LV resident accused in Ponzi scheme

Nancy Edna Nash of Las Vegas and Palace Worldwide Enterprises are accused of operating a $2.7 million Ponzi scheme and have been charged with 23 felony violations involving sale of unregistered securities, sale of securities without a license, securities fraud, and racketeering, the Nevada secretary of state’s office reported Friday.

“This is just another example of seniors being targeted in investment schemes,” Secretary of State Ross Miller said in a statement. “Seniors need to be aware of the scams out there.”

Attempts to reach Nash for comment were unsuccessful. A telephone number shown with Nash’s business license was disconnected.

Nash solicited money from senior citizens at seminars held in Las Vegas hotels and casinos, according to the secretary of state’s securities division.

The division alleged that Nash was operating a Ponzi scheme in which new investor’s money was used to pay old investors, tricking them into believing they were invested in a legitimate business.

Bank account analysis showed that Palace did not generate any revenues, meaning that the enterprise was a Ponzi scheme, according to the division.

The scheme defrauded 42 investors of $2.7 million from 42 investors, although she raised $3.2 million between May 2004 and January 2006, the division said.

Fliers promised investors they could earn 9 percent to 16.8 percent guaranteed yearly without risking principal. Nash sometimes urged investors to take out home equity loans so they could invest with her, according to a statement signed by securities division investigator Mark Medina.

Some of the investors were in their 80s but others were in their 60s.

Nash told one investor that she was using the money to buy a block of homes in Las Vegas. Investors did not know that their money was deposited in Nash’s personal checking account and an account for Nash Financial Management, which sold insurance, mortgages, tax preparation services and living trust preparation.

The State Bar of Nevada won a consent order in 2001 against Nash, directing her to stop the unauthorized practice of law, including preparation of living trusts. Clark County District Judge Mark Denton in 2004 found Nash in civil contempt of court for violating the 2001 order.