Crime & Safety
Juice Bar Owner Accused of Running $500K Ponzi Scheme Heads to Court
Twenty-year-old Ian Bick of Danbury is charged with 11 counts of wire fraud, making a false statement, and three counts of money laundering.
A Danbury man is headed to court Friday to face charges of money laundering and wire fraud, according to the News Times.
Ian Bick, 20, was arrested in January 2015 for allegedly defrauding over 15 investors out of nearly $500,000. He is the owner of Tuxedo Junction on Ives Street in Danbury, an all-ages night club/juice bar.
According to reports, Bick allegedly solicited funds from his friends, former classmates, acquaintances, and their parents by promising high investment returns over short periods of time.
Bick defrauded over 15 investors out of nearly $500,000, prosecutors allege.
Patch reported last January that Bick was charged with 11 counts of wire fraud, which carry a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years on each count, three counts of money laundering, which carry a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years on each count, and one count of making a false statement to federal law enforcement, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years.
According to the indictment, “during a June 2014 interview with U.S. Postal Inspection Service agents, Bick falsely stated, with respect to the use of the money that a certain victim-investor invested with Planet Youth Entertainment LLC, that “70 to 80 percent of the money had been on ‘artist deposits,’” when only a minimal portion, at most, of the invested funds had been used in any way connected with any artist deposits.”
U.S. Attorney Daly said that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Charges are allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division and U.S. Postal Inspection Service, are all investigation the charges, along with the assistance of the Danbury Police Department and the Connecticut Department of Banking.
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