Utsick faces substantial jail term

Jack Utsick, the former concert promoter who was charged with defrauding an estimated 3,300 investors out of nearly US$300 million, faces up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to a mail fraud charge. Many who lost substantial sums were former airline pilots, Utsick's own former profession. Prosecutors say that that Utsick, 73, who appeared in court in Miami on Friday, operated his promotion company, Worldwide Entertainment, as a "ponzi scheme", repaying older investors with money from newer ones. Worldwide promoted tours by arena-filling artists such as The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, The Pretenders, Aerosmith and Fleetwood Mac before being placed into administration amid mounting debts in 2006. A subsequent investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) discovered that Utsick, who earned millions of dollars a year, actually lost money on most tours.

Utsick departed for Brazil after the company failed, but was extradited to the US in 2014 after a protracted court battle, and since then has been in custody. Utsick will be sentenced on 23 August and has been ordered to repay $169m to Worldwide’s investors.

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Utsick extradited from Brazil

Former international promoter and entrepreneur Jack Utsick hasd been extradited from Brazil to Miami (on 6th December) to face federal charges for operating a Ponzi (pyramid) scheme according to reports in the Miami Herald. Designated a fugitive in 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had charged him in 2006 with defrauding investors out of $300 million and, despite agreeing a deal to repay some of the money, he fled to Brazil in 2007. Utsick, who had been under arrest in Brazil while fighting his extradition over the past two years, appeared Monday on nine counts of mail fraud in Miami federal court. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman ruled that the 72-year-old Utsick would be held before trial, until he resolves his choice of defense attorneys.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article4336931.html