Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced that agents from his office, working with law enforcement in Tennessee and Nevada, arrested two individuals earlier this week for stealing millions of dollars through “phony stock sales” and an illegal pyramid scheme.The defendants — James A. Sweeney, II, 62, of Afton, TN and Patrick M. Ryan, 34, of Canyon Lake, CA — were arrested on June 3, 2009 in Afton, TN and Las Vegas, NV, respectively, and are being held until they are extradited to Riverside County. Both face 78 counts of grand theft and securities fraud. Bail has been set at $8.8 million each.
“These two con men stole $8.8 million dollars through phony stock sales and an illegal pyramid scheme,” Brown said. “They stole investors’ money and used it to pay for luxury homes, fancy cars and a $100,000 Las Vegas wedding.”
Brown’s complaint contends that Sweeney and Ryan, co-founders of Riverside-based Big Co-op, Inc., stole $8.8 million from more than 1,000 Californians through an illegal pyramid scheme and phony stock sales.
Big Co-op, also operating as Ez2Win.biz, purported to be an online shopping hub where consumers could go to purchase thousands of goods and services from big name retailers including, Sears, Target and Macy’s, at discounted prices.
