PHILADELPHIA — Claimants involved in the Bentley Financial Services, Inc. certificate of deposit Ponzi scheme are due their remaining $32 million, a jury recently found.
According to David Marion, the court-appointed receiver with Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads LLP, the verdict is a "major victory in his continuing efforts to marshal the assets of the Receivership for the benefits of the victims of the fraud." Through Bentley Financial and Entrust Group, Robert L. Bentley sold fake certificates of deposits from 1994 to October 2001 to hundreds of credit unions, banks and individuals. Collectively, they invested more than $370 million in the CDs. Bentley pled guilty to mail fraud and bank bribery charges in March 2005, and began serving a 55-month sentence on Dec. 6, 2005. The receivership has returned $339 million back to claimants.
Marion said it does not expect to make further interim distributions to the claimants. A final distribution, if any, will not be made until final completion of the litigation and resolution of certain known and contingent liabilities and expenses, including tax liabilities and administrative and legal expenses, he added.
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As of March 31, 2006, the receiver said it held approximately $11 million in liquid investments, primarily interest-bearing institutional funds invested in U.S. Treasury obligations and U.S. government agency obligations. The receivership continues to earn a return on the assets it holds with the weighted average yield on the receivership's invested assets at approximately 4.3% as of March 31, 2006.
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