Fraud

BEAVER — Two brothers have been arraigned on fraud charges after raising millions of dollars to turn a southern Utah ski area into an exclusive members-only resort.

ROCKFORD, Ill. — A former city bookkeeper was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison Thursday for embezzling more than $53 million from her Illinois community, in what ranks as one of the worst abuses of public trust in the state’s corruption-rich history.

SALT LAKE CITY — A jury found former Weber County swindler Wayne Ogden guilty on six federal charges.

SALT LAKE CITY — The owner of the title company through which Wayne Ogden’s allegedly ill-gotten gains flowed took the stand Monday, but did not leave unscathed.

Billie Crocker, owner of City Title, testified most of the day to the long trail of transactions Ogden initiated in what federal regulators call a Ponzi scheme disguised as a real estate proposal. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has granted Crocker immunity from prosecution, meaning her testimony can’t be used against her.

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah businessman Jeremy Johnson said Friday he was finished talking after a magistrate warned him against making any more public accusations about his internet fraud case.

SALT LAKE CITY — The courtroom intrigue continues as Weber County’s Wayne Ogden claims he was working undercover when he concocted the fraud case he is now charged with in federal court.

He was running his own private sting on behalf of the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to Ogden’s defense team, a claim it presented during opening arguments of Ogden’s three-week fraud trial.

And he not only worked with the DEA, but the FBI, federal housing regulators and state securities investigators as well, the team says.

SALT LAKE CITY — Five years in the making, Wayne Ogden’s trial on his second round of fraud charges was scheduled to begin today in federal court.