$9.75M Investment Scam Lands Bradenton Woman In Prison: U.S. DOJ

BRADENTON, FL — A Bradenton woman who pleaded guilty to charges related to a $9.75 million investment scheme has been sentenced to nine years and two months in federal prison.

Lori Ann Nademus, 46, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering on March 17, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

The court also ordered Nademus to forfeit a 10-carat white gold and diamond wedding ring and a stainless-steel TAG Heuer watch, which are traceable to proceeds of her crimes, the department said. She must also forfeit the $9.75 million in proceeds from her wire fraud scheme.

From February 2017 and September 2020, Nademus solicited individuals to invest in “false and fraudulent” high-yield investment programs, the DOJ said. She used the fraud’s proceeds to perpetuate the scheme and for her personal gain.

“Using her purported foundations, Nademus falsely and fraudulently represented that the victim-investors’ funds would be used for various projects, such as providing clean water to a third world country, purchasing a trust in Liechtenstein at a cost exceeding $1 million, leveraging a gold mine for investment, and liquidating a multi-million dollar investment, and that the victim-investors would realize nearly immediate, significant, and ongoing gains by providing bridge financing,” the agency said.

Nademus told her victims that their investments “ were safe for various reasons, including that the investments were secured by millions of dollars of assets held by her ‘Teras Foundation Investments,’” according to the DOJ.

She gave them fake promissory notes, balloon promissory notes and/or memos of understanding. Her victims sent money, often using interstate wires, to accounts in the names of Dunamis Foundation, Teras Foundation or an attorney’s IOTA account.

Nademus used nearly all of the funds for international travel, luxury residences, and high-end retail purchases of clothing, jewelry, and other items.

When she failed to pay the victims their supposed gains, Nademus tried to “assuage their concerns by promising a higher return at a later time to lull them into a false sense of security,” according to the DOJ.