7 arrested in 'trust fund' scam

Scheme targeted Mormon investors

Video: Crime & courts

Lockup Pendleton Juvenile Extended Stay: Under Pressure
As one of the largest maximum-security juvenile prisons in the country, Pendleton is responsible for educating and rehabilitating teenage gang members, sex offenders and juveniles with mental health issues for the Indiana Department of Correction. And on any given day inside the razor wire fences, anything can happen. During our 6 months inside, we learned some days can be even more chaotic than most...As one official says, "When it rains, we don’t have enough buckets.

Sex Slaves in the Suburbs

Japanese murder suspect returns to Los Angeles

Freezer bodies ID'd as missing girls

Conn. OKs same-sex marriage

On the run

15 Most Wanted

The U.S. Marshals wants your help finding its "15 Most Wanted" fugitives, a notorious list of suspects fleeing everything from murder and robbery to child sex charges. To date, about 200 of the fugitives profiled on the list have been found. Tips leading to an arrest are rewarded up to $25,000. Click here to see the fugitives.

updated 9:50 p.m. ET Aug. 19, 2004

SAN DIEGO - Seven people who claimed to have access to a $1.6 trillion trust fund created by descendants of Mormon church founder Joseph Smith were arrested in what federal investigators say was a nationwide fraud ring that targeted Mormon investors.

More than 100 victims were bilked out of total of between $20 million and $50 million on a promise they would receive returns from the fund, the FBI said Wednesday.

Investigators said there is no evidence such a trust fund exists.

Story continues below ↓

The ring operated out of a liquor store and an apartment complex in San Diego where several of the suspects lived. Investigators said the suspects flew around the country pitching phony deals for more than 10 years.

Investigators said the scammers used religion to target wealthy investors, holding prayer meetings and describing plans to build a religious theme park. Investors with illnesses were promised cures, the FBI said.

Those behind the scam claimed a link to descendants of Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but were in no way connected to the church, FBI agent Adam Lee said.

Four people were arrested Tuesday in San Diego, two in Utah and one in Mississippi, Lee said. Three other suspects remain at large.

Eight other people were arrested last year and two others agreed to plead guilty before charges were filed against them, Lee said.