Charges Add Up For Men Who Ran $6 Million Ponzi Scheme: Report

BRADENTON, FL — Two area men face new federal charges related to running a Ponzi scheme, the Bradenton Herald reported. Kenneth Murray Rossman, 62, of Bradenton and Phillip Roy Wasserman, 63, of Sarasota defrauded clients — mostly seniors — of more than $6 million.

Though the pair was originally indicted in federal court in June, they now face additional charges — filing false income tax returns and multiple counts of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud — reports said.

If convicted, they could spend more than 20 years in prison. They’ll also be on the hook for returning $6.3 million to their victims, if prosecutors have their way, reports said.

Rossman is a certified public accountant, while Wasserman is a former lawyer and licensed insurance agent, the Herald reported. Federal prosecutors say they teamed up to target elderly investors, convincing them to put their money behind FastLife, which they said was Wasserman’s insurance venture. Investigators say FastLife is a Ponzi scheme.

They also convinced their victims to liquidate other investments and to borrow against their life insurance policies so they could put more money into FastLife, reports said.

The Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation department and the Florida Office of Financial Regulation investigated this case.