$75M Minooka Ponzi Scheme Criminal Defendant Blames Facebook

MINOOKA, IL — Minooka businessman Ken Courtright was charged Wednesday with criminal wire fraud in connection with allegations he ran a Ponzi scheme that raised at least $75 million from more than 500 investors across the country, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The 49-year-old Courtright was arrested Wednesday morning and made an initial court appearance in the afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey I. Cummings in Chicago.

Courtright has operated Today’s Growth Consultant Inc., a Minooka-based business that purported to build or acquire websites for investors. Today's Growth Consultant also did business as The Income Store, which had an office in Lancaster, Penn., authorities said.

From 2017 to October 2019, Courtright falsely promised to provide investors with a guaranteed income stream of up to 20 percent of their initial investment or 50 percent of the website revenues, whichever was higher, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Chicago.

The Minooka man's investment company backed these guarantees through fraudulent claims that the companies were financially healthy, the complaint states.

A confidential source has provided Patch with access to a five-minute video that Ken Courtright produced shortly before Christmas for his investors. In the video, Courtright recalls for the history of The Income Store and how he battled Google algorithms from 2012 through 2016 "in a constant dance of two steps forward, one step back."

To generate more money, he went after Facebook-driven assets "as they were providing us traffic and revenue, the likes we had never been seen before ... some of these assets were earning us hundreds of thousands per month," Courtright says in his December 2019 video.

Then, about a year ago, Courtright said in his video, The Income Store sustained an immediate monthly seven-figure financial loss. He blamed the federal government's decision to "mandate Facebook turn off their paywalls due to selling everyone's data through paywalls.

"This kick in the teeth by Facebook drove us to seek a platform that had no algorithms, no paywall and no revenue system."

As the video continues, Courtright talks about how he built and bought 422 Shopify stores.

"I gravely underestimated the cost to build and manage and market the stores," Courtright says in the video. "As of this morning, we have good news from multiple funding options with the understanding that none of the four options are exciting."

Before the late December video ended, Courtright said: "So, if I'm hard to reach, please forgive me and please pardon me as I and the team are working tirelessly around the clock to re-capitalize your websites and this company to remedy all issues."

Wednesday's federal judge ordered Courtright be released from custody on bond.

The complaint was announced by Joliet native John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the FBI. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason Yonan and Saurish Appleby-Bhattacharjee.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission provided valuable assistance. The SEC previously filed a civil enforcement action and obtained a temporary restraining order and asset freeze against Courtright and TGC.

Wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

"I'd like to state again, we are making every effort possible to avoid bankruptcy. If we are forced to go that route, it has been shared with us that our plan will get approved but site partners may not see anything for years," Courtright informed his investors during his late December video.

To read the U.S. Attorney's Office's entire criminal complaint against Courtright, which is 18 pages, go here.

Jan. 15 Patch article: $75 Million Ponzi Scheme Run From Minooka House: SEC