Iowa broker linked to Trevor Cook Ponzi scheme admits to fraud
Russell Wasendorf Sr., founder and CEO of Cedar Falls-based Peregrine Financial Group, faces up to 50 years in prison under a plea deal, the Des Moines Register reports. The 64-year-old has agreed to plead guilty to mail fraud, embezzling customer funds and making false statements to regulators.
The Business Journal notes Wasendorf's brokerage firm played a prominent role in Twin Cities investor Trevor Cook's massive international Ponzi scheme.
Cook plead guilty to fraud in 2010 and is serving a 25 year sentence in federal prison.
Three other men, Jason "Bo" Beckman, Gerald Durand and Patrick Kiley, were also convicted for their role in carrying out Minnesota's second-largest Ponzi scheme that cheated more than 700 people out of $194 million.