by personally visiting his clients, many of whom were in their eighties and nineties, on a regular basis. The clients stated that they wanted a conservative investment to fund their retirements, supplement their social security and provide money to their grandchildren. Southard's victims lived in several counties in South Jersey including Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem.

"Robbing the elderly of their lifesavings is a particularly heinous crime," Milgram said. "We charge Southard with peddling a complexly bogus product, enriching his personal bankbook by exploiting victim's trust."