Actually, it's not a surprise.  For some reason, South Florida seems to be a hatchery for securities and commodities fraud. 

In today's case, the SEC charged two residents of Plantation, FL, with having run a $30mn Ponzi scheme.  They offer and sold unregistered investment contracts and promissory notes to hundreds on investors - nationwide, 2005 through mid-2007. 

James Clements and Zeina Smidi allegedly, through controlled companies, operated a Ponzi scheme that offered some investors guaranteed 11% a month returns.  Investors were told their funds would be used to trade in the forex, or foreign currencies, market. The companies are:  - MRT, LLC; MRT Holdings, LTD; Maximum Return Transaction, LLC.

        SEC Allegations.   Defendants also are alleged to have 'employed' certain investors as "account managers" to solicit hundreds of investors through informal gatherings and word of mouth.  MRT would pay a small percentage of each investor’s returns to the investors’ account manager, pay each investor their promised rate of return, and keep any excess profits.  Clements and account managers referred investors to Smidi who provided investors information on how to effect their investment in MRT and where to wire funds.

        Investment Startegy Upgrade, New Account Options.  In June 2007, investors were told in a letter that MRT’s money would now be working with the best Swiss banks and advisors, and they further advised investors they could roll over their existing investment and make future ones into a fixed rate account:  with either, (i) a 1-year holding period that earned up to 25% annually;   or (ii) a high-yield savings account that earned up to 15% annually but allowed monthly withdrawals.

Defendants allegedly never traded more than a fraction of what it collected from investors and overall, lost approximately $65,000 trading in foreign currencies.  Further, MRT never directly deposited investor funds with a Swiss bank and that the returns MRT paid to investors came from subsequent investor deposits.  The SEC also alleges that Clements and Smidi siphoned approximately $6mn of MRT investor monies for personal expenditures.  This is SEC Litigation Release #21910. 3/30/11.