Princeton Couple Defrauded Others To Fund Lavish Life: Lawsuit

PRINCETON, NJ - A Princeton couple allegedly defrauded friends to pay for their own luxury vacations, country club payments and other personal expenses, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced on Tuesday.

The state filed the lawsuit on Tuesday against the couple – identified as Ford F. and his wife Katherine B. Graham – alleging that the pair schemed to fraudulently sell investments in gas and oil projects between January 2012 and January 2014.

The couple allegedly raised more than $5 million through a series of loans and fraudulent sales of unregistered securities from unsuspecting individuals and investors located in at least five states, including in New Jersey, according to a release from the Office of Attorney General.

Graham, a Princeton University graduate, and his wife, used social connections in the college town to get sales in his scam investments, promising prospective investors up to 20 percent returns on their funds, the lawsuit alleges.

“Ford Graham and his wife allegedly used their social connections in the affluent Princeton community to lure investors into a Ponzi scheme that financed the defendants’ posh lifestyle of country clubs, private schools, and tropical vacations,” said Grewal. “The Bureau’s action today seeks to hold the defendants accountable for their actions and require them to return the ill-gotten funds to defrauded investors.”

The Grahams used sone of the funds aquired for personal expenses, including: an Antigua vacation; payments to the couple’s country club; payments to their child’s summer camp and private school; purchases at upscale department stores; and numerous cash withdrawals, Grewal said.

The lawsuit is asking for all profits, restitution for investors, imposition of civil penalties, and a permanent injunction against the couple from working in the State’s securities industry in any capacity, among other remedies.

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