Father, daughter arrested in $70-million investment scam

TAMPA -- Federal agents today arrested a bay area father and daughter who are accused of an international money laundering scheme that duped victims out of more than $70-million in investments.

Paul Robert Gunter, 58, of Odessa, and Zibiah Joy Gunter, 25, of Oldsmar will make their first appearance in federal court this afternoon.

A federal complaint with details about the alleged scheme is also expected to be released later today. The U.S. Attorney's Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement say the father and daughter duo conspired to commit substantive acts of mail fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering.

Federal authorities say that from at least as early as the spring of 2005, the Gunters and others hijacked the identities of dormant, publicly traded companies. The pair is also accused of issuing shares of stock in the companies to conspirators and selling virtually worthless shares of stock in the companies to victim-investors in the United Kingdom.

Investigators say the Gunters used "high-pressure and misleading sales techniques" to get United Kingdom investors to wire money to bank accounts in Central Florida. The Gunters then took the money and used it for their personal gains, investigators said.

Federal agents say that the Gunters and unnamed conspirators used at least 54 publicly traded shell companies to commit the fraud.

"These two criminals demonstrated a callous disregard for the hard-earned money of individuals who thought that they were legitimately investing in their future," Robert Weber, special agent-in-charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Tampa, said in a statement.

Robert Wishart, head of the money laundering unit at the city of London police, also issued a statement, saying that about 15,000 British residents, mostly elderly, had lost money because of the scheme.

"Criminals may think that because they are laundering money through a number of foreign jurisdictions, they will not be caught," Wishart said. "This action today demonstrates how effective the law enforcement community can be in ensuring there is no hiding place for criminals or their money."

-Kevin Graham, Times staff writer

A father and daughter team involved in a investment fraud scheme were arrested at this house in Oldsmar this morning by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agents following a joint investigation with the U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida, the United States Secret Service, and the City of London Police Department. [Carrie Pratt, Times]